Crystal Palace 0-1

Independent:

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0

John Terry administers the fatal cut to Chelsea’s self-inflicted wounds
Mourinho sees his title hopes fade away with a lacklustre and spiritless display against a Palace side that finally rediscovers their vim

Steve Tongue

As the final whistle blew in south London, Gary Cahill slumped to the floor and his Chelsea team-mates trudged from the pitch knowing they had almost certainly lost any chance of becoming Premier League champions this season after another damaging away defeat.
 
Jose Mourinho went to Cahill, picking him up physically and mentally, but now he must do it to the rest of his squad, some of whom do not deserve the same commiserations as the centre-half, before the Champions’ League quarter-final first leg away to Paris St-Germain on Wednesday. Too many of them seemed to feel this would be a stroll in the sunshine to three more points, hopelessly underestimating the spirit that Tony Pulis has installed into his Crystal Palace side after they lost nine of their first 10 League games.
After losing at Aston Villa a fortnight ago, Chelsea recovered to knock out Galatasaray a few days later, but PSG are a cut above that. Mourinho is left to hope that his big game players can rise to the occasion in a manner they were never close to doing here. Of course there were chances, both before and after the unlucky John Terry headed a cross into his own net early in the second half. Even so, two excellent saves from Julian Speroni were all it took to repel them and effectively end the title challenge.
The surprise tactically, and one possible criticism of Mourinho, was that even with David Luiz and Nemanja Matic to mind the shop, Frank Lampard sat so deep in a conventional 4-3-3 formation. What little support there was for Fernando Torres, who was out-of-sorts again, therefore came from Eden Hazard and André Schürrle cutting inside, which in turn meant a lack of width. Not surprisingly Mourinho changed things at half-time, sending on Oscar for Luiz but the Brazilian made as little difference as later substitutes Mohamed Salah and Demba Ba.
A series of different formations in the second half, all equally futile, illustrated Chelsea’s impotence, and Mourinho summed up their frustration near the end when he rebuked a ball boy; claiming later he did not want the youngster to be attacked by one of his players for hanging on to the ball.
In contrast, Palace, after two successive home defeats, have rediscovered all the vim from the early days of Pulis’s reign before Christmas, when a series of home wins had them believing again. No prima donnas here, although their worst mistake after a League victory over Chelsea for the first time since August 1990 (so long ago that Ian Wright scored the winner) would be to slip into the sort of complacency their opponents displayed yesterday.
“To beat Chelsea will give everyone a boost to push on for the last seven games,” Pulis said. “The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and that’s why it’s a great league. The top teams always have to play well or they can come unstuck.”
After the goal, Palace were able to counter-attack through Cameron Jerome, who hit a post, and Jason Puncheon, a figure of fun when he took the worst penalty of the season at Tottenham, who was outstanding down the right in combination with his full-back Adrian Mariappa.
Like so many Palace managers down the years, Pulis has been talking about the club’s “enormous potential”. Like most of them, however, he has never been in situ long enough to bring it to fruition. To avoid a fifth relegation from the Premier League immediately after going up, they need to start picking up some points on their travels – preferably starting at Cardiff next weekend – as Manchester City and Liverpool are the last visitors to Selhurst. Surely neither can be as anaemic as Chelsea were.
Presumably relieved at how little the visitors had to offer, Palace grew in self-belief. Before half-time they had two strong appeals for penalties as Jerome and Yannick Bolasie went down, as well as a good chance for the latter, who could get no power onto Puncheon’s cross.
Seven minutes into the second half, the left-back Joel Ward crossed and Terry, stretching to beat Joe Ledley to the header, directed it past Petr Cech. With Selhurst rocking and rolling, Chelsea finally forced Speroni into action, the goalkeeper responding with two excellent saves low to his left from Hazard.
Yet the final five opportunities of the match were made by the home side, mainly through breaking out at a pace their opponents did not possess. Jerome, sent through by Mile Jedinak, hit the near post; Ledley hooked wide and pulled another shot across goal; Cech saved from Puncheon and then substitute Stuart O’Keefe. In added time Speroni clutched Branislav Ivanovic’s cross to a Cup-winning roar and Palace had three invaluable and thoroughly deserved points.

Line-ups:

Crystal Palace (4-4-1-1): Speroni; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Ward; Puncheon (Parr, 89), Dikgacoi,Jedinak, Bolasie (O’Keefe, 69);  Ledley; Jerome (Murray, 87).

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Luiz (Oscar, 46), Matic, Lampard (Salah, 56); Schurrle (Ba, 69), Torres, Hazard.

Referee: Lee Mason
Man of the match:  Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace).
Match rating: 7/10

=================

Observer:

John Terry's own goal gifts Crystal Palace victory as Chelsea are stunned

Dominic Fifield at Selhurst Park

Chelsea's title challenge has run aground south of the river. This derby was supposed to be awkward rather than treacherous but, eclipsed by Crystal Palace's sheer refusal to wilt, the side who had led going into the weekend ended up feeling forlorn. José Mourinho strode from the pitch consoling a distraught Gary Cahill, one of the few visiting players to deserve better, and straight into the home dressing room to congratulate the victors.
This was a result to confound logic even in a gloriously unpredictable top flight. Palace had secured a solitary point from 14 games against the Premier League's top nine before this match, their winless streak stretching back to the start of February with goals having long since dried up. They had not managed one from open play since that last success though, befitting a contest that deviated from the prescribed script, Chelsea scored one for them here. John Terry's own goal early in the second half had Mourinho writing off his team's chances of regaining the title. He scribbled one word down on a piece of paper, preferring not to damn his own out loud, when asked what his team needs if they are to improve. "Balls," read the note. That summed it up.
This was as weak from Chelsea as it was powerful from Palace. The hosts had resisted through the early stages, emulating their rugged first-half displays against Manchester United and Arsenal here this season, and even mustered a flurry of half-chances just before the interval to offer a reminder they might glean greater reward thereafter. Seven minutes after the restart and their endeavours were answered.
The excellent Joel Ward, fed by Yannick Bolasie's pass, summoned a fine cross towards Joe Ledley at the near post only for the Chelsea captain to leap in aerial challenge and flick the ball beyond a stranded Petr Cech. Selhurst Park erupted, the din merely fuelling the home side's conviction. They would go on to miss clearer chances on the counter-attack, striking the post through Cameron Jerome, as their opponents became desperate.
It was the reality that few had seen this coming that took the breath away. Palace have been industrious since Tony Pulis's arrival but had remained ineffective, even blunt, against the division's better opposition. Indeed, theirs had started to feel like a steady decline towards the cut-off. Yet here they countered with verve and threat, and defended with such energy.
"Our results had dropped off, even if the performances had been OK, but to beat Chelsea will give everyone a boost to push on for the last seven games," said Pulis. "The Premier League is the most competitive in the world. The top teams have to play well or they can come unstuck."
Chelsea endured just that, the repercussions of failure critical. Mourinho bemoaned some of his key performers having "disappeared" in certain matches, when opponents have pressed and harried as Palace did so effectively. The same had happened, he suggested, in all their league defeats this term bar the loss at Aston Villa in their previous away game that he will always insist was born of a freakishly poor performance from the referee.
Certainly, key players were anonymous. Fernando Torres's sole contribution of note was to lift a lob over a gaping net as full-time approached, the striker having been carelessly gifted possession by Stuart O'Keefe. Furious occasions such as this tend to pass the Spaniard by and, other than that chance, he never represented a threat in the area.
Yet he was not alone in fluffing his lines. André Schürrle was thwarted at his clearest sight of goal by Ward's lunge, the ball dribbling wide, but none of the visitors' forwards had the bite to make their mark. Even Eden Hazard was peripheral for long periods, briefly rousing himself to curl a wicked shot through a clutch of bodies just after Terry's error that Julian Speroni did well to palm away. The Argentinian has been consistently impressive as one of the division's busier goalkeepers and he managed to better that save with another from the Belgian before the end, Oscar's choked shot having landed at Hazard's feet. The din that greeted the save almost matched the one that heralded the home side's lead.
There were anxious moments before the end, Chelsea flinging bodies forward in search of parity only to be caught too often on the break with Palace, somehow, contriving to miss a succession of chances to settle the match.
Mourinho's words of advice with a ballboy he considered to have been time-wasting added to the drama, though the final whistle, after four minutes of stoppage time, brought relief. Not since Ian Wright's lob in the autumn of 1990 had Palace won against these opponents in the league.
"For their spirit, their commitment, their desire, they deserved it," Mourinho said. "This is the kind of defeat where we can only blame ourselves."

===============

Telegraph:

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0:

By Ian Winrow, Selhurst Park

Jose Mourinho insisted this defeat marked the end of Chelsea’s hopes of lifting Premier League trophy and while the manager could be accused of being unduly pessimistic given the narrow margins at the head of the table, his team’s performance against a side fighting relegation offered little to counter the manager’s stance.
A week after they had produced a exhilarating display to crush Arsenal, Chelsea struggled to overcome a side that had mustered just one goal, a penalty and two points from their last five games.
Unconvincing in the first half, Mourinho’s side were unable to raise their levels after John Terry diverted Joel Ward’s cross past Petr Cech in the 52nd minute. The lack of forward power that has been largely disguised throughout the campaign became starkly apparent as Palace stood firm in the face of growing pressure and deserved the victory that moved them five points clear of the bottom three.
Asked to find the resolve to fight back and consolidate their standing at the head of the table, too many of Mourinho’s players were found wanting. A game they had to win turned into a frustrating defeat and, unlike at Aston Villa two weeks previously, Mourinho was unable to divert attention towards the performance of the referee.
In fact, if any team had grounds for complaint, it was Palace who saw two strong first half penalty appeals turned down. There was little doubt the home side deserved their rewards for refusing to be overwhelmed and producing a performance of impressive determination.
The outcome was that instead of increasing the pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool, a second successive away defeat – both to teams in the lower half of the table – handed the initiative to Chelsea’s main rivals in the title race.
There may well be more twists and turns in the final weeks of the season and the proximity of the top teams to each other means no contender can be ruled out yet, but in the tightest contest for several years, one slip was always likely to prove costly and, in Mourinho’s view, two could prove fatal.
A week previously, Chelsea had flown out of the blocks against Arsenal, putting the game beyond Arsène Wenger’s side with an explosive start that brought three goals in the opening 17 minutes. Seven days later and it was a very different story.
Mourinho tinkered with his line-up, opting to go with a three-man midfield of David Luiz, Frank Lampard and Nemanja Matic but the change appeared to upset his side’s fluency, allowing Palace to settle comfortably into the game on warm, sunny afternoon in south London.
The service to forward three Eden Hazard, Fernando Torres and André Schürrle was poor.
When the visitors did manage to create their first real opening of the half in the 18th minute, when Cesar Azpilicueta’s overlap took him behind the home defence and the byline, Schürrle was unable to get a full contact on the Spaniard’s low cross at the far post.
The incident summed up the lack of conviction in Chelsea’s play and while they would improve later in the game, they never found top gear.
It was clear Palace would present a more formidable obstacle than Arsenal had last week and as they grew in confidence, Pulis’s side began to assert themselves.
The pace of Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon down the flanks stretched the visitors and the pair should have produced the opening goal when they combined in 25th minute.
Puncheon was played in behind Azpilicueta by Adrian Mariappa and picked out Bolasie with a cross to the far post. A better first touch would have allowed the winger to place the ball inside Petr Cech’s right-hand post but instead he fired wastefully into the side netting, to the clear frustration of the animated Pulis.
Chelsea were rattled but it could have been worse for Mourinho’s side had referee Lee Mason not dismissed strong penalty appeals after Gary Cahill upended first Cameron Jerome and then, minutes later, Yannick Bolasie.
Mourinho reacted to his side’s frustrating first half display by introducing Oscar for David Luiz but it was Palace who took the initiative.
Within seven minutes of the restart Jerome sent a glancing header wide when he should have done better, but this was soon followed by Terry, under pressure from Joe Ledley, heading into his own goal from Joel Ward’s left-wing cross.
Eden Hazard twice tested the excellent Julián Speroni with powerful shots and Terry headed over from a good position at a corner later in the half, but for all Chelsea’s pressure during the final minutes, they rarely looked capable of breaking down a resolute defence built around the impressive central defensive pairing of Damien Delaney and Scott Dann, and protected by the midfield pair of Mile Jedinak and Kagisho Dikgacoi.
In fact, had Jerome, impressive in the central striker role, managed to steer a left foot shot an inch or two to the left, his 73rd minute shot would have rebounded off the post and into Cech’s goal rather than deflecting away to safety.
Palace’s problems in front of goal have underpinned their difficulties this season, but on this occasion they had the safety net of the opening goal and survived four minutes of injury time to claim a win that carried significance at both ends of the table.

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Mail:

Crystal Palace 1-0 Chelsea: Terry own goal dents Blues title hopes as Eagles earn shock victory

By Martha Kelner

John Terry curled tightly into a ball inside the penalty area, put his hands to his ears like a child willing the world away after scoring an own goal that may prove fatal to Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Premier League title.
The haunted look on the face of Stamford Bridge’s most fiercely loyal servant after he headed past his own keeper on 52 minutes suggested he realised that this defeat may have left his beloved Chelsea with too much to do to win the league.
Jose Mourinho’s side remain top of the table and equal on points with Manchester City but Manuel Pellegrini's side have two games in hand while Liverpool are one point behind and have one game in hand over Chelsea. Mourinho, who has been playing down his side’s title chances all season, suggested it was too big a challenge.
As he trudged off the pitch at Selhurst Park, patting a dejected Gary Cahill on the back, Mourinho offered a sporting gesture of applause to the Crystal Palace fans. He then went into Tony Pulis’s dressing room to congratulate the Palace players for a display of guts, bravery and togetherness. Certain qualities, he later suggested, were absent in some of his own players.
The Portuguese and most others expected Chelsea to return with three points from Saturday’s game. They have played three other London derbies this month and won them all, scoring 13 goals and conceding just one.
They came to Selhurst Park with huge momentum, on the back of a 6-0 thrashing of Arsenal, Mourinho’s biggest victory at Chelsea. Everything signalled that they would at least run Manchester City or Liverpool close for the title.
But some players, Mourinho suggested without mentioning names, did not fancy an afternoon in unglamorous, deepest South London.
Mourinho’s substitutions – usually so inspired failed to have the desired effect. David Luiz went off after a dire opening half, perhaps still feeling the effects of a wild Yannick Bolasie challenge early in the game.
Fernando Torres could have softened the blow when handed a golden opportunity to grab an equaliser in stoppage time. Stuart O’Keefe, perhaps overawed by the prospect of a momentous victory, played a horrendously judged back-pass to ‘keeper Julian Speroni. But Torres – who had little impact all game – lobbed his attempt over the crossbar. Asked to assess the performance of the £50m Spaniard, Mourinho replied: ‘I like to analyse individual performances when I have something good to say.’
Before the game, the stage had been set for referee Lee Mason to take centre stage. Jose Mourinho spent the week telling anyone who would listen his theory that referee Chris Foy’s performance in Chelsea’s defeat to Aston Villa two weeks ago could prove fatal to his side’s title chances.
Meanwhile, Tony Pulis used his programme notes to broadcast his belief that Palace had been unfairly treated by officials in their last two fixtures and professed his hope that the game would not hinge on a refereeing decision. .
It almost did after Gary Cahill twice brought down a man inside the box within three minutes in the first half.
First, he uprooted Cameron Jerome then he hacked down Yannick Bolasie from behind. Twice, referee Lee Mason waved away penalty appeals. The Palace fans felt hard done by. Tony Pulis leapt about and waved his arms in the air, a man possessed by a sense of injustice, while Mourinho jotted an observation in his notepad. 
Palace have scored just once in their last five league games and so John Terry leaped in to get them back to scoring ways. He dove in front of a Joel Ward cross bound for the head of Joe Ledley and sent the ball flying past a folorn Petr Cech. The look of horror on the face of the recoiling Mourinho was visible from high in the stands.
Mourinho adjusted his formation in the hunt for an equaliser.
He brought off Frank Lampard for Mohamed Salah, who was innefective. Ditto Demba Ba, who came on for Andre Schurrle in the 70th minute.
But this was not just a story of Chelsea mistakes and shortcomings. Mile Jedinak, Jason Puncheon and keeper Julian Speroni were superb.
As Crystal Palace technical coach David Kemp said: ‘You could pick seven, eight or nine star players from our team.
'This was big for the club but big for players too.
'We now have nine wins this season which is very credible for a promoted team.’
This first victory over Chelsea in the league for 23 years lifts them fifth from bottom, five points clear of the drop. 

Crystal Palace (4231): Speroni 7.5; Mariappa 7, Dann 7, Delaney 7, Ward 7; Dikgacoi 7, Jedinak 8; Puncheon 7.5 (Parr 90), Ledley 7, Bolasie 6 (O’Keefe, 70 6); Jerome 7.5 (Murray 88).
Subs not used: Hennessey, McCarthy, Ince, Bannan.
Bookings: Bolasie, Puncheon, Dann, Mariappa.
Manager: Tony Pulis 8.

Chelsea (433): Cech 7; Ivanovic 6.5, Cahill 6, Terry 6, Azpilicueta 6; Luiz 5 (Oscar HT, 6), Matic 5, Lampard 5.5 (Salah 57, 6); Schurrle 6 (Ba 70, 5), Torres 5, Hazard 6.
Subs not used: Hilario, Kalas, Mikel, Willian.
Bookings: Terry.
Manager: Jose Mourinho 6.
MOM: Mile Jedinak

Referee: Lee Mason 6
Player ratings by Matt Barlow at Selhurst Park

===================

Arsenal 6 ( six ) - 0

Independent:

Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0 Quickfire Samuel Eto’o sparks off rout of Arsenal

Chelsea start with all guns blazing to stun 10-man rivals on Wenger’s big day,

 Miguel Delaney at Stamford Bridge
 
Jose Mourinho summed it up as clinically and as brutally as his attackers had finished in that period: “We came to kill, and in 10 minutes we destroy.”
Arsène Wenger had another description, but one that was just as stark: “A nightmare.”
If so, it is a recurring one, and that should be the real issue for the Arsenal manager beyond the embarrassing scale of the scoreline. He felt there was not “much need to talk about the mistakes” but there’s clearly a very pressing requirement to address them.
In all three away matches against their title rivals – Manchester City, Liverpool and now Chelsea – Wenger’s side have conceded 17 goals. Most damningly, eight of those have come in the 20-minute spells at the start of those games. Arsenal again never got started and consequently saw their structure completely collapse. Mourinho’s team ruthlessly and relentlessly went for that mistake, as well as a host of others.
Once Olivier Giroud typically squandered the single chance that Arsenal had to change the course of the game, Chelsea never let up. There were 38 seconds between that save by Petr Cech and the moment when Samuel Eto’o curled the ball around Wojciech Szczesny and into the net for the first goal, and that set the tone for the blistering next few minutes.
Within moments, André Schürrle had thrashed the ball past Szczesny after another thrusting break. Arsenal found themselves caught up in another whirlwind and it was sending them into another whirlpool.
Given the similarity between this opening and the 5-1 defeat at Anfield in February, it might have been fair to expect that Wenger had at least mentally prepared his side for such an event; that they would at least have been capable of giving themselves a better chance of recovery. That was not the case.
Arsenal were so frazzled by the force of Chelsea’s opening that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was panicked into a preposterous full-length dive to touch away Eden Hazard’s 15th-minute shot with his hand.
That was the effect of the home side’s start. The eventual defeat, however, did not stem from the red card. Although Marriner’s incredible decision to send off Kieran Gibbs for the handball rather than Oxlade-Chamberlain will take up much of the discussion, it should not obscure the truth: Chelsea had virtually secured victory by then, and rendered Arsenal irrelevant. Nemanja Matic, most notably,  simply trampled over Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla.
Yet, if that opening period displayed the appalling worst of Arsenal, this was also the absolute best of Chelsea. All of their primary qualities were seen, but they also rectified one major flaw of their own at the beginning of games.
In their previous four matches, Chelsea had failed to score a first-half goal, and it too often left them with too much to do. That was the case at Aston Villa last week, when they were eventually caught out on their way to a chaotic 1-0 defeat.
It was simply not an issue here. By the time that Oscar had fired the ball into the roof of the net from substitute Fernando Torres’s 41st-minute cross to make it 4-0, Chelsea had scored more in this first half than in all their previous six Premier League opening periods.
Mourinho praised the impetus his team had shown from the off. “We were very, very good. We press high and we know they want the ball at the back, to be comfortable. We press them very high immediately.”
The score got very high very quickly.
“After that, easy,” Mourinho said. “Penalty, red card, easy.”
That was clearly the case, and the platform provided by those opening 10 minutes. In a procession of a second half, Chelsea picked their moments. Oscar capitalised on a misplaced Tomas Rosicky pass to make it 5-0, Mohamed Salah slotted in another on 71.
By then, the impressive figures being talked about were not Wenger’s list of games. “We got a result with some numbers that, for our fans, are special numbers,” Mourinho said.
On the eve of the game, which now seems so long ago, Wenger had acknowledged this was the biggest fixture of his side’s season for reasons even beyond his 1,000th fixture. It was big alright: Arsenal’s heaviest ever defeat against Chelsea, Mourinho’s biggest win as manager at Stamford Bridge.
It was a day of those kinds of extremes, never more so than in that opening 10 minutes.

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Luiz (Mikel, 72), Matic; Schürrle, Oscar (Salah, 67), Hazard; Eto’o (Torres, 10)
Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny (Jenkinson, h-t), Mertesacker, Gibbs; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Flamini, h-t), Arteta, Cazorla; Rosicky, Giroud, Podolski (Vermaelen, 24).

Referee: A Marriner
Man of the match: Nemanja Matic
Match rating: 7/10

==============

Observer :

Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0
Chelsea hit Arsenal for six to humiliate Arsène Wenger in his 1,000th game
Daniel Taylor

Arsène Wenger's 1,000th game will always be remembered for The Mysterious Case of the Wrong Red Card, but Arsenal should probably be grateful the sideshow was so intrusively farcical, and the refereeing so birdbrained, it might spare them even greater scrutiny. Ignore, for one moment, Andre Marriner's contribution to a wild and eccentric afternoon. The real story was of Arsenal capitulating, once again, in one of the fixtures that identify champions.
Add this to the 6-3 ordeal at Manchester City and the 5-1 at Liverpool and there is a clear pattern to explain why Wenger will not be collecting the Premier League trophy to go alongside that gold cannon he has just received for his long-service. The aggregate score is 17-4 and Wenger's mood could probably be summed up by his decision, for the first time in his 17 and a half years in charge, not to face the post-match press conference.

His team had played with no comprehension of what it takes to hold Chelsea and they suffered badly for it. They were 2-0 down inside the opening seven minutes. Two more arrived before half-time and, by the end, it was not just José Mourinho's biggest ever win in control of Chelsea but the heaviest defeat Arsenal have suffered in 107 years of this fixture. Wenger has not beaten Mourinho in 11 attempts and the indignities piled up. At one point, Chelsea's jubilant supporters could be heard chanting for him to sign a new contract: "We want you to stay". Later, an even more callous cry went up: "Specialist in failure".
Chelsea can hardly have believed the gifts that were presented to them, neatly wrapped in red and white ribbons. Mourinho's team played with common sense and title-winning know-how. They were ruthless in attack, controlled in midfield and untroubled in defence. Everything that was missing from their opponents.

Arsenal's carelessness was both damaging and extreme. They were a rabble and, at this level, a team cannot expect to get away with these kind of collective failures.
The tone was set in the fifth minute when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lost the ball in midfield and Chelsea swept upfield to score through Samuel Eto'o. Three minutes later it was Santi Cazorla's turn to give the ball to Nemanja Matic and, again, the home team's swift, penetrative counterattacking resulted in a goal, this time through Andre Schürrle.
Lest it be forgotten, it is not just Marriner who should reflect on Kieran Gibbs's bizarre and unwarranted dismissal with intense embarrassment. Marriner messed up badly and it will be a long time before he lives it down but, from Arsenal's perspective, there was no need in the first place for Oxlade‑Chamberlain to stick out an arm and turn away Eden Hazard's shot. The ball was going at least a foot wide, without any need for a midfielder to double up as an emergency goalkeeper. It typified the decision-making of Wenger's players.

That passage will leave Wenger's party-cum-nightmare with a certain infamy and there really is little excuse for Marriner bearing in mind Oxlade-Chamberlain clearly could be seen owning up that it was him. By then, Marriner had shown a red card to Gibbs. The referee's reaction – ignoring what Oxlade-Chamberlain was telling him, Gibbs's protests and the general shock of everyone around him – was haughty and self-defeating. The Premier League is sure to act, correcting the decision, and it is surely time for fourth officials to have access to a television monitor.
As soon as Hazard tucked in the penalty, it was obvious there was no way back for Arsenal. Even so, they should surely have done a better job at sparing themselves more embarrassment. Fernando Torres, a substitute after Eto'o's hamstring injury, surged down the right and crossed for Oscar to make it 4-0 and, after that, it was almost a surprise Chelsea restricted themselves to only two more.

As Wenger sent out a club spokesman to say he had already boarded the coach, Mourinho could be found reflecting on the first "10 amazing minutes", expressing faux outrage that 2-0 after seven minutes could not become "20-0 after 70 minutes".
No matter. This was also the day Mourinho was prepared to admit his team had gone from having "no chance" of the title to "just a little". Yet the awkward truth for Wenger is that no other opponent will be this obliging.
For the fifth goal, Tomas Rosicky played a wayward pass from the right-back position and Oscar simply took the ball and stuck a right-foot shot past the unimpressive dive of Wojciech Szczesny. Within four minutes, Matic's through ball had split open the entire Arsenal defence for Mohamed Salah to run clear. Salah had been on the pitch four minutes and confidently slipped a low shot past Arsenal's goalkeeper.
Matic had also been prominently involved in the first two goals. For the first, Eto'o checked back on his left foot and curled his shot into the far corner. Schürrle angled in a precise shot for the second and, after that, the day went from bad to worse for Wenger, Arsenal and a referee who probably feels as embarrassed as anyone.

==================

Telegraph:

Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0
Jason Burt

Arsène Wenger’s 1,000th game and it was over after seven minutes. But it will reverberate for hours, days, weeks – maybe even far longer. Arsenal were, in Jose Mourinho’s clear-eyed assessment, “killed”. And he was the smiling assassin.
Each defeat may leave a scar on the Arsenal manager’s heart – as he put it so lyrically on the eve this match – but this chaotic capitulation will have lacerated. It was beyond humiliation, some painful zone of suffering.
After the six goals conceded against Manchester City, the five to Liverpool, came the six to Chelsea. That is 17 goals in just three matches away to the three teams immediately above them – half of all Arsenal have conceded in the league – and it betrayed a fragility at the heart of Wenger’s team.
The 12:45pm kick-offs, as all three matches have been, are horrendous ordeals for them and this was as bad, if not worse, than the Liverpool defeat.
Now, after days celebrating Wenger’s visionary achievements, there will be days of soul-searching. In the dug-out he looked as defeated as his team.
Crushed. Bereft. Frozen. He could not bring himself to attend the post-match press conference, hanging on to an excuse that the team bus was leaving. Arsenal missed the bus.
For Mourinho this was simply, almost uncontainably delicious. How he enjoyed relaying that Wenger had labelled this encounter the biggest of the season for his team; how he will have been delighted at the way Arsenal naively, foolishly, predictably played into his hands. It was a trap they sauntered into. A full-court press that flattened them.
It was a game where the headlines will be dominated by a case of mistaken identity when referee Andre Marriner somehow decided to send off Kieran Gibbs when it was clearly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who had dived full length to handle Eden Hazard’s shot.
But there was an argument over another case of mistaken identity: that Arsenal were somehow Premier League title contenders. They may now sit just seven points behind the league leaders, Chelsea, with a game in hand but the gulf feels far, far wider.
Mourinho did not even wait until the final whistle. With the ultimate humiliation he walked down the tunnel while the game continued. His work was done. It is a ploy he has used before and it is a conspicuous piece of chutzpah, typical showmanship. He had Wenger, again, where he wanted him and he was not going to hang around for the last rites of his match.
“Specialist in failure,” goaded the Chelsea supporters but Mourinho was not going to dwell on the label he had hit back at Wenger with. He did not need any words; actions had spoken loudly enough.
Mourinho’s boot was pressed on Arsenal’s throat. He celebrated his team’s sixth goal as enthusiastically as their first. He knew the value of the margin of victory and he was not thinking of goal difference. This was his biggest win as Chelsea manager; this was Arsenal’s biggest defeat to their London rivals. Ever.
It was Mourinho who had beaten Wenger in his 500th game in charge of Arsenal and how he had humiliated him in his 1,000th match. In 11 meetings, Wenger is yet to beat Mourinho. It is now verging on the cruel.
The controversy masked an appalling Arsenal performance. They were blown away and were culpable for every Chelsea goal. After Olivier Giroud had missed the first chance of the match, shooting weakly at Petr Cech, Chelsea broke. It came as Oxlade-Chamberlain played a loose pass with Oscar releasing Andre Schurrle. He ran on, the defence back-pedalled woefully and Samuel Eto’o held the line cleverly. The ball was slipped to him, he cut inside and confidently arced a shot beyond Wojiech Szczesny.
Then Santi Cazorla lost the ball. Chelsea poured forward again with Nemanja Matic – an immense power in midfield – found Schurrle. Laurent Koscielny again backed off and this time the German shot low and hard and Szczesny was beaten again. “In 10 minutes you can win the game,” Mourinho later said. It only took seven.
The capitulation continued. Eto’o limped off with a damaged hamstring, shaking his fist in triumph, and his replacement Fernando Torres charged into the penalty area to tee up Hazard whose shot evaded Szczesny only for Oxlade-Chamberlain to dive full length and push it away with his outstretched hand. The penalty was awarded – and converted by Hazard – but before then chaos ensued. Somehow Gibbs was sent off even though Oxlade-Chamberlain told Marriner it was him amid astonishing scenes.
The implosion carried on; the ball again lost. This time Mikel Arteta decided not to track Oscar who was allowed to run into the area and meet Torres’ low cross – after Koscielny once more inexplicably backed off – and slam the ball high into the roof of the net. When would it end?
Half-time came but, ridiculously, Arsenal organised themselves to play an even higher defensive line and Chelsea picked them off even though they had further help.
This time Tomas Rosicky – who at the final whistle provoked an angry response from some Arsenal fans by swapping shirts with his friend Cech – passed the ball to Oscar. The defence stayed loose and the Brazilian shot from the area’s edge. The ball bounced before Szczesny and he allowed it to squirm over him and into the net.
By now it was unfathomable, disorganised, dispiriting. Arsenal pushed up – but did not push on. There was no pressure on Matic as he clipped the ball over the defence for substitute Mohamed Salah to run from just inside his own half to easily beat Szczesny for his first goal since joining Chelsea.
It could have been more but Szczesny saved twice from David Luiz and the final whistle came. It could have been a record loss for Wenger. But it felt like it anyway. And felt much worse on what was supposed to be a day of celebration. It turned into a wake. “We got a result with some special numbers for the fans,” Mourinho later said. Wenger was hit and hit for six.

=====================

Times:

Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0
Rampant Chelsea expose Arsenal’s mistaken identity as title contenders
   
Oliver Kay Chief Football Correspondent

There was a serious case of mistaken identity at Stamford Bridge this lunchtime. Arsenal had been mistakenly identified as title contenders – a misconception that was brutally exposed by Chelsea, whose biggest win under José Mourinho equalled their rivals’ heaviest margin of defeat under Arsene Wenger.
Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal was a more chastening experience than he could possibly have imagined. His team were pathetic, 3-0 down inside 17 minutes and waving the white flag after Kieran Gibbs was wrongly sent off for a handball by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, his team-mate.
Goals from Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard (a penalty), Oscar (with two) and Mohamed Salah, the substitute, left Wenger’s team humiliated, the margin of defeat equal to that in their 8-2 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2011.
The result takes Chelsea seven points clear of Arsenal and, while Wenger’s team have played one game fewer, only one of these clubs looks equipped to challenge for the Barclays Premier League title now.
Chelsea’s performance, which as well as being ruthless was far more flamboyant than of late, illustrated the size of the challenge they have thrown down to Liverpool and Manchester City, now seemingly only their realistic challengers for the title. Indeed, it was an afternoon when Chelsea went a long way towards addressing their deficiency in the goal-difference column.
On another afternoon, the main focus would have been Andre Marriner’s decision to send off Gibbs in the seventeenth minute. Not only was it a case of mistaken identity, since the offence was committed by Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it was an error on the basis that the handball, while deliberate, did not deny a goalscoring opportunity because Hazard’s shot had been going wide. Arsenal were reduced to ten men, with a mystified Gibbs shown the red card, and Hazard converted the penalty to make it 3-0.
It was a ridiculous incident – Marriner admitted at half-time that he had made “a mistake” – but, in terms of the result and perhaps even the size of the scoreline, it was something of a red herring, given that there was no disputing the legitimacy of the penalty award. Chelsea’s lead already looked unassailable once Hazard made it 3-0 and, if anything, it felt at times as if Mourinho’s team could have twisted the knife even further.
So many of Arsenal’s problems stemmed from being far too open and far too casual against Chelsea’s pressing game in midfield. It started as early as the fourth minute, with Arsenal caught on the counter-attack.
Schurrle slipped the ball through to Eto’o, who took a touch before curling a left-foot shot beyond Wojciech Szczesny. Three minutes later it was 2-0 as Arsenal lost the ball in midfield again and Nemanja Matic released Schurrle to send a low shot past a startled Szczesny.
Just like at Anfield, where they were beaten 5-1 by Liverpool last month, Arsenal had been blown away by the intensity with which their opponents started the game.
Chelsea lost Eto’o to injury, replaced early on by Fernando Torres, but they continued in the same way, with Torres teeing up Hazard for the shot that was going narrowly wide before Oxlade-Chamberlain stuck out his hand to intervene. It should not have been a red card – least of all for Gibbs – but a penalty was unquestionably the right decision. Hazard made no mistake.
Wenger sent on Thomas Vermaelen at left back, taking off Lukas Podolski, and for a time his team seemed to stabilise, but just before half-time Oscar made it 4-0, with Torres given far too much space from which to cross from the right and the Brazilian left in far too much space in the middle.
In what looked like a desperate attempt at damage limitation, Wenger replaced Laurent Koscielny and Oxlade-Chamberlain with Carl Jenkinson and Mathieu Flamini. Chelsea had never previously won a Premier League game under Mourinho by more than four goals – or any match by more than five – but, if ever there was the opportunity to do so, it was here, against a bedraggled Arsenal team.
Sure enough, the fifth goal arrived midway through the second half, with Oscar’s shot somehow beating a desperately unconvincing Szczesny, and then came the icing on the cake – or the final kick in the teeth, as Wenger might see it – when Salah ran clear to score his first goal for Chelsea four minutes later.
“Specialist in failure,” came the mocking chant from the Chelsea fans, echoing Mourinho’s infamous description of Wenger. As a way to mark his 1,000th game in charge, it could not have been worse – his tactics unsuccessful, his team torn apart, their title ambitions taking a huge blow, and all of it in the court of Mourinho, where Chelsea are starting to look like potential champions once more.

==========================

Mail:

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal: Gunners hit for SIX by rampant Blues on Wenger's 1,000th game as Gibbs is mistakenly sent off after Oxlade-Chamberlain's handball on the line
By Rob Draper

‘Jose Mourinho’ they chanted around Stamford Bridge and the sub text was clear. What they meant to say was: ‘Arsene Wenger, your time has gone.’
Then came the cruellest cut, as the Chelsea fans echoed their manager’s own brutal words: ‘Specialist in failure.’
Mourinho is of course the last guest you want to invite to a party. It was inevitable that he would upset the guests and spoils the celebrations. He did so, but in the best way imaginable: on the pitch, with his team’s performance.
For Mourinho has always bridled at the admiration that English football has shown Wenger, you suspect because he considers himself tactically superior.
On Saturday, as the occasion of the 1000thgame for Wenger turned out to be the Arsenal’s manager’s worst, he will feel as though he demonstrated that conclusively.
He has saved something especially for Wenger: this day of all days he would deliver his biggest ever win for Chelsea, a victory all the more spectacular for its foundation being laid with two goals in the first ten minutes
‘We came to kill – and in ten minutes we destroyed,’ said Mourinho. ‘It was ten amazing minutes and with ten minutes you can win the game. i’m so happy with the approach.. After that, easy.
'But if I analyse the game it’s about the ten minutes. I don’t know if it was the best performance but it was a very good performance.’
It was not just that Chelsea were good, though they were, with Nemanja Matic and Andre Schurrle outstanding; it was that Arsenal were so bad.
All the old fault lines were exposed and the searing doubts about the future returned.
Where Wenger once led the way as the thinking man’s coach, on Saturday he was out-thought and out-played.
Just as Brendan Rodger’s Liverpool had executed a simple game plan against his team by pressing them high up the pitch, forcing errors and then exposing them with pace, so Chelsea offered their own version of that strategy.
While Liverpool were 4-0 up in 20 minutes, Chelsea took 17 minutes to get to 3-0. Away from home against their principal title rivals, Arsenal have conceded 17 goals. Statistics, Wenger’s great strength, are beginning to stack up against him.
The goals were calamitous. For the first it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who gave the ball away; for the second, it was Santi Cazorla; for the fourth, Laurent Koscielny totally missed a clearance; for the fifth, Tomas Rosicky passed to Oscar.
art of the riot: Samuel Eto'o superbly curls home the opener after five minutes
Such awful errors cannot be individually attributed to the manager.  But the tactical set up - to start with a lightweight midfield against such a physically powerful team - and the inability to close down a game can.
‘We pressed very, very high,’ said Mourinho. ‘We know they want the ball, they want to build from the back and they want to be comfortable with the ball. We pressed them very high immediately, recovered the ball and we were attacking the space very, very fast.’
The fact that Arsenal are so easy to read is clearly Wenger’s responsibility, which he did acknowledge. ‘This is my fault,' said Wenger ‘We got a good hiding. You don't prepare all week to experience that.’
There was only one moment in which Arsenal were truly in the game. It came in the fourth minute when Olivier Giroud was through on goal and his shot forced a smart save from Petr Cech. But within a minute, the tide had turned.
Oxlade-Chamberlain gave the ball to Schurrle, whose swift one-two with Eden Hazard allowed the German to run through Arsenal’s midfield, with no holding player was evident.
Samuel Eto’o still had much to do when he received the ball, but turned Koscielny and delivered a delightful curling shot into the far corner. It was almost his last contribution, limping off shortly after with a hamstring strain.
The second goal was embarrassingly similar, Cazorla the culprit losing out to Matic, who played in Schurrle. Again, the German was given all the space he needed to size up his shot to score. Seven minutes in, the game was up.
Worse was to come. Oscar - yes, Oscar -  out-muscled Arsenal’s midfield on 17 minutes and found Hazard, who exchanged passes with Fernando Torres and then unleashed a  shot that beat Wojciech Szczesny and tempted a desperate Oxlade-Chamberlain to stick out a hand and tip it round the post.
It might have gone wide but Oxlade Chamberlain it was who had deflected it but it was a fuming Kieran Gibbs who was dismissed, despite his team-mate confessing his guilt to referee Andre Marriner. Hazard converted the penalty.
By then it was just a case of by how much Chelsea wished to improve their goal difference. On 42 minutes, Koscielny completely missed clearance allowing Torres in to cross for Oscar to score at closer range.
There would be no respite in the second half. Rosciky passed across the penalty area to Oscar on 66 minutes for the Brazilian to score from the edge of the box. Still Arsenal kept their high defensive line, on 721 minutes Matic lifted the ball over it for Mohammed Salah to run and finish cooly, his first goal for the club.
By the end, Mourinho conceded that Chelsea might have ‘just a little’ chance of winning the title. Disingenuous as ever, it was at least a step towards to the truth. The race is down to three teams and Chelsea remain favourites.

Chelsea: Cech 7, Ivanovic 7, Terry 6, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 8; Luiz 7, Matic 7, Schurrle 8, Oscar 8 (Salah, 67), Hazard 8, Eto'o 7 (Torres, 10)
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Lampard, Mikel, Ba, Kalas
Goals: Eto'o 5, Schurrle 7, Hazard pen 17, Oscar 42, Oscar 66, Salah 70

Arsenal: Szczesny 6, Sagna 5, Metesacker 5, Koscielny 5 (Flamini, 45), Gibbs 6; Arteta 4, Rosicky 5; Oxlade Chamberlain 4 (Jenkinson, 45), Cazorla 5, Podoloski 5 (Vermaelen, 23) ; Giroud 5
Subs not used: Fabianski, Sanogo, Kallstrom, Gnabry.
Booked: Rosicky
Sent off: Gibbs
Referee: Andre Marriner 4

Attendance: 41,614

*Player ratings by Adam Crafton at Stamford Bridge

========================

Mirror:

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal: Andre Marriner commits howler as Blues ruin Arsene Wenger's 1000th game
 
By Dave Kidd

The referee contrived to send off the wrong man as Jose Mourinho's men won a dramatic London derby at Stamford Bridge

Engrave that scoreline on your cut-class decanter, Arsene.
Cast that in bronze and stick it on a plinth.
Happy 1,000th game, old chum, what an achievement, staying in charge of that rabble for so long.
And here’s your present – a hail of machine-gun fire.
This was personal for Jose Mourinho.
Ever since Arsene Wenger accused him of “fearing to fail” for talking down Chelsea’s title chances and the Stamford Bridge manager was slated for branding his rival a “specialist in failure”, this had been coming. Mourinho had fed his team on raw steak and they set about Arsenal like a pack of dogs.
“We set out to kill and, in 10 minutes, we destroyed,” said Mourinho.
He was in Marlon Brando mode. Wenger more like Marlon Harewood.
The shocked Arsenal boss admitted: “Today was a total nightmare.”
Arsenal could have parked the bus. Instead, they used it as a getaway vehicle.
Wenger failed to front up to the written Press, with a Gunners official claiming the team coach had left, less than an hour after the final whistle, while Mourinho was speaking. It was the best turn of speed the Gunners had shown all day.
This was ruthlessness as an art form from Chelsea. Wenger’s men were dismembered inside 17 minutes, 3-0 down, reduced to 10 men. Reduced to rubble.
Should Chelsea win this title, they will have done so largely by grinding out narrow wins.
Under Mourinho, they have often had a tendency to declare and pull down the shutters once a match is won.
Not against Arsenal, though.
Mourinho demanded that Wenger’s team were ground into the dust. He had not been gracious about the Frenchman’s landmark before the match.
Wenger’s bullet-ridden troops must now retreat from the title race and concentrate on the FA Cup. In three away games against their title rivals – Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool - Arsenal have conceded 17 goals.
That’s not so much a statistic as an avalanche.
Wenger has failed to overcome Mourinho in 11 meetings now, so no surprise that the Portuguese should spoil the party as the Frenchman brought up 1,000 games in charge of the Gunners.
Referee Andre Marriner left the Bridge almost as humiliated as Wenger, after a shocking case of mistaken identity, sending off Kieran Gibbs when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had handled at full-stretch. But that was nothing more than a sideshow in the grand scheme of things.
Samuel Eto’o needed only seven minutes on the pitch to inflict the first stiletto thrust – before the old man retired hurt.
The workaholic Andre Schurrle added a second before Eden Hazard won and converted the killer penalty. Oscar notched a brace, Mohamed Salah a first Chelsea goal.
But it was all about those opening minutes. Wenger named Mikel Arteta as a sole holding midfielder, Arsenal committed a series of schoolboy errors and Chelsea had no problem locating the jugular.
Petr Cech, though, was forced into a full-length from Olivier Giroud before Chelsea seized the lead. Schurrle played in Eto’o and the Cameroonian finished majestically, curling inside the far post.
Nemanja Matic mugged Santi Cazorla and fed Schurrle, who icily slotted home the second.
Then the mayhem – a Hazard shot beating Wojciech Szczesny, but tipped away by the hands of a diving Oxlade-Chamberlain.
To the astonishment of Gibbs and embarrassment of Marriner, it was the left-back who saw red – despite the Ox owning up.
Arsenal would have been three down and short-handed, either way, though, as Hazard stroked his spot-kick down the middle.
Schurrle was again involved in the fourth, feeding Fernando Torres, whose low centre was turned in by Oscar. After the break, a shocking pass from Rosicky allowed Oscar, to shoot home from edge of box – the Polish keeper this time adding a blunder of his own.
Then, Salah beat the offside trap to advance on to a Matic pass and shoot under Szczesny.
Mourinho didn’t even bother to wait around for the final whistle to shake hands with Wenger.
He lives by the assassin’s creed. Inflict the hit and leave, with your victim in a pool of cold claret.

=================

Express;

1000 Games and ten terrible minutes! The numbers don't add up for Arsene Wenger
CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho hailed his stormtroopers who left bitter rivals Arsenal's title ambitions in tatters within 10 minutes.
By: John Richardson

He insisted that referee Andre Marriner's big mistake in sending off Kieran Gibbs, instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, played no part in Chelsea's humiliation of Arsene Wenger's side.
By then Chelsea were 2-0 up with Mourinho stating: "In 10 minutes we destroyed them. They were 10 amazing minutes."
The goals by Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schurrle left Wenger, supposedly celebrating his 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners, with his hands in his head.
Worse was to come five minutes later when the Gunners conceded a penalty, Oxlade-Chamberlain tipping an Eden Hazard shot around the post with his outstretched hand.
But it was fellow England international Gibbs who was red-carded in an obvious case of mistaken identity.
Marriner, unable to comment on his mishap, did confess to TV officials in the players' tunnel as he came back for the second half that he had got it all wrong, despite Oxlade- Chamberlain telling him at the time he had been the transgressor.
Gibbs will now have his red card rescinded with Oxlade-Chamberlain serving a one-match ban while Marriner can expect a temporary demotion.
But Mourinho added: "It's a mistake that managers can have sympathy with.
"If one of the officials had been sitting in front of a screen watching a replay then the referee would have sent off Chamberlain and not Gibbs.
"It's a mistake no one wants to make."
A distraught Wenger said: "I believe it was handball but the referee hasn't seen it. The ball went out and I think it was Chamberlain who touched the ball. I don't know who gave the indication to the referee that it was handled but he has certainly not seen it."
Wenger confessed he had enjoyed better anniversaries. "This defeat is my fault," he admitted.
"I take full responsibility for it. I don't think there's too much need to talk about the mistakes we made.
"We got a good hiding. It's how we respond on Tuesday night [against Swansea]. Yes, of course it's one of my worst days." There was no sympathy from his old adversary after being reminded it was Wenger's 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners.
"I wanted the three points. It was a very, very good performance and was a special one for our fans. The momentum was broken at Aston Villa last weekend and now we are trying to build a new momentum."
But the Chelsea boss was in truculent mood when he was asked about the forthcoming Champions League clash with Paris Saint- Germain.
"I see they play on the Friday night while we play on the Saturday. The French League help their clubs. Can we win it [the Champions League]? Only if they let us," he said.
On the chances of landing the Premier League title on his first season back at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho added: "Manchester City have everything in their hands.
Nobody else in the top four is playing in the Champions League but we are happy to be in this situation." Wenger once again is left to reflect on another title which has got away.
He confessed: "It leaves it in a very bad situation. But we want to respond.
"We have to win the next game. This is what we have to focus on now and give a strong response. When you don't turn up in a game of this stature nobody takes that easily."
Referee Marriner later apologised to Arsenal for his error which saw Gibbs mistakenly sent off. A Professional Game Match Officials Limited statement last night said: "Andre is an experienced referee and is obviously disappointed that an error of mistaken identity was made in this case.
"Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors.
"Whilst this was a difficult decision, Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player.
"He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue."

====================

Star:

Chelsea 6 - Arsenal 0: Jose Mourinho's men humiliate the Gunners in Wenger's 1000th game
SOME things in football don't change.

By Paul Hetherington

Jose Mourinho doesn't lose to Arsene Wenger - and the Arsenal boss has now had 11 attempts to rectify that.
The Chelsea manager doesn't lose at home in the Premier League - it's now 76 games without defeat.
And Arsenal implode when it really matters against title rivals.
Remember six conceded at Manchester City, five at Liverpool and now six again at Chelsea.
On a dramatic, controversial day at The Bridge, Chelsea moved seven points ahead of their London rivals.
All in all, not the way Wenger wanted to mark his 1,000th match in charge of the Gunners.
And this, by Wenger's own admission, was Arsenal's "match of the season."
He even saw one of his players wrongly sent off - Kieran Gibbs - when the red card should have gone to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Mourinho waited at the end of the tunnel at the start of the match to shake hands with Wenger - then saw his side go for the throat of the Arsenal manager's team.
It was agony for Arsenal - just like their nightmare start at Liverpool recently.
In the fifth minute Samuel Eto'o cut inside Oxlade-Chamberlain after receiving a pass from Andre Schurrle and produced a sublime left-foot finish into the far corner of the net.
“After a delay which infuriated Mourinho and the Chelsea bench, referee Andre Marriner eventually gave a penalty - then bizarrely sent off a furious Gibbs”
That was just a minute after Chelsea keeper Petr Cech had denied Olivier Giroud at the other end.
But just two minutes after Chelsea's opener they struck again.
Nemanja Matic robbed Santi Cazotla and set up Schurrle for an easy finish.
And it got even worse for Arsenal when an Eden Hazard shot was handled by the diving Oxlade-Chamberlain.
After a delay which infuriated Mourinho and the Chelsea bench, referee Andre Marriner eventually gave a penalty - then bizarrely sent off a furious Gibbs.
Hazard converted the penalty with Gibbs seemingly a victim of red-card mistaken identity.
As it all went wrong for Arsenal, Chelsea's mocking fans chorused: "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay."
And three minutes from half-time Oscar made it 4-0 with a close-range finish into the roof of the net from substitute Fernando Torres' perfect low cross.
Oscar then made it five in the 66th minute with a right-foot shot from outside the box which Wojciech Szczesny made a hash of saving.
The Brazil playmaker was then replaced by Mohamed Salah,
who scored Chelsea's sixth with his left foot - his first goal for the club - from the excellent Matic's pass.
Torture for Arsenal as Chelsea recorded their biggest win of the season.
And Mourinho also saw Chelsea score six for the first time in the Premier League under his control.
Tomas Rosicky was the only Arsenal player who could feel reasonably satisfied with his individual performance and he was denied a last-minute goal by Petr Cech's save.

Galatasaray 2-0

Independent:

Chelsea 2 Galatasaray 0
Sam Wallace

They loved Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge before tonight and they will love him just as much after his first return in the shirt of an opponent – because as far as Chelsea were concerned this was precisely the kind of final farewell to an old favourite that they had in mind.
Even the greats of the game have to accept that their powers wane at some point and there could be no greater illustration of that than seeing Drogba, scorer of 157 goals in eight seasons at Chelsea reduced to the periphery he so rarely occupied as a player here. Before the match at Stamford Bridge, they acclaimed Drogba as one of the greats of their club and then watched in quiet satisfaction as he turned in one of his least influential performances on this ground.
Panic over for Jose Mourinho, and those at Chelsea who feared a haunting from Drogba. Chelsea are safely through to the last eight of the Champions League where they wait to see whether they will be joined by Manchester United tomorrow night or proceed as the only English representatives. It could hardly have been more straightforward in a home leg that Chelsea controlled from start to finish.
The game barely looked in doubt from the fourth minute when Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring. Gary Cahill claimed the second before half-time and the home fans felt sufficiently confident to start singing Drogba’s name again with five minutes of the match to play. On Friday, Mourinho’s team are in what will surely be one of the most competitive quarter-final draws in the history of the competition, but they would not wish to be anywhere else.
Certainly the next round will be a great deal more competitive than this stroll against a poor Galatasaray side where there was not a save of note for Petr Cech to make and the anticipated fight-back from the away side never truly got underway. Even the away fans, who rarely require a second invitation to make some noise were uncharacteristically subdued by the end.
As with the first leg in Istanbul, this was a very poor start from Galatasaray who seemed utterly unprepared for the dynamics of European knock-out football and gave themselves the proverbial mountain to climb within four minutes.
There was a glowering response from Mancini on the touchline when his players conceded the first goal to Eto’o, almost as if it had nothing to do with the manager himself. His team had been cut apart through the middle where the rampaging Felipe Melo, later to get himself booked, went missing and Hazard opened up his opponent with ease.
Chelsea were up and running and they should have had more than the two goals they finished the half with. Hazard ran Emmanuel Eboue up and down the left wing. Melo was booked for a foul on Willian which meant that Galatasaray’s Brazilian midfielder was obliged to apply the handbrake to all that he did.
Later a free-kick of Drogba’s went so extravagantly high and wide that it struck the orange “DROGBA LEGEND” banner on the second tier of the Matthew Harding stand. The home fans at Stamford Bridge loved that moment and the close-up shot on the television cameras caught a smile creeping across the face of the old lion of Africa.
John Terry executed a very nice volley on the run from Frank Lampard’s free-kick from the left on 33 minutes but having made the difficult connection just lifted it over the bar. A cut back from Eto’o to Willian on 38 minutes was the wrong choice with Oscar in more space. Then the second goal came two minutes before the break. Terry headed goalwards from Lampard’s corner, Muslera saved but pushed the ball back into the six-yard area where Cahill lashed it in.
As there was in Istanbul in the first leg, Mancini worked a change in his formation, switching to 3-5-2 after the break, albeit with very little effect. Drogba’s labours got even worse with the ball bouncing off him at times and then a booking for an attempt to trip Cesar Azpilicueta.
As for a response from Mancini’s side, there was perilously little of note. They never looked like they had the confidence or the pace to break down a very solid Chelsea team with Ramires and Lampard bossing the midfield and Cahill and Terry unbreakable in the centre of defence. Chelsea should really have scored a third two minutes from time when Fernando Torres, a substitute for Eto’o, had just Muslera to beat but could not shape his shot around the goalkeeper.
At the end, Drogba left the pitch, having first acknowledged the Galatasaray fans, to a rapturous applause from the whole stadium. He did not milk it – that would have been a little insensitive to his current employers – but he lingered long enough to enjoy the moment. Goodness knows, he deserves it even if this, probably his last game at the ground, will be one he does not choose to remember with any fondness.



Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Lampard, Ramires; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Eto’o
Subs: Schurrle/Oscar 83, Torres/Eto’o 85, Kalas/Willian 90
Galatasaray (4-2-3-1): Muslera; Eboue, Chedjou, Semih, Telles; Yekta, Melo; Inan, Sneijder, Burak Yilmaz; Drogba.
Subs: Bulut/Yilmaz 54, Balta/Yakta 67, Hajrovic/Eboue 77
Booked: Chelsea Oscar, IvanovicGalatasaray Melo, Drogba, Inan
Referee: F Brych (Germany).
Man of the match: Cahill
Rating: 6/10



=================

Guardian:
Chelsea blow away Galatasaray thanks to Samuel Eto'o and Gary Cahill
Chelsea 2 Galatasaray 0
Daniel Taylor


Once again Chelsea are threatening to be the last English club standing in Europe. Arsenal and Manchester City have already gone, Manchester United are teetering perilously on the brink and Spurs are in dire straits in the Europa League, but there is something remarkably durable about the team from Stamford Bridge. They bend for no one and, though they might not have the same panache of some of theChampions League quarter-finalists, every other club in Friday's draw will regard them as formidable opponents.
They won here with something to spare, inflicting the damage with first-half goals from Samuel Eto'o and Gary Cahill, and they were barely threatened after the interval. Galatasaray may have some of the more boisterous supporters in the competition but it is clear why Roberto Mancini apparently wants to leave Istanbul to return to English football. Didier Drogba was given a rapturous homecoming but his presence in the Galatasaray team, at the age of 36, summed up their limitations on a night when Mancini's body language told its own story.
The former Manchester City manager spent much of the first half prowling his technical area, remonstrating with his players in a series of exasperated hand signals and furiously outlining his grievances to his assistant, the silver-haired Tugay. For the last half an hour Mancini sat back, with his feet propped up, simmering with discontent. He knew then that his team did not have the firepower or will to trouble a side José Mourinho credited with being "very solid, very compact, and no fears".
Chelsea had not looked back from the moment Eto'o gave them the early breakthrough and could probably have added more goals if they had not detailed the second half to playing with restraint. They control winning positions pretty well under Mourinho and it did not matter a great deal that they stopped troubling their opponents with such regularity. The onus was on Galatasaray but the Turkish champions could barely offer a flicker of self-belief. "We did nothing," Mancini said. "We didn't deserve anything." Their supporters were vibrant and relentless; the same could not be said of Mancini's team.
As for Drogba, the returning hero was showered with love and returned the compliment by doing absolutely nothing to trouble his old friends. At one point César Azpilicueta could be seen outmuscling him by the touchline.
Drogba's first chance came from a free-kick and he blazed it so high over the crossbar it connected with the "Drogba Legend" banner that hangs from the middle tier of the Matthew Harding stand. From Drogba, there was a wry smile, when once there would have been a look of self-revulsion, and Mourinho was surely just being kind when he blamed Drogba's team-mates for leaving him "a lonely man". It was quickly apparent Drogba is not the player Chelsea's crowd remember and, between them, Cahill and John Terry handled him fairly comfortably.
Wesley Sneijder was also on the edges, doing little to live up to Mourinho's billing as one of the three most accomplished No10s in the business, but Galatasaray's problems were mostly in defence. Frank Lampard's set-piece deliveries frequently created problems and Roy Hodgson will have been encouraged by Fernando Muslera's goalkeeping in the first half. Muslera plays for Uruguay and Hodgson was in the stands, in part to see one of England's opponents in the World Cup.
The problem for Galatasaray was the speed and movement of the home team's attacking quartet. Oscar, whose recent form has been a concern, looked more like his old self. Eden Hazard was a menace and Eto'o's goal was a reminder of the days when he regularly tormented defences at this level.
Galatasaray were in trouble as soon as Hazard had controlled a throw-in on his chest, then turned and started running at their defence. Oscar was on the right and Eto'o's old instincts kicked in, running beyond the back four, latching on to the Brazilian's pass, then firing in a shot with the power to expose Muslera.
Mancini, with his undistinguished Champions League record, will not have to be reminded that a side at this level cannot expect to get away with defending so generously. It was the same again when Terry flashed a volley just over the crossbar later in the half, and the marking was almost non-existent when the second goal arrived two minutes before the interval.
Terry was the player who attacked Lampard's corner with the most intent, with no one following his run. Muslera kept out the header but could only parry the ball into the six-yard area and Cahill followed in to volley high into the net.
After that it was just a question ofChelsea protecting their lead but they still had the better opportunities, Muslera keeping out second-half efforts from Willian, Lampard and Hazard.
Drogba was booked, a decision the crowd booed, and for the last half an hour both sides looked as if they had settled for the result.
It resulted in a meandering and slightly unsatisfactory finale but the home crowd could still look on contentedly, serenading Drogba and wondering whether Mourinho, who has never lost a Champions League quarter-final, could yet become the first manager to win this competition with three different clubs.



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Telegraph:


Chelsea 2 Galatasaray 0; agg 3-1:
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent at Stamford Bridge



At the final whistle, Didier Drogba tarried on the turf he once called home as if loathing the thought of leaving his field of dreams. The Galatasaray striker embraced John Terry, waved to the home fans singing his name, hugged other Chelsea players, and still lingered before finally accepting that time, and ground-staff with lawnmowers, wait for no man.
Before taking his last step off the pitch, Drogba stooped and touched the grass. Then he was gone, the history man. Chelsea fans continued to chant his name as the tunnel swallowed up the tall, strong figure, one of the club’s greatest ever servants, the player whose last touch for them won the Champions League, who led the line so powerfully for so long, who scored 157 goals, nine of them in cup finals. So many memories. So much gratitude.
This was never going to be an ordinary match. This was the long good-bye, a farewell to a favourite that started an hour before kick-off, that continued with chants throughout the game and climaxed with that emotional send-off as Drogba left the Bridge.
Thoroughly professional throughout, Chelsea’s players put friendships to one side for 90 minutes and nullified Drogba. Terry and Gary Cahill never allowed Drogba a glimpse of goal. Galatasaray, again disappointing on English soil, managed only one effort on target, and that deflected off Branislav Ivanovic.
Chelsea recorded 13 attempts on goal, including the early opener from Samuel Eto’o and then Cahill’s close-range finish just before the break as they progressed smoothly into Friday’s draw.
Jose Mourinho has never lost a Champions League quarter-final.
He is such a smart tactician but will need all his wiliness given the quality of opposition in the draw, so far comprising Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid. The other two places will be taken by either Manchester United or Olimpiakos and Borussia Dortmund or Zenit St Petersburg.
It was hard to assess Chelsea fully as Galatasaray were poor, particularly Wesley Sneijder who was largely anonymous. What Chelsea will take particular encouragement from was a reminder that Frank Lampard can still influence games, that there are few better central-defensive axis than Terry and Cahill and that César Azpilicueta again showed what a good left-back he is, attacking and defending. There was also the sustained excellence of Eto’o.
At times this season, Chelsea fans would have loved to have had Drogba still leading the line, even aged 36. At 33, and fond of a celebration mocking the ageing process, Eto’o started here as if determined to make the home supporters forget about the returning idol. He hugged Drogba warmly and lengthily before kick-off and then took hold of this game.
Eto’o needed only four minutes to score. Felipe Melo had already demonstrated his occasional vulnerability in the centre, fouling Oscar and then being turned effortlessly by Eden Hazard, who had collected a throw-in from Ivanovic. Hazard wriggled forward and slipped the ball right to Oscar.
This was Chelsea at their best under Mourinho, full of unhesitant movement. Oscar eluded Semih Kaya and weighted his pass perfectly to Eto’o, who had stayed onside, and ran in ahead of Aurelien Chedjou. Galatasaray’s defence was unravelling like Roberto Mancini’s scarf.
The shot from Eto’o took a slight deflection but it was still poor goalkeeping from Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera, whose right hand was not strong enough to prevent the ball carrying into the net.
In marking his 30th Champions League goal in his 76thappearance, Eto’o refrained from his old-man impression but went through the gamut of other celebrations, punching the air, blowing kisses and almost shaking Oscar’s head off.
Eto’o was as lively as Drogba was quiet. Maybe the emotion of the occasion got to the Ivorian. Maybe he was just so tightly marked. He did hook a shot way over and then sent a free-kick so high over the bar that it struck the “Drogba Legend” banner hanging from the Matthew Harding Upper.
Chelsea fans laughed, having made sure that Drogba knew of their enduring affection before kick-off. Chelsea’s chief executive Ron Gourlay presented Drogba with a silver boot as Drogba’s son shared in the salute.
Drogba was being smothered in love. After the tenor Stuart Pendred finished twirling his scarf and singing “Blue is the Colour”, he joined the swarm of photographers charting Drogba’s emergence from the tunnel. Drogba got a kiss from Mourinho and was saluted by the fans, who also displayed a picture of their former No 11 with the tribute “always in our hearts”.
Yet at one of his few excursions into Chelsea’s box in the first half, Drogba was greeted with cheers and a few ironic chants of “who are you?” Petr Cech had little to do on his 100th Champions League appearance. Melo shot wide after a lay-off from Drogba. Muslera was the busier keeper. From a Lampard free-kick, Terry lifted a left-foot volley just over Muslera’s cross-bar.
Their next combination brought Chelsea’s second goal three minutes from the interval. Lampard curled a corner in and Terry headed down. Muslera seemed to have saved well, pushing the ball out but he did not direct it away from goal, merely into traffic. Cahill responded quickest and thumped the loose ball into the net, a perfect way to celebrate his 100th appearance for the club. England will hope that Cahill repeats the feat when next encountering Muslera in Sao Paulo on June 19.
Cahill continued to remind the watching Roy Hodgson of his prowess. When a long ball fell towards Drogba just before the hour-mark, Cahill stood behind the Galatasaray striker, anticipating its arrival, leaping up and clearing before Drogba could properly react.
Drogba needed better service. Sneijder did manage one pass to Drogba, who controlled the ball but was instantly dispossessed by Azpilicueta. Drogba responded with the tiniest of fouls, earning a booking from Felix Brych. It was harsh, utterly out of synch with the love-in for Drogba.
Chelsea remained comfortably in control. Willian cut a ball back to Lampard, whose header was clutched by Muslera. The movement of Eto’o was another masterclass in stealth and intelligence. His work-rate was first-class, closing down Galatasaray’s defence. Eto’o even received the compliment of a foul from Drogba.
Mancini switched to wing-backs but it made no difference. Oscar curled in a free-kick that Muslera punched out. Lampard volleyed over.
André Schürrle replaced Oscar, the man in Drogba’s old shirt getting warm applause after one of his more assertive shifts of recent months.
Eto’o was replaced by Fernando Torres, who shot straight at Muslera after a perfect through-ball from Hazard. The game petered out but it took a while for the singing of Drogba’s name to subside.



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Times:


Eden Hazard proves that Chelsea have art and graft
Chelsea 2 Galatasaray 0 (Chelsea win 3-1 on agg)



The sweat-stained shirts proved otherwise, but progression to the Champions League quarter-finals ended up looking very straightforward for Chelsea last night.
This was a victory that bore all the hallmarks of a José Mourinho team: forceful in the way they took control of the game, unyielding in the way they retained it thereafter.
It is no surprise to see Chelsea back in the Champions League quarter-finals again after last season’s hiccup. The question is whether, having got past Schalke, Basle, Steaua Bucharest and now Galatasaray, they will be able to rise to the standard that will be needed henceforth. While the quarter-final line-up has yet to be finalised, it is fair to suggest that much tougher tests lie ahead.
Few opponents will relish facing Mourinho’s team, though. Not only do they retain the winning mentality that has made them such a force in European competition for much of the past decade, they have, in Eden Hazard, a player with the skill, flair and ingenuity to unlock the best of defences.
The goals came from Samuel Eto’o in the fourth minute and Gary Cahill shortly before half-time, and there were strong contributions from Ramires and Frank Lampard in midfield, among others, but Hazard was by far the most captivating player on view. There was a period last season when the Belgium playmaker seemed to fade out of games, his tricks and flicks a sign of overindulgence rather than brilliance, but he has risen to every challenge that Mourinho has laid before him this season.
At the final whistle, it was all about Didier Drogba, one of the ultimate heroes of the modern-day Chelsea, savouring the applause of the home crowd as he left the pitch, but until that point it had been easy to forget that the Galatasaray forward was playing.
The visiting team needed to score to stand any chance of reaching the last eight after the 1-1 draw in Istanbul, but Petr Cech did not have a save to make until a free kick was diverted goalwards by Branislav Ivanovic in the final moments.
When Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford as a Real Madrid player at this stage of the Champions League 12 months ago, Patrice Evra suggested that Manchester United supporters should shower him with even more adulation than came naturally in order to soften him up. “Cristiano will get a great reception and it’s difficult when you play with love,” Evra said.
Ronaldo scored the winning goal against United, but his performance was a little subdued and the strategy seemed to appeal to Mourinho, who was the Real coach that night. While a rapturous reception from the Chelsea supporters was to be expected for Drogba, even the Galatasaray forward, back at his former club, might have felt a little flattered to be presented with a silver boot on the pitch shortly before kick-off.
The return of Drogba finished up as a sideshow, albeit one that caused amusement in the 37th minute when he sent a free kick so far over the target that it hit the “Drogba legend” banner on the upper tier of the Matthew Harding Stand.
By that stage, Galatasaray were already 1-0 down on the night and about to fall farther behind when Cahill extended Chelsea’s lead late in the first half. That was that. Just as you would not expect a Mourinho team to surrender a 3-1 aggregate lead on home turf, Galatasaray, never a great force away from home in the Champions League, are not the type of team to claw back such a deficit at Stamford Bridge.
Galatasaray set out with a robust approach — as if a team containing Felipe Melo would ever be any different — but as Roberto Mancini admitted, their performance was poor. The service for Drogba was almost non-existent, with Wesley Sneijder proving totally ineffective, and they failed to get to grips with Hazard.
Chelsea took the lead within four minutes. There seemed to be no danger when Ivanovic took a throw-in near the halfway line, but with Hazard around, danger is ever-present.
Allowing the ball to run across him, Hazard produced a body swerve that took him away from a flailing challenge and into space, running at the defence. From there, he played a clever pass wide to Oscar, who threaded the ball through to Eto’o in the inside-right channel. Eto’o’s shot did not entirely convince, but Fernando Muslera could only help it on its way into the net.
Mourinho’s team are at their most comfortable when protecting a lead. The game was scrappy — 23 fouls before half-time and 17 in the second — but it was being played on Chelsea’s terms.
Ramires and Lampard were controlling the midfield, taking turns to break forward and join the attack, but never leaving Sneijder unattended.
Lampard worries about developing signs of rustiness when he is selected only intermittently, but he was excellent here. Midway through the first half his surging run from midfield enabled Hazard and Oscar to combine to set him up for a half-chance that he stabbed wide of goal. Early in the second half he intercepted Muslera’s kick before teeing up Willian, whose powerful shot was saved.
Lampard also delivered a menacing free kick from which John Terry fired a volley just over the crossbar, then took the corner that yielded Cahill’s goal shortly before half-time. Again Terry was the target, meeting the ball with a powerful header that Muslera saved acrobatically without clearing the danger. It dropped for Cahill, who lashed it into the net to put Chelsea 3-1 up on aggregate.
Through it all, though, the eye continued to be drawn towards Hazard. After one lovely run early in the second half left Semih Kaya on his backside, he and Eto’o linked again to set up Oscar, but the Brazil forward’s shot was blocked by Melo.
Hazard had an excellent curling shot pushed around a post by Muslera late on, from Lampard’s pass, before setting up an opportunity that Fernando Torres failed to take. All that was left was for Drogba to take his bow and for Chelsea to prepare for the bigger challenges ahead.



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Mail:


Chelsea 2-0 Galatasaray (agg 3-1): Eto'o early strike and Cahill blast send Mourinho's men marching into quarter finals
By Martin Samuel



And the moral of this story, children, is: win your group.
Having seen Manchester City and Arsenal take on mission impossible a week ago,  Chelsea coasted into the last eight of the Champions League courtesy of a mission that came with its own  guarantee — a second-leg  victory that was assured by half-time against a team who are pretty much all mouth and no trousers.
Galatasaray’s colourful fans make a lot of noise but their team, at this level at least, is ordinary.
It is a myth that it no longer matters whether a team finishes first or second in the Champions League group stage, that the pool of teams is now so strong that avoiding the eight  winners is unimportant.
Chelsea’s second-placed rivals walked straight into a battering courtesy of the best team in Europe, Bayern Munich, and another that has redefined the way the modern game is played, Barcelona.
Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, meanwhile, brushed aside Galatasaray with something approaching ease, and without doubt they got more of a game from Aston Villa last Saturday.
The logic is basic. With UEFA’s seeding process separating the elite clubs, whether they win their league or not, it is likely the group winners will include Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Then take out the groups that are won by Premier League teams — usually at least two — and any English team finishing second has a more than 50 per cent chance of playing one of that big three.
Alternatively, come first of four and if the fates allow the path to the late stages could be relatively gentle. As it was for Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Chelsea could play within their limits here, after Samuel Eto’o and Gary Cahill gave them a 2-0 half-time advantage.
Considering Galatasaray were chasing the game from the fourth minute when Chelsea took a 2-1 aggregate lead, this was a very poor performance from the visitors, who forced only three attempts at goal, none on target.
Those who assume the worthlessness of statistics will find their argument bolstered, however, by the fact that Galatasaray enjoyed greater possession. It did not seem that way. They were barely in the game.
Mourinho did not have to display his Champions League smarts to steer Chelsea through, despite the presence of Roberto Mancini on the opposite bench. Galatasaray were unambitious and while Chelsea’s previously vanquished rivals may look on enviously, the simple truth is Chelsea earned this.
They earned having a defence that was barely troubled, they earned giving their forwards an upmarket training ground run-out before  Saturday’s match with Arsenal.
Eden Hazard was the man of the match and one of his second-half runs had a Lionel Messi-like quality about it. He’ll need that, from here. Last night it was simply wasted.
It was one of those games when Oscar, Willian and in particular Hazard combined to show how a new Chelsea forward line has been forged, without the mighty presence of Didier Drogba.
The man whose penalty clinched the Champions League final for  the club in Munich returned to a hero’s welcome, even enjoying a pre-match presentation from  his grateful hosts. In these days of hate mobs and spiteful  rejection, it was good to see a crowd that bore no ill will to an  old player in  an unfamiliar shirt.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were demonstrating why, despite the sentimental emotions of the fans, the club had decided it could do without an ageing striker, and could regroup around a trio of less substantial but no less effective attacking midfielders.
Eto’o and Cahill scored the goals that gave Chelsea a cosy feeling before half-time, but it was the three in Mourinho’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation who tormented Galatasaray from beginning to end.
Mourinho wishes Hazard to be placed in the same company as Cristiano Ronaldo and while he has a way to go considering the Real Madrid man scored his 41st goal of the season for Real Madrid against Schalke — and his 13th in the Champions League, where the record is 14 — he is a devastating talent with time to grow.
It was his sweet skill in the fourth minute that gave Chelsea the perfect start, half juggling with the ball in the heart of midfield before finding Oscar on a right-sided overlap. He slipped a pass back into the middle where Eto’o at first looked badly set up for it but fashioned a shot that Fernando Muslera in the Galatasaray goal might have prevented.
 Given that Galatasaray’s manager is late of Manchester City, it seems strange that the visitors should not have been prepared for the danger of John Terry in the penalty area. On two occasions, he came close, most spectacularly with a volley from a Frank Lampard free-kick after 33 minutes that travelled just over. Then, with three minutes to go before half-time, came the all-important second goal, and some distance.
It was a Lampard corner, again finding Terry unguarded. His header forced a save from Muslera, which came out to Cahill, who smashed it home from close range.
There were other chances. Late in the second half Oscar had a free-kick impressively saved and a final flourish from Hazard should have resulted in a goal for Fernando Torres, but Chelsea played within themselves for much of what remained.
So there is going to be at least one English club in the Champions League quarter-final, just as Mourinho has made Chelsea the team to beat in the Premier League, too. Drogba may be indulged on memory, but Mourinho’s power remains very much in the here and now, even if harder tests lie ahead.

Chelsea: Cech 6, Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7.5, Terry 7.5, Azpilicueta 7, Ramires 7, Lampard 7.5, Oscar 7.5 (Schurrle 81), Hazard 8, Willian 7.5 (Kalas 90), Eto'o 7.5 (Torres 85).
Subs Not Used: Schwarzer, Luiz, Mikel, Ba.
Booked: Oscar, Ivanovic.
Goals: Eto'o 4, Cahill 43.

Galatasaray: Muslera 5.5, Alex 5.5, Chedjou 5, Kaya 5, Eboue 5 (Hajrovic 77), Felipe Melo 5, Inan 6, Sneijder 5, Kurtulus 5 (Balta 67, 5), Drogba 5.5, Burak Yilmaz 5 (Bulut 53, 5).
Subs Not Used: Ceylan, Burdisso, Gulselam, Sarioglu.
Booked: Felipe Melo, Drogba, Inan.

Attendance: 43,000
Ref: Felix Brych (Germany), 6.5.
Ratings by SAMI MOKBEL at Stamford Bridge



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Mirror:

Chelsea 2-0 Galatasaray (3-1 agg): The Blues book their place in the Champions League quarter finals
By Martin Lipton




Not even Didier Drogba could stand in the way of Chelsea and the Champions League quarter finals - but the Blues could face a tougher test in the next round
The Drog might be part of the Stamford Bridge past.
But "The Daddy" still has a Chelsea future, for a few months at least.
While Samuel Eto'o may not be what he was, he remains the best striker Jose Mourinho has.
And, along with the brilliant Eden Hazard, he is the key to the Portuguese's hopes of making Champions League history this term.
Eto'o gave himself that "Daddy" title in an exchange with John Obi Mikel as he walked onto the training pitch at Cobham on Monday, retaining faith in his own talents.
Mourinho, too, has little option other than to rely on the Cameroonian but as Didier Drogba allowed the emotion of his SW6 return to emasculate him, Eto'o showed why.
The African's brilliant, critical, early strike - his 10th of the season - put Mourinho's Blues on course to canter into the last eight, where the real class acts of the competition lie in wait.
A second, just before the interval, from Gary Cahill, ensured Mourinho reached the quarter-finals for the eighth time in his 10 attempts - he has won them all previously - still in with the chance of becoming the first manager to win with three different clubs.
For the Blues to mix it with Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, all potential opponents after Friday's draw in Nyon, they will need to show more than required last night.
Mourinho accepted Drogba's pre-match embrace and kiss, but he did a number on his old friend.
The Ivorian is dangerous when he is wound up, angered, taunted to feel angry, not when he is smothered in kindness, lauded, made the guest of honour.
Without his biggest weapon, a cause, the Drog was an impotent puppy, brought to heel and brutally mastered by John Terry.
And once Robert Mancini's only real weapon was neutralised - Wesley Sneijder wore a cloak of invisibility - this one was pretty much done and dusted.
Of course, it helps when, as Chelsea did, you score with your first attack.
Mourinho may have mocked Eto'o's age before the first leg but the Cameroonian was quicker in thought and movement than any of the Galatasaray defenders when Willian, found after Hazard's sublime turn, rolled across.
The Turkish side looked for a flag that was never going to come - Eto'o had timed his move perfectly - and the striker took a touch before burying under Fernando Muslera's dive.
Galatasaray, despite their ear-splitting support, never recovered.
Admittedly, it did not help that Hazard versus Emmanuel Eboue was less a contest than an exhibition, that nobody in Roberto Mancini's side knew what to do with Willian or Oscar either.
That was not Chelsea's fault and with the effervescent Frank Lampard poking over, Terry just too high on a full-blooded volley, Cahill's second, three minutes from the break, was overdue.
Credit to Oscar, with a bee in his bonnet after being booked for a perfectly-timed tackle, who won a corner on the right out of absolutely nothing.
Lampard delivered in trademark fashion, Terry came steaming in with only one thing on his mind and while Muslera saved the downward header, Cahill thrashed high into the net from three yards.
Two up, in control, and, in truth, never in doubt, without Chelsea ever having to slip through the gears.
Oscar, much improved on recent weeks, and Willian might both have scored at the start of the second period, and Hazard remained an elusive, jinking, menacing presence.
The Belgian was denied by Muslera just before the end and then, with a superb sleight of foot,played in Torres, a late replacement for Eto'o.
Torres' failure to take that opportunity only reinforced why the internal equation has been tilted so far in Eto'o's favour. "The Daddy" IS the daddy.
More crucially, Chelsea's triumph means the Premier League standard will be carried into April, not fall limp this week.
Chelsea do not, it must be said, look like potential European champions. But they didn't in 2012, either, until the final kick.
And Mourinho is a proven course and distance winner, a horse whisperer with a magic touch. That helps. A lot.




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Express:


Chelsea 2 - Galatasaray 0 (3-1 agg): Samuel Eto'o steals Didier Drogba's limelight


THE OLD warrior was back at the scene of so many of his triumphs, his battles. But it was not to be his night.

Samuel Eto o grabbed an early goal for Chelsea to send them on their waySamuel Eto'o grabbed an early goal for Chelsea to send them on their way [AP]
The irony was that the architect of Didier Drogba’s Champions League downfall last night was Samuel Eto’o – who is hardly one of the new breed at Chelsea at only three years younger than the great Ivory Coast legend.
It was Eto’o’s early goal which sent Drogba and Galatasaray back into the Champions League wilderness for another year.
Gary Cahill’s strike just before half-time at Stamford Bridge last night only sealed what was, despite all the noise and hype, a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Drogba ran out to huge cheers from all areas of the ground before kick-off and he was made a presentation of a silver boot.
Eight years, three league titles and the final kick of his career at Stamford Bridge that won the club the Champions League on that memorable night in Munich two years ago earned the Ivorian that honour.
But Mourinho had insisted before this game that would be where any goodwill firmly ended.
Frank Lampard came back into a Chelsea side that was back at as full strength as it could be. The Londoners were attempting to recover from Saturday’s bruising defeat at Aston Villa and, having drawn 1-1 in Istanbul three weeks ago in the first instalment of this last-16 tie, were firm favourites to progress.
Galatasary had never won on English soil. But then this time they had Drogba. And even at 36, Mourinho conceded, the old warrior was still a major threat.
But it was one of Drogba’s replacements that actually got Chelsea off to a perfect start on the night. Eden Hazard controlled a pass on his chest and flicked a pass out to Oscar in only the fourth minute.
The Brazilian put Eto’o through with a perfectly angled ball and the Cameroon striker fired in his crisp shot.
Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera got a hand to the ball and should have stopped it, but it squirmed away from him into the net and Chelsea had the early goal they wanted. It was Eto’o’s 30th goal in the Champions League. Chelsea skipper John Terry won the first couple of shuddering collisions with his old friend, but Drogba’s touch and ability to hold the ball up was still clearly there.
Lampard clipped his shot just over after another fine interchange and Hazard tested Muslera as Chelsea kept breaking to good effect. Then Lampard swung in a free-kick and Terry’s volley screamed over the bar.
Two minutes from half-time Chelsea all but sealed the tie and again Muslera was at fault. Lampard’s corner was met by a ferocious header from Terry. The Uruguayan keeper could only parry the ball and Cahill lashed it into the roof of the net.
Lampard was in superb form in the centre of Chelsea’s midfield and one surging run set up Willian for a drive that was well held by the erratic Muslera.
didier drogbaDidier Drogba was given a hero's ovation after the final whistle [STUART ROBINSON]
Despite the fact that they had plenty of possession, it looked like all the fight had been knocked out of Roberto Mancini’s side.
Chelsea simply had too much pace and guile for Mancini’s team.
Oscar headed over as Chelsea threatened a third goal and the same player saw his vicious shot well stopped by Muslera, but in truth the work was done for Chelsea. All too aware of the hazards of wandering on to the pitch after his tangle with referee Chris Foy and his dismissal at Villa on Saturday, Mourinho barely stirred from his seat all night.
His counterpart Mancini, who definitely would not have felt like going out for dinner with his rival after this showing from his side, spent the game shaking his head and moaning furiously at his bench.
If Chelsea are to be English football’s sole surviving flag-bearers in the last eight of the Champions League – and we will find out tonight whether that will be the case when Manchester United try to salvage their so far wretched season by beating Olympiakos – then they will know that far tougher tasks lie ahead in this competition.
Life moves on, heroes fade, even those who have scored the winner in a Champions League final. Time shows little mercy in sport.



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Star:


Chelsea 2 - Galatasaray 0 (Agg: 3-1): Eto'o and Cahill net as Blues cruise into quarters


CHELSEA will carry the blue flag into the Champions League quarter-finals - as they saved the Premier League from more Euro embarrassment last night.
By David Woods

Last year not one team from the top flight made it into the last eight.
The season before it was just the west Londoners who progressed - going on to win the competition.
Now the pressure is on Manchester United tonight to overhaul their two-goal deficit against Greek side Olympiakos and keep the Blues company.
In truth, this was a bit of a Fulham Road stroll. Even with the returning Didier Drogba, the Istanbul outfit, managed by former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, too often were like Turkish delight - pretty soft.
Blues keeper Petr Cech had one of his easier nights as Chelsea’s resolute defence recorded their 22nd clean sheet of the season.
The big surprise was that Chelsea, with Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard combining so well behind Samuel Eto’o, managed just two goals.
Before kick-off home fans hailed one 30-something African striker, but soon after the game began it was another.
Eto’o was the only player in blue last night who has won a Champions League with Jose Mourinho, at Inter Milan in 2010. He was also been successful with Barcelona in 2006 and 2009.
He is three years younger than Drogba, 36 - or just one, if Mourinho’s aside to a French TV crew is to be believed.
And Eto’o kept Chelsea on course for a second Euro crown, and for a fourth for himself, with a goal in the fourth minute.
A Branislav Ivanovic throw picked out Hazard and, after a typically clever turn, the Belgium star was storming forward.
A flicked pass with the outside of his right boot played in Oscar, who ball found Eto’o timing his run perfectly to get in behind the Gala defence.
His shot was from quite a tight angle, but he kept it low and keeper Fernando Muslera’s right hand was not strong enough to stop it from crossing the line.
It was Eto’o’s 10th goal of the season for Chelsea but only his second since he scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 league defeat of Manchester United two months ago.
John Terry volleyed over a Frank Lampard free-kick shortly before playing a key role in Chelsea’s second in the 42nd minute.
The skipper met a Lampard corner with a thumping header. Muslera’s reactions to savewere good, but his pushing of the ball straight back into the danger area was not, allowing Gary Cahill to smash home the rebound.
At 2-0 up we saw a restrained and calm Mourinho, nothing like the angry 51-year-old at Aston Villa on Saturday, where Willian and Ramires - who both started last night - were sent off and he was dismissed to the stands.
Today he will, no doubt, be turning his thoughts to the crunch visit of Arsenal on Saturday - and how he can spoil the party again for Arsene Wenger, who is celebrating 1,000 games in charge of the Gunners, but he never won in 10 games against his arch-rival.
Mourinho kept reminding his men of their defensive duties, though, but they continued to press for a third against the Mancini’s men, who never looked like they believed they could claw their way back.
Muslera redeemed himself to a degree with good saves from Hazard and sub Fernando Torres. Drogba waved his goodbyes, again, and now Mourinho must be wondering who could be his Drogba-style hero in the final in Lisbon in May.

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