PSG 2-2 (aet)

Independent:
Thiago Silva's extra-time bullet header dumps Chelsea out of Europe despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic red

Chelsea 2 PSG 2 (aet. 3-3 on aggregate - PSG through on away goals)

Sam Wallace

It would have been a remarkable performance from the French side in any circumstances, but to play 90 minutes of this game without their star and chief goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, erroneously sent off, made this a benchmark night in the history of the PSG. Twice they came from behind, eventually to win the tie on away goals in extra-time and for most of that you would scarcely have believed that they only had ten men on the pitch.
Later Mourinho would admit that his team froze under the pressure of trying to win a game from a position that looked unassailable while PSG revelled in the freedom of their task. Chelsea were not at their best, far from it, and there were worrying signs for their manager in a season when his side were supposed to have matured into a team capable of winning this competition.
That said, their goals from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard’s penalty should have been enough. Yet they failed in a discipline which they usually handle with ease, conceding both goals from headers from corners from David Luiz and then Thiago Silva. That said it was a stupendous effort from PSG, and at the end even Chelsea seemed to accept that.
Mourinho will ask why Costa did not get a first half penalty. Laurent Blanc, however, deserves an explanation for Ibrahimovic’s red card. It was a swine of a decision for the referee Bjorn Kuipers to have to make, a blur of a tackle between the great Swede and Chelsea’s Oscar, but Kuipers got it wrong and so a great cup tie, was turned on its head.
What no-one was expecting from that moment was the great PSG performance that ensued. They might have been mistaken for a team of mercenaries in the past, but this time Blanc’s side were superb.
In the aftermath of the Ibrahimovic clash with Oscar, there were eight Chelsea players around the referee Kuipers and he got his red card out his pocket with the haste of a man over-eager to pay the bill; so much so that he bodged the dramatic reveal-and-flourish.
The dismissal of Ibrahimovic was another one of those human dramas that makes the modern game so intriguing and so frustrating. This was a match played on the tightest of margins. So tight that a moment’s delay of a sensible pass would guarantee its interception, one in which the smallest gap or delay represented a significant opening for one of the two teams.
In other words, there was an extremely high-level of competence, if not goalscoring chances, and then the referee Kuipers intervened. It was already a hard game to referee before he made that monumental decision, a game in which there was a good chance that he could be deceived by the sheer pace at which it was played.
As Oscar and Ibrahimovic went for the ball it was the Brazilian’s leading leg, his right, that was fully extended and his studs up. Ibrahimovic had folded his legs to a greater degree and contact was made right leg to right leg around the ankle area. The reaction of Oscar - hand over face, protestations of agony - seemed to influence the referee. By contrast, Ibrahimovic, propped himself up on one knee and looked composed.
At that point, Kuipers was surrounded by some Chelsea players telling him what to do and others signalling for the stretcher with the urgency of bystanders summoning an ambulance. Kuipers emerged from that pack of blue shirts with his red card already in his hand.
Until then PSG had tried to take the game to Chelsea, while Chelsea had got themselves in the right position to control their opponents and attacked on the break. Neither had created a chance worthy of note but pressure points had started to develop, not least with David Luiz, back in the centre of defence, whose fraying temper was made worse by the red card.
Four minutes before half-time he caught his fellow Brazilian Diego Costa with an elbow off the ball and the Spain international dropped to the floor without Kuipers seeing a thing. The friction between the two had begun much earlier and later Costa had offered the hand of friendship although this collision signalled the end of that.
And then, when Kuipers must have been wondering whether it could get any worse for him, it did. On 43 minutes, Costa went on a brilliant run – part dribble, part stumble and ricochet – that took him into the box and towards a shooting position. Having beaten Edinson Cavani, the Urguayan clearly thrust out a leg and tripped Costa, but no penalty was given.
In spite of that, it was a tie that, at half-time, was made for Mourinho’s team to win. He changed Willian for Oscar with the former on a booking. PSG were depleted and missing their star player and yet they were superb in the second half.
It was, quite simply, a heroic effort from the French side. At the heart of it was Marco Verratti probing with passes from midfield where Nemanja Matic, back in the team after his domestic suspension, and Fabregas, were quiet. Not only Verratti, but Javier Pastore was impressive too and between them they created the chance of the game for Cavani.
He should have scored, especially when he made such a good job of deceiving Thibaut Courtois and dribbling around the goalkeeper. From the left side, his shot struck the inside of the near post and bounced across the goal and out for a goal-kick – a strange bit of geometry. It was a great opportunity and Blanc’s frustration on the touchline said a lot.
Nevertheless, PSG kept trying to break Chelsea down. Having failed to exact revenge on Luiz, Costa sought out Maxwell for a bad late tackle and was booked. Not wishing to be excluded, Luiz intervened and was booked as well.
Then came the breakthrough for Chelsea. They had barely created a chance before Ramires had a shot saved at the near post by Salvatore Sirigu and from the ensuing corner, PSG made a mess of the clearance and from Costa’s scuffed shot it fell to Cahill to lash in from a few yards.
Blanc made changes immediately, bringing on Ezequiel Lavezzi and Adrien Rabiot and within minutes PSG were level. Pastore’s skill and chip forced the corner and Luiz was unmarked when he headed the ball firmly past Courtois.
By this time, with all the attendant aggravation, there was not a thought given by Luiz to curtailing the celebration at his former club, and quite right too. Into extra-time the game went. Mourinho replaced Ramires with Didier Drogba and he took Costa’s place as the centre-forward, with Costa moved to the right.
The second Chelsea goal was a personal disaster for Thiago Silva who inexplicably extended a hand in a challenge with the substitute Kurt Zouma and touched the ball. This time, there were no protests. Eden Hazard dispatched the penalty. In the final minutes of the game, Courtois saved brilliantly from Thiago Silva’s header from a corner. Then the next one came over and this time Silva found the space to beat Courtois and win an extraordinary cup tie on away goals.

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Guardian:

Chelsea out after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals
Daniel Taylor
Chelsea 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain (aet, agg: 3-3, PSG win on away goals)

It was a wild, draining night and for a long time before that dramatic finale, when the Paris Saint-Germain players still had the energy to party and Diego Costa looked like he wanted to fight anyone who got in his way, it had threatened to be a personal ordeal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Instead, it was a show of competitive courage from Laurent Blanc’s team. A lot will be said of Chelsea’s shortcomings but this also seemed like the night the French champions announced their arrival on the highest stage.
What an introduction it was, too, bearing in mind Ibrahimovic’s red card meant they had to play all but the first 31 minutes with 10 men. Twice, they found themselves behind, seemingly on their way out, and on both occasions they absolutely refused to let their lack of numbers debilitate them. Thiago Silva’s decisive header looped over Thibaut Courtois with six minutes to go in the second period of extra time. David Luiz, outstanding against his former club, had taken the game into the additional half-hour with another headed goal four minutes from the end of normal time and the fact both came direct from corners seemed to sum up the unusual nature of Chelsea’s performance.
It was a stodgy, weary display from Mourinho’s team with only sporadic moments when they threatened Salvatore Sirigu’s goal and their manager seemed bewildered afterwards when he tried to explain what had gone wrong. Mourinho was entitled to think his team should have had a first-half penalty when Edinson Cavani tripped Costa. Yet those complaints were undermined by the nature of Ibrahimovic’s sending-off. Chelsea were given a debatable penalty for Eden Hazard to make it 2-1 in the first period of extra-time and it was another night of repeat offending from Costa. Mourinho, in fairness, focused on his team’s shortcomings rather than any misplaced sense of injustice and even called for Uefa to let Ibrahimovic off. He did, however, follow that up by saying David Luiz should be suspended instead for elbowing Costa.
As always, there were a bundle of different side issues. The bigger point, however, is that Chelsea should have been capable of controlling the tie once Ibrahimovic was removed from the game. Hazard’s penalty, after the ball had taken the merest of flicks off Silva’s hand, had looked like putting Chelsea into the quarter-finals for the seventh time in nine years. Then again, it had been tempting to think the same after Gary Cahill opened the scoring in the 81st minute. Their opponents simply refused to give up. Other teams might have wilted. Yet this was a fit team, as well as one playing with self-belief, and the defensive errors at the end, with John Terry losing Silva for the killer goal, suggested it was Chelsea rather than their opponents who were tiring.
Blanc could also reflect afterwards on the moment, after 57 minutes, when Thiago Motta’s pass sent Cavani running clear; the Uruguayan went around Courtois, only for his shot to clip the inside of one post then flash past the other.
The corner for Silva’s goal came about after Courtois had saved another header from the same player. Again, it was from a cross into the penalty area, with plenty of defenders around. When was the last time Chelsea were so vulnerable from the corner spot?
Ibrahimovic’s challenge on Oscar was clumsy and mistimed – and a player of his size, leaping in at full speed, is asking for trouble – but he did turn his leg away when he realised he was too late to connect with the ball. His studs were not showing and PSG’s players clearly thought was the reaction of Oscar’s team-mates that influenced the Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers. Terry and César Azpilicueta led the outrage while Cesc Fàbregas went from demanding a red card to consoling Ibrahimovic within a matter of seconds. Nine Chelsea players were in close proximity to the referee and the PSG players, in turn, remonstrated with their opponents for taking the protests too far. That set the tone for the night, with Costa and David Luiz prominently involved in the different flash points.
Until that point, it had been a strangely subdued game, with both teams using the opening half an hour to size one another up. Hazard had looked determined to lift the quality but it needed the sending-off to spark the game into life.
It is rare to see Chelsea so susceptible defensively. Yet they also lacked penetration in attack, despite Hazard’s menace. Blanc had switched Cavani to a more central role after the red card and the forward excelled in place of Ibrahimovic. Oscar was substituted at half-time. Fàbregas is having a lapse in form and Costa seems so preoccupied with alpha-male aggro it possibly distracts him from the rather more important task of beating the opposition goalkeeper.
It was Costa’s miscued shot, after Terry had knocked down a half-cleared corner, that gave Cahill the chance to open the scoring. Yet Mourinho talked afterwards about a team that “could not handle the pressure”. David Luiz seemed inspired by that pressure. His header for the equaliser was the type that could be prefixed with the word “bullet”. Silva’s was a measured effort, weighted perfectly to drop beyond Courtois, and Mourinho did not hide from the truth. Chelsea, he said, deserved to be beaten.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 PSG 2
Thiago Silva's extra-time header puts 10-man visitors through on away goals

Henry Winter

Chelsea went out of the Champions League in extraordinary fashion in extra time and few outside Stamford Bridge will mourn their departure. Instead, there will just be huge admiration for the way Paris Saint-Germain reached the quarter-finals after responding valiantly to Bjorn Kuipers’ nonsensical 31st-minute dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a decision taken when surrounded and hounded by Chelsea players.
This was a bad night for Chelsea, whose antics were embarrassing at times, although PSG were hardly angels. Yet Laurent Blanc’s side were bolder and hungrier, their 10 men fuelled by a sense of injustice and helped by Chelsea’s ill-judged caution. Chelsea played with the handbrake on, and were ultimately and deservedly overtaken by the more ambitious PSG.

Jose Mourinho is rightly acknowledged as one of the great managers of the modern era, a master tactician who knows how to set his team up to maximum effect, but his conservative nature cost Chelsea here.
He talked of a psychological pressure on his players yet they had the extra man; even though his defenders froze at key moments, Mourinho must also take responsibility for not going for PSG’s exposed jugular when Ibrahimovic was sent off.
As the final whistle confirmed PSG’s place in the quarter-finals, Laurent Blanc, his back-room staff and substitutes poured jubilantly on to the pitch.
This was particularly special for Blanc, who shook so much with joy that his glasses almost came off. The dignified Frenchman has been frequently criticised, slated as a coach who lacks the nous of the stellar technical area beasts like Jose Mourinho, but he outwitted the Chelsea man here.
It was a precious feeling for David Luiz too. One of the most engaging characters was booed by Chelsea fans on his return to the Bridge, his detractors clearly forgetting that he converted their first successful penalty in their 2012 Champions League triumph.
Luiz scored a powerful header after 86 minutes, equalising Gary Cahill’s goal of five minutes earlier to force extra time.
Luiz was such a popular individual back-stage at the Bridge during his three years here that he was hugged by two of the Chelsea ground-staff as he celebrated on the pitch. His post-match interviews, brimming with respect for Chelsea, even apologising for revealing emotion when scoring, highlighted his class.
Yet even Luiz was culpable of a heinous act in one of the feistiest games of the season, having swung an elbow into the face of Diego Costa, an offence missed by Kuipers.
Costa was also denied a clear penalty when tripped by Edinson Cavani, another incident missed by Kuipers. Within seconds of full-time, Costa was marching menacingly across the field, trying to get at Yohan Cabaye, and needing to be led away by a steward.
Nearby, Thiago Silva was celebrating in unrestrained fashion.
When his team needed him most in extra time, their captain initially erred, handling the ball and gifting Eden Hazard the chance to put Chelsea ahead from the spot.
But Thiago Silva responded superbly, testing Thibaut Courtois with one header and then beating him with a header of power and placement to give the visitors the edge on away goals, sending Chelsea crashing out.
With Arsenal and Manchester City facing hugely difficult away legs next week, the Premier League involvement could be coming to a humiliating close in the round of 16.
The Premier League might be a global phenomenon, attracting huge television audiences addicted to its thrills and spills, but it lacks the chess-like cerebral qualities required too often in Europe.
While the English prepare to conduct a painful inquest, and then throw themselves back into the frenzy of the domestic game, Uefa and Fifa must surely see that video technology is required to help their officials.
Ibrahimovic’s sending-off was patently unfair.
When Ibrahimovic slid in to contest a 50-50 with Oscar, the Swede actually tried to pull out of the tackle. Oscar continued, his right foot catching Ibrahimovic, whose momentum sent the Brazilian spinning around on the pitch.
A simple replay would have shown Kuipers what had occurred. He was given no help by the assistant referee or the additional assistant referee, Michel Platini’s glorified mascot behind the goal.
It was impossible to escape the suspicion that Kuipers was influenced by the Chelsea players swarming around him. John Terry won the race to be first to complain and soon a nine-strong Blues chorus line chanting for retribution. Cesc Fabregas joined Hazard and Ramires to one side of Kuipers. Cahill was at the back, in the bass section.
Terry was conducting the protests in front of Kuipers. Costa was on the other side of the referee, with the very vocal Cesar Azpilicueta and Nemanja Matic. Branislav Ivanovic was slightly late to join the barracking brigade. The only Chelsea players not involved in the manic serenading of Kuipers were Courtois and the prostrate Oscar.
As nine angry men made their point, Kuipers duly punished Ibrahimovic.
Jeremy Clarkson was the most famous suspended person at the Bridge until Ibrahimovic departed. Ibrahimovic rarely enjoys much luck against English defences, barring a brief purple patch against Arsenal and shredding England in Stockholm, but the Swede did not deserve the walk of shame. 
As he reached the tunnel, Chelsea supporters chanted “w-----” at him and “f--- PSG”. Welcome to the Bridge of slurs.
It was all so ugly, so out of keeping with the efforts that Chelsea and their supporters had made to be welcoming after a few of their travelling number had shamed the club with their racist behaviour in Paris.
The fans in the Matthew Harding Lower even held up a flag proclaiming “equality” before the match. It will take some time before relations improve between these two clubs.
Justice prevailed with PSG progressing. Their 10 hungry men went for glory. PSG were depleted in numbers but not spirit. Edinson Cavani rounded Courtois, but sent his shot against the post.
Chelsea shook themselves into action. Ramires was thwarted by Salvatore Sirigu. With 10 minutes remaining, Chelsea broke through. Luiz and Terry went for a high ball which dropped to Costa, whose fly-kick fell sweetly for Cahill. The England centre-half thundered the ball home.
Blanc reacted, sending on Ezequiel Lavezzi for Marco Verratti.
Within five minutes, Lavezzi was swinging in a corner that Luiz just wanted more than everyone else, the Brazilian climbing high to power a header past Courtois. PSG celebrated wildly, and understandably so as they had refused to be daunted by losing Ibrahimovic.
Mourinho finally became more assertive, sending on Didier Drogba for Ramires. Within six minutes, the extra impetus paid off. With Drogba a forward focus, Costa suddenly peeled left and lifted the ball in.
Thiago Silva leapt up with Kurt Zouma, stretching his hand up towards the ball, crazily for such an experienced defender. Kuipers pointed to the spot. Hazard placed the ball down, turned and coolly stroked the penalty past Sirigu.
Courtois saved brilliantly from Silva but then could do nothing with six minutes left when the Brazilian attacked another set-piece, heading PSG deservedly into the quarter-finals.

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Mail:

Chelsea 2-2 PSG (AET, agg 3-3): David Luiz and Thiago Silva power headers past Jose Mourinho's side to knock them out after Zlatan Ibrahimovic sees red in cynical clash at Stamford Bridge

By Martin Samuel

Thibaut Courtois wanted to come, changed his mind and back-pedalled. By then it was too late. Thiago Silva’s header was looping over his head and Chelsea were heading out of the Champions League. Deservedly, too.
Paris Saint-Germain were the better side here, played the best football, overcame the odds. That blend of class and cussedness reminded one of Chelsea, at their best. They were nowhere near that level on Wednesday night, though.
They had the game won, twice. Firstly, in the 81st minute when Gary Cahill gave them a scarcely deserved lead, then six minutes into extra time when Eden Hazard restored it from the penalty spot. Both times, PSG came back — and with 10 men, too. They had as much possession as Chelsea despite having played with a numerical disadvantage for 90 of the 120 minutes. Takes some doing, that.
There will be the usual inquest but for a moment shouldn’t we just praise PSG? Shorn of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after 30 minutes, they were quite magnificent in the second half and showed enormous resolve throughout.
It was an ugly game, and both teams share responsibility for that, but PSG had more ambition and scored the goal of the night, through David Luiz, which sent the tie into extra time.
As Chelsea fans will recall from that night in Munich, Luiz knows how to celebrate and he savoured every moment of this away-goals victory.
Despite the £50million transfer fee his departure from Chelsea still feels like rejection, so this was revenge. If not on the club, then perhaps on Diego Costa, who fought him every step off the way — some of it picked up by the cameras, much of it not.
There was clearly ill-feeling over the dismissal of Ibrahimovic, too, PSG convinced that Chelsea’s players — led by John Terry — had a huge influence over referee Bjorn Kuipers.
Their reaction to his tackle on Oscar was as extreme as the challenge itself — high, late and pretty nasty — and Kuipers had the red card out, while surrounded by blue. Thiago Motta was then booked for pointing this out
It made for a spiteful game, always bubbling on the brink of eruption. For Chelsea, Hazard was the sole shining light, with too many of his team-mates happy to engage on every other level bar creation. Not that PSG were blameless, or faultless — but they were better.
They could have won it in normal time had Edinson Cavani taken an opportunity in the 58th minute, and Chelsea looked tired and often mediocre by comparison.
Courtois made the save of the night from Thiago Silva in extra time but it only set up the corner from which the Brazilian scored the fateful second.
Until that moment, it looked as if Chelsea would go through against the run of play. They took the lead in extra time through a mystifying stroke of luck. Thiago Silva challenged for a high ball, inexplicably with a hand raised as if tipping it over the bar.
Hazard stepped up, waited for goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to move and slipped the ball past him, cool as you like. That is five penalties in eight Champions League games for Chelsea. The team that can’t buy one at home can’t stop scoring them in Europe.
That should have been it, except Chelsea are having increasing problems closing out games. Mind you, PSG are an attacking force to be respected. They never gave up and, in Luiz, had a talismanic figure almost possessed in his intensity.
They’ve seen a few good headed goals in their time at Stamford Bridge, yet even by the standards of Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon and lately Didier Drogba and John Terry, Luiz’s equaliser was something special.
It was the sheer pace that did it. Luiz lost Branislav Ivanovic with his run, yes, but it still needed converting and not even Courtois in Chelsea’s goal was ready for the power that was delivered, from mid-air. He barely moved, and certainly didn’t have time to dive. It hit the net like a long-range shot, dragging Chelsea into extra time.
Yet PSG were unlucky not to win in 90 minutes and had a 58th minute chance for Edinson Cavani gone in who knows what could have happened. A Chelsea forward move broke down and Marco Verratti broke downfield.
He fed the ball to Cavani who had burst through with Cahill caught surprisingly unaware. He charged toward Courtois, rounded him, and with the goal now empty shaped to shoot.
Yes, the angle was tight, but this is one of the world’s finest forward players. He would be expected to score from there but hit the near post.
Agonisingly, the ball spun off and across the face of goal, preciously close to the goal-line. Back down the field, PSG players fell to the ground in frustration. Quite why, who knows? There was enough of that going on as it was.
Sometimes it was justified — Costa absolutely cleaned out Silva after 72 minutes — on other occasions, not. This was a bad- tempered match, the polar opposite of Tuesday’s meeting of Real Madrid and Schalke.
Jose Mourinho would no doubt sneer and call 4-3 a hockey score. Yet for all the wealth and excellence on display, some will sneer at this, too. Not until Ramires forced a save from Sirigu in the 79th minute did Chelsea have a chance worthy of recall. From that corner, they scored.
It was a poor clearance, headed back across goal by John Terry. Costa had a swipe, missed and the ball skewed to Cahill. He shot through a crowd of players and, with nine minutes to go, Stamford Bridge thought the job was done.
It should have been. With Ibrahimovic out of the way it was advantage Chelsea. True, the striker was getting very little here, but still lost his cool quite spectacularly.
It was a 50-50 with Oscar and the ball was there to be won. The Brazilian arrived first, however, and Ibrahimovic hit him, hard. A rotten tackle but a sending off? Maybe just short. Probably a booking and a three-quarters if such a thing existed, on the grounds that it looked more ill-timed than ill-intended.
Chelsea’s players were in no mood for clemency, though, and sprinted as a collective to Kuipers which made the tackle look 10 times worse. From there, both sides were spoiling for a fight.
In the aftermath, tackles and challenges grew in intensity and one should have resulted in a Chelsea penalty when Cavani tripped Costa. One can only imagine Kuipers had no view of the tackle through a crowd of players.
There was so much happening, on and off the ball, that keeping track of it all was a thankless task. Luiz looked to have elbowed Costa on the blind side in the first half and, if so, was lucky to stay on. There may have been previous, however, with Luiz felled earlier and claiming foul play. The Brazilian had the last laugh, though, and one imagines wasn’t too proud to let that show.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 2-2 PSG (3-3 aet): Blues crash out of Champions League on away goals after Thiago Silva late header

Dave Kidd

Stifled by caution and outplayed by ten men, Chelsea slunk out of the Champions League with their tails between their legs.
Paris St Germain lost talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to an early red card then proceeded to dominate the Premier League leaders.
Dramatic late equalisers from David Luiz in normal time and Thiago Silva in extra-time earned Laurent Blanc’s men a win they richly deserved.
In truth, English clubs have been given pretty thorough schoolings in four matches out of four in this last-16 stage.
The wealthiest league in the world will end up without a representative in the quarter-finals unless Arsenal or Manchester City can pull of a miracle away from home next week.
Chelsea may have led through a Gary Cahill strike and a fortuitous Eden Hazard penalty but they simply failed to cope with the prospect of defending an away goal against ten impassioned men from Paris.
The pre-match trash talking had been feisty – Mourinho accusing the French of playing like lower-league cloggers, Laurent Blanc singling out Diego Costa as Chelsea’s chief provocateur.
And there was plenty of snap in PSG’s early challenges – Javier Pastore winding Costa with a swing into the midriff and Thiago Motta landing a late one on Nemanja Matic.
The indiscipline which Mourinho had highlighted cost Paris dearly on 32 minutes.
For a hulking 6ft 4in galactico, Ibrahimovic had gone virtually unnoticed until then but the Alpha male seized the centre of attention with a wild, late, two-footed challenge on Oscar.
The respective sizes of the two men didn’t help Zlatan – a sledgehammer to crack a nut – and Oscar certainly gave it the triple salchow routine, while John Terry led an enraged Chelsea reaction.
But it looked a clear modern-day red card and referee Bjorn Kuipers obliged.
For a while it seemed the visitors had completely lost the plot – Thiago Motta was booked in a secondary flare-up after Zlatan’s walk of shame.
Then Luiz floored Costa with an off-the-ball elbow which Kuipers missed – and the Dutch ref did Chelsea no favours by failing to award an open-and-shut penalty case when Cavani shoved over Costa, after a slaloming run into the box.
It was threatening to turn into the sort of match Chelsea used to have with Leeds back in the early 70s – with the ball an optional extra. Chopper Harris would have been scenting blood in his nostrils and looking to dig out his dubbin.
Mourinho was repeatedly reminding his players to keep their heads and not along Kuipers the opportunity to even things up.
Oscar was hauled off at half-time to be replaced by Willian – who almost immediately produced first serious effort on goal, with a cunning free-kick which almost caught keeper Salvatore Sirigu completely off-guard.
Edinson Cavani was in bull-in-china-shop mode and when Pastore slipped him through with a pass that left the Chelsea defence flat-footed, the Uruguayan rounded Thibaut Courtois and struck the near post with a shot from a narrow angle.
Chelsea were caught in no man’s land, not needing to score, simply to see out time against ten men – and their lack of attacking motivation was threatening to be their undoing.
The ten men seemed to be outnumbering the eleven as Blanc’s men attacked in waves, Pastore’s shot squirming out of Courtois’ grasp, Chelsea defending desperately.
Costa was lucky to escape a red himself for a horrible late lunge on Thiago Silva.
But Cahill looked to have secured Chelsea’s place in the last eight when he drilled home ten minutes from time after Terry had beaten Luiz in a scramble after a corner.
Luiz, though, is a proper limelight-hogger and his moment arrived just five minutes later when he beat Ivanovic to corner and thundered a header off the underside of the bar.
But five minutes into extra-time, Silva raised his arm as he challenged Kurt Zouma from a Cesc Fabregas but did not seem to make contact. Kuipers pointed to the spot and Hazard rolled it home.
Courtois made one outstanding save from Silva but from the resulting corner, the Brazilian defender leapt to score with a dipping header to send the visiting bench into rapture and Chelsea crashing out.

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Express:
Chelsea 2 - Paris Saint-Germain 2 AET (agg 3-3): Silva and Luiz send PSG through
Tony Banks

The Brazilian was never a dull figure at Stamford Bridge. Ridiculed by some pundits for his risk taking, a cult hero for the fans for his hairstyle and humour.
Sold for £40 million last summer he came back to haunt his old team as his headed goal took this epic last 16 tie into extra time.
It was Thiago Silva’s goal six minutes from the end that settled this bad tempered, epic last 16 tie and sent ten man Paris St Germain into the quarter finals. But it was Luiz who was at the centre of everything Silva’s daft extra time hand ball had given Chelsea the lead through Eden Hazard’s penalty. But then his glorious looping header was the moment that left Chelsea devastated.
It was though no more than Luarent Blanc’s team deserved. PSG had played like heroes for more than an hour after key man Zlatan Ibrahimovic was harshly sent off by referee Bjorn Kuipers.
They should have scored when Edinson Cavani missed a sitter, fell behind when Gary Cahill scored, but never gave in as Luiz, inevitably, had his moment.
Chelsea looked to have done had done what they do under Jose Mourinho. Won the game. But Laurent Blanc’s classy side simply refused to give up. They kept going - a minute before his crucial goal Silva had seen another header brilliantly stopped by Thibaut Courtois. Seconds later he tried again - and PSG are in the quarter finals after a truly epic performance.
For Mourinho and Chelsea the title is now everything.
A year ago Blanc had felt the agony of going out in the quarter finals at Stamford Bridge thanks to an 87th minute Demba Ba goal, after his team had led 3-1 from the home leg. The word was that PSG’s Qatari impatient owners might well pull the trigger on Blanc if he failed again. But this was sweet revenge for the former France coach.
Mourinho as ever stirred the pot before kick off as he named PSG as the dirtiest side his team have faced all season, after Eden Hazard was fouled nine times in the first leg. Blanc in turn warned his team to watch for Chelsea and Diego Costa in particular’s dirty tricks. Anglo-French accord there was not.
But the tackles flew from the start - Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas both flattened early on. Then Luiz ended up on the deck.
But then Zlatan slid in late on Oscar leaving the Brazilian in a heap - and Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers instantly waved the red card. It looked very harsh indeed on the Swede, whose studs were not raised, and who had tried to pull out. But he was late.
But the French side picked themselves up and got on with it. Only a brilliant covering header from Terry denied Edinson Cavani. But then Costa weaved his mazy way through several tackles and was felled in the area - but for once Kuipers waved play on, to Chelsea’s fury. Then Chelsea had their second major stroke of good fortune. Thiago Motta put Cavani clean through, and the Uruguayan went round Thibaut Courtois - but with the goal gaping, drove his shot against the post.
But ten man PSG simply kept coming.
Costa was booked for a terrible tackle on Thiago Silva that could easily have been a red, and a squaring up to Luiz brought a yellow for both. Tempers were fraying all over the pitch and tackles flying. Kuipers had definitely not helped matters with that early, rash red card.
But then the breakthrough. Willian’s corner was not cleared by the PSG defence. Costa miscued, but Gary Cahill was there eight yards out to crash in a right footed volley.
Then Courtois was in the right place to stop Ezequiel Lavezzi’s header, and Pastore’s chip. But then from the corner Luiz met the ball with a thumping header that gave the Belgian no chance. It had had to be him.
Extra time should have seen Chelsea, with a man extra, home - especially when Hazard coolly rolled in the spot kick. But this Chelsea side are not yet adept at closing out games, and Silva punished them. This one will hurt.

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

Star:

Chelsea 2 PSG 2 (3-3 AET): Hosts left feeling blue as French side shine at the Bridge
Chelsea's Euro dreams are over for another season

Despite having a one-man advantage for an hour-and-a-half against PSG, they lost their heads while the Laurent Blanc’s side kept theirs.
Literally, in the case of ex-Blues star David Luiz and skipper Thiago Silva.
For it was the centre-back duo who nodded home powerfully from corners in the 86th and 114th minute to take the Paris outfit into the last eight.
Chelsea’s big problem last night was they, and PSG were guilty of this too, seemed more intent on settling scores, than scoring goals.
Jeremy Clarkson should have felt right at home as the Top Gear star watched this foul-fest.
Clarkson has been suspended from his BBC ‘Top Gear’ show for allegedly punching a producer in a row over catering. Much of what was served up, particularly from Chelsea, was not tasty.
They were poor, as poor as they have been all season, seeming not to know how to alter their ‘catch-them-on-the-break’ masterplan following the dismissal of superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 31st minute.
You would never have guessed the Blues had a man advantage as they got caught up in the nonsense that was going on all over the pitch.
They did go ahead thanks to a Gary Cahill goal in the 81st minute, which had a lot of luck about it, then Eden Hazard scored from the spot in the 96th to make it 2-1.
The penalty was awarded after Thiago Silva flapped at a high ball in the box, but he was to make amends.
Luiz took the game into extra-time with his header, although he perhaps should not have been on the pitch, having appeared to elbow Costa in the 40th minute.
That incident was one of so many nasty flashpoints, with Mourinho and Blanc’s battlers seeming to have overdosed on testosterone.
But only Ibrahimovic joined ‘Jezza’ on the banned list. In truth, the striker was unlucky to go for a challenge on Oscar. Replays indicated Chelsea’s Brazilian had gone in just as hard, and higher.
Ibrahimovic joined Edgar Davids as the player sent off the most times in the Champions League, with both now on four.
But another Dutchman, referee Bjorn Kuipers, may well be asking himself today how much he was influenced by the furious reaction of Mourinho’s men.
Many, skipper John Terry in particular, howled and screamed theatrically in protest and Kuipers, at one point, found NINE blue shirts around him before he brought out the red card.
The fouls and the flare-ups started early, Silva going in from behind on Costa in the fourth minute.
It was to set the trend for the night with players’ reactions often worthy of the name of the Chelsea No.8 - as in deserving an Oscar!
Mourinho and Co will have their claims of being treated unfairly, Costa hammering the ground after Kuipers refused to award a penalty after he tumbled in the box following a first-half challenge from Edinson Cavani.
It was Cavani who had the first real chance of the game, going clean through in the 57th minute, but shooting against the near post.
Cahill blasted home a half-volley after Costa’s complete mishit spun to him. But that man Luiz thumped in a header from a corner to make the scores dead level. In extra-time Hazard stroked home a penalty after Silva’s mad moment, when jumping with Kurt Zouma.
Luiz forced Courtois into a superb save with a brilliant free-kick and the Belgium star also kept out Silva’s header, after a corner from the right, with a superb flying save.
But from the resulting corner on the other side the Brazil skipper jumped highest again to plant a header over Courtois and into the net.
On a brutal night for football, you could say the result was a Silva lining for the game.
Chelsea can now concentrate on the league, and wonder about why they got so caught up in being macho men.

West Ham 1-0

Independent:

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Eden Hazard scores only goal in tight contest as Chelsea continue march towards the title

Sam Wallace

Eden Hazard’s goal midway through the first half was only half the story, and there was much of this game that did not go the way of Chelsea, but that is what it can be like in the dog days of a title race. Were it not for Diafra Sakho’s shaky finishing, had an offside decision gone West Ham’s way then it might so easily have been different. The truth is, however, that only very good teams win games like these.
That was not to say Mourinho’s team were always at their best and, tired from Sunday’s Wembley triumph, they found themselves attacked relentlessly by West Ham in the second half when the game truly came to life. The home side created chance after chance for Sakho: sometimes he missed them and more often than not the hands of Thibaut Courtois, back in the Chelsea team, intervened.
Without a win in the league since 18 January, Sam Allardyce’s side showed the bloody-mindedness required to give Chelsea a game, they just did not have the goals in this team to get a result.  In defence, John Terry and Gary Cahill were excellent once again. A goal against them in this form is hard-won to say the least. This Chelsea defence, and their goalkeeper, lays everything on the line and West Ham did not quite have the quality to overcome that resistance.
At the end of the game the four Chelsea defenders and Courtois converged to embrace, and Petr Cech, left out the side this time, joined them on the pitch. This spirit is a major part of what is carrying Chelsea forward to the title.
It had been strangely bloodless for a meeting of these two teams until the final few minutes of the first half when the usual suspects started dishing out some of the punishment which the two sets of supporters expect. First James Collins left Kurt Zouma needing a long period of treatment with a tackle that connected with his ankle, then Diego Costa tried to leave something on Aaron Cresswell.
As Zouma hopped and stumbled off the pitch, his right foot dragging, the West Ham fans began to sing “You won’t let him on the train” to their Chelsea counterparts. It was pretty crude stuff but stop for a moment to wonder that these two clubs, with a very chequered history as far as racism is concerned, would seek to take the moral high ground on the issue.
Before then, the Boleyn Ground had been becalmed as some early promise in attacking the league leaders faded and, let off the hook by the poor finishing of Cheikhou Kouyate and Sakho, Chelsea struck.
If they saw anything of Sunday’s Capital One Cup final, West Ham will have known that against Chelsea one has no option but to make hay while the sun shines. Fail to take chances against Mourinho’s team and you can be sure they will not make the same mistake when their opportunity comes.
So it was that Chelsea picked the home team apart on the counter-attack. It was not one of their high-speed chases from end to end, more a careful stretching and probing of the West Ham defence that saw the final passes go from Cesc Fabregas to Ramires out on the right wing who crossed for Hazard to head the ball in from close range.
The instinct was that the cross found Hazard in an offside position and the replays suggested as much. Nevertheless, Mourinho’s team had absorbed the best West Ham had to offer in those early stages – and West Ham had more chances in the first half than Tottenham Hotspur had in all Sunday’s final – and come out ahead.
Sakho headed straight at Courtois from Carl Jenkinson’s cross on 36 minutes when the striker really should have done much better. The West Ham full-back had earlier sprinted after Costa when the striker was put through to Hazard and used his greater pace to block the shot as it came off the toe of the Chelsea man.
The mood at the end of the half, the tackles from Collins and Costa and a growing sense of injustice in the stands that referee Andre Marriner had dealt with West Ham unfairly, meant that it came quickly to the boil after the break. Allardyce’s team seemed to sense that Chelsea were not without their vulnerabilities and went after them.
They would have had more than one goal were it not for the finishing of Sakho and, more pertinently, the goalkeeping of Courtois. The West Ham striker found himself thwarted more than once by the Belgian who was outstanding – even in the moments when it looked like he must surely be beaten he was able to recover the situation.
He saved on 53 minutes when it looked like he was wrong-footed by Sakho’s shot and the ball was going to trickle past him. He saved again on the hour when Stewart Downing stole the ball away from Branislav Ivanovic and fed his striker. In Chelsea’s rockiest periods, their goalkeeper kept coming to the rescue and even when he dropped one – Enner Valencia’s shot – they survived.

In that period Chelsea had chances of their own too. Ramires clipped the inside of goalkeeper Adrian’s post having stepped around the challenge of Collins. Then the West Ham goalkeeper saved brilliantly from Ramires’ header, dropped onto his forehead by Hazard’s delicate chip from the left.
There was one more Sakho miss, a header that went over before the substitute Willian had a shot cleared off the line. It will be regarded as another small step for Mourinho’s team towards the title but if you were at Upton Park, you saw another performance that suggested this team have the right stuff.


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

Guardian:

Eden Hazard goal edges Chelsea past West Ham to maintain league lead
West Ham 0 - 1 Chelsea

Dominic Fifield at Upton Park


The scene at the final whistle told its own story. Chelsea players, as relieved as they were elated, converged in small groups in front of those massed in the lower tier of the Sir Trevor Brooking stand with the clenched fists and bellowed celebrations betraying the significance of success. Claiming the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and with it the first major silverware of José Mourinho’s second coming, is one thing. Emerging victorious from a derby as brutal as this to retain authority in the title race arguably meant so much more. The manager was probably only half joking when he admitted he might lie in until midday to recover.
This was blisteringly frenetic, the visitors stretched horribly at times by a West Ham United side who had won only once in 10 matches and were apparently witnessing their own promising campaign dying a death. At times the leaders heaved to contain the Hammers, with Sam Allardyce’s team direct and relentless, pouring forward with Diafra Sakho spurning at least four clear opportunities and Thibaut Courtois, restored after Sunday, maintaining his finest clean sheet yet as a Chelsea player.
That Chelsea’s only goal was perilously close to being ruled out for offside, with West Ham also left to bemoan the non-award of a penalty for handball against Gary Cahill, merely reinforced the sense that this was a decisive moment in the title race. Chelsea remain five points clear with a game in hand against the club who currently prop up the division. Theirs remains a position of strength.
It was certainly the kind of nail-biting win with which titles are claimed. West Ham had posed a different kind of threat to Tottenham Hotspur at the national stadium, with this team laced with pace and eager running when spurred on in a hostile atmosphere, and Enner Valencia and Sakho a constant menace.
The absence of the suspended Nemanja Matic was keenly felt throughout by the visitors, even if Mourinho subsequently revealed that his Serbian midfield shield had managed to twist an ankle while celebrating Sunday’s success out on the pitch and would not have been available to feature here even without his ban. “He had shinpads on but he didn’t have tape on,” said the manager of Matic, who had joined his team-mates on the pitch at Wembley post-match. He could deliver that anecdote through a smile given the injury is minor, but also because his available lineup had triumphed regardless.
Psychologically, it would have been damaging had the slender lead secured by Eden Hazard’s goal midway through the opening period been surrendered amid West Ham’s avalanche of second-half chances. Courtois had risen to the occasion superbly, clawing away from the grounded Sakho’s prod, then diving sharply to his left to deflect the striker’s effort behind. His saves in the first half had been just as eye-catching, the Senegalese forward nodding Carl Jenkinson’s right-wing cross firmly down for Courtois to push away, while Cheikhou Kouyaté’s close-range attempt was blocked with his shins.
When the Belgian did spill Valencia’s attempt, Cahill dived in to suffocate Sakho’s follow-up. The visitors were stretched, the threat charging at them from all angles with John Terry booked early and less at ease against slippery opponents whose energy levels never dipped. Allardyce bemoaned rare profligacy. “The way they play, nobody is better than them,” said Mourinho. “We faced some periods where we had to defend with everything.”
Their own threat was mustered on the counterattack, with their approach as ruthless as West Ham had been relentless. Kevin Nolan was still wondering how he had failed to make contact with Jenkinson’s centre when Chelsea broke at pace, Cesc Fàbregas exchanging passes with Hazard on the edge of the West Ham penalty area before slipping the overlapping Ramires free.
The home side were still adjusting to the hamstrung Winston Reid’s early departure, with the Brazilian’s centre whipped across the six-yard box and met emphatically by Hazard, who planted his header beyond Adrián. The playmaker appeared to have been marginally the wrong side of Aaron Cresswell and Jenkinson, the deepest of West Ham’s ramshackle back-line, but the assistant’s flag was not raised. Mourinho may consider good fortune had been with his team on this occasion.
They should have prospered further on the counter, Jenkinson conjuring one wondrous last-ditch tackle to thwart Diego Costa as he prepared to bury a second and Ramires, twice found by the brilliant Hazard, striking post and the goalkeeper’s outstretched foot. Cresswell somehow cleared Willian’s attempt from the line in stoppage time, but those missed opportunities merely added to the drama, both managers reduced to gibbering wrecks in their technical areas by the frantic majesty of the contest.
“It would have been easy to have lost two points here,” added Mourinho. “We were on edge to the end because we couldn’t kill the game off, but in the end it was a massive win for us.” The title remains theirs to lose. Come May, they might just reflect on that win down the District Line as the moment the championship had started to feel properly within their grasp.

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

Telegraph:

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Jose Mourinho's side show title-winning strength

Henry Winter

This was the type of gutsy display which titles are made out of. This was the sort of determination to protect a lead that surely leads to the Premier League. At the final whistle, as the Chelsea fans chorused “we’re going to win the league”, Thibaut Courtois and his defenders embraced en masse, even being joined by the reserve keeper, Petr Cech. They all knew how much this meant.
This was a reminder of Chelsea’s resilience. John Terry was taunted by the West Ham United fans throughout, was alarmed by the pace of some of the opponents, but stood firm. Gary Cahill made some vital clearances while Kurt Zouma again impressed in deep midfield.
West Ham were very good, attacking time after time, and Diafra Sakho would have had a hat-trick but for his faulty radar and Courtois’ excellence, but they just could not find an equaliser to Eden Hazard’s goal after 22 minutes.
Hazard’s 10th league goal of the season had been the difference between the sides in the first half. West Ham disappeared down the tunnel, reflecting on a host of wasted or saved chances. Chelsea were good on the counter but West Ham should have made some of their excellent approach play pay off, especially as Terry was not at his best and was constantly barracked by the home fans.
Sam Allardyce was forced into an early change when Winston Reid injured his knee clearing as Diego Costa chased a ball down the right.
Reid limped off, slightly to Allardyce’s consternation as James Collins was not quite ready to come on. Down to 10 men, West Ham almost conceded when Cesc Fabregas teased the ball to Oscar, whose cross from the right was turned over by Costa from close range.
Collins arrived, West Ham settled, and began troubling Chelsea. Terry was booked for hauling down a rampaging Emmer Valencia. Cheikhou Kouyaté had a shot at the near post blocked by Courtois. With Chelsea’s defence labouring to deal with West Ham’s speed, Kouyaté arrowed the ball across to Sakho, who failed to make significant contact and the moment was lost.
Chelsea were absorbing the pressure, looking for their moment, so confident in their qualities. After 22 minutes, they struck. Chelsea then counter-attacked, Hazard playing a significant early part in accelerating the move before Fabregas gave it even more menace with a clever pass to Ramires on the right.
The Brazilian’s fourth assist of the season saw him drive the ball across the box for Hazard, having escaped Collins, to head past Adrián. As Hazard peeled away, pointing with surprise and delight at a rare header, West Ham fans in the Bobby Moore Stand screamed for offside. Andre Marriner and his officials had no doubts, signalling the goal.
Chelsea should have made it 2-0 from another counter. Hazard sent Costa tearing down the inside-left channel. The Spaniard raced into the box but paused as Adrián advanced, allowing Carl Jenkinson to slide in and rescue the situation with a magnificent clearing tackle.
Jenkinson then demonstrated his more adventurous side, charging down the right and lifting in a great cross that deserved far better than Sakho’s weak downward header, bouncing straight down and up at Courtois, who stuck out a hand to save.
Zouma had been making some important clearances, and also making some forward runs, one of which was ended by a late challenge from Collins, leaving the Frenchman writhing on the ground. Play continued much to Chelsea fans’ anger. Eventually, Marriner stopped play, allowing Zouma to be attended to.
As he limped to the sidelines, West Ham supporters inquired of the visiting fans: “would you let him on the train?” The away contingent responded with “he’s won more than you”.
Chelsea emerged for the second half sensing West Ham’s growing threat and clearly determined to secure that second goal. Ramires hit a post. Then came an astonishing save from Adrián. The build-up was quick and accurate, Terry meeting a West Ham clearance first time with a pass straight to Fabregas. The Spaniard turned the ball on to Hazard, who was making ground down the inside-left channel.
Hazard lifted the cross towards the far post where Ramires headed powerfully down. The ball seemed destined for the net until Adrián somehow threw himself towards the ball and managed to flick it to safety.
West Ham have had some fine goalkeepers down the years, and Adrián’s save was one that Mervyn Day or Phil Parkes would have been proud of.
Courtois continued to highlight his class and why Cech will surely seek pastures new in the summer. When Stuart Downing picked out Sakho, Courtois put in another good save. Chelsea hunted that second goal to end this West Ham uprising. Hazard had a shot blocked before West Ham resumed their attempted siege of Courtois’ goal. Nolan was breaking up moves and starting West Ham attacks.
Yet the home side kept running into a human wall in the shape of Terry and Cahill. Noble had a shot blocked. When Courtois fumbled a shot, Cahill was on hand to clear.
West Ham fans howled for retribution when Kouyaté ran into the back of Terry, the pair accidentally clashing heads. As Kouyaté lay there, requiring attention, Terry walked to the touchline where he stood for three minutes, taking a succession of comments and abusive gestures from the home supporters. He was eventually joined on the side by Kouyaté, and the pair ran back on.
If the technical standard was not always at the highest, the intensity of the Derby drama made it utterly compelling. Terry was constantly booed. Cahill headed out a Downing cross. With three minutes remaining, Downing raced past Branislav Ivanovic, whipping in a cross that absolutely begged to be buried in the Chelsea net. To widespread disbelief, Sahko headed over.
On it went, the Chelsea resistance. Terry darted in a head of Sakho to clear. Zouma hounded Valencia to halt a West Ham attack. Terry thundered a clearance away.
On it went, Courtois clutching a cross from Jenkinson. Chelsea should have made it 2-0 in added time. Fabregas found Hazard, who decided to pass rather than shoot, teeing up Willian but his shot was stopped on the line. At the final whistle, Mourinho punched the air. Chelsea are surely closing on the title.

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

Mail:

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Eden Hazard is heading for the big prize as Blues maintain title advantage with London derby win
By Martin Samuel

It is supposed to be to Chelsea’s advantage that they have to leave London only three times in what remains of the Premier League campaign.
Really? Are we sure about that? Arsene Wenger always thought it was harder for a London club to win the league because there were so many derbies, and this match rather supported his theory.
Chelsea still collected three points but, by Jove, it was tough. Their defence was stretched in a way that it was not at Wembley on Sunday and, by the end, Chelsea were happy to hoof the ball forward or run it into corners to take time out of the game.
West Ham have won a single league fixture since Christmas, but it did not look like it here. They had chances, real chances, to wrest the points from the league leaders, and it says much that Chelsea’s prime performers were once again the central defensive core of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois in goal.
And Eden Hazard, of course. Always Hazard. He scored the goal, never stopped wanting or carrying the ball, and left the field hobbling, as always, due to a standard battering. Not that West Ham were excessively dirty — Chelsea had four bookings to West Ham’s three — more that a player of Hazard’s ability is always going to attract a certain kind of attention.
The group hug that Terry, Cahill, Courtois and Branislav Ivanovic shared at the end should have included Hazard; in his own way, he is as hard as any of them.
If Chelsea maintain their supremacy, this is one of those games that will be remembered the day the title is won, one of those they-shall-not-pass performances, all bodies flying, desperate lunges and the ball in row Z if needs be.
West Ham were left banging their heads against a wall — no wild metaphor in the case of Cheikhou Kouyate, who ran face first into the back of Terry’s skull late in the second half. Both required treatment, but one came off considerably worse.
West Ham have now failed to score in six of their last seven Premier League matches against Chelsea, including the last five in a row.
Eden Hazard’s last four Premier League goals have come away from home after a run of 11 consecutive home goals
It is fair to say if they are ever pondering a fresh material to use in the construction of those black boxes in aircraft, Terry’s cranium may have to be considered.
Alas, Diafra Sakho. It is hard to remember a striker getting in so many excellent positions for such paltry return. He knows where to be, he just lacks the clinical touch when he gets there and, thwarted by his own failings and the excellence of Courtois, West Ham drew a blank.
Yes, Chelsea could have scored more, too. This was not a one-sided game — but we expect Chelsea pressure on the goal. They have world-class finishers and magicians in midfield. The surprise was West Ham going toe-to-toe with them, particularly, in the second half. Right up until the last minute they were still heaping on pressure.
Chelsea have matches at Queens Park Rangers and Arsenal, and a home fixture against Crystal Palace, to come, so nobody should underestimate the challenge to their championship ambition contained in a London derby.
This was one of the hardest-fought wins of Chelsea’s season — every bit as much of a proving ground as a wet Wednesday in Wigan, or whatever northern outpost is the current venue for popular cliche.
Mourinho’s favourite scoreline is apparently 2-0 away. He regards it as the sign of a controlled, confident, emphatic performance in a close game.
They certainly went in search of it here and came very close on three occasions in the second half.
In the 56th minute, a beautiful through pass from Hazard set Ramires clear on goal. He cut inside but his delicate side-footed finish struck the inside of the far post and rebounded into the hands of Adrian.
Minutes later, West Ham’s goalkeeper was in the right place again after Terry found Hazard whose cross picked out Ramires at the far post. This time there was no good fortune.
The save was superb. There were six minutes of injury time due to the Terry-Kouyate collision and Chelsea came close to wrapping it up then.
Hazard broke, for the last time, drawing Adrian yet squaring the ball unselfishly to Willian, whose shot was somehow smothered on its way to the net.
The single goal was the fairer margin of victory, however. West Ham did not deserve to appear mastered in the scoreline after a simply thrilling second half.
The first wasn’t bad either, West Ham going close in the 17th minute, when a cross from Mark Noble found a dangerous area at the near post where Kevin Nolan caused localised chaos and Kouyate arrived late only to have his shot blocked by the shins of Courtois.
Two minutes later, a run by Enner Valencia opened a gap to slide a pass through to Sakho, who missed his kick. More frustration was to come. In the 37th minute, Carl Jenkinson crossed from the right and the ball dropped perfectly to Sakho, directly in front of goal, but planting his header into the ground, landing safely in the hands of Courtois.
After 53 minutes, Courtois saved from Sakho again, pushing out a shot one-handed, just the right side of Nolan. He saved from Sakho after 60 minutes, too, and when he finally spilled a Valencia shot 12 minutes later, the outstanding Cahill cleared as Sakho threatened in vain.
It was not all wastefulness by West Ham, though. In the 15th minute, a mix-up by Ivanovic saw Valencia about to speed past Terry and go through on goal.
The Chelsea captain weighed the odds in a split second and hauled him down, rugby style. Did he prevent a goalscoring opportunity? Probably. Did he play the percentage chance of referee Andre Marriner showing him a red card 30 yards out and early in the match, with Cahill covering, if not really in a position to stop? Undoubtedly. Did he get away with it? Yes. Yellow card. It was a cynical move, but the smart one, too.
It was seven minutes later that the winner was scored. To be beaten by a header playing Chelsea is no disgrace; when the man on the end of the ball is Hazard, however, a manager has a right to be aggrieved. Sam Allardyce certainly looked it as the Chelsea man completed a headed goal that was as casually taken as a tap-in, with West Ham’s defence appallingly lax.
James Collins had replaced the injured Winston Reid after five minutes, but that was no excuse. The back four had plenty of time to bed in but went to sleep doing so. It was a neat build-up involving Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, who slipped the ball to Ramires overlapping on the right. He had too much room and cut the ball back to leave West Ham flat-footed, Hazard sneaking between the statues to glance a stooping header past Adrian.
It was too easy, and it is hard enough to beat Chelsea already — a point Allardyce seemed to be making on the touchline.

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

Mirror:

West Ham 0-1 Chelsea:
Eden Hazard on target as Blues maintain momentum with dogged win

Dave Kidd

Jose Mourinho's side were not at their best at Upton Park but went home with maximum points thanks to the Belgian's header

There was a real band-of-brothers feel about the way Chelsea’s back four celebrated this tense victory with the heroic Thibaut Courtois.
They knew they had withstood one hell of a battering from their crosstown rivals, that they had ridden their luck and that the Belgian keeper, who had been rotated out of Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final, had given a towering performance to befit his 6ft 7in stature.
The anti-Chelsea conspirators must have had an evening off because Eden Hazard’s early winner looked fractionally offside, while Diafra Sakho squandered EIGHT genuine scoring chances – many of them thwarted by Courtois.
But Mourinho knew this was the sort of victory titles are made of - on an old-school East End night, when a crackling atmosphere fuelled a vibrant display from Sam Allardyce’s side, who played at breakneck speed.
Chelsea now head down the final straight still five points clear with a game in hand. West Ham have sunk in to mid-table but this was a marked improvement.
Mourinho had given his team precisely 20 minutes to celebrate their Wembley win over Tottenham before they began preparations for a trip to their old chums across the city.
Diego Costa squandered one early chance, blazing over a cross from Oscar.
But the Hammers enjoyed a spell of intense pressure – Wembley hero John Terry booked for hauling down Enner Valencia, Cheikhou Kouyate having a shot blocked by Courtois at point-blank range and then supplying a cross which Sakho somehow failed to put a boot on from eight yards.
So it was almost inevitable that Chelsea should break and score midway through the half.
Cesc Fabregas swept out a pass to Ramires, who centred from the right for Hazard to nod home after the home defence – with Winston Reid lost to an early injury - had nodded off, whatever the linesman’s marginal error.
Costa was robbed by a last-ditch Carl Jenkinson challenge but if he was having an off-night in front of goal, it was nothing compared to Sakho.
The unmarked Senegalese could only aim a weak header at Courtois from a Jenkinson cross – and after the break he drilled one narrowly wide on the turn, then had a close-range effort clawed away brilliantly by Courtois as the bubble-blowers turned up the amp.
Hazard teed up Ramires twice and the Brazilian could not have come closer to doubling Chelsea’s lead – first he shot against the inside of the post after the Belgian had led a breakaway, then he saw a downward header saved instinctively by Adrian’s feet.
Courtois, though, was the busier keeper and he denied Sakho with another plunging effort.
And Sakho was left kicking in the goalpost in frustration when an intervention from Cahill denied him a goal after Courtois had spilled a Kouyate shot.
By the time he had skied a header from Stewart Downing’s cross, Sakho realised this simply wasn’t his night.

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

Express:

West Ham 0 - Chelsea 1: Eden Hazard produces the goods for league leaders

Mathew Dunn

Hazard’s 22nd-minute header proved the only goal in an encounter notable for its bad temper.
The Belgium international has lived up to his name in a number of different variations since arriving in the Premier League but seldom the two that marked the good and bad of a petulant first half.
Indeed the uncharacteristic Trip Hazard that earned him a booking in first-half injury time for an angry lash out at Mark Noble was a measure of how narky proceedings had been.
Those 45 minutes had produced just one goal when West Ham completely ignored the Head Hazard warnings – why wouldn’t they, after all, as the Chelsea playmaker is only 5ft 7in.
Nevertheless, he started a move outside the box with Cesc Fabregas and when the former Arsenal player knocked the ball wide to Ramires, Hazard continued a darting run towards goal.
James Collins made a late decision to try to step out and the sort of TV technology not immediately available for the replays beamed to the press box at Upton Park will ultimately determine the split-second call as to whether Hazard was in an offside position when he buried the simplest of headers past Adrian.
Crucially the assistant referee felt he was onside and Sam Allardyce felt he was not – a difference of opinion that was to lead to the purple-faced West Ham manager wagging his finger fiercely at the official’s decision after another debated call, this time over a throw-in.
While Chelsea were clearly the better team, West Ham had shown enough nous with the ball to threaten the Capital One Cup winners.
Diafra Sakho spurned two good chances in quick succession immediately before the Chelsea goal and worse was to come nine minutes before the break when Carl Jenkinson’s cross was headed so far down by the unmarked Senegal international seven yards from goal that it bounced up to a comfortable height by the time it reached Thibaut Courtois’ outstretched hand.
A minute earlier, Jenkinson had provided just as exquisite service at the other end, making up a 10-yard gap when Diego Costa was put through, switching from outside to inside the Chelsea striker and nipping the ball off his foot just as Costa was poised to shoot.
By such narrow margins the game growled into a second period.
Sakho was the first to show, firing into the side netting five minutes after the restart and Chelsea continued to ride their luck as another Sakho effort was pushed unconvincingly aside by Courtois.
West Ham, though, enjoyed an even greater slice of fortune when Ramires appeared to have added a second on the counter-attack. But his shot bounced off the inside of the far post and back into the grateful hands of the beaten Adrian. Courtois again stopped Sakho as the chances continued to come at either end. An Enner Valencia shot bounced off the Chelsea goalkeeper’s chest and Sakho could not quite reach the rebound.
Hazard could easily have seen red after a callous foul on Noble and only John Terry will know if he deliberately dallied in the path of Cheikhou Kouyate, leading to a sickening clash of heads as the latter threatened to burst into the box. Referee Andre Marriner thought it was an accident.
The giant egg which swiftly swelled under the West Ham midfielder’s eye was testament that last night’s game was a proper fight with the Hammers taking the Premier League’s top side right the way to the final bell.

WEST HAM (4-1-4-1): Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid (Collins 8), Cresswell; Noble; Downing, Kouyate (De Carvalho 87), Nolan, Valencia; Sakho. Booked: Kouyate, Collins, Nolan.

NEXT UP: Arsenal (a), Sat March 14 PL.

CHELSEA (4-1-4-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Zouma; Ramires, Oscar (Willian 74), Fabregas, Hazard (Remy 90); Costa (Drogba 90). Booked: Terry, Hazard, Fabregas, Drogba. Goal: Hazard 22.

NEXT UP: PSG (h), Wed CL.

Referee: A.Marriner (West Midlands).

Tottenham 2-0

Independent:

Capital One Cup final

Captain John Terry inspires Blues triumph at Wembley Stadium

Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0


In the rain at Wembley, Mourinho delighted in the triumph in a way that you might not expect of a man who has won two Champions League titles as well as league championships in four major European football countries. Afterwards he said that he had looked forward to this final as he had his very first as a manager at Porto 12 years ago. “I need to feed myself with titles,” he said, like a man unburdening himself to his therapist.

What really seemed to delight him was what Mourinho called the “strategic” element of his victory, namely his decision to replace the suspended Nemanja Matic by moving his centre-back Kurt Zouma into one of the two holding midfield roles. It would be right to say that it worked, to the extent that Mourinho compared the young Frenchman to Marcel Desailly, and that it worked so well seems to prove fundamental to the Chelsea manager.

“We were a strategic team, a team that came to win,” Mourinho said. “A team that was comfortable, a team that found a solution to keep the stability after the ‘criminal’ tackle that Matic did that got him suspended. We found that.”

It was a performance built on the leadership of John Terry, the one unchanging figure in the centre of the Chelsea defence, who scored the first goal and lunged in to block a shot from Harry Kane on 87 minutes. Terry had kept the young striker quiet for much of the game and that was integral to stopping Tottenham – and so it was that the Chelsea captain lifted the 12 major trophy of the Roman Abramovich era.

You could not help but notice that as Terry prepared to descend the Wembley steps with the trophy he felt a hand on his arm for one last congratulatory message and looked up to see the England manager, Roy Hodgson.

For all his pre-match rosary-bead kissing and po-faced touchline demeanour, Mourinho will have contested few cup finals when his plan was executed quite so smoothly and quite so clinically. When Diego Costa scored the second on 56 minutes, Spurs started to buckle and, among other things, that long trip to Italy in the Europa League for Thursday’s game against Fiorentina was taking its toll.

Mourinho began his press conference with a long unsolicited tribute to Mauricio Pochettino and when it was the Spurs manager turn to come in he seemed, at the very least, to be coming to terms with the defeat. He said that he had expected all along that either Gary Cahill, as per the pre-match rumours, or Zouma would play midfield, although it turned out there was little his team could do about stopping Chelsea.

For periods in the first half it looked like Spurs were going to take this game by the lapels, and they hit the bar through Christian Eriksen. But the truth of it for this young side was that the margin of defeat felt just about right. By the end they had thrown their best punches and landed none.

Pochettino pointed out that his team had an average age of just 23 and a half and tomorrow, his 43 birthday, he will be back out on the training pitch with them. Their problem in this cup final was that they never punished Chelsea. Unless you can score goals against them and, as Spurs showed on New Year’s Day, keep scoring goals, then they often find a way back.

In the first half, Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend were a threat down the right side of Chelsea’s defence. Kane tricked his way past three Chelsea players in that meticulous, slow-motion style of his, eventually winning the free-kick from which Eriksen hit the bar. But for all Spurs’ good work, that was all Petr Cech had to worry about.

Costa was his usual truculent self. He thrust a hand into the face of Nabil Bentaleb in the first half and he squared up to more white shirts than bears recounting. Eric Dier was unfortunate to pick up a booking for a pretty harmless challenge on Costa just after the half hour, although a more serious trip on the Chelsea man did follow and that went unpunished.

The goal arrived in the last minute of the first 45 when Nacer Chadli, anonymous for most of the game, made a mess of clearing a cross-field pass and fouled Branislav Ivanovic, overlapping behind him. The free-kick was Spurs’ downfall. Danny Rose got something on the ball when he would have been better off leaving it to Bentaleb behind him to clear. The deflected ball struck Dier and fell to Terry whose shot past Lloris clipped Dier on its way in.

In the second half, Chelsea took control. Kane was very effectively corralled by Terry and Cahill and in front of them, Zouma settled nicely into his role. The second goal from Costa came from a move that worked the ball from right to left quickly: Willian to Fabregas and onto Costa. He made the space for a left foot shot and the second major deflection of the day came off Walker and took the ball past Lloris.

By the end it felt a bit like a procession. Mourinho played up to the Chelsea support, while at the other end of Wembley the Spurs crowd trickled away. This was Mourinho’s sixth major trophy in English football – although he would add the 2005 Community Shield to that too – and his third League Cup. On days like these he does, it has to be said, make it look easy.

“I had two seasons without a trophy, and it looked like I was 20 years without a trophy. Even [for] myself,” Mourinho said afterwards. “This is a good problem, to have that feeling that two years is a long time. That's a good feeling.” This was trophy No 17 for the Chelsea manager and the mood was very much that there will be no relenting in the pursuit of No 18.


Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Zouma; Willian (Cuadrado, 76), Fabregas (Oscar, 88), Hazard; Costa (Drogba, 90).

Substitutes not used: Courtois (gk), Luis, Ake, Remy.

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason (Lamela, 71); Townsend (Dembele, 62), Eriksen, Chadli (Soldado, 80), Kane.

Substitutes not used: Vorm (gk), Fazio, Stambouli, Davies.

Booked: Chelsea Willian, Cahill, Cuadrado Tottenham Dier

Referee: A Taylor

Man of the match: Terry

Attendance: 89,297

Rating: 6


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


Guardian:

John Terry drives Chelsea to Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham

Chelsea 2 - 0 Spurs

Daniel Taylor at Wembley


Quiz question: which football club played one match but won two trophies on the same afternoon? OK, let’s not completely rule out the possibility Chelsea might be overhauled in the Premier League but if there is a soft centre to this team they are doing pretty well at disguising it so far. The first trophy of José Mourinho’s second coming is on the board and it doesn’t feel presumptuous to think the second is starting to look like a fait accompli on the back of Manchester City’s latest act of generosity.

Mourinho and his players certainly had every right to milk those long celebrations at the end when the suspended Nemanja Matic appeared in full kit, emulating John Terry’s change of costume after the 2012 Champions League final, and Mourinho could be seen throwing himself on to a sodden pitch at the expense of another designer suit. The laundry bill won’t be cheap, but what are a few grass stains when the streets of west London should be preparing for another open-top bus parade?

Mourinho’s team had to withstand some concerted pressure before taking control of this final but once they were in charge they played with an expertise that made their opponents look callow. There is no better team when it comes to holding the lines, sizing up their opponents then gradually turning the screw. At times, it might not make for the most absorbing spectacle. Yet it is just one of the reasons why Mourinho hoards trophies in the way other people collect stamps. Chelsea have now won five League Cups, moving level with Aston Villa and putting them second only to Liverpool’s eight. Mourinho is responsible for three of them and it won’t bother him in the slightest that they did it with such a pair of scruffy goals.

For Spurs, this was the second competition they had exited in four days and the end housing their supporters was almost deserted by the time the beaten players went up to collect their medals. Mauricio Pochettino’s side started vibrantly but they had no response when Chelsea took the lead and, ultimately, the teams could be separated by the quality of their defending. John Terry and Gary Cahill, flanked by Branislav Ivanovic and César Azpilicueta, formed an impenetrable barrier in front of Petr Cech. Tottenham’s defence, in stark contrast, is still a work in progress.

The second goal was a particular ordeal for Kyle Walker because it did not need a sitting of the Dubious Goals Panel to realise that Diego Costa’s shot was heading across the six-yard area until the Spurs right-back jutted out his foot and inadvertently turned it into the gap between Hugo Lloris and the goalkeeper’s near post.

Yet it was the collective failure for the opening goal, one for the Dubious Defending Panel, that probably summed up the difference between the sides. There was a mistimed header, a couple of deflections and very little in the way of good luck, perhaps. Yet there was a degree of carelessness, too, and that is the point. John Terry made the decisive contact, lashing in the loose ball, then quickly went back to making sure his own defence was not so generous. His performance reminded us he is still the outstanding centre-half in the country, typified by that moment in the 87th minute when he, the oldest player on the pitch, could be seen throwing himself into a brilliant challenge to keep out Harry Kane.

Tottenham’s disappointment should be compounded by the fact they had actually been the better side until the first goal. Danny Rose was pushing forward from his left-back spot. Walker was doing the same on the right while Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason both started encouragingly. Kane also looked determined to leave his mark on the occasion. The striker eluded three Chelsea players with one early run and when the fourth, Cesc Fàbregas, chopped him down Christian Eriksen smacked the free-kick against the crossbar.

Chelsea certainly took their time to get going. Mourinho paid Kurt Zouma the ultimate compliment afterwards, describing him as “our new Marcel Desailly” but early on he looked slightly lost in his experimental position filling in for the suspended Matic. Eden Hazard was lively and keen to run at Walker but Chelsea struggled at first to exert their usual control and their attacking moments were notable mostly for the number of occasions when Costa, their troublemaker extraordinaire, became locked in the usual niggling duels.

Eric Dier was maybe a touch unfortunate to be booked for a challenge on the half-hour mark but, having been shown that yellow card, the centre-half was lucky his little kick on Costa at the end of the first half went unnoticed. Later, Dier jumped so high into the back of Azpilicueta his knee struck his opponent’s head and the Spaniard had to be bandaged for the rest of the match.

Everything started to unravel for Spurs a minute before half-time when Willian’s free-kick skimmed off Rose’s head, ricocheted off Dier and dropped invitingly for Terry. Dier did his best to make amends, desperately trying to charge down the shot, but the ball deflected off his instep and Terry had his sixth goal of the season.

Walker’s own goal arrived 11 minutes into the second half after Fàbregas’s pass had created the shooting opportunity for Costa, running through the left-hand channel. Spurs did briefly try to spirit a late comeback but there was not enough from Kane and Eriksen to threaten such a parsimonious defence and there was an air of inevitability for the last half an hour. “The perfect day”, Mourinho called it, with the mud still visible on his suit.

Man of the match John Terry (Chelsea)


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


Telegraph:

Capital One Cup final - Jose Mourinho claims the 21st trophy of his career as Chelsea show Tottenham no mercy with a clinical victory at Wembley

It was the 2005 League Cup triumph that really launched Jose Mourinho’s first successful spell at Chelsea and he is at it again a decade on in his second coming at the club.

Mourinho may even have taken a huge step towards a second trophy on the same day, following the damaging defeat endured by Chelsea’s title rivals, Manchester City, at Liverpool.

Although forbidden by Mourinho from trying to find out the final score from Anfield, Chelsea’s players knew of City’s demise after their goal­keeping coach, Silvinho Louro, revealed the result on the way to Wembley. Their day just got better and better.

At the final whistle, Mourinho punched the air elaborately; he knew how much this meant, this statement of intent individually and collectively. A coach inextricably associated with the accumulation of trophies was back in business with his first trophy since steering Real Madrid to La Liga in 2012.

Mourinho watched John Terry lead the players up, the captain followed by Didier Drogba, Gary Cahill, then the rest including Nemanja Matic, the suspended Serb who probably broke Terry’s own record for changing into Chelsea kit in time for the trophy celebrations.

Terry shared the trophy-lifting ­honours with Drogba. The League Cup was then passed along the line, being hoisted to the skies by player after player, until arriving at some of Chelsea’s tracksuited youngsters. Izzy Brown politely chose not to lift it, instead passing it straight to Mourinho, who insisted that Brown and Andreas Christensen share the moment. If Mourinho is truly to establish a new blue order, such prospects need embracing. Chelsea need the path from the Academy to the first-team dressing room to become well-worn.

Mourinho, who has promised to give them a chance, then carried the trophy down to the pitch and across to the quickly assembled stage where the players were waiting. Mourinho placed the cup on the plinth, and then threw himself down in front as the photographers went into overdrive.

As Chelsea partied to their greatest hits, “One Step Beyond”, “Blue is the colour” and “Blue Day”, Mourinho signalled to his son, wearing a Willian 22 shirt, to have his picture taken with the players and the trophy. Chelsea fans loved it.

The vanquished had long departed, the fans to drown their sorrows, the players retreating to the dressing room, yet there were plenty of reasons for Tottenham to be hopeful for the future. Youthful dynamism embodies Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino. Danny Rose and Eric Dier, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb, Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen should grow into a unit of genuine substance under Pochettino.

They never showed their true class here, never displayed the type of energy that accounted for Chelsea on New Year’s Day. Maybe it was the lingering effects of a dispiriting trip to Florence in the Europa League. In reality, Kane and Eriksen failed to escape the tactical straitjacket they were ordered to try on by Mourinho. Chelsea were one step ahead as well as one step beyond.

As usual Mourinho had people and pundits talking, initially over his response to Matic’s suspension. Chelsea tweeted that Cahill was in central midfield but there was always the whiff of mind games in the air, and the quicker, more mobile Kurt Zouma started there, stifling Eriksen, playing with such maturity that ­Mourinho even compared the 20‑year-old to Marcel Desailly.

Cahill, meanwhile, partnered Terry in subduing Kane. The final had been previewed in some quarters as Kane versus Costa, and the rival forwards dominated the flags outside Wembley. As Kane was tamed by Chelsea’s defence, Costa troubled Spurs’. He has proved an ideal recruit by ­Mourinho, leading the line and giving Chelsea a cutting edge.

The Spaniard was not at his marauding best but he certainly made a nuisance of himself. Dier initially refused to be intimidated by Costa’s presence, timing his first tackle well, sliding in to steer the ball away from under the striker’s feet. Costa had a few words, Dier stood up to him but it was to prove the Spaniard’s afternoon and a lesson for the promising young English centre-half, who was soon booked for fouling Costa.

Spurs were actually the more impressive before Terry scored just before the break. Eriksen drove a free-kick on to the bar. Kane had a low shot held by Petr Cech. Pochettino was on the edge of his technical area, urging his young players on. But they were up against a far more experienced, cannier side.

Costa was a handful in every sense, taking a look to check the exact whereabouts of Bentaleb, before pushing his hand in the midfielder’s face. It was far from violent, more akin to feeling for a light-switch in the dark, but Liverpool’s Lazar Markovic departed for a similar offence against Basel in the Champions League. Anthony Taylor, who largely handled the occasion well, was closeby but saw no offence.

The final was intriguing, rather than inspiring. Defensive stalwarts dominated: Zouma tracked back to end a run from Eriksen, then Cahill climbed above Kane to clear. This was classic Mourinho, devising a game-plan to negate the opponents’ strengths and succeeding.

Typically, it was a defender who scored. When Nacer Chadli needlessly pulled back Branislav Ivanovic out wide in contesting a Terry pass, Willian whipped in the free-kick. The ball fell to Terry 10 yards out and he fired it back in right-footed, the ball clipping Kane and flying past Hugo Lloris. It was another reminder of the goalscoring edge provided by ­Mourinho’s backs; statisticians revealed that Chelsea defenders have now contributed 17 goals and 13 assists this season. Mourinho turned away and blew a couple of kisses to those in blue in the smart seats.

The half finished with Cahill testing Lloris. It could have finished on an even worse note for Spurs but Taylor failed to see Dier’s foul on Costa. Tottenham tried to remain upbeat. Their official Twitter account posted a message of defiance, recalling a couple of previous wins over Chelsea: “A reminder that we were 1-0 down in 2008 and on New Year’s Day.’’

But then the heavens opened, the rain poured down, and the cloud over Spurs darkened further. Chelsea fans responded to the sight of Costa now running towards their end by chanting his name constantly.

Wembley especially reverberated to “Diego, Diego” after 57 minutes. Cesc Fabregas played the perfect pass, sending Costa down the inside-left channel. Walker tried to close Costa down but succeeded only in diverting the shot past Lloris. It was given as a Walker own-goal which annoyed Costa, who insisted loudly it was his.

A man in control, Mourinho was so relaxed that he sprayed a water bottle at a television camera. His opposing number, Pochettino, sent on Mousa Dembele, Erik Lamela and Roberto Soldado but they could not breach the thick blue line of Mourinho’s defence. Few would bet against Mourinho collecting more trophies fol­lowing this re-acquaintance with the great love of his career – silverware.


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


Mail:

Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham: John Terry strike and Kyle Walker's own goal win Capital One Cup

By Martin Samuel


Long before the end, gaps were appearing in the white half of Wembley Stadium. They had seen this show before. So had we all. The last time he was here Jose Mourinho served notice, winning the League Cup as the preamble to something greater. Here we go again. Rivals in the Premier League can count themselves officially told.

Chelsea deserved this for a display that advertised their finest qualities: a defensive cussedness, good organisation, bold decision making on the part of the manager and the certainty in front of goal that wins cups.

John Terry collected an individual prize, too, the Alan Hardaker Trophy as man of the match. Rightly so. He scored Chelsea's first goal, was a rock at the back, as ever, and put in a blocking tackle late in the game that is now his trademark. Nobody throws himself towards the danger quite like Terry. It is as if he is taking a bullet for the team, or smothering a grenade.

He is a Mourinho man, too, his determination the definition of a Mourinho team. Having scored five when these teams met at White Hart Lane in January, Tottenham must have fancied their chances here. In truth, they never had a sniff.

Christian Eriksen hit the bar after ten minutes and Tottenham had plenty of possession, but mostly at arm's length from Petr Cech in goal. Not that this was a defensive display.

Chelsea attacked, and scored when it mattered, either side of half-time to knock the stuffing out of Tottenham, but it was their resilience that impressed. The transformation since New Year's Day is the mark of an intelligent group.

Shorn of Nemanja Matic – who delivered the pre-match team talk, and appeared with the team in full kit to celebrate at the end – Mourinho deployed his 20-year-old central defender Kurt Zouma in defensive midfield and watched him mature before Wembley's eyes.

A difficult start with Eriksen running off him, soon became a controlled, commanding display. Who knows if he will one day be a Marcel Desailly type, as comfortable in the heart of midfield or in a back four as the occasion demands, but time is certainly on his side.

Just as ominous, for those tasked with stopping Chelsea claiming the Premier League title too, was the sight of Diego Costa returning to form. His goal may have needed a deflection off Kyle Walker, but it was his, and deservedly so. He was awkward, physically imposing, occasionally annoying, but utterly marvellous in the way he tests opposition defenders. There really is nobody quite like him in the English game and Chelsea had the last of his type, too: Didier Drogba.

Mourinho gave Drogba the last minute and a medal here, the old softie, and reintroduced Petr Cech, the goalkeeper that had taken Chelsea through three of the previous rounds. Michael Vorm had done even more in this competition for Tottenham, but was ditched in favour of Hugo Lloris. That was harsh from Mauricio Pochettino – he should have danced with the girl he took to the ball. Lloris now has a runners-up medal and Vorm, one presumes, a sense of resentment.

It is the poor relation, the Capital One Cup, and now that the Europa League winners get a pass to the Champions League, probably the fifth biggest prize in English football.

Yet Mourinho does not treat it so. He regards it as the springboard for greater success, and talked up its role in this, his second term. His reaction at the end suggested this was no mere soundbite. He hugged, he cavorted, he struck daft poses in front of the winners' podium, and then sprinted round the back to mount the steps and join his players in bouncing like over-excited toddlers.

'Finals are not for playing,' Mourinho said, 'they are for winning. We did not have a problem today.' He did not mean it as brutally as it sounded. He said Pochettino was building a very good team at Tottenham, and he is right. There is great potential, but on Sunday that was all Tottenham showed. Chelsea looked like the winners; Chelsea looked like champions.

It was a game that in many ways reflected the narrative strands of Chelsea's season. Eden Hazard got kicked a lot, Costa put it about a lot, and Mourinho waved his arms in fury.

The game was only 41 seconds old when Andros Townsend left his mark on Hazard and when, five minutes later, Eric Dier squared up to Costa, a pattern was set. On this occasion, however, it was the Chelsea man whose behaviour merited, if not official censure, then certainly a quiet word. Dier's tackle on him was firm but fair, and there was no need for the shoulder contact Costa sought on rising. His behaviour can be a problem for Chelsea.

It is possible to have sympathy for the club over some of the errors that have cost them this season – particularly penalties rejected in vital matches – yet Costa's behaviour provides ammunition for the cynical, those who believe Chelsea deploy the dark arts and deserve any reversal that goes their way. He was certainly fortunate in the 28th minute, when he planted a hand in the face of Nabil Bentaleb. The Tottenham man stopped, probably considered making more of it, but decided against that.

By now, others were involved. Costa could easily have been booked but referee Anthony Taylor instead settled for keeping the peace. It was no surprise then that three minutes later Dier was booked for a foul on Costa – although it looked more ferocious than malicious. Chelsea can bring out the worst in folk.

Tottenham got an early scare when a cross from Branislav Ivanovic was tipped over by Lloris in the seventh minute with Terry lurking at the back post, but it was Chelsea's captain who broke the deadlock in the final minute of the first-half. It was a scrappy goal, but no less impressive for that because desire and determination are fine qualities too.

Terry was once rendered unconscious by a boot in a League Cup final, and tried to persuade the ambulance driver to turn around on the way to the hospital to let him finish the game. This was a considerably more mundane event, but it curbed Tottenham's swagger and set up Chelsea's victory.

Willian's free-kick from the right clipped Danny Rose and ricocheted off Zouma and Dier before falling to Terry, who struck it through a crowd of players. Lloris saved an overhead kick from Fabregas from the first attack of the second-half, but from the next, Chelsea scored and slipped into cruise mode. Costa gambled like a true matchwinner with his run, and when the ball arrived after lovely build-up work from Willian and Fabregas, he made Walker commit and stick out a fateful foot out. Chelsea were 2-0 up after 56 minutes. In this mood, the game was over.

It might have been very different had Eriksen not hit the bar with a free-kick from 25 yards, but Chelsea's defensive unit was as good as at any time this season. Coupled with the result at Anfield, it will have been the happiest Mr Moody has been in some time. Mourinho has the first trophy of his second coming. It will surely not be his last.


==========


Mirror:

Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham: Deflected double sees Blues claim Capital One Cup glory

Alex Richards

Jose Mourinho's Blues claimed the League Cup thanks to a pair of deflected efforts from skipper John Terry and striker Diego Costa

Chelsea won the Capital One Cup with a determined display against Tottenham Hotspur, goals from John Terry and Diego Costa earning them a 2-0 win.

Jose Mourinho's side are looking for a treble this term, and moved one-third of the way to their target at Wembley against their London rivals.

After being second best for much of the first period and seeing Christian Eriksen hit the crossbar, the Premier League leaders went in front just a minute before half-time through captain Terry's deflected effort, when Spurs failed to deal with a free-kick from the right.

It was a bitter blow for Spurs, but from there Chelsea took charge of the match, and, via the aid of another deflection - this time off Kyle Walker - ended Spurs hopes just 10 minutes into the second period, the England defender diverting Diego Costa's low cross into his own net.

The Blues hadn’t been behind in the Capital One Cup this season, but they almost were just 10 minutes in at Wembley against a hungry Spurs side, featuring six English players in its starting XI.

Harry Kane - who terrorised Chelsea at White Hart Lane in a New Year’s Day massacre - was bundled over on the edge of the penalty area by surprise starter Kurt Zouma, the young Frenchman finding himself anchoring the Blues midfield and Christian Eriksen’s whipped free-kick slammed against Petr Cech’s crossbar.

Spurs, shock winners in the 2008 final against the same opponents, made six changes from Thursday night’s Europa League loss in Florence at the hands of Fiorentina, and they were keen to assert themselves early on; Eric Dier, the England under-21 international, twice baulked Diego Costa off the ball, while Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb, the midfield enforcers, were quickly in on Cesc Fabregas whenever he picked up possession, not giving the Spaniard an inch with which to weave.

Eden Hazard, the Premier League’s most fouled player, looked to make his own impression on proceedings in the 22nd minute, but after being freed by a fine long ball from Willian, his shot was well blocked.

Chelsea, without the power and direction that Nemanja Matic brings to their midfield, were looking to hit Costa with early passes, and it was one such pass which tempted Dier into a challenge on the Spain striker; Dier mistimed, and found his name in the referee’s notepad.

By the 40th minute, Chelsea were still yet to have an effort on target, Pochettino’s Spurs showing a resoluteness which is becoming the norm, rather than the exception, under the Argentine. At the other end, Eriksen and Kane had both forced low saves from Cech, while Walker and Danny Rose were both enjoying their forward forays during a vibrant opening half.

But on the stroke of half-time, having been the better of the two sides, Spurs fell behind.

A free-kick on the right, given against Nacer Chadli, wasn’t dealt with by the Lilywhites, and when the ball ricocheted off the chest of Dier to the feet of Terry eight yards from goal, his low effort deflected past the helpless Lloris.

The opening goal was a bitter pill for Pochettino to swallow, after an encouraging showing from his side, but things could have got worse moments later, as Chelsea almost doubled their lead.

A corner from the left was met by Ivanovic at the far post, whose header back across goal was met by Gary Cahill, but Lloris made the diving save.

Like a shark smelling blood, Chelsea came out and went for the kill straight from the whistle at the beginning of the second period. A clever cross-field ball from Willian found Hazard, whose low cross was asking to be tapped in, before Fabregas forced Lloris into a full-stretch save to his left, after an inspired overhead effort.

Then, as the rain came down at Wembley, it did likewise on Spurs' League Cup hopes, and at its heart was Fabregas.

After an opening 45 spent minding Zouma at the base of midfield, Mourinho moved the Spaniard further forward into a No.10 position for the second half. From there, he picked up the ball, span, rolled it into Costa, and the Blues' striker's cross deflected off the boot of Walker and into the back of the net.

Pochettino turned to his bench to try and reinvigorate his side, bringing on both Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela in a bid to push Chelsea on the back foot, Mason and the disappointing Townsend the two players sacrificed.

Dier, up for a set piece, headed over when he should have scored, while Kane's excellent low cross found Chadli on his heels when Ivanovic swiped at a clearance.

Chadli was replaced with 11 minutes remaining, Roberto Soldado entering the fray as Pochettino's last throw of the dice

But Chelsea's defence, marshaled by its skipper, refused to break - Terry blocking Kane brilliantly with four minutes remaining and Ivanovic denying the forlorn Spurs striker Soldado.

All in, it ensured that Mourinho laid claim to his first trophy in his second spell as Chelsea boss - the same trophy that he first won in England a decade ago.

It won't be his last.


Darren Lewis' player ratings

Chelsea: Cech 7; Ivanovic 8, Cahill 7, Terry 9 MOTM, Azpilicueta 7; Zouma 6, Fabregas 6; Ramires 6, Willian 7, Hazard 6; Costa 8.

Subs: Cuadrado 5 (75, Willian), Oscar 5 (88, Fabregas), Drogba 5 (90, Costa).

Tottenham: Lloris 6; Walker 6, Dier 5, Vertonghen 5, Rose 6; Mason 6, Bentaleb 6; Townsend 5, Eriksen 6, Chadli 5; Kane 5.

Subs: Dembele 5 (61, Townsend), Lamela 5 (70, Mason) Soldado 5 (79, Chadli).


Jose Mourinho on winning another final: "My players were fantastic. Finals are not for playing they are for winning.

"We did not have problems. They had a couple of chances but nothing else. We knew we would be dangerous on the counter and we played like we should play a final."

Mauricio Pochettino on his side's defeat: "Firstly I want to congratulate Chelsea on their victory and also to congratulate my players - they played very well.

"We fought until the final moment and that was important. We have a very young group and it was a first final for a lot of our players."


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Express:

Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 0: Jose Mourinho's 'special' tactics bring home Capital One Cup


Chelsea have now won the League Cup three times under Jose Mourinho

Type "special" and "definition" into the ubiquitous search engine and it offers up not one answer but a pair of alternatives.

The most common usage, Special (1), is the Chelsea we were used to during Jose Mourinho's first trophy-laden spell in charge at Stamford Bridge. "Better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual," runs the explanation. As good a description of that team as any.

Yesterday, though, marked a transition into the realms of the secondary definition. It was a meaning of "special" which the Blues boss employed to unexpected, devastating and untouchable effect, essentially winning his side the final against Tottenham in the process.

"Belonging specifically to a particular person or place," Google goes on to say under the heading Special (2). It also offers "distinctive, individual, certain and peculiar" among the list of possible synonyms. All of those qualities applied yesterday to Mourinho's initial team-selection as Mauricio Pochettino was out-thought and Tottenham consequently out-played with specially-tailored tactics that worked perfectly from first whistle to last.

Most people recognise that Mourinho is generally as distinctive and individual as he is certain. But peculiar? Put it this way, there were more than a few people left scratching their heads when Chelsea handed in a team-sheet containing no fewer than four players whose preferred position is centre-back.

Branislav Ivanovic is used to accepting a regular enough place as a right-back, but Kurt Zouma, Gary Cahill and John Terry in the same line-up? How was that going to work? The solution, it transpired, was a 4-1-4-1 system that caught Tottenham on the hop, stifled their most influential players and enabled Chelsea to canter to a comfortable victory without ever getting out of third gear.

The brilliance of the tactic was that it did not even need exemplary performances from Chelsea's players for it to work.

In truth, Kurt Zouma's was little more than adequate as a holding midfielder. But his 6ft3in frame filled up the space just in front of the back two which both Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen like to exploit. Moreover, when the right-footed Nacer Chadli and left-footed Andros Townsend both looked to cut inside, his sizeable presence was an evident deterrent.

Tottenham quickly began to rely solely on any loose scraps they could get - and that may still have been enough for an early lead but for the woodwork.

When Cesc Fabregas halted Kane unceremoniously as the England under-21 international threated to weave his way past him and into the penalty area, it gave Eriksen a set-piece sight of goal. Sadly for the north Londoners, his shot could only cannon back off the crossbar. It was to be the last time that Chelsea's supremacy looked in any way threatened.

Nevertheless, the game remained balanced until the stroke of half-time, when Willian's free-kick flicked off Danny Rose, hit Dier's chest and bounced invitingly into the path of Terry. The former England captain needed no second invitation to force the ball over the line.

It was precisely the worst time to concede a goal, but even in the half-time interval Pochettino was clearly at a loss to conjure something equally special in return.

Instead, Chelsea continued to press their supremacy, with Fabregas's overhead kick testing Hugo Lloris on his goal-line just four minutes after the re-start.

Not long afterwards the final was effectively put out of Tottenham's reach. Diego Costa had gotten half a yard on Walker and collected a log ball over the top. His low shot deflected off the recovering Tottenham defender and past the helplessly wrong-footed Lloris.

Pochettino rung the changes in an attempt to produce a winning formula, with no real hint of success.

Kane still struggled to influence the play under the watching England manager Roy Hodgson and once again Erik Lamela's £30m price-tag hung heavily around his neck.

It wasn't pretty for the sell-out crowd at an increasingly rainswept Wembley - but then that was not part of Mourinho's remit.

"Finals are not for playing they are for winning," he would point out afterwards. He should know, this is trophy no. 22 in his career so far.

Pochettino's week, by contrast, could not have gone worse. Dumped out of the Europa League by Fiorentina on Thursday, the clock now appears to be ticking on the promise he made to Spurs fans in October of a major trophy "within the next two years".


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Star:

Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0: Jose Mourinho masterminds win to bag first trophy of second reign

JOSE MOURINHO was left singing in the rain after making it a hat-trick of League Cup triumphs as Chelsea boss.

By Jeremy Cross


The Special One turned into the Sodden One at Wembley but he couldn't care less after returning to the winners circle to add another piece of silverware to his bulging collection.

Deflected goals either side of half time from captain fantastic John Terry and firebrand striker Diego Costa killed-off Tottenham's brave challenge to leave their own boss Mauricio Pochettino still waiting to get his hands on his first trophy as a manager.

His time will surely come, but the afternoon belonged to the Blues and Mourinho, who proved once again what a master of the big occasion he is.

The Portuguese, who won this competition in 2005 and 2007, has now won all four of the major domestic Cup finals he has taken the Blues into.

And who would back against him leading them to another Premier League title after Manchester City lost at Liverpool to make it a perfect day for the manager who is destined to become the one of the most successful of all time.

This was the third clash between these two rivals in less than three months, and by far the most important.

The season's first piece of silverware was up for grabs and both bosses were desperate to get their hands on it.

Spurs needed to scratch a seven-year itch, having failed to taste success since beating the Blues in the same Final back in 2008 thanks to Jonathan Woodgate's winner.

Mourinho, meanwhile, was still waiting to experience that familiar feeling of lifting a trophy since returning as Blues boss in 2013.

This was the first trophy Mourinho won in his initial spell at Stamford Bridge and it catapulted him to greatness in England.

The master of the big game, Mourinho sprung a major surprise before kick-off when he picked Kurt Zouma in midfield to compensate for the absence of the suspended Nemanja Matic.

It was a big, big call from Mourinho, but considering he was spotted whistling during the warm-up and stood with his hands in his pockets for the pre-match introductions, nothing seemed to bother him.

Petr Cech was also recalled in goal at the expense of Thibaut Courtois.

Less of a surprise was the return to the Spurs starting XI of Kane, as expected, who was left out for his side's midweek Europa League defeat in Fiorentina.

Kane was one of six changes, with Pochettino handing goalkeeper Hugo Lloris his first start in this competition this season ahead of regular Michael Vorm, who had to settle for a place among the substitutes.

The game was open from the start, with both sides trading glancing blows in a bid to get the upper hand.

Loris flapped at a cross from Branislav Ivanovic before the Blues defender headed wide at the back post while Edin Hazard wasted a good shooting chance following Diego Costa's lay off.

Spurs looked threatening too, with Kane and Christian Eriksen the main dangers.

Eriksen hammered a free kick against the crossbar on nine minutes and tested Cech again with a low drive, while Kane also tried his luck but failed to get the better of the Blues keeper.

But the eventual breakthrough came down to luck more than skill when Spurs midfielder Nacer Chadli conceded a needless free kick wide on the right.

Willian swung in a dangerous ball that saw Danny Rose's clearing header strike Eric Dier and fall kindly to Terry, who then saw his shot strike Dier again and deflect past Lloris into the back of the net.

It was the Blues' first shot on target but Mourinho's men doubled their lead 11 minutes into the second half to leave Spurs with a mountain to climb.

Cesc Febragas picked out Costa in space on the left and when he drilled a shot towards goal it deflected off the shin of Kyle Walker to leave Lloris with no chance again.

Pochettino's men were beaten and as Mourinho clenched his fists at the final whistle he knew it probably wouldn't be the last time he'd be celebrating like this before the seasons is through.

Mourinho and the Blues are winners again. Normal service has resumed.