Aston Villa 2-1

Independent:

Branislav Ivanovic hands Blues vital three points in close affair at Villa Park

Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2

Simon Hart  

There was no hiding what this victory, his first in six visits to Villa Park, meant to Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea manager walked straight on to the pitch at the final whistle, punched the air and began waving his arms as if to conduct the away fans singing on the opposite side.

Back on his bogey ground, Mourinho had seen Aston Villa raise their game and end a goal drought stretching back to December yet Chelsea, missing the suspended Diego Costa and injured Cesc Fabregas, still took the points thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s second-half winner.

In the process, Chelsea capitalised on Manchester City’s slip-up against Hull City and moved seven points clear. Mourinho tried to played down their advantage – “There are 42 points to play for and a lead of seven is nothing in this country,” he said – but it felt like his third Premier League title had just moved a touch closer.

At Stamford Bridge earlier this season Mourinho tried to shake the hands of Paul Lambert, Villa’s manager, and a distinctly unimpressed Roy Keane before the final whistle. There was no handshake yesterday, only some barbed comments from Chelsea’s manager about Villa having one of “the best squads”, “very good players” and a “fantastic stadium”. Everything, in other words, but a good manager.

Mourinho was responding to a first-half row between Lambert and Rui Faria, Chelsea’s assistant coach, which saw the Scot jabbing a finger at the visiting bench as tempers rose following a spot of Didier Drogba play-acting.  Hazard opened the scoring with a lovely finish

Lambert had his own dig back, saying: “Jose is a great manager, I would love to learn from him as football manager but I wouldn’t like to learn things off the pitch from somebody in his dugout.”

If this unseemly sideshow was typical Mourinho, this victory was typical Chelsea as they showed both quality and character to record their seventh away win of the campaign. They took just eight minutes to take the lead. Oscar did the hard work with a run from the halfway line before pulling the ball back for Willian, who crossed towards the six-yard box and Eden Hazard put just enough on the ball to steer it past Brad Guzan.  Jores Okore ended Aston Villa's 11-hour wait for a goal

Chelsea were briefly knocked out of their stride by Villa’s explosive start to the second period. Tom Cleverley had already seen a shot deflected just over when Jores Okore struck Villa’s first Premier League goal in precisely 660 minutes. The impressive Carles Gil was the creator, showing lovely footwork to escape Oscar before crossing to the far post, where Okore buried a header.  Ivanovic fires home a beautifully struck left-footed volley   New signing Juan Cuadrado came on for the final 10 minutes

Yet Chelsea upped the tempo again, and after Willian had twice gone close Ivanovic delivered the decisive blow. Cesar Azpilicueta capitalised on Okore’s failure at his near post by lifting the ball into the middle where Ivanovic, with a swing of his left leg, sent a fierce diagonal drive past Guzan.

It was a fourth straight League defeat for Villa ahead of Tuesday’s six-pointer at Hull, but they will take some positives from their high-energy display – not least the performance of the Spaniard Gil, their January signing from Valencia.  Jose Mourinho's team now have a seven point lead


Aston Villa (4-5-1): Guzan; Hutton, Okore, Clark, Cissokho; Gil, Cleverley (Sinclair, 74), Westwood, Delph, Weimann (Cole 80); Agbonlahor (Benteke, 68).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian (Cuadrado, 80), Oscar (Mikel, 73), Hazard; Drogba (Remy, 64).

Referee: Neil Swarbrick.

Man of the match: Ivanovic (Chelsea)

Match rating: 7/10


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Telegraph:


Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2, Branislav Ivanovic strikes to put Jose Mourinho on the road to the title

Full-back's brilliant half-volley ended home side's valiant comeback as they ended their 11-hour goal drought at last

By  John Percy, Villa Park


Jose Mourinho conceded the Premier League title at Villa Park last season but this was a potentially seismic afternoon for Chelsea.

Mourinho has frequently seen his team unravel on trips to Spaghetti Junction in recent years yet this victory, a first win here in six attempts for the Chelsea manager, felt like a defining moment.

Branislav Ivanovic underlined his enduring excellence with the crucial goal and despite Manchester City’s late equaliser against Hull, even Mourinho had to smile barely 24 hours after his sullen teenager act at Cobham.

He now holds a seven-point lead over Manuel Pellegrini and this was a deafening statement from his players, doing all the talking required after his self-imposed vow of silence.

Aston Villa did end their embarrassing drought, scoring a first league goal in 11 hours, but there are other statistics that remain grim reading for Paul Lambert, such as two wins from 20 games.

Mourinho now only has Newcastle to cross off his list after finally ending his wait for a win at Villa Park and the title is in sight, even if he is remaining cautious.

“In another country I would say the lead is fantastic but in this country it is nothing,” he said. “Seven points means seven points but you have 14 matches to go.

“We are speaking about 42 points to play for and I think it’s nothing. This was a very important victory but we have to focus on ourselves and win the next game.

“Was I surprised about City’s result? I’m surprised about nothing, every team can take points but I didn’t care about it. Somebody told me after the game, I did not think about it. We will go step by step.”

Mourinho has usually viewed trips to Villa with a sense of dread. His first spell in charge was brought to an abrupt end in 2007 when he was sacked shortly after a 2-0 defeat, while last March he wrote off Chelsea’s title hopes after Fabian Delph’s late winner.

Villa are proving accommodating hosts to many opponents, however, on a day when Lambert marked his 100th league game in charge by dropping Christian Benteke, despite the club’s chronic goal shortage.

It took only eight minutes for Chelsea to expose Villa’s defensive frailties. Oscar broke clear of Jores Okore on the halfway line, advancing towards the penalty area to find Willian whose low pass was turned in by Eden Hazard.

It was ruthlessly simple and Villa supporters must have been fearing a long afternoon. Fans in the North Stand attempted to provide Lambert’s players with assistance by holding paper arrows pointing to the goal.

Villa did respond, with Gabriel Agbonlahor heading Ashley Westwood’s cross narrowly over the bar but in the first half they had the cutting edge of a plastic spatula.

These encounters have become notoriously fractious in recent years and at times it threatened to boil over as the tackles rained in. Lambert and Mourinho have also clashed in the last three meetings and the Villa manager exchanged words with the Chelsea bench late in the first half, later revealing he had been annoyed by a comment believed to have been made by coach Rui Faria.

“I would love to learn off him [Mourinho] as a football manager but I wouldn’t want to learn things off the pitch from someone in his dugout,” said Lambert after the game.

He was celebrating three minutes into the second half, however, after Villa had a ‘eureka’ moment and rediscovered the art of goalscoring. The impressive Carles Gil beat Oscar on the right with an exquisite drop of the shoulder and his cross found Okore at the far post unmarked, with the Dane waiting to head home.

“We’re Aston Villa, we’ll score when we want”, chanted a stunned Holte End.

The game was threatening to drift away from Chelsea but they regained their lead after yet another defensive calamity. This time it was Okore who contrived to needlessly give the ball away and Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross back into the box found Ivanovic, who hooked an excellent half-volley into the corner. What a signing he has proven to be, an absolute bargain at £9million.

Juan Cuadrado, the £26.8million signing, was introduced as a substitute with ten minutes to go and Chelsea coasted to a vital win without any late scares. Their first league title in five years is in sight.

Villa are slipping ever closer to the relegation zone after four successive defeats and suddenly their trip to Hull City on Tuesday night has taken on mammoth proportions.

Lambert said: “Our season will not be defined with what happened against Arsenal and Chelsea, it is about from now on in. I thought we deserved something from the game but we conceded a very poor goal.”


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


Observer:

Aston Villa end famine but Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic ruins their day

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Chelsea

Daniel Taylor at Villa Park


It ended with Chelsea moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League and maybe even the semblance of a smile from the man who came back to English football insisting he wanted to be known as the Happy One. José Mourinho’s scowl has felt like a permanent attachment in recent times but this felt like a significant moment in the Premier League title race and it was not straightforward seeing off an Aston Villa side that had at least paid attention to the photograph of an empty goal splashed across the front of the Birmingham Mail. “Memo to Villa,” it read. “This is what a goal looks like.”

Paul Lambert’s side certainly needed the reminder, bearing in mind the moment when Jores Okore headed in Carles Gil’s cross to make it 1-1, three minutes into the second half, brought up the 11-hour mark since their last top-division goal 43 days earlier. So, hallelujah, Villa have finally managed to equal the number of league goals Bournemouth have scored in Birmingham this season.

Unfortunately for Villa, there have still been only two occasions all season when they have scored twice in a league game and Chelsea had enough time and self-belief to restore their winning position through Branislav Ivanovic’s decisive strike.

Ivanovic is establishing himself as the ultimate odd job man – a full-back, centre-half, attacker, motivator and goalscorer all wrapped into one – and this was his fifth goal in his past six starts against Villa. There was still a third of the match to play but Villa had resorted to type and Christian Benteke’s introduction, having been dropped from Lambert’s starting XI, had little impact.

Mourinho brought on Juan Cuadrado, the £23m acquisition from Fiorentina, during those moments and Manchester City’s inability to beat Hull City at their own ground ultimately made it a hugely satisfying win for the leaders. True, they might have made easier work of it bearing in mind Eden Hazard opened the scoring with a superbly worked team goal after only eight minutes. They did, however, show title-winning qualities in their response to Villa’s first league goal in 2015 and, on the balance of play, they were clearly the better side.

Mourinho tried to argue that seven points amounted to “nothing” in a league where “nothing surprises me”. They missed Diego Costa at times and it was a difficult day for Didier Drogba, a month short of his 37th birthday and struggling to remind us of the player of old, barring those moments when he was flinging himself to the ground in pretend agony.

Yet Mourinho was twirling his hand in the air after the final whistle and his celebrations indicated he knew what an important victory this might be.

Early on, it had looked like it would be a much more routine win when Drogba played the ball forward and Oscar, running through the inside-right channel, eluded Okore then played it inside for Willian. Hazard had anticipated the next pass, darting in front of Alan Hutton, and Willian delivered it with just the right amount of weight for his team-mate to turn a first-time shot past Brad Guzan.

The frustration inside Villa Park manifested itself in some voluble dissent aimed towards Tom Cleverley. Lambert could be seen taking exception to something that Rui Faria, Mourinho’s assistant, had said in the opposite dugout and was suspicious to learn that the Chelsea manager had described Villa’s squad as “one of the best” in the country, with a “very good bench and lots of solutions”. There is history here and Lambert, with two wins in 20 league games since signing his new contract, did not appreciate the flattery. “That’s his opinion,” he said. “Maybe he is trying to put pressure on me.”

If nothing else, Mourinho was guilty of serious exaggeration, especially given the way Willian, Oscar and Hazard endangered the home defence. Villa’s scoring drought had gone on so long there were supporters holding up posters with arrows to show the way to goal. Gil, a £3.2m signing from Valencia, looks like he might be a bargain and it was a beautiful little drop of the shoulder to fool Oscar before his cross picked out Okore at the back post.

Unfortunately for Villa, Lambert’s players could not follow the crowd’s instructions again. Chelsea found some new impetus and when César Azpilicueta’s perseverance created the chance for Ivanovic he let fly with a left-foot shot that was still rising as it flew into the net.


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Mail:

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea:

Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic ensure Blues extend Premier League lead to seven points despite Jores Okore finally ending home side's 11-hour goal drought

By Laurie Whitwell


The jokes can finally end. Aston Villa have scored in the Premier League. At the eleventh hour. Literally.

After 660 minutes of trying and failing to get a goal, Paul Lambert’s side found a way past one of the best defences in world football.

Carles Gil shimmied round Oscar and delivered an inch-perfect cross. Jores Okore rose at the far post and nodded the ball past Thibaut Courtois.

Still, it was not enough to stop Chelsea. Suppose that is another punchline of sorts. You wait 11 hours for a goal and still get beat. It is tough being a Villa fan these days.

Jose Mourinho enjoyed his first victory at Villa Park at the sixth attempt thanks to a thunderous response by Branislav Ivanovic.

As a defender, perhaps he felt personally slighted that English football’s worst attack had got the ball over the line against him.

Twenty minutes after Villa stunned their supporters into jovially singing ‘We score when we want’ the Serbian went down the other end and won the three points for Chelsea.

In the 68th minute, Cesar Azpilicueta advanced down the left and was only partially stopped by Okore. The Danish defender then failed woefully with a clearance, allowing Azpiliceuta to dig out a cross.

Fabian Delph missed the ball but Ivanovic did not, striking a magnificent half-volley with his left foot into the net before Brad Guzan had time to think.

Mourinho, who had remained in his seat throughout, stood up to celebrate. The travelling fans clambered over themselves to do likewise with the mound of Chelsea players cheering in front of them.

An important victory clinched on the path to what Chelsea hope is a first Premier League title since 2009-10.

The win had appeared certain when Eden Hazard continued his fine form by opening the scoring in the eighth minute.

Oscar ran down the right and played the ball across to Willian, who took a touch and fed a delightful pass into the area. Hazard galloped on to it and swept a first-time finish into the corner.

Given Villa’s impotence in attack - sharing the lowest goal total of any team from the Premier League era at this stage of the season - that seemed to be that.

Lambert had made the call to drop Christian Benteke following his poor showings in recent weeks, even if the Belgian was the last to score in a claret and blue shirt in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on December 20.

Gabby Agbonlahor started instead, in the aim of giving more mobility and speed for counter attacks. It nearly went right when he connected with Delph’s cross, only to head over.

He had not heeded the signs carrying arrows held aloft by some fans. Handed out by a betting firm known for their ambush marketing before kick-off, the idea was to point the way to goal for their players.

Gradually though, Villa found a foothold and produced a few moments to worry John Terry and his fellow defenders.

Shortly before interval it became tetchy on the sidelines when Didier Drogba fell to floor holding his head after an aerial duel with Ciaran Clark. Lambert removed his coat and exchanged words with the rival dugout.

At Stamford Bridge earlier in the season the Villa manager was infuriated by Mourinho’s attempts to shake his hand before the final whistle. Here, the Portuguese stayed in his seat.

Three minutes after the interval, Villa found that longed-for breakthrough. It really was some skill by Gil, who enjoyed another good game since his £3.25million move from Valencia.

But Villa sunk deeper after their goal, inviting Chelsea pressure. Willian twice went close with slapped shots from range, the second requiring the slenderest of fingertips from Guzan to divert wide.

Another blue attack reasserted the visitor’s authority.

As soon as Chelsea retook the lead, Benteke emerged - replacing Agbonlahor. He had been readying himself in any case but was unable to alter the course of the match.

At the end Mourinho strode across the turf he had finally conquered and beckoned to his supporters to keep making noise. Much more of this and the title will be theirs.


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Mirror:

Aston Villa 1-2

Ivanovic emerges as late hero as Blues go seven points clear
 
By James Nursey
 
The Serb struck a superb winner at Villa Park to put Mourinho's men back in front after Jores Okore had finally ended Villa's goal drought

Jose Mourinho saw Chelsea avenge their costly defeat here last season as Branislav Ivanovic was the Londoners' hero again.

Right-back Ivanovic scored the extra-time winner in the Capital One Cup semi-final against Liverpool recently.

And he struck the decisive goal in the 66th minute here with a superb and vital goal as title rivals Man City dropped points.

It was extra sweet for the visitors as it was Mourinho's first win at Villa Park in six trips.

It erased nightmare memories of their trip here last March when they lost 1-0 and had two players plus boss Mourinho sent off.

But this clash always looked likely to end more favourably for Chelsea.

They took the lead in the eighth minute after a well-work goal.

Oscar instigated the danger with a good run and pass down the right flank, it found Willian who intelligently teed up Eden Hazard to find the bottom corner.

Villa, who dropped Christian Benteke, had a good spell before the break but did not level until the second half.

Defender Jores Okore headed in the equaliser in the 48th minute at the back post from Carles Gil's clever cross after skinning Oscar.

Villa fans then finally found their voice after seeing their side end an 11-hour goal drought in the top-flight.

But it was Chelsea who re-took the lead after both Okore and Fabian Delph failed to clear for the hosts.

Ivanovic ruthlessly despatched it with a clinical shot on the bounce into the corner with his left-foot.

Mourinho was then able to bring on new signing Juan Cuadrado off the bench for the final 10 minutes as Villa crashed to a fourth successive League loss after a ninth game without a win in the Premier League.


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Express:


Aston Villa 1 - Chelsea 2: Mourinho lifts Villa hoodoo and opens gap on Manchester City

THE Grumpy One was suddenly transformed into a party animal as Jose Mourinho smashed his Aston Villa jinx to take a giant stride towards another Premier League title.

The Portuguese, a man of war for the past weeks, waltzed onto the pitch at the final whistle - one which had seen him fail to win on the five previous occasions – to celebrate a formidable seven point lead at the top of the table.

Arms aloft he waved to the Chelsea fans in the knowledge that barring a collapse the championship will be theirs come the end of May, probably a lot sooner than that at this rate.

A niggly Mourinho insisted on the eve of this trip to the Midlands that Manchester City weren’t true champions because they had flouted Financial Fair Play rules.

He added that Manuel Pellegrini’s team should have been docked points. Who needs UEFA when you’ve got teams like Hull City to place a spoke in City’s wheels?

In the meantime Chelsea, without being spectacular, are free wheeling to more title glory.

By contrast Aston Villa are embroiled in a relegation scrap even if they ended their near 11 hour goal famine.

It’s a pity some of the Villa players don’t display the same fighting spirit of their manager Paul Lambert who, clearly upset by some words uttered from the Chelsea bench, took off his coat and threw it down in the technical area in a challenge straight from a Saturday night out in his native Glasgow.

Afterwards Lambert insisted the protagonist hadn’t been Mourinho, but one of his side-kicks, although there was once again no handshake with his opposite number. “He was half way down the pitch by the time I got to his dug-out.”Lambert explained.

They are more than half way to the title after what looks being a defining afternoon.

Chelsea’s opening goal had been a lesson to Villa in the art of scoring with the minimum of effort and fuss.

Didier Drogba when he isn’t playing the Equity card, rolling on the ground in mock agony at the slightest of touches, can still be a useful Chelsea asset.

His ball sent Oscar down the right. An incisive pass from the Brazilian was immediately swept into Eden Hazard’s path by Willian and in a flash Chelsea were in the lead.

Villa’s crestfallen crew could only look at each other fearing the worst as the Holte End grumbled and looked towards Lambert as their scapegoat.

To Villa’s credit, despite being devoid of confidence, they more than matched their illustrious visitors with their passing and movement.

But the staple diet of any football club at any level is goals. Finally the first since before Christmas – almost 11 hours of impotency – arrived for Villa from an unlikely source.

When a corner was headed back to Carles Gil the Spaniard’s quick feet responded with a neat side step to outwit his marker and a perfect delivery was set up for central defender Jores Okore to power a header past Thibaut Courtois.

Okore disappeared into the Holte End, now transformed into a celebrating sea of claret and blue, to the inevitable cost of a yellow card.

The last thing Mourinho wanted was to be the fall guy in Villa’s redemption. When in need call on Branislav Ivanovich.

The man mountain who has come up with so many important strikes including the League Cup semi-final extra time winner against Liverpool was at it again here. Cesar Azpilicueta’s persistence in a crowded penalty area was rewarded with a flick towards the adventurous Ivanovich whose searing volley was too good for Brad Guzan.

Cue a rare smile from Mourinho.


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

Star:


Aston Villa 1 - Chelsea 2: Ivanovic winner keeps Blues top

Grumpy Jose Mourinho almost had a smile on his face as he finally broke his Villa Park hoodoo.

By Harry Pratt


Until yesterday the Chelsea boss had failed to secure a victory here in his five previous attempts.

And when Paul Lambert’s hosts ended their mind-numbing goal drought – on exactly 11 hours – to make it 1-1 early in the second half, it seemed moody Mourinho’s Midlands curse was strike again.

Yet just when the Portuguese coach – sent off here last season – was probably preparing another rant at the world, Branislav Ivanovic appeared from nowhere to produce an absolute scorcher.

The Serbian full-back’s first-time left-foot volley after 66 minutes could not have been hit more sweetly. It simply roared into the far corner.

And that moment of a class was sufficient to bag Mourinho’s league leaders a second away win on the spin – and widen the gap in the title race.

With Manchester City only drawing at home to Hull, this result put Chelsea SEVEN points clear of their nearest challengers.

Mourinho continued to play down his chances of landing the Premier League for the third time in his two spells at the Bridge.

He said: “In any other country it would mean a lot but over here a lead of seven points is nothing. Anything can happen in this league.

“Nothing surprises me in England. I didn’t care about what Man City were doing.

“When you are top you don’t need other teams to drop points. If they do, great – but when you’re top you just focus on yourselves.”

You had to feel for his opposite number, though. Lambert saw his troops give everything – yet still come away with nothing. They remain in 16th place but are only two points clear of danger.

Their one consolation is that after six-and-a-half games of firing blanks, they have at least rediscovered what it feels like to find the back of the net. Those shocking goal stats compelled Lambert, in his 100th Villa game, to axe his one-time £25million-rated Christian Benteke.

Chelsea were without their main hitman, too, as top scorer Diego Costa was serving the second of his three-match stamping ban.

But it made no difference to the visitors. For within eight minutes they were ahead from their first genuine assault of the afternoon.

Oscar held off Aly Cissokho, slipped in fellow Brazilian Willian, whose cross was perfect for Eden Hazard to sweep home his 13th of the campaign.

Villa’s only effort of the half was a header from Gabby Agbonlahor. And there was plenty of spirit in the technical area after 37 minutes when Lambert took off his coat – and offered the entire Chelsea bench to see him outside later. Mourinho never moved.

Nor did his Chelsea defence three minutes into the second half when Villa equalised. New Spanish ace Carles Gill waltzed down the right and crossed to the far post, where Jores Okore rose to head in.

But with 43 minutes remaining, Chelsea had plenty of time to restore order. Immediately, they went from cruise control into overdrive.

And after a flurry of close chances, they deservedly regained the lead through Ivanovic’s blistering effort.

Lambert was dejected but said: “There are a lot of positives to take and we didn’t deserve to lose.”

As for his spat with the Chelsea bench, Lambert seemed to point the finger at Mourinho’s assistant Rui Faria.

The Scot said: “Jose’s a great manager who I can learn a lot from – but I wouldn’t want to learn things off the pitch from somebody in his dugout.”


Aston Villa: Guzan 8; Hutton 7, Okore 8, Clark 7, Cissokho 6; Cleverley 6 (Sinclair (74th) 6), Westwood 7, Delph 7, Weimann 7 (Cole 80th), Agbonlahor 6 Benteke (68th) 6); Gil 9

Chelsea: Courtois 7; Ivanovic 8, Terry 7, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 6, Matic 7, Willian 7 (Caudrado 80th), Oscar 7 (Mikel (73rd) 6), Hazard 7; Drogba 5 (Remy (63rd)

STAR MAN: Branislav Ivanovic

Ref: N Swarbrick

Man City 1-1

Independent:

Frank Lampard's return proves a non-starter but Blues nearly come undone to battling City
Chelsea 1 Manchester City 1:
Sam Wallace

Frank Lampard shared a joke with the Chelsea bench, he even managed to persuade a reluctant Jose Mourinho to shake hands with him beforehand and then, with 13 minutes left of the match he came on and Stamford Bridge prepared to have their hearts broken all over again.

Not this time for Lampard, not even for the man who has scored more times for Chelsea than any other in their history. Over 13 years he scored all kinds of goals at Stamford Bridge, in all kinds of games but in this, surely his last outing at the club that has defined his career, he did not add the postscript that Manuel Pellegrini will have hoped for.
When he came on at last there was some booing from the home fans but it was easily drowned out by clapping and cheers, and - one notable felt-pen and cardboard anti-Lampard placard aside - that was the mood. “The Chelsea fans showed complete class at the end,” Lampard said later. “I enjoyed this.”
The gap at the top of the table between the leaders Chelsea, and Manchester City in second place remains five points. It was City who looked the most likely to score in the second half having equalised through David Silva soon after Loic Remy’s opening goal, and it was them who pushed the most in those closing minutes.
For much of the second half, there was a risk averse mood to the game until in the closing stages Pellegrini seemed to sense that the energy Chelsea had expended mid-week against Liverpool was telling. He sent on Lampard first, then Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic while Mourinho’s substitutions were much more with containment in mind.
At the final whistle, Mourinho punched the air, a clear indication of his feelings at securing a point with a team that was without the suspended Diego Costa and the injured Cesc Fabregas. The Chelsea manager boycotted his post-match press conference and sent none of his staff either, the blue swivel chair sitting empty. There will be a fine from the Premier League but that seems the least of his worries.
Frank Lampard applauds the Chelsea fans as well as the Manchester City supporters Frank Lampard applauds the Chelsea fans as well as the Manchester City supporters 
There were strong performances on both sides, notably Nemanja Matic and Fernandinho, although it came to a close with neither side really creating the second half chance that might have won the game. Lampard, speaking afterwards, said that it was a better result for his former club.
“There were more chances for City in the game,” he said. “Chelsea had a big old game in midweek and the draw probably suits them in the long run… we know what that lead is. But there are lots of points to play for.”
Pellegrini weighed his words more carefully but there was no doubt that he believed his team were the more attacking. “I don't know what happened with Chelsea, from the first minute we came for the three points.” Later he added: “I think both teams have a clear style of play. Everyone wants to play in the way they think is better. He [Mourinho] has a style. You analyse the style of Chelsea. I analyse just the style of my team.”
Chelsea already had the door half open on 41 minutes when Eden Hazard crossed from the left side having been picked out by Branislav Ivanovic’s left-footed ball from the right that the winger slotted across the box. Running towards his own goal, Vincent Kompany could have got there first but perhaps sensing that any touch might have deflected it past Joe Hart he decided against extending his legs and, coming in behind, Remy scored easily.
Remy scores to put Chelsea ahead Remy scores to put Chelsea ahead 
Until then Chelsea had seen less of the ball in attacking positions than the visitors and at times felt hemmed in. Yet Mourinho’s teams are generally comfortable on the back foot and although there were some close shaves it also felt like they were biding their time to break out.
Sergio Aguero should have scored on 32 minutes when a ball from very deep from Kompany caught out John Terry who turned towards his own goal, stretched and missed it. Coming from the right channel, the Argentine shot wide. Minutes earlier, Hazard left a ball on the edge of the area for Oscar but his shot was lame.
The goal from Remy, in the side in place of Costa, was the swift switch of play from one wing to another that Chelsea had been looking for all half. But they were not on top for long. In the final minute of the first 45, Bacary Sagna won the ball and played it wide for Jesus Navas. He crossed to the centre of the area where Thibaut Courtois should have taken the ball easily.
Courtois should have taken the cross before Silva's goal Courtois should have taken the cross before Silva's goal 
For reasons that were hard to discern, the Belgian goalkeeper, usually so composed in his decision making, essayed a risky punch that spun wildly off his knuckles and landed in the path of the most dangerous striker on the pitch. Aguero’s shot was drilled low. Silva was lurking in the area and guided the ball in past the defenders on the line.
Fitfully, Mourinho burst into outrage on the touchline but Mark Clattenburg handled him well – the patient dismay of a teacher dealing with an unusually difficult pupil. Through all the bravado, the Chelsea manager was delighted with a point.

Line-ups:
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian (Droba, 80), Oscar (Loftus-Cheek, 90), Hazard; Remy (Cahill, 87).
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Sagna, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy; Fernando, Fernandinho (Lampard, 77); Navas, Silva (Jovetic, 89), Milner; Aguero (Dzeko, 84).

Referee: M Clattenburg
Man of the match: Matic (Chelsea)
Match Rating: 6

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

Observer:

David Silva seizes point for Manchester City as Chelsea are checked
Chelsea 1 - 1 Man City
Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge

José Mourinho was not willing to offer his verdict on this tense struggle between the two teams at the top of the Premier League. Apparently it was the fault of Jamie Redknapp and all the other rotters in the media that Diego Costa was suspended and Mourinho, in turn, was applying his own ban. It is a siege mentality at Stamford Bridge right now and it is tempting to think they might have boarded up the pressbox and dismantled the television gantry if Manchester City had made the most of their superiority.
As it turned out, Costa was not too badly missed bearing in mind his replacement, Loïc Rémy, scored Chelsea’a goal. Yet they did badly miss Cesc Fàbregas given the way City’s midfield operated with the greater control. It was a strangely dishevelled performance from the league leaders and City had enough of the ball to feel like they ought to have darkened Mourinho’s mood even more.
 
Manuel Pellegrini’s side could not add to David Silva’s equaliser but they should head back to Manchester feeling encouraged by the pattern of the game and what it said, after 87 minutes, when Mourinho signalled for Remy to come off and brought on Gary Cahill to strengthen their lines of defence. In that moment Chelsea’s manager had virtually abandoned the idea of going for a winner and settled on keeping out a late City onslaught.
His team survived but when a game between first and second ends this way it does serve as a reminder that City, as their fans like to sing, will fight to the end of this title race.
They were certainly the more rounded team and it was unusual, to say the least, to see Chelsea with home advantage being pinned back into their own half. On other occasions there was a level of carelessness that must have startled Mourinho. Silva’s goal was a calamity for Thibaut Courtois but it was not the only occasion when normally dependable players made individual mistakes in and around their penalty area and it was strange to see such an accomplished group of footballers being so generous.
 
Chelsea, to give them their due, did start to cut out the defensive lapses as the game went on but they needed to because their opponents were throwing everything at them in those stages and, if anything, seemed encouraged by the message that Mourinho’s Rémy-Cahill switch sent out.
Jesús Navas had their first effort saved by Courtois after only 17 seconds and Pellegrini was entitled to be disappointed his side could not be more ruthless bearing in mind they had a number of chances at 0-0 and the best of the play in the second half without being able to put together a really inviting opportunity.
Chelsea had set out like a team that was reluctant to blur the lines between adventure and leaving themselves open to the counterattack and, by the end, it was a full-on backs-to-the-walls operation. “Boring, boring Chelsea,” the away end sang, along with various other uncomplimentary chants about Mourinho’s tactics. Yet City should also feel aggrieved with themselves because, on the balance of play, there is no doubt it was a missed opportunity.
 
At one point early on, Nemanja Matic lost the ball to Fernandinho and was fortunate the Brazilian’s shot was deflected behind for a corner. Sergio Agüero had a chance not long afterwards that originated from James Milner dispossessing Branislav Ivanovic and Pellegrini will also reflect on that moment, just after the half-hour, when John Terry misread the trajectory of a long ball from Vincent Kompany. Agüero was free but pulled his shot wide and, despite their dominance in the second half, City did not get a chance of that nature again.
Chelsea opened the scoring with virtually their first attack of real penetration and the goal was a personal ordeal for Bacary Sagna given that Pellegrini had trusted him with the job of subduing Eden Hazard on the left of Chelsea’s attack. Sagna might be marginally quicker than City’s usual right-back, Pablo Zabaleta, but the Argentinian is a better natural defender and it showed when Ivanovic picked out his team-mate.
 
Sagna had switched off and Hazard returned the ball, first-time, across the six-yard area. Kompany withdrew his leg at the crucial moment, perhaps fearing that he might turn the ball into his own goal, and in hindsight he probably should have taken the risk with Rémy lurking behind him to fire past Joe Hart.
What followed was unusual bearing in mind Chelsea’s reputation – Bradford City aside – as the best team in the country at holding on to a lead. On this occasion it lasted only four minutes and featured the first major mistake from Courtois since his return to his parent club from Atlético Madrid. Milner’s presence might have distracted the goalkeeper as he came to punch Navas’s right-wing cross but it was not a valid excuse for completely missing the ball. Agüero, as usual, was loitering with intent and swung his left foot at the ball. The shot was going wide but Silva was there to apply the decisive touch inside the six-yard area.
After the interval, it was rare to see Chelsea being pinned inside their own half. Milner and Navas impressed on the wings. Fernandinho and Fernando made Yaya Touré’s absence not feel important and Mourinho became so agitated it required a tête-à-tête with Mark Clattenburg on the touchline. Mourinho seems permanently dissatisfied with the refereeing kingdom but Clattenburg officiated the game impressively and it was not his fault – or the fourth official Jon Moss – that Chelsea did not pass the ball with more authority.
Pellegrini sent on Frank Lampard to face his old club but Mourinho had ensured there were an awful lot of bodies to get through.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 1
Summit meeting ends in stalemate
Jason Burt

Jose Mourinho is quickly, typically, developing a siege mentality inside Stamford Bridge and he replicated that out on the pitch here as Chelsea withheld Manchester City’s determined attempts to slice their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
As the contest appeared set to play itself out all eyes turned to Frank Lampard. Eventually he did come on, with 14 minutes to go, with surely the script prepared. It seemed inevitable that on his final appearance at Stamford Bridge, after all he has achieved at this arena, all the goals and honours and “Super Frankie” accolades – the banner returned – that he would break Chelsea hearts while wearing City blue.
At the end the 36-year-old toured the pitch one last time, accepting the applause and warm chants but it was only after a draw, even if it felt a win-win for him. Mourinho had shaken hands with Lampard as he sat on the substitutes bench but he then shackled him on the pitch with Gary Cahill deployed in the dying minutes as a holding midfielder as Chelsea bolstered their defences even further. There was no way Lampard was going to be permitted a sniff at goal.
“It was strange but I knew it would be different. I enjoyed it,” Lampard said later and he had appeared nervous. “It is a special place for me here and I am coming back with a very good team. I think City maybe edged it.” He was right, they did edge it.
Mourinho carried that sense of grievance into the game – refusing to speak to the media because of the way the so-called ‘stamping’ ban on Diego Costa was analysed, discussed, “campaigned” for, reported. This game drew a record number of rights holders and broadcasters including a crew from Kazhakstan – what did they make of it all?
Mourinho maintained his silence afterwards. How long will this last? Presumably until he feels he has made his point. He did not even offer up his assistant Steve Holland.
This was about gaining a point – and ensuring that City did not claim all three. Chelsea were ahead, briefly, and must have harboured ambitions of stretching their advantage to eight points and with it surely snuffing out the challenge of the champions. But eventually they settled for maintaining the status quo. It was another step towards the title for Mourinho, even if City captain Vincent Kompany felt moved to declare: “Experience tells us that five points is nothing. It gives us enough confidence to push on.”
City played well enough to have won and will come away believing they should have done. Chelsea had just three shots –“ and not one in the second half – which represented the lowest total they have recorded in a Premier League match since 2003/04. The clearer opportunities, and there were not many, fell to the visitors.
But this was about game-management for Mourinho. He was without the suspended Costa and the injured Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder’s creativity was sorely missed.
Mourinho had to use players who had been pushed into extra-time only last Tuesday in that intense Capital One Cup tie against Liverpool.
 
Mourinho harnessed that sense of grievance and he rode it out. He was full of gestures and gesticulations and the officials – referee Mark Clattenburg chief among them – were left in no uncertain terms as to his mood. He turned to the fourth official Jon Moss imploringly, disapprovingly. He turned to the stands. He looked at the heavens – and he cajoled his players to the point they required as tiredness gripped their legs.
The Chelsea fans responded. They chanted “Diego”, they aimed some abuse at Jamie Redknapp, the Sky pundit regarded as the witch-finder general, and they verbally sparred with the City supporters. They also nursed that sense that officialdom was against them.
Mourinho also had to contend with that rarest of things: a mistake by Thibaut Courtois. It came at a critical point – just after Chelsea had taken the lead with an accomplished goal and just before half-time. It came as Chelsea claimed the ball had gone out of play for a throw-in – it had not fully – and that Jesus Navas was offside. He was not. Branislav Ivanovic had played him on.
It came as the Spaniard swung in a cross and James Milner jumped. Courtois flapped at the ball and it fell to Sergio Agüero who steadied himself and fired low and goalwards. Ivanovic had recovered to cover the goal but the shot was going wide until David Silva reacted sharply to divert it into the net. Mourinho turned on his heels in disgust. Courtois looked stunned.
It drew City level. They had fallen behind to the one piece of incisive play Chelsea could sustain and inevitably that involved Eden Hazard, who was even more responsible for providing that cutting edge in Fabregas’s absence.

The Belgian broke away. The ball was ferried crossfield to Willian. He held off Martin Demichelis and a chance was created for Ivanovic to cross, picking out Hazard who superbly volleyed the ball low back across goal for Costa’s replacement Loïc Rémy – preferred to Didier Drogba – who fired past Joe Hart from close range. It was an accomplished creation but was Kompany again caught out? The defender had pulled out of intervening for fear of scoring an own goal.
Before that Ivanovic – perhaps feeling the effects of a deep cut to his foot sustained against Liverpool – was caught out twice, with Fernandinho’s eventual shot deflected wide. Then Courtois saving smartly from Agüero after the striker fashioned space for a powerful drive. Agüero was then allowed to run clear of John Terry only to screw his shot narrowly wide. City manager Manuel Pellegrini held his head in his hands at that one.
He knew chances would be difficult to eke out – effectively later accusing Mourinho of parking the bus – and into the second half there would not be another opportunity as clear as that one. Fernandinho headed down into the turf, allowing Courtois to tip the ball over the bar. The Brazilian midfielder then shot weakly at the goalkeeper.

But Chelsea would not be breached. Nemanja Matic, as ever, was outstanding.
Terry was imperious while Cahill’s replacement, Kurt Zouma, the 20-year-old French defender who was outstanding. Zouma has strength and growing composure and above all pace to burn and it feels like it could be a long way back into the team for Cahill.
There would be no late drama. With the substitutes on, Drogba and Edin Dzeko among them, there was one last chance as Milner finally managed to find some space – only to fall between sending in a cross and a shot. The ball flew past the far post and the draw was taken.
“The last few games we’ve dropped our standards a bit but that was more like it,” Lampard said. “It keeps it bubbling. I don’t think either team can be too upset with the result.” Mourinho is bubbling also.
He remains upset and will continue to develop that sense of grievance as he attempts to hold off City’s challenge.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City
Jose Mourinho's side remain five points clear as league leaders claim vital point at Stamford Bridge

By Rob Draper

So there will be no title decided in January. Innate caution won the day over decisive risk taking. In short, the spectacle did not fit the billing. Not even the return of Frank Lampard to Stamford Bridge for the final 15 minutes of the game — the reaction was generally, though not exclusively, warm — could inject the necessary drama or create the fantastic finale.
Chelsea and Manchester City both live to fight another day. The winter slog continues and the warm spring of title celebrations still seems some way off. In the end, Manuel Pellegrini had more to lose, though it was his side which created the better chances and it was they who sought the winner in those final anxious minutes.
Jose Mourinho was, of course, content. ‘What we have, we hold,’ might well be his mantra and a five-point lead going into February will suit just fine. The statistics will show they recorded just three shots, their lowest at home since 2003-04 and none in the second half. All will be forgiven if the title returns.
Mourinho is still not talking to the press, but we didn’t need his words to confirm what his intentions are in the coming months. There will be no rash dash for the line. When he can, he will entertain; when he is challenged, he will revert to type.
For Pellegrini the only victory he could claim was moral. ‘I think both teams have a clear style of play,’ he said. ‘Everyone wants to play in the way they think is better.
‘You analyse the style of Chelsea and I analyse the style of my team. I’m very proud of the way we played away against the leaders, where normally Chelsea wins.
‘We tried to win the game from the first minute, I’m very proud about that. And I think we created the chances, especially in the second half, to deserve more than the three points. I’m not happy about a point but I’m happy about the performance.’
He would not be drawn into a philosophical discussion of Mourinho’s football. ‘I’m not saying we’re more attacking,’ he added. ‘I’m saying both teams have a clear style.’ But that is not strictly true. Chelsea have scored 52 goals this season. When they wish to attack, they can; Saturday was not such an occasion.
Nevertheless it left Pellegrini convinced he can still win the League. ‘I said before the game that it was very important but not the final so we still have time to recover those five points. And if we continue the way we did today it will be easier.’
It wasn’t that the football was bad, though the individual errors which characterised the first half will have embarrassed some stellar reputations, Vincent Kompany and Thibaut Courtois among them. For much of the game the problem was both sides were good, just not in the way that excites you and grabs your senses. There was much for coaches to admire in midfield: solidity, tracking back, good team shape. There was a wild moment towards the end, when James Milner swept a shot across goal, when you could believe that a dramatic conclusion was imminent. Yet chances were few, the Milner moment notable for its rarity rather than its clear-cut nature.
The opening exchanges set the tone: tetchy and tight. When the chances and goals came, it was individual errors, calamitous ones from seasoned pros, which were to blame.
It started on 24 minutes, when Branislav Ivanovic lost possession to Milner, a mistake which required Courtois to parry a shot from Sergio Aguero. Then it was Kompany losing out to Loic Remy, who crossed for Oscar, whose shot forced a Joe Hart save.
On 32 minutes, Chelsea, busy appealing for a penalty, were caught out by a long ball which saw John Terry slip and Aguero break clear. The Argentinian should have scored but pulled the ball wide.
And on 42 minutes Chelsea would prise City open with a quite delightful lofted ball from Ivanovic which found Eden Hazard in space on the far left. The Belgian delivered an exquisite first-time volleyed cross but for some reason Kompany, perhaps fearful of turning it into his net, appeared half-hearted as he slid in to block. As such, he let the ball through to Remy, who had the simplest task in turning it in. Kompany punched the ground in frustration, acknowledging his error.
From such positions Mourinho’s team rarely surrender. Yet three minutes later they had. This time it was Courtois who had the aberration, flapping at a Jesus Navas cross. Perhaps he was distracted by Milner, but the ball fell to Aguero, who shot and saw David Silva turn his strike into the net.
Thereafter, the game reverted to type. The highlight of the day was referee Mark Clattenburg giving Mourinho the kind of look primary school teachers reserve for their naughtiest pupils as the Chelsea manager protested another decision.
City sat in Chelsea’s half in the second half without threatening much. There was a Fernandinho header into the ground which bounced upwards, requiring Courtois to tip the ball over on 56 minutes and a shot on 68 minutes from the Brazilian but Courtois collected that easily enough.
The principal excitement came when Lampard returned, trotting on to a mixed reception with 15 minutes to go. Even he could not produce a denouement on such an auspicious occasion and perhaps because of that he was greeted warmly from all around the ground when the final whistle went. For Lampard alone it was a day not to forget.

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City: Silva cancels out Remy opener as Blues maintain five-point gap at the top
 
By Dave Kidd
 
Jose Mourinho's men were on the back-foot for the large part at Stamford Bridge as the absence of big-hitters Fabregas and Costa was felt

David Silva earned Manchester City a point to keep the Premier League title race alive – but Manuel Pellegrini's men left Stamford Bridge feeling they should have cut Chelsea's lead to two points.
With his former Atletico Madrid understudy, Diego Costa, controversially banned, it was left to the Argentine to produce a leading-man peformance and set up David Silva for the equaliser after a Thibaut Courtois blunder on the stroke of half-time, to swiftly cancel out Loic Remy's opener.
As Jose Mourinho continued his sulk in the wake of Costa's three-match ban for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can in the Capital One Cup semi-final and Frank Lampard returned to the Bridge for a cameo appearance as a 77th-minute sub, it was Chelsea who ended up the happier with a point.
City did most of the attacking but Chelsea maintain their five-point lead as the Premier League's top two largely cancelled each other out – despite the visitors showing most of the attacking intent.
Courtois had been busy within 30 seconds of the start, pushing out a Jesus Navas shot after a slick City move.
And he was forced into a fine save from Aguero after Branislav Ivanovic's dozy pass was cut out by James Milner and the Argentine striker wriggled free to shoot.
Kurt Zouma, again preferred to Gary Cahill, made a crucial tackle to deny Aguero a clear sight of goal.
But Chelsea had their moments and when the shaky Vincent Kompany gifted possession to Loic Remy, he squared for Oscar to test Joe Hart from range.
Aguero then beat Terry to a long and shot wide across goal.
So it was against the run of play when Chelsea seized the lead on 41 minutes, Ivanovic lofting a ball from right to left, Eden Hazard producing a cushioned first-time centre for Remy to tap home when Kompany did not react quickly enough to cut out the danger.
But Chelsea's lead barely lasted two minutes – with Courtois, so commanding in both legs of the Capital One Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool – suffering a brainstorm.
Navas crossed from the right and Courtois, seemingly distracted by a City runner, misjudged and flapped. Aguero drilled at goal as Silva prodded home.
After the break, Courtois had to be alert when a downward header from Fernandinho bounced up and forced him to tip over.
Lampard made his arrival in the 77 minute to a mixture of applause and boos from the home fans
But Milner drove wide across the face of goal as Mourinho attempted to shut up shop, bringing on defender Cahill for striker Remy in the dying minutes.

Teams
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Remy
Subs: Cech, Ake, Drogba, Cahill, Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, Brown
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Demichelis, Kompany, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Navas, Silva, Milner, Aguero
Subs: Caballero, Kolarov, Boyata, Zabaleta, Lampard, Jovetic, Dzeko

Next three league fixtures
Chelsea: Aston Villa (A), Everton (H), Burnley (H)
Manchester City: Hull (H), Stoke (A), Newcastle (H)

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

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Man City 1: Honours even as Mourinho's men maintain five point lead
TWENTY FOUR different TV companies transmitting this battle of the titans to a record 175 countries.

By John Richardson

An estimated global audience of 650 million but not one word from a chastened Jose Mourinho – well at least to the assembled media.
‘The Silent One’ was ready for war – something fourth official Jon Moss quickly discovered as the Portuguese berated him at every opportunity.
Referee Mark Clattenburg must have wished he was at another Ed Sheeran concert as he was forced to have words with the Chelsea boss.
It had been a siege mentality brilliantly executed by the Stamford Bridge boss which had reached its zenith with the three match ban of Diego Costa and also involved the Chelsea fans taking a verbal pop at Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp who, according to Mourinho, had been part of the conspiracy against his side.
Even his programme notes had been condensed to a few paragraphs, claiming the football world was lined up against his club as he said: ‘We also remember the moments when the gods of football were against us’.
What no one can dispute is that Mourinho and his teams usually deliver when it matters.
Without being anywhere near their best and without their striking talisman Chelsea were able to maintain the status quo at the top of the Premier League table, this draw maintaining the five point gap.
Chelsea knew they couldn’t afford to keep looking to the back of the dug out at Costa and the injured Cesc Fabregas.
It was all about the here and now, and two goals in three minutes ensured that half-time arrived with this fascinating game on the boil.
Chelsea struck first through Loic Remy’s third league goal of the season but it was Eden Hazard who was the real architect of Manchester City’s demise at the back.
There was plenty to do when Nemanja Matic’s ball arrived close to the by line but a brilliant volleyed cross begged Remy to finish from inside the six yard box.
But City are not going to give up their title without a fight and didn’t take long to respond although earlier there had been more controversy, an assistant referee ruling that Hazard had taken the ball over the touchline for a City throw.
Chelsea believed it was yet another miscarriage of justice and were left cursing even more when David Silva took advantage of disarray at the back to level the scores.
Thibaut Courtois’ attempted punch from a Jesus Navas cross only fell to Aguero on the edge of the area.
With little fuss he shot goalwards and Silva was able to apply the vital clinical touch, the ball evading Branislav Ivanovich on the line.
Chelsea were deflated and struggled to rediscover their rhythm with City looking the more potent as Mourinho grew more and more exasperated.
By comparison the taciturn Manuel Pellegrini was a beacon of calm, especially with his side carrying the greater threat.
Navas was a constant source of danger although City’s executor in chief Aguero wasn’t at his sharpest in front of goal.
Earlier he had been presented with a golden chance to display his finishing prowess but the striker’s finish was unusually wayward.
Mourinho didn’t know who to moan at, his absent defenders or the officials who he claimed had missed a hand ball from Martin Demichelis just seconds earlier.
Thankfully all parties proved that a senseof humour hadn’t been completely lost as Mourinho kicked a loose ball at James Milner after a free-kick had been awarded in front of the technical area.
‘An accident’ protested the Chelsea boss as he apologised all round. Milner simply smiled.
But there was a grimace when you know who was preparing to enter a throbbing coliseum. Surely Frank Lampard who endured a mixture of cheers and boos wasn’t going to write another incredible script?
Not this time. But City went so, so close but in the end they couldn’t do a Bradford City.

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

Star:

Chelsea 1 - Man City 1: Blues hold on for point as Jose Mourinho stays silent
JOSE MOURINHO kept his vow of silence last night, again refusing to talk about his club.


By Tony Stenson

Just as well. He would need to explain how his side continue to excite and frustrate.
How they let slip a lead and continue to have Man City breathing down their necks when they were running away with the title.
How they struggled at the end – and parked the bus as City went for broke and were all over them.
Not forgetting how Arsenal and the pack are not far behind. Arsene Wenger led a crop of managers chuckling at the result.
Mourinho would also have needed to explain why his keeper Thibaut Courtois, considered one of the world’s finest, fluffed a cross like a Sunday league keeper to witness City wipe out Chelsea’s lead within a minute.
And his appalling touchline behaviour, where he was constantly brought to book by the fourth official for leaving his area and was eventually spoken to by referee Mark Clattenburg.
He was lucky not to be sent to the stand.
Mourinho has gone in for this monk-like existence because he feels the world is against his club.
Total rubbish, of course, but it often deflects what is happening on the field.

Chelsea, after their blistering start to the season, are looking fragile on occasions and relying far too heavily on Eden Hazard.
There were long periods of midfield snapping, chances being wasted and top stars not fulfilling their potential.
All this in front of the biggest TV audience ever to watch a Premier League game, with crews from around the world tuned into to what was billed as the title decider.

City were never overawed by the occasion and but for sloppy finishing could have broken the Stamford Bridge hoodoo and inflicted a first league defeat in 11 games.
They were on top in the final stages as Chelsea battened down the hatches.
Mourinho gave notice of his vow of silence by writing just seven paragraphs in the Chelsea programme.
He was not keen to hold a welcoming hand to City and their manager Manuel Pellegrini – he has previous there and is still smarting from when the City boss called Chelsea “a small team”.
It led to a frantic game, tackles going in, skirmishes bristling but overall it lacked quality.

Oscar wasted a 29th-minute chance by shooting tamely into the hands of Joe Hart on one of the rare occasions Chelsea found space in City’s defence.
After Chelsea were twice denied penalty appeals for handball, City broke clear and Sergio Aguero shot wide with only Courtois to beat in the 32nd minute.
Chelsea produced the best moment of the first half and deservedly took the lead.
Hazard and Loic Remy broke clear, brought Willian and then Branislav Ivanovic into the act and from his pass, Hazard crossed for Remy to score in the 42nd minute.
But within a minute City were level.
Navas crossed and Courtois fluffed his clearance, his punch going to Aguero whose shot was turned in by David Silva.
It was obvious the absence of Diego Costa, who has scored 17 times in 19 Premier League appearances, was a major blow for Chelsea.
It meant Frank Lampard’s introduction was a footnote to the Mourinho show.
Lampard said: “The last few games we’ve dropped our standards a bit but that was more like it.
“It keeps it bubbling. I don’t think either team can be too upset with the result.”

Liverpool 1-0 (aet)

Independent:

Branislav Ivanovic seals classic encounter with extra-time header to send Blues to Wembley
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 (aet; Chelsea win 2-1 on aggregate)

Sam Wallace

It just about summed up the tension on a night when the modern rivalry between these two clubs was born anew with a great snarling tear-up of open attacking football, and random acts of violence provided by Diego Costa. Not so much random as deftly calculated: two stamps on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel, executed with the precision of the assassin and out of the scope of referee Michael Oliver’s vision.
He should have been sent off for both of them, he should also have had a penalty between the two incidents when Skrtel blatantly tripped him in the box. A hardman in a pair of club-issue woolly gloves, Costa has the unerring ability to get under the skin of even the most experienced players. Steven Gerrard thrust a forehead in his direction as it got really tense in extra-time.
Yet for all the bad feeling and animosity it was a wonderful cup tie that went to extra-time, the away goals rule only applicable at 120 minutes. It was from a foul on Eden Hazard, and there were a few of them, that Chelsea won a free-kick that Willian struck for Branislav Ivanovic to head home. It is Chelsea who will go to Wembley on 1 March for what they hope will be the first trophy of Mourinho II.
In the aftermath, Mourinho described the two stamps by Costa as “absolutely accidental” and, sensing the spectre of retrospective action from the Football Association, launched one of his counter-offensives with the intention of drawing attention away from the main show. He railed against Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and even chastised Brendan Rodgers – this was a strange one - for not adequately praising Thibaut  Courtois in his post-match interviews.
This was Mourinho at his diversionary best, lashing out at all in the hope that he could shift the argument away from Costa although that is surely where it will lie over the next few days. He was not the only offender, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson were both fortunate to escape second yellow cards. Yet no-one quite matched Costa for the kind of understated aggression that makes you wince just watching.
A breathless first half, and one in which Liverpool made just about all the running. Darting, incisive and pressing Chelsea to within an inch of their lives in midfield, they looked a world away from the team that stumbled through the first few months of the season.
If Liverpool had a fit striker to finish the chances that were created then Chelsea might have been buried by half time, yet as it was they were alive at the break. There had been some moment of living dangerously, not least when Raheem Sterling exposed Kurt Zouma with his explosive running from deep.
That first time, Zouma recovered to make the covering tackle. Then, on half an hour, the excellent Philippe Coutinho deceived the young Frenchman with a twist of the hips to the extent that the Chelsea man was heading in the direction of Fulham by the time he realised the Brazilian had plotted another course.
Zouma was in for Gary Cahill, dropped by Mourinho after an indifferent few weeks and having struggled with the pace of Sterling in the first leg draw at Anfield. Zouma is quick but no-one on the pitch was as quick as Sterling and it took a change of direction by the Liverpool man in the 17th minute to allow Zouma the time to recover and make a good covering tackle.
The two big moments of the first half both revolved around Costa who should have had a penalty on 22 minutes when he was clearly tripped by Skrtel down by the byline. The frothing sense of injustice on the Chelsea bench was not tempered by the fact that their assassin-faced centre-forward should have been sent off 11 minutes earlier.
The stamp, or rather the vicious, sly tread, on the right leg of Emre Can was, sadly, straight out the Costa playbook. A glance to locate his grounded opponent and then a boot thrust down on Can as pushed off to chase the ball. It was a mean, dangerous thing to do and he should have been sent off. One wonders whether that realisation flashed through the mind of referee Oliver when he later denied Costa the penalty.
Around the half hour, Courtois came to the rescue of his defence twice, once when Alberto Moreno was played in by a superb curling ball to the left from Steven Gerrard, then again when Coutinho broke away from Zouma. In midfield, Liverpool swarmed all over their opponents, especially Gerrard on Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea had fewer good moments in attack although they are always just a heartbeat away from a goal. It was notable how little Cesc Fabregas was on the ball before the break, and also how much Matic found himself forced to run with it – not the Serb’s greatest strength.
Fabregas lasted less than five minutes of the new half before a collision with John Terry seemed to resolve in his mind his own fitness issues. He was replaced by Ramires. As per the first half, the pace of the game was unrelenting, so too the theatrical sense of injustice on the Chelsea bench for whom conspiracy existed everywhere.
There was even a moment after the hour when Mourinho found himself pushing Rodgers in an attempt to get to Colin Pascoe, the Liverpool assistant, who it seemed, had the temerity to do as much appealing as the Chelsea bench. All thoroughly entertaining stuff and then, just to calm things down, Rodgers sent on Mario Balotelli.
It was already pretty damn heated by then.  Costa had carried out his second surreptitious stamping, this time on Skrtel as they chased a ball after the whistle had already been blown for a foul by Lucas Leiva on Oscar. It was that sort of game. The captains were called aside by Oliver to cool it down. How the referee kept missing Costa’s studdings, only he will know.
Chelsea attacked more after the break. Around the hour Hazard jinked from right to left and shot wide. Costa had an effort saved and then was deftly tacked by Simon Mignolet when a sloppy pass from Henderson had played the striker in.
Henderson, always in the thick of it, had been booked in the first half and there was outrage among Mourinho and his staff when he did not get a second yellow for a handball. A booking for a handball is at the referee’s discretion, and to say that this one divided opinion was putting it mildly indeed.
And so to extra-time when Lucas’ foul on Hazard gave Chelsea the free-kick that Willian crossed for Ivanovic to head in. Mourinho said afterwards that the defender ended the game with one boot filled with blood from an injury, and promised to have the boot in question on display in the club’s academy. He was on a roll by that point of the post-match press conference.
Rodgers sent on Rickie Lambert for the second period of extra-time but in truth, Liverpool ran out of ideas. The stage was set for Balotelli but he looked miles off the pace. A decent centre-forward is the minimum requirement to beat Chelsea, who were too strong in the end.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis (Azpilicuet,a 78); Matic, Fabregas (Ramires, 49); Willian (Drogba, 118), Oscar, Hazard; Costa.
Liverpool (3-4-3): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho (Johnson 57); Markovic (Balotelli 70), Henderson, Lucas, Moreno (Lambert 105); Gerrard, Sterling, Coutinho.

Booked:
Chelsea Terry, Ivanovic, Costa, Oscar
Liverpool Henderson, Lucas, Gerrard, Can, Skrtel
Referee: M Oliver
Rating: 9/10
Man of the match: Coutinho

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Guardian:

Branislav Ivanovic heads Chelsea into final with late win over Liverpool
Daniel Taylor

There was a point here when the heat of the battle had brought the two managers together on the touchline, one-time colleagues and friends straying dangerously close to a full-on confrontation. That clash between José Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers seemed emblematic of a thrillingly spiky night when Chelsea reached Wembley, the undercurrent of bad feeling between the two teams frequently spilled into open combat and Diego Costa went far enough the Football Association may feel compelled to act.
It was a breathless encounter full of incident and drama, including some outstanding goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet, and probably encapsulated by the way Mourinho did not even see the decisive goal from Branislav Ivanovic, four minutes into the first period of extra time, because the Chelsea manager had turned his back to the pitch for one of his regular little expeditions to air his grievances with the fourth official, Phil Dowd.
It was after one of those forays, gesturing that the referee, Michael Oliver, needed spectacles, that Rodgers grumpily intervened and used his arm to lever the Chelsea manager away, before opposite number flicked out his own arm in retaliation. Mourinho’s little black book of perceived injustices – some credible, others much less so – has some new additions because of the way Costa was denied an obvious first-half penalty and two of Liverpool’s players, Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva, escaped being shown a second yellow card.
Henderson might have taken the game to a penalty shoot-out with a headed chance eight minutes after Ivanovic’s goal and the awkward truth for Michael Oliver is that even in a season rife with inexplicable refereeing, his performance stood out for all the wrong reasons.
Not that the players helped, of course. John Terry and the substitute Mario Balotelli had to be pulled apart. Martin Skrtel clashed with Courtois and had a running battle with Costa, with reports also indicating the Liverpool player made an offensive gesture to the crowd. Costa, that formidable wind-up merchant, went after Emre Can and Steven Gerrard – anyone, in fact, wearing a red shirt. His provocation was almost unremitting but more seriously there were two incidents when his studs landed on players who were on the ground – on both occasions almost certainly accidentally on purpose.
Costa is so accomplished in the dark arts of his trade that he managed to get away with the first one, stamping on Can’s ankle, even though Dowd was standing a few feet away. The second was also expertly disguised, this time bringing down his foot on Skrtel, and the repercussions could be considerable if the FA’s disciplinary department rules either was violent conduct, with the possibility of a three-match ban or even longer, and a first-against-second encounter with Manchester City to come on Saturday.
Mourinho, who also lost Cesc Fàbregas and Filipe Luís to injuries, appeared to be trying a diversion technique when he complained bitterly about an unnamed Sky pundit (almost certainly Jamie Redknapp), insisted it was “absolutely accidental” from Costa and then aimed a few barbs at Rodgers in a diatribe that revealed much about the current state of their working relationship. He did, however, have legitimate complaints about the refereeing and particularly the moment in the first half when Skrtel clearly tripped Costa inside the penalty area and was given the benefit of the doubt. Once again, the Chelsea manager talked of the “campaign” that has earned him his own disciplinary charge from the FA.
In addition, there was a punch of the air in his post-match interviews and a cry of “let’s go to Wembley”. It seemed like a release of tension bearing in mind Liverpool had continued where they left off from the first leg, when they had often excelled in a 1-1 draw, passing the ball crisply and reminding us in brief passages of the slick, adventurous football they put together last season. What the visitors lacked was someone with Luis Suárez’s ability to finish off one of their chances when they were finding the same sort of gaps that Bradford City had exploited at the weekend. Coutinho’s ability to run with the ball was a prominent feature and Raheem Sterling was another difficult opponent for Chelsea’s defence. Yet Courtois was excellent and when Balotelli was introduced as a substitute it was a sorry contribution from the Italian.
Otherwise, Liverpool’s attackers made it a difficult occasion for Kurt Zouma on a night when Mourinho decided the 20-year-old should partner Terry and dropped Gary Cahill to the bench after a poor sequence of matches. Mikel John Obi, substituted against Bradford, did not even warrant a place on the bench but it was Cahill’s omission that delivered the clearest message that Mourinho was not going to tolerate his team being so generous in defence again. Zouma improved as the game went on but he looked raw early on and by half-time Chelsea were indebted to Courtois for keeping out Coutinho and Alberto Moreno.
Mourinho must have been startled that Mignolet was less occupied in the first 45 minutes but Chelsea did eventually start to play with the greater control and dominated long periods of the second half. Mignolet has been too vulnerable too often for Liverpool this season but there was a succession of fine saves during these moments, in particular when Costa fired in a low right-foot effort that took a sizeable deflection and could easily have wrong-footed him.
Henderson, booked for an earlier foul, should probably have been sent off when his arm blocked a pass from Eden Hazard and Lucas, with a yellow card already shown, was also fortunate after a trip on the same player. From the free-kick, Willian clipped the ball into the penalty area and the bad news for Liverpool was that Balotelli was marking Ivanovic. It was a mismatch and Ivanovic headed in the goal to ensure Chelsea will be at Wembley on 1 March.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 (2-1 on agg):
Branislav Ivanovic scores extra-time winner to seal feisty semi-final win
Full-back heads Jose Mourinho's side to the final

Henry Winter

A two-hour adrenalin rush of a game finished with Chelsea at Wembley, with players and supporters gasping for breath and with Branislav Ivanovic’s blood-filled boot destined for the academy reception to remind youngsters of the commitment levels required. A compelling, contentious game also finished with Diego Costa at risk of investigation by the FA for two stamping offences.
Jose Mourinho, the Special One loving the Capital One, sought to deflect attention away from Costa’s excesses by railing against an unnamed Sky pundit understood to be Jamie Redknapp, who has been critical of Chelsea and, apparently, supportive of Liverpool. Even his name’s got red in it, the conspiracy theorists will note.
As for Costa, the FA’s meek disciplinary department will probably shirk the challenge. Nobody at the Bridge did. Lucas and Jordan Henderson should have been dismissed. Costa certainly should. Such was the frantic pace, and endless squaring up, that the game was briefly trending on Twitter in Rio, the home of the Beautiful Game probably trying to work out when football had become Rollerball.
Few matches this season have contained so much incident, from incompetent refereeing to a bout of goading between the benches that prompted Brendan Rodgers’ assistant, Colin Pascoe, to offer an angry Mourinho his glasses. These rivals’ latest confrontation also saw two fine goalkeeping performances from Simon Mignolet and particularly Thibaut Courtois, who was named man of the match, although other worthy candidates presented themselves in a magnificent match that cast a spell over a mesmerised audience of 40,659. Along with Mignolet, Philippe Coutinho was superb, while Emre Can continues to pick up the pace and physical nature of the English fray, even showing attacking intent with breaks from the back. For Chelsea, Ivanovic took his winner, an extra-time header, brilliantly and played on despite a cut in his foot.
Willian was tireless in his pursuit of the ball and creative in his use of it. Nemanja Matic patrolled midfield ably. Eden Hazard kept dribbling, kept taking the hits. Costa, for all his skullduggery, was magnificent in the second half of normal time and then the additional half-hour; he was the focal point and goal threat that Liverpool crave.
Liverpool can take pride by how close they pushed Chelsea, lacking only a finisher. Raheem Sterling ran hard and fast but Liverpool need Daniel Sturridge, who could return for Saturday’s Premier League game at home to West Ham United. Mario Balotelli’s behaviour, though, whether selfishly going for goal or selfishly heading down the tunnel at full-time, ignoring his team-mates and fans, again brings into question his future at Liverpool. On a night of surprises, Balotelli briefly played the peace-maker at one point.
This was a game of one goal and countless incidents. Mourinho was furious about Michael Oliver’s refereeing, particularly missing a clear penalty when Costa was fouled in the first half. Mourinho was so unhappy at the break that he sought out Oliver in the tunnel and the fourth official, Phil Dowd, had to intervene.
Mourinho’s concerns about a “campaign” against Chelsea began earlier in the season when Oliver cautioned Costa for simulation at Turf Moor when it looked like he had been brought down by the Burnley goalkeeper, Tom Heaton. “I hope he doesn’t get any more unfair decisions,’’ said Mourinho at the time.
Oliver is a talented referee, respected in Europe, but this should have been a game for England’s top official, Mark Clattenburg. Once again an important game was laced with a debate about English refereeing standards.
At least Clattenburg will be here on Saturday for the visit of Manchester City, who will be hoping that Chelsea are exhausted and that Filipe Luis (calf), Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Ivanovic (foot) fail to recover from injuries picked up against Liverpool.
Chelsea needed resilience throughout. When Kurt Zouma, who was preferred to Gary Cahill, misjudged a header, allowing Sterling to race down the inside-left, the young centre-half made amends for his mistake. As Sterling flew into the box, eluding John Terry, Zouma covered back to muscle him off the ball.
If Liverpool looked for the pace of Sterling, Chelsea were focusing on Costa. After 11 minutes, Costa planted his right foot into Can’s right ankle, incensing the German. Costa pleaded innocence, pointing out he had to put his foot somewhere.
Oliver was trying to play advantage, keeping a frenetic game flowing, but assorted incidents kept going unpunished. When Luis complained about a Lazar Markovic challenge, the Serb ran past him and grabbed him by the neck. Chelsea’s bench was like a manic toaster, popping up, fuming. Oliver did not spot the offence.
Chelsea’s bench went into meltdown after 22 minutes when Oscar angled a great ball through for Costa, whose right foot was caught by Martin Skrtel. The ball bounced towards the Shed and the decision was either for a corner or a penalty. Oliver decreed a goal-kick, further antagonising Chelsea who were convinced it was a clear penalty.
If controversy hung over one half, vapour trails floated over the other. Liverpool’s pacier players were charging forward. Alberto Moreno cut in but was thwarted by Courtois. Then Coutinho raced through the middle, sending Zouma the wrong way, before letting fly with a left-footed strike. Only Courtois’ response, stretching out his left foot, diverted the danger.
Oliver finally booked somebody, punishing Henderson for hounding Eden Hazard. As he walked towards the tunnel at the break, Oliver was greeted with caustic comments from the Chelsea fans. Mourinho also had a word at the break with the under-pressure referee. So much was going on, away from Oliver’s gaze. Mamadou Sakho gave the ball away early in the second half, passing crossfield, allowing Costa to nick the ball.
Oscar was painfully brought down by Lucas. Oliver tried to allow advantage which simply resulted in Costa again being careless with his feet, landing one on Skrtel, who responded with an attempted fly-kick before the routine squaring up.
Costa began parading his more positive side, twice raiding into the box but denied by Mignolet. As Oliver concluded normal time, Rodgers gathered his players in a huddle, so did Mourinho, who dropped on his haunches for his address. They responded strongly, Hazard going on another dribble, this one ended by Lucas. As Mourinho asked Dowd why another yellow card had not been waved at Lucas, Willian curled the ball over and Ivanovic headed powerfully home, exploiting laxness in Liverpool’s zonal marking.
Liverpool had to score anyway, because of away goals. The first half still had time for more drama, a tangle between Gerrard and Costa, bringing both bookings. Balotelli tried to curl the ball in à la Kanu, Henderson headed wide and Skrtel body-checked Costa before Oliver called time. It was all over bar the recriminations. In the dressing room, Mourinho’s son held a flag declaring “we’re on our way to Wembley”.

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

Times:

Chelsea are taken extra mile before Ivanovic gives them the nod
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 aet; Chelsea win 2-1 on agg

Oliver Kay

When the moment came, four minutes into extra time, José Mourinho was not watching. He was too busy remonstrating with Phil Dowd, the fourth official, to see an unmarked Branislav Ivanovic head the only goal of an extraordinary evening at Stamford Bridge, sending Chelsea through to the Capital One Cup final.
The action was compelling throughout — fast and furious, breathless, end to end — but, when a game is played in this aggressive spirit, at this pace, at this intensity, seemingly too much for a young referee, controversies abound. Michael Oliver missed two deliberate-looking stamps from Diego Costa, ignored a a strong Chelsea penalty appeal and failed to punish second bookable offences from Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva. That it remained 11 against 11 was almost as astounding as the fact that it was still 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Mourinho was furious that Oliver did not send off Lucas, already booked, for a cynical trip on Eden Hazard in the opening minutes of extra time. He was still venting his anger at Dowd, with his back turned, when Willian swung over a free kick that was headed past Simon Mignolet by Ivanovic — so often the man with a big goal on the big occasion.
On an evening that saw some wonderful creative contributions — from Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Hazard, among others — and required some top-class goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet, it felt almost disappointing that the only goal came from something as rudimentary as a dead-ball kick. It was a goal that summed up the difference between the two teams, though, with a combination of big-match temperament, ruthlessness and aerial threat swinging the tie decisively in Chelsea’s favour.
Mourinho was not the only one whose attention had wandered when the net bulged. When Willian crossed, both Glen Johnson and Mario Balotelli fatefully lost track of Ivanovic. For all their undoubted improvement since the dark days of the autumn, Liverpool still lack reliability in both penalty areas. At least, once Daniel Sturridge finally returns from injury, they should rediscover some composure and conviction in front of goal.
It says something about Liverpool’s lack of potency in attack — as well as the heroics of Courtois in the Chelsea goal — that they created so many chances in the first leg but scored only once. Last night they found chances harder to come by, with Chelsea the more impressive team after half-time, but still Brendan Rodgers is entitled to claim a little solace in defeat.
Tactically, Rodgers, with a 3-4-1-2 formation, seemed to get it about right against what is, ultimately, a stronger team. Where the Liverpool manager was wrong was in suggesting that there would be “a wee bit of trepidation” in the Chelsea ranks after their implosion against Bradford City in the FA Cup; given that Mourinho made nine changes to his starting XI, with his big-name players returning, the hangover theory did not wash.
Intriguingly, Gary Cahill was among those who dropped out of the starting line-up, with Kurt Zouma preferred alongside John Terry. Cahill’s recent form has been patchy, but it seemed an uncharacteristic — if refreshing — gamble from Mourinho to select a 20-year-old central defender with just 137 minutes of Barclays Premier League football under his belt. Zouma was one of the central figures in the first half, Courtois another, which says something about Liverpool’s attacking threat, but above all the eye was drawn to Costa. It very often is, such is his tendency to position himself at the centre of any drama and controversy.
Certainly the home team should have had a penalty when Martin Skrtel mistimed a sliding challenge on Costa midway through the first half, but the Chelsea forward was fortunate still to be on the pitch at that stage after what looked like a deliberate stamp on Emre Can in the 12th minute.
Chelsea had another penalty appeal rejected when the ball deflected on to Leiva’s arm, while Oscar fizzed a couple of efforts narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area, but the clearest opportunities from open play were at the other end, where Nemanja Matic struggled initially against Steven Gerrard and the lively Coutinho.
On 17 minutes Zouma misjudged a high ball, allowing Raheem Sterling to race clear. Sterling was about to shoot when the ball was stolen off his toe by Zouma. Defenders who excel at the recovery tackle are not always to be trusted, but, after the initial aberration, it was quite a rescue act.
Ten minutes later Gerrard picked out Alberto Moreno, who became the latest opponent to be thwarted by Courtois, spreading himself well. Moments later Coutinho bamboozled Cesc Fàbregas and Zouma and bore down on the goalkeeper, but he too was denied.
Chelsea lost Fàbregas to injury, but Ramires gave them more bite. Hazard waltzed past a couple of challenges on the edge of the penalty area and shot just wide. Mignolet did well to save a deflected shot from Costa and then even better to tackle the forward, who was through on goal.
Henderson, recipient of a soft yellow card in the first half, was lucky to escape a second for a cynical handball, but the errors and injustices were all over the place, with Costa getting away with a second stamp, this time on Skrtel.
With Liverpool needing a goal to avoid elimination on the away-goals rule, Rodgers sent on Balotelli, who, as it transpired, was among those culpable for Ivanovic’s goal. It was his sloppy pass that gave possession to Hazard, who was fouled by Lucas — like Henderson earlier, lucky to avoid a second yellow card. From Willian’s free kick, Ivanovic was left unmarked to score with the header.
Even then, there was time for an angry flare-up between Gerrard and Costa and for Sterling to set up Henderson, who somehow missed the target with a header. A Liverpool goal at that point would have forced a penalty shoot-out, but Chelsea held firm. When it matters, they very often do.

Full back’s Midas touch
Branislav Ivanovic has scored his share of important goals for Chelsea
April 2009 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 3 (Champions League quarter-final, first leg): Scores twice with headers to overturn an early deficit
May 2013 Chelsea 2 Benfica 1 (Europa League final): Header in extra time gives Chelsea the trophy
Feb 2014 Manchester City 0 Chelsea 1 (Barclays Premier League): On target to draw Chelsea level with City in the title race

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

Mail:

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (AET, agg 2-1): Branislav Ivanovic heads Blues into the Capital One Cup final in fiery contest... but should Diego Costa have been sent off after stamping on TWO players?

By Martin Samuel

In real terms, it did not make a whole heap of difference when Branislav Ivanovic scored. Liverpool went into extra-time needing to score and, even after Chelsea’s goal, that remained the requirement.
It had been a goal to win, now it was a goal to earn a penalty shoot-out. Yet it wasn’t the mathematics that mattered, but the psychology. Liverpool had given it their best shot, a magnificent shot, a full-throttle, engines screaming, maximum G-force ride of a shot.
And still it wasn’t enough.
Chelsea were first to the punch. As they had been at Anfield, as they were once again. At no time in 210 minutes of cup football did Liverpool lead this tie. They had done enough to win, they had the chances, they played some lovely stuff — but Chelsea found a way and Liverpool did not. So that Ivanovic goal, as meaningless as it must have seemed to the neutrals, will have really hurt them.
Brendan Rodgers rallied his players in the extra-time break, he introduced Rickie Lambert from the bench and was still giving Jordan Henderson instructions until seconds before the restart. It was all for nothing. Liverpool looked done by then.
Henderson had already missed the chance to level five minutes after Chelsea scored. He had a free header from a cross by Raheem Sterling, who had bamboozled Ivanovic on the left. It went yards wide.
Ivanovic’s chance, by contrast, had goal labelled on it from the moment Willian’s free-kick met his head. It helped that Mario Balotelli had assumed marking duties in the middle. He carried them lightly and Liverpool suffered the consequence. Steven Gerrard will have to find another route to Wembley, then — starting with a detour to Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup next Wednesday. If selected.
Still, this was an outstanding game, as good as the crazy Champions League tie between these teams in the days of Guus Hiddink. That had goals, eight of them, but this had action.
There were thrills, there were spills — Cesc Fabregas off injured after 50 minutes, having collided in a tackle with his captain, John Terry — and there were bellyaches, mostly around Diego Costa, who was twice accused of stamping on the foot on an opponent and later booked after a scuffle with Gerrard. The first offence looked more nefariously motivated than his second, on Martin Skrtel after half-time, but there may be repercussions if referee Michael Oliver says he did not see the initial incident with Emre Can and the FA get involved. That may be his best defence, temporary blindness. It would certainly explain some of his poorer calls.
As well as what looked like a red card for Costa, Oliver missed an even more blatant penalty that should have been awarded to Chelsea and could have sent off Henderson for deliberate handball having already booked him. It was as if the sheer ferocity of the game overpowered him. He started shakily and quickly lost control.
Referees’ chief Mike Riley says the performances of his officials this season are better than ever but one has to wonder the name of the company he engages to compile such surveys. Rose Tinted Inc, perhaps?
In the first quarter of this game, Oliver made two huge errors. That the person who should have got the penalty was also the player who was fortunate to avoid the card, hardly compensated. We cannot look to karma to clean up the messes of referees. Two wrongs do not make a right. This, and no doubt a few other points, were being made by Jose Mourinho at half-time – when he waited in the tunnel for Oliver to come out of his room. This may get him into trouble with the FA, too – although the level of Oliver’s performance should also have repercussions, unless Riley has his spectacles on again.
Start with the decision that could have seen Costa dismissed. The ball went out and Liverpool defender Emre Can with it. Lying on the floor he attempted to delay Costa’s attempt to get it back into play. This was clearly mischievous but hardly the most despicable offence and certainly did not warrant what happened next.
Costa, in attempting to clamber over him, stood on Can’s leg – in fact he made little attempt to avoid it – and then appeared to use it as a springboard. Whatever Can’s initial provocation, Costa could easily have been dismissed and his escalation provoked what the Americans call a bench clearer. Over came the Liverpool players to confront Costa – and Can appeared to recover quite quickly from writhing around once reinforcements arrived, too – up jumped the Chelsea coaching staff to defend their man. 
The utter redundancy of the fourth official could be seen in that moment. Unless given the power to directly intervene – this had all happened three feet in front of him after all – what is his purpose? While Oliver may have missed Costa’s stamp, it is hard to imagine Phil Dowd did also, yet his only role was as the mediator between the warring sides. Worse was to come.
Worse, because in the case of Costa’s stamp there will always be those who claim it happened accidentally; in the case of his penalty claim, there is no grey area. Costa cut inside Martin Skrtel and he tripped him over. No doubt this time, no mitigation. Oliver pointed and Jose Mourinho wheeled around to face his coaches satisfied, at last, that Chelsea’s run of poor treatment by referees in the penalty area had ended.
He turned to see that Oliver had not in fact awarded a penalty but a goal kick – his gesticulations as accurate as his judgements – and it is fair to say the Chelsea manager was displeased. One might argue that justice was done. But it was a strange justice, a warped justice, justice that relied upon a pile-up of incompetence, each error somehow balancing the last. Don’t try this at home, folks.
The wacky world of Oliver aside, plus unseemly scuffles that broke out as frequently as on a stag weekend in Prague, this was a fine game – frantic, feisty, fiery and open. Eden Hazard was brilliant, so was Sterling, but the best chances fell largely to Liverpool. Chelsea had the bulk of possession, yet Liverpool often looked likelier to score – Sterling and Philippe Coutinho again causing Chelsea problems with their pace.
Gary Cahill had paid the price for the capitulation against Bradford City at the weekend and was dropped to the bench, replaced by Kurt Zouma, but Liverpool remained dangerous. In the 17th minute, Zouma got too tight, missed his header and Sterling tore through on goal. He beat John Terry but the old stager held him up sufficiently to allow Zouma to recover and make amends with a quite superb tackle.
Ten minutes later – and in the middle of the standard disparaging chorus about that slip and its consequences –Gerrard played a simply wonderful pass into Alberto Moreno on the left whose low shot forced a fine save from Thiubaut Courtois. Just three minutes later, a great run by Coutinho split Chelsea’s defence before Courtois saved again. Chelsea had more of it in the second-half when Hazard and Costa came close, but Liverpool will wonder how it is not them walking out at Wembley on March 1. They will surely win a trophy under Rodgers one day – but before you start, you’ve got to finish.

CHELSEA: Courtois 7.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Zouma 6, Terry 6.5, Luis 6 (Azpilicueta 78), Fabregas 6 (Ramires 50), Matic 6, Willian 7 (Drogba 119), Oscar 6.5, Hazard 8, Costa 7.5.
Subs not used: Cech, Ake, Drogba, Remy, Cahill.
Booked: Terry, Ivanovic, Costa, Oscar
Goal: Ivanovic 94
Manager: Jose Mourinho 7

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 7.5, Can 6, Skrtel 7, Sakho 6.5 (Johnson 57), Markovic 6 (Balotelli 70), Henderson 7, Lucas 7.5, Moreno 7 (Lambert 105), Coutinho 8, Gerrard 6, Sterling 7.5.
Subs not used: Ward, Lovren, Lallana, Allen.
Booked: Henderson, Lucas, Gerrard, Can, Skrtel
Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7
Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool: Branislav Ivanovic heads home extra-time winner to send Blues to Wembley

Dave Kidd

A breathtaking 90 minutes could no separate the two teams but the big defender headed home from a free-kick to give Jose Mourinho the bragging rights
After two hours of frenzied, lock-up-your-daughters football, Jose Mourinho was hardly in celebratory mood.
His side had ended a godforsaken week by heading to Wembley for the Capital One Cup Final but the Chelsea boss was fuming at Brendan Rodgers, referee Michael Oliver and, especially, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.
And then Mourinho claimed that Branislav Ivanovic’s blood-filled boot should be displayed in the Chelsea Academy as testament to the brutal nature of this victory, after the Serbian defender had headed an extra-time winner.
Here you are kids, this is how you win a semi-final.
This was a match often dominated by Diego Costa, who might have been sent off for two separate stamping incidents, was denied a blatant penalty and epitomised Chelsea’s over-my-dead-body spirit with a menacing display.
This was some way for Mourinho’s men to ease memories of Saturday’s stunning FA Cup defeat by Bradford. It was a crash-bang-wallop match brimming with raw hostility, with the speedometer set to ‘breakneck’.
Liverpool were the better team over two legs, yet Mourinho now has the chance to win the first trophy of his second coming at Stamford Bridge.
He’d probably prefer the final to go to extra-time too because - like Phil Brown, only with medals – the old show-off seemed to love the theatre of giving an open-air team talk, as he knelt to deliver his instructions with his players circling him after 90 goalless minutes.
Afterwards he carpeted Redknapp and Rodgers for criticising Costa, and Oliver for failing to award a penalty. The dark conspiracy theories of a media bias against Chelsea refuse to go away but the siege mentality appears to work.
Mourinho must have felt like a man sweeping up the debris from a meteorite strike since the Bradford defeat but his side were determined not to subside again.
It was clear that Costa had the mark of the beast on him from the start and he won a shuddering shoulder-to-shoulder challenge on Emre Can before the flashpoint which threatened a night of pure naughtiness.
Can had tumbled by the touchline after a tussle with Costa, who responded with a stamp on the Liverpool player’s shin which would surely have earned a red had Michael Oliver spotted it.
Then it was Costa’s chance to suffer injustice as Martin Skrtel took his leg away for a stonewall penalty of Emperor Hadrian proportions.
Yet Skrtel reacted as if Costa had dived, Oliver was kidded and Chelsea - awarded an early spot-kick in the first leg - were denied one this time.
The Bridge was a bearpit, Steven Gerrard being taunted mercilessly on his first visit here since the April fall at Anfield which helped blow the title.
Yet the Liverpool skipper responded with class, picking out Alberto Moreno with a gem of a pass only for Thibaut Courtois to rush off his line and push away.
Liverpool were quicker, hungrier and never allowing Chelsea to settle.
Philippe Coutinho kippered Zouma with a turn and sprint, only for Courtois to save with his feet.
A dozy pass from Mamadou Sakho sparked the next eruption, when Lucas brought down Oscar, earning a booking, before Costa appeared to stamp on Skrtel after the whistle had blown.
Mourinho exchanged verbals with Liverpool assistant boss Colin Pascoe, then light shoves with Rodgers – ‘it was a big game, so The Chimp came out,’ said Rodgers, referencing his mind guru Dr Steve Peters.
Amid the mayhem, a little majesty from Eden Hazard, with a slalom run and a shot, whipped just wide.
Costa’s deflected shot saved by Mignolet’s legs, Gerrard testing Courtois, Mignolet denying Costa and Courtois saving at the feet of Sterling.
Henderson escaped a second yellow for a seemingly cynical handball, enraging Mourinho.
Rodgers chucked another Molotov into a riotous night by sending on Mario Balotelli, then Terry bulldozed Sterling and Gerrard blazed into the top tier of The Shed.
Mourinho gave his kneeling team talk, with his players encircling him.
And within three minutes, Willian swung in a free-kick from the right and Ivanovic, who’d been hobbling with his wounded foot, leapt to head home.
There was still time for Gerrard and Costa to wrestle and rut one another, both earning yellow cards.
A fitting end to a glorious night of violence.

Team line-ups and Dave Kidd's ratings

CHELSEA: Courtois 8; Ivanovic 7, Zouma 6, Terry 7, Luis 6; Matic 7, Fabregas 5; Willian 7, Oscar 6, Hazard 7; Costa 7.

Subs used: Ramires (49mins, Fabregas), Azpilicueta (77mins, Luis) Drogba (119mins, Willian).
Subs not used: Cech, Cahill, Ake, Remy.

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 7; Can 6, Skrtel 6, Sakho 5; Markovic 5, Henderson 6, Lucas 6, Moreno 7; Gerrard 7, Sterling 7, Coutinho 8.

Subs used: Johnson (56mins, Sakho), Balotelli (70mins, Markovic), Lambert (105mins, Moreno).
Subs not used: Ward, Lovren, Lallana, Allen.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver 5.

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Express:

Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 0 (AET): Ivanovic heads Blues into League Cup final

Joe Short

Ivanovic rose unmarked to convert Willian's free-kick after 94 goalless minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Diego Costa twice spurned a chance to net the winner, while Alberto Moreno saw Liverpool's best effort palmed away by Thibaut Courtois.
The result sees Chelsea safely into March's final at Wembley against either Tottenham or Sheffield United, who play tomorrow night.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers named an unchanged XI that drew 1-1 with Chelsea in the first leg at Anfield last week, while Jose Mourinho opted to keep Kurt Zouma in his back four to cope with Raheem Sterling's pace.
And the game was uglied early on by a nasty stamp from Diego Costa on Lazar Markovic that went unnoticed by the referee.
The incident set the tone for a fiery opening that truly ignited when Martin Skrtel upended Costa in the box - only for referee Michael Oliver to wave away the Spaniard's theatrical protests.
Courtois was called upon moments later to superbly block Moreno's one-on-one effort from the left, before denying Philippe Coutinho with an outstretched leg as Liverpool tore through Chelsea's defence.
In return Oscar clipped a free-kick low and wide of Simon Mignolet's right-hand post as the first half dwindled to an end.
It didn't take the second half long to raise the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge, however, when Lucas dived in late on Oscar during a Blues break, which earned the Liverpool man a yellow. In the melee that once again followed, Costa appeared to leave his studs in on Skrtel as the referee blew up for the original foul.
Just before the hour mark Eden Hazard had the crowd on its feet when he waltzed down the Chelsea right, cut inside and fizzed a shot just wide.
Chelsea's tails were up and only a brilliant reaction save from Mignolet prevented Costa netting the opener before the Belgian proved Liverpool's hero once again when Henderson diverted the ball into Costa's path, only for Mignolet to tackle the striker and clear the danger.
Henderson was somewhat lucky not to receive a second yellow for hand ball before Lazar Markovic exited the field for Mario Balotelli.
The change made little difference to Liverpool's forward intentions but the tempo deflated towards 90 minutes as both sides prepared for extra time.
Chelsea knew heading into the additional 30 minutes a 0-0 draw would see them through on away goals.
But Mourinho's men didn't need it, as Ivanovic rose high to nod his team in front from a simple free kick. Liverpool's zonal marking let them down - Ivanovic running unmarked into the box before powering past the helpless Mignolet from six yards.
The goal forced Liverpool to attack and Henderson squandered a great opportunity to head a leveller 10 yards out but it proved a rare foray forward, as Chelsea held on to make it through to Wembley.

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Star:

Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 0 (agg 2-1 AET): Ivanovic sends Blues to Wembley
Paul Brown

Branislav Ivanovic eventually sent Chelsea through to the Capital One Cup final with an extra-time header from a Willian free kick.
But boy did they have to work for it against a Liverpool side who arrived with a gameplan which came so close to paying off.
Ivanovic won the tie but Diego Costa was the story of the game as he picked up where he left off after his tunnel row with Jordan Henderson in the first leg.
Denied a penalty for a foul by Martin Skrtel, he was also involved in three bust-ups. First he sparked a melee by treading on Emre Can.
Then he provoked Skrtel by appearing to stamp on the Reds defender’s ankle – and he ended his night with a booking for going head to head with Steven Gerrard.
It may have been ugly. But it was also a thriller, with Belgians Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet in superb form as chances came and went at either end.
So after the “disgrace” of losing to Bradford, Chelsea avoided what would have been the disaster of going out of a second cup in a week here.
But it’s another trophy gone for Liverpool, who didn’t last long on their return to the Champions League.
And while they can be proud of the way they played, Brendan Rodgers has still never beaten Jose Mourinho, whose side will now face Tottenham or Sheffield United at Wembley.
Liverpool survived an early penalty scare when Willian’s shot cannoned off the arm of Lucas – and then the argy-bargy started.
After Emre Can went down under his challenge, Costa stepped on his leg right in front of the dug-outs, sparking a furious response from the Liverpool player and some of his team-mates.
Costa was at the heart of it again in the 23rd minute when Skrtel hacked him down on the edge of the box. There was definite contact but referee Michael Oliver waved away the appeals.
Courtois then did well to deny first Alberto Moreno and then Philippe Coutinho, who beat Zouma far too easily and should have scored.
And Chelsea suffered a huge blow when Cesc Fabregas limped off just after half time after injuring himself going into the same tackle as John Terry.
Soon after that the handbags came out again. Lucas was booked for hacking down Oscar and Costa was then involved in another ugly incident.
He jumped a tackle by Skrtel and then trod on the defender’s ankle, with the Reds defender then aiming a kick at him in retaliation.
It was bad tempered and ugly, but there were chances at both ends when the sides decided to focus on playing football, with Hazard missing a great one.
Mignolet then pulled off a superb save to deny Costa, whose shot took a wicked deflection off Skrtel – and he did even better to deny the Blues striker moments later with a last-ditch tackle.
Henderson was then lucky to escape a second booking for deliberate handball after receiving a yellow card in the first half for a tug on Hazard’s shirt.
Then it was Terry’s turn to ride his luck. His tackle on Sterling was late and from behind, and it failed to win the ball, but it only earned him a booking.
When the goal finally came you could sense the relief around the ground. But they had to wait until the fourth minute of extra time for it to come.
Lucas, who had already been booked, brought down Hazard and Willian swung in the free kick for Ivanovic to head home unmarked from six yards.
But the drama wasn’t over as Henderson somehow headed wide a brilliant Sterling cross and Costa went head to head with Gerrard.