Paris St Germain sustained their hopes of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals when Edinson Cavani's powerful second-half header salvaged a 1-1 home draw against Chelsea in their last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
Cavani struck early in the second half to cancel out Branislav Ivanovic's first-half header, which was scored against the run of play after the French champions had dominated from the start at the Parc des Princes.
Chelsea, who won last year's quarter-final with PSG on away goals, scored with their only chance while the hosts had several opportunities to take a lead into the second leg through Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic but failed to take them.
The return will be played at Stamford Bridge on March 11.
"We could have lost, so I think the result is a positive one... against a very good team with fantastic technical players. It was a difficult match," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told ITV.
PSG midfielder David Luiz told Canal Plus: "We played well. They had one chance and they scored. We had a good strategy, we have a good coach, good players. We have ambitions, we can reach the quarter-finals,"
PSG manager Laurent Blanc, having to deal with a barrage of injuries, fielded central defender Luiz in an unusual holding midfield position while Marquinhos paired up with fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva in central defence.
PSG were without defensive midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Thiago Motta, full back Serge Aurier and forward Lucas, who were all injured.
Gregory van der Wiel started at right back with the task of containing Chelsea's Belgium forward Eden Hazard, which he did rather well.
Chelsea, who were only missing John Obi Mikel, looked content to sit back and wait, hoping to hit the hosts on the break.
PSG dominated possession and came close to opening the scoring in the 11th minute when Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois tipped away Blaise Matuidi's header from Cavani's cross. Uruguay striker Cavani's header at the near post from Ezequiel Lavezzi's corner was also superbly saved by the diving Courtois in the 34th.
But it was Chelsea who took the lead two minutes later with their first attempt on goal involving three defenders as Ivanovic emphatically headed the ball home after Gary Cahill cleverly flicked on a John Terry cross.
PSG went on the attack after the break and were rewarded when the unmarked Cavani equalised after 54 minutes with a firm downward header from Matuidi's cross on the right.
Ibrahimovic then slalomed through the defence before his low shot was saved by Courtois and the rebound fell to the feet of Lavezzi, whose attempt was blocked by Terry.
Cavani then had another header tipped over the bar by Courtois and after a dazzling run into the area saw his low poked shot roll just wide 10 minutes from time.
Blanc brought on Lavezzi for Javier Pastore before Ibrahimovic almost found the winner with a header that was brilliantly saved by Courtois in added time.
Alonso sees red as Bayern toil in 0-0 draw with Shakhtar
Bayern Munich's attacking ambitions were curtailed by an organised Shakhtar Donetsk who held them to a goalless draw in their Champions league last-16 first leg on Tuesday with Xabi Alonso sent off for the Germans in the second half.
Alonso, who was making his 100th Champions League appearance, was dismissed with 25 minutes remaining following a second booking from Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco.
Bayern, who trounced Hamburg 8-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, were stifled by a Shakhtar side, playing their first competitive game in two months.
Shakhtar's solid rearguard display maintained their chances of reaching the Champions league quarter-finals for the second time while Guardiola’s Bayern will need to adopt a less cautious approach in the return leg in Munich on March 11.
“I am especially pleased with the opening spell of the game when our players created three or four options to open the scoring and controlled the ball,” Bayern coach Pep Guardiola told reporters.
“Our task was to restrain Shakhtar’s quick players from unfolding counter attacks. I am happy that we coped with this as they had zero goal chances."
Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu, however, was left ruing a missed opportunity.
"I only regret we did not start to play our usual football after Xabi Alonso was sent off," he said.
Bayern came into the clash full of confidence and were quickly on the front foot with Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller creating good chances.
Robben out-muscled Shakhtar defender Vyacheslav Shevchuk in the penalty area and fed Thomas Muller, whose shot rolled along the goalline, before being cleared to the relief of the home supporters.
It was a scrappy game undermined by a number of niggly fouls with tempers flaring on several occasions.
Mueller spurned a glorious chance after 30 minutes when he fired a volley over the bar after being superbly set up by Ribery.
Emotions boiled over in the second half with Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa booked for lashing out at Ribery before Alonso, who had already been yellow carded in the first half, was sent off on 65 minutes for upending Alex Teixeira.
This forced Bayern onto the back foot and left them trying to hit Shakhtar on the break with quick counters.
Bayern boss Guardiola tried to inject some attacking impetus by bringing on Robert Lewandowski, but both sides appeared happy to settle for a draw as the game drew to a close.
© 2024 Rediff.com -