Samuel Eto'o netted the only goal as Inter Milan beat Chelsea to ensure Jose Mourinho enjoyed a successful return to Stamford Bridge.
Inter progress on Mourinho's return to his former club
Samuel Eto'o netted the only goal as Inter Milan beat Chelsea to ensure Jose Mourinho enjoyed a successful return to Stamford Bridge.
The striker's 79th-minute winner was fully deserved as the Italian champions progressed into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
Early on, Michael Ballack shot narrowly wide from distance, while Eto'o was off target with a close-range header at the other end.
Nicolas Anelka was then denied by Thiago Motta as the Blues finished the first half strongly, with Didier Drogba having a legitimate penalty claim turned down after being wrestled to the ground by Walter Samuel from a Frank Lampard corner.
In the second period, the Italians dominated, with Diego Milito shooting wide when clean through and Motta wasting a free header before Eto'o scored after being played through by Wesley Sneijder.
To compound Chelsea's miserable night, Drogba was sent off late on after stamping on Motta in the box.
Mourinho, who never lost a home league game during his time as manager at Chelsea, had begun the evening with a low profile entry from the tunnel and into his dugout seat.
Chelsea fans responded with warm applause but Mourinho refrained from hogging the limelight as he knew he and his team had a job to do.
The 'Special One' had cleverly picked an attacking side with Eto'o, Milito and Goran Pandev up front, and his plan worked superbly.
They set about the task of preserving their one-goal advantage from the opening leg with a determination and energy rarely associated with Italian teams.
They closed Chelsea down with alarming efficiency for much of the half and squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to pile on the agony for the English side.
But when the home side did get into gear, there was enough encouragement to suggest the deficit could easily be wiped out.
Just wide
In the 11th minute, Ballack collected a pass from Lampard and sent a 20-yard low drive just wide of the post.
The low intensity of the game was briefly interrupted in the 15th minute when Florent Malouda was kicked in the face by Lucio.
Drogba quickly squared-up to the Inter defender before referee Wolfgang Stark, who had a poor game, restored calm.
But the Serie A side were doing everything to protect their lead and Maicon was the hero in the 25th minute when he blocked a shot from Drogba.
Inter responded with the miss of the half from Eto'o. Maicon's cross eluded Chelsea captain John Terry and fell straight to the Inter striker at the far post.
But instead of planting his header into the net, Eto'o headed the ball down and over the cross bar.
It was a real let-off for the home side who then had two penalty claims rejected within minutes.
First Motta escaped when he rugby-tackled Branislav Ivanovic and moments later Samuel was guilty of an atrocious challenge on Drogba as the Ivorian attempted to lose his marker from a corner.
Amazingly, Stark missed both offences and Motta then cleared off the line after Anelka had turned a pass from Drogba towards the empty goal.
It had been a frustrating half for the English side and more of the same was dished-up in the second period.
Malouda briefly threatened to take the game to the Italians and his trickery earned Motta a booking in the 48th minute. It was a yellow card that will keep him out of the quarter-final.
The France winger, the architect of West Ham's downfall in the Premier League on Saturday, then forced Julio Cesar into a fine save at his near post.
Lucio was also booked by Stark and he too will miss the first-leg of Inter's quarter-final tie.
Exploit nervousness
But as the second-half wore on, Inter began to exploit Chelsea's nervousness.
Yuri Zhirkov produced a sensational block tackle to prevent Goran Pandev from putting the visitors in front on the night and in the 65th minute Milito put his shot wide with just Ross Turnbull to beat.
Moments later Motta headed over the bar from close range as Mourinho's side edged closer to the last eight.
The goal they had threatened throughout the second half finally arrived in the 79th minute when Eto'o collected a superb pass from Sneijder and ran on to fire past Turnbull.
Mourinho allowed himself a short run out of his dugout but then remembered his pledge not to celebrate and walked back to his seat.
Chelsea, who had never looked like scoring in the second half, now had to get two - a task that was clearly beyond them.
It got worse for Chelsea in the 87th minute when Drogba was given a straight red card for a stamp on Motta after the Inter player had tangled with the Ivorian.
Inter wasted another chance in the closing stages when Eto'o's shot was superbly saved by Turnbull.
But it was all academic in terms of the result and with a minute of added time to go, Mourinho ended the game with a low profile exit.
The former Chelsea boss watched the closing seconds from the sanctuary of the tunnel and disappeared at the final whistle to leave the glory and celebrations to his victorious team.
| Chelsea |
Team Statistics |
Internazionale |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 7 |
Corners |
4 |
| 23 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
7 |
| 4 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.7 |
Passing Success |
73 |
| 16 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 75 |
Tackles Success |
87 |
| 51.3 |
Possession |
48.7 |
| 51.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.4 |
|
