The clock had ticked into injury time when Chelsea won a . Willian took it, and hit the first man. He then delivered a second and nailed it. Diego Costa got the headed flick and the ball fell to Mikel, on the edge of the six-yard box, directly in front of goal.
He looked as surprised as anyone, took half a second to assess this unexpected windfall, and rammed it past the impressive Kevin Trapp in the PSG goal.
Super subs used to be the fairy story players in any team. Misfits, renegades, locals boys made good. They would come off the bench and win the game against the odds. At Paris Saint- Germain, it is fair to say things are being done differently.
The substitute that took this match away from Chelsea, Edinson Cavani, cost £55million and was the most expensive signing in the history of French football.
It is a sign of the rapid development at PSG that he no longer gets to start every game, and often plays in a wide role with Zlatan Ibrahimovic still the star of the show, and central. There have been rumours he would be open to a new club for some time. On Tuesday night he demonstrated why.
Of course, as we all know, Chelsea are far from that. They are a wolf in sheep’s clothing, their league position a relic of what now appears to be a dressing-room mutiny that forced the removal of manager Jose Mourinho. That Chelsea bears no resemblance to this one. Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea are, as expected, one of the most cussed and resilient teams in Europe.
So despite being kept in the game by Thibaut Courtois in the second-half, Chelsea were poised to return home with a very creditable draw. That is when Cavani struck.
Having replaced the outstanding Lucas late in the second-half, his fresh legs kept PSG’s tempo high and Chelsea at full stretch. In the 78th minute, he combined with Angel Di Maria and ensured PSG travel to London with high hopes of eliminating these opponents for the second year in succession.
Chelsea must hate playing Cavani. In seven Champions League games against them, he has three goals and made two assists, and this intervention could prove hugely significant. It was a smartly taken goal, although Courtois — exceptional until that point — may have been disappointed to be defeated at his near post.
The through ball was clipped neatly by Di Maria, Cavani got inside Baba Rahman and finished smartly with Courtois beaten, hard and low. PSG pushed for the third that would have as good as ended this tie, with Courtois smothering a fine chance for Ibrahimovic in injury time, but Chelsea will not be hugely dispirited by this, even if PSG deserved their win.
An away goal from that unlikeliest of sources, John Obi Mikel, means that a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on March 9 would see Chelsea through. It will not be easy against a team with PSG’s attacking possibilities — their front three have more goals than Chelsea put together this season – but it is far from impossible.
This has been a season of unlikely events and here was one more. Mikel is currently a more prolific goalscorer for Chelsea than Eden Hazard. While Hazard still waits for his first club goal since April, Mikel weighed in with his first since December 10, 2014 — again in the Champions League, away at Sporting Lisbon.
It capped an eventful eight minutes of European football for Mikel, involved in goals at both ends, one memorable another he will no doubt wish to forget. The passage of play began with a clumsy trip on Lucas in the 38th minute for which he was rightly booked by Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.
Ibrahimovic lined up the free-kick and took a rather poor one. He went for power rather than precision, topped it low, and against all merit got a lucky break. The ball hit Mikel, who had taken his eye off it — a cardinal sin in the wall — and wrong-footed Courtois. PSG were ahead, Mikel stood accused. And then, with the last action of the first-half, redemption.
The clock had ticked into injury time when Chelsea won a corner. Willian took it, and hit the first man. He then delivered a second and nailed it. Diego Costa got the headed flick and the ball fell to Mikel, on the edge of the six-yard box, directly in front of goal.
He looked as surprised as anyone, took half a second to assess this unexpected windfall, and rammed it past the impressive Kevin Trapp in the PSG goal. We would hear more of Trapp were he not pegged behind Manuel Neuer, and others, for Germany. It was the first goal PSG had conceded at home in the competition all season.
It might not have been the only one, either, were it not for Trapp’s quick wits. In the 24th minute, he made a brilliant one-handed save from a Costa header, after Rahman had ended a lengthy spell of possession with a neat cross. The ball spun up off Trapp and hit the bar, the best chance of the first-half.
He was quickly out in the 50th minute too, saving from Costa after Willian had run close to the length of the pitch to set him up. Yet the lion’s share of the chances fell to PSG — and Courtois was considerably busier.