Football

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Valencia 1 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea win 3-2 on agg): Last-gasp Essien seals Chelsea's sweetest victory

By Sam Wallace at the Mestalla Stadium

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Goal scorer Essien (right) celebrates his late winner with Michael Ballack at the Mestalla

This is the Chelsea team that just refuses to go quietly, the blue machine that is harvesting the reputations of Europe's greatest clubs. When they come to write the history of the Roman Abramovich years then this night at the Mestalla Stadium, and Michael Essien's 90th-minute winner, will figure large. It was just a shame the Russian owner was not here to see it.

An extraordinary night, a remarkable performance. And for the 2,500 travelling Chelsea fans high in the Mestalla a moment to savour when the stadium had all but cleared and the players had left. Jose Mourinho came back on the pitch alone, punching the air in front of his fans. It may have rained goals at Old Trafford but, via Andrei Shevchenko's equaliser, in Spain last night Mourinho had pulled off a brilliant tactical masterclass.

Chelsea are in the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in four years and who would bet against them making it their year? And where was Abramovich on this night of nights? The official line was that he was on business in Russia but for many of those who came to witness this performance, the answer would have been: who cares? Abramovich may not be talking to Mourinho these days but it will be difficult to stay away from Athens on 23 May if Chelsea are in the final.

What appeals about this Chelsea team is that, despite their lucrative wages and startling transfer fees this was a night that demonstrated just what an unbreakable bond Mourinho has built among his players. A goal down to Fernando Morientes' strike on 32 minutes this looked like the end of the Champions League dream but the response, in Mourinho's words, was "amazing". They have the Carling Cup in the cabinet already; and the FA Cup, the Premiership and this trophy are not beyond them.

What turned this game Chelsea's way? It was, again, the ingenuity of Mourinho's substitutions. At times in the first half, his team had looked on the brink of collapse against the trickery of David Villa and resistance of Roberto Ayala and Emiliano Moretti, but Mourinho's introduction of Joe Cole swung the game. Good news for Steve McClaren: the little winger looks back to his best.

Under Chelsea's onslaught, after Shevchenko's 52nd minute equaliser, Valencia crumbled, so much so that by full-time it was Mourinho's team who were unfortunate not to have won it. Santiago Canizares stopped Michael Ballack's header with the kind of save that stands comparison with Gordon Banks' legendary stop from Pele in 1970. He flung himself low and flipped the ball over the crossbar.

"Before we scored the goal I was saying to my staff they should bring out the sports drinks - it was unfair because in the second half we deserved to win the game," Mourinho said. "Canizares made an unbelievable save from Ballack but we deserved to win the game. In the second half we were very, very, very dominant, to do that against a good team away from home was a great performance."

At half-time Mourinho switched Joe Cole for Lassana Diarra and moved Essien, who was back from injury having missed the last six games, to right-back. For long periods of that half the Ghanaian looked shattered but when the ball went right from Frank Lampard in the last minute of the game it was Essien on hand to slam a low drive past Canizares at his near post. Suspended for the semi-final, Essien will be missed by Chelsea.

"Essien is a special player, he can run forever and he can play a game every day," Mourinho said. "When we lost him a month ago I said he was a big, big loss but he was ready to come back for this crucial game. I just hope he is not injured when we play the second leg."

Do not dismiss the scale of Chelsea's feat - in 11 previous encounters against English opposition, Valencia have never lost. Last night did not start well for Chelsea. They had come through an early onslaught but on 30 minutes, Valencia turned the screw. David Albelda slipped a ball through to Villa in the left channel, his cut-back was met sweetly by Morientes whose shot clipped Petr Cech's post.

Within two minutes, Valencia were ahead. The winger Joaquin swept a cross in from the right and Morientes reacted quickest, directing the ball into the bottom corner of Cech's goal. The stadium was frenetic and, for five minutes, Villa looked untouchable when he attacked from the left and slipped past Carvalho with embarrassing ease. His ball to the back post was hacked away frantically by a Chelsea defence losing its control.

John Terry said harsh words were spoken by his manager at half-time but Mourinho insisted that this was not "one of those hot half-times". Instead he said he told his players to "resist the pressure of going out the competition". "From a tactical point of view we made the changes and Joe Cole was the creative man," he said. "We had Joe and Sheva on the wings and the team had more conditions to get two-on-one with defenders."

The first goal came from the right, from Essien's cross. Stealing in from close range, was Shevchenko. His 14th goal of the season moved him into second place in the all-time Uefa competition's goalscorers' list. Valencia's team shape was gone, all confidence ebbing away. And then the winner, Chelsea's 25th goal in the last ten minutes of games this season. These surprise endings are becoming a habit.

Valencia (4-4-2): Canizares; Miguel, Ayala, Moretti, Del Horno; Joaquin, Albiol, Albelda, Silva; Morientes (Angulo, 65), Villa. Substitutes not used: Butelle (gk), Viana, Jorge Lopez, Curro Torres, Nacho Insa, Pallardo.

Chelsea (4-1-3-2): Cech; Diarra (J Cole, h-t), Terry, Carvalho, A Cole; Mikel; Lampard (Makalele, 90), Ballack, Kalou; Drogba, Shevchenko (Kalou, 90). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Bridge, Ferreira, Wright-Phillips.

Referee: K Vassaras (Greece).

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