once again, it has been another few hours of sleep sacrificed for a night of exhilarating football by both Chelsea and Bayern Munich. both played well, especially Bayern, who in my honest opinion dominated the entire match. but they just couldn't find their shots on target to materialize into goals. in the first half alone Bayern kept making shot after shot at the goal of Petr Cech, yet couldn't break the 0-0 deadlock. it was only late in the second half that the game came to life. Bayern's Toni Kroos curled in a cross from the left and Cole seemed unaware of
Muller's presence behind him at the back post as the Germany
international's header bounced down and over Cech before going in off
the underside of the crossbar. it was 1-0, and ADVANTAGE: Bayern Munich. i was upset, but i knew somehow Chelsea would take the game to Bayern, and boy oh boy did they put up a resistant fight! Bayern brought on Daniel van Buyten in a bid to shut the game down, but
were punished with two minutes left when Chelsea's Didier Drogba powerfully headed home
at the near post from Chelsea's first corner of the game. it was now 1-1, and GAME ON! but after that goal neither team managed to score a late winner, so it went to extra time. and just when i was hoping for Chelsea to score a winner Drogba seemed to go from hero to villain three minutes into
extra-time when he tripped Franck Ribery in the box, but Cech spared the
striker the blushes as he kept out former team-mate Arjen Robben's poor penalty. so, it ended 1-1, and the decider would have to be by a penalty shootout, reminiscent of the 2008 final, where Chelsea lost to Manchester United in Moscow. at the Bayern end of the stadium, Cech faced the first one from Lahm and got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out. Mata then shot too centrally and had his saved by Neuer. Gomez found
the bottom corner to make it 2-0 to Bayern but David Luiz scored his
powerfully and it was 2-1. to the shock of everyone (at least at the cafe i was at) the Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer took the next one, and beat Cech low to the left so
it was 3-1 to the Germans. Lampard roofed his to bring the score back
to 3-2 before Olic had his saved by the outstretched arm of Cech and
Cole drew the scores level at 3-3 with a crisp strike. now, it was all to do for Bastian Schweinsteiger to keep his team's hopes alive, and the pressure told as he hit the post,
with Cech possibly getting a finger to it. So it was there for Drogba to win
it and this time there was no slipping on the turf by the final taker as
he rolled it into the corner.
celebrations were not so wild as i had imagined it to be after the last penalty by Drogba was converted, but nevertheless i'm sure the Chelsea players, backroom staff, and whole team would ensure the celebratory mood will go deep into the night. such a massive night out for me till late in the morning, but it was all worth it. been out till the wee hours of the morning for two days in a row already....so good morning peeps!
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