ACTUALITE |
23.02.2006
Eto`o heads in winner as Barcelona drops Chelsea
LONDON (AP) -- Jose Mourinho accused Lionel Messi of play-acting after FC Barcelona came from behind to beat 10-man Chelsea 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Chelsea manager suggested the 18-year-old Argentina forward helped to get Blues defender Asier Del Horno sent off just before halftime.
Del Horno was shown a straight red card for colliding with Messi near the corner flag and Mourinho suggested the teenager`s reaction to the challenge by rolling on the turf got the Spaniard ejected by Norwegian referee Terje Hauge.
"It`s not a red card, of course not," Mourinho said.
"Can we take back the red card for Del Horno? Can we revoke any suspension he might get now? It`s 2-1. Can we suspend Messi? What do you call it in Barcelona, play-acting? It`s a very cultural city Barcelona. You know all about theater and you got very high quality theaters."
The Blues went ahead in the 59th when Barcelona midfielder Thiago Motta turned Frank Lampard`s free kick past his own goalkeeper.
The Spanish champion equalized in the 71st when a free kick from Ronaldinho flicked off Chelsea captain John Terry`s head into his own net.
Samuel Eto`o scored the winner when he jumped to meet a left-wing cross from Rafael Marquez on a counterattack.
"It was an important result for us in what was a special game," said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard. "The game was very tense. There`s been a lot of media interest leading up to it.
"It was not our best performance. Maybe it was something about the pitch, or the way Chelsea played. But I am very happy with the result. It`s a good first step on the road towards qualifying for the next round."
Despite the bad blood between the two teams arising out of last season`s games, Rijkaard went over to the Chelsea bench before the kickoff to shake hands with Mourinho. They did the same after the game.
"What can we do? We can discuss all these issues but the result is 2-1," Mourinho said. "What we`ve got to do is go over there and compete. We have the right to go over to Barcelona and compete on an even playing field. I`m very, very proud of the performance tonight."
Chelsea `keeper Petr Cech then made a top quality save after Barca defender Oleguer crossed in the box for Eto`o to dummy and allow Ronaldinho to shoot from 12 yards.
In the 37th, Messi had beaten Arjen Robben near the corner flag before Del Horno flattened him. Furious Barca players ran over to the Spaniard, who was then shown the red card.
"I`m not annoyed with Asier del Horno," Mourinho said. "He comes for a cover, comes for a tackle, he goes for the ball, he doesn`t touch the ball but the boy when he saw him come, he [Messi] jumps on him. And after that, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, roll."
Mourinho immediately replaced Joe Cole with Geremi to strengthen his defense, and the Cameroon defender was lucky not to concede a penalty just before halftime when he blocked a shot with his arm.
Chelsea looked more impressive at the beginning of a thrilling second half with Robben`s low shot flying past Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
The Blues took the lead when Lampard floated in a free kick and Motta and Valdes collided. The ball hit the defender on the knee and bounced into the empty net.
Barcelona could have leveled two minutes later, but Messi`s low cross from the right eluded two teammates and went across the face of the goal.
Rijkaard sent on another striker in Henrik Larsson for Motta with 25 minutes to go. The Swedish international soon headed Ronaldinho`s floated pass over the bar from 10 meters.
Didier Drogba, a halftime substitute for Hernan Crespo, almost made it 2-0 in the 70th but he took an extra touch and Valdes saved from close range.
Terry headed into his own net a minute later, but the England defender cleared off the line from Larsson and Ronaldinho to keep Chelsea level.
But Barcelona scored again on a breakaway with Eto`o outleaping Carvalho to head powerfully home.
The second leg between the English and Spanish leaders is at the Camp Nou on March 7.
Chelsea beat Barcelona 4-2 at Stamford Bridge to win 5-4 on aggregate in last year`s competition.
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