Chelsea huffed and puffed but they couldn’t blow Cluj down as the little known Romanian side secured a famous point this evening by holding the Champions League runners-up to a 0-0 draw.
The 2-1 win over Roma showed that Cluj would be no push over, but they could have won the game, with Trica clipping the post late on.
In truth Chelsea will be relieved to escape with a point from a difficult game.
Wayne Bridge was the only change from the team that beat Stoke 2-0, replacing Ashley Cole who pulled out at the last minute.
The opening signs were good from Chelsea’s point of view—with Drogba and Kalou combining—but Kalou’s shot was rather scuffed and was mopped up easily by the keeper.
Cluj seemed content to sit back and hit Chelsea on the counter, but the eagerness of their forwards lead to numerous offside calls that disrupted their rhythm.
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Cluj left-back Pereira let fly with a shot that had Cech scrambling, but other than that Cluj had failed to sufficiently threaten the Chelsea net.
Anelka was brought on for the second half to give Drogba some help up front, but the partnership lasted only 12 minutes as Drogba went off with a nasty looking injury that is being reported as ligament damage.
The injury adds yet another name to Scolari's growing casualty list.
Beletti replaced the Ivorian forward and Franco Di Santo made his Champions League debut soon afterwards, but Chelsea were still finding it hard to fashion any real clear cut chances.
Anelka hit the woodwork as the game reached its conclusion, but he was also offside and was booked for his challenge on the goalkeeper Stancioiu.
Trica then had Cluj’s best chance to take a shock lead, but his shot clipped the outside of the post with Cech left stranded.
Another chance followed soon afterwards, but this time Cech was up to the task and pushed Pereira’s shot away for a corner.
Lampard hit a rather tame shot wide in stoppage time, and in truth tame sums up Chelsea’s efforts this evening. They didn’t deserve to win, but things could have been a lot worse.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c); Bridge; Mikel; Kalou (Anelka), Ballack, Lampard, Malouda (Di Santo 73) ; Drogba (Belletti 58).
Booked Alex 38,Anelka 77.
CFR luj (4-2-3-1): Stancioiu; Tony, Cadu (c), De Sousa, Alvaro Pereira; Muresan, Dani; Dubarbier, Trica (Didi 87), Juan Culio, Y Koné.
Booked Pereira 70, Dani 90.
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2 months ago
It was always going to be a tricky match so from that perspective, Im quite happy with the point. They are surprisingly good technically....
from 2 months ago
Yeah, I had a feeling it wouldn't be any easy ride. At least we didn't lose I guess...
from 2 months ago
Yeh, and im quitely worried about the Villa game. They seem to trouble us lately, so it would have been good to come away with 3 points tonight but oh well, .. bring on the Villans..
2 months ago
They're a bit of bogey team for us, we haven't beaten them for a while. Plus Terry and Alex picked up injuries as well last night, I'm just hoping it isn't too serious.
2 months ago
Good recap Chelsea would be happy to come away with a draw rather than having dropped 3 points.
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