Thursday March 7, 2013 Last 16 Finished Stadionul National Arena

Steaua Bucharest 1 - 0 Chelsea

  • Rusescu 34’ (pen.)

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  1. Europa League - Rusescu penalty edges out Chelsea

    Europa League - Rusescu penalty edges out Chelsea

    Raul Rusescu's first-half penalty gave hosts Steaua Bucharest a slender 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Europa League. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Steaua Bucharest
    • Chelsea
    • 90'+4 FT Steaua Bucharest 1-0 Chelsea
    • 90'+2 Steaua sub: Gardos on, Rusescu off
    • 90' Time running out for Chelsea now. Four extra minutes to play.
    • 89' Terry and Tatarusanu go for a high ball, but a free-kick is given against the former England captain.
    • 87' Lampard goes for goal from 25 yards, but he drags it well wide - and apologises to Marin and the other players he had in support.
    • 85' Tatarusanu has gone down holding his hip. Looks like gamesmanship to me.
    • 84' Luiz hammers a free-kick just over from 25 yards.
    • 83' Big chance for Chelsea! Terry finds Marin and skips past a couple of defenders and fires a low effort at goal - but Tatarusanu pulls off another very good save low to his right.
    • 82' Steaua sub: Tatu on, Tanase off.
    • 80' Rapa fires a good effort at goal from distance, but Cech had it covered.
    • 78' Chelsea beginning to camp themselves in the Steaua half. The Romanian side will have to defend for their lives for the next ten minutes.
    • 76' Chelsea sub: Marin on, Hazard off.
    • 75' Chance for Chelsea! Lampard's ball into the box is flicked on by Torres to Hazard, who lashes the ball just over. Good effort.
    • 74' Mata juggles the ball then lofts it over the Steaua defence towards Torres, but Szukala makes a good headed clearance.
    • 72' Hazard digs out a cross from the right, but it sails over everyone and goes out for a goal kick.
    • 70' There's no danger of Steaua sitting back and playing for a 1-0. The Romanian side still putting Chelsea under pressure.
    • 68' Chipciu appears to be through, but the Chelsea line steps up and catches him offside.
    • 66' Mikel catches Prepelita, and goes into the book.
    • 64' Chelsea sub: Mata on, Benayoun off.
    • 63' Juan Mata warming up for Chelsea.
    • 62' Tanase skies an effort from the edge of the box after a good break by Steaua. Tanase should really have done better there.
    • 60' An hour gone and Chelsea still trail. Steaua fans making so much noise in the stadium here.
    • 59' Popa falls awkwardly on his ankle, and is down receiving treatment.
    • 57' Steaua sub: Prepelita on, Pintili off.
    • 56' Steaua break down the left. The cross is half cleared to Tanase, whose first-time volley flies just wide. Half chance.
    • 55' Hazard receives the ball on the edge of the box, but the Belgian loses his footing at the crucial moment and Steaua clear.
    • 54' Good play by Steaua, who keep the ball well before finding Latovlevici, but he mishits his cross from the left and it goes straight out of play.
    • 52' Lovely play by Hazard, who rolls away from his marker and puts in a good cross from the right, but Tatarusanu makes a good claim.
    • 50' Pintili is into the book for a foul on Terry.
    • 48' Chelsea playing with more speed and zip at the start of this second half.
    • 46' We are back underway in Bucharest.
    • 45' HT Steaua Bucharest 1-0 Chelsea.
    • 44' Steaua, driven on by a very vocal home support, ending the half the stronger here.
    • 42' But yet again Steaua deal with the corner well. Rafa Benitez will have to re-think his tactics at the break. Things not quite clicking for Chelsea at the moment.
    • 41' Torres has a tame effort saved by Tatarusanu, but only at the expense of another Chelsea corner.
    • 40' Chelsea just lacking ideas in the finl third. The Blues not making the best use of Oscar, Hazard and Benayoun.
    • 38' Big chance for Chelsea! Benayoun and Hazard exchange a neat one-two on the edge of the box, but Benayoun's low shot wasn't convincing - and Tatarusanu pulls off a good save low to his right.
    • 36' Chelsea looking to respond immediately. Terry finds Oscar on the right, but his cross is plucked from the night sky by Tatarusanu.
    • 34' GOAL! Rusescu fires the penalty low into the bottom left corner, under Cech's dive. Steaua lead Chelsea in Bucharest.
    • 33' Bertrand is shown a yellow card for the challenge.
    • 32' Penalty to Steaua! Bertrand drags down Rusescu in the box.
    • 31' Torres dispossesses Chiriches and wins a corner, but Lampard's ball in is dealt with comfortably by Steaua.
    • 29' Rapa whips in a very dangerous cross from the right, which Ivanovic is forced to glance away.
    • 27' Neat interplay by Steaua on the edge of the box, but Luiz cuts it out with a long clearance to Torres.
    • 25' Chelsea are looking long for Torres at every opportunity, but it's a tactic the Steaua defence are very comfortable with.
    • 23' A laser pen is being used by someone in the crowd to put off Chelsea's players at set-pieces. Referee hasn't seemed to have spotted it yet.
    • 22' The corner from the left finds Ivanovic, but his header is tame and bounces out for goal kick.
    • 21' Terry challenges Lampard's free-kick, but it's flicked away for a corner.
    • 20' Torres tries to drive around Latovlevici, who trips the Spaniard. Chelsea free-kick in a dangerous area.
    • 19' Torres bursts forward but plays a poor ball to Oscar. The Brazilian does well to keep the ball and it is worked to Luiz, who is tripped 30 yards out.
    • 18' At the moment it's Steaua making the running. Chelsea playing a very cautious game, soaking up the pressure at the moment.
    • 16' Torres runs at the Steaua defence and, after a couple of fortunate richochets, wins a throw.
    • 14' Latovlevici gets forward from left back, but his cross is deflected to Ivanovic, who nods the ball back to Cech.
    • 13' Chelsea clear and break through Oscar, who finds Hazard, but Hazard overruns the ball.
    • 12' Chipciu throws himself to the floor in the search of a penalty, but only gets a corner.
    • 11' Steaua knocking the ball around very confidently here. Chelsea yet to see much of the ball themselves.
    • 9' Much of the game being played in the Chelsea half, but all very scrappy at the moment.
    • 7' Steaua are certainly using the ball better than Chelsea at the moment. The Blues are sitting back and letting Steaua attack them.
    • 5' Rusescu drives down the right wing and forces a corner off Ryan Bertrand.
    • 4' Chipciu drives at goal, but drags his shot wide from 25 yards.
    • 3' Oscar lofts a ball over the Steaua defence, but Chiriches intercepts ahead of Torres.
    • 2' Steaua have started the stronger here. An early corner is hooked away by Benayoun.
    • 1' KICK OFF. We are underway.
    • 17.58 We are about to get underway in Bucharest. Remember, you can tweet me here
    • 17.55 Steaua were the only team in the round of 32 to go through to the last 16 after losing the first leg. It was only the second time in the Europa League that a side had recovered from a two-goal first-leg deficit to qualify, after Fulham's comeback from a 1-3 away reverse to win 4-1 at home against Juventus in the 2009/10 round of 32.
    • 17.50 Steaua have conceded more goals than any of the other UEFA Europa League group stage contenders to have made it this far – 11, the same amount they have scored.
    • 17.45 Chelsea coach Rafa Benitez: "We will try to progress in every competition and the next game is the most important game. Now we are here, to play in the Europa League, we will try to win. On Sunday we'll be at Old Trafford and afterwards we'll concentrate on West Ham, or whatever. We know that all the competitions are important and if we can finish in the top four, everybody will be happy."
    • 17.40 Steaua Bucharest coach Laurentiu Reghecampf: "We are in a similar situation to the previous round, against Ajax, when nobody credited us with a chance. It is a very important match and it does not matter who you are up against: at his stage there really isn't much difference in quality. The name Chelsea demands respect, but that is something else. At this stage the players have to be totally focused and treat each opponents the same."
    • 17.30 STEAUA BUCHAREST: Tatarusanu, Rapa, Szukala, Chiriches, Latovlevici, Bourceanu, Pintilii, Popa, Chipciu, Tanase, Rusescu. Subs: Stanca, Gardos, Filip, Prepelita, Tatu, Iancu, Adi /// CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Bertrand, Lampard, Mikel, Benayoun, Oscar, Hazard, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Cole, Mata, Ferreira, Marin, Cahill, Azpilicueta.
    • 17.25 Like Ba, Victor Moses and Ramires did not travel with the squad as Rafael Benitez rotates his options, while Oriol Romeu (knee) remains a long-term absentee.
    • 17.20 Fernando Torres is set to start up front for Chelsea as Demba Ba is ineligible having represented Newcastle earlier in the competition. Rafael Benitez will likely give due consideration to Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United in his team selection, but captain John Terry may start in central defence and midfielder Yossi Benayoun is available again following an ankle problem which kept him out of the defeat of West Brom.
    • 17.15 Steaua have a full complement of players bar forward Stefan Nikolic, who has been forced to undergo surgery to cure a long-standing knee problem.
    • 17.10 My name is Michael Da Silva and you can find me here on Twitter
    • 17.00 Hello everyone. Welcome to live coverage of this Europa League clash between Steaua Bucharest and Chelsea.

  • Summary

    • 34' GOAL! Rusescu fires the penalty low into the bottom left corner, under Cech's dive. Steaua lead Chelsea in Bucharest.
    • 32' Penalty to Steaua! Bertrand drags down Rusescu in the box.

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • Steaua Bucharest

    Manager: Laurentiu Reghecampf

  • Chelsea

    Manager: Rafael Benítez

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

    Please to rate the players.

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      8 8
      Defenders
      7.4 7
      7.8 7
      8.1 7
      8 8
      Midfielders
      7.5 7
      Yellow Card Substitution Out58′ 7.6 6
      7.6 6
      7.9 7
      Substitution Out82′ 7.3 7
      Strikers
      Goal Substitution Out90′ 8.5 8
      Subs
      Substitution In82′ 6.9 -
      Substitution In58′ 7.2 6
      Substitution In90′ 7.6 -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      5.5 7
      Defenders
      5.1 6
      5.4 7
      5.1 6
      Yellow Card 4.3 6
      Midfielders
      6.1 6
      Yellow Card 4.3 6
      Substitution Out64′ 4.3 5
      5.3 6
      Substitution Out75′ 5 7
      Strikers
      4.5 5
      Subs
      Substitution In75′ 5.8 7
      Substitution In64′ 5.6 7

Comment 108 - 128 of 128

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  1. First of all Raymond they could turn the score around­ but don't forget that Steaua Bucharest will come to­ London to with 1-0 advantage and they will score on the­ counter....1 goal will be enough...I don't see the­ romanian players give in it that easily....They are­ true warriors not over priced football­ players....Latovlevici (left back) gets maybe 120.000­ euros a year. and one of chelsea players take this­ money in a week...I did not seen this difference on the­ pitch last thursday....Chelsea should look more into­ it....Seriously.. Good luck to Chelsea but a bit­ more for Steaua Bucharest......

    From Professional Tiling UK, on Sat 9 Mar 13:59

  2. chelsea, please its over come back

    From HAMDI, on Sat 9 Mar 13:11

  3. Over talk is unnecessary. Some Chelsea players said we­ will win Europa League. This saying is shame when your­ performances is evaluated on the ground. I think­ Chelsea Project is not going well. New players are not­ contributing well for the club. Surely, we do not see­ for the second time the right Chelsea which was before­ three or four years (during Mourinho & Ancheloti­ era). If the club want to compete in Europe, you have­ to buy energetic,talented, physically strong and­ committed players. Other wise your project will not­ bring any change. If Benitiz win Man United in the FA­ cup he is good coach. Is really Chelsea big club? I­ doubt. Because their performance is below their name.­ Now a day Chelsea loss both good play (which had been­ practiced by Di Matteo) & result. Di Matteo is the­ right coach for Chelsea. Please would you ask him­ excuse and return back to Chelsea? I write this­ comments because I like the Club very very much. I want­ Chelsea to win every game.

    From Misganu Tasew, on Fri 8 Mar 6:52

  4. I like to comment Abramovich that do not buy over­ valued players especially striker. Do you see Ba is­ paying more than his expense. So, pay justifiable­ expense for each players to suit your club with FFP.

    From Misganu Tasew, on Fri 8 Mar 6:24

  5. Benitz should give attention on such game and better to­ use experienced and talented players. Do jot give under­ estimation for any club.

    From Misganu Tasew, on Fri 8 Mar 6:19

  6. Big mistakes Chelsea committed this year: 1. Sacking Di­ Matteo, 2. Leaving Drogba, 3. Trust in weak Torres­ rather than selling or make him on bench, 4. Hiring­ Benitz, 5. Leaving Sturridge (Sturridge is by far­ greater than Torres; he is showing better performance­ at Liver pool now). Chelsea take immediate action on­ COACH why they do not take immediate action on PLAYERS­ like TORRES? I think some times Chelsea players are not­ committed for the club. Why? They paid high amount of­ money when compared with other club. Is it paying big­ money discourages players? Any how a lot of issues­ should be improved in the club. All players should be­ Committed like Ramires & Luiz.

    From Misganu Tasew, on Fri 8 Mar 6:16

  7. Marin is good !

    From Ali, on Fri 8 Mar 6:15

  8. lol chelsea is a joke

    From Adam, on Fri 8 Mar 3:17

  9. Who is chelsea ?

    From Christian, on Fri 8 Mar 0:14

  10. 133 Keith. Complete dic- k -head comment. This whole­ club is beyond an absolute joke! Im off to but a­ chelsea scarf.......need to wipe my ar-se

    From Paul, on Thu 7 Mar 23:13

  11. Cine STEAUA n'o Striga ma-sa este o CATEA!!!! ­ v-am rupt , degeaba o dati ca nu a avut Steaua ocazii,­ ca voi ati avut doar 2 stuturi pe cadrul portii! in­ retur va dam inca 2 si va pupam...pa pa Steaua Per­ Sermpre!!!!

    From Adrian, on Thu 7 Mar 22:51

  12. How about we all laugh at the Manure fans who dont have­ a European Cup to challenge for and are still crying­ over the legit red card. Even sad enough to phone­ police about it hahahahahahahahaha, we saved our 1st­ team for your lot on Saturday, lets see how your best­ player Mr Webb does for your team, im guessing sending­ offs, offside goals and no bookings for your players oh­ and maybe a pen for your olympic diving team!!!

    From Agent of Chaos, on Thu 7 Mar 22:28

  13. let's all laugh at chelsea, again. Hahahahahahaha!

    From XTC, on Thu 7 Mar 22:20

  14. Abromivich goes through managers like a dime a dozen,­ the fans complains about his ways and don't like­ this and that manager and the players, a small clique­ of old timers living in the past, whines about their­ managers if they don't like his tactics. Whichever­ way it goes the club is absolute rubbish now like I­ said before. Watch the Tottenham / Inter game and you­ can see how AVB, yeah remember him, have the players­ organised. Look where Tottenham is now in the League.

    From carl, on Thu 7 Mar 21:51

  15. Will not be easy but Chelsea can turn this score around

    From Raymond, on Thu 7 Mar 21:20

  16. Maybe after this match you should know that it took­ place in ROMANIA, BUCHAREST !!!!! not Hungary,­ Budapest, not Bulgaria

    From ILIE, on Thu 7 Mar 20:53

  17. Just not good enough on the night! Poor team selection­ and reliance again on Torres.Benitez must accept Torres­ is never going to return to any sort of form whilst he­ remains at Chelsea.Time to move on.My patience has­ finally gone.

    From IAN, on Thu 7 Mar 20:35

  18. Stop with the Rafa b011ocks, there were 13 outfield­ players played today and they couldnt play good enough­ to beat Steaua Bucharest. As far as im concerned its­ the players solely to blame, the are paid disgusting­ amounts of money to play the highest standard of­ football. They are a complete joke and you couldnt­ trust one of them now the have been­ 'influenced'. Its easy to blame the manager but­ hes not on the field trying to get goals and stop them­ going in is he? Yeah its Man U at the weekend but this­ is total disrespect to the fans and the Europa League.­ Im ashamed of our team and their antics, get the season­ done with and hand out the p45s, good riddance to bad­ rubbish!!!

    From Agent of Chaos, on Thu 7 Mar 20:32

  19. Deea,sorry for being nasty I am trying to get rid of­ this side of me.

    From TREVOR, on Thu 7 Mar 20:28

  20. Yes Trevor, at least this time, I like both teams! ;)

    From Deea, on Thu 7 Mar 20:24
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