Watched basically the same sh*te that we do every weekend - shocking defending and luck only to concede one goal, bollocks in the final 3rd, can't cross worth sh*te, and no one in the box when we did; and apart from Kante and RLC pretty woeful in the middle of the park also, too many loose passes and no defence splitting balls.....still despite all that we are still in with a chance of the final.  Sarri clearly is trying to ensure a top 4 by resting the players he did and is treating this competition as a bonus and escape clause.

good second half but yet again fail to convert our chances and could so easily have lost it at the end 

Good perfomance, good draw. 

9 minutes ago, Upb78 said:

Like i said before, Higuain and Giroud are not the problem, there's absolutely no cohession and no identity in this squad.

They aren’t THE problem but they’re very much a contributing factor to it.

I would've taken 1-1 at the start, but I can't help but feel we should've had this tie won already given how dominant we were for most of the game. That said I think we will do this lot at SB. 

 

I just don't get Sarri at all, leaving hazard on the bench and then taken off our best player tonight when we're in the ascendency and pushing for a winner, that chance killed any momentum we had. 

People talking about us being in 4th place as if it has been our achievement due to fantastic playing and a clever manager. The only reason we are in 4th is because ManU and LeArse have been pants, lets not be delusional.

4 minutes ago, DP2 said:

Thought we managed that well for a tough away game. Hazard should be fresh for the weekend and Loftus Cheek will definately start again.

Some things are still clearly not right but favourites for top 4 and now great position for another Europa League final. I'll take that.

 

3 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Much better in the second half. Pretty much were in control until the last ten minutes and should have scored, too bad we didn't, hopefully it won't come back and bite us in the ass a week from now.

Luiz has got even worse defensively and Giroud had a shocker.

P.S. By the way, Hazard has been coasting for weeks now, we really need him to step up and make a difference, looks like he couldn't be bothered nowadays.

Eden looks like he doesn't even want to be on the pitch. So much for a last hurrah. Will happily east my words this weekend and next week but god he's our only hope sometimes and if he cba why do we even bother.

4 minutes ago, rtwelch said:

God Frankfurt will be happy with this. Like said by a few people we are woeful in the final third. Lost count of how many attacks we wasted by just being sh*te. Frankfurt could easily go through next week and we'd deserve it. I hate being this negative especially as we haven't even lost but I just can't believe the level we've dropped to.

We are in a great position to make it to the final and top 4 domestically. Things could be much worse considering how things were looking a couple of weeks ago. Lots of positives!

Happy enough with that. We wasted our dominance though and hopefully that doesn't come back to bite us.

Ruben was great but he wasted a couple of chances that he really needs to be finishing to be regarded as a top class player.

Pedro and Kante MoMs for me. Both created an awful lot with the interplay between them and pressed hard on that side without the ball.

On the balance of it I’m disappointed. We are desperate for a CF with speed and strength to impact games. We could/should have scored a second maybe even a third. 

I think Frankfurt will score at the bridge. It’s a question of can we take our chances. 

 

5 minutes ago, bluedave said:

I assume Sarri is concerned about RLC‘s fitness. We all know he’s got back problems and has to be used carefully.

That’s a respectable result and the second half performance was one of our better ones for a while. I’ll leave it for others to explain why we should be miserable.

 

Not so sure on that, RLC wasn't showing any signs of fatigue and that decision probably cost us the win. Baffling substitution at a time when we were dominant.

Haven’t seen any of the game tied up at work. I’ll take the result though. Job to do next week but could be an all London final !

Just now, Zero said:

We are in a great position to make it to the final and top 4 domestically. Things could be much worse considering how things were looking a couple of weeks ago. Lots of positives!

I need all the positivity I can get right now! I was relaxed before the game but watching us play sometimes just riles me up

1-1 is a solid result. Obviously would prefer the win but hopefully we get the win this weekend and turn around and get a solid 2-0 win next thursday! 

8 minutes ago, gazza said:

Emerson ,Giroud  &  Andreas are all having a mare , we could of been more than one down before we scored.

Ruben by far our best player .

that away goal could be so important we need to stay compact at the start of the second half 

I thought Christensen had a very good second half.

Same old same really.

Lots of huff and puff but no end result.

Nice to have the away goal but should have put the tie to bed.

Plenty of possession in  the second half but nothing to show apart from a luiz free kick.

Hopefully we can finish them off at the bridge.   

0:0 at home and we're in the final!

1 minute ago, charierre said:

Not so sure on that, RLC wasn't showing any signs of fatigue and that decision probably cost us the win. Baffling substitution at a time when we were dominant.

They are managing his back as each time he comes off i see the staff checking on him, i rather he plays 60 to 70 minutes every game than 90 every few weeks because he aggravated his back

2 minutes ago, Stas1 said:

People talking about us being in 4th place as if it has been our achievement due to fantastic playing and a clever manager. The only reason we are in 4th is because ManU and LeArse have been pants, lets not be delusional.

Well I guess we are the best of 'pants' teams.....mind you Spurs are that far ahead.  Everyone has been 'pants' except City and Liverpool.

7 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Much better in the second half. Pretty much were in control until the last ten minutes and should have scored, too bad we didn't, hopefully it won't come back and bite us in the ass a week from now.

Luiz has got even worse defensively and Giroud had a shocker.

P.S. By the way, Hazard has been coasting for weeks now, we really need him to step up and make a difference, looks like he couldn't be bothered nowadays.

I disagree with that. Hazard is the only player that has kept his consistency up this season. He was our best player in April by far.

2 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

0:0 at home and we're in the final!

not with our defence 

It's a decent draw, don't think anyone expected us put the tie to bed tonight and it should prevent any complacency going into the home leg.

Could've scored more, could've had a few more decisions our way, but then so could they.

Think the midfield trio in particular did a great job. And an important one for me was that Christensen settled into it 2nd half, need him to settle into that role alongside Luiz given they'll likely now play every game for the rest of the season.

Half time, any win sees us into the final and we'll be playing at home. Like top 4 it's there for us if we deliver, crunch time now. Looking forward to hopefully seeing us deliver a strong finish to the season. 

This was a perfect example of how Chelsea have played this season. Lots of good attacking but only one goal, dominant in the middle but still a bit lucky to only concede one and always the opposition gives us dangerous moments even when they only have a couple of attacks. RLC brilliant in patches, but he, Pedro and even Kante faded at the end. 

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

0:0 at home and we're in the final!

Can’t see us keeping a clean sheet at the bridge I’m afraid. 

8 minutes ago, Stas1 said:

People talking about us being in 4th place as if it has been our achievement due to fantastic playing and a clever manager. The only reason we are in 4th is because ManU and LeArse have been pants, lets not be delusional.

We are only battling for 4th because of Sarri's brilliant management  Arsenal and Man Utd have been on top form and us fans have been lucky to have such a talented manager at the helm, plus the football has been outstanding.