Chelsea were held in Slovenia by a resolute and occasionally spectacular Maribor, for whom Agim Ibraimi scored a world-class pearler
9.35pm GMT
And thats that! A much-deserved draw for Maribor, who were thoroughly outplayed two weeks ago at Stamford Bridge, and were expected to be swatted aside tonight. And were they? Nope! Chelsea didnt even play that badly, and should have won it at the end with Eden Hazards penalty. But their hosts were simply magnificent. Agim Ibraimis goal was an absolute peach, and every one of his team-mates dug in to deny the Eleven Portillo(e)s In Flight. And to think earlier on we were expecting a complete lack of drama! In your face, Coronation Street and Waterloo Road! And the last word to Simon McMahon: Think of how Mourinho would react if Chelsea had to take the train home.
9.34pm GMT
90 min +2: A frustrated Hazard twists maniacally down the left, but cant make space. This looks all over.
9.33pm GMT
90 min +1: There will be two added minutes, and the first sees Ndiaye replace Sallalich.
9.32pm GMT
90 min: Drogba and Fabregas tie themselves in all sorts of knots down the left wing, and eventually run the ball out of play for a goal kick. Maribor take their time, as youd expect. Im sure Mourinho would approve in principle, if not necessarily within the context of this match.
9.31pm GMT
89 min: Ibraimi, who tonight scored what will be one of this seasons great Champions League goals, is replaced by Bohar.
9.30pm GMT
88 min: On the touchline, Jose Mourinho is throwing semaphore shapes. This is desperate for Chelsea, who were desirous of winning this match and getting their pre-Christmas European work completed early doors.
9.29pm GMT
87 min: Hazard tries to make immediate amends, going on a baroque jig down the inside-right and hammering a low shot goalwards from the edge of the box, but once again Handanovic is behind it. This half of football has been relentless. Brilliant, and relentless.
9.27pm GMT
86 min: A dreadful effort by Hazard, who scuffs it towards the bottom right. Handanovic parries clear! This is astonishing!
9.26pm GMT
85 min: Viler has been wonderful tonight, but hes made the mistake that looks like costing his team the match. Hazard twists this way and that down the inside-right channel, and is flipped into the air like a fried egg. A no-brainer of a decision, and a booking.
9.25pm GMT
84 min: Arghuss loose clearing header falls to Diego Costa, who hits a first-time blooter from 30 yards. Its straight at Handanovic.
9.25pm GMT
82 min: From the right of the Maribor D, Fabregas teases a clever diagonal ball over the Maribor back line, with a view to releasing Drogba into the box down the left. But the striker is snoozing, and miscontrols. Hes also offside, according to a slightly dubious linesmans flag.
9.23pm GMT
80 min: Chelsea look the more likely, but Maribor arent letting this go. Mendy twists and turns down the right, then slides a ball inside for Tavares, who hammers a low shot towards the bottom left. Cechs not getting to that if its on target, but fortunately for Chelsea, hes mishit it slightly, and the ball zips wide left. This has been a brilliant match.
9.21pm GMT
79 min: Chelsea are robbed by the linesmans flag. Fabregas is sent into the area down the left and pulls the ball back for Diego Costa, who rams home low and hard from 12 yards. But Fabregas is, incorrectly, judged offside. A poor decision.
9.20pm GMT
78 min: Hazard bombs down the right and into the box. He waits for Diego Costa to reach the edge of the D, and flicks the ball to the striker. Diego Costa flicks the dropping ball towards the top-left corner, a majestic effort, but Handanovic is the equal of it, arcing his back to tip over in the spectacular fashion. Thats Champions League quality football all round. Sheer brilliance. The corner comes to nothing.
9.18pm GMT
76 min: Now its Chelseas turn to miss a sitter. Oscar diddles down the inside-right channel and flicks a ball forward to release Hazard into the box. Hes only got Handanovic to beat, but his flick is way too cute. The keeper smothers, and somehow the scores are still level!
9.17pm GMT
74 min: Tavares breaks down the middle of the park! Hes clear, and shoots low, but Cech saves brilliantly with his feet. None of it matters, as the Chelsea back line had stepped up in time; Tavares is offside. Just before the goal, incidentally, Zahovic was replaced by Mendy.
9.16pm GMT
This is so simple. The corners lifted towards Terry, on the penalty spot. He heads down towards the bottom left, where Matic is in attendance to bundle over the line. Everyone in yellow celebrates, but theyve got the good grace not to make a huge song and dance about it.
9.14pm GMT
72 min: Should the plural of Portillo be Portilloes? I suppose it should be. Ah well, tis done now. Oscar, by the way, cuts in from the left and curls a wonderful effort inches wide of the right-hand post. In fact, it took a deflection. Its a corner, from which ...
9.13pm GMT
71 min: Another penalty shout for Eleven Portillos In Flight! Ramires makes off down the right and fires a low cross to the near post. Oscar enters the box and looks to take up possession, but hes clipped by Arghus. The referees not having any of it.
9.11pm GMT
69 min: My God, cries Simon McMahon, Ive got Portillos jacket in HD on my telly right in front of me, right now. Its canary yellow. Try wearing that in Methil. Chelsea are wearing yellow too, of course. Eleven Portillos In Flight. Diego Costa battles with Stojanovic as the pair chase a ball down the left. Diego Costa enters the box and goes down after a weak tug. No penalty, though youve seen them given. Its only a corner, from which Zouma half-heads, half-shouders an attempt wide right from 12 yards. Not far from the top-right corner, that.
9.09pm GMT
66 min: Diego Costa finds a little space in the left-hand side of the Maribor area again. And again he hoicks a dreadful effort high and wide. Chelsea have picked up the pace here, and are beginning to ask questions, though thats not stopped them looking highly frustrated whenever a move breaks down.
9.08pm GMT
65 min: Viler robs the ball from Oscar, 25 yards from the Chelsea goal. He lines up a defence-splitting pass for Zahoivic, but Fabregas nips in to steal the ball away. Up the other end, Oscar slides a ball down the right and nearly releases Diego Costa, but the excellent Viler, everywhere at the moment, slides in to intercept. This is end to end, and a lot of fun.
9.05pm GMT
63 min: Oscar has a belt from 30 yards, down the inside-left channel. His effort blams into Drogba. Nothings going Chelseas way right now.
9.03pm GMT
60 min: Chelsea should be in all sorts of trouble here. Viler romps into acres down the left. Chelsea are backpedaling, all at sea. (Presumably in a metaphorical pedalo?) Anyways, Viler fires a low cross to the back post. Zahovic is racing in, and with Cech taken out of play by the excellence of Vilers ball, its a tap-in to an empty net from a couple of yards, albeit at high speed. Zahovic leans back and wangs it over the bar. Hey, hes only 18. But what a miss.
9.01pm GMT
59 min: Chelsea are playing three at the back now, and Maribor make use of the extra space, Zahovic tearing down the right and earning a corner. Ibraimi takes the set piece, and loops it to the far post, where Rajcevic meets the ball with his head, albeit not with any particular conviction.
8.59pm GMT
57 min: Hazard embarks on another delightful, twinkle-toed run. This one is straight down the middle, and pulls Maribors entire defence towards him on the edge of the D. He then flips the ball to his left where Diego Costa is in acres of space in the area. Diego Costa shoots, but for once Diego Costa does not score: he slices a dismal effort left and high as you like. Very poor.
8.58pm GMT
56 min: Jose Mourinho listens to Dante Danger (55 min) and hauls off Filipe Luis. Ramires comes on in his stead. Thats all three subs used already. So much for treating this match as a nice rest.
8.57pm GMT
55 min: Chelsea look stunned. Their passing has gone to pot. Filipe Luis! splutters Dante Danger. Why was he so slow to close down Ibraimi? He is definitely in the Glen looks better going forward Johnson school of full backs. Glen Johnson was taught how to play full back?
8.55pm GMT
53 min: Stojanovic is booked for a late clip on Fabregass ankle. He can have no complaints.
8.54pm GMT
52 min: Arghus clatters into Drogba, who is making his way down the inside-right channel, 30 yards from goal. Free kick in a very dangerous position. Oscar blooters it into the wall. Witless. The polar opposite of that majestic strike against QPR at the weekend.
8.53pm GMT
This is a pearler! Viler makes room down the left and loops a cross into the box. Zoumas header clear is weak, only finding Ibraimi on the right-hand edge of the box. Ibraimi takes a touch, and curls a peach up over Cech and back down into the top-left corner! Drama? Oh weve got drama!
8.51pm GMT
49 min: Diego Costa embarks on a power run down the inside left. Hes got Drogba to his left, but opts to run into a purple wall instead.
8.50pm GMT
47 min: Drogba crosses from the right. Rajcevic volleys the ball back. Drogba returns it with a volley of his own. This is rat-a-tat stuff. The ball clanks off Rajcevics thigh, and nearly squirts into the bottom right with Handanovic momentarily wrong-footed, but the keeper adjusts quickly and snaffles the ball.
8.48pm GMT
46 min: Chelsea begin the half doing the possession thing, making a point. Maribor havent touched the ball yet.
8.47pm GMT
Chelsea get the ball rolling for the second half, having made a double change: Schurlle and Willian have been hooked, with Diego Costa and Oscar coming on. I wonder if Brendan Rodgers has issued a press release about this yet?
8.43pm GMT
Half-time reminder: Seeing youll be staying with us here, set your video, or planner, for BBC2 at 9pm, when Michael Portillo takes a locomotive journey to the boundaries of good taste.
8.32pm GMT
Well, thats not gone to script for Chelsea. The home side rocked for the first ten minutes, but since then its been fairly even. Could we have the potential for some drama here? No flipping!
8.30pm GMT
44 min: Schurrle wheechs a cross into a poorly defended Maribor box from the right, but theres nobody in the middle to take advantage. On the touchline, Jose Mourinho is wearing one of those faces.
8.30pm GMT
43 min: Viler makes good down the left and curls a low cross into the area. Zahovic, running in towards the left-hand post, sticks a leg out, but Terry steps in first to blooter the ball behind for a corner. The set piece is a nonsense, like Chelseas before it, but Viler is soon coming at Chelsea down the left again. His cross is overcooked, and the danger, such as it was, is over.
8.27pm GMT
42 min: Hazard drops a shoulder to glide in from the right, and pearls a shot towards the bottom right. Handanovic does well to turn the ball round the post. Chelseas corner is a thundering non-event.
8.26pm GMT
41 min: Hazard goes on a Maradonaesque jitter down the right, and nearly breaks through four challenges and into the area, but hes crowded out. Sallalich, up the other end, looks to break free of Matic down the right, but is clipped. No free kick, though. Frustration for both sides, with little coming off.
8.24pm GMT
39 min: Chelsea pass it hither and yon, but go nowhere.
8.23pm GMT
37 min: ... sends a fairly dismal sidefoot straight down Handanovics throat. Not sure which top corner he was looking for there, it went straight down the middle. Maribor attempt to break upfield, but Tavares gifts the ball to Willian, who sets Schurrle away down the inside right. Schurrle whistles a daisycutter towards the bottom-left corner, and he beats Handanovic, but the effort flies wide of the post.
8.21pm GMT
36 min: Matic powers down the middle of the park and attempts to break into the box. His picking up of the pace spooks Filipovic, who slides in recklessly to the left of the D, upending Matic, conceding a free kick in a dangerous position 30 yards from goal, and picking up a booking. Drogba steps up, and ...
8.20pm GMT
35 min: Ibraimi dances down the right. Hazard concedes a free kick by showing him his studs. Maribor load the box. Ibraimi curls one in, and its immediately headed out by Matic.
8.18pm GMT
33 min: Drogba is back on. What a waste of petrol.
8.17pm GMT
32 min: Drogba is down on the floor with his right boot off. A medical complaint. Not sure what happened to him, but hes frowning a lot, and the hospital tractor, or whatever that motorised buggy is called, wheelspins onto the pitch before shuttling him off the field of play.
8.15pm GMT
28 min: Fabregas rolls a ball down the inside-left channel for Drogba to chase. Drogba overpowers Stojanovic, and breaks clear into the area, but hes pulled at the right-backs arm. Foul. As is Drogbas language, Ill be bound, as he angrily discusses the matter at long distance with the referee.
8.13pm GMT
27 min: Its not quite happening for Chelsea right now. Drogba peels off down the right. His cross, pulled back to the edge of the D, is headed weakly into Handanovics hands by Schurrle. Fabregas was coming in behind, hoping to pelt the dropping ball. But no.
8.11pm GMT
25 min: Filipe Luis is booked, ludicrously, for winning the ball off Sallalich. The referee is of the opinion he clattered the Maribor man from behind. A lot of hand waving. The resulting free kick is 40 yards out, and so Ibraimi tries to find the top-left corner with a comical up-and-under. Some decorum, please, one of the best keepers in the world in goal here! (The effort floats miles wide left, for the record.)
8.09pm GMT
22 min: Schurrle misses an open goal from two yards. Willian fires a low ball through the Maribor six-yard area from the right. Handanovic, diving by his left-hand post, cant stop it, and it reaches the German World Cup winner - who shins it wide left from 72 inches out. The flag goes up for offside, but no matter: the saves-his-blushes cliche shouldnt apply there, for that was a ludicrous miss. Oh Andre!
8.07pm GMT
21 min: Thats been a fine response from Maribor, who were all over the place for the first ten minutes or so. The crowd do their bit with a deafening bit of call and response. Their team deserve no less after gathering themselves.
8.05pm GMT
20 min: Now Filipovic has a crack, from a central position, the best part of 30 yards out. Thats never beating Cech.
8.04pm GMT
19 min: Sallalich, his dander up, cuts in from the left and has a pelt from 20 yards. His shots an awkward bouncing thing, heading towards the bottom right, and Cech does rather well to gather it without any fuss or drama.
8.03pm GMT
17 min: More of the Chelsea passing, though Maribor have it in hand right now.
8.02pm GMT
14 min: And this is even better! Chelsea fall asleep, and suddenly Tavares sashays between Terry and Matic down the inside-right channel. Hes clear, with Zahovic to his left! Instead of going for goal, he lays off inside for his strike partner, but puts too much juice on the ball. Zahovic gathers the ball to the left of the Chelsea goal and pulls it back for Sallalich, rushing in from the left wing. Sallalich fizzes a low shot on target from the edge of the box, but Zouma is on hand to hack clear. That would have put a different complexion on this match.
7.59pm GMT
13 min: This is a little better from Maribor, though. Sallalich finds a little space down the left and curls one into the box. Terry hacks the low ball clear.
7.58pm GMT
12 min: A little relief for Maribor as Zahovic dances on the left-hand edge of the Chelsea box. Hes got nobody to pass to, though, and the balls soon whistled off his toe. Chelsea romp upfield through Hazard down the left, but Mertelj blocks him just before he enters the box.
7.57pm GMT
11 min: Drogba and Hazard exchange passes in front of the Maribor D. Drogba takes a shot towards the bottom left. Its deflected a little, but Handanovic gets a palm to the ball. Chelsea are rampant, and the home side are all over the shop. An opening goal is surely just a matter of time.
7.55pm GMT
9 min: A couple of passes in the Chelsea half for Maribor, but Willian robs Tavares, and a long balls launched down the middle. It should be bread and butter for defenders in the Champions League, but neither Arghus nor Rajcevic read the flight, and Drogba nearly powers clear. If hed taken that under control, he was one on one with the keeper.
7.54pm GMT
8 min: Fabregas immediately picks up the ball from Terrys loose header, makes for the byline down the left, and lifts another cross into the centre, where Zouma heads just over the bar from eight yards while aiming for the top left. He should have scored. This has been an accomplished start by Chelsea, though, and an appalling one by Maribor.
7.53pm GMT
7 min: Chelsea are passing the ball around. A lot. Hazard hovers down the left wing, then shuttles a ball forward for Filipe Luis, who wins another corner. Fabregass delivery is better, to the far post, but Terrys header is weak and off target.
7.51pm GMT
5 min: Fabregass corner fails to beat the first man, but hes soon coming back at Maribor, clear down the inside-left channel. His cross is poor. Chelsea have already had three chances down this flank. Maribor are struggling to gain any sort of meaningful possession.
7.49pm GMT
4 min: Maribor are being pressed left, right and centre by Chelsea, who look in the mood to show no mercy. Did you expect anything less? Fabregas sprays a delicious diagonal ball 40 yards for Ivanovic on the right. He checks back when he could have burst clear, but Chelsea are soon probing down the other wing, first through Drogba, then Hazard, who wins a corner.
7.48pm GMT
Maribor get the ball rolling. From a distance, and if you adjust the contrast a bit, Maribors kit looks a little like the one Wimbledon got themselves promoted in, back in 1986. Theres an immediate brouhaha in the Maribor box, with Filipe Luis finding a bit of space down the left and lifting a ball into the centre. Handanovic punches clear with Drogba lurking. After that 6-0 at Stamford Bridge, an early goal would give poor Maribor the proper fear. But they survive that one; a mere 89 minutes to go.
7.44pm GMT
The teams are out! Tonights visual signatures: Maribor sport Portillo-esque bright purple, while Chelsea are in Portillo-esque bright yellow. The Uefa anthem parps out of the PA, and George Frideric Handel continues spinning in his grave. Hands are shaken, stretches are performed, and well be off in a minute.
7.30pm GMT
Maribor: Handanovic, Stojanovic, Rajcevic, Arghus, Viler, Ibraimi, Mertelj, Filipovic, Sallalich, Tavares, Zahovic.
Subs: Cotman, Suler, Ndiaye, Mendy. Vrsic, Trajkowski, Bohar.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Schurrle, Hazard, Drogba.
Subs: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ramires, Oscar, Saleh, Diego Costa.
6.30pm GMT
Looking for a little bit of drama tonight? At 7.30pm on ITV, its time for a visit to Coronation Street. Then at 8pm on BBC1, catch up with the young rapscallions who attend the Waterloo Road comprehensive. And finally over on BBC2 at 9pm, a new sci-fi thriller, Michael Portillos Great Continental Railway Journeys, in which a man bravely struggles with, but is eventually overpowered by, a primary-coloured sports jacket.
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