Chelsea's hopes of defending their Champions League crown suffered a setback in Donetsk as Shakhtar domin
ch.
By Ben Smith BBC Sport
With John Terry back captaining the side, Chelsea were well be
aten thanks
to goals from two Brazilians.
Alex Teixeira poked home after three minutes before Fernandinho doubled
Shakhtar's lead in the second half.
Oscar thumped in a l
ate consol
ation for
Chelsea, who would have lost more heavily but for goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The defe
at, Roberto Di M
atteo's
first in the Champions League, means English teams have now failed to win in
Donetsk in four
attempts and leaves Chelsea with a
less than straightforward p
ath to the
last 16.
The failure of Juventus to be
at Nordsjaelland in Denmark was the
only saving grace, but Shakhtar are now firmly in control of Group E.
Defeat capped a week of a distraction
and disruption at Stamford Bridge. But at the
final whistle Terry's return was nothing more than a footnote, as he led Chelsea
out for the first time since accepting a four-match ban for racially abusing Anton
Ferdinand a year to the day since the pair exchanged those infamous words.
Chelsea saw this as an opportunity to draw a line under the controversy
but Shakhtar's formidable record could not be ignored. The Ukrainian champions
came into the game unbe
aten in 11 months on the back of a
record 21 consecutive league m
atches without a loss and having
scored in every game in th
at run.
They provided a perfect demonstr
ation of just why inside three
minutes as Chelsea were caught cold.
Luiz Adriano controlled a quickly taken throw-in on his chest, surged
beyond David Luiz and shot hard and low
at goal, only for Terry to block.
The ball rebounded kindly to Teixeira, who kept calm to roll a low shot through
the legs of Ashley Cole and across the advancing Cech into the bottom corner.
Shakhtar were tremendous throughout, shredding the Chelsea defence time
and again - they pressed and ran, cre
ated and scored. The intensity of
their football was embodied by the magnificent Willian, who only added to his
burgeoning reput
ation with this dynamic display.
The Brazilian played with pace and intelligence,
attacked
with gusto and controlled the play with his trickery and precise passing. On
three occasions he cre
ated shooting opportunities, with a
drop of the shoulder and twinkle of the toes. He cre
ated
openings too, feeding Darijo Srna whose goal-bound shot was blocked by Terry.
Shakhtar give Chelsea the blues
- This was Chelsea's first Champions League defeat under
Robert Di Matteo. He had won five and drawn
three of the previous eight matches in charge of Chelsea.
- Chelsea have four points from their first three Champions League
matches this season. Barcelona also
had four points from three games as they attempted to defend their title in
2009-10.
- Chelsea have only conceded one earlier Champions League goal than against
Shakhtar. In 2006 Deco put Barcelona ahead in two minutes and 52 seconds.
- Source: Infostrada
Cech was keeping Chelsea in the tie as half-time
approached. First he needed to be at full stretch to tip Henrik
Mkhitaryan's fierce shot over, before diving low to his left to somehow deny
Tomas Hubschman after a goalmouth scramble from a corner.
Chelsea were always a thre
at, however, even after Frank
Lampard limped off with an injury after 18 minutes to be replaced by Eden
Hazard. The best of their opportunities fell to Torres, but on each occasion the
Spaniard was denied either by goalkeeper Andriy Py
atov or saw a shot smothered by the
Shakhtar defence.
The only consol
ation for Chelsea was th
at they
remained in touch
at 1-0. But not for long.
With Chelsea pushing on in search of an equaliser, Shakhtar landed a
decisive blow. Fernandinho dispossessed Hazard in the centre circle, Adriano
g
athered it up, broke forward and
played the ball sideways to Fernandinho who finished emph
atically
with a low shot th
at flashed across Cech and into the
far corner.
Chelsea improved after the goal, with Hazard going close with a shot
th
at
was well-saved by Py
atov. But Shakhtar always looked
more likely to score.
Fernandinho might have scored his second after a ne
at exchange
with Willian, while Cech denied Mkhitaryan with another fine save. Hubschman had
perhaps the best chance of the second half, but failed to make contact when the
ball fell to him four yards from goal.
As it was, Oscar sn
atched a l
ate
consol
ation for Chelsea, turning in a low
cross after a surging run from Branislav Ivanovic, but the damage was done.