Ten man Chelsea beaten

Wednesday, 22, Feb 2006 11:12

Ten man Chelsea have it all to do in the second leg after they were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in their Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge.

The Premiership champions had Asier Del Horno sent off after 36 minutes for a foul on Lionel Messi but took the lead through a Thiago Motta own goal early in the second-half.

However, a John Terry own goal and a Samuel Eto'o strike means the Spanish champions hold the advantage going into the second leg in the Nou Camp.

Despite complaining about the poor pitch in West London, it was Barcelona who made all the attacking running in the first-half and the Chelsea defence had to be at its best to keep the scores level.

Ronaldinho was denied, first, by a fantastic saving tackle by Terry on 15 minutes before Petr Cech produced a smart save from the Brazilian at full-stretch on the half-hour.

However, Spanish left-back Del Horno was dismissed after bundling over Argentine wonderkid Messi and the Blues were up against it from there on.

Despite Barcelona's pressure, it was the home side which took the lead on 58 minutes as Frank Lampard's free-kick was diverted into his own net by Motta.

The Spanish side continued their bombardment of the Chelsea defence and it was finally broken with 20 minutes to go as Ronaldinho's free-kick deflected off captain Terry and into the goal.

Messi hit the bar with a swerving shot two minutes later before Terry cleared off the line from former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson and Ronaldinho.

However, Barcelona sealed the win with ten minutes remaining as Eto'o rose highest at the back post to head home the winner.