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We were superb and first half we completely outplayed them. We deservedly went 2-0 through Gronkjaer's "poor cross" and lampard's well worked goal, and we were cruising. But following those two minutes of complete euphoria, Monaco grabbed a crucial goal. Now having seen the replays, I think it was handball, and although I'm disappointed at the poor decision, that's football. Some days the handball would have been given, on others the goal would stand. I'm not one to bitterly complain about what might have been.
At 2-1 we still could have gone on and done it, but the timing of that goal was disastrous. I honestly feel that had we gone in 2-0 up at half time, we could have won 4-0 or something like that. However that goal in injury time was a huge blow.
After that we missed a few great chances, Gudjohnsen and Gronkjaer 6 yards out with a free header, chested it down and ran backwards (top stuff Jesper! You magician you...) and Morientes' goal was the killer blow. There was no way we could score 3 more. We'd done all that we had to do tonight, but in the end it was not enough, and we just looked more and more tired as the game went on.
Our fans cheered right till the end (bar a 5 minute period of hush) and with 5 minutes to go, with us crashing out of the CL semi's 5-3, chants of "Ranieri's Blue Army" and "We love you Chelsea we do" rung around the stadium. This just summed it all up. We've had a great season, 2nd in the league at the moment, and we reached the CL semi finals, and it just showed how much we appreciated their efforts this season and how much we love the club.
So well done lads, you did us proud tonight. We couldn't have asked for any more from you, and we look forward to next year's European adventure.
Congratulations Monaco, and good luck in the Final and for the rest of the season.
(Chelsea til I die)
> Well Ranieri will definately be out now, I felt that perhaps winning
> the CL might have saved his job, but he will be on his way now. I
> feel he will be Chelseas loss.
he was gonna get sacked even if they won...even he knew this.
> Wht a gr8 game, weldon chelski & monco. fotbol rooles.
>
> (that better for you Scope? :)
Ahahhaa
I mean, you always remember names like Hernan Crespo, and Adrian Mutu as they are pretty unique names in these parts. While Wayne just sounds like the school idiot! (no offense to anyone called wayne!)
The only signings from this season on the park were Joe Cole
> and Geremi
Well, and bridge. Who i'd say has been thier best signing. I would say Duff but he's been injured too much.
(that better for you Scope? :)
Before Roman Abramovich took over, Chelsea would have been absolutely delighted with 2nd place in the Premiership and a Champions League semi-final spot, but with all the spending that went on, quite a lot of the impact of what Chelsea have done this season has been removed. It's a great achievement, but has been sort of dampened down by Abramovich's millions.
It was good to see Ranieri reverting back to his team last night. The only signings from this season on the park were Joe Cole and Geremi, and those are two players I believe Chelsea could probably have ended up getting anyway. Nice to see Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen up front again; the partnership that has done so much over the past three years for Chelsea.
On the night, Chelsea completely dominated the first half. The last minute goal by Ibarra was a major blow, as they would have gone into the dressing room feeling really disappointed, and Monaco would have been feeling on top of the game again. And the second half showed what that goal did - if Chelsea hadn't conceeded, they could have put in maybe even 5, but the goal really did have a strong effect on them, and then Morientes' goal was a killer blow, because they were never going to get 3 goals in 25 minutes.
Well done, Monaco, though. After their performance in the first leg, they did kind of deserve to go through, but they are a surprise team nonetheless. Porto - Monaco should be a good final, seeing as both teams were real underdogs prior to the tournament, and both have very gritty styles of play. Should be a good match. Well done Monaco, unlucky Chelsea.