Jose Mourinho and Inter send Chelsea crashing out of Champions League

Chelsea left Italy a few weeks ago feeling fine about their chances despite the 2-1 loss to Inter Milan in the opening leg.  Chelsea had the vital away goal and would only need a 1-0 win back in London at Stamford Bridge.  All the pressure seemed to be heaped upon Inter and their fiery coach Jose Mourinho whose job was clearly in jeopardy if Inter were to fail in London.  From the opening whistle Inter were up to the challenge.

The opening thirty minutes showed Inter would not be content to sit in and play for a 0-0 draw.  Both teams attacked and created chances.  In a theme of the opening hour, chance after chance went begging.  Chelsea finally sprung to life at the end of the opening half as they really put their foot on Inter and asked questions of the defense.  It looked as Chelsea were sure to score on a couple of occasions only for an Inter player to make the crucial intervention at the last second.  The Chelsea fans groaned as the halftime whistle blew as they knew the break could not have come at a worse time.

The second half opened as Inter showed once again they would not sit back as they probed the Chelsea backline for gaps.  Pressure was building on Chelsea as the clock continued to drift onwards and it was Inter creating the chances.  Jose Mourinho reacted demonstratively each time Inter missed, but one could feel the decisive strike was coming.

In the 79th minute the goal would come from Samuel Eto'o and the four thousand Inter fans on hand were sent delirious.  Samuel Eto'o narrowly beat the offside trap and sprinted in on goal finishing low left.  Now Chelsea needed two goals and it looked highly unlikely.  Things went from bad to worse late on as Didier Drogba was sent off for an incident in the Inter penalty area.  Inter took advantage of the extra man and dominated possession in killing the final minutes off.  Inter Milan, Samuel Eto'o and Jose Mourinho came to London and clearly were the better side deservedly advancing to the qurterfinals of the Champions League.four thousand Inter fans