Inter earn first blood defeating Chelsea 2-1

It was one of those matchups they made everyone gasp when it was drawn for the quarterfinal round of Champions League play.   Chelsea, top dogs in the English Premier League, facing off against Inter Milan the leaders of Serie A in Italy.  That in  itself would have been enough, but throw in the unpredictable Jose Mourinho who used to lead Chelsea and now in charge of  Inter and you had it all. 

World stars dominated both lineups.  For Chelsea, Drogba, Lampard, John Terry, Kalou, Ballack.  For Inter, Maicon, Eto'o,  Milito, Cesar.  A wonderful night it would be as all eyes were on Italy and a dream start it would be for the Italians.

Only minutes after the opening whistle it would Inter striking first blood as Diego Milito would cut to his right inside the  Chelsea penalty area and fire home from 10 yards.  It was a perfect strike low and hard to the near post leaving Petr Cech no chance.  The home crowd went nuts and it looked like Inter were on its way to a monumental evening.

Didier Drogba would put a jolt into the home crowd in the 15th minute of play as he stepped up to take a free kick from 25 yards out.  Drogba struck it true and it rifled off the crossbar and back into play leaving Inter breathing a deep sigh of relief. Samuel Eto'o had the chance to really put Chelsea in a badspot in the 34th when Wesley Sneijder slid a ball his way only yards from the Chelsea goal.  The ball was slightly behind Eto'o and he was unable to hit it on goal as the crowd groaned.

After a pretty quiet 10 minutes where the game was defined by midfield battles the opening half would end in controversy.  A long throw in released Kalou in on goal.  After he raced into the penalty area he was challenged from behind by Lucio.  Kalou  went down as Chelsea appealed for a penalty and it looked like one should have been given.  The problem was the referee was a good 40 yards behind the play and in a poor position to make a definitive judgement.  Thus he waved away the appeals and play went on despite Chelsea howls.

The second half would open with a flurry. Just as Barcelona did the day before notching an early goal to even the game after the restart Chelsea would do.  In the 51st minute Chelsea were even when Kalou rifled a ball home after a strong run from Ivanovic.  Not only were Chelsea back even, they also had the all important away goal.

Chelsea didn't get much time to celebrate though as Inter would strike right back as if to say "not today boys".  After a cross from the left side was pushed away by the Chelsea defence, the rebound would fall to an onrushing Cambiasso who would crush a volley from 20 yards out into the back corner of the Chelsea net.  Inter was once again on top and Chelsea were left with half an hour to respond or go home losers.

Chelsea would respond though as Frank Lampard would hit a first time shot off a pass from Anelka only to see Inter keeper Cesar save the low shot and push it away.  That would be about Chelsea's last true opportunity though as the Inter defence clamped down throwing 10 men behind the ball and keeping Drogba in check.

The final whistle would blow and the Italian fans would cheer as Inter head to London with the advantage.  Mark the date March 16th as that's when the 2nd leg is scheduled and we will see if Inter can be the first Italian side to knock Chelsea out of a competition.