Wycombe Wanderers 1 Chelsea 1:Never mind that Chelsea remain overwhelming favourites to reach the League Cup final. Being held at Wycombe last night was the latest confirmation of their dwindling powers and this was no lucky outcome for the League Two side.
Jose Mourinho's team were second best for most of this game and Wycombe deserved a draw courtesy of a goal in the final quarter of an hour by Jermaine Easter, the most expensive home player at £80,000.
Chelsea picked almost their strongest available team for this semi-final first leg but created virtually nothing either side of Wayne Bridge's well-taken goal in the 36th minute, their ball retention and creativity being poor in the face of a feisty Wycombe side who were dominated only in the period building up to half-time.
No Chelsea player can feel content with his imput, arguably the best of them, Michael Essien, being held off by Easter before the forward, latching on to a Tommy Mooney flick, beat Hilario. The Chelsea goalkeeper was then happy to see a Stefan Oakes free-kick fly narrowly over.
Only the most optimistic Wycombe supporters had imagined Chelsea coming unstuck even though the Premiership champions were missing several key players, not least in the centre of defence. With John Terry and Khalid Boulahrouz unfit and Ricardo Carvalho suspended, Jose Mourinho used Paulo Ferreira, a full-back, and Essien, a midfielder, in those key positions.
Still it had been anticipated that Chelsea would prove too strong for their League Two opponents, especially as Mourinho had picked his strongest available side with the exception of putting Frank Lampard on the bench. Andriy Shevchenko's absence was down to a hamstring injury and Chelsea's starting XI had cost more than £100 million to assemble, whereas Wycombe had paid money for just one of their team, the £80,000 striker Jermaine Easter.
Not that the disparity was apparent in the opening half-hour as Wycombe, bristling with energy and aggression, not only made life hard for Chelsea but looked to take the game to them. The power of the hosts' tackling in midfield and the speed of their closing down gave them the early edge and prevented Chelsea from building momentum, though Mourinho's players were also let down by their own untidy passing and touches.
What Wycombe lacked was an end-product. They sought to test Chelsea's central defenders with some high balls and also looked to get down the flanks and deliver crosses but only one chance came. It fell in the 20th minute when Easter got down the left and his centre was flicked by Matt Bloomfield to Kevin Betsy, whose shot at the far post was blocked by Hilario.
It still took Chelsea about another 10 minutes to begin to impose themselves, with the only remote danger they posed before then lying in Geremi set-pieces. Michael Ballack found he was getting far less time on the ball than he would have wanted and there was no initial threat Salomon Kalou, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge.
Gradually, though, Chelsea began to keep the ball better and make openings, with Wycombe unable to maintain their early tempo. Bridge had seen a shot blocked on the line before he gave Chelsea the lead in the 36th minute. Galloping on to Kalou's fine pass, the makeshift left-winger showed excellent technique to lift the ball over the onrushing Ricardo Batista, and into the net, getting banged in the face by the goalkeeper in the process with both only resuming after lengthy treatment.
With Wycombe regaining their sparkiness and belief early in the second half it became apparent there would still be tests for Chelsea to overcome, and the visitors were relieved not to concede in the 51st minute. Bridge lost the ball in midfield and an astute Mooney pass gave Bloomfield a sight of goal but the midfielder shot well wide. Mourinho tried to inject fresh life into his team by replacing the unproductive Wright-Phillips with Israeli Ben Sahar and bringing on Lampard for Bridge.
Guardian Service
WYCOMBE: Batista, Martin, Antwi, Williamson, O'Halloran, Oakes, Bloomfield (Torres 75), Doherty, Betsy, Easter, Mooney (Dixon 88). Subs Not Used: Young, Palmer, Anya. Booked: Mooney, Williamson. Goals: Easter 77.
CHELSEA: Hilario, Geremi, Bridge (Lampard 67), Ferreira, Ashley Cole, Essien, Makelele, Mikel, Ballack, Kalou (Sinclair 90), Wright-Phillips (Sahar 61). Subs Not Used: Kalambay, Morais. Booked: Makelele, Mikel. Goals: Bridge 36.
Referee: S Bennett (Kent).
