The Europa League second round match played between Chelsea and Sparta Prague at Stamford Bridge on Thursday ended in a draw. Both the teams scored one goal each.
Chelsea had faced Sparta Prague a week ago as well. In that match, Chelsea had secured victory by 1-0. But, in this match, the Blues managed to get just one point.
The manager of Chelsea, Rafa Benitez, made a quite a few changes in the starting XI. John Terry was brought in, while, the two senior players Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard were kept out.
It was a bad evening for Rafa Benitez as he was booed by the Chelsea supporters. The supporters were not happy with Benitez’s substitutions.
Not only for Benitez, it was a disappointing evening for the Chelsea superstar Fernando Torres as well who made some terrible mistakes on the field.
Torres could have taken Chelsea ahead in the 4th minute of the match when he got a great pass from Victor Moses just outside the box, but, he didn’t manage to place the ball well and the ball went wide of the goal post.
Torres had another opportunity in the 11th minute, but, he couldn’t capitalize on a cross from Juan Mata. His volley went over the crossbar.
Sparta earned a free kick in the 17th minute. Vaclav Kadlec’s shot went to David Lafata who placed his shot to perfection. The ball flew into the top corner of the net and Sparta got ahead by 1-0.
Chelsea played with a lot more attacking approach in the second half, but, the equalizer didn’t come till the 90th minute. It was in the stoppage time that Eden Hazard played a powerful left footed shot to level the scores.
Chelsea’s next match will be a Premier League clash against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.