CL ~ Valencia 1 - 1 Chelsea ; Chelsea stars get the Blues
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Chelsea stars get the Blues
Valencia 1 Chelsea 1
PUSHING IT ... referee Nicola Rizzoli barges John Obi MikelCHELSEA'S stars lost their cool as they blew what should have been a Champions League Group E win in Spain.
Their night turned sour as Salomon Kalou conceded a daft late penalty equaliser, while Blues stars became involved in an ugly bust-up with ref Nicola Rizzoli at the final whistle.
The Italian official blew for time just as Chelsea were about to take a free-kick in the Valencia half.
Juan Mata argued and was booked. Ashley Cole then got involved and Rizzoli barged John Obi Mikel out of the way as he ran to yellow card the England full-back as well.
Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas, who moved in to ensure no more of his players came to grief, said: "We had a free-kick and a chance to put a cross in and score.
"But the referee decided to end the game and we reacted to suffering the late penalty."
The row, plus the 87th-minute Kalou handball which gifted Roberto Saldado his spot-kick equaliser, took the gloss off a fine show from Frank Lampard.
He hit his 20th Champions League goal for the Londoners and showed he is far from finished after three spells on the bench in four games.
Lampard, 33, who fired home Florent Malouda's 56th-minute cross, said: "I've been left out before. It makes me dig in and work harder to get back."
Villas-Boas added: "Frank has been a scorer all his life. We trust him 100 per cent."
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Villas-Boas defends decision to send on Kalou as striker costs Chelsea victory
Andre Villas-Boas insists he had no regrets about sending on Salomon Kalou for Frank Lampard in Chelsea's Champions League draw at Valencia, despite the decision backfiring spectacularly.
Villas-Boas' recall of Lampard for the Group E clash was completely justified, with the midfielder scoring what looked set to be the winner at the Mestalla.
But the Chelsea's manager's 83rd-minute substitution of his fellow 33-year-old proved disastrous, with replacement Kalou immediately conceding a needless penalty which saw Roberto Soldado make it 1-1.
Villas-Boas rejected suggestions he should have sent on a more defensive-minded player, with his side under pressure at the time.
'No, no, no, no,' he said.
'Putting on a striker is nothing to do with being more offensive or putting on a defender sometimes is nothing to do with being more defensive.
'I think it was the right choice bearing in mind what we were looking at,
which was the fact that Valencia were coming out on the left side and doing a lot of two against ones against Bosingwa.'He added: 'We controlled the left side. The goal doesn't come from that situation.
'If you bring on a defender, you suffer the goal the same. So it's nothing to do with that in my opinion.'
Dejected: Lampard and John Terry leave the field after Chelsea's draw
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kalou actually handled the ball and gave away a penalty with 7 minutes left.
how foolish and needless!!!
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Boo at Kalou
