Coming into the second leg of this UEFA Champions League tie, a 3-1 Chelsea win always felt like a plausible result. "Wouldn't it be great if we got more than 180 minutes of football out of this tie?", everyone who is not a fan of Chelsea or Napoli probably thought to themselves at one point. That hypothetical large group of people that I just invented has their wish. To follow up a 3-1 Napoli win at Stadio San Paolo, Chelsea have won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. With the tie even 4-4 and even on away goals, it heads to extra time.
Chelsea Vs. Napoli, 2012 UEFA Champions League: 180 Minutes Not Enough, As Tie Heads To Extra Time
Didier Drogba scored the opening goal in the 28th minute, and Chelsea went into the locker room up 1-0. It didn't take long for them to take the lead on away goals, with John Terry heading in a corner kick goal in the 47th minute. Gökhan Inler answered with an absolute stunner in the 54th minute, but Napoli gave away a 75th minute penalty with an Andrea Dossena handball that Frank Lampard scored to level things up and force another 30 minutes of play.
The final 10 minutes were frantic, with both teams having plenty of chances to net a winner, but to no avail. It would be quite stunning if both of these these teams found a way to not score or concede for the next 30 minutes and force penalties.
For more on the Blues, head over to Chelsea blog We Ain’t Got No History and The Offside Chelsea. For more on the Azzurri, head over to The Offside Napoli.
See More:
