Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/279808
Sport 21 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 MARCH 2014 SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Chelsea defeat Galatasaray to reach quarter-finals Ronaldo double sinks Schalke DIDIER Drogba's return to Stamford Bridge ended in defeat as Chelsea beat Galatasaray 2-0 in Tuesday night's Champions League last-16 second leg to progress to the quarter-finals. Jose Mourinho warned of a danger- ous tie poised 1-1 after the first leg in Istanbul three weeks ago, but four minutes into the second leg his side regained the advantage before ad- vancing into Friday's last-eight draw with ease, 3-1 on aggregate. Drogba, scorer of 157 goals in 341 appearances over eight years for the Blues, including the decisive penalty in the 2012 European Cup win, was expected to be the main protagonist of the contest. But it was another 30-something African striker who found the net with the first attack as, for once, the Ivorian faded into the background on the big occasion, with Eden Hazard the outstanding forward on display. Samuel Eto'o showed his predatory instinct to fire the Blues in front at the end of a move started by Haz- ard and Gary Cahill added a second before the interval to give Chelsea a commanding two-goal advantage. Chelsea were unable to add to their tally, but did not need to. Roberto Mancini's visitors were a distant second best throughout and offered up little resistance as the former Manchester City manager's return to England ended in a limp loss. Given Manchester United and Tot- tenham face two-goal deficits - on Wednesday against Olympiacos in the Champions League and on Thursday at Benfica in the Europa League, respectively - it is possible Chelsea will be the only English club in Europe come Friday's draws. Their immediate attention now turns to Saturday's Premier League showdown with Arsenal, where Mourinho's leaders will hope to put the controversial loss at Aston Villa firmly in the past in Arsene Wenger's 1000th game as Gunners boss. Wenger was branded a "specialist in failure" by Mourinho last month. in the other match, Real Madrid unsurprisingly booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after wrapping up an emphat- ic 9-2 aggregate victory over Schalke - but the Spanish side's night was soured by a potentially serious injury to talented young forward Jese. A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo - his 40th and 41st goals of the season - and one for Alvaro Morata sealed a 3-1 victory on the night as Madrid dotted the i's and crossed the t's on a last-16 tie that was as good as over in the wake of their 6-1 victory in the first leg three weeks ago. Tim Hoogland's heavily deflected strike was all Schalke had to show from their trip to Madrid, although Jens Keller's men were at least spared a repeat of the abject drubbing they suffered on home turf last month. Only four Madrid players who started that commanding victory in Germany were named in the start- ing XI for the return at the Bernabeu, with Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and the indefatigable Ronaldo all keeping their places. Jese was one of the fringe players brought in by Carlo Ancelotti but the 21-year-old's night was over almost immediately, the forward reportedly suffering a suspected anterior cruci- ate ligament injury in an innocuous tussle with Sead Kolasinac inside two minutes. The unfortunate Spain Under-21 international - an outside tip to make the senior squad at this summer's World Cup - was replaced by Gareth Bale and the Wales international did not need long to make a telling im- pact. With 22 minutes gone, good work by prolific Spain Under-21 striker Morata created the chance for Bale to work a yard of space on the right and drill in a low cross that Ron- aldo turned home first time to take him past the 40-goal milestone for a fourth successive season. Bale nearly had another assist five minutes later when he raced clear of his marker down the right and sent a perfectly-weighted pass into the area for Morata who had only make a tell- ing connection to be sure of finding the net but instead fluffed his lines. Despite their mauling three weeks ago Schalke were a good match for Madrid throughout the half and de- servedly pulled one back after half an hour when Hoogland was allowed to advance through the midfield before rifling an effort that took a massive deflection of Ramos to wrong-foot Casillas. Isco's stinging 20-yard effort drew a good save from Ralf Fahrmann as Madrid sought an immediate re- sponse. Fahrmann then denied Mor- ata, Ramos and Nacho as the hosts continued to press for another before the break, even with the overall lead- ing standing at 7-2. Yet it was the visitors who should have taken the lead on the night in the 40th minute. Madrid were sloppy in ceding the ball in midfield and Max Meyer was able to break away, the midfielder threading the ball through for Klaas Jan Huntelaar - who dragged his effort just wide of the post. Fahrmann was back in action early in the second period when he somehow scooped Ronaldo's down- ward header over the bar, and again excelled in the 55th minute when he smothered Isco's shot after the midfielder had deftly cut inside his marker. But Madrid's goal threat was ever- present and it came as no surprise when they regained the lead on the night with 74 minutes on the clock, Ronaldo collecting the ball in mid- field and running powerfully at the back-pedalling home defence before drilling a low effort inside Fahr- mann's near post. Ronaldo could and should have been celebrating a hat-trick two min- utes later when he fired against the bar with the goal at his mercy after Fahrmann had saved Morata's ini- tial effort, but although Ronaldo had been thwarted the danger had not passed and Bale was able to steer the ball back towards the waiting Mora- ta, who clinically slotted home. There was still time for Ronaldo to wrap up his treble but when the op- portunity came his way inside the final 10 minutes his placed shot be- yond the advancing Fahrmann came back off the right-hand post. Tonight UEFA Champions League 20:45 Borussia D. - Z. Petersburg 20:45 M. United - Olympiakos Samuel Eto'o gives Chelsea the lead Cristiano Ronaldo is on hand to tap the ball into an empty net,