Chelsea showed they can perform even without their talismanic manager Jose Mourinho as Bayern Munich were defeated 4-2 in the Champions League quarterfinal, first leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Mourinho, who is serving a two-match touchline ban handed down by UEFA for accusing referee Anders Frisk of improper conduct in the last round against Barcelona, will only be disappointed by the fact that four-time European champions Bayern grabbed a lifeline for the second leg with an injury-time penalty.
England midfielder Joe Cole's deflected shot got Chelsea off to flying start with a deflected strike four minutes in.
PHOTO: AFP
Bayern substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger equalized on 52 minutes before Frank Lampard hit a left-footed double.
The England midfielder scored from the top of the penalty box seven minutes later before firing in a skilful shot on the turn in the 69th minute.
Didier Drogba thought he had sealed affairs in the 80th minute, stabbing the ball in after a goalmouth scramble.
But an injury-time Michael Ballack penalty gave Bayern hope for the second leg in Germany on Tuesday.
With Chelsea assistant boss Steve Clarke directing operations from the touchline, Ivory Coast striker Drogba came in for the suspended Mateja Kezman while Ricardo Carvalho replaced Bayern transfer target Robert Huth at center-half.
Peru striker Claudio Pizzaro and Netherlands hitman Roy Makaay were both out injured, forcing Bayern boss Felix Magath to start with Jose Paolo Guerrero and Hasan Salihamidzic in attack.
Mourinho claimed beforehand that he would not even be at the stadium but he would barely have settled in his seat before man-of-the-moment Cole gave him the dream start.
John Terry launched a long ball upfield for Drogba but though his marker Robert Kovac won the challenge, the Croat's weak header dropped for Damien Duff.
The Republic of Ireland winger played in Cole, whose shot from outside the penalty box took a big deflection off Lucio's heel, leaving goalkeeper Oliver Kahn stranded.
Bayern were rattled but England midfielder Owen Hargreaves soon led their resurgence with a menacing run and a free kick that forced Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech into his first save.
The visitors should have levelled in the 30th minute courtesy of a woeful Glen Johnson error.
The right-back slipped as he attempted to clear a cross, his lame header falling straight to Ze Roberto. However, the Brazil midfielder's shot flashed across the face of goal.
Lampard seved Kahn notice in the 34th minute with a curling blast after a corner that just bent away from the Germany stopper's goal.
Chelsea almost started the second half in the same fashion as the first, but Duff's shot was cleared off the line by Willy Sagnol after Kahn deflected the shot.
It was Bayern who struck early this time thanks to Schweinsteiger, on for Salihamidzic for the second half.
France defender William Gallas was booked for hacking down Schweinsteiger on the edge of the box and the substitute soon punished the error personally.
Ballack's free kick rebounded off the wall and Cech could only parry Ze Roberto's follow-up into the substitute's path for a simple cross-shot.
The stalemate lasted just nine minutes before Lampard restored Chelsea's lead.
Joe Cole launched a long pass for Drogba, whose header found Lampard on the edge of the box and the England midfielder lashed in a left-foot strike.
Lampard scored his second 10 minutes later thanks to Claude Makelele's excellent pass that found him in space in the penalty box.
The France midfielder capitalized on a loose clearance to pick Lampard out with an excellent pass and the England man chested the ball down and swivelled before firing across Kahn.
Lampard took the corner from which Drogba scored. Kahn kept out Gudjohnson's close-range effort but the Ivorian reacted first to seemingly give Chelsea one foot in the semifinals.
However, Bayern won a dubious penalty in injury time when Ballack tumbled in the box under mimimal pressure from Carvalho.
The Germany midfielder then scored the resultant spot kick that keeps Bayern's Champions League hopes alive.
AC Milan 2, Inter Milan 0
AC Milan moved a huge step closer to the last four of the Champions League, defeating city rivals Inter Milan 2-0 in the home leg of their all-Italian quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Dutch defender Jaap Stam broke the deadlock in first half stoppage time before Andriy Shevchenko, playing his first game since fracturing his left cheekbone on Feb. 19, doubled Milan's advantage 16 minutes from time.
The goals, both headers, were created by Andrea Pirlo's superbly delivered free-kicks.
Inter were denied a precious away goal in the closing stages when substitute Giorgios Karagounis' angled shot rattled the post.
Milan, who knocked Inter out in the semifinals of the same competition two years ago before beating Juventus in the final, are now firm favorites to reach the last four.
Milan, joint top of Serie A with Juventus and 16 points clear of Inter, have not been beaten by their neighbors since March 2002.
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with the result, but insisted the tie was far from over.
"It's certainly a good advantage to take into the second leg, but it won't be easy as Inter are still alive and they have showed they can cause us plenty of problems," he said.
"We will approach the game as if it were still 0-0 and try to build on this result. We won't think about the semifinals until we actually go there," he said.
Inter coach Roberto Mancini was disappointed not to have something to show for all his team's possession and first half superiority.
"Milan weren't two goals better than us because the game was pretty even," he said.
"In the first half we were caught out in stoppage time, but before that [AC Milan keeper Nelson] Dida kept them in it. Now we have to concentrate on the second leg -- we haven't given up," he said.
Mancini's side will have to do something they have failed to do this season if they are to have a chance in the return match -- score a goal against AC Milan.
"In three matches, we haven't scored a single goal against them and let's hope something changes in the fourth," Mancini said.
With Brazilian striker Adriano ruled with out with a left knee injury and Christian Vieri still not 100 percent fit, Argentine forward Julio Cruz partnered livewire Nigerian Obafemi Martins in Inter's attack.
Before the match a minute's silence was observed in memory of John Paul II, who died last Saturday.
Inter enjoyed the better start and a superb strike by Serbian dead-ball specialist Sinisa Mihajlovic almost gave them an early lead, but his curling left-footed free-kick from 25 meters was tipped over the bar by Dida.
Several surging runs by Brazilian midfielder Kaka proved fruitless as Milan slowly imposed themselves, before Dida's hands came to the rescue again, palming Juan Sebastian Veron's free-kick away for a corner.
Cruz was denied by Dida for a second time before Stam struck with a rare goal.
Pirlo swung over a free-kick from the right and the giant Dutchman leapt highest to plant a firm downward header.
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