Chelsea has Moscow penalty horror déjà vu

02 August, 2008, 08:12

The finalists have been revealed for Moscow’s 2008 Railways Cup. Hosts Lokomotiv will battle Spanish outfit Sevilla after a night of high drama ended in Chelsea losing yet another penalty shootout in the Russian Capital.

The pre-season tournament provides a carnival atmosphere for the fans and time for the players to hone their game ahead of the start of the season in Europe.

Friday's main event was the match between hosts Lokomotiv and English Premier League outfit Chelsea.

The Londoners have less than fond memories of Moscow after their Champions League final defeat here to Manchester United in May.

Unlike the three guests Lokomotiv are a side in the middle of their season and they started the match looking like one. However Londoners soon took the initiative.

The deadlock was broken after 27 minutes. New signing Deco was instrumental in the build-up, with his cross finding its way into the path of Michael Essien, who thumped it home.

In the second half Chelsea should have doubled their lead. An insightful ball from Lampard wasn’t capitalised on by Anelka, who saw his shot saved by Loko goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli.

As Scolari’s men started to waste chances the Muscovites started to come back into the match.

With 6 minutes to go Loko were back in it through a Ruslan Kambolov's free kick. With the match tied at one a piece the game went to penalties.

Dinjar Bilyatdinov was in great form throughout the mach but he saw his spot kick saved.

But Pelizzoli saved from Wayne Bridge and then saved another one from Andrey Shevchenko to send the home fans into raptures.

Line-ups

Lokomotiv: Ivan Pelizzoli, Fininho (Ruslan Kambolov, 70), Emir Spahic, Rodolfo (Dmitriy Sennikov, 76), Renat Yanbaev, Sergey Gurenko, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Denis Glushakov, Dmitriy Torbinskiy (David Mudgiri, 83), Haminu Draman, Draman Traore (Aleksandr Minchenkov, 55).
Chelsea: Peter Czech, Ashley Cole (Wayne Bridge, 64), John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien (Florent Malouda, 46), Deco, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 46), Nicolas Anelka (Andriy Shevchenko, 74).

Tragic own goal

Earlier in the day Italian giants AC Milan lost to Sevillia of Spain.

As most preseason games this one lacked some fire of competition. And despite it having its flash points, fans had to wait until after half time for the first goal of the game.

Enzo Maresca curled in a dangerous looking free kick into the Milan box. Only to see Rossineri midfielder Gennaro Gattuso redirect it into his own net.

Christian Brocchi had probably the best chance to get Milan back in it but he hit the post. Then matters got worse for Brocchi. He saw red for a second bookable offence.

All in all a fairly dull encounter ending with 2006/07 UEFA Cup winners beating the seven-time European champions to set up a final with Lokomotiv. Milan will face Chelsea in a consolation match.

Line-ups

Milan: Christian Abbiati, Kakha Kaladze, Paolo Maldini (Digão, 46), Massimo Oddo (Daniele Bonera, 75), Gianluca Zambrotta (Guiseppe Favalli, 58), Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso (Luca Antonini, 69), Massimo Ambrosini, Clarence Seedorf, Alberto Paloschi (Cristian Brocchi, 58), Kaká (Marek Jankulovksi, 46).
Sevilla: Andres Palop, Sebastien Squillaci (Aquivaldo Mosquera, 77), David Prieto Galves, Fernando Navarro, Rincon Crespo, Correia Adriano (Diego Capel, 62), Jesus Navas, Ndri Koffi Romaric, Enzo Maresca, Dirnei Renato (Arouna Kone, 84), Luis Fabiano.