Park Ji-sung dashes Chelsea`s CL hopes with late goal

When Chelsea striker Didier Drogba controlled the ball with his chest before firing the tying goal against Manchester United Tuesday, his team saw a ray of hope.

In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal at Old Trafford, Chelsea`s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich did not look optimistic over the world`s premier club competition for soccer and more than 90 million U.S. dollars in prize money.

Having lost 1-0 in the first leg, Chelsea was feeling the pressure going into the second leg.

Chelsea has never won the Champions League. Team owner Abramovich is known for his love of soccer. Despite criticism of trying to buy a championship, he has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the team, including more than 100 million dollars this season to sign striker Fernando Torres and defender David Luiz in January.

Torres, whom Chelsea bought from Liverpool for 79.5 million dollars, failed to break his scoreless streak Tuesday. After the first half, Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti replaced Torres, a favorite of Abramovich, with Drogba.

When Drogba scored in the 77th minute, Abramovich looked relieved. Chelsea pushed United hard from the beginning but allowed its opponent to score first. Drogba’s goal after teammate Ramires got a red card.

The owner`s sense of relief lasted for just more than a minute, however. Just 50 seconds after Drogba`s goal, United midfielder Park Ji-sung shattered Chelsea’s hopes.

Park broke free on the left side and took a pass from Ryan Giggs to score on a strong diagonal left-footed kick in a goal similar to Drogba’s. The goal was Park’s fourth in the Champions League.

United’s homepage described the roar of the 70,000-strong home crowd as that of extreme delight.

The first Asian to score a goal in the Champions League while playing for PSV Eindhoven in 2005, Park has shown again that he is a clutch performer.

bluesky@donga.com