Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Chelsea

Skipper John Terry was unable to
inspire Chelsea as the Champions
League champions were outclassed in
a 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Terry, available while he sees out his
domestic ban, was often a bystander
alongside his jaded and out-thought
team-mates as the classy Ukrainians
survived a nervy last two minutes to
seize control of Group E.
With an unbeaten record home or
away for nearly a year, it was always
likely to be an early onslaught from
Shakhtar but even they would have
been surprised with a reward inside
three minutes.
Terry and David Luiz failed to deal with
a long throw and the ball fell to Alex
Teixeira who coolly slotted home past
keeper Petr Cech for the opener.
Sloppy in possession and off the pace,
Chelsea were chasing shadows as
Willian pulled the central strings and
the midfielder twice went close with
two rasping efforts.
The visitors' cause was not helped as
Frank Lampard's 100th European
game ended on 17 minutes with injury,
but at least striker Fernando Torres
showed spurts of menace, although
often wasteful in the box.
Chelsea's star man of the first half was
Cech, keeping out the increasingly
influential Henrikh Mkhitaryan and
more acrobatically just before the
break clawing out Tomas Hubschman's
scrambled effort.
It was a lively start after the break by
the Blues, but Shakhtar's response was
brutal. Hazard lost possession on the
halfway line, Adriano stormed forward
and Cech was helpless as Fernandinho
doubled the lead.
Jon Obi Mikel hooked over and keeper
Andri Pyatov shut out Juan Mata as
Chelsea pushed forward and although
they were handed a late lifeline when
Oscar tapped in Branislav Ivanovic's
cross, the hosts deservedly hung on.