The Chelsea players who failed to travel for tonight's UEFA Cup second round first leg tie against Hapoel Tel-Aviv may regret their actions after the Premiership side went down 2-0. Six players opted out of this visit to the Middle East over safety fears in the current political climate but their fears proved unfounded with the only danger coming from their opponents Hapoel Tel-Aviv who were lively from the start.
It proved a night to forget for the London club after they had Dutch defender Mario Melchiot sent off in the second half before two last minute goals condemned them to a deserved defeat. Despite being reduced to 10 men in the 52nd minute when the referee's assistant spotted an off-the-ball incident involving Melchiot, who apparently lashed out with a kick at Israeli international and club skipper Shimon Gershon, Chelsea managed to hold out until the 89th minute when John Terry handled a cross from Ilan Bachar in the area and Gershon blasted home the resulting penalty to take the lead.
Their advantage was increased when Moldovan striker Sergei Kleschenko scored with a header off the post three minutes into injury-time, leaving Chelsea with a massive task in the return leg at Stamford Bridge in fortnight's time.
It was particularly bad luck for debutant Mark Bosnich, who made an outstanding debut to keep Chelsea in this tie before he was beaten by two strikes he could do nothing about. Bosnich was playing in his first match for the Blues since his arrival on a free transfer from Manchester United in January but he was disappointed with the end result. "It was difficult playing with 10 men in the second half. It was a gutsy performance but disappointing to concede the second goal," he admitted afterwards.
For Hapoel Tel Aviv manager Dror Kashtan, his side's shock victory was a memorable occasion. "As an Israeli citizen and a coach of Israeli football this is one of the greatest moments of Israeli football, especially coming when we are going through the difficulties of the incident which took place yesterday when our tourism minister was killed," he said. "The players have not only shown courage and professionalism but shown to European football and sports fans that there is great football in Israel and that one can play with full security in a peaceful environment."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
