SOCCER/Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg/Valencia 1 Chelsea 2 Chelsea win 3-2 on agg: What happens next at Chelsea is everybody's guess but if it is change at the top then it will have to be justified and perhaps put on hold.
Michael Essien's last-minute intervention here takes Chelsea to a third European Cup semi-final in four years and for the second time under Jose Mourinho it is almost certain to be against Liverpool.
It was thoroughly deserved on a night when Chelsea showed guts and skill and Mourinho again displayed his ability to make vital decisions: his half-time introduction of Joe Cole altered this match. Before that, while Chelsea had begun promisingly, Valencia looked set to seize the occasion.
Fernando Morientes had put Valencia in the lead in the 32nd minute and the former Liverpool striker appeared to have given Valencia such a strong grip on the tie that thoughts had moved to Morientes' return to Anfield in the semi-final.
But in trying circumstances here Chelsea fought back from a goal down and Andriy Shevchenko's equaliser seemed to be leading to extra time when Essien collected the ball on the right and from a tight angle beat Santiago Canizares at his near post. Canizares may receive blame for that but he had minutes earlier made an incredible save to thwart Michael Ballack.
Mourinho's Chelsea may be deemed pragmatic in an unflattering way but last night they had to combine that innate strength with the desire to score.
Essien was back from injury, meaning Salomon Kalou stood down, though Essien's first involvement brought him a yellow card for a trip on Morientes.
But Essien's next significant touch 12 minutes later produced a corner for Frank Lampard that Ricardo Carvalho nodded wide on the run.
It was far from a brilliant opportunity but it illustrated, as did another Chelsea corner, that the visitors had settled quickly.
Valencia coach Quique Flores had said that he expected "a surprise" from Chelsea tactically, and perhaps it was in their enterprising approach. After Carvalho's header came one from Ballack and while Valencia were not being torn apart, they were hemmed in, unable to contribute anything in the way of an attack.
Then suddenly Valencia burst into life and the evening changed. Just before the half-hour, in a blur of white-shirted movement,
David Albelda released David Villa along the Valencia left. Villa tempted Carvalho with his speed and swerve before switching an exquisite, sharp square ball inside to Morientes. With one soft touch, Morientes took control with his right foot and then unleashed a left-foot shot so hard that the post it struck reverberated like a schoolboy's ruler twanged on a desk.
That was a warning to Chelsea, but because Valencia had been so blunt, it must also have been a shock. Certainly Chelsea now withdrew 10 yards and unfortunately for them their hosts gobbled it up.
The stadium was alive with the noise for which it is famed and there was expectation when the previously static Joaquin took possession on the right.
The winger's indolence until that point may explain the room Joaquin was given. But when his dangerous cross cleared the Chelsea defence and fell invitingly inside the six-yard box, Morientes matched the anticipation in the ground by sliding to steer the ball into the corner beyond Petr Cech.
Chelsea were stunned and yet but for Carvalho's block on Morientes a minute later, it could have been 2-0. Having avoided that, Lampard and Ballack both delivered ambitious shots from long range and Canizares produced a flying save to deny Didier Drogba but there was going to have to be a major half-time speech from Mourinho.
Mourinho's words were for the dressingroom but his action was to replace Lassana Diarra with Joe Cole, Essien reverting to full-back. The change was not huge but the effect was near instant.
Seven minutes into the second half Essien took the ball in the same area as Joaquin 20 minutes earlier. Essien's cross was also similar to Joaquin's and Drogba met it on the six-yard line. But Drogba was foiled by a combination of limbs. His persistence, however, sent the ball to the far post. There, scurrying like a predator, was Shevchenko. From a few feet he could not miss and he did not.
The evening had changed again.
A spurt of yellow cards showed the increasing anxiety of Valencia and their concern about Chelsea's territorial domination was justifiable.
The equaliser had inflated the Londoners' confidence and Cole was doing the same. Sometimes an outlet, sometimes an attacking presence, he was now as influential as anyone on the pitch.
One 68th-minute surge teed up Drogba whose low shot was gathered by Canizares.
Guardian Service
VALENCIA: Canizares, Miguel, Ayala, Moretti, Del Horno, Joaquin, Albelda, Albiol (Hugo Viana 72), Silva, Morientes (Angulo 65), Villa. Subs Not Used: Butelle, Jorge Lopez, Curro Torres, Nacho Insa, Pallardo. Booked: Del Horno, Albelda, Ayala, Moretti.
CHELSEA: Cech, Diarra (Joe Cole 46), Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard (Makelele 90), Ballack, Shevchenko (Kalou 90), Drogba. Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge, Ferreira, Wright-Phillips. Booked: Essien, Ballack.
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece).
