The scowl worn by Jose Mourinho as he stared out from his technical area said it all. Chelsea remain on edge in this competition, an opportunity to win the group passed up wastefully with a display so anaemic and sloppy as to defy belief at times. Basel claimed a deserved success to complete a double and, over the two fixtures, have appeared by far the better side. Inconsistency still blights Mourinho’s fledgling project.
Progress was still secured courtesy of Schalke’s goalless draw in Bucharest, but there is work still to be done to claim first position.
Mohamed Salah, so menacing when terrorising Ashley Cole in the first group game, appeared fully recovered from a recent illness as he sprinted into space beyond Cesar Azpilicueta, the right-back Kay Voser forever emerging in support.
On the opposite flank, Valentin Stocker was a nuisance in combination with Taulant Xhaka. Had Cech not been inspired in the visitors' goal, his team might have been buried long before the break.
Remained intact
As it was they remained intact, if wheezing at the ferocity of Basel's attack, while Mourinho paced his technical area in clear disgust. Cech was outstanding, the goalkeeper conjuring saves that must deflate the most thick-skinned of forwards.
His best was from Salah, pushing away a shot as he tumbled to the floor and the ball reared up from the turf. The tip behind was outstanding improvisation but merely maintained the excellence already offered to deny Frei, Xhaka and Salah from distance.
When Cech was beaten, John Mikel Obi cleared Ivan Ivanov’s toe-poke from the goal-line. Each missed opportunity prompted an agonised reaction from a home support increasingly fearing the worst. On this evidence, it was mystifying to consider that Basel had been unable to beat Steaua Bucharest.
Chelsea had their own issues to address. Theirs had been a lacklustre display void of any real threat in attack or coherence in midfield. They lost Samuel Eto'o before the break, the striker having turned his ankle in an innocuous incident to depart on a stretcher in some discomfort.
None of the zest
There had been none of the zest from Upton Park, and little of the incision needed to unsettle a Basel back-line marshalled impressively by Fabian Schar.
At least Mourinho could call upon Fernando Torres once again after a recent groin injury with Eden Hazard also flung on before the hour-mark in the hope that he might provide a spark. The Belgian did provide some drive down the left, linking up with the Spanish forward and the full-back Azpilicueta.
And yet, as the game drifted beyound the hour-mark, Chelsea had come no closer than Frank Lampard’s free-kick which scuttled through a cluttered six-yard box and was easily cleared by Ivanov.
Instead, the real threat remained Basel's. Serey Die had already come close to supplying a winner when Salah was sent scurrying beyond Ivanovic and into space, the forward lifting his finish over the advancing Cech to supply the hosts' deserved winner.
Guardian Service
