Napoli pushes Chelsea, England to brink

Chelsea continued England’s swan dive in the Champions League tonight, falling 3-1 to Napoli thanks to a dreadful defensive display and two well-taken goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi. The result leaves the Premier League on the brink of having no representative in the quarterfinal round for the first time since 1996.

In our early match, a dramatic Pontus Wernbloom goal three minutes into stoppage time gave CSKA a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in Moscow. Wernbloom, a new signing from AZ Alkmaar, earned his transfer fee with a goal that gives the Russians a genuine chance in three weeks time at the Bernabeu.

The Champions League round of 16, first leg concludes tomorrow with two games as Basel host Bayern Munich and Marseille entertain Inter Milan. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Soccer, and every game is covered live in real-time on FOXSoccer.com and via Twitter @FoxSoccerTrax.

It will not go down as the most technically adept game ever played in the European Cup. Nor will it be remembered for tactical acumen or defensive organization. Yet tonight’s game in Naples, was a genuine thriller that may also signal the ascendance of Serie A over the Premier League in this competition. It was a wide open attacking contest that was also pockmarked by mistakes. For sheer entertainment, though, it was tough to beat.

Chelsea looked every bit the team in crisis. Manager Andre Villas-Boas fielded a strange lineup that left Ashley Cole, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard on the bench, and his team responded with a disorganized and inept performance. The Chelsea back four committed bad gaffes on every Napoli goal, and the Blues also looked shockingly weak in midfield. Had Napoli not suffered from a similar defensive affliction, this match would have been a run-away rout.

As expected, the attacking troika of Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Lavezzi were simply too hot for Chelsea to handle, and Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill were woefully under-equipped. Matters worsened for Chelsea only 12 minutes in when Jose Bosingwa had to come off with a hamstring injury, and a clearly unhappy Cole came on in his stead.

Yet it was the Blues who scored first, when Walter Gargano got his studs caught in the turf, allowing Didier Drogba — by far his team’s best player on the night — to feed Daniel Sturridge down the right flank. Sturridge’s cross into the box was routine, but veteran Paolo Cannavaro made a hash of it, looping the ball over his own head to send Juan Mata in alone on Morgan de Sanctis.

Cavani would shortly restore order, however, with a gorgeous bit of footwork that sent Raul Meireles the wrong way, allowing Lavezzi time and space to ghost right at the top of the box. His shot to the far post was unstoppable and a sign of just how much room Chelsea was willing — or simply forced — to concede.

Cavani gave Napoli the lead for good just before the break when Ivanovic and Cahill were caught ball-watching, allowing Gokhan Inler’s cross to fall sweetly to the Uruguayan at the back post. There were suspicions that Cavani had handled the ball — the goal seemed to come off his shoulder or upper arm — but Chelsea’s players did not protest, and the goal stood.

After the break, things got wilder. Chelsea, enjoying all of the ball and acres of time and space, began to wear down what is a pretty slow Napoli back line. Mata, Sturridge and Drogba all caused problems, and the heavily bandaged and bloody Hugo Campagnaro was often yeoman bailing his side out. Yet Chelsea could not find the luck, and to be fair, even when pressured, Napoli’s counters were by far the more dangerous.

Lavezzi might have sealed the deal earlier than he did when he was sprung on a counter by Cavani only to drag his shot wide of a yawning net. But he would make no mistake in the 65th, when David Luiz gifted him a goal in boneheaded fashion. Latching onto a harmless long ball out of the back, Luiz seemed caught in two minds, and attempted to pass the ball back to Cole. That was a foolhardy move, as Cavani took the possession and Luiz’ dignity away in one fell swoop, stranding Petr Cech and allowing Lavezzi an easy goal.

Chelsea did pick up an away goal and, to be sure, this was not the drubbing suffered by a certain other London side last week in Italy. But on the evidence, it seems a tall order for Chelsea to score at least twice without conceding anything at Stamford Bridge on March 14.

Chelsea still look a mess. The fact is, the old guard isn’t playing for their manager, and the new guard simply doesn’t appear good enough yet. The question now is whether or not mercurial, trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich will retain Villas-Boas. Villas-Boas didn’t make a strong case for his retention tonight.

In our early match, Wernbloom will get the plaudits, but the Russians had goalkeeper Sergei Chepchugov to thank for tonight’s result. Without the third-stringer’s heroics, CSKA would have been buried in the Russian winter.

Chepchugov could do nothing about the 28th minute strike from Cristiano Ronaldo which gave Real the lead and appeared to have won them the match, but he was heroic on several other occasions. Ronaldo missed a handful of openings and was brilliantly denied twice as the Spaniards bedeviled the home defense.

Still, Jose Mourinho's team had such control of midfield that one would have thought they were never going to be in trouble. The introduction of Keisuke Honda and Sekou Oliseh didn't open up the Madrid defense, either, but when the game was almost over, CSKA got a good bit of fortune.

The needed break came in the 92nd minute when Fabio Coentrao — whose cross created Ronaldo's goal — caught hold of a ball fired by Oliseh while falling to the ground. Referee Bjorn Kuipers appeared to be willing to concede that it was accidental, but his assistant flagged vigorously and the free kick was subsequently awarded.

Alan Dzagoev took it from wide on the right and both Berezutski twins, Aleksei and Vasili, got their heads to it in the box, the second header falling for Wernbloom poke home.

With the away goal and home advantage in three weeks, Real Madrid remain heavy favorites to advance, but the Russians, who had not played a competitive match in two months, have to head to Spain feeling that anything is possible.