Sad Chelsea bow out

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was frustrated by the Israeli side

Chelsea 1-1 Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Agg 1-3)
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Hapless Chelsea were dumped out of the Uefa Cup as Hapoel Tel Aviv proved their first-leg heroics were no fluke.

And this time there were no excuses for Claudio Ranieri's side.

In Israel a fortnight ago, the Chelsea boss could point an accusing finger at the six players who chose not to travel for safety reasons.

  Match facts

3 min: Stanic fluffs a header in the opening minutes

36 mins: Chelsea are rocked by Osterc's opener

64 mins: Sub Zola pulls one back for Chelsea

83 mins: First-leg hero Klaschenko wastes golden chance to seal dramatic win for Hapoel

Five of those six were picked for the second leg, with Albert Ferrer - the sixth member of the group - on the bench.

But Chelsea, despite a wealth of possession, failed to overturn the two-goal deficit from the first leg.

Chance after chance went begging, Mario Stanic wasting the first of them when he fluffed a header in the opening minutes.

Substitute Gianfranco Zola gave them late hope with a deflected strike midway through the second half.

But, by then, Chelsea needed four goals to go through following Hapoel's shock opener on 36 minutes.

Ranieri must have wished right back William Gallas had stayed away again as his woeful pass out of defence fell straight to the feet of Istavan Pishont.

The midfielder quickly played Milan Osterc in behind Graeme Le Saux and the striker coolly beat Mark Bosnich to keep up his record of scoring in every Uefa Cup tie this season.

Chelsea, predictably, had dominated but failed to break down the determined visitors.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was denied by two fine saves in the space of a single first-half minute as keeper Shavit Elimelech kept his side in the driving seat with a defiant display.

Elimelech's defiance and a defence fortified with nerves of steel ensured Chelsea's frustrations intensified after the break.

Zola's effort gave them a glimmer of hope and set up a cavalry charge for the final 25 minutes.

Emmanuel Petit failed to show for the second half

But Elimelech emerged as Hapoel's undoubted hero.

He pushed a Zola shot away and then turned a Mikael Forssel drive over the bar just as Chelsea looked like breathing life into the tie.

Late saves from Zola and Frank Lampard typified his - and Chelsea's - night.

In front of him, the Israeli defence stood strong, with one remarkable goalmouth scramble highlighting their resistance as no fewer than four Chelsea players saw shots blocked.

With Chelsea committed to charging forward, Hapoel could easily have pinched another dramatic victory late on, but Sergey Klaschenko fired wide after the ball had bounced to him in front of an inviting goal.

For Chelsea, this was the ideal chance for Ranieri's side to show their fans what they are made of.

Arguably, they did just that.

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Chelsea: Bosnich, Le Saux, Desailly, Terry, Gallas, Lampard, Zenden, Stanic, Petit, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Subs: Cudicini, Jokanovic, Ferrer, Dalla Bona, Zola, Forssell, Keenan.

Hapoel Tel-Aviv: Elimelech, Gershon, Halmai, Antebi, Domb, Bakhar, . Osterc, Abuksis, Onishenko, Klaschenko, Luz. Subs: Rahamin, Hillel, Balili, Toema, Knafo, Pishont, Benny Hadad.

Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)