Goalless Blues progress

Chelsea sealed their place in the Champions League quarter-finals tonight but the cream of Europe will hardly be trembling after watching them waste a glut of chances to kill off FC Copenhagen.

With the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and even Shakhtar Donetsk sending out real messages of intent in their last-16 ties, this evening was the ideal time for Carlo Ancelotti’s men to do the same against the lowest-ranked team left in the competition.

Instead, they contrived to fluff at least a dozen straightforward finishes in their second leg at Stamford Bridge, allowing Copenhagen to salvage some pride after their comprehensive first-leg defeat.

Nicolas Anelka, who had been so deadly at the Parken Stadium, was the culprit-in-chief tonight but the Frenchman was barely more guilty than several of his team-mates.

Chelsea simply cannot afford to squander the kind of chances they missed tonight if they are to make it through the quarter-finals, regardless of who they draw on Friday.

How Fernando Torres would have loved to have started up front in what appeared an ideal game in which to end his goal drought, but manager Carlo Ancelotti decided it was better for the Spaniard to play a substitute role only ahead of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester City.

The tone for Chelsea’s wasteful evening was set as early as the third minute when Frank Lampard sent Ashley Cole’s cross wide from no more than four yards.

Cole himself then shot straight into the sidenetting when he should have cut the ball back, Yury Zhirkov flashed wide after a lovely Didier Drogba backheel teed up a Cole cross, and Anelka’s poked finish was thwarted by Johan Wiland after Ramires’ brilliant cross-field ball set up a quick break.

Although they could have been 4-0 down inside the opening quarter, Copenhagen were infinitely more sprightly this evening than they had been in the first leg, before which they had not played a competitive match for three months.

Kitted out in what could only be described as hot pink jerseys, they almost made Chelsea pay for their wastefulness in the 26th minute.

John Terry, who could be forgiven for being distracted by the England captaincy farce, brought down Dame N’Doye 20 yards out and, despite being so close to goal, the Senegal striker managed to crash a brilliant free-kick against the post.

Zhirkov fluffed another close-range finish from Anelka’s cutback, Drogba shanked a cross with team-mates queueing up to score and also sent more than one curling shot too close to Wiland before half-time.

Chelsea’s finishing failed to improve after the restart, Drogba volleying Jose Bosingwa’s whipped ball wide from six yards, John Obi Mikel nodding against the crossbar from no more than two yards and Anelka twice hesitating when clean through and allowing Copenhagen’s defence to recover.

Drogba was booked for taking out his frustration on Martin Vingaard, which was Torres’ cue to begin warming up on the touchline.

Ramires then made a mess of an improvised finish from Drogba’s cutback before Torres was beaten to the field by Copenhagen striker Kenneth Zohore, who replaced Pierre Bengtsson.

The change had the desired effect for the visitors, with N’Doye shooting wide under good pressure from Bosingwa.

Claudemir was booked for hauling back Ramires before Torres finally made his entrance midway through the half in place of a nonplussed Anelka who was withdrawn.

A wicked deflection almost helped Torres make an instant impact and he also sent a low finish straight at Wiland after Copenhagen lost Vingaard to injury.

The midfielder was replaced by Cesar Santin, with Chelsea withdrawing Zhirkov for Florent Malouda.

N’Doye blazed another good chance over on the break as Copenhagen went for broke but they overstepped the mark when Christian Bolanos was booked for diving.

Michael Essien was thrown on for Mikel with six minutes remaining.

Torres was being urged to “shoot” by the crowd every time he got within range.

The striker’s team-mates did their best to tee him up but to no avail.

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been suspended for five matches and handed a £30,000 fine following comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson earlier this month.

The FA sanctions will commence on March 22, meaning Ferguson will be confined to the stands for the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley as well as Premier League clashes with West Ham, Fulham, Everton and, most crucially, away at Arsenal.

Premier League leaders United are just three points ahead of the Gunners, who have a game in hand.

The FA was unhappy with comments Ferguson made following a controversial 2-1 defeat at Chelsea, when the United boss said he had “feared the worst” when Atkinson was appointed match official for the Premier League clash on March 1, adding: “You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway – and we didn’t get that.”

An FA statement read: “At an independent regulatory commission today (Wednesday) Sir Alex Ferguson was handed a touchline suspension for three matches and fined a total of £30,000.

“The commission found the charge of improper conduct relating to media comments proven, following remarks made in relation to match official Martin Atkinson in post-match interviews after Manchester United’s fixture with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday 1 March 2011.

“Furthermore the commission invoked a two-match suspended touchline ban, relating to a previous charge of improper conduct in relation to media comments made in October 2009. Therefore Sir Alex Ferguson was ordered to a serve a five-match touchline ban commencing on Tuesday 22 March 2011.”

The United boss was angry over Atkinson’s failure to dismiss Chelsea defender David Luiz for fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney at Stamford Bridge after he had already been booked.

He was further upset when Chelsea were awarded what he considered a “soft” winning penalty when Yuri Zhirkov took a tumble under a challenge from United centre-back Chris Smalling.

ESPNsoccernet can reveal that the Ferguson’s legal team have been promised full written reasons for the decision, which they will study before deciding on an appeal.

“I am sure Sir Alex feels that there is an FA agenda against him,” a source said. “When you look at what Harry Redknapp said about collusion between the linesman and the ref, and Martinez about bias, but they ‘do’ Sir Alex over the word fair.

“The FA have said there can only be one interpretation over his use of the word fair, but this is a draconian penalty and you can imagine Sir Alex is not exactly swinging from the chandeliers about it.

“He might appeal, but he might just accept it and get on with it, but he’s not happy about it and it has left a bitter taste.”

This is the fifth time in five years that Ferguson has been charged because of comments either to or about a referee.

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