Chelsea player Abdul Baba Rahman would not wish any harm on his teammates but when some doors do close, others widely open.
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Ghanaian defender plays in Chelsea's Champions League defeat at PSG
Ghanaian defender Abdul Baba Rahman got his second full game under Guus Hiddink in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night
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The Ghanaian had the opportunity to represent his Chelsea team at left full back in the UEFA Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain due to injuries at the defending side of Guus Hiddink’s team.
Captain of the side John Terry and his central defensive partner Kurt Zouma had all been ruled out of the Champions League game against PSG. Meaning the Premier League Champions had to rely on the set-up that saw them through their win over Newcastle for Tuesday night’s fixture in France.
Branislav Ivanovic moved from right full back to partner Gary Cahill at the heart of the Chelsea defence with Cesar Azpillicueta moving from the left side of defence to the right side of defence leaving Ghana international Abdul Baba Rahman to occupy his natural left full back position for the Blues.
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Baba Rahman’s lack of game time and a dip in confidence since joining Chelsea from German Bundesliga side Augsburg spark a debate of whether he was up for the challenge even before a ball was kicked.
The scenario of the Black Stars defender coming up against world class winger and former Real Madrid player Angel Di Maria was the topic of the day. Baba Rahman was tipped to struggle against the skillful Argentina international.
There was a struggle when the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea kicked off. A struggle not for Abdul Baba Rahman as a defender but the entire Chelsea team in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Guus Hiddink’s side failed to get on the ball. PSG kept good possession of the ball and posed some real threat in the early minutes of the first leg tie.
Lucas Moura, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Angel Di Maria run at the Chelsea defence with oozing confidence of outshining the visitors.
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The attack on Chelsea pulled out some amazing saves from their goalkeeper and some dangerous ball came really close.
Then visiting team got the game on spearheaded by the amazing Willian. The pace and control of the ball troubled a PSG side who had relished in some great attacking and not been on the receiving end of dangerous attacks.
Despite Willian being amazing in Chelsea getting themselves into the game, it was Ghanaian defender Abdul Baba Rahman who created Chelsea’s first real goal scoring moment of the game.
The former Kotoko player put in a nice cross from the left side of Chelsea’s attack which Diego Costa failed to put in the back of the net.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made Costa and his Chelsea side pay for their miss moments later. His free-kick deflected off the wall to find the back of the net as Laurent Blanc’s side took a 1-0 lead.
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Chelsea managed to get themselves back into the game from an unusual goal scoring source. Nigeria international John Obi Mikel scored from a corner kick to put his Chelsea team level, going into the interval with a 1-1 scoreline.
Paris Saint-Germain came into the second half of the game with an intent of taking a lead into the second leg of the tie and their determination did pay off.
Substitute Edinson Cavani scored the third goal of the game sent PSG into a 2-1 with 12 minutes of regulation time to play.
Chances were created in an attempt to extend the lead on the part of the home side with Chelsea threatening with counter attacks occasionally.
In the end, PSG held on to their 2-1 victory to set up an interesting tie for the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
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Abdul Baba Rahman played in the entire duration of the game without a booking.
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