Cech praises perfect performance

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has hailed his side after they battled hard to a 1-0 victory over Benfica in their Champions League quarter-final encounter on Tuesday night.

The last British club left in the prestigious European competition will take a slender advantage back to Stamford Bridge, thanks to a second-half goal from Salomon Kalou at the Estadio da Luz.

Chelsea’s win in Portugal was the first time in 22 games that Benfica have failed to score on home soil and it took a fine team effort from the west London outfit to secure the victory in midweek. People placing a Champions League bet should bear this in mind.

The Blues have failed to impress in the Premier League this season, as they found themselves well out of the title race in the relatively early stages of the campaign. Fans of Champions League promotions need to bear this in mind.

However Chelsea have looked strong in Europe and under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo, the club have taken a big step towards the Champions League semi-finals thanks to that vital away goal.

Cech was delighted his side kept a clean sheet at the Estadio da Luzand believes his side produced a faultless performance in Portugal.

He told Sky Sports News: “We can say it was a perfect game for us in terms of the result,” he told Sky Sports News.

“We kept a clean sheet and we were patient throughout the game, waiting for our chances to come and in the end we scored on a very good counter-attack.

“Overall, we can be really satisfied because in terms of the game plan we did really well. We didn’t let them play first half and second half we waited patiently for our chance and it came.”