Robben's Chelsea on right path

Arjen Robben hopes that Chelsea FC are in the "right position" to seal a place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after the Dutch winger helped the English title-holders to earn a 1-1 draw with FC Porto in the first leg of their first knockout round tie in northern Portugal.

Rapid response
Robben had cause to feel aggrieved at not earning a starting place at the Estádio do Dragão following an impressive performance against Norwich City FC in the FA Cup at the weekend but he did not have to wait long for a chance to prove his worth. With talismanic captain John Terry nursing a sprained ankle, José Mourinho was poised to bring on John Obi Mikel when Raul Meireles broke the deadlock for the home team. It caused an immediate rethink and the Portuguese coach instead turned to Robben.

Shevchenko equaliser
The Dutchman made an immediate impact. He collected a clearance from Bruno Alves with his first touch, then fed Andriy Shevchenko with his second and the Ukrainian drilled in the equaliser. A muscle injury brought Robben's evening to a premature end at half-time but he believes the 1-1 draw away from home puts Chelsea in the box seat. "You have to get in the right position and hopefully we did that tonight," the 23-year-old said.

'Now's the time'
By the time the sides meet again on 6 March, Chelsea may have picked up the first of four trophies for which they remain in contention. They face Arsenal FC in the English League Cup final on Sunday and Robben insists that while his side have not really been firing on all cylinders of late, they can come good at just the right time. He said: "The second half of the season is the time when prizes are decided. We want to win them so now's the time to show how good we are. I'm very positive ahead of Sunday."

Playing to win
Robben's team-mate Ricardo Carvalho showed a similarly cool determination after the match, which saw him take on the club he left to join Chelsea in 2004. "It's always better to draw than to lose," he told uefa.com. "It was a good match and it's very important to score away from home. Now we'll have to win at home but we know that a goalless draw is enough for us. However we always play to win at home."