Chelsea will go back to Stamford Bridge with a slight advantage over Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last-16 clash following a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes in the first leg this evening.

The visitors picked up what could prove to be a decisive away goal less than 10 minutes before half time when Branislav Ivanovic finished off a move that including defensive partners John Terry and Gary Cahill.

PSG were back level nine minutes after the interval, however, as Edinson Cavani found himself unmarked inside the box to nod home Blaise Matuidi's cross.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether a draw was the right result in the French capital.

Match statistics

PSG
Shots: 14
On target: 7
Possession: 54%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 20

CHELSEA
Shots: 2
On target: 1
Possession: 46%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 20

Was the result fair?

The statistics above speak volumes about how this match progressed. PSG enjoyed more possession and seven times as many shots - both on target and off target - as they pushed for a lead to take to West London next month. In truth, they were the only side who ever looked intent on winning the game, but that was always likely to be the case, with a draw putting Chelsea in the driving seat for the second leg.

The visitors converted their one and only chance of the match and it was very much the same story as the last few weeks for Jose Mourinho's side. Once again, the performance was not convincing and they were the second best team on the park, but they came away with a result that they can feel happy with. One shot on target is nothing to brag about for Chelsea, but that stat will be long forgotten if they do the business next month.

For PSG, it was chance missed as they created the openings to have won this match. They edged a fairly even first half but improved after the break and piled the pressure on their visitors, who were saved on more than one occasion by Thibaut Courtois. The result leaves them with an uphill battle, but they will take enough confidence from how this match panned out to believe that they can still progress through to the quarter-finals.

PSG's performance

Having beaten Chelsea 3-1 in the home leg of their quarter-final tie last season and still been knocked out, Laurent Blanc will have gone into this match desperate for another lead to take back to West London. In fairness to the French champions, they went for it, and but for some good goalkeeping and suspect finishing, they would have done exactly that, putting themselves in pole position to reach the last eight.

However, one slight defensive lapse from David Luiz, in which he lost Ivanovic for the goal, could prove crucial in a tie that was also decided by away goals last season. Matuidi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cavani all missed chances in the first half, while the latter two and Ezequiel Lavezzi also had clear openings to give their side the victory after the break. That profligacy, coupled with Chelsea's one chance and one goal, may be the difference in this tie when all is said and done.

Blanc will, however, focus on the positives from this result. While it is not an ideal scoreline, it most certainly could have been worse, and they will know that they created chances and outplayed Chelsea for long periods, so will be confident of doing so again at the Bridge. They were also struggling with a number of injuries tonight, so should have a stronger squad for the return fixture. All is not lost by any means for PSG, but they can't afford to be as wasteful in London as they were in this match.

Chelsea's performance

Chelsea have an uncanny knack of digging out good results even when they are far short of their best at the moment. They have managed to do it in recent games against Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Everton, and they did it once again this evening. Mourinho is a master at getting what he needs, and all he needed was a draw from this fixture - anything extra would have been a bonus.

That was evident by the way the visitors played tonight, with very few ambitions to go and win the match. They took the lead through their one and only threatening moment of the game and were then content to sit back and play for a win or draw. Chelsea won't be happy with the nature of the goal they conceded, with the defence uncharacteristically leaving Cavani completely unmarked inside the box, but the away goal meant that the equaliser didn't drastically alter the visitors' plans.

They were forced to hang on towards the closing stages, surviving by the skin of their teeth when Ibrahimovic and Lavezzi came close in quick succession before the former was again denied with virtually the last action of the match. They did what they needed to do, however, and will now go into next month's second leg as the heavy favourites to progress.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Thibaut Courtois: It speaks volumes that Chelsea's keeper was their best player today. A somewhat controversial replacement for Petr Cech, who performed well last time out, Courtois proved his manager right with a string of important stops. He made three in the first half, but his best work came after the break when he notably denied Ibrahimovic twice.

Biggest gaffe

Chelsea's defence is usually so solid, particularly when it comes to aerial balls into the box, but they were nowhere to be seen for PSG's equaliser. Cavani ghosted in between Cahill and Terry and nodded home a simple finish to at least give his side hope in the second leg.

Referee performance

Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir had a decent game tonight, albeit without major incident. He was perhaps a little lenient with Marco Verratti's persistent fouling, but he tried to let the game flow whenever possible and in general kept a good degree of control over proceedings. That said, he did miss a genuine penalty shout when Ramires tripped Javier Pastore off the ball late on.

What next?

PSG: PSG will resume their pursuit of Lyon at the top of Ligue 1 when they host Toulouse on Saturday.

Chelsea: Chelsea, meanwhile, take on struggling Burnley at Stamford Bridge, also on Saturday.