Well, I'm absolutely gutted. That game was ours to win, and a very unfortunate handball in the box by Saloman Kalou in the 87th minute allowed Roberto Soldado to convert his penalty and tie the game 1-1, after Lampard's goal in the 56th.
Frank Lampard celebrates his excellent one-timer goal in the 56th minute.
While Valencia did win the possession battle, Chelsea seemed quite dominant for the majority of the game and created many excellent chances. If not for the consistently excellent goalkeeping by Valencia's Diego Alvez, the score-line would have looked quite different.
Here was the Chelsea lineup for yesterday's match:
Malouda ----------------- Torres (Anelka) ----------------- Mata
Lampard (Kalou) ----------------- Mikel ----------------- Ramires (Meireles)
Cole ----------------- Terry ----------------- Luiz ----------------- Bosingwa
Cech
Bench: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Romeu, Drogba.
NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Frank Lampard: Showed that he isn't ready to be left out of the Chelsea starting 11, taking an excellent one-timed shot off of Florent Malouda's great pass across the box, and put Chelsea ahead in the 56th minute. Came forward well on the Chelsea attacks and assisted a Ramires shot that was very close to a goal.
- Saloman Kalou: Very unfortunate outing whose handball in the Chelsea box (after only 3 minutes of play) cost Chelsea the full three points.
- Juan Mata: Played well, as expected, and was given a standing ovation by the crowd in Valencia as a welcome back to his old stadium, and a thank-you for his many years of service for the club. I thought that was very nice of the home crowd.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
Chelsea started the first half with many blocked chances by Diego Alves, the Valencia keeper, and dominated the game for the early part of the first half, until Valencia began to calm themselves down and take possession. All quiet at the end of the first half, but when the second half began, Chelsea came out very strong. A flurry of chances (all saved by Alvez) stopped the score-line from favouring Chelsea, and kept it at nil-nil, until the 56th minute, when Chelsea finally broke through. Malouda dribbled the ball up the right side, and then sent an excellent pass across the box to Frank Lampard, who took a brilliant one-timed shot and put Chelsea ahead 1-0. Chelsea made three substitutions in the 66th (Ramires off, Raul Meireles on), 72nd (Torres off, Anelka on), and the 83rd (Lampard off, Kalou on), all interspersed with good efforts from both sides. However, in the 86th minute, Sofiane Feghouli took a corner for Valencia, and the ball caught the arm of a jumping Saloman Kalou, who was given a yellow card. Valencia also received a penalty shot, and Roberto Soldado made no mistake with the shot, sending Petr Cech diving the wrong way to make the score-line level. In the 90th, Nicolas Anelka came very close to scoring for the visitors, but Diego Alvez once again made an excellent save to rob Chelsea of three points. Malouda also received a yellow card in the 90th, and Juan Mata and Ashley COle both received post-game yellow cards for arguing with the referee. The final score was 1-1.
Tomorrow's Champions League match against Valencia at Estadi de Mestalla should be an interesting one, to say the least. Not only will a win put Chelsea top of Group E, but Juan Mata, Chelsea's new winger, will be playing against his former team. He stated in a press conference beforehand: "I will try to be respectful and not celebrate if I do score." A nice sentiment, considering that it's only been about a month since he left the Spanish side.
Juan Mata makes his return to Estadi de Mestalla, but this time on the opposing team.
Fernando Torres looks set to play in what will be his last game for about a month, after receiving a THREE-GAME SUSPENSION for his reckless challenge on Mike Gower in Saturday's 4-1 vicotry over Swansea. While we're all put out by the fact that he got his suspension just as he was beginning to get back on form, look on the bright side: At least it didn't happen a couple weeks ago, when Drogba was still out with his concussion. He seems to be quite ready to come back as a starter for the club, having come on as a substitute on Saturday and scoring a goal within 10 minutes. However, I think that he'll be left out of tomorrow's lineup, allowing him to rest up for his probable start next weekend against Bolton, in which he'll take the place of the suspended Torres. AVB has stated that he'll be switching up the lineup a bit, trying to rotate players in order to allot resting time. So it seems likely (at least in my opinion) that we'll be seeing the likes of Frank Lampard and David Luiz reinstated into the line, and possibly Alex as a substitution late in the game. According to reports, Daniel Sturrdige has recovered from his knee injury and could be a potential starter for tomorrow's game.
Here's my prediction for the Chelsea starting 11:
While Valencia is a tough team, my guess is that Chelsea will walk off with a win tomorrow, putting them at the top of Group E. MY PREDICTION: 2-1 in favour of Chelsea, with goals possibly coming from Torres and Mata.
Hey everyone,
Very sorry I couldn't write a preview to this morning's match - I've been bogged down with a ton of work. Anyway, as you can see from the title of this post, Chelsea delivered a crushing 4-1 defeat to Swansea City, with Chelsea goals coming from Fernando Torres, Drogba, and two from Ramires, with Torres also receiving a red card for a dangerous tackle on Mike Gower, meaning that he'll be suspended for Chelsea's next match against Bolton on October 2.
Ramires, with two goals, was Man of the Match.
André Villas-Boas went with his usual lineup of 4-3-3 against Swansea's 4-5-1; however, he did make a few key changes to the lineup in accordance with injuries and player performance. Daniel Sturridge, out with a knee injury, was replaced by Nicolas Anelka, who again proved himself to be an excellent forward player. As well, the bench saw the return of DIDIER DROGBA (yay), after his concussion a few weeks ago. Drogba came on as a substitute for Anelka in the 79th, and scored his first goal of the season in the 90th minute. As well, Frank Lampard was taken out of the starting eleven, making way for John Obi Mikel to take his place.
Mata (Malouda) ------------ Torres (RC) -------------- Anelka (Drogba)
Meireles (McEachran) -------- Ramires ------------------------- Mikel
Cole -------------- Terry ------------- Ivanovic ---------- Bosingwa
Cech
Bench: Turnbull, David Luiz, Lampard, Kalou.
NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: After Torres' bittersweet performance against Manchester United last weekend, where he netted a goal but then missed a golden opportunity, this morning he delivered another puzzler. 10 minutes after his brilliant goal (which was assisted by Juan Mata), Torres allowed himself to be sent off for a dangerous two-footed tackle (with studs up) on Mike Gower, forcing his team to finish the match with 10 men.
- Ramires: Man of the Match this morning, and very well deserved. Excellent performance, scoring twice with excellent shots each time. As usual, great pace and ball control.
- Nicolas Anelka: Very impressive performance this morning, consistently beating Swansea's defenders and almost scoring with an excellent effort that careened off the crossbar.
- Didier Drogba: In his first appearance for Chelsea after his concussion, which was sustained a month ago, Drogba immediately impressed, scoring his first goal of the season in the 90th minute after an excellent pass by Malouda.
- Josh McEachran: Came on for Raul Meireles in the 83rd minute, and while he didn't really have enough time to make a large impression on the game, good for him that he got some playing time. I'm really hoping that he'll develop into a homegrown starting midfielder in a few years.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
In the first 20 minutes or so, Chelsea takes control of the game, although Swansea defend well and do not give them a chance to score. However, in the 29th minute, Juan Mata's excellent lofted pass into the box gives Torres the opportunity to chest the ball down, allow for a bounce, and then drive a hard kick into the far corner. His brilliant goal makes the score-line 1-0 in favour of Chelsea. In the 34th minute, Mata receives a yellow card. In the 36th minute, Ashley Cole makes an excellent pass across the field to Ramires, who puts it through the legs of a defender AND the screened goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Three minutes later, Fernando Torres receives a red card for his reckless, two-footed, studs-showing, tackle on Mike Gower, and Chelsea are compelled to finish the match with just 10 men. In the 59th minute, Malouda comes on for Juan Mata, who already has a yellow and is valuable enough to the team that AVB will substitute him early so that he doesn't receive another. In the 75th minute, Bosingwa plays an excellent through-pass to Ramires, who drifts through two Swansea defenders and sends Michel Vorm the wrong way with his shot. 3-0. In the 86th minute - drama with opposing Ashleys: Ashley Cole receives a yellow, and Ashley Williams, of Swansea, scores a header off of a free kick to make it 3-1. In the 90th minute, John Obi Mikel receives a yellow, and Florent Malouda sends a fine pass into the box for Drogba, who turns, beats a defender, and drives it far post to finish the game 4-1 for Chelsea.
Sorry about the quality - it's the only highlight reel I could find on Youtube.
OTHER FIXTURES:
~ Stoke City 1-1 Manchester United (first time EVER that Stoke have gotten a point against Manchester United)
Well, Super Sunday has come and gone, with quite a few electrifying matches in the form of the long-awaited Chelsea-Manchester United matchup, as well as Liverpool-Tottenham, Manchester City-Fulham, and Stoke-Sunderland, all of them having four goals scored per game.
Torres attempts a bicycle kick in today's match, but to no avail.
First off, before I get into Chelsea - Manchester United, I'm going to discuss the catastrophe (depending on which side you support) that was Liverpool against Tottenham this morning. When I made my prediction of Liverpool taking home the win, I did not count on the addition of the injured defenders Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, as well as the flying start that Tottenham had at the beginning of the game. Right from the get-go, Tottenham dominated the Liverpool side. They constantly sent balls down the left for Gareth Bale, who's pace was unstoppable. Both Agger and Skrtel attempted to mark him, but to no avail. He managed to get around them almost every time, and his great pace and work ethic allowed for a great number of crosses, which culminated in a few goals. The few times that Liverpool did get possession they often ended up passing it back to their keeper, Pepe Reina. Both Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel received two yellow cards, which forced Livepool to end the match with nine men. While Adam's second yellow is questionable, both players are very physical, and the tackles were unnecessary. In the 7th minute, Luka Modric scored a beautiful goal that hit the bottom of the crossbar and ended up in the top corner. I bet Daniel Levy is very pleased with himself for keeping him, after that one. During the play leading up to the goal, Daniel Agger's groin and rib injuries became aggravated and he was substituted in the 27th minute. In the 28th, Charlie Adam received his (questionable) second yellow, and was sent off. Near the end of the first half, Liverpool started to settle down and play slightly better, although Skrtel, Coates, and Suárez all received yellows. Their defense managed to hold off Tottenham's attacks, and at halftime the score-line was still 1-0. In the second half, after Skrtel received a second yellow and was sent off in the 63rd, Tottenham came out firing on all cylinders against the 9-man side. The first came from Defoe in the 66th, then two more from Adebayor in the 68th and the 90th. At the end of the game, Tottenham had taken 25 shots, while Liverpool had only taken 3. The game ended 4-0, with Tottenham finishing with a very well-deserved three points. FINAL SCORE: Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool
MATCH STATISTICS:
Tottenham Liverpool
Ball Possession (%) 5545
Shots (on target)25(9) 3(1)
Corners4 1
Crosses209
Fouls Committed149
Yellow Cards15
Red Cards02
Offsides34
Now then, onto Chelsea-Manchester United. If you're a Chelsea fan, you might want to look away - it does get a bit depressing at times. Early mistakes by the linesmen (and lack of coverage by Chelsea defense) allowed for two offside goals by Manchester United, with Chris Smalling's header in the 8th minute, followed by Nani's blistering drive from long-range in he 37th. In the 45th minute, a few deflections in the Chelsea box allow the ball to bounce right to the feet of Rooney, who makes no mistake with an open net to make it 3-nil at halftime. However, André Villas-Boas must have given an amazing pep talk during the break, because Chelsea came back with Fernando Torres scoring an excellent goal in the 46th minute. After a nerve-wracking penalty miss by Rooney in the 57th, the game ends 3-1 in favour of Manchester United at Old Trafford.
However, the game was not as one-sided as the score-line might make you think. In my opinion, Chelsea were actually the better team this morning. Chelsea led the game in shots, shots on target, corners, and crosses, as well as second-half possession. It was unfortunate that a few mistakes allowed the score to be 3-1. It could have just as easily been 3-2 for Chelsea.
I was pretty close with my lineup predictions, with just one or two minor changes for each team:
De Gea
Smalling (Valencia) ------ Jones ---------------- Evans ---------------- Evra
Nani ------------ Anderson (Carrick) --------- Fletcher ----------- Young
Cole ----------- Terry ----------- Ivanovic --------- Bosingwa
Cech
MANCHESTER UNITED BENCH: Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Fabio.
CHELSEA BENCH: Turnbull, David Luiz, Romeu, Malouda.
NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: I don't quite know what to make of him. His consolation goal in the 46th minute was very welcome, but he missed an open-net opportunity to make it 3-2 after finding his way around De Gea and sending his shot wide of the open net. Earlier in the game, he also couldn't manage to score on a breakaway, sending his shot wide. While he did break his scoring duck in style, missing those shots can't be good for his confidence. Worked hard for the ball though, and is definitely showing signs of getting back on form.
- Nicolas Anelka: Immediately changed the game when he was came on at halftime by assisting Torres' goal with an excellent pass.
- Juan Mata: Once again he played an impressive game, taking a good shot on net and sending in excellent crosses and through-balls. When AVB said that nobody's job on the starting eleven is safe, I don't think that Mata needs to worry very much. Every performance that he's made for the club has been excellent.
- Ashley Cole: Unfortunately, Cole could not find a method of keeping Nani in check, and almost gave up a penalty after he tackled Chicharito in the box. He was very lucky not to have been shown a yellow or a red for his challenge.
- José Bosingwa: While he connected well with Torres and did well to get forward on the attack, he also gave up a penalty with a late challenge on Nani in the box.
- Ramires: As usual, worked very hard and had excellent stamina during the match, but unfortunately could not score on either of his close-range shots.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
The game started off at a very quick pace, with the first goal coming in the 8th minute. A free kick taken by Ashley Young found the head of the unmarked Chris Smalling, who was a tad offside to make it 1-nil for the home side. In the 37th minute, two players (one of them being Nani) were in an offside position, and Nani came back to receive the ball (although it looked that he was still offside when the ball was kicked). He then drifted through the right side of the field, and blasted a 25-yard screamer which went inside of the far post. 2-0. Just before halftime, John Terry worked hard in the box to try and clear the ball, but it took quite a few deflections, ricocheted off of Nani, and landed at the feet of Wayne Rooney, who extended his scoring streak from eight goals (in five matches) to nine. It was at this point in the game that I turned off my TV in a state of defiance and denial (although the only things I were missing were half-time commercials). After the break, Chelsea came out rejuvenated. Anelka replaced Lampard, and immediately assisted a duck-breaking goal by Fernando Torres, which was chipped over De Gea. After many elaborate victory dances and summersaults (which, one arm injury later, I realized I don't know how to do), I watched as Torres then showed signs of his old Liverpool form when he managed to get around David De Gea, only to send his shot wide of the open net. I actually fell off of my couch at this point, which my friend Daniel, who was watching with me, can attest to. Two yellow cards were awarded to Ramires and John Terry in the 49th and 56th minute, respectively. In the 57th minute, José Bosingwa fouled Nani in the penalty box, and Wayne Rooney stepped up to take the penalty, hoping to increase his streak to ten goals in five games. However, during his run, he slipped on the grass and his shot went wide of the post. Every Chelsea fan in the world breathed a huge sigh of relief after that one. After a number of substitutions by both teams, which featured Romelu Lukaku, John Obi Mikel, Carrick, Valencia, and Berbatov coming on, Manchester United received two yellows to Valencia and Fletcher. The game ended, exciting until the end, 3-1 in favour of Manchester United.
Hey everyone!
So, tomorrow looks to be pretty much the most exciting day of the Premier League in terms of match-ups. I know I've been waiting for this for quite a few weeks now, and I'm definitely stoked to watch some quality soccer tomorrow morning.
First up is Liverpool playing Tottenham at White Hart Lane, which I'm definitely going to watch even though I'm not a large supporter of either team. In my opinion, the fourth spot in the EPL at the end of the season will go to either Liverpool or Tottenham (my guess is Liverpool), with the other team taking fifth. This will be a very important game for both teams, which could be a deciding factor in a close race for a fourth-place Champion's League spot. I've also taken a look at the betting line, and it's pretty interesting - Both teams have been given the exact same odds to win. While I would make a prediction of Liverpool taking the three points tomorrow, Tottenham does have the home team advantage, and Liverpool seem to be missing (or are doubtful about) a few key players: Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, and Martin Skrtel. If none of them show up for tomorrow's match, then Liverpool could have a spot of defensive trouble. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this one plays out. OFFICIAL MATCH TIME: 8:30 AM, EST, on Sunday, September 18, 2011.
Now then, on to the match that we've all been waiting for: Chelsea vs. Manchester United; Goliath vs. Goliath. These two Premier League giants are always slated to deliver great performances, and I'm sure that tomorrow will be no exception. Right. Now onto the player matchup. Because this is such a huge match, I'll be going into detail about the Manchester United line as well. Here we go:
MANCHESTER UNITED: FORWARDS: So no surprise here, it will most likely be Wayne Rooney (on excellent form, by the way, scoring eight goals and getting one assist in four matches for his club) and Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) composing the attacking force, due to Danny Welbeck being forced out with a hamstring injury after Manchester United's 8-2 win over Arsenal's youth-academy-turned-starting-eleven (which included a player that had never even participated in a Premier League match before). Sir Alex will most likely work in a 4-4-2 formation. MIDFIELDERS: With Tom Cleverley out with an injury (very unfortunate for Manchester United - he's an excellent player who's quickly turning into one of my favourites at the moment), United will most likely go with a midfield of Nani, Fletcher (replacement for Cleverley), Anderson, and Ashley Young. DEFENDERS: Vidic is out due to injury, along with Rafael. This could be a big problem for United defensively, with their captain (Vidic) on the sidelines, they will most likely go to Phil Jones as a replacement. Chris Smalling is likely to start at RB, paired with Rio Ferdinand, who is returning from an injury. Patrice Evra is likely to start at LB. GOALKEEPER: David de Gea will be starting for Manchester United. While I'm he'll eventually grow into his role, at the moment he seems to be a bit shaky. However, we do have to keep in mind that it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard to replace the likes of Edwin van der Sar in net.
CHELSEA:
FORWARDS: With Drogba still injured, André Villas-Boas is likely to go with his usual 4-3-3 formation, with Mata on the left, and Torres in the centre. I believe that the right-winger position will (and should) go to Daniel Sturridge. He's greatly impressed AVB (and myself) in his few games for the club, and personally I would love to see him in a regular starting position (provided he keeps on form).
MIDFIELDERS: I'm sure that new signing Raul Meireles will feature tomorrow, coming off a good performance in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen. During that game, with the omission of captain Terry and vice-captain Lampard in the starting eleven, they were both given a message that they couldn't ignore (and this is something that AVB has been saying for a while): If your form is off, you'll be benched. It makes absolutely no difference of your wages, or your position in the club. I think that they both got the message, and will both feature in tomorrow's match. But tomorrow, they'll play their hearts out, because they know that if they don't, there are a number of sidelined players itching to grab their spots. The midfield line will most likely feature Lampard in the centre, with Ramires on the right and Meireles on the left.
DEFENDERS: As I previously mentioned, John Terry must have received the clear message that his form must improve, and tomorrow's match is the perfect place to reclaim his spot in the starting eleven. With David Luiz coming off a brilliant start in Tuesday's Champions League match, he'll most likely play tomorrow, alongside Ashley Cole and Branislav Ivanovic on the wings.
GOALKEEPER: Petr Cech looks to be completely cured of his injury and will start tomorrow's match.
PROBABLE MATCH LINEUPS:
De Gea
Smalling ------- Ferdinand ----------- Jones ----------- Evra
Nani ----------- Anderson ----------- Fletcher ----------- Young
Rooney ----------- Chicharito
_______________________________________________
Mata ----------- Torres ----------- Sturridge
Meireles ---------- Lampard --------- Ramires
Cole ----------- Terry ----------- Luiz --------- Ivanovic
Cech
MANCHESTER UNITED BENCH: Kuszczak, Evans, Fábio, Park, Giggs, Carrick, Berbatov CHELSEA BENCH: Hilário, Bosingwa, Alex, Josh McEachran, Florent Malouda, Romelu Lukaku, Nicolas Anelka
OFFICIAL MATCH TIME: 11:00 AM, EST, on Sunday, September 18, 2011.
While I'm not sure who's going to win tomorrow, the one thing I know for sure is that it will be a great game. I'll be watching, wearing my numerous items of Chelsea attire, waving my scarf, and hollering at my TV while everyone else in my house ponders about whether or not to send me away to a nuthouse.
Have a great Sunday (and it will be great, I'm sure)!
~Matt
P.S. I just found out that David Hoilett, who has the third-most assists in the Premier League so far (granted, it has only been about 5 matches), is CANADIAN! Represent.
Today at 4:30, Chelsea sealed their first Champions League win with a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge. A 67th minute blast by David Luiz and a 93rd minute tap-in by Juan Mata, both assisted by Fernando Torres gave Chelsea the win over Michael Ballack's team.
André Villas-Boas said a few days ago that nobody's job on the pitch is safe, including his captain John Terry, vice-captain Frank Lampard, or 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres. While Torres was left out of Chelsea's Premier League game against Sunderland last weekend, today it was Terry's and Lampard's turn to sit out. However, while Terry was not even on the bench for Chelsea, Lampard arrived as a substitute in the 65th minute for Raul Meireles.
AVB chose to stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation, once again playing Daniel Sturridge up front. Here is the lineup:
Mata ------------- Torres ------------- Sturridge (Anelka)
Malouda ------------- Mikel ------------- Meireles (Lampard)
PLAYER OVERVIEW (NOTABLE PLAYERS):
Petr Cech: Made a very important save early in the game to disallow Leverkusen an almost-sure goal. 11 shots, 2 on target, 2 saves, no goals against.
David Luiz: Made an excellent run all the way from Chelsea's half to the Leverkusen goal, passed well with Mata and Torres, and scored a brilliant one-timed strike to give Chelsea the lead. Played a bit physically (there were a number of occasions where he could have easily been sent off but for the leniency of the referee), and was lucky to escape the game with just a yellow.
Fernando Torres: Worked very hard to win back the ball and keep it in Chelsea possession. He also worked very well with both goal-scorers and assisted both of Chelsea's goals. Excellent vision on the Luiz goal, and was extremely unselfish to allow Mata the sure goal instead of giving himself an unlikely shot. Both Luiz and Mata showed their appreciation by pointing to him while celebrating, showing the fans that he was responsible for the goals.
Juan Mata: Another magnificent performance by Mata to get himself a goal. Took three excellent shots on target (the most on the team - tied with Sturridge), scored one of them, and won quite a number of tackles as well. Every time I watch him play, I'm almost mesmerized. He has great vision and works really well with every player on Chelsea.
Daniel Sturridge: Sturridge's excellent performance on the weekend convinced AVB to let him start toady against Leverkusen, and he made the most of it. He came extremely close to scoring a beautiful goal, which was denied only by the opposing goalkeeper Leno (who, in my opinion, was one of the best players on the pitch. He saved 10 shots - and quite a few of them seemed almost unstoppable).
David Luiz celebrating his brilliant goal in the 67th minute.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
While exciting events were already underway at Camp Nou, where Alexandre Patio scored in 25 seconds (tying for 5th fastest Champion's League goal ever), the first half of the Chelsea-Leverkusen game was not extremely eventful. A couple of cards were dished out - one to Torres and another to Castro (on Leverkusen). Quite a few shots were taken, but there was change in the score-line by the end of the half. David Luiz was booked in the 59th minute, and Daniel Sturridge took a beautiful shot that was blocked (somehow) by the goalkeeper, who pushed it past the post. Frank Lampard came on for Meireles in the 63rd, and Anelka came on for Sturridge in the 64th. I noticed at this point that Leverkusen were having quite a lot of trouble working down their left side. They constantly seemed to be trying to work around the Chelsea defenders with tricks, and every time they were unsuccessful. The Chelsea players would then pounce on the ball and start counter-attacks, bringing a few players forward. David Luiz ended up making a beautiful run, all the way up to the opposing side's 18-yard box, before passing it off to Mata on the wing. Mata passed it back to Torres, who sought out Luiz. Luiz took a beautiful one-timer that curled inside the far post. Great assist by Torres, and great shot by Luiz to make the score 1-0 for Chelsea in the 67th minute. Chelsea were controlling the game at this point, and substituted David Luiz with Alex, who is happy to see some playing time. In the 93rd minute, Torres made an excellent run down the left wing. When nearing the post, he declined the option to shoot, and instead made an extremely unselfish square pass to Mata, who was waiting at the edge of the 18-yard box. Mata one-timed his shot past Leno, the opposing keeper, to make the score 2-0 at the end of the match. His goal was the last kick of the game. FINAL SCORE: Chelsea 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen
MATCH STATISTICS:
Chelsea Bayer Leverkusen
Ball Possession (%) 5941
Shots (on target)22(12) 11(2)
Corners6 2
Crosses3310
Fouls Committed1724
Yellow Cards23
Red Cards00
Offsides21
OTHER FIXTURES: Group E (Chelsea's group):
Genk 0-0 Valencia
Group F:
Marseille 1-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Group G:
Porto 2-1 Shaktar Donetsk
APOEL 2-1 Zenit St. Petersburg
Group H:
AC Milan 2-2 Barcelona
Viktoria Pizen 1-1 BATE
Well, my prediction was a bit off. While the score-line suggests that it was a close game, in reality Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 2-1 win over Sunderland this morning, with goals coming from John Terry and Daniel Sturridge. A Sunderland goal in the 90th minute by Ji Dong-Won robbed me of getting a correct prediction of 2-0, and robbed Chelsea of upping their goal difference by 2.
Lampard (8), the heavily-tattooed Meireles (16), Terry (26), Sturridge (23), and Ramires (7) celebrate Terry's goal in the 18th minute.
Chelsea played quite a different starting 11 than I expected, starting Sturridge and Meireles, and benching Fernando Torres and David Luiz. It was only a couple days ago that André Villas-Boas gave a speech saying that nobody's place in the starting 11 is safe, including Terry (the captain), Lampard (a loyal Chelsea midfielder) and Torres (the $80 million striker), if their performances negatively impact the team. However, I don't think anybody was expecting him to make the decision to bench Torres today. However, it seems to have yielded good results in today's match.
Here was the Chelsea lineup for this morning's match:
Mata (Torres) ----------------- Anelka (Romeu) ----------------- Sturridge (Malouda)
Cole ----------------- Terry ----------------- Ivanovic ----------------- Bosingwa
Cech
Bench: Hilário, McEachran, Kalou, David Luiz, Torres, Romeu, Malouda
PLAYER OVERVIEW:
I'm assuming here that David Luiz was not quite fit enough to play today, just coming off an injury, but he will most likely play in next week's match against Manchester United. Petr Cech, in his first game off a knee injury, played very well today, making a few nice saves; however, he was not really tested very much during the game, with Sunderland only getting off 4 shots on target. Mata (as usual) played a brilliant game, giving Ashley Cole a beautiful through-ball early in the match (although unfortunately no goal came of it), and made an excellent run that almost became a goal. His free kick was very well-taken, hitting the right post from a few yards out of the box. The free kick ultimately led to a brilliant left-footed finish by John Terry. Anelka, replacing Fernando Torres in the centre of the attacking line, played well and came very close to scoring. New boy Raul Meireles played well, effectively slotting into a deep midfield role and assisting the goal by Sturridge. Daniel Sturridge, coming off a 3-game suspension, worked hard in a forward role and scored a brilliant back-heeled goal. He also helped assist the goal by Terry. Now that André Villas-Boas has seen what his new players can do, it should be very interesting to see the starting 11 that he'll play against Manchester United next week.
GAME OVERVIEW:
In the first five minutes of the match, Chelsea takes almost complete control of possession, although neither team is able to create any real opportunities. However, in the 10th minute, Juan Mata sends a beautiful through-ball to Ashley Cole, who gets a shot off on target, but it's deflected out for a corner. Frank Lampard takes the corner, but it comes to naught. In the 12th minute, Sunderland gets their first real opportunity of the game, with the 6'5" Nicklas Bendtner heading a ball away from the net after a Sunderland free kick. While everybody is wondering how Sunderland aren't winning 1-0, Mata gets a free kick and hits the post with a beautiful shot. The rebound bounces around the box until it lands at the feet of Daniel Sturridge, who spies John Terry making a run on the left side. Sturridge lifts a beautiful ball to Terry, who shoots and and gets his shot cleared off the line and right back at him. He shoots again, this time making no mistake as he left-foots it through space in the defense to make the score-line 1-0. In the 23rd minute, Jack Colback (Sunderland) gets booked for a very reckless challenge that was never going to touch the ball, and only served to injure Ramires slightly. He plays on however, and until half-time Chelsea take quite a few shots, all of which are blocked by defenders, mainly Wes Brown, the former Manchester United player. At one point near half-time, Juan Mata is tackled cleanly by Bardsley of Sunderland, but while stepping over the Chelsea player, it seems that Bardsley stamps on Mata's back. While he receives no card, it is clear that Mata is hurt, although he keeps playing. The commentators then remarked that on Monday, the photos of the stamp will be shown to the FA, and they might hand Bardsley a suspension. Whether it was deliberate or not, nobody knows. In the 51st minute, Raul Meireles sends a beautiful lifted through-ball to Daniel Sturridge, who times his run perfectly and receives it well. He's on a collision course with Wes Brown and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, so he pulls a neat back heel that travels the width of the box and goal into the net. 2-0 Chelsea. In the 62nd minute, Malouda comes on for Sturridge; in the 74th minute, Torres replaces Mata; and in the 79th, Oriol Romeu makes his debut by taking off Anelka. All three substitutes fail to make much of an impact in the game, and Chelsea cruise comfortably until Nicklas Bendtner assists a goal by Ji Dong-Won to make the score-line 2-1 in the 90th minute, and Bosingwa is booked. FINAL SCORE:Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea
Match Highlights (sorry about the non-English commentary - it was the only highlight reel on Youtube)
MATCH STATISTICS:
Sunderland Chelsea
Ball Possession (%) 4060
Shots (on target)11(4) 16(5)
Corners4 7
Crosses177
Fouls Committed73
Yellow Cards11
Red Cards00
Offsides23
OTHER FIXTURES:
Bolton 0-5 Manchester United
Manchester City 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Stoke City 1-0 Liverpool
Wolverhampton 0-2 Tottenham
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa
Arsenal 1-0 Swansea City
Manchester United stays top of the table with 12 points and a goal difference of +15, with Manchester City very close behind with an equal number of points and a +12 goal difference. Chelsea are third with 10 points and a goal difference of +4. Stoke City's 1-0 win over Liverpool leave them in fourth, with 8 points and a +2 goal difference, and Liverpool sit in fifth spot with 7 points and a +3 goal difference. On Sunday, September 18, we're all in for a few excellent games, with Chelsea playing Manchester United at Old Trafford, Tottenham and Liverpool facing off, and Manchester City taking on Fulham. After next weekend, the premier league table could look completely different.
Have a great week!
P.S. Look! I added a Premier League Table to the right of the page! Pretty cool, eh?
Hey everyone!
So tomorrow's game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light should be an interesting one, to say the least. While Chelsea are expected to win, there will be some lineup changes, with Drogba being ruled out after a concussion, and David Luiz and Petr Cech likely to return to the starting 11, as well as the new addition of Raul Meireles in midfield.
With Drogba out for at least tomorrow's game (hopefully he'll be fit for next weekend's battle with Manchester United at Old Trafford), André Villas-Boas will likely switch back to his favoured 4-3-3 formation, with the attack force being based around (guess who?) Fernando Torres.
FORWARDS:
Juan Mata will be hoping for another brilliant performance tomorrow, with what I believe will be a starting position on the left wing. Hopefully he'll be able to send in some nice crosses for Torres, who will most likely be playing in the centre. My guess is that André Villas-Boas will likely go to Nicolas Anelka for the right-winger position. My belief is that sometime during the last half-hour Lukaku will come on for Torres, and Sturridge may get a chance to prove himself with a substitution for Anelka.
MIDFIELDERS:
What André Villas-Boas chooses to do in midfield will be anybody's guess. I'll have a go and say that he'll stick with his usual lineup of Frank Lampard in the middle, with Ramires and John Obi Mikel flanking him on the right and left, respectively. However, I do believe that at some point during the match Raul Meireles will make his debut for Chelsea and come on for one of these three. Most likely he'll be in for Lampard in the centre, as Ramires has excellent stamina and Meireles isn't very comfortable on his left.
DEFENDERS:
With the probable return of David Luiz, André Villas-Boas will most likely go with a back four consisting of Ashley Cole on the left, John Terry and David Luiz in the centre, and either Branislav Ivanovic or Bosingwa on the right. My best guess will be that Ivanovic will start in the hope of being able to successfully shut down the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and his 6 foot 5 inch stature.
GOALKEEPER:
Petr Cech is most likely returning to play in tomorrow's match! Cheers all around!
Mata ------------- Torres (Lukaku) -------------- Anelka (Sturridge)
Mikel ----------- Lampard (Meireles) ------------- Ramires
Cole ------------- Terry ------------- Luiz ------------- Ivanovic
Cech
Sorry it's not super-beautiful, but I have absolutely no idea how to make it all pretty with pictures and numbered jerseys and a soccer field background. I'll figure it out eventually - give me some time.
MY PREDICTION: 2-0 Chelsea. Do you have a different score-line prediction? Write it in the comments!
On Tuesday, September 6, Fernando Torres experienced something that hadn't happened in a very long time. He was benched. Actually, not even benched, but rather he sat in the stands for Spain's qualifier against Lichtenstein (which they ended up winning 6-0, with an assist by Juan Mata - at least there was a bit of Chelsea presence in the win).
Chelsea seem to have based their entire forward line around him for every game, declining to bench him when he was in a scoring slump, even when there were many other players who would be more than willing to take his place temporarily, and could even add something different to the table (I'm talking about younger, talented players like Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku - although they did just get him, so I'm sure he'll get his starting chance). Even Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, who have both proven their goal-scoring worth have been benched as a result of Torres starting. It's very likely that the previous and current coaches of Chelsea don't want to bench someone on which Roman Abramovich spent a record 50 million pounds. Makes sense, I suppose, and I do believe that his form is definitely going to pick up, but being left out of the Spanish lineup can't be good for his confidence one bit, which is quite unfortunate. Although I guess Vicente del Bosque (the national coach of Spain) has a point when he says that "Torres is an important player, but those who stand out with their clubs will get the call to the national team, not the other way around."Apparently, Torres was very gracious about not being called, congratulating his teammates on their six goals and great performance. While his confidence took a bit of a beating, this might actually encourage him to bounce back and work even harder than he already is to try and reclaim his role as a leading Spanish striker. I know that I'm hoping for it to happen, and I'm sure that every other Chelsea fan is probably hoping for the same thing.
According to weaintgotnohistory.com, Chelsea have signed a 16-year old forward from the Czech Republic to their youth squad, and we're hearing quite a few good things about him. His name is Dominik Masik, and he plays for the U-17 Czech national team. Noted for his good pace, acceleration and ball control, the left-footer seems to be playing all over the pitch in an attacking role, although recently he's moved into more of a left-winger position. Apparently he played today for the youth team and scored a goal with two assists. A good signing for 1.2 million pounds, to say the least. Here's a look at him:
Czech that beautiful play at 1:30 (Get it? Because he's from the Czech Republic? Anyone? Oh well.) Great finish, anyway.
In other news, Chelsea are preparing new bids for (guess who?) Luka Modric come January! Everyone thought it was over, but apparently the saga will continue. I have no idea what they plan to offer Harry Redknapp, whether it be an exorbitant amount of money, a player or two (Yossi Benayoun maybe, when he gets back from loan?), or a promise to never let a reporter call him a "wheeler-dealer" again.
We all know what happened last time.
Harry Redknapp is called a wheeler-dealer by a reporter. Big mistake.
NOTE: Contains swearing (I'm trying to be family-friendly).
So after learning that the Premier League was on hiatus for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers, and then after being miserable about it for the weekend (I had no games to watch), I decided to bring an update of how some Chelsea players are faring in the Euro Qualifiers.
FRANCE:
Florent Malouda - The French international has played well these qualifiers, netting two goals and taking thirteen shots in seven games. He scored the insurance goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and put through the equalizer against Belarus in June that allowed France the draw.
ENGLAND:
Ashley Cole - Ashley Cole has established himself as arguably the best left-back in the world, and he's made no mistakes playing for England in the qualifiers, putting through two assists, one against Bulgaria and the other against Switzerland.
John Terry - The Chelsea captain has played well for England, captaining the international squad to an unbeaten record in the qualifiers so far.
Frank Lampard - Everyone knows that Frank Lampard is one of the best midfielders in the world. His free-kicks and spot-kicks are almost unmatched. He contributed in England's victory over Wales and a 2-2 draw with Switzerland with two well-taken penalties while playing in three games.
PORTUGAL:
Raul Meireles - While we've yet to see him play in a Chelsea uniform, we can be assured of his talent. Raul Meireles has established himself as a starting midfielder for Portugal. In these qualifiers, he's scored two goals in six games.
SPAIN:
Juan Mata - Ever since Juan Mata has joined the Blues, we've seen him score twice: one for Chelsea, and another for Spain. Oh, and he's only played 23 minutes for each team so far. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty damn excited to see this guy play for Chelsea when EPL comes back.
Fernando Torres - Good news: Torres' form has really improved from last season (cue applause and me jumping up and down), already netting two for Spain in two games, and landing nine shots between them. I noticed that during his Chelsea games he seemed to be a bigger part of the action than last year, and he impressed in the preseason as well. While he's still yet to score a goal for Chelsea, it's only been three games. I say, give him a bit of time, he'll get there eventually - especially now with Juan Mata sending in beautiful crosses from the left.
SERBIA:
Branislav Ivanovic - Ivanovic has landed himself a starting role in the Serbian lineup and has done well to keep his team very much alive in these qualifiers. Serbia is in third place with 11 points, but Slovenia, in second place also with 11 points have played one less game than Serbia. It's likely that Serbia will advance.
BELGIUM:
Romelu Lukaku - Lukaku has played five games for Belgium in the group stage, and has earned himself a starting position in the Belgian lineup. He is yet to score, although he has one assist, and there is a chance that Belgium will advance to the next round. At the moment they sit in third place behind Germany (21 points) and Turkey (13 points), with 12 points.
Thibaut Courtois - While Courtois has yet to play in any games for Belgium, it's nice that he's received a call-up for the international team this year. It's testimony to his youth and talent that he was picked this year, and I'm sure that his abilities will be put to good use in years to come at the Belgian national team, as well as Chelsea when Petr Cech decides to retire.
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Petr Cech - One of the main reasons why I decided to write this post was pretty much to inform people of Cech's recent form. After Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Stoke in the first game of the season, Cech suffered a knee injury in training and was forced to sit out the last two games against WBA and Norwich City. However, he claims that he might be able to return to playing for Chelsea very soon (possibly their next game against Sunderland), which would be lovely. His recent form for the Czech Republic proves his increase in fitness. Czech Republic's statistic of only five goals against in six games (and only three were actually scored on Cech, who has played in five out of their six games) is quite good. I think most Chelsea fans can will be excited that their star keeper is on his way back, hopefully in time for Chelsea's matchup against Manchester United on the 18th at Old Trafford. It's going to be possibly the toughest game all season, and Chelsea needs a fit Petr Cech in their starting eleven.
ISRAEL:
Yossi Benayoun - I know that Yossi's on loan to Arsenal at the moment, but it's possible that one day he might make his way back to Chelsea. If he does, then hopefully he'll play as significant a role for us as he is for Israel at the moment. Not only is he the captain of Israel, but he's played in five games so far and scored four goals, three of them being a hat-trick against Malta which single-handedly won them the game.
P.S. This has absolutely nothing to do with Chelsea whatsoever, but I'd like to make a preemptive prediction that Germany is going to win Euro 2012. They're the best team in the world, I don't care what the FIFA rankings say, their ranking system makes no sense to me anyways. I'm going to add another poll at the bottom of the page (exciting!). Who do you think will win Euro 2012?
Hey everyone!
So the transfer window officially closed around 5 hours ago, and Chelsea have gained quite a number of new players during the summer, most of them being youth players.
With the exception of Raul Meireles, who I profiled in the previous post, here is a list of Chelsea's transfer activities this summer:
PLAYERS IN:
1. Thibaut Courtois
This 19-year old Belgian goalkeeper is brilliant buy for Chelsea at a fee of £9m, and was signed from Racing Genk early in the transfer season. He's a rising star in the Belgian international squad and can become a long-term replacement for Petr Cech. He's very quick, with excellent reflexes, and knows his position well. He's been loaned out to Atlético Madrid for a season to gain some possible first-team experience.
A ten-minute video of some of Courtois' best saves.
2. Lucas Piazón
Lucas Piazón is a 17-year old attacking midfielder from Brazil who currently plays for São Paulo but will be joining Chelsea on January 20, 2012. He played on the Brazil U-15 squad where he scored 11 goals in 7 games. He then moved on to the U-17 squad, where he scored 4 goals in 13 games. He's fast, works well with other players, and can create plays. He was signed for £7.5m.
This is Piazón playing for Brazil U-17 where his goal actually goes through the netting of the goal. Watch until the very end - that's when it becomes obvious. He also sets up a neat give-and-go beforehand.
3. Ulises Dávila
Dávila is a 20-year old attacking midfielder who played for the Mexican U-20 team and the senior Mexico team during the Copa America in 2011 as a replacement for one of the five players involved in a prostitution scandal that year, although he didn't play any matches. He's quite fast, makes runs, and has the ability to get around players. Here's proof:
4. Juan Manuel Mata
Juan Mata is a 23-year old left winger who can also play as an attacking midfielder. He's a creative, intelligent playmaker who will work well with Fernando Torres. He exhibits that well about 40 seconds into the video when he creates a perfect opportunity for Torres, who gets a good header off, but it's saved by John Ruddy.
The first 23 minutes of Mata's performance against Norwich City yielded some pretty impressive results, including a brilliant goal, capitalizing on an error by a Norwich defender. The goal can be seen at around 2:40.
5. Oriol Romeu
The 19-year old defensive midfielder (who can play in a CB position if needed) played for Barcelona B until recently, when he signed for Chelsea for a fee of 5 million euros. He's been likened to Sergio Busquets, arguably the best player in the world at his position, being very capable of getting around players and passing well.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good enough video of Oriol Romeu, but here's a picture.
6. Romelu Lukaku
It's always been Romelu Lukaku's dream to play for Chelsea, as evidenced in this video, where he takes a tour of Stamford Bridge tells off his teacher for saying that he has to be realistic about his options, after Lukaku expresses his desire to play there one day. Good for him. The 18-year old Belgian striker played at Anderlecht, where he had a great record of 33 goals in 73 appearances for the club. He also plays for the Belgian international team, and was signed by Chelsea for a fee of around £18. Needless to say that he'll be a great addition to the squad.
PLAYERS ON LOAN:
1. Yossi Benayoun (Arsenal - season-long)
2. Patrick van Aanholt (Wigan - season-long)
3. Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV - season-long)
4. Gael Kakuta (Bolton - until January 1)
5. Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid - season-long)
6. Ulises Dávila (Vitesse Arnhem - season-long)
Unfortunately, Chelsea weren't able to sign many of the players they were hoping to get this summer, including all five of their top transfer targets (listed two posts ago), but hopefully they can make some great strides this year, especially with all of this young talent that they've received, and bring home the title. The real test will be the upcoming Chelsea-Manchester United match at Old Trafford on September 18.
