CHELSEA JUST BEAT MANCHESTER CITY. That's right.
Booyah.
I'm actually just exploding (figuratively, of course) from happiness right now and I'm finding it very very hard not to write absolutely everything in capitals.
It seemed like my entire day was leading up to this game (it definitely was). I picked out a special outfit for today's match (Chelsea jacket with blue jeans – unfortunately, my Chelsea t-shirts don't fit me anymore). I pretty much spent all of history predicting formations and lineups, all of french trying to figure out who Man City would start in defense (after I realized about Richards' and Kolarov's injuries), and all of Spanish compiling random statistics and attempting to figure out if there was an accent on the second "e" in "Touré" (there is one). Then I ran home, occasionally stopping at random sports-bars along Eglinton Ave. to check the score, and watched the game with my good friend Larissa, who proceeded to watch me jump around in circles after Lampard's winner.
Raul Meireles (centre) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the equalizer in today's match.
2-1 was the score. With a red card to Gaël Clichy. And goals from Balotelli (2') and Meireles (34'), as well as a goal from a spot kick scored by Frank Lampard (gotta love that guy) in the 82nd minute.
I'm actually so excited that I can't form real sentences. Forgive all forthcoming grammar mistakes (I'm sure there will be many), believe me, they're all due to pure euphoria.
And it looks like André Villas-Boas can finally consider his tenure at Chelsea stable (yes!).
Here was Chelsea's lineup (4-3-3):
Bench: Turnbull, Ferreira, Mikel (Sturridge 88'), Lampard (Meireles 73'), Malouda (Mata 84'), Kalou, Torres.
NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Daniel Sturridge: Man of the Match, and rightly so. Assisted the first goal with a brilliant series of step-overs and a perfect cross to Raul Meireles, and forced the second penalty by managing to clip the ball off of Lescott's hands in the box.
- Juan Mata: Incredible ball control and dribbling skills to get around numerous Man City players. They just couldn't handle him today.
MATCH OVERVIEW
The match definitely started with trouble for the hosts. In the 2nd minute, a (basically) unmarked Mario Balotelli received a lifted ball, avoided a tackle by Ivanovic, managed to get around Petr Cech, and passed the ball into an open Chelsea net to make the score-line 1-0. However, Chelsea rebounded in the 34th minute, when former Manchester City man Daniel Sturridge found his way past Gaël Clichy with a series of brilliantly-timed step-overs and crossed it to Raul Meireles, who slotted it home in the air with a well-taken volley. 1-1 at the half (after Meireles received a yellow for a dangerous tackle on Zabaleta). In the 58th minute, Gaël Clichy got himself sent off after receiving a second yellow for a reckless challenge on Ramires, putting Manchester City down to 10 men. After this, Manchester City made a series of defensively-minded substitutions (Kolo Touré for Agüero, De Jong for Silva), interspersed with yellow cards to Romeu (no idea what his was about – looked completely legit), Ramires, and Drogba. In the 73rd minute, Frank Lampard came on for Raul Meireles (not sure why it wasn't Romeu – I would've thought that Chelsea would try to look for for attacking options, and taking off Meireles would be a loss of a midfielder that attacks well). In the 82nd minute, Daniel Sturridge worked his way into the box and his shot deflected off of Joleon Lescott's outstretched arms for a penalty. Frank Lampard stepped up and coolly blasted it home, putting Chelsea up 2-1 (cue crazy dancing by me). Chelsea made a couple more subs (Malouda for Mata; Mikel for Sturridge), and managed to hold on until the end of stoppage time.
Final Score: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
MATCH STATISTICS:
Chelsea Manchester City
Ball Possession (%) 49 51
Shots (on target) 14(3) 7(2)
Corners 5 1
Crosses 25 9
Fouls Committed 11 20
Yellow Cards 4 1
Red Cards 0 1
Offsides 0 3
Unfortunately, no highlights on Youtube about the game, so here's a website with the highlights posted:
P.S. Really sorry I couldn't report on the Chelsea-Valencia game on Tuesday, tons of work. WE WON THOUGH, and are now through to the Final 16! Awesome, eh? And we also won our group (due to Bayer Leverkusen's draw against Genk)!
Go Tottenham!!
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