Very sorry for not posting anything for the past couple weeks. Work has been absolutely ridiculous, and it was getting to the point where it was becoming very depressing to write about Chelsea activities (you'll see why after you read this post). But things are looking up (as of today, with a 1-0 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park), and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks, especially Chelsea-Liverpool on November 20th and Chelsea-Man City on December 12th).
Frank Lampard celebrates his goal in the 3-5 loss against Arsenal last weekend.
So I'll give you a quick rundown on last Saturday's 5-3 defeat to Arsenal (you can see why I was depressed now, right?), and then an overview on their 1-1 draw with Genk on Tuesday (depression increasing), and then how Chelsea dropped to fourth place behind an impressive Newcastle side today (gah!).
First: the 5-3 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Arsenal. That was a really exciting game (although the result wasn't favourable). On average, there was a goal every 11 minutes. A goal from Frank Lampard put the home side up 1-nil in the 14th minute. Robin van Persie then equalized in the 36th, and John Terry's header put the home side on top in the 45th minute. Andre Santos equalized again for Arsenal in the 49th to make the score-line 2-2, and Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead 3-2 in the 55th. After a series of substitutions and bookings on both sides, Juan Mata scored an incredible goal in the 80th minute. After a few more minutes of breakneck pace from both teams, Florent Malouda sent a poor back-pass to John Terry, who then stumbled while trying to chase down the ball. Van Persie took control and advanced on Petr Cech, who couldn't make the save. In the 90th minute, Arsenal struck again through Robin van Persie to make the final score 5-3 in favour of Arsenal. This was Arsenal's best result at Stamford Bridge since 1934, when they won 5-2.
When van Persie scored his 2nd goal, apparently quite a few people (and some of the more tabloidy football websites) misconstrued his celebration as "Sieg heil." Here it is. Honestly, I'm thinking it must have been a ridiculously slow news day for anyone to even consider printing that.
MATCH STATISTICS:
Chelsea Arsenal
Ball Possession (%) 53 47
Shots (on target) 12(7) 11(6)
Corners 3 2
Crosses 20 11
Fouls Committed 8 17
Yellow Cards 2 3
Red Cards 0 0
Offsides 5 2
Sorry about the lack of highlight reels – I couldn't find a single one on youtube. If you see any, link it in the comments and I'll add it to the post.
So now for game #2: Chelsea 1-1 Genk on November 1.
I remember watching this game, and just getting very frustrated that we weren't winning. We had so many chances, but just couldn't finish. After Ramires' brilliant give-and-go with Fernando Torres in the 26th minute to put Chelsea up 1-0 at Cristal Arena, Chelsea just couldn't score a second goal. Raul Meireles' excellent strike hit the crossbar; Frank Lampard's shot (on an almost-open net! From 3 feet away!) went wide of the post; and David Luiz couldn't convert a penalty kick into a goal. Now hold on a moment. Surely you're asking yourself: with the likes of Fernando Torres, Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles, and Nicolas Anelka on the pitch (all more than adept at taking penalties), why was David Luiz stepping up? He's playing as a centre-back! Why is your centre forward not taking that penalty?! Everyone, including myself and the game commentators, was flabbergasted (yes, flabbergasted) when we saw David Luiz behind the ball. I know he's good on the attack, but surely with the likes of Torres (or any of the other attacking options) on the pitch, you don't need anyone else taking penalties. I'd really like to know the story behind that one. Later on, in the 61st minute, Vossen scored for the home side, and the game ended 1-1. Quite unfortunate, considering that Chelsea dominated the majority of the game, but just couldn't finish. In all truth, that game could have easily ended 4-1 in our favour.
Highlights of the Chelsea-Genk match.
MATCH STATISTICS:
Genk Chelsea
Ball Possession (%) 44 56
Shots (on target) 9(5) 18(6)
Corners 5 5
Crosses 13 16
Fouls Committed 9 9
Yellow Cards 1 1
Red Cards 0 0
Offsides 1 1
Now, to today's victory over Blackburn.
We won 1-0! Yay for breaking a streak of taking only 1 point from a possible 9 in all competitions! A 51st minute diving header from Frank Lampard, who now has 6 goals in 8 games, sealed the win for the Blues at Ewood Park.
Here was the starting 11 (4-3-3). Very interesting to see Daniel Sturridge leading the attack. He played very well. When Torres came on in the 2nd half, Sturridge moved out wide on the left and Torres took over in the middle of the attack.
Malouda (Torres) --------- Sturridge --------- Mata (Meireles)
Lampard ----------------- Mikel ---------- Ramires (Romeu)
Cole --------- Terry --------- Alex --------- Ivanovic
Cech
MATCH STATISTICS:
Blackburn Chelsea
Ball Possession (%) 38 62
Shots (on target) 10(4) 13(4)
Corners 5 8
Crosses 11 16
Fouls Committed 12 11
Yellow Cards 4 2
Red Cards 0 0
Offsides 3 1
In the 51st minute, Branislav Ivanovic made a lovely run down the right-hand side and delivered an excellent ball with the outside of his foot to Frank Lampard, who had to get so low to head in the goal, his head almost hit the ground. As well, the game was stopped for 7 minutes while Petr Cech, who had earlier collided with Yakubu and Ashley Cole, received medical treatment for a broken nose. Everyone was expecting him to come off at some point, but he put on an amazing show of bravery and played out the full 90 minutes, making a few excellent saves and recording his 2nd clean sheet of the season. Apparently he went through two different jerseys during that game due to the sustained bleeding.
What have we learned? Having a broken nose makes you play soccer really well.
Proof? Here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/video/video-sinclair-breaks-her-nose-scores-a-goal/article2077848/
I think we can all agree that he goal was pretty much the best thing ever. Seriously.
Unfortunately, no highlight reels of the Chelsea game can be found on youtube – if you see one, link it in the comments and I'll make it part of the post. With Newcastle's 2-1 win today over Everton, they slot into 3rd place in the table with 25 points. Manchester United have 26, Manchester City have 31, and Chelsea are in 4th with 22. Tottenham sit in 5th at 19 points, but they have 2 games in hand.
Thanks everyone! Have a great week, and I'll post again soon.
Cheers,
~Matt
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