Tottenham Hotspurs 1- Chelsea 1
Four words to describe the London derby from The Blues point of view: Mata is Chelsea's finest.
*Ay, Caramba!! *
That second half performance is the best Chelsea has put up all season. Much so that it felt like 2 points lost rather than a point gained at the end of that. Mourinho takes some blame again for the wrong selection/ formation in the first half
We bossed a good Spurs side up until the Torres red card.
Chelsea's starting XI : Cech; Ivanovic, D Luiz, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Oscar, Hazard; Torres
Mata was left on the bench at the start for the umpteenth time this season.
The Chelsea team selection essentially handed the initiative to Spurs and they accepted it with glee
Spurs Christian Eriksen was the main creative force in a first half and the £11.5m signing ( what a steal! ) from Ajax easily escaped Frank Lampard after 19 minutes and played in Roberto Soldado. Sigurdsson was quicker to Soldado's lay-off than Terry to slide his finish past Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. Goal for Spurs!
Townsend gave Ashley Cole a torrid time with his pace and trickery on the right wing in that half and Spurs should have doubled their lead just before half-time.
The Chelsea defence was carved open again but Paulinho could only hit the upright. Chelsea rarely threatened in this half, Ramires was frustrated on the right wings and Hazard though wonderful when tracking back, wasn't great going forward. Torres looked lively though and was playing on the shoulder of the central defender
He was caught offside in this position on a few instances all game
Things changed in the second half
Mata came in for Mikel at the start of the second half, Ramires joined Lampard in the pivot and Oscar moved to the left wing.
Chelsea was now playing with more belief, Torres was like a man on a mission and Mata started doing what he does best- finding the right passes. Oscar just couldn't reach a squared pass in the box- off beautiful play by Torres, Lloris saved at Torres feet minutes later- again after brilliant play by the striker as he took on the Spurs defenders and beat them.
Torres saw yellow after he tripped Vertonghen about the 50th min but he could easily have been sent off when he appeared to have held and scratched the Spurs defenders face after fouling him
The deserved equaliser came in the 64th minute- a John Terry header off a brilliant delivery into the box by the mercurial Mata.
Chelsea looked like the team that would win it thereafter.
But Torres got a second yellow card and was sent off around the 80th minute- for another challenge on Vertonghen
This was undeserved though as the defender appeared to have conned the Ref into making the decision. There had between a lot of bickering and niggles between both players prior to this incidence.
Hazard was replaced by Schurrle later on while Azpilicueta was brought in for Oscar after Torres was sent off. The German missed a gilt edge chance when he was one on one with Lloris. He hit the ball against the on rushing Keeper with his shot when he should have tried a chip
Defoe was introduced for Soldado and he looked more dangerous than the Spaniard. Chelsea were going to settle for a point by keeping the shape in their half - after going one man down
That was what they got
Positives
Chelsea looked like the team the faithfuls had been expecting all season in the second half
A hungry pacy Torres who plays on the shoulder of defenders, is not afraid to take on defenders is a goooooooooood thing! It's a shame it ended in expulsion today ( just like at QPR 2 seasons ago ) as this was his best game in a Chelsea shirt in my opinion.
Dear Torres, be fired up but keep your temper in check. Thank you
Oscar is a good player but he has nothing on Mata. I hope he (Mata) has cemented his place in the starting eleven with today’s performance
Chelsea needs Mata like air in the lungs. He just makes things happen for us. In all this, the dimunitive midfielder was a study in grace and humility off field. The consummate professional! Hat doffed!
Negatives
I wish Schurrle would finish better, he tracks back well and is full of running . The German just needs to get 'how to chip a goalkeeper' lessons from Ramires. He could easily have got 3-4 goals this season if his finishing was up to scratch
Hazard has been decent with his defensive work but he needs to give more going forward. He has the pace and trickery to do to defenders what Townsend did to Ashley Cole in the first half today
Ramires is more threatening in the pivot where he can wreck havoc with his pace going forward. He is useless at the wings- he simply doesn't have the guile or requisite skill in that position
It's looking good! With our rivals also dropping points, today's performance portends great things going into the future
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