EPL: Chelsea 4- Cardiff City 1
5 words to describe Chelsea today- Our Striker scored a goal!!
Starting XI today for Chelsea-(4-2-3-1):
Petr Cech, Ryan Bertrand, John Terry, David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Frank Lampard, Ramires, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Willian, Samuel Eto'o
Story of the first half
The visitors were content for Chelsea to have most of the ball as they sat with 10 men behind the ball. Not for the first time this season, Chelsea struggled to break such opposition play down
Then 2 absolutely hilarious blunders-
The first around 10' : David Luiz's trademark 5 seconds of madness. It was a goal out of nothing for the visitors. Marshall hammers a long down field. Ramires pokes the ball back towards his own goal, Luiz leaves it (brain fart moment!! ) and the Cardiff striker, Mutch races in to dink over the onrushing Cech.
33' . Marshall, the Cardiff goalkeeper, decided to better David Luiz' gaffe.
Eto'o nicks the ball off Marshall as he bounces it. Hazard gathers and squares. Eto'o can't bundle home, but the ball breaks loose again to Hazard who can.
First half stats for Chelsea
95% possession, 12 shots at goal, 2 on target
The second half was more lively as Cardiff became bolder in their forward play. This created more space for the Chelsea attack and it was end to end stuff at some point
Oscar replaced Mata at the 59' min and Betrand made way for Torres at about the 63'
This changed the formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2. The gamble almost backfired as the Cardiff strikers had acres of space on the left of the Chelsea box around the 65' but they didn't make it count
67' Cometh the hour, cometh the man
Eto'o receives the ball to his feet in the box ( from a lovely Hazard pass)
dinks to the right, making the defender slide by, then finishes with powerful shot low into the corner. Goaaaaaaaallll!!
Mourinho, just as he did at Carrow Road a few weeks back, gambled by moving to three defenders. And, once again, the move paid off.
Mourinho moved to four at the back almost immediately following the goal ( 69') with Cesar Azpilicueta coming on for Eto'o, and the rest of the match was a coast.
70' Mourinho started raging at something and was giving Anthony Taylor ( linesman) a hard time. The referee comes across to have a word and the Chelsea boss is sent to the stands. He moves about three rows back from where he was.
He can do no wrong at Stamford Bridge though-the fans started chanting " HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS, HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS!
JOSÉ MOURINHO, HE SITS WHERE HE WANTS!"
Oscar added a stunning goal, one that shaved the crossbar as it whisked past Marshall (77') before Hazard wrapped up the day's scoring in the 82nd minute- the Cardiff goalie should've done better with the attempted save. He had a forgettable day - to be honest
He did save a tame Willian effort around the 79', this was off brilliant counter-attacking play by Hazard
Positives
Eto'o finally got that goalless monkey off his back. To be honest, he'd done pretty little wrong apart from scoring a goal since arriving. His runs, passes , link up play and defensive work are impressive. I have a feeling he'll be massive for us this season
John Terry - imperious at the back as usual. Definitely our most dependable defender. To think some were writing him off after last season
Hazard is back!! He looked sharper, fitter and hungry today
Oscar is going through a purple patch at the moment. That's his 5th goal this season
Congrats to Cech on his 300th appearance today. He pulled off a couple of Cech-esque saves to mark the occasion
Bertrand was impressive at LB. Ashley Cole better watch his back!!
Negatives
We still struggle to break down teams that play with 10 behind the ball. This is baffling - considering the kind of Gaffer we have. You'd think that wing play is the key in this situation. Unfortunately, Hazard and Willian keep on cutting in, when they have the ball, and choking the middle more
Also, Ivanovic can still not cross the ball if his life depended on it.
I wish Azpi will get more game time. So many teams will play this defensive style ( particularly at the Bridge) and we need to find the right formula to break them down
I refuse to comment on Torres' cameo today. I'm in a good mood!
We are 2nd in the League table, level with Liverpool by points but better Goals difference
...and better kits too
It can only get better with this team. This should be scary for our rivals
....like attempting the first fart after a bout of diarrhoea!
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