Man City 2-1 CHELSEA: Chelsea Make City Look Good

You get some results, like the mid-week game against Blackburn where you can just about live with defeat because you know the players have given it their all – and then there’s games like yesterday that are just too much to stomach.

Not the defeat itself because whilst losing never comes easy, as long as you can still hold your head up and say we gave it our best shot, then it’s at least more acceptable. No, I’m on about the way we lost. Not the poor refereeing decisions because at least Webb (as bad as he was) showed up, which is more than can be said for us.

Seriously, we can moan as much as we like but whilst Richards without a doubt handled in the area and got away with it, Adebayor’s own goal might never have happened if the officials had seen the ball come off Cole and not given the corner. Maybe if Citeh had responded to that by concentrating more on the ref than the rest of the game, Adebayor wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make it a goal per side but to be fair to them, they just got on with it and deservedly went in all square at the break.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand Citeh and I was as gutted as the next man to see Carlos Tevez put his free-kick past the wall and Petr Cech but if Carvalho hadn’t needlessly had a second kick-out at the Argie midget’s back then we wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place.

Then came some more iffy reffing, with first Lescott wrestling John Terry to the floor in front of goal and getting away with it, then Toure with his hands all over Didier Drogba from the subsequent corner and still nothing given. In fact, it seemed the more they got away with, the more tactile they thought they’d be – and why not? – they were getting away with it all day anyway. But then, we were allowing them to get away with it as much as the officials were, we could and should have put a much better fight but Lampard’s missed (yes missed) penalty just about summed our performance.

Overall then, it’s fair to sat the mid-week exit has obviously pissed them right off, but instead of the ‘wounded animal’ you’d have expected to come out fighting after we at least battled our arses off mid-week, we turned up whingeing and whining like toothless little bitches. Ok, so Webb’s a cock of the highest order but bad decisions happen week-in-week-out in the Premier League and a side is either big enough to take it on the chin and get their heads together, or they’ll act like petulant, arrogant fuckers, and lose in the manner we did.

Both Ashley Cole and particularly Didier Drogba showed shades of their former selves most of us would rather not be reminded of - mouthing and bitching at every opportunity, Cole’s back turned to the ref, Drogba standing over an injured Bridge moaning about a nothing brush of the shoulder he’d somehow been ‘injured’ by earlier. Just embarrassing to watch really.

Fair enough, Citeh got away with fouls time and again whilst we were getting booked for some nothing challenges (oh and Carvalho’s a total dick for that needless kick on the Argie midget) but if we’re going to challenge for the title rather than fall apart like we did at exactly the same stage as last season, then our players need to drop the ‘victim’ attitude and fucking earn it.



TEAMS

CITY: Given, Richards (Onuoha 69), Toure, Lescott, Bridge (Kompany 76), De Jong, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Tevez, Robinho (Zabaleta 90), Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Johnson, Santa Cruz, Petrov.

Booked: Barry.

Goals: Adebayor 37, Tevez 56.

CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho (Belletti 63), Terry (Malouda 88), Ashley Cole, Essien, Ballack (Mikel 64), Lampard, Deco, Drogba, Anelka.

Subs Not Used: Hilario, Joe Cole, Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira.

Booked: Terry, Carvalho, Belletti, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Deco.

Goals: Adebayor 8 og.



Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).

Man City vs CHELSEA: Preview

Venue: City of Manchester Stadium

Date: Saturday, 5 December 2009
Kick-off: 1730



A trip to Manchester’s second side for us this evening and a chance to get the disappointment of our mid-week exit from the Carling Cup out of our systems.

Citeh come into the game on a high, having set up a Carling Cup semi-final tie against United courtesy of a 3-0 win over Arsenal mid-week and with a pretty unimpressive seven straight draws in the league, they’ll no doubt be pushing for the points today. Our league form, on the other hand, has seen us beat our other ‘big four’ rivals, with our last league game also seeing us hand Arsenal a 3-0 defeat.



MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Going into this game, Mark Hughes has been full of praise for his opponents, claiming “If they continue to play in the same vein as they are doing then they are absolutely (the favourites for the title). They’ve been the stand-out team up to this point. Defensively, physically and in an attacking sense, they have ticked every box. They look the real deal this season. I think they are close to being the best in Europe. That’s the size of our challenge. It’s been shown this year that you can come unstuck very quickly against them and find yourself behind in a game you haven’t really given yourself a chance to win. We don’t anticipate that happening, we will run them close, but our best might not be good enough because they’re playing as well as I’ve ever seen them play. We need to keep at that level we showed against Arsenal now, we don’t want to drop. If we get our noses in front (against Chelsea), let’s see what happens.”

Going into this game off the back of our mid-week disappointment, Carlo Ancelotti says “Every defeat normally is not good, but the priority of that game was to give minutes to the players that didn’t play against Arsenal and to give experience to young players. Our priority was that, and also a chance to give recovery to the other players. The League Cup was not so important, if we thought it was more important I would put in a different line-up. We are not disappointed, we showed good spirit, playing 60 minutes with 10 against 11, and drew in the last minute. This means we have a very good spirit, and this is important. We kept a lot of players in the training ground and they trained well, so we have a fresh team. If we continue to play like against Arsenal we have a very good possibility to arrive in first place but we have to pay attention because every game is difficult to play. There are a lot of teams in England with very good quality.” And turning his attention back to matters in hand, says “We have to play against a dangerous team, because Manchester City has a lot of players with very good technical quality, top players. They didn’t win the last seven games and they want to win against Chelsea because we are top of the list. They will have very good motivation to play against us and we have to pay attention to this.”



SQUAD NEWS

Bellamy, Ireland and Petrov (all knee) are all apparently doubtful, Weiss (tonsillitis) misses out and Shaun Wright-Phillips faces a late fitness test after a knock against Arsenal.

For Chelsea, Salomon Kalou (thigh) joins Bosingwa and Alex (hip) on the missing list.



TEAMS

MAN CITY: (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Bridge, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Kompany, Johnson, Ireland, Barry, Robinho, Bellamy, Petrov, Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Benjani

CHELSEA: (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, A Cole, Zhirkov, Carvalho, Terry, Essien, Lampard, Belletti, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Kakuta, Deco, J Cole, Anelka, Drogba



LAST MEETING

Chelsea 1-0 Man City (15 March 2009)



PREDICTION

There’s worse sides we could face following our mid-week defeat, particularly if you look at our record against today’s opponents: 10 wins from our last 12 trips there (8 straight) and 12 clean sheets in our last 14 league meetings. City also seem to be struggling for wins of late, with seven straight draws, although having said that, they have only lost once in 17 games in all competitions this season, so they won’t necessarily be an easy side to beat. And whilst the fact that we’ve scored 17 goals without reply in our last five games in the league is pretty impressive, our vulnerability could still be around set-pieces. Draw looking likely?



REFEREE

Howard Webb

Blackburn 3-3 CHELSEA: Dreaded Penalties End Chelsea’s Fight

Didn’t expect that last night to be honest, either in terms of the result or the choice of squad but then it was always going to be an interesting night with Hilarious in goal three right-backs and a left-back.

Despite all the pre-match talk about fielding a strong first team, Ancelotti had made wholesale changes, with no Terry, Carvalho, Lampard, Essien, Anelka and Didier Drogba the only senior player on the bench.

A bit hard to go into too much detail about the game seeing as there seemed to be an almost complete blanket ban on anyone having access to it unless they were prepared to get up to Ewood Park for it.

Still, from how it sounded, our defence was the sort of confused backline you’d have expected seeing as the four of them have probably said little more than a casual hello to each other in terms of preparation and it wasn’t long before we were a goal behind. Kalou missed the obligatory sitter, so we went into the break a goal behind.

Cue Didier Drogba after the break to add a bit of attack to our game and he duly obliged within about two minutes to level the score. Just four minutes later, the Ivorian turned provider for Salomon Kalou and we found ourselves on top. Unfortunately, it all sounded a bit physical with our players going down all over the place. First Kakuta took a bang on the head and went off temporarily, Kalou wasn’t so lucky and went off with about twenty minutes remain. This time, our player didn’t re-emerge and having made 3 subs already, Carlo Ancelotti had nowhere to go in terms of a replacement.

Hilarious did his worst with what sounded like a complete nightmare to concede the equaliser and how we ever hung on for extra time is anyone’s guess. But, hang on we did and despite conceding a penalty right at the start of that, with Hilario sent the wrong way by McCarthy, we still managed to hold on right until the dying minutes before Paulo Ferreira took it to penalties with his equaliser.

I hate penalty shoot-outs, I hate going out of a game on penalties but last night was different. I think it had to be said that whatever the outcome, our players had given it everything they had – and Ancelotti will have learnt some valuable lessons.

So anyway, onto the penalties – and sadly they went like this:

McCarthy – in

Ballack – saved

Emerton – in

Drogba – in

Grella – in

Malouda – in

Kalinic – saved

Zhirkov – in

Hoilett – in

Kakuta – saved



TEAMS

BLACKBURN: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda, Emerton, Nzonzi, Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts, Kalinic
Subs: Brown, Givet, Grella, Diouf, Van Heerden, Hoilett, Jones.
CHELSEA: Hilario, Belletti, Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira, Zhirkov, Mikel, Ballack,Deco, Joe Cole, Kalou, Malouda.
Subs: Turnbull, Drogba, Matic,Hutchinson, Bruma, Kakuta, Borini.

Hansen claims Drogba is Premier League’s best – surely he means world’s best?

Sunday afternoon was a very good point to be a Chelsea fan. The Blues moved 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League after hammering Arsenal 3-0 on their own patch. It was a performance that showed why Chelsea’s Premier League title odds are at the level they are and why Chelsea are the team to beat this season.

Arsenal played their usual pretty football and came out fighting at the start of each half with pace and purpose. The reality though, is that Chelsea were far too strong for them in so many ways. Carlo Ancelotti’s team are physically stronger, mentally stronger and have more big-game players.

One of these being the incredible Didier Drogba. I am starting to run out of superlatives for the man this season. He is, quite simply, on a different planet. He has a history of terrorising Arsenal and Sunday was no different. The Ivory Coast striker got on the end of an Ashley Cole cross to put Chelsea ahead and then secured the win with an exquisite free-kick to seal the victory in the last ten minutes. The Arsenal defence didn’t know how to handle him in his current form and he got his rewards.

In the aftermath of the game, there has been much praise for Drogba. Not least from Alan Hansen. The Match of the Day pundit has said that the player’s performance Sunday showed by he is the best striker in the Premier League. Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres are other candidates for this accolade, but Hansen is of the opinion that Drogba’s strength, goals and ability to lead the line make him the best striker in England. I would go a step further than that though and say that he is probably the best striker in the world at the moment. The influence he has on Chelsea is phenomenal and I don’t think there is anyone else out there like him. He strikes fear into opposition defences constantly and most importantly, he ALWAYS turns it on in the big games.

Just think, under Luiz Felipe Scolari last season, Drogba looked unhappy and as though his Chelsea career was coming to an end. Now though, he is arguably performing better than ever before. I guess Chelsea fans can thank Ancelotti for that. The Italian has clearly been good for Drogba.

The most worrying thing about all of this is that Chelsea lose the 31-year-old to the African Cup of Nations next month. I’m sure Drogba won’t take it personally if Chelsea fans hope they don’t make it too far in the competition….

Blackburn vs CHELSEA: Carling Cup Preview

Carling Cup quarter-final

Venue: Ewood Park

Date: Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Kick-off: 2000 GMT



Whilst we’ve won our last four games without conceding, Blackburn go into tonight’s Carling Cup quarter-final game having failed to score in their previous two games. So, having conceded five to us in our last meeting, they’ll have to tighten up defensively if they’re seriously after a place in the semis.



MANAGERS’ VIEWS

Sam Allardyce is still recovering from heart surgery but assistant boss Neil McDonald seems confident enough for the both of them, insisting “They (Chelsea) are very strong and have a fantastic squad, but they are not unbeatable. Wigan have beaten them, Aston Villa have beaten them and we have to draw strength from that. They were all away from home, and our home form has been fantastic, so we must continue that against Chelsea. We have worked extremely hard to get to this point. Why should we say ‘just because we are playing Chelsea that’s us out?’ We have to remain positive. It is a game of football, 11 versus 11. They (Chelsea) have some fantastic players but it is a long way for them to come on a cold Lancashire night and we have to try and use that to our advantage if we possibly can. With the crowd right behind us, it will spur us on to give a good performance. Our home form is good and we are going to have a right go at them. It will be fantastic if the crowd is bigger than what it normally is for the Carling Cup, knowing that we are playing a very good team in Chelsea. That will inspire the players to run even further and try even harder.”

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t seem have been particularly vocal ahead of tonight’s game, although assistant Ray Wilkins wonders whether the absence of Allardyce will have an effect tonight, stating “I think he would have been in touch with the guys, albeit not there, and we all wish him a speedy recovery. When you have a massive personality like Sam around the players, when he is not there you might have a slight wobble, but I am sure at home they will be an extremely tough side to beat for us. We certainly approach every game to win it and we’ll be doing the same here. We would love to be in the Final of the Carling Cup, it’s the first trophy of the season and one we want to win so we’ll be going all out to do that. Most certainly the side will be mixed up but it will be a very strong side, no question.”



SQUAD NEWS

For Blackburn, Franco di Santo is ineligible to play and David Dunn is a doubt with a calf injury. For us meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge (knee) and Jose Bosingwa (knee) remain out and Alex (hip) could also be out of action. Ashley Cole, on the other hand, is expected to be fit and Gael Kakuta could make his first start.



TEAMS

BLACKBURN (from): Robinson, Olsson, Chimbonda, Givet, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Diouf, Pedersen, Grella, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Roberts, Brown.

CHELSEA (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, A Cole, Zhirkov, Carvalho, Terry, Essien, Lampard, Belletti, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Kakuta, Deco, J Cole, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba.



LAST MEETING

Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn (24th October 2009)



PREDICTION

This will be Blackburn’s first real test of the competition, having met Gillingham, Forest and Peterborough to get to this stage. It’s worth bearing in mind they haven’t lost in the last seven at Ewood Park and they know what they’re up against having failed to beat us in our last nine league and cup meetings. Having said that though, we won’t be putting a soft side out and current form doesn’t really point to anything but a Chelsea win.

Arsenal 0-3 CHELSEA: Easy Afternoon at The Slowly Abandoned Emirates

Shame about the weather for this one, especially after Cesc had clearly taken so much time over his hair – pretty boy.

Arsenal had the better start and plenty of possession in the first twent minutes, whilst Mikel was found wanting in the concentration department and was pushed off the ball a little too easily. There seemed to be a bit too much space down left to start with and all, so we clearly weren’t getting a few things right. An Eduardo and Essien clash, sees Essien up on his feet pretty much straight away while Eduardo took a bit more pampering before he could rise. But altogether, a pretty lively start from the gunners even if they’re preference was to try to walk the ball into our area. Our passing game in the early stages left a lot to be desired and it all felt a bit frustrating. Our best move doing those early stages came from Joe Cole’s quick feet which saw him feed in Drogba who must’ve been offside by all of a blade of grass.

Penalty shout for them a minute or so later, but there really hadn’t been much of a shout to try for. We on the othet hand, had a Stonewall penalty not given when on 18 minutes, Sagna’s arm round Anelka’s waist clearly brought him down in front of goal – and United feel they’re the only side hard done by?!
Mikel was beginning to irritate with his far too casual approach which saw him caught in possession way too often. And then after the half hour it was Didier Drogba guilty of poor decision making – pushing forward, Anelka went on a blistering run and was unmarked yet Drogba makes the pass to Joe Cole who had two men on him. Argh!

Still, in the 41st minute, a beautiful ball to Drogba in the box from none other than Arsenal’s favourite Chelsea man, Ashley Cole. Drogba’s lovely finish saw it come off both bar and post – cracking goal. Then in the 44th min, another quality ball in from Ashley Cole and Vermaelen pops it in the back of the net for us, sending us into the break two goals up.

Arsenal again started the better side in the second half and thought they’d scored in the 48th – fortunately the whistle had already blown before the shot had left Arshavin’s foot courtesy of a slightly stray boot attempting to dislodge Cech’s trachea. Walcott on for them second half saw Ashley Cole less keen to get forward. Then a period of stop-start football disrupted play on the hour, with one free-kick after the other. Whilst the corner was being prepared, JT was noted to have a word with the ref about a previous corner where Vermaelen was apparently trying to see how many times he could wrap himself around the Chelsea captain with no foul given – so to all those who slate the Chelsea captain for getting into the same sought of scuffles in the box it just goes to show he clearly isn’t the only one the refs fail to see.

Just after the hour, Drogba puts ball in Lamps deflects it off his chest and it was only saved by the fingertips of Almunia, so we clearly weren’t sitting back on our lead.

You’d have to say from this game though, you could see why we have the tightest defence in the league. Deco on for Joe Cole (68 mins) to a chorus of ‘twat’ in my house. Mikel gives away a free-kick in dangerous area a minute later and managed to get himself a yellow into the bargain. Paulo Ferreira on for A Cole (71 min) – plenty of boos but then he did set up both goals in the first half, lol.

To pretty much round it all off, Cesc Fabregas brings Essien down, whinging his arse off when the foul is given, although had more reason to whinge when Didier Drogba stepped up to take the free-kick in the 85th min, banging it into the net. 3-0 and empty home seats all round, bloody lightweights.

Overall then I don’t think Arsenal necessarily did badly, they certainly pressed us hard enough and had the better of us for twenty minutes, their trouble though, apart from missing the odd big name player in their squad is that they want to walk the ball into the area and they just ain’t going to get that opportunity in games like this. Our defence isn’t the tightest in the league for nothing and JT put in an outstanding performance yesterday. Talking of outstanding performances though, Anelka and Drogba yet again made such a difference, with Anelka having another really good game – and Ashley Cole’s contribution was irony in the extreme.