Matches, Premier League - Written by BlueChampion on Saturday, September 13, 2008 20:08 | 1,370 Views | 52 Comments | Add Comment
Man City 1-3 Chelsea | Take that, Borinho!
This is why we’re gonna be champions! This is why. Today’s match was a real test of character in which we came out with flying colours, three goals and as many points. Liverpool might have beaten Man Utd but still they aren’t worthy of a top spot. We stay where we belong while leaving the likes of Arsenal and Hullcity (I just wanted to put them in the same line) in third and fourth spot, while Man Utd Reserves (you know there’s no Ronaldo now!) are left reeling somewhere in the bottom half. Fantastic weekend!
Today’s match is a very special one. One where there were a lot of things to be proved, and more importantly, settled. Man City are no way a rival to Chelsea but they needed a quick lesson so that we can bring them to planet earth and set them straight. It was the worst nightmarish start I didn’t want to see. Robinho scores against Chelsea in his Man City debut, after all that deadline day drama and his ‘vow that he’ll show it to Chelsea’. In fact, that was the last thing I wanted to happen. You should have seen the way Robinho and co celebrated after that goal. The crowd went frenzy and the all things Man City were bubbling with energy. Robinho must have thought that the day belongs to him. He had not known Chelsea yet. It’s a 90 minute game kid!
At that moment, it needed a resolute and determined team to stop Man City running away with the game in front of their fans, with their spirits sooo high. We didn’t have to wait too long. Carvalho smashed one from close range in the post-corner scampering. It was back to level terms. The moment we equalised, I texted my mate, ‘we’re gonna murder them today’. Murder them, didn’t we? We created chance after chance while Man City had to be content with those odd deflected passes that fell their way. For good part of the game, Man City didn’t get to touch the ball. Yeah, all that they could do, was to simply watch as weave attack after attack.
We should have got this full time score by half time itself, but for some poor efforts from Malouda and Anelka. May be because we have won, I somewhat feel they can be given another chance. The player of the day has gotta be Frank Lampard. Give him a 10-year contract I say. The man was pure gold. He was so brilliant that he couldn’t go wrong at all. Deco was outstanding too. I admit, I did not expect to see Deco and Lampard play so fluently together as if they have been midfield partners for seasons. That goal by Lampard in the second half was a glorious piece of work. He passed, he set it up, he got the ball back, he dribbled inside the box, beat a defender and finished like a charm from an acute angle. He was the saviour again. Have no fear, when Frank’s here!
I wanted Joe Cole to start today and some of us were not quite convinced if he can start. He came on with his head bandaged which looked quite dramatic. It’s not that we had no one else and he had to come straight from his treatment table. But I think he must be quite fine and that’s what I could make out of his game today - very intelligent and very Joe Cole. It was his inch-perfect through ball that resulted in the Anelka goal that sealed the match. It was really accurate, so accurate that even Anelka could not miss it! Jokes apart, Anelka finish for that goal was simply splendid. He had little time and space for his reaction, first touch and finish, but he did a great job with that finish. Okay, I won’t talk about his other failings in the match for he put the match out of Man City’s reach with that goal.
From about 25th minute till the 75th minute, we simply snuffed them out. We were playing great football. Man City could only watch us play. There was hardly any involvement from their players. Whenever they were fortunate to see the ball, we just won it back before it touched the second Man City player. Robinho was was not be seen in the second half. He was very easily handled by the Chelsea defence, we did not fall for his usual flip flaps. In fact, I thought we tackled him well and snatched the possession back from him with some ease.
Mikel was phenomenal. He understands his role so well and works intelligently within his framework. You see young players, teenagers as strikers, wingers and attacking midfielders. You can’s find too many young players playing the defensive midfield role. That role needs a lot of maturity and experience. That’s what makes Mikel very special. Take a bow, young man!
When we were just cruising along came that moment. For the dozenth time in the match, Man City got a lucky loose ball and Jo started sprinting towards an almost empty half of the pitch. John Terry did the right thing of soft tackling him and the wrong thing of dragging him back with his arms. He wasn’t the last defender mind you, there was another established top European central defender, who I rate better than Terry, who could have cleaned up Jo. The referee, absolutely inconsiderate of this fact, sent Terry off with another 15 minutes to spare. I’m sure the ‘respect the referee’ initiative won’t be a massive success with decisions like these. It wasn’t even a difficult decision to make. It was a yellow card, as simple as that. I’m sure we’ll appeal against that decision because of two reasons: (i) it was injustice (ii) that could mean Terry missing the Man Utd match.
With about 15 minutes to go, I wanted just three points with the same score line. No fancy flicks, no back heels, just three points and a two goal difference. I guess Scolari must have sent across the same message. We brought on Alex for Anelka and the remaining period was just about bringing the tempo down and throwing more bodies when there was trouble. If we had all 11 men on the pitch until full time, we could surely scored couple more goals. Man City had already surrendered to the Blue Army (black army?), while the red card lifted them a bit only to surrender again. Our last match in black jersey wasn’t too great and when Robinho scored, I almost concluded that it could be a jinxed one. Thankfully, we won a fantastic match sporting black.
Negatives? Well, I don’t want to spoil my celebratory mood by talking about negatives but there are some though. We should stop conceding goals. Now that’s the third straight match that we have conceded a goal. With our back four and goalkeeper, we should do lot better. We seem to make things little difficult for ourselves at the back. Bosingwa and Ashley Cole’s increased involvement in the attack is a part of the problem but we earn more than we lose there. But is there a way where we earn but don’t lose anything? Scolari will come up with his goods. I trust him.
Drogba came on for the last 20 minutes and contributed nothing at all. He was simply walking around, looking a bit indifferent. If he wasn’t fit enough, he should have played another reserve match. If he was fit, what was he doing there, walking like he was in his garden? I was waiting so much for his return and he comes in only to flex his muscles. Next match, I want to see the Drogba, the intimidator not Drogba, the by-stander. And yes, I’m officially a fan of Bosingwa. He turns out to be superb signing. I like his intelligence, his work rate and more than anything, his attitude on the pitch.
Overall, it was a great team performance. Everyone worked so hard. Despite being a goal down in this high profile away match, our players wanted to beat them and they did not want to settle for anything less. Man City knows that we should have won this match by a 4 or 5 goal margin. Scolari had said that we won’t miss Robinho, there is no better way than this win to prove that. Keep away, the blue army marching on. Who’s next? The team placed 13th in the league table? Bring them on!
52 Comments
1. cfcir
2. CJ - 16yrs Blues Fan
I dunno why when everytime Robinho does the “step-over-&-over”and our defenders just took away the ball from him cleanly…. it just makes me REAL HAPPY. 
Great results and quality possession play from CHELSEA.
JT’s sending off is real bull and I’ll be real pissed with the FA if the appeal fails.
(I’m always pissed with them anyway).
I’m so happy for FRANK as he really needed that goal to silent the critics.
Ricardo C is definitely my choice of M-O-M!!!
~= I’m gonna have a great week with this results = ~
3. Nihongo Blue
i am very very happy today after being very sorrow when robinho scored
eventually its a team game and team wins it.. man utd lost and we won .. big + towards title race
4. Nihongo Blue
terrys red card will be contested and we will win as it was not a red card at all..
5. cap123
no we won’t, because the referee is claiming it was for the foul itself not because he was the last man. That means that it was a decision based on the challenge, not because of a rule which he got wrong, you know, he judged it so therefore i don’t think the FA can see it as wrong. Now if the ref is honest, and admits he thought he was last man, it’s a different situation, but i doubt he will.
Also it also makes it 3 games not 1, for dangerous play.
6. Adonis
We dominated the Oil Derby in a magnificent display of poise, I loved each of our goals, Deco and Lampard ran riot, and we certainly must win the appeal for Terry’s rediculous red card.
Man U also lost after a laughable own goal by the worst right back in the nation.
Speaking of right backs, what a buy Bosingwa has been! A fully fit Drogba is going to be full to the brim after being fed excellent crosses one after the other off his Congolese/Portugese boots.
What a team, what a result, KTBFFH!!!
7. cap123
i hope drogba didn’t want to get injuried, or had given up since we were playing defensive after the red card… because he seemed pretty disinterested! i hope it was just the situation, because i was so excited to see him back in action and he kept doing his silly little dramatic spins of disgust!
8. cap123
also i haven’t been positive yet! oops! deco and lampard was inspired, between them and ricardo for MoM, great to watch! glad that SWP is playing well again, i hope he scores against man united and the likes. Glad that anelka could get a goal, he just needs to put a few away like that and it’ll all come naturally again. Sturdy enough performance by mikel, he lingered on the ball a bit at times, but he anoymous for most of the match and i’m sure thats a good thing!
malouda was… blah. i’d buy schweinsteiger in january if possible, and let poor old newcastle have malouda, or who was it? roma i think? i’m a big fan of schweiny though, so maybe you guys still want to give malouda a chance.
9. Lissette Evil Blue
It was A BEAUTIFUL GAME :D. Are we on top of the list or Wat. Better than that, both sides of Manchester lost today. We show Robitchnho wat he has missed . Next week I want Chelsea to trash CRonaldo United
10. Adonis
“Borinho” is a little tough, BC… Nothing was more exciting than seeing our defenders making a fool out of him 
11. cap123
hey about the not letting goals in! we’ve only let two in, one from a careless mistake from a set piece, and the other a careless mistake from a non-defensive midfielder. I don’t think our defence are doing too badly!
12. patty trublue
yes! we showed robinho he made a mistake and we proved we don’t need him anyway! great result, now bring on man united! CARN U BLUES! 
13. KG
it was awesome!! i was jumping for joy watching this game. Eat that Robinho, to your face!!
Lamps and Deco were absolutely brilliant, they’re like the best midfield combo out there right now. Essien injury? haha its all right, we’ll do fine.
frankly, i’m not that big a fan of Malouda, but i say give the lad more chances, its obvious from this game he’s trying very hard, who know, he might rediscover his lethal touch.
14. bluebayou
That Robinho goal was a deflection either off Lamps’ back or Mikel’s head. Halsey gave JT the red because ManUre lost today and he was trying to even things up for them next week. Other than those two really really ugly incidents, the day was superb. Chris Waddle was commentating for the BBC and he said Chelsea are the best team in the league. He is a Chelsea hater through and through so this was high praise indeed. Now let’s see if we can put another nail in ManUre’s coffin next week at The Bridge.
15. Den
interestingf to see how we line up for the champ league game, ballack is available now. I think lining up with 2 natural wingers helps our style and we arnt as one-dimensional.
16. Adonis
Hey BC… Although we’ve let in two goals, I’m ok with that… The goal against the Spurs was an unlucky deflection from Lampard straight into Bent’s path, and the Robinho goal was a) a very debatable foul that could have not been given and b) a superb strike by Robinho.
We’re top of the league. Everything’s going smoothly. If Mikel AND Ballack are out, we’re in real trouble, but until then, we’re tip-top.
We’re the best team in the league indeed.
17. Nick
I hear that JT had a row with Cech. Can anyone tell me what was it about? It sucks that Terry was at fault for two weeks in a row (letting Croatia score and getting himself sent off).
18. Jo
terry shouldn’t get a red card…yellow card at most…it was a professional foul..i guess the appeal will be successful as it was nt a last man foul… and Jo falls over easily…
19. cfcir
Zele Ismail :the next theo walcot at chelsea?
20. johnarejr
“They have Robinho–We have Carvaliho–We have Frank Lampard–We have Anelka!” Fantastic Game! I don’t know, I liked the way Bosingwa and Ashley were pushing the ball forward. Heck, Ash almost put one in and Jose’s passes looked a lot better than SWP’s corners. Lamps, man of the match? I liked Ricky, he came up with a heck of a save as well. I could have thrown a brick at the TV when I saw Malouda miss that Christmas gift of a header! Dang, I thought Kalou was inconsistent. Anelka did atone for his mistakes. Deco and Mikel were fantastic as well. They did everything they were supposed to do except score.
To me, this match was proof that Fraud Town (a team that I despise even more than Liverpool), though a collection of talented players, is NOT READY AND CANNOT HANDLE THE BETTER TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE! Yeah, Robinho had a good goal (with help from miscommunicated defending) and showed fine footwork. But, made poor passing mistakes. Terry, Mikel, Ricky, and the MEN were not impressed with the “little thumbsucker’s” tricks. SWP, heck he had 3 seasons to prove his worth at the ‘Bridge and failed.
I don’t see where Chelsea missed him. Richards is solid though. I liked Dunne as well. But, they have to gel together as a team to even have a chance against the other mid-table marauders. Until then, they have no business playing the likes of Everton, Pompey, Spurs, or Villa much less the top four!
21. cfcir
C.RONALDO SET TO RETURN FOR CHELSEA MATCH,ANY WAY WE GOT ASHLEY COLE TO DISMISS HIM.
SOME REPORTS SAY THAT CHELSEA WANT BARRY TO REPLACE ESSIEN,
22. CJ - 16yrs Blues Fan
I’ve just re-watched the match again (I couldn’t help it) and I realized that how important for Robinho to score an early goal against us from an arguable foul. It actually lifted the team to the next gear and doubles our workrate in the midfield. The goal got the best out of Chelsea and after the equalizer, our spirit and motive was clearly more than what Man City could handle.
In regards to Malouda’s performance, well, I think the boy is confuse with his natural role and what (I assume) Scolari’s desired dream role for him; but hey, as long as we keep winning, I think he deserves a few more games. What really surprise me was WHY Scolari kept omitting Kalou? Is it his level of commitment or lack of ability is yet to be known. I wish we could give Didier more time as rushing him back too early might leaves us dry comes 2nd half of the season.
23. trueplatinum
man city never had a chance
and they never should of had that goal, firstly carvahlo made minimal contact with jo, after clearing the ball away, secondly, it was clear that the wall had not been set properly, cech was angry
the exact reason i didnt want robinho, is because of wat we did to him, in open play, against a solid defence, he is useless. i have the same worry about deco but then in fairness, deco likes to pull strings from distance rather than attempt as many step overs as possible
im not happy about the red card, its a simple rule, unless the tackle is dangerous, only the last man back get the red. terry might not have quite used a regular challenge, but it still wasn’t a red
i am also impressed by mikel, he played as well as he did against man city
with essien out for months, mikel is stepping up
24. cap123
if scolari buys barry i will have a fit. last thing mikel needs is more competition, especially when essien gets back. buy someone (a bit) pants for cheap, who’s just about capable if mikel got injuried, maybe even get someone from reserves or youth team. mikel is a fine first teamer and has finally got his spot for a while.
25. BC_ParTiZaN
kinda glad that terry is red-carded, dun get me wrong guys.. i juz wanna see the return of our other WALL.. Alex! Let him contribute to the team again! Poor boy, he’s a world class CB and in need of some games! We all know he did a phenomenal job when terry was out last season, rarely made stupid mistakes, solid and score some miraculous goals as well..!! m sure he can prove his worth again..
26. KG
yea, so even if JT’s appeal do not happen, we have Alex who can cover perfectly well. in fact he’s like a bigger, stronger and more bullish version of JT. but of course, no one replaces JT!
27. ish
i agree alex is class, also ivanovic is good as well. If c.ron is back against chelsea it will interesting to see whether he will play right wing since bosingwa is still defensively suspect. Against ashley cole ronaldo never does anything.
28. ravi
Lets see if Scholari plays both our center forwards in the Champions League tie. It will be interesting to have both drogba and anelka play against Utd , now that Vidic is out for that tie.
29. Den
we could just sign stephen appiah for free transfer as he is outa contract/ Very good player can play holding role.
30. Den
for champ league i wont be suprised if he goes with 4-4-2 but flor man utd game no no no. this will be the team for the man utd game(not counting injuries if they happen against beourdeax.
——————-Cech——————
–Bosingwa–Alex—Carvalho—A.Cole–
—————–Mikel——————-
——-Ballack———–Lampard——-
–Deco—————————J.Cole–
—————-Drogba——————-
31. vijay anil
It was predicted well before with your analysis and chelseee is executing…..
Good Show by Chelsea, wish to see the same go coming ahead….
Anil
32. ravi
if we sign stephen appiah , then next summer we may have to sign one more holding midfielder as all of them would go for african cup of nations.. why not promote ivanoic , rather than putting him on sub bench..
stephen seems to be prefering everton or portsmouth as they are offering a long term contract.
33. neo
hahahaha…..keep on dreaming city….chelsea play better game than city…and borinho…sorry to say…..we dont need u….hahahaha…
34. pandayumyum
wats this i hear about barry to chelsea
the guy can play anywhere on the field (holding mid, out wide, fullback, even centre back)
he would be a great asset as a utility player
35. JoseHoliday
Did you guys notice SWP ? Wasn’t the chap sprightly ?
Good that he’s back where he should be, better that he didn’t score against us,LOL !
36. MoiBlue,
Alex can easily cover for JT. No probs there!!! The problem is the striker. As always my confidence on Anelka is very low and Drogbas fitness will be tested. Kalou should be given a chance, and i guess we should sign a good striker in jan or else promote the likes of di santo.
37. Michael
What do you boys think of Bordeaux this Wednesday? They have a decent squad but nothing Chelsea can handle. My prediction 3-0
38. stan
i continue 2 tell people mikel is better than essien in the holding role
essien shuld play more offensive
or better still come in as a sub , since he got the strength and pace and maybe change the game
39. patty trublue
i think Mikel is very underrated. i dont know why we’re looking for a replacement for Essien. I think Scholari should give him a chance.
As for Bordeaux, i think we should easily account for them. They are good but our squad is far superior and it should be a good test for the boys but not one that is overly difficult. I think we’ll win 3-0, at the worst 2-1.
I also think Scholari should give Di Santo a game. Even as a sub, it would be good for him to test himself in Europe.
40. Spyder
The calender inclusion is a great feature. Keep it up BC.
41. Spyder
The calender inclusion is a great feature. Keep it up BC. ( Is this a new addition or is it a feature which I haven’t noticed ???)
42. Jo
Maybe scolari should rest some players for the man u game but still he should field a strong team tt can guarentee a win…for me i think this squad will be good
cech
ferriera carvalho terry a cole/bridge
ivanovic/belleti
lampard deco
kalou drogba/di santo malouda
against man u we may try 4-4-2
cech
bosingwa carvalho alex(if terry is suspended) a cole
mikel
joecole deco lampard
drogba anelka/malouda
43. Jo
i think drogba should not get 70 min of play for the champions league match as he seems abit off when he play against man city…due to lack of match fitness…what do you guys think abt my formation
44. MiguelC
Drogba cant play,hes on suspension because of the red card he got on the final.That leaves the door open for Kalou as sub for Anelka if Chelsea is wining by two or more and one of the goals comes from Anelka.
45. Morten
Goodbye Steve Clarke 
I hope Di Santo is in the starting XI against Bordeaux, i really want to see what he can do.
46. Adonis
My formation for Bordeaux:
Cech
Ferreira-Terry-Alex-Bridge
—Ivanovic—
Lamps-Ballack
Deco——–Joey
—Kalou/Di Santo—
Our midfield trio of Ballack, Deco, and Lampsy are our main goal threats/creators. Kalou or Di Santo polish off with some speed in Kalou’s case or size in Di Santo’s case.
We rest Mikel and Drogba who are recovering from injuries and not fully fit, as well as Bosingwa, Ashley, and Ricardo, our best available defenders for the Man U game. Alex gets a game under his belt, so does Ivanovic.
It’s a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win, or something like that… Chelsea wins, too! I’m guessing, 3-1.
For Man U, if Terry’s suspended:
Cech
Bosingwa-Carvalho-Terry-Cole
—Mikel—
Lamps—Ballack
Deco——Joey
—-Drogba—
I’m quite sad we haven’t utilized Kalou, Di Santo, or Ivanovic. Even Ferreira could get some action.
They’ll be needed in a pinch, these players. We’ve had a great start to the season, let’s give them a taste of it!
47. cap123
adonis is playing hardball, you’re going to play him even though he’s suspended! yeah take that fa!
hehe, i also totally agree with that formation with alex included of course. Both of them actually! with both kalou and di santo playing, di santo coming on at about 70 mins.
48. Adonis
Sorry, Alex instead of Terry for the Man U game…
49. Adonis
They keep saying we’re playing 4-1-4-1… What’s the difference between that and our 4-3-3?? I still think we’re playin 4-3-3… Can anyone clarify the 4-1-4-1 thing??
50. churchill
—————-cech—————-
bosingwa———–riccy——–cole
————–beletti————-
————–mikel————–
——-deco—————lamps—
malouda———————joey
————–anelka————-
subs- cudicini, drogs, alex, ivanovic, ballack, di santo, kalou
what do you guys think?
51. xerxesk
DROGBA CAN’T PLAY THE champ league match because of suspension of slapping vidic.
52. Den
——————Cech—————
Bosingwa–Terry–Carvalho–A.Cole
————–Mikel—————–
—–Ballack—Deco–Lampard—–
———Kalou—Anelka———–
subs: Cudicini, Alex, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Bridge, Malouda, J.Cole
stupid ref ,sent our capitan off. that sent off kill our game,without it it would be 5:1 or 4:1.
| Quote This Comment | Add Comment | Go To Top | Back To Home | Gravatar | BC Shout | BBC Radio | Refresh |chelsea show them that money is nothing. belive me guys robinho cannot play always like this.