Sunday, November 27, 2005
sunday papers portsmouth away
sunday times: Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2: Pompey fury at Cole penalty Rob Hughes at Fratton Park THE Portsmouth team, by word and by deed, managed to get rid of their manager, but by running into the best team in England they could not arrest the defeats that now number five out of the past five times that Chelsea have come to this part of the south coast. According to the rumour mill, Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock is on his way to Fratton Park and will be paid £1m a year — on the evidence of this performance Warnock will earn every penny. And Chelsea? So much more composed and adept on and off the ball, they won comfortably to stretch their advantage at the top of the Premiership to 11 points. There were mixed emotions towards absent friends here yesterday evening. Nobody seemed to lament Alain Perrin, the Frenchman who had come and gone, dismissed after 21 games as Portsmouth manager. But for George Best, a friend of the chairman Milan Mandaric from their days together in San Jose, California, 27 years ago, there was the kind of reaction to melt the chilled night air. George would have approved. In keeping with the new vogue that began at midday in Wolverhampton, the crowd decided against the traditional silence and paid homage with a resounding applause, a chant of "Only one Georgie Best". Only one indeed. And one player who might have imagined, in his fantasies, that he is the modern entertainer, Laurent Robert, was not on the Portsmouth teamsheet, nor was the regular left-back Gregory Vignal. The revolution had started. And yet, hard and tenacious as Pompey fought, it was mostly Chelsea who had possession. But even then, Lomana LuaLua almost brought off a stunning surprise. In the 17th minute he was lurking 10 yards outside the Chelsea penalty box, with no Claude Makelele to police that space in front of the defence. Languidly, LuaLua allowed the ball to bounce once and then, with a short backlift but tremendous power from his right foot, he aimed his shot. It was heading just beneath the crossbar when Petr Cech arched his back and flicked the ball over the goal. At least we could see that under Joe Jordan, again the caretaker manager, Portsmouth would give up nothing without combat. There was too much of it in the 26th minute when Richard Hughes crash-tackled Joe Cole. Referee Phil Dowd was about to lecture Hughes when he was distracted by the noise from the touchline. The Chelsea head coach, Jose Mourinho, was throwing a tantrum, telling the referee his duty. Without a card for Hughes, but with stern words in the Portuguese ear, Dowd dealt with it in his own way. However, the free kick rewarded Chelsea even without Hughes being booked. It was touched to the right, Paulo Ferreira then drove it hopefully into the danger area, and there, ghosting into the action, was Hernan Crespo. With a deft deflection, the Argentinian striker scored from six yards, his third goal in three games for Chelsea. How can they leave him out? Alas, his contribution did not last until half-time. After being treated for bruising on his left hip bone, he was replaced after 38 minutes by the England Under-21 striker Carlton Cole. "I hope he recovers, because he's on fire," said Mourinho afterwards. In reality the "star man" of this encounter was Team Chelsea as Portsmouth tried to kick the champions out of their stride. "Cheat! Cheat!" the home supporters cried when Joe Cole, as brave as could be, was hauled down inside the penalty area by Dejan Stefanovic. Despite angry protests by the Pompey faithful, Dowd had got this one right. It was a clear penalty. It was the moment for the inevitable Frank Lampard to crown his extraordinary record of 160 consecutive Premiership appearances with the spot-kick, which was his 11th goal in 14 matches. It could have been so much worse for Portsmouth — the yellow cards dished out to Hughes and Stefanovic for their treatment of Joe Cole could so easily have been red. Afterwards, Jordan appealed for Mandaric to appoint a successor to Perrin as soon as possible — provided they make sure it is the right man. Jordan could still be in charge against his old club Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday but has made it clear he does not want the manager's job and would prefer to remain as coach. He picked the team for this match, and said: "I enjoyed the responsibility of that but I'm content to work with the players on the training field. They were up for this match and I had high hopes until the first goal. That made it a hard task for us, but the team played with good spirit. "When Chelsea got the second goal from the penalty spot it was very difficult for us. But there are some good players here and we have a good set of supporters. "What we need now is to have the right man in charge. That's up to the chairman to get who he wants. He's made changes over his time here but it is his choice. "I know that I will be going to Old Trafford next week either as temporary manager or coach. I've got a contract until the end of the season but as long as I'm working in football I'm happy." Mourinho saw his team go those 11 points clear at the top of the Premiership and said: "We were quite comfortable in the end. Portsmouth's players were aggressive but not too aggressive and our players did well to cope. "Joe Cole played a good game and I only took him off before the end because he has four bookings and will be suspended after the next one. "Joe is one of the best wingers in the game but I'm going to leave him in peace and not call him the new George Best like you ask. "We could have had two penalties, not just one. Joe Cole was fouled inside the box after Frank Lampard scored the first but the free kick was outside. "Frank was in good form as usual. It is an incredible feat to play 160 games in a row in the League." Of Crespo's injury, Mourinho said: "It could be his back, his ribs, his leg, anything. We are not sure yet. We have Didier Drogba and Claude Makelele out injured but Carlton Cole came on as a substitute and did well for us." STAR MAN: Joe Cole (Chelsea) Player ratings. Portsmouth: Ashdown 7, Priske 6, O'Brien 6, Stefanovic 5, Griffin 6, O'Neil 7, Diao 6, Hughes 5, Taylor 5, Silva 4 (Todorov 64min, 6), LuaLua 6 Chelsea: Cech 7, Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, Gallas 7, J Cole 8 (Geremi 82min, 6), Gudjohnsen 7, Essien 7, Lampard 7, Duff 7 (Wright-Phillips 80min, 6), Crespo 7 (C Cole 38min, 6) Scorers: Chelsea: Crespo 27, Lampard 67 pen Referee: P Dowd Attendance: 20,182 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ mirror: HE'S JUST FRAN-TASTIC PORTSMOUTH......0 CHELSEA...............2 Crespo 27, Lampard (pen) 67: Lampard wraps it up on his day to remember Paul Smith FRANK LAMPARD put the seal on his record-breaking day with the penalty that wrapped up another three points for Chelsea and prolonged the misery for Portsmouth. A week of turmoil on the South Coast finally ended with the departure of French coach Alain Perrin on Thursday morning. Perrin's pleas to be given more time following a dismal run of just four wins in 21 games, the worst record of any manager in the club's history, fell on deaf ears as chairman Milan Mandaric reluctantly wielded the axe in an attempt to save the club from relegation. In the absence of an immediate successor, Joe Jordan took temporary charge as Pompey welcomed the defending Premiership champions. George Best, who had been a regular visitor to Fratton Park over the years because of his 27-year friendship with Mandaric, received a fitting send-off from the capacity crowd, who witnessed a historical day for Lampard, playing in his 160th consecutive Premiership game and beating the record previously held by Man City goalkeeper David James. Pompey belied their position at the foot of the table by taking the game to the leaders. But it was Lampard who came closest to opening the scoring when his 25-yard free-kick went narrowly wide. Then an astonishing save from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech in the 18th minute denied Pompey's Lomana LuaLua when he struck the ball from 20 yards with the outside of his foot only to watch in dismay as the Czech international tipped the ball over the bar in full flight. Pompey continued to trouble the leaders as their renewed confidence was evident. However, the danger signs were there every time the visitors pushed forward in numbers. When Jose Mourinho remonstrated with the referee following a late tackle by Richard Hughes on Joe Cole, the goading by the home fans backfired on them. Barely a minute later the ball reached the feet of Paulo Ferreira and when Jamie Ashdown appeared to have his shot covered, Argentine striker Hernan Crespo nipped in to divert the ball into the net. Crespo was to play no further part in the game - he limped off the field in the 38th minute and was replaced by Carlton Cole. Pompey almost equalised in first-half stoppage time. LuaLua sent the ball in hard and low and when Gary OiNeill picked it up and centred for Dario Silva, Cech dived at his feet to retrieve the ball. Pompey came out fired up for the second half and immediately embarked on trying to find an equaliser. But once Chelsea had weathered the homes side's early storm, they began to take control of the game. To their credit Pompey, backed by the vocal support of their fans, continued to plug away. Midfielder Richard Hughes, who was lucky to escape a caution in the first half when he brought down Joe Cole, wasn't so lucky when he went in late on the same player in the 59th minute and referee Phil Dowd immediately brandished the yellow card. Jordan decided to freshen up his striking options in the 63rd minute and sent on Svetoslav Todorov. But four minutes after he entered the field of play Pompey went 2-0 down when Dejan Stefanovic brought Joe Cole down in the penalty area and Lampard stepped up to score his 12th goal of the campaign from the spot. The home side were fortunate not to concede another penalty just minutes later when Stefanovic brought that man Cole down again and referee Dowd adjudged it was just outside the box. The second goal effectively killed the game off as a contest and as the home side's discipline appeared to disintegrate, only the intervention of Jordan, who took Hughes off the pitch, prevented the midfielder from leaving the field in shame. Sadly his replacement, John Viafara, took on Hughes's mantle and brought Cole down with his first tackle. Eidur Gudjohnsen almost added a third from the subsequent free-kick but was denied by Ashdown. Chelsea barely broke sweat as they saw out the game to take the three points and strengthen their position at the top MAN OF THE MATCH JOE COLE The Chelsea star simply tormented Pompey with a vintage display on the wing. Cole was in irresistible form.RATINGS PORTSMOUTH: Ashdown 7, Stefanovic 7, O'Brien 7, Priske 7, Griffin 7, Hughes 6, Diao 6, O'Neil 7, Taylor 7, Silva 6 (Todorov 6), LuaLua 7. CHELSEA: Cech 7, Essien 8, Carvalho 7, Lampard 7, Crespo 7 (C Cole 6), J COLE 9, Duff 7, Gallas 7, Ferreira 7, Gudjohnsen 7, Terry 7. MANAGERS: Jordan 7; Mourinho 7 REFEREE: P Dowd 7 Portsmouth's last victory over Chelsea at Fratton Park is almost ancient history, 3-0 on Boxing Day 1957. Russia had just launched the first ever living being into space, a dog called Laika. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observer: Chelsea in cruise control to glide past shaky Pompey Gerry Cox at Fratton Park Sunday November 27, 2005 The Observer Chelsea moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premiership after yet another functional rather than thrilling victory, a result that leaves Portsmouth still deep in trouble. Having sacked Alain Perrin earlier in the week and then seen the death of his close friend, George Best, Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric must have been hoping for a ray of light from this game, but with Chelsea cruising mercilessly towards a second successive title, an upset was never on the cards. A first-half goal from Hernan Crespo and a second-half penalty from Frank Lampard were enough to see Chelsea through what became a bad-tempered game, but they hardly got out of second gear against caretaker-manager Joe Jordan's side. What must have dismayed Jordan was that on this evidence, Chelsea's players possessed not just superior skill and confidence, but greater strength and determination to win the ball. Their hunger is easily explained. With such a large and talented squad, no one - with the possible exceptions of Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard - can allow his performance to dip without fear of losing his place. Didier Drogba was the victim on this occasion, the £26m striker not even making the substitutes' bench. Whatever the reason, the move gave a rare opportunity for Carlton Cole to play a Premiership game for Chelsea, the England under-21 striker going on as substitute for Crespo not long after the Argentine forward put his side ahead in the 27th minute. It was either a superb opportunist goal or somewhat fortunate, depending on your view. Certainly Paulo Ferreira's 30-yard shot appeared to be covered by goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown as he went towards the far corner of his goal before Crespo appeared from nowhere to divert the ball into the opposite side of the net with the outside of his boot. But when Crespo trotted off holding his ribs 12 minutes later, Cole got his chance to impress. Even though Pompey were on the back foot from the start, Chelsea played a patient game, happy to knock the ball around in their own half while waiting for openings. If the first half had been a curiously passionless affair, things livened up after the break, no doubt due to Jordan impressing on his players that they had half a chance if they were to take the game to Chelsea. Portsmouth started to show plenty of passion, certainly, but there was a bit too much bite for referee Phil Dowd, who produced a flurry of yellow cards for incidents involving the two Chelsea Coles, Joe and Carlton. The latter was also booked after a late challenge on Andy Griffin, but it was the former who caused most problems for Pompey and their supporters. Joe Cole had taken some heavy tackles from the opening minutes, but as the game opened up and he started running at opponents, they simply could not cope with him. Richard Hughes was booked for hauling him down on the hour, and five minutes later Dejan Stefanovic was cautioned after tripping the England midfielder in the penalty area. The resultant penalty brought protests from Portsmouth's players, howls of derision from their supporters and jibes towards Joe Cole and the referee. Television replays, however, showed that Mr Dowd was correct to spot Stefanovic trip Cole, and Lampard duly sent Ashdown the wrong way from the penalty spot. Not a bad way to celebrate his 160th successive league appearance, a new Premiership record. The crowd should have been grateful that the referee did not award another penalty when Cole was brought down by Stefanovic again. It looked marginally inside the penalty area, but Mr Dowd gave a free-kick outside. Lampard's free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall, and Joe Cole's follow-up shot flew over the bar, to the delight of the home supporters. Lomana LuaLua curled another one over the bar for Portsmouth, but despite the introduction of Svetoslav Todorov as a replacement for the disappointing Dario Silva, the home side hardly threatened Cech again. Chelsea could have had more, with Ricardo Carvalho missing a free header in front of goal, Carlton Cole volleying wastefully wide and Eidur Gudjohnsen having a fierce free-kick saved by Ashdown in the closing stages. But this Chelsea side seem happy enough to get the job done with the minimum of fuss, and the final whistle was as low-key as the rest of the match, except for more jeers aimed at the referee and the muted celebrations of the small band of Chelsea supporters. Man of the match: Joe Cole - Home fans howled 'diver' and worse every time he earned a free-kick, but in truth Cole was a step ahead of his heavy-tackling markers and just too quick for them. 'He's one of the best wingers in the game today,' said Jose Mourinho. 'The only way they could stop him was to foul him. He should have had two penalties, not one.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Telegraph: Record-breaker Lampard seals it for Chelsea By Trevor Haylett at Fratton Park Portsmouth (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2 It really matters not a jot who is in charge of Portsmouth, Chelsea will usually come here and win 2-0. They did so in Harry Redknapp's time and again when the luckless Velimir Zajec took his turn at the helm. Showing Alain Perrin the door last week was never likely to affect the stranglehold the champions enjoy over these opponents. If the fixture observed a rare symmetry it also showed that Frank Lampard, among all his other qualities, has a special gift for timing. On the day when he established a new record with a 160th consecutive Premiership appearance, the England midfielder rapped home a second-half penalty to seal a victory which sent Chelsea 11 points clear at the head of the field and again owed more to their application and understanding than outstanding skill. Then again there was not a lot for them to beat. Even for a chairman who's axe is constantly kept sharp - the next appointment will be the eighth manager to work under Milan Mandaric since he took control in 1999 - this has been a particularly hard week. Following Perrin's departure after a miserable record of four wins in 21 games, bookmakers have stopped taking bets on the return of Harry Redknapp to Fratton Park. Would Harry cross the South Coast divide a second time? It seems an unlikely possibility with Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock remaining the more likely candidate. Joe Jordan's first selection as caretaker gave his club's supporters an immediate lift as it showed the return of Dario Silva. The significance lay in the fact that Portsmouth would be confronting Chelsea with two strikers, a positive step forward from the previous era when attackers were burdened with solo duties. Initially Lomana LuaLua took strength from having company and showed nifty footwork to spread concern among Chelsea's defenders. From the opposite flank he dispatched an awkward low cross which Petr Cech was relieved to deal with cleanly. Soon Chelsea took control though their possession was confined to the central areas as the home team guarded their 18-yard line zealously. Lampard's free-kick skidded wide on 14 minutes but Chelsea had not seriously threatened before they took the lead in the 27th minute. Maybe Mourinho's protests after a particularly stiff challenge on Joe Cole, helped to stir his team. Lampard swept the ball square to Paulo Ferreira who' s shot from distance carried power. Jamie Ashdown probably had it covered but in nipped Hernan Crespo to apply the decisive touch. It was just about the last contribution from the Argentinian who took a knock and hobbled off in pain. Portsmouth, still without a home win after seven attempts, were having to work exceptionally hard for their openings. The home crowd demanded a more vigourous response from their team and it was answered with a spate of second-half bookings. Joe Cole aroused mounting hostility with the way he went to ground and there was a furious response when he tumbled in the area as Dejan Stefanovic caught him with a boot. Replays showed, however, that Phil Dowd had called the penalty correctly. Lampard's successful conversion was followed three minutes later by another Cole charge at Stefanovic. Down went the England man again in the box though he was quickly up on his feet to signal no foul. Dowd overruled him and then placed the ball outside the area, a decision which succeeded in baffling both sets of players. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Independent; Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2: Pompey wait on Warnock to chime in Sack-happy Mandaric watches his leaderless side succumb to the class of Crespo and Cole By Steve Tongue at Fratton Park Published: 27 November 2005 Sacking a manager generally has the desired effect of shaking a team up, with the players whose performances have brought the bad results suddenly stirring themselves. Finding that Chelsea are the next opposition, however, sharply diminishes the chances of improving a poor run, as Portsmouth discovered yesterday evening. However soon a new man is appointed in succession to Alain Perrin he can hardly look forward to the forthcoming trips to Manchester United and Tottenham, two of the sides in the group at the top of the Premiership who are playing for second place behind Chelsea. Goals by Hernan Crespo and Frank Lampard earned the visitors a comfortable victory here, extending their lead to a daunting 11 points. Lampard, after misplacing some early passes, became his usual influential self and converted a penalty to commemorate the day he broke David James' Premiership record of 160 consecutive appearances; it is a staggering run for an outfield player. Joe Cole, though less renowned for his consistency, outshone his midfield colleagues here and George Best, for all his allegiance to Portsmouth and their chairman Milan Mandaric, would have admired the brave way Cole continued to go at the home defenders despite some brutal treatment. His tangible reward was to earn the penalty that sealed the points. The names of Neil Warnock, Ruud Gullit and - intriguingly - Harry Redknapp are believed to be on the short-list compiled by the sack-happy Mandaric. Logically, even the promise of a huge wage increase ought not to be enough to tempt Warnock to leave his home-town club, Sheffield United, now that he finally has them in a position to reach the Premiership - all the more so since Pompey could pass them on the way down unless the right signings are made in January. But when did logic count for anything in the world of football management? "We've been through tough times before and we need unity from you all," Mandaric wrote in the match programme. The crowd were as good as ever, getting behind their team from the start and encouraging them into a reasonable first 20 minutes before the first goal. Portsmouth had one good moment before that occurred. In the 19th minute, the Uruguayan Dario Silva touched on a long clearance from the goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and Lomana LuaLua hit a fierce shot that Petr Cech turned expertly over the bar with his left hand. But eight minutes later Paulo Ferreira moved forward to send in a drive towards the far side of the goal and an unmarked Crespo, showing dazzling reflexes, diverted it into the other side of the net past a startled Ashdown. It was the Argentinian's third goal in as many games, but he would not last as long as half-time. After taking the second of two bangs in the back he persuaded Jose Mourinho to replace him, Carlton Cole coming on for a rare and undistinguished appearance. Earlier Mourinho, understandably upset by three bad fouls on Joe Cole just in front of him, had been sharply spoken to by the referee, Phil Dowd, for making his displeasure known too vigorously. Soon after half-time Dowd was noting the names of Salif Diao, Carlton Cole and Richard Hughes all for bad tackles, quickly followed by Andy Griffin. The home crowd felt that Joe Cole went down too easily for that last challenge and they were furious when he fell under Dejan Stefanovic's challenge in the penalty area midway through the second half. But television replays confirmed the initial impression that he had turned too quickly for the Serbian international's lunge, and the penalty award was quite correct. Lampard banged in the spot-kick and only a couple of minutes later Stefanovic dived in on Cole equally rashly right on the edge of the area and was fortunate to escape with a free-kick and no second card. As Chelsea have not conceded a goal in the second half of their last 19 Premiership games, they were entitled to believe the hard work was done and the points were secure. So it proved and Mourinho was able to give a run to Shaun Wright-Phillips and Géremi, the latter almost adding to the lead with a deftly curled free-kick. "It was not easy," Mourinho said of the win, which counted as generosity in victory.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
morning papers anderlecht away
Chelsea cruise on with Crespo
Jon Brodkin at Constant vanden Stock StadiumThursday November 24, 2005The Guardian
Jose Mourinho's sums may have let him down on the eve of this fixture but his team did nothing of the sort last night. Two early goals enabled Chelsea to play in cruise control for much of the match. With Real Betis failing to win at Anfield this took the Premiership champions through to the last 16, meaning their manager was spot on in suggesting that three more points would suffice. A similar result at home to Liverpool would secure the group's top spot.
Far tougher tests than this lie ahead but Chelsea are entitled to feel satisfied with a first away win in this tournament for just over a year. They were stronger, slicker and of a higher quality than a poor Anderlecht team, who barely looked like scoring after they wasted a fine chance to take the lead and have now lost 12 straight Champions League matches. When asked to, Chelsea defended soundly, with Michael Essien growing into his role as the holding midfielder.Hernán Crespo underlined his increasing value with a second strike in as many games and some nice touches with his back to goal as Chelsea, afforded far more space than usual, dictated the pace and rhythm. They started excellently and were content to play within themselves in the second half. Late on they struck a post through the influential Frank Lampard, who had set up both goals.
Chelsea could hardly be blamed for not expending energy in searching relentlessly for a bigger margin of victory or potentially exposing themselves to counter-attacks. They have plenty of Premiership business to attend to, starting at Portsmouth on Saturday, and Mourinho took the opportunity to bring on Lassana Diarra, Geremi and Carlton Cole.
The final group match against Liverpool in a fortnight will be nothing more than a face-off for first place. Mourinho said he would set out to win but that it was "not important" where his team finished. "If you are first you can get Real Madrid," he noted. "If second, you can get Lyon. What's the difference between playing Juventus and Bayern Munich? Maybe if you are first you have to play against Milan and second against PSV Eindhoven. Like last season, we finished first and played Barcelona."
Events here were as good as over after goals from Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho inside 15 minutes. Mourinho had called on his players to begin brightly and not underestimate the task after the failure to beat other troubled teams in Betis, Manchester United and Everton in recent weeks, and they did precisely that.
The identity of the goalscorers vindicated the manager's selections. He had stuck with Crespo and left Didier Drogba on the bench, and the Argentina striker coolly volleyed Chelsea's opener after Lampard robbed Anthony Vanden Borre, accelerated down the left and centred with his supposedly weaker foot.
It was Crespo's first start in this competition under Mourinho, who was surely reiterating that the striker has a future at the club despite suggestions to the contrary. Crespo's goals against Newcastle and here have shown his desire to succeed at Chelsea. "Hernán's performance was very good again," Mourinho said.
The advantage was doubled by Carvalho, chosen at centre-back instead of William Gallas, who was deployed at full-back. Carvalho does not score many but hit a powerful shot across goal after a Lampard corner was flicked on.
Chelsea were in control, retaining possession comfortably as Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen dictated matters, with good support from Joe Cole, but they might have faced a far tougher night had Anderlecht accepted an opening about 40 seconds before Crespo scored. A quick throw sent Christian Wilhelmsson down the right but Mbo Mpenza's shot from the Swede's cross spun wide.
The gap in class and muscle was soon evident and it was not hard to believe Anderlecht have been troubled by poor domestic results and infighting. They were jeered off by their fans. Mourinho had only praise for his players. "Our performance in the first half-hour was very good, very strong - quality in the game with intensity," he said. "The second half was not as beautiful as the first half but we controlled the game. We were under a little bit of pressure to qualify [but] we did it very well."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Anderlecht 0 Chelsea 2 Crespo's class tells as Chelsea cruise into knock-out stages By Jason Burt at the Vanden Stock Stadium Published: 24 November 2005 It isn't over until the fat lady sings, or so the saying goes. But she was warming up her tonsils on a bitter night in Brussels from the moment Hernan Crespo tapped the ball off the centre-spot to start proceedings. Never mind the opera, this was barely a drama, as one-sided a mismatch as the Champions' League gets, and it allowed Chelsea to record their first away win in seven matches in Europe.
A bizarre record indeed for such a formidable, and formidably resourced, opponent, and one stretching back to November last year, but by ending it - and with Real Betis failing to beat Liverpool - Chelsea qualified from Group G for the knock-out stages of this competition without having remotely to extend themselves.
Not that the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, cares whether his side or Liverpool top the group. "I think it is not important at all," he said, reasoning that facing Bayern Munich or Barcelona in the next round was much of a muchness. "But it would have been funny if Betis had won," he said. "Imagine Chelsea versus Liverpool. Ten points each and the loser is out of the competition. It would have been a fantastic night."
Some sense of humour that - and there was also a little dig at Rafael Benitez, saying he hoped he would come to entertain at Stamford Bridge next month. Mourinho also opened his comments with a swipe at having been criticised for his pre-match remark that all Chelsea needed to do was win. "First of all," he said, "I'm very good at maths because I told you three points was enough."
He was, again, right. Mourinho also got his permutations correct in playing Crespo ahead of Didier Drogba, and he was rewarded with a performance of class from the Argentinian, who is shifting into form, and into the limelight, just as Chelsea need him.
Crespo looked every bit the top international striker that he undoubtedly is and his employers would do well to smooth whatever unrest there remains in his heart over staying in London.
Crespo's name rang long into the night from the travelling Chelsea fans, whose team killed the game with two early goals in a first half that their manager described as "beautiful". That beauty was not maintained after the break although the firm grip established by the relentless power of Michael Essien was never loosened.
But Chelsea eased ahead through a goal created solely by Frank Lampard, who sent in what Mourinho described as an "unbelievable" cross for Crespo to leap and volley in. That came soon after Anderlecht should have scored when, with the disappointing Asier del Horno out of position, a quick throw-in released Christian Wilhelmsson, who pulled the ball back only for Mbo Mpenza to steer wide.
Soon the home side were further behind and again Crespo was involved. Lampard's corner was flicked on by the striker and Ricardo Carvalho half-volleyed into the roof of the net. Game over and with that Anderlecht were consigned to a record 12th consecutive Champions' League defeat.
Their only hope was the energy of Wilhelmsson but, in truth, and until Bart Goor made a hash of a cross late on, they were completely colourless and departed at both the half and full-time whistles to derision from their otherwise mute fans.
Perhaps because of the ease of it all, Chelsea dipped and a third goal would not come, as Crespo - in his final act before being replaced to a rich ovation - volleyed into the side-netting. His performance confirmed again the astonishing choices Mourinho has. There is the target man bludgeon of Didier Drogba, or the appealing rapier of Crespo. Last night belonged to the latter and he slit Anderlecht's throats. The smoothest of assassins.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Del Horno; Lampard, Essien, Gudjohnsen (Geremi, 78); J Cole (Diarra, 62), Crespo (C Cole, 86), Duff. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Drogba, Ferreira, Huth.
Anderlecht (4-4-2): Proto; Zewlakow, Kompany, Tihinen, Deschacht; Wilhelmsson, Vanden Borre, Vanderhaeghe (Iachtchouk, h-t), Goor; Mpenza (Zetterberg, 60), Akin (Ehret, 74). Substitutes not used: Zitka (gk), Juhasz, De Man, Mitu.
Referee: S Farina (Italy).
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Sun:Anderlecht 0 Chelsea 2 By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
CHELSEA have qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League.
After some poor performances, boss Jose Mourinho had ordered his side to put an end to their sloppy attitude.
And they did so in a fashion that would have delighted the coach with goals inside the first 15 minutes from Hernan Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho.
The win was also was enough to see the Blues progress to the next phase - as Mourinho had predicted.
In contrast, the Belgian side, without a goal in Europe this season or a victory in the Champions League for 12 games had nothing in their armoury.
Crespo, preferred in attack to Didier Drogba put the Blues in front after only seven minutes.
Frank Lampard enjoyed plenty of time and space on the left to deliver a pinpoint cross for Crespo.
And the Argentinian gave keeper Silvio Proto no chance by volleying the ball into the net.
In the 15th minute the away side doubled their advantage through Carvalho.
A corner on the right from Lampard was knocked on by Crespo for the Portuguese international to despatch a vicious volley into the top right-hand corner of the Anderlecht net.
It was Carvalho’s second goal in the competition and put Chelsea in complete control.
The rest of the first half saw Chelsea continue to dominate proceedings without adding to the scoreline.
Crespo saw a looping volley go just over the target and Joe Cole was unlucky with a chip that Proto just managed to collect from under the crossbar.
In the second half a clever run by Damien Duff almost opened up the Anderlecht defence once more.
But this time the Belgians managed to scramble the ball to safety.
Carvalho found himself through on goal in the 50th minute after Duff had put him clear but he did not have the legs to finish off the run and settled for a corner.
That resulted in Duff chancing his luck from 20 yards with a fierce shot that Proto did well to punch clear in a crowded goalmouth.
Anderlecht finally managed to get a shot on target in the 66th minute when Petr Cech was forced to dive low to his right to prevent Serhat Akin’s effort from creeping into the net at the near post.
But Chelsea almost added a third in the 84th minute when Lampard’s left-foot effort from just outside was pushed on to the foot of the post by Proto.
Seconds later Crespo should have done better with a right-foot shot that he place wide of the upright from six yards.
It was to be his last contribution of the night as Mourinho replaced him with Carlton Cole.
Liverpool’s goalless draw with Betis at Anfield ensured that both English sides qualified from Group G. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Crespo steers Chelsea through By Christopher Davies in Brussels Anderlecht (0) 0 Chelsea (2) 2
Latin flair and Belgian despair combined to see Chelsea gain the victory over Anderlecht which, with the failure of Real Betis to beat Liverpool, ensured the Premiership leaders of a place in the Champions League knockout phase for the third consecutive season.
Game over: Ricardo Carvalho celebrates Chelsea's second Hernan Crespo justified his selection ahead of Didier Drogba, the Argentine scoring the opening goal and laying on the second for Portugal international Ricardo Carvalho.
It brought to an end Chelsea's European travel sickness and was their first away win in the Champions League since their victory in Russia over Spartak Moscow just over a year ago.
With Liverpool also progressing to the next stage, it means the English derby between the Premiership and European Champions at Stamford Bridge in the final tie will decide which finish first in the group and become a seed for the next round. As Chelsea won their group last season and were then drawn to play Barcelona, Mourinho may question the value of winning the qualifying group.
However, it was never really in doubt that they would win a Champions League tie after eight failures because Anderlecht must be one of the most mediocre teams ever to rub shoulders with Europe's elite. The scoreline does not do justice to Chelsea's almost embarrassing superiority.
As the game progressed Chelsea, understandably, were happy to maintain their two-goal lead while Anderlecht were similarly content not to suffer a humiliating defeat. If it did not make for the most enthralling of matches, Chelsea flew home from Brussels with their mission of reaching the knockout stage accomplished.
Mourinho's mathematics had been questioned as he waded through the complexities of the qualification possibilities on the eve of the tie but the manager's team selection proved to be spot on, the choice of Crespo ahead of Drogba as the lone striker paying quick dividends.
With eight minutes gone Christian Wilhelmsson crossed from the right and Mbo Mpenza was a foot wide as he slid in on the centre. Anderlecht paid the heaviest of prices for Mpenza's profligacy because from the resulting goal-kick Chelsea scored.
Petr Cech's clearance found Damien Duff who helped the ball on to Frank Lampard on the left flank. The Footballer of the Year's centre was volleyed home by Crespo, making his first Champions League start under Mourinho, the Argentina international unmarked as he beat Silvio Proto from six yards.
Without a point or a goal in Group G, Anderlecht were looking at a fifth consecutive double-blank this season and when Ricardo Carvalho made it 2-0 in the 15th minute the game as a true contest was effectively over.
Lampard's right-wing corner was flicked on by Crespo to Carvalho by the far post and the Portugal defender scored with a half-volley from eight yards. Chelsea may have lost six of their last seven away ties in the Champions League but they had never been defeated when leading 2-0 under Mourinho and a side going into the match in the wake of 11 successive European defeats seemed unlikely to create a minor piece of Chelsea history.
Two minutes after the interval Mpenza was clear with only Cech to beat and for a moment the Constant Vanden Stock stadium held its collective breath.
Was Anderlecht's Champions League goal drought about to end? No. Mpenza's shot was saved by Cech's legs and, perhaps to the relief of the Anderlecht striker, he was offside, something he was unaware of at the time.
Apart from Lampard's shot with five minutes remaining that struck a post there was little to raise the pulse as the match became almost a glorified European training session for Chelsea though the suspicion is that their reserves would give them a tougher time than Anderlecht.
Match detailsAnderlecht (4-1-4-1): Proto; Zealakow, Kompany, Tihinen, Deschacht; Vanderhaeghe; Wilhelmsson, Vanden Borre, Akin (Ehret 75), Goor; Mpenza (Zetterberg 60). Subs: Zitka (g), Juhasz, Lachtchouk, De Man, Mitu. Booked: Vanden Boore. Chelsea ( 4-1-4-1): Cech; Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Del Horno; Essien; J Cole (Diarra 63), Lampard, Gudjohnsen (Geremi 78), Duff; Crespo (C Cole 86). Subs: Cudicini (g), Drogba, Paulo Ferreira, Huth. Booked: Del Horno, Terry. Referee: S Farina (Italy).
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Times:
It all adds up fine for Mourinho as Chelsea saunter onFrom Matt Hughes in BrusselsAnderlecht 0 Chelsea 2
JOSÉ MOURINHO may have failed his own maths test, but it would be impossible to argue with his logic. The Chelsea manager had demanded an improved attitude from his players and they responded with a performance of outstanding professionalism, securing the win that takes them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The match was over as a contest after 15 minutes thanks largely to Hernán Crespo, who kissed and made up with his manager by scoring the first goal and creating the second for Ricardo Carvalho. Such was the sense of lethargy among the away team’s fans that they amused themselves, if no one else, by singing about supposed slums in Liverpool, whose visit to Stamford Bridge next month will decide who finishes top of group G. Mourinho also appeared relaxed, even giving Gérémi a rare runout, before defending his mathematics.
"First of all I’m very good on maths because I thought three points would be enough and it was," Mourinho said. "The performance was very good in the first half. The attacking was very good and the intensity was there. We played very, very well and controlled the game."
Crespo was crucial to Chelsea establishing such control, making his first Champions League start under Mourinho and the first since scoring two goals in last season’s final for AC Milan. Mourinho has gone out of his way to make the fragile Crespo feel at home after a bust-up before Chelsea’s defeat away to Real Betis and made a big statement by overlooking his beloved Didier Drogba, the sledgehammer he uses to crack nuts. A knee injury to the Ivory Coast forward also influenced his decision.
"I choose Hernán because first of all I feel Didier is a target player and Hernán is a movement player," Mourinho said. "I always pick the team depending on what we need in each game. Hernán gave us what we needed and I also need to motivate players.
"Hernán performed very well for us and I always felt he was settled. He has great quality. I always wanted two players for every position and am happy with them. I’m getting what I want from both of them."
Crespo appeared determined to make the most of his opportunity from the outset, demonstrating surprising machismo for one usually so meek. Mourinho’s message — perspiration beats inspiration every time — may have got through. In the seventh minute he reached a through-pass from Joe Cole he had no right to get to, beating Hannu Tihinen to the ball and showing strength to hold off the Anderlecht captain, but his shot was saved by Silvio Proto.
In an entertaining opening Anderlecht threatened themselves a minute later, Mbo Mpenza shooting across goal after a cross from the right by Christian Wilhelmsson with Petr Cech nowhere, but that was the end of their evening.
Chelsea are a class apart when they counter-attack and 30 seconds on they scored when Crespo showed wonderful balance to direct a Frank Lampard cross into the net with a crisp volley from 12 yards, for his fifth goal in seven starts this season.
Having lost their previous 11 Champions League games and fought among themselves during a defeat by Westerlo at the weekend, Anderlecht’s heads understandably dropped and seven minutes later were between their knees. Crespo was again their tormentor, heading a Lampard corner across goal from the right for Carvalho to provide a neat finish. They may share a fondness for lank locks but their goalscoring records could not be more different, with the Portuguese celebrating his third goal for the club.
Despite their contribution to an open contest the home side were greeted with jeers at half-time. Many of their players, fatigued by weeks of failure, may not have wanted to return for the second half but they showed commendable character in coming back for more. They had chances too, Mpenza stealing the ball in the 47th minute from Carvalho, perhaps dreaming of further attacking glory, only to be ruled offside.
Carvalho’s dreams almost came to fruition four minutes later after a rare foray forward but his cross was cut out by Tihinen, while Lampard hit the post late on.
For the most part, though, Chelsea were happy to keep the ball, contentedly killing a game well and truly under control. The most interesting aspect of the second half was the introduction of Lassana Diarra, who was given the final half-hour. The 20-year-old Frenchman was signed as a long-term replacement for Claude Makelele, but on his second Chelsea appearance operated ahead of Michael Essien on the right of midfield, keeping the ball well without demonstrating any real quality. Tougher tests await for both the player and his club.
ANDERLECHT (4-3-2-1): S Proto — M Zewlakow, V Kompany, H Tihinen, O Deschacht — A Vanden Borre, Y Vanderhaege (sub: O Iachtchouk, 46min), B Goor — C Wilhelmsson, A Serhat (sub: F Ehret, 74) — M Mpenza (sub: P Zetterberg, 59). Substitutes not used: D Zitka, R Juhasz, M De Man, D Mitu. Booked: Vanden Borre.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): P Cech — W Gallas, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Del Horno — M Essien, F Lampard, E Gudjohnsen (sub: Gérémi, 78) — J Cole (sub: L Diarra, 63), H Crespo (sub: C Cole, 86), D Duff. Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, D Drogba, P Ferreira, R Huth. Booked: Del Horno, Terry.
Referee: S Farina (Italy).
INS AND OUTS
Qualified for knockout stages: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lyons, Ajax, Bayern Munich
Cannot qualify: Rapid Vienna, FC Bruges, Rosenborg, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Sparta Prague, FC Thun, Anderlecht, Real Betis, Fenerbahçe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror:
HERNAN ON CRESP OF A WAVE TO PUT BLUES THROUGHCHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Group G: Anderlecht 0-2 ChelseaBy Darren LewisHERNAN CRESPO showed Chelsea fans just what a class act he is last night.
Crespo had talked of leading his Argentina side against England with a knife between his teeth. Last night he plunged that knife right into the heart of Anderlecht's slim hopes of reaching the UEFA Cup with an outstanding performance.
And the Chelsea supporters that had sided against him before and during that roller-coaster ride of a contest in Geneva welcomed him back with open arms.
Because Crespo is finally producing for Chelsea the kind of form Blues fans have wanted to see ever since he joined two years ago from Inter Milan.
Unsettled under Claudio Ranieri, he was packed off to Inter's rivals AC on a year-long loan in the summer of 2004 after falling foul of new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
He did not want to come back to England but had to because of Mourinho's failure to land his prime targets, the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Adriano. But with Crespo playing like he did last night, who needs them? And there was an edge and a purpose to Chelsea's all-round play right from the start on this freezing night in Brussels.
The west Londoners were desperate not only to end their appalling away record in the Champions League but also not to show up their manager again.
Mourinho had gaffed 24 hours earlier by insisting his team were guaranteed to make the knockout stages as long as they took the three points here. What he had forgotten was that Liverpool needed to beat the Spaniards of Real Betis to make that happen.
In any case, the fact remained that Chelsea still needed to do their bit.
Mourinho stuck with Crespo in attack even though powerful Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba was available after being banned for last Saturday's 3-0 win over Newcastle.
The Special One was proved right yet again after just seven minutes when Crespo speared home a peach of a cross from Frank Lampard with the home defence all over the place.
Seven minutes later, Ricardo Carvalho added a second. Well, he could do little else as he had found himself unmarked on the far post after Crespo had headed on Lampard's corner.
No wonder this Anderlecht team are such Champions League whipping boys. Beaten in their previous 11 straight ties in this competition. But Chelsea still had to go about their business in the right manner - and they did.
In fact, the way in which they set about dismantling sorry Anderlecht, chasing down every pass, fighting for every ball, showed they had finally taken heed of their manager's pre-match insistence that they needed to be ruthless against the weaker teams. Before the international break, during their run of conceding in seven out of eight, they had been held by Everton and beaten by both Charlton and injury-hit Betis.
Mourinho admitted that this was because his men had deluded themselves into taking victory for granted against their, on paper, inferior opponents.
Chelsea could in no way be found guilty of that last night.
The versatile Michael Essien, in for the injured Claude Makelele, was an effective screen in closing out Anderlecht's attempts to force their way through the heart of the Blues defence. Lampard in front of him was up and at it, looking as though he was about to lash in one of his trademark screamers every time he latched on to a loose ball.
And Crespo tore apart the charge often levelled at South American stars that they are unable to roll up their sleeves on a freezing night when it matters.
This was so one-sided it was embarrassing. And, remember, Chelsea were without Dutch winger Arjen Robben, just recovering from a hamstring injury, while Shaun Wright-Phillips was suspended.
It did not matter. Chelsea had this game by the scruff of the neck and they were never going to let go.
ANDERLECHT: Proto, Deschacht, Tihinen, Kompany, Zewlakow, Goor, Vanderhaeghe, Vanden Borre, Akin, Mpenza, Wilhelmsson.
CHELSEA: Cech, Del Horno, Terry, Carvalho, Gallas, Duff, Essien, Lampard, Joe Cole, Crespo, Gudjohnsen.
ATTENDANCE: 21,070
MAN OF THE MATCH: Crespo
REMAINING GAMES: Dec 6: Chelsea v Liverpool, Betis v Anderlecht
Jon Brodkin at Constant vanden Stock StadiumThursday November 24, 2005The Guardian
Jose Mourinho's sums may have let him down on the eve of this fixture but his team did nothing of the sort last night. Two early goals enabled Chelsea to play in cruise control for much of the match. With Real Betis failing to win at Anfield this took the Premiership champions through to the last 16, meaning their manager was spot on in suggesting that three more points would suffice. A similar result at home to Liverpool would secure the group's top spot.
Far tougher tests than this lie ahead but Chelsea are entitled to feel satisfied with a first away win in this tournament for just over a year. They were stronger, slicker and of a higher quality than a poor Anderlecht team, who barely looked like scoring after they wasted a fine chance to take the lead and have now lost 12 straight Champions League matches. When asked to, Chelsea defended soundly, with Michael Essien growing into his role as the holding midfielder.Hernán Crespo underlined his increasing value with a second strike in as many games and some nice touches with his back to goal as Chelsea, afforded far more space than usual, dictated the pace and rhythm. They started excellently and were content to play within themselves in the second half. Late on they struck a post through the influential Frank Lampard, who had set up both goals.
Chelsea could hardly be blamed for not expending energy in searching relentlessly for a bigger margin of victory or potentially exposing themselves to counter-attacks. They have plenty of Premiership business to attend to, starting at Portsmouth on Saturday, and Mourinho took the opportunity to bring on Lassana Diarra, Geremi and Carlton Cole.
The final group match against Liverpool in a fortnight will be nothing more than a face-off for first place. Mourinho said he would set out to win but that it was "not important" where his team finished. "If you are first you can get Real Madrid," he noted. "If second, you can get Lyon. What's the difference between playing Juventus and Bayern Munich? Maybe if you are first you have to play against Milan and second against PSV Eindhoven. Like last season, we finished first and played Barcelona."
Events here were as good as over after goals from Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho inside 15 minutes. Mourinho had called on his players to begin brightly and not underestimate the task after the failure to beat other troubled teams in Betis, Manchester United and Everton in recent weeks, and they did precisely that.
The identity of the goalscorers vindicated the manager's selections. He had stuck with Crespo and left Didier Drogba on the bench, and the Argentina striker coolly volleyed Chelsea's opener after Lampard robbed Anthony Vanden Borre, accelerated down the left and centred with his supposedly weaker foot.
It was Crespo's first start in this competition under Mourinho, who was surely reiterating that the striker has a future at the club despite suggestions to the contrary. Crespo's goals against Newcastle and here have shown his desire to succeed at Chelsea. "Hernán's performance was very good again," Mourinho said.
The advantage was doubled by Carvalho, chosen at centre-back instead of William Gallas, who was deployed at full-back. Carvalho does not score many but hit a powerful shot across goal after a Lampard corner was flicked on.
Chelsea were in control, retaining possession comfortably as Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen dictated matters, with good support from Joe Cole, but they might have faced a far tougher night had Anderlecht accepted an opening about 40 seconds before Crespo scored. A quick throw sent Christian Wilhelmsson down the right but Mbo Mpenza's shot from the Swede's cross spun wide.
The gap in class and muscle was soon evident and it was not hard to believe Anderlecht have been troubled by poor domestic results and infighting. They were jeered off by their fans. Mourinho had only praise for his players. "Our performance in the first half-hour was very good, very strong - quality in the game with intensity," he said. "The second half was not as beautiful as the first half but we controlled the game. We were under a little bit of pressure to qualify [but] we did it very well."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Anderlecht 0 Chelsea 2 Crespo's class tells as Chelsea cruise into knock-out stages By Jason Burt at the Vanden Stock Stadium Published: 24 November 2005 It isn't over until the fat lady sings, or so the saying goes. But she was warming up her tonsils on a bitter night in Brussels from the moment Hernan Crespo tapped the ball off the centre-spot to start proceedings. Never mind the opera, this was barely a drama, as one-sided a mismatch as the Champions' League gets, and it allowed Chelsea to record their first away win in seven matches in Europe.
A bizarre record indeed for such a formidable, and formidably resourced, opponent, and one stretching back to November last year, but by ending it - and with Real Betis failing to beat Liverpool - Chelsea qualified from Group G for the knock-out stages of this competition without having remotely to extend themselves.
Not that the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, cares whether his side or Liverpool top the group. "I think it is not important at all," he said, reasoning that facing Bayern Munich or Barcelona in the next round was much of a muchness. "But it would have been funny if Betis had won," he said. "Imagine Chelsea versus Liverpool. Ten points each and the loser is out of the competition. It would have been a fantastic night."
Some sense of humour that - and there was also a little dig at Rafael Benitez, saying he hoped he would come to entertain at Stamford Bridge next month. Mourinho also opened his comments with a swipe at having been criticised for his pre-match remark that all Chelsea needed to do was win. "First of all," he said, "I'm very good at maths because I told you three points was enough."
He was, again, right. Mourinho also got his permutations correct in playing Crespo ahead of Didier Drogba, and he was rewarded with a performance of class from the Argentinian, who is shifting into form, and into the limelight, just as Chelsea need him.
Crespo looked every bit the top international striker that he undoubtedly is and his employers would do well to smooth whatever unrest there remains in his heart over staying in London.
Crespo's name rang long into the night from the travelling Chelsea fans, whose team killed the game with two early goals in a first half that their manager described as "beautiful". That beauty was not maintained after the break although the firm grip established by the relentless power of Michael Essien was never loosened.
But Chelsea eased ahead through a goal created solely by Frank Lampard, who sent in what Mourinho described as an "unbelievable" cross for Crespo to leap and volley in. That came soon after Anderlecht should have scored when, with the disappointing Asier del Horno out of position, a quick throw-in released Christian Wilhelmsson, who pulled the ball back only for Mbo Mpenza to steer wide.
Soon the home side were further behind and again Crespo was involved. Lampard's corner was flicked on by the striker and Ricardo Carvalho half-volleyed into the roof of the net. Game over and with that Anderlecht were consigned to a record 12th consecutive Champions' League defeat.
Their only hope was the energy of Wilhelmsson but, in truth, and until Bart Goor made a hash of a cross late on, they were completely colourless and departed at both the half and full-time whistles to derision from their otherwise mute fans.
Perhaps because of the ease of it all, Chelsea dipped and a third goal would not come, as Crespo - in his final act before being replaced to a rich ovation - volleyed into the side-netting. His performance confirmed again the astonishing choices Mourinho has. There is the target man bludgeon of Didier Drogba, or the appealing rapier of Crespo. Last night belonged to the latter and he slit Anderlecht's throats. The smoothest of assassins.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Del Horno; Lampard, Essien, Gudjohnsen (Geremi, 78); J Cole (Diarra, 62), Crespo (C Cole, 86), Duff. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Drogba, Ferreira, Huth.
Anderlecht (4-4-2): Proto; Zewlakow, Kompany, Tihinen, Deschacht; Wilhelmsson, Vanden Borre, Vanderhaeghe (Iachtchouk, h-t), Goor; Mpenza (Zetterberg, 60), Akin (Ehret, 74). Substitutes not used: Zitka (gk), Juhasz, De Man, Mitu.
Referee: S Farina (Italy).
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Sun:Anderlecht 0 Chelsea 2 By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
CHELSEA have qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League.
After some poor performances, boss Jose Mourinho had ordered his side to put an end to their sloppy attitude.
And they did so in a fashion that would have delighted the coach with goals inside the first 15 minutes from Hernan Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho.
The win was also was enough to see the Blues progress to the next phase - as Mourinho had predicted.
In contrast, the Belgian side, without a goal in Europe this season or a victory in the Champions League for 12 games had nothing in their armoury.
Crespo, preferred in attack to Didier Drogba put the Blues in front after only seven minutes.
Frank Lampard enjoyed plenty of time and space on the left to deliver a pinpoint cross for Crespo.
And the Argentinian gave keeper Silvio Proto no chance by volleying the ball into the net.
In the 15th minute the away side doubled their advantage through Carvalho.
A corner on the right from Lampard was knocked on by Crespo for the Portuguese international to despatch a vicious volley into the top right-hand corner of the Anderlecht net.
It was Carvalho’s second goal in the competition and put Chelsea in complete control.
The rest of the first half saw Chelsea continue to dominate proceedings without adding to the scoreline.
Crespo saw a looping volley go just over the target and Joe Cole was unlucky with a chip that Proto just managed to collect from under the crossbar.
In the second half a clever run by Damien Duff almost opened up the Anderlecht defence once more.
But this time the Belgians managed to scramble the ball to safety.
Carvalho found himself through on goal in the 50th minute after Duff had put him clear but he did not have the legs to finish off the run and settled for a corner.
That resulted in Duff chancing his luck from 20 yards with a fierce shot that Proto did well to punch clear in a crowded goalmouth.
Anderlecht finally managed to get a shot on target in the 66th minute when Petr Cech was forced to dive low to his right to prevent Serhat Akin’s effort from creeping into the net at the near post.
But Chelsea almost added a third in the 84th minute when Lampard’s left-foot effort from just outside was pushed on to the foot of the post by Proto.
Seconds later Crespo should have done better with a right-foot shot that he place wide of the upright from six yards.
It was to be his last contribution of the night as Mourinho replaced him with Carlton Cole.
Liverpool’s goalless draw with Betis at Anfield ensured that both English sides qualified from Group G. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Crespo steers Chelsea through By Christopher Davies in Brussels Anderlecht (0) 0 Chelsea (2) 2
Latin flair and Belgian despair combined to see Chelsea gain the victory over Anderlecht which, with the failure of Real Betis to beat Liverpool, ensured the Premiership leaders of a place in the Champions League knockout phase for the third consecutive season.
Game over: Ricardo Carvalho celebrates Chelsea's second Hernan Crespo justified his selection ahead of Didier Drogba, the Argentine scoring the opening goal and laying on the second for Portugal international Ricardo Carvalho.
It brought to an end Chelsea's European travel sickness and was their first away win in the Champions League since their victory in Russia over Spartak Moscow just over a year ago.
With Liverpool also progressing to the next stage, it means the English derby between the Premiership and European Champions at Stamford Bridge in the final tie will decide which finish first in the group and become a seed for the next round. As Chelsea won their group last season and were then drawn to play Barcelona, Mourinho may question the value of winning the qualifying group.
However, it was never really in doubt that they would win a Champions League tie after eight failures because Anderlecht must be one of the most mediocre teams ever to rub shoulders with Europe's elite. The scoreline does not do justice to Chelsea's almost embarrassing superiority.
As the game progressed Chelsea, understandably, were happy to maintain their two-goal lead while Anderlecht were similarly content not to suffer a humiliating defeat. If it did not make for the most enthralling of matches, Chelsea flew home from Brussels with their mission of reaching the knockout stage accomplished.
Mourinho's mathematics had been questioned as he waded through the complexities of the qualification possibilities on the eve of the tie but the manager's team selection proved to be spot on, the choice of Crespo ahead of Drogba as the lone striker paying quick dividends.
With eight minutes gone Christian Wilhelmsson crossed from the right and Mbo Mpenza was a foot wide as he slid in on the centre. Anderlecht paid the heaviest of prices for Mpenza's profligacy because from the resulting goal-kick Chelsea scored.
Petr Cech's clearance found Damien Duff who helped the ball on to Frank Lampard on the left flank. The Footballer of the Year's centre was volleyed home by Crespo, making his first Champions League start under Mourinho, the Argentina international unmarked as he beat Silvio Proto from six yards.
Without a point or a goal in Group G, Anderlecht were looking at a fifth consecutive double-blank this season and when Ricardo Carvalho made it 2-0 in the 15th minute the game as a true contest was effectively over.
Lampard's right-wing corner was flicked on by Crespo to Carvalho by the far post and the Portugal defender scored with a half-volley from eight yards. Chelsea may have lost six of their last seven away ties in the Champions League but they had never been defeated when leading 2-0 under Mourinho and a side going into the match in the wake of 11 successive European defeats seemed unlikely to create a minor piece of Chelsea history.
Two minutes after the interval Mpenza was clear with only Cech to beat and for a moment the Constant Vanden Stock stadium held its collective breath.
Was Anderlecht's Champions League goal drought about to end? No. Mpenza's shot was saved by Cech's legs and, perhaps to the relief of the Anderlecht striker, he was offside, something he was unaware of at the time.
Apart from Lampard's shot with five minutes remaining that struck a post there was little to raise the pulse as the match became almost a glorified European training session for Chelsea though the suspicion is that their reserves would give them a tougher time than Anderlecht.
Match detailsAnderlecht (4-1-4-1): Proto; Zealakow, Kompany, Tihinen, Deschacht; Vanderhaeghe; Wilhelmsson, Vanden Borre, Akin (Ehret 75), Goor; Mpenza (Zetterberg 60). Subs: Zitka (g), Juhasz, Lachtchouk, De Man, Mitu. Booked: Vanden Boore. Chelsea ( 4-1-4-1): Cech; Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Del Horno; Essien; J Cole (Diarra 63), Lampard, Gudjohnsen (Geremi 78), Duff; Crespo (C Cole 86). Subs: Cudicini (g), Drogba, Paulo Ferreira, Huth. Booked: Del Horno, Terry. Referee: S Farina (Italy).
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Times:
It all adds up fine for Mourinho as Chelsea saunter onFrom Matt Hughes in BrusselsAnderlecht 0 Chelsea 2
JOSÉ MOURINHO may have failed his own maths test, but it would be impossible to argue with his logic. The Chelsea manager had demanded an improved attitude from his players and they responded with a performance of outstanding professionalism, securing the win that takes them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The match was over as a contest after 15 minutes thanks largely to Hernán Crespo, who kissed and made up with his manager by scoring the first goal and creating the second for Ricardo Carvalho. Such was the sense of lethargy among the away team’s fans that they amused themselves, if no one else, by singing about supposed slums in Liverpool, whose visit to Stamford Bridge next month will decide who finishes top of group G. Mourinho also appeared relaxed, even giving Gérémi a rare runout, before defending his mathematics.
"First of all I’m very good on maths because I thought three points would be enough and it was," Mourinho said. "The performance was very good in the first half. The attacking was very good and the intensity was there. We played very, very well and controlled the game."
Crespo was crucial to Chelsea establishing such control, making his first Champions League start under Mourinho and the first since scoring two goals in last season’s final for AC Milan. Mourinho has gone out of his way to make the fragile Crespo feel at home after a bust-up before Chelsea’s defeat away to Real Betis and made a big statement by overlooking his beloved Didier Drogba, the sledgehammer he uses to crack nuts. A knee injury to the Ivory Coast forward also influenced his decision.
"I choose Hernán because first of all I feel Didier is a target player and Hernán is a movement player," Mourinho said. "I always pick the team depending on what we need in each game. Hernán gave us what we needed and I also need to motivate players.
"Hernán performed very well for us and I always felt he was settled. He has great quality. I always wanted two players for every position and am happy with them. I’m getting what I want from both of them."
Crespo appeared determined to make the most of his opportunity from the outset, demonstrating surprising machismo for one usually so meek. Mourinho’s message — perspiration beats inspiration every time — may have got through. In the seventh minute he reached a through-pass from Joe Cole he had no right to get to, beating Hannu Tihinen to the ball and showing strength to hold off the Anderlecht captain, but his shot was saved by Silvio Proto.
In an entertaining opening Anderlecht threatened themselves a minute later, Mbo Mpenza shooting across goal after a cross from the right by Christian Wilhelmsson with Petr Cech nowhere, but that was the end of their evening.
Chelsea are a class apart when they counter-attack and 30 seconds on they scored when Crespo showed wonderful balance to direct a Frank Lampard cross into the net with a crisp volley from 12 yards, for his fifth goal in seven starts this season.
Having lost their previous 11 Champions League games and fought among themselves during a defeat by Westerlo at the weekend, Anderlecht’s heads understandably dropped and seven minutes later were between their knees. Crespo was again their tormentor, heading a Lampard corner across goal from the right for Carvalho to provide a neat finish. They may share a fondness for lank locks but their goalscoring records could not be more different, with the Portuguese celebrating his third goal for the club.
Despite their contribution to an open contest the home side were greeted with jeers at half-time. Many of their players, fatigued by weeks of failure, may not have wanted to return for the second half but they showed commendable character in coming back for more. They had chances too, Mpenza stealing the ball in the 47th minute from Carvalho, perhaps dreaming of further attacking glory, only to be ruled offside.
Carvalho’s dreams almost came to fruition four minutes later after a rare foray forward but his cross was cut out by Tihinen, while Lampard hit the post late on.
For the most part, though, Chelsea were happy to keep the ball, contentedly killing a game well and truly under control. The most interesting aspect of the second half was the introduction of Lassana Diarra, who was given the final half-hour. The 20-year-old Frenchman was signed as a long-term replacement for Claude Makelele, but on his second Chelsea appearance operated ahead of Michael Essien on the right of midfield, keeping the ball well without demonstrating any real quality. Tougher tests await for both the player and his club.
ANDERLECHT (4-3-2-1): S Proto — M Zewlakow, V Kompany, H Tihinen, O Deschacht — A Vanden Borre, Y Vanderhaege (sub: O Iachtchouk, 46min), B Goor — C Wilhelmsson, A Serhat (sub: F Ehret, 74) — M Mpenza (sub: P Zetterberg, 59). Substitutes not used: D Zitka, R Juhasz, M De Man, D Mitu. Booked: Vanden Borre.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): P Cech — W Gallas, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Del Horno — M Essien, F Lampard, E Gudjohnsen (sub: Gérémi, 78) — J Cole (sub: L Diarra, 63), H Crespo (sub: C Cole, 86), D Duff. Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, D Drogba, P Ferreira, R Huth. Booked: Del Horno, Terry.
Referee: S Farina (Italy).
INS AND OUTS
Qualified for knockout stages: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lyons, Ajax, Bayern Munich
Cannot qualify: Rapid Vienna, FC Bruges, Rosenborg, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Sparta Prague, FC Thun, Anderlecht, Real Betis, Fenerbahçe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror:
HERNAN ON CRESP OF A WAVE TO PUT BLUES THROUGHCHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Group G: Anderlecht 0-2 ChelseaBy Darren LewisHERNAN CRESPO showed Chelsea fans just what a class act he is last night.
Crespo had talked of leading his Argentina side against England with a knife between his teeth. Last night he plunged that knife right into the heart of Anderlecht's slim hopes of reaching the UEFA Cup with an outstanding performance.
And the Chelsea supporters that had sided against him before and during that roller-coaster ride of a contest in Geneva welcomed him back with open arms.
Because Crespo is finally producing for Chelsea the kind of form Blues fans have wanted to see ever since he joined two years ago from Inter Milan.
Unsettled under Claudio Ranieri, he was packed off to Inter's rivals AC on a year-long loan in the summer of 2004 after falling foul of new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
He did not want to come back to England but had to because of Mourinho's failure to land his prime targets, the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Adriano. But with Crespo playing like he did last night, who needs them? And there was an edge and a purpose to Chelsea's all-round play right from the start on this freezing night in Brussels.
The west Londoners were desperate not only to end their appalling away record in the Champions League but also not to show up their manager again.
Mourinho had gaffed 24 hours earlier by insisting his team were guaranteed to make the knockout stages as long as they took the three points here. What he had forgotten was that Liverpool needed to beat the Spaniards of Real Betis to make that happen.
In any case, the fact remained that Chelsea still needed to do their bit.
Mourinho stuck with Crespo in attack even though powerful Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba was available after being banned for last Saturday's 3-0 win over Newcastle.
The Special One was proved right yet again after just seven minutes when Crespo speared home a peach of a cross from Frank Lampard with the home defence all over the place.
Seven minutes later, Ricardo Carvalho added a second. Well, he could do little else as he had found himself unmarked on the far post after Crespo had headed on Lampard's corner.
No wonder this Anderlecht team are such Champions League whipping boys. Beaten in their previous 11 straight ties in this competition. But Chelsea still had to go about their business in the right manner - and they did.
In fact, the way in which they set about dismantling sorry Anderlecht, chasing down every pass, fighting for every ball, showed they had finally taken heed of their manager's pre-match insistence that they needed to be ruthless against the weaker teams. Before the international break, during their run of conceding in seven out of eight, they had been held by Everton and beaten by both Charlton and injury-hit Betis.
Mourinho admitted that this was because his men had deluded themselves into taking victory for granted against their, on paper, inferior opponents.
Chelsea could in no way be found guilty of that last night.
The versatile Michael Essien, in for the injured Claude Makelele, was an effective screen in closing out Anderlecht's attempts to force their way through the heart of the Blues defence. Lampard in front of him was up and at it, looking as though he was about to lash in one of his trademark screamers every time he latched on to a loose ball.
And Crespo tore apart the charge often levelled at South American stars that they are unable to roll up their sleeves on a freezing night when it matters.
This was so one-sided it was embarrassing. And, remember, Chelsea were without Dutch winger Arjen Robben, just recovering from a hamstring injury, while Shaun Wright-Phillips was suspended.
It did not matter. Chelsea had this game by the scruff of the neck and they were never going to let go.
ANDERLECHT: Proto, Deschacht, Tihinen, Kompany, Zewlakow, Goor, Vanderhaeghe, Vanden Borre, Akin, Mpenza, Wilhelmsson.
CHELSEA: Cech, Del Horno, Terry, Carvalho, Gallas, Duff, Essien, Lampard, Joe Cole, Crespo, Gudjohnsen.
ATTENDANCE: 21,070
MAN OF THE MATCH: Crespo
REMAINING GAMES: Dec 6: Chelsea v Liverpool, Betis v Anderlecht
Sunday, November 20, 2005
sunday papers newcastle home
The Sunday TimesNovember 20, 2005Chelsea 3 Newcastle 0: King Cole hurts NewcastleJoe Lovejoy at Stamford Bridge
CHELSEA were out of sorts again throughout a goalless first half, but found their form after the interval, when nicely taken goals from Joe Cole, Hernan Crespo and Damien Duff saw off a below-strength Newcastle team lacking England’s man of the moment, Michael Owen.
Recent results had come as something of a shock for the champions, with elimination from the Carling Cup at home to Charlton Athletic followed by back-to-back defeats against Real Betis and Manchester United, and Stamford Bridge was not its usual cocky, raucous self until Cole settled the crowd’s nerves with the first goal, in the 47th minute.
Well before that stage, Newcastle were hard done by when Mark Halsey, the referee who failed to punish Grimsby Town’s Justin Whittle for elbowing Alan Shearer, refused them an obvious penalty for John Terry’s scything tackle on Lee Bowyer. Their sense of injustice was fuelled when they had a second appeal turned down, Frank Lampard appearing to handle the ball well inside the area.
Chelsea are back on track then, but for a long time they had only one tactic: get the ball wide and cross it. For most of the match, there was not much by way of constructive passing movement, and when the crosses did come in, they were generally wide of the target.
After their recent stutter, and with Wednesday’s Champions League tie away to Anderlecht in mind, Jose Mourinho rotated his star-studded squad and started without four regulars: Didier Drogba (suspended), Michael Essien, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. In their absence, opportunity knocked for Glen Johnson, who failed to take advantage, plus Crespo and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who did.
Essien’s rest lasted all of 13 minutes, at which point he was called on to replace Claude Makelele, who injured a knee in making a typically robust challenge on Scott Parker. One man who is never rested, of course, is Lampard, who equalled David James’s record of 159 consecutive Premiership appearances. He marred the occasion with a booking late on, but made his usual thoroughly effective contribution, producing the final pass for Crespo’s goal.
For Newcastle, the omens weren’t good. They arrived without a win in 16 previous visits to the Bridge, or even a goal in their past four, and were without not only the talismanic Shearer but also Owen, the “Lion of Geneva”, absent with groin trouble.
Their midfield anchor man, Parker, was always in for a busy afternoon against his former club, and was not found wanting. The men in the famous zebra stripes could scarcely believe their ill fortune when they were denied two penalties in the first ten minutes. Graeme Souness was apoplectic when Terry got away with taking Bowyer’s legs instead of the ball close in.
“It looked like a penalty to me, and Bowyer was adamant that it was,” the Newcastle manager said. Had he asked the referee about it? “I don’t do that, you don’t get any sense out of them,” he snorted. Struggling to find any sort of rhythm or cohesion, Chelsea should nevertheless have scored after 18 minutes, when Ricardo Carvalho rose unchallenged to meet Duff’s free kick eight yards out, only to head horribly wide.
The chance sparked intermittent pressure from the league leaders, but they failed to translate a sudden glut of possession into anything worthwhile. Mourinho preferred to credit the opposition rather than criticise his own players, saying: “We were not playing well in the first half because Newcastle were. They gave us a difficult game.”
Crespo did manage to scramble the ball into the net in the 35th minute, but his supplier, Duff, had strayed offside. Cole let fly, but Celestine Babayaro, playing against his old club, was in smartly to deflect the shot behind, and from the consequent corner, taken by Duff, a glancing header from Asier Del Horno was inches wide of the far post. At half-time the honours belonged to Newcastle, but within two minutes of the resumption Chelsea were ahead, courtesy of a misplaced pass from the hapless Titus Bramble.
Gudjohnsen fastened on to it and from the edge of the centre circle delivered a pass that invited Cole to run through in the inside-right channel. The England midfielder did so with pace and purpose before scoring with a crisp shot. Newcastle’s obdurate defence had cracked, and after 51 minutes the margin was doubled by a lovely finish from Crespo. Essien originated the move, winning possession from Nolberto Solano before transferring it to Lampard, on the edge of the
‘D’. From there, the England man’s expertly weighted pass enabled Crespo to embarrass Bramble before curling his shot inside Given’s left-hand post.
Charles N’Zogbia gave the Geordie contingent belated reason to warm their hands with a rising 20-yarder that Peter Cech was happy to tip over. But the last word went to Chelsea, in the 90th minute, when Duff, out on the left, stepped inside Peter Ramage before scoring with a shot from 17 yards that deflected in off Parker. Souness said: “I didn’t think there was a great deal between the two teams, other than the fact we made two defensive ricks.”
Mourinho, asked about his reported contratemps with Crespo, replied: “It was suggested that he was injured playing for Argentina and that I ordered him to come home. The injury was cramp and I didn’t. He came back on Thursday and there were no problems as far as I was concerned.” After yesterday’s match, the Chelsea manager refused to speak to the daily newspapers that had reported the “row”.
STAR MAN: Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Player ratings: Chelsea: Cech 6, Johnson 5 (Gallas, 60min 6), Carvalho 6, Terry 6, Del Horno 6, Makelele 5 (Essien, 13min 6), Gudjohnsen 8, Lampard 7, Cole 8, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips, 80min 5), Duff 7
Newcastle United: Given 5, Babayaro 5, Boumsong 5, Bramble 4, Ramage 5, N’Zogbia 5, Bowyer 6, Emre Belozoglu 5, Solano 5 (Chopra, 70min 5), Ameobi 5
Scorers: Chelsea: Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90
Referee: M Halsey Attendance: 42,268 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror:
IT'S A BLUES CRUISE CHELSEA...............3 Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90 NEWCASTLE..........0 Cool Crespo has Chelsea back in the title mood Anthony Clavane
THE visit of one of Roman Abramovich's closest aides to Chelsea's training ground got everyone's knickers in a twist earlier in the week.
After back-to-back defeats there was ludicrous talk of the wheels coming off. And rumours that overpaid, underachieving stars like Hernan Crespo would soon be shown the door.
A tad premature, perhaps.
If Eugene Tenenbaum returns in the next few days, he will have to congratulate Jose Mourinho on extending the Blues' lead at the top of the Premiership to a staggering nine points.
And heap praise on Crespo for a wonderful goal that killed off a Newcastle side on a bit of a high after four straight wins.
Crisis? What crisis?
True, this was a routine, at times mundane victory over Graeme Souness's outfit - who, without England hero Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, had nothing to offer up front.
But winning 3-0 without hitting top form is the mark of champions.
With Didier Drogba suspended, Crespo seized his chance to stake his claim as first-choice centre-forward with both hands.
The South American followed up last week's strike for Argentina against England with his fourth goal of the season.
The club have denied a rift between Crespo and Mourinho. There are even suggestions that the Argentine striker, whose unauthorised time in the Middle East with his country didn't go down well with his club boss, will leave when the January transfer window opens.
But that would be a big mistake, for the Blues aren't exactly spoilt for attacking options. It took Joe Cole to calm the home side's nerves after a stuttering, at times sloppy first half in which they failed to produce one shot on target.
Receiving the ball from Eidur Gudjohnsen after a mistake by Titus Bramble in the Magpies' defence, the England midfielder struck a low drive past keeper Shay Given with great precision.
Then Crespo, playing in only his sixth Premiership match of the season, was put through by Frank Lampard after Nolberto Solano had been dispossessed.
The striker sublimely curled the ball around Given to make it 2-0 - and it was game over.
A third strike with just seconds remaining - Damien Duff gliding past Peter Ramage to fire home - sealed victory and proved that Chelsea are back on track.
Before yesterday, they had won only one out of their last five games in all competitions. The critics claimed they'd never been the same since losing their 40-game unbeaten run in the Premiership at Old Trafford.
A 1-0 Champions League defeat at Real Betis, and being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Charlton, meant the rot had set in.
What rot.
Mind you, they were lucky to be on level terms at half-time. The Toon Army might never have won a Premiership match at the Bridge but they had Chelsea pinned back in the opening quarter of an hour.
After only a few minutes, John Terry brought down Lee Bowyer in the box; yet referee Mark Halsey was the only person in the ground not to think it was a penalty.
Halsey turned down another good spot-kick appeal soon after when Lampard clearly handled the ball.
The home side were getting frustrated, and Claude Makelele was lucky to escape being booked after taking a flying leap at Scott Parker - the Frenchman injuring himself in the process and being replaced by Michael Essien.
Parker obviously felt he had a point to prove against his old club on his first return to the Bridge - as a crunching, but fair, challenge on his former team-mate Cole demonstrated.
But the first real chance fell to the Blues, Ricardo Carvalho making a complete hash of a free header after Duff had picked him out.
The Irish winger's corner was then glanced wide by Asier Del Horno.
As against Bolton a month ago, when they won 5-1 after being a goal down, Chelsea responded to their boss's interval blast to return a different side in the second period
And the Toon Army could only sit back and watch as Crespo and the rest, without breaking sweat, tore them apart.
MAN OF THE MATCH
JOE COLE
Chelsea's best player in a poor first half, and scored a great goal to calm the home side's nerves after the restart.
RATINGS
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Johnson 6 (Gallas 6), Del Horno 6, Terry 6, Makelele 6 (Essien 6), Carvalho 6, Lampard 6, COLE 8, Duff 7, Gudjohnsen 7, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips 6).
NEWCASTLE: Given 7, Solano 6 (Chopra 5), Emre 7, Babayaro 6, Ramage 7, Boumsong 6, Bowyer 6, N'Zogbia 6, Parker 7, Bramble 5, Ameobi 6.
MANAGERS: Mourinho 7; Souness 6
REFEREE: M Halsey 4
OVER the last 25 years Newcastle have not always enjoyed the trip to Stamford Bridge. They lost 4-0 in 1979-80, 1983-84 and 2004-05. They lost 5-0 in 2003-04 and 6-0 in 1980-81.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Observer
Cole strike restores Chelsea's swagger
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday November 20, 2005
One of the more wearisome traits of the times is the obsession with novelty. These days to be ahead of the game you have to call it before you see it. So it was that a handful of attention-seeking bookies paid out on Chelsea winning the Premiership before the end of September. It is an age of prematurity.And the bookmakers who had gone so early were in danger of seeming foolish during a sterile first half yesterday afternoon. Not only were Chelsea failing to beat a weakened Newcastle, they were also both cumbersome and lumbering, more cart-horse than champion.
Thanks to some half-time kidology from Jose Mourinho, normal service was resumed after the interval and their eventual win was comfortable. But they still need to take care for they are far from impregnable.
Both line-ups contained surprises, Newcastle not being able to play Michael Owen due to a groin injury and Chelsea opting to select Glen Johnson ahead of William Gallas.
The early play came from Newcastle. A header from Lee Bowyer flashed past the post and then the Newcastle player appeared to have been tripped up in the penalty area very slowly and very deliberately by John Terry. Perhaps it was too slow for referee Mark Halsey to catch it. Whatever, he declined to give a penalty.
Chelsea seemed both hesitant and rash, a combination made worse when their calmest player, Claude Makelele, had to come off after sustaining an injury making a high challenge on Scott Parker. That said, being able to replace him with Michael Essien lessened the blow.
And they might have taken the lead had not Ricardo Carvalho got underneath a threatening free-kick from Damien Duff. That proved to be a brief flash of inspiration, however, and too often they hoofed the ball forward.
Newcastle, meanwhile, hurtled around and harried their opponents without creating a chance. Chelsea managed to put the ball in the net, Hernan Crespo bundling it in from a yard, but Duff had been a whisker offside in the build-up.
The first half passed without a single save. There were no shots on target and precious few off it. Without the suspended Didier Drogba Chelsea lacked a focal point, and purpose.
Usually when Chelsea find themselves out of sorts they call for Eidur Gudjohnsen but he had been on from the start, albeit a yard off the pace and the target. Perhaps they just pretended to bring him on as a sub because within minutes of the restart he released Joe Cole who scored with the game's opening shot on target. The next one came four minutes later with Frank Lampard bringing the ball forward and releasing Crespo who calmly bypassed Shay Given.
Newcastle had to attack but in doing so left themselves pitifully weak at the back. Chelsea, now keeping the ball on the deck, were now rampant, as fluent as they had once been faltering.
Newcastle threatened briefly - a Charles N'Zogbia effort being well saved by Petr Cech - before Chelsea glossed their goal difference with a fine individual effort from Damien Duff.
Man of the match: Joe Cole - inventive in attack and mindful in defence.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea ease back into the winning habitBy Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 3 Newcastle (0) 0
Maybe it was the pressure of performing in front of Malaysia's Minister of Tourism that caused Chelsea to seize up in the first half. And maybe Jose Mourinho used the interval to remind them of his recent remark that, if his team lost three matches in a row, he would expect to be sacked.
At any rate, they wasted little time in stopping what passes round these parts for a rot. Beaten by Real Betis and then Manchester United, they scored twice in a burst that proved lethal to a Newcastle side who had won three in a row in the Premiership but seemed to sense that the addition of Michael Owen to their casualty list was a signal to embrace realism.
Even so, Graeme Souness's team had been slightly the better of the two in a dire opening 45 minutes during which the manager exuded frustration over decisions that went against his side, in particular a penalty claim by Lee Bowyer. But once Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo had struck, the contest was dead. There were only seconds left when Damien Duff scored Chelsea's third.
While Newcastle were under-strength because of injury - their good news was that Owen's groin strain is not expected to keep him out of the match at Everton next weekend - Chelsea indulged in a spot of rotation. No doubt with an eye on Wednesday's visit to Anderlecht, rests were prescribed for Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. Within a quarter of hour, however, Essien was required to replace Claude Makelele, who had hurt himself in challenging Scott Parker.
The suspicion that it might still be an unequal struggle was enhanced when Titus Bramble underhit a pass back, obliging Shay Given to rush from his goal and boot clear of Crespo. Yet Newcastle settled and had two plausible appeals for penalties rejected. Their system involved Shola Ameobi up front, supported by Lee Bowyer, who in one of his early forays danced daintily past John Terry, inviting a tackle that arrived late; referee Mark Halsey's unwillingness to point to the spot infuriated Souness.
Next, Frank Lampard appeared to handle in the area. Chelsea needed all the luck that was going. Their sluggish movement offered Newcastle every encouragement to show a little more aggression and, from Emre's free-kick, a subtle header by Ameobi held promise - until it hit his team-mate, Charles N'Zogbia. No sooner had Asier del Horno raised Chelsea's hopes by advancing to meet a corner with a glancing header that went wide than the visitors were on the attack again, although a poor cross by, of all people, Emre let them down.
Any notions that Chelsea could go through an entire match without posing a sustained threat were, of course, far-fetched and they improved after the interval, as they had done against Bolton a few weeks back.
Only two minutes of the second half had gone when Ricardo Carvalho forced the ball forward, Crespo nodded on and the errant Bramble, having intercepted, gave it to Eidur Gudjohnsen. Cole duly presented himself to the Icelander's right and drove wide of Shay Given. Another example of Chelsea's speed on the break came four minutes later.
Essien won the ball from Nolberto Solano deep in the home half, accelerated and found Lampard. The England midfielder ran on and pushed the ball wide to Crespo, who side-stepped Bramble and sent a curling shot beyond Given.
Gallas came on for the limping Glen Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips for Crespo, who had done enough to suggest he might be preferred to Drogba in Brussels. Newcastle supplanted Solano with Michael Chopra and kept fighting, but only a low, left-foot drive from Ameobi made Petr Cech work before Chelsea again counter-attacked in numbers and Duff cut in before beating Given with the aid of a deflection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent;
Chelsea 3 Newcastle United 0 Cole strikes to end Chelsea 'crisis'
By Adrian Curtis at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea delivered the perfect response to their critics with an emphatic second-half display that crushed stubborn Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Newcastle had matched the reigning champions for effort and endeavour in a goalless opening half but strikes from Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo inside four minutes ensured that Chelsea restored their nine-point advantage at the top of the Barclays Premiership. Damien Duff completed the scoring right on the final whistle when his shot was deflected over the luckless Shay Given.
Jose Mourinho, clearly infuriated by his side's recent dip in form, had made a number of significant changes with William Gallas and a partially fit Michael Essien relegated to the substitutes' bench along with winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. There was no place at all in the line-up for Paulo Ferreira.
The Portuguese coach opted to replace the latter with Glen Johnson at right back in what was only his second start of the season, while Ricardo Carvalho slotted into the centre of defence alongside skipper John Terry.
Didier Drogba's suspension was overcome by the choice of a fit-again Crespo as Chelsea looked to banish the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out. However, the home side were lucky to escape what appeared to be a valid penalty appeal in the fifth minute when Terry felled Lee Bowyer. But referee Rob Halsey turned down the appeals.
In the seventh minute, Claude Makelele needed lengthy treatment after a dangerously high tackle on former Blue Scott Parker and was replaced five minutes later by Essien. Chelsea survived a second penalty scare in between when Del Horno appeared to handle inside the area as Newcastle gave the champions a few restless moments.
However, Carvalho wasted the clearest chance to opening the scoring in the 18th minute when he rose unmarked in the area only to head Duff's free-kick wide of the target.
Frank Lampard, equalling David James's record of 159 consecutive appearances in the top flight, was unable to impose himself on the game and as a result, Newcastle had more than their fair share of possession in the opening period.
But the critics who claimed Chelsea were beginning to lose a bit of their self-belief would have been heartened by a display that lacked guile and style.
This was not the Chelsea that swept all before it on its way to the first top flight title in 50 years last season. Their performance was a far cry from the team that went 40 matches unbeaten and only occasionally did Chelsea show any signs of their old swagger.
Mourinho resisted the urge to change his personnel during the interval, clearly hoping that his faith in the individuals that had failed to shine in the opening half would repay him.
His judgement was as astute as ever with Cole putting the Londoners in front two minutes into the second half.
Titus Bramble gave the ball away to Eidur Gudjohnsen and the Icelandic striker, playing in a midfield role behind Crespo, slotted the ball into the path of Cole who ran on to despatch a right-foot shot into the corner of the net for his fourth of the season. The goal lifted the gloom surrounding Stamford Bridge and sent the previously mute home fans into full voice.
It was now all Chelsea as the familiar style and panache returned with their confidence and four minutes later they doubled their advantage.
This time the architect was Lampard who provided a trademark pass into Crespo's path after Essien had won the ball in midfield. The Argentine striker checked his run before turning to fire the ball into the top corner to deliver the perfect response to those critics who claim he is unhappy at the club.
It was Chelsea at their very best once more and the fight, so evident in the opening half, had now evaporated from Newcastle's game.
Mourinho made his second change of the game on the hour, again enforced, when he replaced the injured Johnson with William Gallas at right back.
Crespo was replaced by Wright-Phillips with just over 10 minutes of the game remaining as Chelsea continued to exploit the space they were now enjoying.
The home side were content to play the game out to its conclusion with Newcastle demonstrating very little threat in attack to worry Terry or Carvalho.
Indeed, Chelsea had the last word when Duff burst into the penalty area and his shot was deflected over Given for the third.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHELSEA were out of sorts again throughout a goalless first half, but found their form after the interval, when nicely taken goals from Joe Cole, Hernan Crespo and Damien Duff saw off a below-strength Newcastle team lacking England’s man of the moment, Michael Owen.
Recent results had come as something of a shock for the champions, with elimination from the Carling Cup at home to Charlton Athletic followed by back-to-back defeats against Real Betis and Manchester United, and Stamford Bridge was not its usual cocky, raucous self until Cole settled the crowd’s nerves with the first goal, in the 47th minute.
Well before that stage, Newcastle were hard done by when Mark Halsey, the referee who failed to punish Grimsby Town’s Justin Whittle for elbowing Alan Shearer, refused them an obvious penalty for John Terry’s scything tackle on Lee Bowyer. Their sense of injustice was fuelled when they had a second appeal turned down, Frank Lampard appearing to handle the ball well inside the area.
Chelsea are back on track then, but for a long time they had only one tactic: get the ball wide and cross it. For most of the match, there was not much by way of constructive passing movement, and when the crosses did come in, they were generally wide of the target.
After their recent stutter, and with Wednesday’s Champions League tie away to Anderlecht in mind, Jose Mourinho rotated his star-studded squad and started without four regulars: Didier Drogba (suspended), Michael Essien, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. In their absence, opportunity knocked for Glen Johnson, who failed to take advantage, plus Crespo and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who did.
Essien’s rest lasted all of 13 minutes, at which point he was called on to replace Claude Makelele, who injured a knee in making a typically robust challenge on Scott Parker. One man who is never rested, of course, is Lampard, who equalled David James’s record of 159 consecutive Premiership appearances. He marred the occasion with a booking late on, but made his usual thoroughly effective contribution, producing the final pass for Crespo’s goal.
For Newcastle, the omens weren’t good. They arrived without a win in 16 previous visits to the Bridge, or even a goal in their past four, and were without not only the talismanic Shearer but also Owen, the “Lion of Geneva”, absent with groin trouble.
Their midfield anchor man, Parker, was always in for a busy afternoon against his former club, and was not found wanting. The men in the famous zebra stripes could scarcely believe their ill fortune when they were denied two penalties in the first ten minutes. Graeme Souness was apoplectic when Terry got away with taking Bowyer’s legs instead of the ball close in.
“It looked like a penalty to me, and Bowyer was adamant that it was,” the Newcastle manager said. Had he asked the referee about it? “I don’t do that, you don’t get any sense out of them,” he snorted. Struggling to find any sort of rhythm or cohesion, Chelsea should nevertheless have scored after 18 minutes, when Ricardo Carvalho rose unchallenged to meet Duff’s free kick eight yards out, only to head horribly wide.
The chance sparked intermittent pressure from the league leaders, but they failed to translate a sudden glut of possession into anything worthwhile. Mourinho preferred to credit the opposition rather than criticise his own players, saying: “We were not playing well in the first half because Newcastle were. They gave us a difficult game.”
Crespo did manage to scramble the ball into the net in the 35th minute, but his supplier, Duff, had strayed offside. Cole let fly, but Celestine Babayaro, playing against his old club, was in smartly to deflect the shot behind, and from the consequent corner, taken by Duff, a glancing header from Asier Del Horno was inches wide of the far post. At half-time the honours belonged to Newcastle, but within two minutes of the resumption Chelsea were ahead, courtesy of a misplaced pass from the hapless Titus Bramble.
Gudjohnsen fastened on to it and from the edge of the centre circle delivered a pass that invited Cole to run through in the inside-right channel. The England midfielder did so with pace and purpose before scoring with a crisp shot. Newcastle’s obdurate defence had cracked, and after 51 minutes the margin was doubled by a lovely finish from Crespo. Essien originated the move, winning possession from Nolberto Solano before transferring it to Lampard, on the edge of the
‘D’. From there, the England man’s expertly weighted pass enabled Crespo to embarrass Bramble before curling his shot inside Given’s left-hand post.
Charles N’Zogbia gave the Geordie contingent belated reason to warm their hands with a rising 20-yarder that Peter Cech was happy to tip over. But the last word went to Chelsea, in the 90th minute, when Duff, out on the left, stepped inside Peter Ramage before scoring with a shot from 17 yards that deflected in off Parker. Souness said: “I didn’t think there was a great deal between the two teams, other than the fact we made two defensive ricks.”
Mourinho, asked about his reported contratemps with Crespo, replied: “It was suggested that he was injured playing for Argentina and that I ordered him to come home. The injury was cramp and I didn’t. He came back on Thursday and there were no problems as far as I was concerned.” After yesterday’s match, the Chelsea manager refused to speak to the daily newspapers that had reported the “row”.
STAR MAN: Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Player ratings: Chelsea: Cech 6, Johnson 5 (Gallas, 60min 6), Carvalho 6, Terry 6, Del Horno 6, Makelele 5 (Essien, 13min 6), Gudjohnsen 8, Lampard 7, Cole 8, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips, 80min 5), Duff 7
Newcastle United: Given 5, Babayaro 5, Boumsong 5, Bramble 4, Ramage 5, N’Zogbia 5, Bowyer 6, Emre Belozoglu 5, Solano 5 (Chopra, 70min 5), Ameobi 5
Scorers: Chelsea: Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90
Referee: M Halsey Attendance: 42,268 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror:
IT'S A BLUES CRUISE CHELSEA...............3 Cole 47, Crespo 51, Duff 90 NEWCASTLE..........0 Cool Crespo has Chelsea back in the title mood Anthony Clavane
THE visit of one of Roman Abramovich's closest aides to Chelsea's training ground got everyone's knickers in a twist earlier in the week.
After back-to-back defeats there was ludicrous talk of the wheels coming off. And rumours that overpaid, underachieving stars like Hernan Crespo would soon be shown the door.
A tad premature, perhaps.
If Eugene Tenenbaum returns in the next few days, he will have to congratulate Jose Mourinho on extending the Blues' lead at the top of the Premiership to a staggering nine points.
And heap praise on Crespo for a wonderful goal that killed off a Newcastle side on a bit of a high after four straight wins.
Crisis? What crisis?
True, this was a routine, at times mundane victory over Graeme Souness's outfit - who, without England hero Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, had nothing to offer up front.
But winning 3-0 without hitting top form is the mark of champions.
With Didier Drogba suspended, Crespo seized his chance to stake his claim as first-choice centre-forward with both hands.
The South American followed up last week's strike for Argentina against England with his fourth goal of the season.
The club have denied a rift between Crespo and Mourinho. There are even suggestions that the Argentine striker, whose unauthorised time in the Middle East with his country didn't go down well with his club boss, will leave when the January transfer window opens.
But that would be a big mistake, for the Blues aren't exactly spoilt for attacking options. It took Joe Cole to calm the home side's nerves after a stuttering, at times sloppy first half in which they failed to produce one shot on target.
Receiving the ball from Eidur Gudjohnsen after a mistake by Titus Bramble in the Magpies' defence, the England midfielder struck a low drive past keeper Shay Given with great precision.
Then Crespo, playing in only his sixth Premiership match of the season, was put through by Frank Lampard after Nolberto Solano had been dispossessed.
The striker sublimely curled the ball around Given to make it 2-0 - and it was game over.
A third strike with just seconds remaining - Damien Duff gliding past Peter Ramage to fire home - sealed victory and proved that Chelsea are back on track.
Before yesterday, they had won only one out of their last five games in all competitions. The critics claimed they'd never been the same since losing their 40-game unbeaten run in the Premiership at Old Trafford.
A 1-0 Champions League defeat at Real Betis, and being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Charlton, meant the rot had set in.
What rot.
Mind you, they were lucky to be on level terms at half-time. The Toon Army might never have won a Premiership match at the Bridge but they had Chelsea pinned back in the opening quarter of an hour.
After only a few minutes, John Terry brought down Lee Bowyer in the box; yet referee Mark Halsey was the only person in the ground not to think it was a penalty.
Halsey turned down another good spot-kick appeal soon after when Lampard clearly handled the ball.
The home side were getting frustrated, and Claude Makelele was lucky to escape being booked after taking a flying leap at Scott Parker - the Frenchman injuring himself in the process and being replaced by Michael Essien.
Parker obviously felt he had a point to prove against his old club on his first return to the Bridge - as a crunching, but fair, challenge on his former team-mate Cole demonstrated.
But the first real chance fell to the Blues, Ricardo Carvalho making a complete hash of a free header after Duff had picked him out.
The Irish winger's corner was then glanced wide by Asier Del Horno.
As against Bolton a month ago, when they won 5-1 after being a goal down, Chelsea responded to their boss's interval blast to return a different side in the second period
And the Toon Army could only sit back and watch as Crespo and the rest, without breaking sweat, tore them apart.
MAN OF THE MATCH
JOE COLE
Chelsea's best player in a poor first half, and scored a great goal to calm the home side's nerves after the restart.
RATINGS
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Johnson 6 (Gallas 6), Del Horno 6, Terry 6, Makelele 6 (Essien 6), Carvalho 6, Lampard 6, COLE 8, Duff 7, Gudjohnsen 7, Crespo 7 (Wright-Phillips 6).
NEWCASTLE: Given 7, Solano 6 (Chopra 5), Emre 7, Babayaro 6, Ramage 7, Boumsong 6, Bowyer 6, N'Zogbia 6, Parker 7, Bramble 5, Ameobi 6.
MANAGERS: Mourinho 7; Souness 6
REFEREE: M Halsey 4
OVER the last 25 years Newcastle have not always enjoyed the trip to Stamford Bridge. They lost 4-0 in 1979-80, 1983-84 and 2004-05. They lost 5-0 in 2003-04 and 6-0 in 1980-81.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Observer
Cole strike restores Chelsea's swagger
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday November 20, 2005
One of the more wearisome traits of the times is the obsession with novelty. These days to be ahead of the game you have to call it before you see it. So it was that a handful of attention-seeking bookies paid out on Chelsea winning the Premiership before the end of September. It is an age of prematurity.And the bookmakers who had gone so early were in danger of seeming foolish during a sterile first half yesterday afternoon. Not only were Chelsea failing to beat a weakened Newcastle, they were also both cumbersome and lumbering, more cart-horse than champion.
Thanks to some half-time kidology from Jose Mourinho, normal service was resumed after the interval and their eventual win was comfortable. But they still need to take care for they are far from impregnable.
Both line-ups contained surprises, Newcastle not being able to play Michael Owen due to a groin injury and Chelsea opting to select Glen Johnson ahead of William Gallas.
The early play came from Newcastle. A header from Lee Bowyer flashed past the post and then the Newcastle player appeared to have been tripped up in the penalty area very slowly and very deliberately by John Terry. Perhaps it was too slow for referee Mark Halsey to catch it. Whatever, he declined to give a penalty.
Chelsea seemed both hesitant and rash, a combination made worse when their calmest player, Claude Makelele, had to come off after sustaining an injury making a high challenge on Scott Parker. That said, being able to replace him with Michael Essien lessened the blow.
And they might have taken the lead had not Ricardo Carvalho got underneath a threatening free-kick from Damien Duff. That proved to be a brief flash of inspiration, however, and too often they hoofed the ball forward.
Newcastle, meanwhile, hurtled around and harried their opponents without creating a chance. Chelsea managed to put the ball in the net, Hernan Crespo bundling it in from a yard, but Duff had been a whisker offside in the build-up.
The first half passed without a single save. There were no shots on target and precious few off it. Without the suspended Didier Drogba Chelsea lacked a focal point, and purpose.
Usually when Chelsea find themselves out of sorts they call for Eidur Gudjohnsen but he had been on from the start, albeit a yard off the pace and the target. Perhaps they just pretended to bring him on as a sub because within minutes of the restart he released Joe Cole who scored with the game's opening shot on target. The next one came four minutes later with Frank Lampard bringing the ball forward and releasing Crespo who calmly bypassed Shay Given.
Newcastle had to attack but in doing so left themselves pitifully weak at the back. Chelsea, now keeping the ball on the deck, were now rampant, as fluent as they had once been faltering.
Newcastle threatened briefly - a Charles N'Zogbia effort being well saved by Petr Cech - before Chelsea glossed their goal difference with a fine individual effort from Damien Duff.
Man of the match: Joe Cole - inventive in attack and mindful in defence.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea ease back into the winning habitBy Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 3 Newcastle (0) 0
Maybe it was the pressure of performing in front of Malaysia's Minister of Tourism that caused Chelsea to seize up in the first half. And maybe Jose Mourinho used the interval to remind them of his recent remark that, if his team lost three matches in a row, he would expect to be sacked.
At any rate, they wasted little time in stopping what passes round these parts for a rot. Beaten by Real Betis and then Manchester United, they scored twice in a burst that proved lethal to a Newcastle side who had won three in a row in the Premiership but seemed to sense that the addition of Michael Owen to their casualty list was a signal to embrace realism.
Even so, Graeme Souness's team had been slightly the better of the two in a dire opening 45 minutes during which the manager exuded frustration over decisions that went against his side, in particular a penalty claim by Lee Bowyer. But once Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo had struck, the contest was dead. There were only seconds left when Damien Duff scored Chelsea's third.
While Newcastle were under-strength because of injury - their good news was that Owen's groin strain is not expected to keep him out of the match at Everton next weekend - Chelsea indulged in a spot of rotation. No doubt with an eye on Wednesday's visit to Anderlecht, rests were prescribed for Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira. Within a quarter of hour, however, Essien was required to replace Claude Makelele, who had hurt himself in challenging Scott Parker.
The suspicion that it might still be an unequal struggle was enhanced when Titus Bramble underhit a pass back, obliging Shay Given to rush from his goal and boot clear of Crespo. Yet Newcastle settled and had two plausible appeals for penalties rejected. Their system involved Shola Ameobi up front, supported by Lee Bowyer, who in one of his early forays danced daintily past John Terry, inviting a tackle that arrived late; referee Mark Halsey's unwillingness to point to the spot infuriated Souness.
Next, Frank Lampard appeared to handle in the area. Chelsea needed all the luck that was going. Their sluggish movement offered Newcastle every encouragement to show a little more aggression and, from Emre's free-kick, a subtle header by Ameobi held promise - until it hit his team-mate, Charles N'Zogbia. No sooner had Asier del Horno raised Chelsea's hopes by advancing to meet a corner with a glancing header that went wide than the visitors were on the attack again, although a poor cross by, of all people, Emre let them down.
Any notions that Chelsea could go through an entire match without posing a sustained threat were, of course, far-fetched and they improved after the interval, as they had done against Bolton a few weeks back.
Only two minutes of the second half had gone when Ricardo Carvalho forced the ball forward, Crespo nodded on and the errant Bramble, having intercepted, gave it to Eidur Gudjohnsen. Cole duly presented himself to the Icelander's right and drove wide of Shay Given. Another example of Chelsea's speed on the break came four minutes later.
Essien won the ball from Nolberto Solano deep in the home half, accelerated and found Lampard. The England midfielder ran on and pushed the ball wide to Crespo, who side-stepped Bramble and sent a curling shot beyond Given.
Gallas came on for the limping Glen Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips for Crespo, who had done enough to suggest he might be preferred to Drogba in Brussels. Newcastle supplanted Solano with Michael Chopra and kept fighting, but only a low, left-foot drive from Ameobi made Petr Cech work before Chelsea again counter-attacked in numbers and Duff cut in before beating Given with the aid of a deflection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent;
Chelsea 3 Newcastle United 0 Cole strikes to end Chelsea 'crisis'
By Adrian Curtis at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea delivered the perfect response to their critics with an emphatic second-half display that crushed stubborn Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Newcastle had matched the reigning champions for effort and endeavour in a goalless opening half but strikes from Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo inside four minutes ensured that Chelsea restored their nine-point advantage at the top of the Barclays Premiership. Damien Duff completed the scoring right on the final whistle when his shot was deflected over the luckless Shay Given.
Jose Mourinho, clearly infuriated by his side's recent dip in form, had made a number of significant changes with William Gallas and a partially fit Michael Essien relegated to the substitutes' bench along with winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. There was no place at all in the line-up for Paulo Ferreira.
The Portuguese coach opted to replace the latter with Glen Johnson at right back in what was only his second start of the season, while Ricardo Carvalho slotted into the centre of defence alongside skipper John Terry.
Didier Drogba's suspension was overcome by the choice of a fit-again Crespo as Chelsea looked to banish the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out. However, the home side were lucky to escape what appeared to be a valid penalty appeal in the fifth minute when Terry felled Lee Bowyer. But referee Rob Halsey turned down the appeals.
In the seventh minute, Claude Makelele needed lengthy treatment after a dangerously high tackle on former Blue Scott Parker and was replaced five minutes later by Essien. Chelsea survived a second penalty scare in between when Del Horno appeared to handle inside the area as Newcastle gave the champions a few restless moments.
However, Carvalho wasted the clearest chance to opening the scoring in the 18th minute when he rose unmarked in the area only to head Duff's free-kick wide of the target.
Frank Lampard, equalling David James's record of 159 consecutive appearances in the top flight, was unable to impose himself on the game and as a result, Newcastle had more than their fair share of possession in the opening period.
But the critics who claimed Chelsea were beginning to lose a bit of their self-belief would have been heartened by a display that lacked guile and style.
This was not the Chelsea that swept all before it on its way to the first top flight title in 50 years last season. Their performance was a far cry from the team that went 40 matches unbeaten and only occasionally did Chelsea show any signs of their old swagger.
Mourinho resisted the urge to change his personnel during the interval, clearly hoping that his faith in the individuals that had failed to shine in the opening half would repay him.
His judgement was as astute as ever with Cole putting the Londoners in front two minutes into the second half.
Titus Bramble gave the ball away to Eidur Gudjohnsen and the Icelandic striker, playing in a midfield role behind Crespo, slotted the ball into the path of Cole who ran on to despatch a right-foot shot into the corner of the net for his fourth of the season. The goal lifted the gloom surrounding Stamford Bridge and sent the previously mute home fans into full voice.
It was now all Chelsea as the familiar style and panache returned with their confidence and four minutes later they doubled their advantage.
This time the architect was Lampard who provided a trademark pass into Crespo's path after Essien had won the ball in midfield. The Argentine striker checked his run before turning to fire the ball into the top corner to deliver the perfect response to those critics who claim he is unhappy at the club.
It was Chelsea at their very best once more and the fight, so evident in the opening half, had now evaporated from Newcastle's game.
Mourinho made his second change of the game on the hour, again enforced, when he replaced the injured Johnson with William Gallas at right back.
Crespo was replaced by Wright-Phillips with just over 10 minutes of the game remaining as Chelsea continued to exploit the space they were now enjoying.
The home side were content to play the game out to its conclusion with Newcastle demonstrating very little threat in attack to worry Terry or Carvalho.
Indeed, Chelsea had the last word when Duff burst into the penalty area and his shot was deflected over Given for the third.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, November 07, 2005
morning papers manu away
The Guardian
United come out fighting to resurrect their title challenge
Kevin McCarra at Old TraffordMonday November 7, 2005
Old Trafford has become the most august cemetery in English football.Arsenal's unbeaten run of 49 Premiership matches was laid to rest herelast season and now Chelsea's sequence, which lasted nine fixturesfewer, has also gone the way of all flesh. There was of course no hushand the mourners from London in the crowd were roundly jeered.It is still much too soon to say that Manchester United's reputationhas been raised from the dead but their combativeness was resurrectedyesterday. In a game of fitful quality and gripping intensity theirfingers were not to be prised from the 1-0 lead that came improbablythrough Darren Fletcher's first goal since the closing afternoon oflast season.
The midfielder had been among the more vilified performers in United'sabject loss to Lille last week, so much so that a bitter fan valuedhim at 1p in a mock auction on the internet. Supporters will not viewany member of their squad as priceless for a little longer but theirefforts here and the score will be cherished for a long time to come.In addition to the win bonus United's players can enjoy the relief ofknowing that their interrogation is, at least, suspended. Thequestions will be asked of Chelsea, who in the last fortnight hadalready been eliminated from the League Cup by Charlton and downed byReal Betis in a Champions League fixture. Jose Mourinho has never hadto face a spell of this nature since he came to England.
The end of his personal record against Sir Alex Ferguson of sixunbeaten matches with Porto and Chelsea will deepen hisreflectiveness. There can, of course, be no genuine crisis when he hasfootballers such as these at his command. For long periods of thesecond half, when the introduction of Eidur Gudjohnsen broughtpertinence and flow to the passing, they were far superior to United,but they could not exploit the advantage in their normal ruthlessfashion.
After the interval Asier del Horno volleyed a Damien Duff cross overthe bar but the other chances tended to be more muddled. Duff andGudjohnsen linked slickly after 57 minutes but Didier Drogba was pronewhen he poked the ball narrowly wide. The most promising chance arosefrom another Duff break when Frank Lampard burst through in hiscustomary fashion, to be foiled by Edwin van der Sar's close-rangesave on 68 minutes.
If games were to be measured purely by the distribution of chancesUnited could claim to have had the better of it. In the 54th minute,for instance, Wayne Rooney had flighted a delectable pass over DelHorno and when Fletcher then rolled the perfect cut-back it wasextraordinary to witness the arch-predator Ruud van Nistelrooysloppily fire over.
The match had been decided instead with a 31st-minute goal pluckedfrom a situation that had seemed bland. Ronaldo's cross had, afterall, been hit from deep on the left and, even then, Chelsea fans wouldhave been surprised rather than fearful to notice Fletcher moving forit beyond the far post. Mourinho even questioned whether the Scot hadmeant to score from a such an area.
None the less the midfielder's header looped over Petr Cech and JohnTerry before it dropped inside the far post. It is possible Fletcherwas playing the percentages and seeking to send the ball intodangerous territory. Players deserve to be rewarded now and again forthat instinct.
The Chelsea manager should really doubt his own men rather thanquerying Fletcher's intention. The only person even to make a vagueeffort to mark the scorer was Michael Essien. The Stamford Bridge clubhave conceded at least one goal in each of their last five games. Thismight prove to be an intermittent fault that is soon repaired but thestringency has vanished for the time being.
United's back four, against all expectation, fared better. Early inthe encounter when both sides were obsessed with hitting the long ballit was Chelsea who found the tactic productive. A beautifully flightedpass took out a static Rio Ferdinand but Drogba could not beat Van derSar from an angle. The United centre-back, though, did rally to ensurethis would not be yet another afternoon when his concentration andcharacter were doubted.
The same could be said of the entire United line-up. They must havetaken encouragement early on from the ease with which Chelsea wereknocked off balance. Too often the visitors failed to release men intotelling areas and when, for instance, Joe Cole sent Drogba gallopingaway from Mikaël Silvestre he was only in position to fire into theside-netting.
There was even nervousness on the verge of the interval when theirmanoeuvre at a free-kick was so ponderous that the members of theUnited wall had burst out to rush Lampard into a mis-kick when theball came to him at last. It was the sort of day when the home crowdwere ecstatic when any player harried Chelsea. United, of course,traditionally demand more than that from themselves but this will havedone very nicely for the time being.
Man of the match: Alan Smith (Manchester United)
Chelsea will still be the champions, says Mourinho
Kevin McCarraMonday November 7, 2005The Guardian
It has been a long wait but now we know how Jose Mourinho reacts to aperiod of real adversity. For the first time since he came to England,Chelsea have lost two significant matches in succession, following theChampions League defeat at Real Betis with yesterday's failure at OldTrafford. He was intent on reassuring everyone in his camp, even ifone observation had the touch of a trademark jibe about it."They are under pressure," he said of the victors. Mourinho was notingthat Manchester United have to win a game in hand, against Wigan nextmonth, to be sure of getting within seven points of Chelsea. "Theyhave a good team and a good manager," said Mourinho of United, "andthe future can only be better- but not, I believe, better enough forthem to be champions of England again."This will be taken as a jibe in Greater Manchester and beyond, yet theviews were probably intended for consumption at Cobham, the Chelseatraining ground. While Mourinho had agreed that the loss in Sevillewas merited, he treated this result just like the failure on penaltiesto Charlton in the League Cup. "This was a game we did not deserve tolose, but they fought a lot," he claimed.
That last phrase brought a fleeting graciousness to a speech otherwisedirected towards his own players. "You lose these games and you wantto look at them and be with them and show that they deserve to beappreciated," said Mourinho, drawing a contrast with the disgust hefelt for his side's attitude in the first half of the game with Betis.
"In the second half no one believed this was Old Trafford the wayChelsea pressed. We did everything to win the game. The same way Igive [United] credit I hope they can realise why Chelsea arechampions, top of the league and I believe will be champions again."
He tried to force himself to enjoy participation in a game as hardfought as yesterday's had been. "You feel proud of the team and ofparticipating," Mourinho claimed. He had a brisk reaction when askedif Chelsea would go into decline as Arsenal had done when, also aftera long unbeaten run in the Premiership, they were stopped in theirtracks at Old Trafford last season.
"No, I don't think so," said Mourinho. "Especially because of the waythe team performed." He added: "When Arsenal lost here the differencewas small and they were very close to the other opponents but at themoment we still have a comfortable distance between us and theothers."
He is intent on telling his men to stay "calm and confident". TheChelsea manager, whose team are six points ahead of Wigan with a gamemore played, argued that United would love to swap places, but hecannot deny a dip in form.
The winners had no need to enter a debate when there was a victory tobe savoured after the 4-1 rout at the Riverside and the loss to Lille."Everyone knows where the basis for this performance came from," saidthe United midfielder Alan Smith, savouring the reaction to thecriticism from, amongst others, the captain Roy Keane. "Sometimes youneed to be reminded of what it means to play for United. Roy Keane isa proud person and he told us exactly what he said."
Ferguson in rude health after Keano therapy
Richard Williams at Old TraffordMonday November 7, 2005The Guardian
There could have been no better occasion for Sir Alex Ferguson to geta very significant monkey off his back. On the day of his 19thanniversary as manager of Manchester United, after a week in whichmany voices questioned his right to celebrate a 20th, he confrontedJose Mourinho and came out a winner for the first time in sevenmeetings. Though it would be an exaggeration to say that United werereborn in yesterday's victory, few witnesses would doubt that theycreated a platform from which to mount a resurgence.
Ferguson himself had a short answer to a question about the rumours ofhis enforced departure before the end of the season. "It's a load ofbollocks," he told Sky TV as he reflected on a match in which United'scompetitive spirit appeared to erase doubts about his continuingability to motivate his players.When Mourinho said last week that he considered United to be Chelsea'sclosest rivals, it seemed likely that he was both killing Fergusonwith flattery and dealing Arsène Wenger yet another insult into thebargain. The Chelsea manager appears to believe that the best way todeal with Ferguson is to pal up with him, call him "boss" and share abottle of red wine. In that way, perhaps, he hopes to avoid the sortof fangs-bared commitment with which United traditionally respond toFerguson's highly personal dislike of Wenger.
Yesterday's performance, lacking the ferocity conferred by thepresence of Roy Keane, was not quite of the 18-certificate varietywith which United knocked Wenger's team out of the FA Cup in April oflast year and then, eight months later, put an end to Arsenal's49-match unbeaten record. Their results over the past few weeks haveexposed the comparative meagreness of Ferguson's resources,particularly in the enforced absence of his two dynamic full-backs,Gary Neville and Gabriel Heinze, and the team have stuttered badly. IfUnited were to prevail yesterday, they needed to overcome their ownrecent failings and to find a constructive response to the clubcaptain's midweek criticisms.
Luckily for them, Chelsea are experiencing a dip of their own. Theirrocket-propelled start to the season is receding into history, andyesterday's outcome demonstrated that if they are to maintain theirdominance they will need to knuckle down and fight. Yesterday Unitedset them the perfect example, overcoming their own initial hesitancythrough precisely the kind of collective effort of will that theircritics claim has become an endangered commodity at Old Trafford.
"We wanted to make sure that we played quick, passing football,getting it into their box as soon as we could," Ferguson saidafterwards. "We tried to instil that into them in the last few days.
"The loss to Lille on Wednesday night was not a good one. No matterwhat we said about the terrible pitch, we didn't play well enough towin it. How you handle yourselves after something like that isimportant. Everyone here has got on with the job."
Chelsea's own lack of fluency made United's job easier. Enjoying thevast majority of possession in the early stages, the home side lookedstilted in their movements. The man with the ball would stop, give apass to a stationary team-mate, and then start moving again. Thegeometry was static and relatively easy for Chelsea to counter.
But when the west London team proved to have few attacking ideas oftheir own, beyond hitting long balls for Didier Drogba to chase,United were given the scope to play themselves back into some sort ofrecognisable shape. What was not lacking, the watching Keane wouldhave noticed, was effort. Alan Smith lacks too many of the necessaryattributes to make him the captain's ideal understudy, but very littlecould be said against his performance in yesterday's demandingenvironment. Two tackles midway through the first half, on Drogba andJoe Cole, were of the crunchingly uncompromising sort that can liftthe whole team.
United were drifting at the time, and the chant of "There's only oneKeano" had been heard from both ends of the ground. Five minutes afterSmith had made his point, United were ahead when Darren Fletcher,another to have felt the lash of Keane's tongue, chased a lost causeat the far post and jumped to head the winning goal. Smith acceptedthe man-of-the-match award, but Fletcher probably deserved an extraswig from the presentation bottle of champagne for the fight he showedthroughout the match and for the header with which, after 54 minutes,he created a chance that Ruud van Nistelrooy should not havesquandered.
And so Roman Abramovich sat in the stands watching the end ofChelsea's unbeaten run in the league, while Malcolm Glazer and hissons, somewhere in the United States, could breathe a sigh of reliefin the knowledge that United's recent poor results might not, afterall, have imperilled their highly geared debt repayments.
"It was a fantastic spectacle," Ferguson said. "The keenness anddesperation to play of our young players was marvellous, but in thelast five minutes we were under the cosh because Chelsea went foreverything. That's what champions do. We've done it many times in thepast ourselves. And today was a turning point because the supportersshowed how much they care for the club. When they're like that, itraises the ante and puts the players under pressure to do well. Todaythey were unbelievable."
United's width was the key to unlocking Chelsea
David Pleat's chalkboard
Monday November 7, 2005The Guardian
Manchester United went back to playing with their traditional widthand that was the key to them starting so positively - and scoring whatturned out to be the decisive goal. Although Chelsea found a responsein the second half and gained the ascendancy, they could not equalise.Sir Alex Ferguson decided to stretch Chelsea by asking CristianoRonaldo to hug the left touchline. With United passing to him at everyopportunity, it worked brilliantly before the interval. They got theball across the pitch with such quick passes that Ronaldo was able torun at Paulo Ferreira before the full-back could intercept or hadcover.
When the ball was with Wes Brown on the other side, Ferreira wastucked in to cover his centre-backs. But with three rapid passesUnited pulled him out wide and got Ronaldo one against one with him,running at speed. Ferreira had no protection because John Terry wasmarking Ruud van Nistelrooy and William Gallas was covering on theleft. With Chelsea stretched it opened room in the middle for WayneRooney.Ronaldo's value was shown when he provided the cross from which DarrenFletcher scored. With Fletcher giving width on the right when his teamhad possession and tucking in when they lost it, United had a niceshape from which to dictate play. Chelsea found it hard to buildattacks when they had the ball at the back because Rooney stuck nearClaude Makelele and disrupted his promptings.
Makelele is usually so good at protecting Chelsea but he was renderedalmost redundant as an intercepter in front of his back four - Unitedbypassed him rather than going through the middle and prevented himfrom cutting out passes in front of his central defenders.
Chelsea did not get close enough to their opponents to prevent theball being worked to Ronaldo, but in the second half they closed thatspace and stopped the flow of passes to the wing. Makelele movedcloser to Rooney rather than sitting and hoping to intercept thingsand his midfield colleagues got tighter to Alan Smith and PaulScholes, allowing Chelsea to dominate.
That forced Ronaldo to tuck in to defend, so Ferreira was closer andRonaldo was less of an attacking threat. Jose Mourinho took chances,with Eidur Gudjohnsen coming on for Michael Essien and playing furtherforward, Shaun Wright-Phillips using his pace against tiring legs andCarlton Cole replacing Asier Del Horno. But United blocked bravely andheld on to win a vibrant game which was a credit to the Premiership.
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Independent :Ferguson told to mind his language as United end Chelsea's 40-game runBy Andy HunterPublished: 07 November 2005Manchester United were unified in their retort to accusations ofdecline at Old Trafford yesterday, their players inflicting a firstPremiership defeat on Chelsea after 40 unbeaten games and theirmanager, Sir Alex Ferguson, describing claims his job is underpressure as "absolute bollocks" live on national television.
The United manager was reprimanded on air by Sky reporter GeoffShreeves for his expletive but Ferguson was in irrepressible mood ashe savoured a tumultuous victory over Jose Mourinho's side, which senthis side third in the table and reignited their pursuit of thechampions.
After a week in which successive defeats at Middlesbrough and Lilleand the notorious Roy Keane interview had aggravated a sense of crisisat Old Trafford, there was a momentous sense of relief when DarrenFletcher, one of the players who had been the target of the Unitedcaptain's criticism, sent a looping header over Petr Cech in the 31stminute and ultimately condemned Chelsea to their first League reversesince 16 October 2004.
However, when asked if he had ever been under more pressure during his19 years at the United helm than he was before yesterday's victory,Ferguson bristled: "That's absolute bollocks; people forget we went 13games without winning once" before being asked to curb his languagefor the benefit of watching children.
United remain an ominous 10 points behind the reigning champions, butFerguson insisted: "This is a big result and a big performance. Wewere terrific for an hour and, though I thought we sat back too muchin the last five minutes, we got there. It is an enormous result. Youdon't get as much consistency when you have to play young lads all thetime but they have carried us because of our injuries and they wereoutstanding. They needed more belief in their own ability and we havetried to instil that in them."
Fletcher was not the only Keane target to respond as the injured clubcaptain would have wished, with Alan Smith producing his finestperformance as a midfielder to claim the man-of-the-match award."Everyone knows where the criticism has come from and it is not justRoy," Smith said. " We need to carry on the belief we showed today."
Chelsea's loss was their third in four games but Mourinho was adamantthe end of their unbeaten Premiership record would not spiral into thekind of slump that undermined Arsenal's attempts to retain the titleafter losing at Old Trafford last season.
"I know what happened to Arsenal but no, it won't happen to us," hesaid. " I don't think we will need to bounce back from this because wehave shown that we have bounced back from Betis. We had chances; wewere the better team, but once they scored they defended with greatspirit. United have been through a difficult period and though this isa fantastic result for them it will not be enough to stop us becomingchampions of England again. I believe we showed here why we arechampions."
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Telegraph:
Smith leads the Red resistance movementBy Henry Winter Manchester United (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 0
Manchester United banished the blues yesterday, stopping Chelsea intheir smooth stride and breathing new life into their own season.Showing the determination of their manager, re-paying a debt ofloyalty to their supporters and reminding Roy Keane of theirresilience, Sir Alex Ferguson's players stood up for themselves andstood firm in the teeth of the champions' pressure. Here was onebroadcast United's players would like to make Keane sit through.
Alan Smith, one of those criticised by the United captain, respondedmost vigorously. Spiky of hair and commitment, Smith took the sight ofa visitor settling in possession as a personal affront, and flew in torectify the situation, tracking and tackling as if he had Keane on hisshoulder, whispering the words from recent unflattering headlines.
Smith deservedly collected the man-of-the-match bubbly, a prize thisdown-to-earth teetotal soul will probably use as a door-stop. Not thetype to paint the town red, Smith certainly painted the midfield redyesterday. Chelsea's midfielders could hardly catch breath, such wasSmith's relentlessly dogged attentions. Frank Lampard increasinglyresembled a jogger being chased down the road by a particularlyannoying Yorkshire terrier.
Commitment and collectivity suffused United from start to finish, fromEdwin van der Sar at the back through Smith in midfield to WayneRooney in attack. One second-half moment encapsulated United's passionplay, Rooney dropping into the right-back role to repel a long PauloFerreira pass and then dispossessing Asier del Horno, who had thetemerity to seize on the loose ball.
Rooney, like Smith, was covering every blade of grass, clearlyrelishing Ferguson's decision to go with him floating off Ruud vanNistelrooy in a 4-4-2 formation. Inspired by the England pair,United's performance exuded defiance. Ferguson's men may have fadedafter the hour, wilting as Eidur Gudjohnsen arrived to orchestrateChelsea attacks, but they never broke under the pressure. United clungon, like a heavyweight on the ropes, withstanding the battering,refusing to yield their advantage.
In terminating Chelsea's 40-game unbeaten record in the league, Unitedwere far removed from the ghosts who had been vanquished atMiddlesbrough and Lille over the past tumultuous week. Now they mustmaintain yesterday's conviction for the remainder of the season,starting at Charlton Athletic on Nov 19.
This will have done their confidence the world of good. Even in theopening minutes, when Rio Ferdinand was caught out by Lampard's longball and Didier Drogba's pace, Van der Sar was there, saving hisdefender's blushes. That was the United way yesterday, covering foreach other, showing a unity not witnessed in recent days.
Ferdinand himself refused to hide after his early embarrassment,putting in some vital tackles to thwart Chelsea. Paul Scholes wasalmost back to his old creative self, pinging passes around with thecrispness and frequency many feared lost. The little midfielder almostscored, rolling back the years by racing forward and meeting Rooney'spass with a wonderful shot which snaked just wide.
Defending high up the pitch, Van Nistelrooy even dropped deep to houndClaude Makelele. Tackles were thundering in all around, not themalicious kind that halted Arsenal's Invincibles in theirrecord-breaking tracks last year, but whole-hearted, ball-seekingefforts. Smith led the resistance movement, sliding in to dispossessDrogba and then bowling into Joe Cole.
Chelsea were forced on the back foot, unable to organise their fabledraiding parties. In the 31st minute, the champions were caught outspectacularly. Here was the United of yore, breaking with conviction,speed and a dash of wing-play. Rooney played the catalyst, working theball from a central station 40 yards out to Scholes and then CristianoRonaldo out on the left.
The Portuguese flier turned Ferreira, and crossed high to the far-postwhere Darren Fletcher lurked. Although growing in danger, thesituation still seemed a fire Chelsea could extinguish. Meeting theball before Michael Essien could properly pressurise him, the youngScot headed back across goal, the ball clearing Petr Cech and thenJohn Terry on the line. United's celebrations were long and loud.
But they were wary, knowing the champions would hit back. Gudjohnsen'sreplacing of Essien, precision replacing power, brought greatercontrol and cleverness to Chelsea's surges. And so the siege of Vander Sar's goal began. Drogba saw a shot deflected wide by the divingJohn O'Shea, another denigrated of late yet resolute here.
And so the great rearguard action intensified. Ferdinand hustled JoeCole into conceding the ball. Smith stopped Gudjohnsen with anothertackle. Van der Sar, all good positioning and sharp reflexes, made awonderful save from close range to deny Lampard.
United were sitting deep, too deep, and the Stretford End urged themforward. "Attack, attack, attack," they pleaded. But that wasChelsea's approach, and only a magnificent clearance from Smith robbedDrogba of a promising scoring opportunity. Mourinho kept introducinghigh-speed locksmiths, like Carlton Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, toopen up United's back door, but it was bolted firmly shut.
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Times:
United discover perfect remedyBy Matt DickinsonManchester United 1 Chelsea 0
THE GLAZER HEART BEATS WITH SUCH passion for Manchester United that,on the day that the empire was in greatest peril, not one member ofthe family bothered to cross the Atlantic. No doubt they watched thematch on television, but that was no substitute at all for witnessingthe stirring of a mighty beast within Old Trafford.Not Roy Keane (absent with injury) or even his hugely impressiveunderstudy, Alan Smith, but the United crowd, of course. They havebeen mocked down the years, even by Keane, but their raucous revivalyesterday was every bit as stunning, perhaps more so, than the superbperformances of Smith and Paul Scholes, among others.
Accustomed to jeering Rio Ferdinand, booing their "heroes" or watchingin silence, yesterday they reminded the world that Old Trafford canstill be one of sport's great cathedrals. "The crowd was the turningpoint," Sir Alex Ferguson said, shortly before turning the airwavesblue by describing talk of the worst crisis of his 19-year reign as"absolute b*****ks".
Whether or not this turns out to be a victory of lasting significance— and only a brave man will rush to predict Chelsea's decline — thiswas a magnificent, memorable occasion witnessed by an estimated 750million viewers worldwide. One that the Glazers should have attendedif only to realise how much this great institution can stir the soul."Caring for the club is done in different ways," Ferguson said.
Staying at home to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said everythingabout the devotion of the new owners.
All that can be said for the Americans is that, as detachedbusinessmen, they should at least know better than to read too muchinto the result. José Mourinho reaffirmed his belief that Chelsea willgo on to retain their Barclays Premiership title and, despite theending of a 40-match unbeaten league run, it may be wishful thinkingto believe that they will collapse like Arsène Wenger's Invincibles.
For United, last season's victory over Arsenal (the infamous Battle ofthe Buffet) was also supposed to be a critical juncture but Ferguson'smen went on to lose at Portsmouth and then draw at home to ManchesterCity in subsequent league matches. Will Scholes revert to his mediocreform, will Smith lose his snap and will Ferdinand slip back intocomplacent ways against Charlton Athletic?
Ten points behind Chelsea, albeit with a game in hand, it will be awhile before we can say that this was anything other than a roar ofdefiance in the long death throes of Ferguson's reign. His players canstill rouse themselves for a one-off battle against the best but thosewho doubted their ability to win the title or the European Cup shouldnot be revising their opinion simply because of one victory, howevertumultuous.
United rode their luck to survive Chelsea's second-half onslaught butat least they could point out that this victory did not require thebullying tactics so often employed to overcome Arsenal's superiortechnique. Mourinho could argue, as he did, that his team were unluckyto lose but he could not dispute that United's half-time lead was wellmerited.
The looping header from Darren Fletcher which was, in the end, theonly measurable difference between the two teams, may not have beendeliberately placed just inside the post but it was the culmination ofa slick move involving Wes Brown, Wayne Rooney, Scholes and theeffervescent Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was only when Mourinho replaced Michael Essien with EidurGudjohnsen in the 55th minute — belatedly by the standards of thedecisive Portuguese — that Chelsea began to put United under sustainedpressure. At right-back, Wes Brown looked ready to crack under thestrain but, with a bit of luck and a lot of hacking the ball away,Ferdinand and his defenders survived.
If one moment summed up United's resilience, it came in the 74thminute when Smith flung himself into a crucial challenge inside hisown area. Leaping to his feet, he angrily berated John O'Shea forfailing to cut out the danger earlier. Hair cut to the scalp and facescrewed up in rage, Keane would have been proud. Or perhaps not. Maybethe skipper will march into the training ground this morning and say:"It's very well to do that in a big match against Chelsea but wherewere you lot when Middlesbrough were sticking four away last week?"
Chelsea's defeat will be cheered up and down the land and Wigan nowlie only six points behind with a game in hand. It is unlikely thatMourinho will feel Paul Jewell's breath down his neck but, for acouple of weeks at least, it is a lovely thought.
PRAWN TO BE WILD
IT WAS NOT just the Manchester United players who seemed desperate toprove Roy Keane wrong yesterday. The home support, once described byKeane as prawn sandwich-eating mutes, gave great vocal support fortheir team. Some of the anthems were ironic, not least "My old mansaid 'Be a City fan' " and "Who the f*** are Man United?", and othersoffensive, particularly towards Peter Kenyon, who resigned as Unitedchief executive to take on that role at Chelsea. Compared with thematchday atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, the din was almost unbearable.OLIVER KAY
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Sun:
Man Utd 1 Chelsea 0
DARREN FLETCHER rammed Roy Keane's words down his throat with the goalthat ended Chelsea's 40-game unbeaten run.
United's Scotland midfielder was one of the players most harshlycriticised by Keane in that now infamous programme axed by MUTV.
But he responded in just the manner his injured captain would havewanted, rising to meet Cristiano Ronaldo's cross with a 31st-minutelooping header that dropped in at the far post.
United had to weather a second-half siege from Chelsea to steal the points.
They may have ridden their luck at times, but there was no doubt theirperformance had all the passion and intent that had been lacking indismal defeats to Middlesbrough and Lille.
Alan Smith typified the United spirit, his commitment in midfield wastotal, his tackle count was off the scale and he turned in a displayof which Keane in his prime would have been proud.
Wayne Rooney was not far behind him. He hardly got a sniff in attack,but he never gave Chelsea's backline a moment of peace and producedsome sublime touches which showed just why he is United's andEngland's best player.
This result was important for so many reasons. It ended Chelsea'sPremiership unbeaten run, it broke Jose Mourninho's hoodoo over SirAlex Ferguson and, who knows, it could have saved Fergie's job.
A little bit melodramatic perhaps, but a thumping win for the Blues inUnited's back yard and who knows what might have happened.
Chelsea started the brighter and could have taken the lead when RioFerdinand was caught snoozing on eight minutes.
He may be the most expensive defender in the world, but the formerLeeds man has looked a shadow of the player who dazzled at the WorldCup four years ago.
Ferdinand was not expecting Didier Drobga to get anywhere near a FrankLampard ball over the top.
The Ivory Coast international brought the pass down with a sensationalfirst touch and while Rio stood open-mouthed he fired in a shot whichEdwin van der Sar beat down at his near post.
United had another escape seven minutes later. Asier Del Horno losthis marker, Fletcher, at a free-kick from the right and blasted overthe bar.
At the other end Paul Scholes was only a foot away from giving United the lead.
Silvestre fed Rooney down the inside-left channel and the youngstercontrolled the ball superbly before setting up the ginger marauderarriving from the edge of the box. The former England man cut acrossthe ball with his right foot and it swerved just past the right-handupright.
That effort lifted United and they got a foothold in the game beforetaking the lead on 31 minutes.
Ronaldo's cross from the left found Fletcher unmarked andbackpedalling at the far post. The Scotland star tried to head theball back into the danger zone, but his effort looped across goal andjust dropped in under the bar.
Drobga fired into the sidenetting just before the break and withinfour minutes of the restart Smith cleared Frank Lampard's shot infront of van der Sar.
But United were still a threat at this stage. Fletcher's knockback wasa fraction behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the prolific Dutchmanshould still have done better than blast over from 12 yards.
Jose Mourinho threw on Eidur Gudjohnsen for Michael Essien just beforethe hour and suddenly it was all Chelsea. The Icelander carved out thechance of the game within two minutes of coming on.
He crossed from the left but the unmarked Damien Duff completelymiskicked eight yards out and Drogba slipped as he was about to pullthe trigger.
Drobga then scuffed a close-range shot from Gudjohnsen's pass but theball ran kindly to Lampard who was denied by a brilliant save low downfrom van der Sar.
Joe Cole's shot from the resulting corner was blocked by the omnipresent Smith.
Gudjohnsen was involved again with 20 minutes left. He fed Duff whosent an inviting cross into the danger zone. Del Horno was arriving atpace and sent an acrobatic volley over the bar.
Rooney had a chance to settle the game near the end. Substitute Parkchased a long ball with two defenders and all three collided. The ballbroke to Rooney 25 yards out but his instant shot was blocked for acorner.
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Mirror:
JOSE HITS THE BUFFERSManchester Utd 1 Chelsea 0 It's Theatre of Screams for Mourinho asChelsea's run is stopped by rampant RedsMartin Lipton Chief Football WriterNOW it really is pressure, Jose. And we will find out what your team is made of.
Just like Arsenal's "Invincibles" 13 months ago, Chelsea'sirresistible force was stopped in its tracks by the immovable objectof Manchester United's sheer desire.
As Old Trafford rocked to the rafters, as tension reverberated aroundthe Theatre of Dreams throughout Chelsea's second- half siege, it wasas if the gods of football wanted to teach Jose Mourinho and his mennothing is ever achieved without moments of doubt.
Doubt there must be, even in Mourinho's mind, after a second loss infive days by a team that did not have the word "defeat" in itscollective vocabulary.
And even if most of football has gloried in United and Sir AlexFerguson's discomfort over the past week, it will not just be ArseneWenger who offered up a prayer of thanks to the Laird of Old Traffordlast night.
The bulldozer that had crashed through all obstacles for the firstthree months of the campaign has slipped its gears, while the FortKnox defence has developed cracks that are starting to tell.
This was the team that recorded seven straight clean sheets, thatrarely even looked like being breached.
Now Mourinho's side have conceded in seven of the last eight games,and while the Portuguese boss has railed and warned against the recent"individual mistakes"- his players were not listening.
Perhaps we've got a title race after all.
This was a game won and lost by the old-fashioned virtues, by guts anddetermination, and refusal to be consumed by what at times looked likea superior force, as United dug deep into their reserves of courage.
Yet for all the possession Chelsea had in the second period as theysought to peg back the advantage eked out by Darren Fletcher'sfortuitous header, for all the blue shirts that flooded the Unitedbox, they did not test Edwin Van der Sar enough to win or even draw.
Fletcher did well to get on to the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's crossand his looping header drifted beyond the slow-reacting Petr Cech anddropped just inside the back post over the despairing John Terry.
But if Michael Essien or Asier Del Horno had been in the rightposition, it would not have been possible.
It was a shock to the system, but the type of shock that Mourinho'smen had recovered from all season - until Tuesday in Seville.
Before that Didier Drogba threatened to make Rio Ferdinand's seasonmore depressing, and with Joe Cole influential and Frank Lampard andDamien Duff keen to make inroads, Chelsea had looked calm andcontrolled although Alan Smith ran himself into the ground.
Paul Scholes had gone close after foraging from Wayne Rooney butDrogba, after a beautiful piece of control as Ferdinand lost his runon to Lampard's ball, knew he should have tested Van der Sar.
Yet the longer the half went on, the more United's midfield were ableto get a grip, with Fletcher's goal proof he has more to offer thanRoy Keane suggested.
It should have been over 12 minutes after the restart. Rooney teased aball out to Fletcher on the right, he pulled back but skipper Ruud vanNistelrooy slashed wildly into the Stretford End.
Duff's air-shot only fell for Drogba, who ended up on his backside butstill managed to see his shot screw wildly but fractionally outsidethe post with Van der Sar scrambling.
Cole fired over as the assault intensified. Del Horno prodded over,and when Drogba's shot fell to Lampard, Van der Sar turned the ballbehind.
Cole and Lampard dithered with the shooting opportunities and thedesperation left the Blues open at the other end, with only Terry'sprone body denying Rooney late on.
Not that United fans or the the country cared about that.
Unbeatable? Not any more. Unstoppable? Evidently not. Still, probably,champions.
But the questions are being asked. We have to wait two weeks to see ifChelsea can find the answers. Mourinho wants to know them too.
MAN UTD: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Fletcher,Smith, Scholes, Rooney, van Nistelrooy (Park 82), Ronaldo.
CHELSEA: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Del Horno (C Cole 78),Essien (Gudjohnsen 55), Makelele, Lampard, J Cole (Wright-Phillips74), Drogba, Duff.
ATTENDANCE: 67,864
MAN OF THE MATCH: Smith
United come out fighting to resurrect their title challenge
Kevin McCarra at Old TraffordMonday November 7, 2005
Old Trafford has become the most august cemetery in English football.Arsenal's unbeaten run of 49 Premiership matches was laid to rest herelast season and now Chelsea's sequence, which lasted nine fixturesfewer, has also gone the way of all flesh. There was of course no hushand the mourners from London in the crowd were roundly jeered.It is still much too soon to say that Manchester United's reputationhas been raised from the dead but their combativeness was resurrectedyesterday. In a game of fitful quality and gripping intensity theirfingers were not to be prised from the 1-0 lead that came improbablythrough Darren Fletcher's first goal since the closing afternoon oflast season.
The midfielder had been among the more vilified performers in United'sabject loss to Lille last week, so much so that a bitter fan valuedhim at 1p in a mock auction on the internet. Supporters will not viewany member of their squad as priceless for a little longer but theirefforts here and the score will be cherished for a long time to come.In addition to the win bonus United's players can enjoy the relief ofknowing that their interrogation is, at least, suspended. Thequestions will be asked of Chelsea, who in the last fortnight hadalready been eliminated from the League Cup by Charlton and downed byReal Betis in a Champions League fixture. Jose Mourinho has never hadto face a spell of this nature since he came to England.
The end of his personal record against Sir Alex Ferguson of sixunbeaten matches with Porto and Chelsea will deepen hisreflectiveness. There can, of course, be no genuine crisis when he hasfootballers such as these at his command. For long periods of thesecond half, when the introduction of Eidur Gudjohnsen broughtpertinence and flow to the passing, they were far superior to United,but they could not exploit the advantage in their normal ruthlessfashion.
After the interval Asier del Horno volleyed a Damien Duff cross overthe bar but the other chances tended to be more muddled. Duff andGudjohnsen linked slickly after 57 minutes but Didier Drogba was pronewhen he poked the ball narrowly wide. The most promising chance arosefrom another Duff break when Frank Lampard burst through in hiscustomary fashion, to be foiled by Edwin van der Sar's close-rangesave on 68 minutes.
If games were to be measured purely by the distribution of chancesUnited could claim to have had the better of it. In the 54th minute,for instance, Wayne Rooney had flighted a delectable pass over DelHorno and when Fletcher then rolled the perfect cut-back it wasextraordinary to witness the arch-predator Ruud van Nistelrooysloppily fire over.
The match had been decided instead with a 31st-minute goal pluckedfrom a situation that had seemed bland. Ronaldo's cross had, afterall, been hit from deep on the left and, even then, Chelsea fans wouldhave been surprised rather than fearful to notice Fletcher moving forit beyond the far post. Mourinho even questioned whether the Scot hadmeant to score from a such an area.
None the less the midfielder's header looped over Petr Cech and JohnTerry before it dropped inside the far post. It is possible Fletcherwas playing the percentages and seeking to send the ball intodangerous territory. Players deserve to be rewarded now and again forthat instinct.
The Chelsea manager should really doubt his own men rather thanquerying Fletcher's intention. The only person even to make a vagueeffort to mark the scorer was Michael Essien. The Stamford Bridge clubhave conceded at least one goal in each of their last five games. Thismight prove to be an intermittent fault that is soon repaired but thestringency has vanished for the time being.
United's back four, against all expectation, fared better. Early inthe encounter when both sides were obsessed with hitting the long ballit was Chelsea who found the tactic productive. A beautifully flightedpass took out a static Rio Ferdinand but Drogba could not beat Van derSar from an angle. The United centre-back, though, did rally to ensurethis would not be yet another afternoon when his concentration andcharacter were doubted.
The same could be said of the entire United line-up. They must havetaken encouragement early on from the ease with which Chelsea wereknocked off balance. Too often the visitors failed to release men intotelling areas and when, for instance, Joe Cole sent Drogba gallopingaway from Mikaël Silvestre he was only in position to fire into theside-netting.
There was even nervousness on the verge of the interval when theirmanoeuvre at a free-kick was so ponderous that the members of theUnited wall had burst out to rush Lampard into a mis-kick when theball came to him at last. It was the sort of day when the home crowdwere ecstatic when any player harried Chelsea. United, of course,traditionally demand more than that from themselves but this will havedone very nicely for the time being.
Man of the match: Alan Smith (Manchester United)
Chelsea will still be the champions, says Mourinho
Kevin McCarraMonday November 7, 2005The Guardian
It has been a long wait but now we know how Jose Mourinho reacts to aperiod of real adversity. For the first time since he came to England,Chelsea have lost two significant matches in succession, following theChampions League defeat at Real Betis with yesterday's failure at OldTrafford. He was intent on reassuring everyone in his camp, even ifone observation had the touch of a trademark jibe about it."They are under pressure," he said of the victors. Mourinho was notingthat Manchester United have to win a game in hand, against Wigan nextmonth, to be sure of getting within seven points of Chelsea. "Theyhave a good team and a good manager," said Mourinho of United, "andthe future can only be better- but not, I believe, better enough forthem to be champions of England again."This will be taken as a jibe in Greater Manchester and beyond, yet theviews were probably intended for consumption at Cobham, the Chelseatraining ground. While Mourinho had agreed that the loss in Sevillewas merited, he treated this result just like the failure on penaltiesto Charlton in the League Cup. "This was a game we did not deserve tolose, but they fought a lot," he claimed.
That last phrase brought a fleeting graciousness to a speech otherwisedirected towards his own players. "You lose these games and you wantto look at them and be with them and show that they deserve to beappreciated," said Mourinho, drawing a contrast with the disgust hefelt for his side's attitude in the first half of the game with Betis.
"In the second half no one believed this was Old Trafford the wayChelsea pressed. We did everything to win the game. The same way Igive [United] credit I hope they can realise why Chelsea arechampions, top of the league and I believe will be champions again."
He tried to force himself to enjoy participation in a game as hardfought as yesterday's had been. "You feel proud of the team and ofparticipating," Mourinho claimed. He had a brisk reaction when askedif Chelsea would go into decline as Arsenal had done when, also aftera long unbeaten run in the Premiership, they were stopped in theirtracks at Old Trafford last season.
"No, I don't think so," said Mourinho. "Especially because of the waythe team performed." He added: "When Arsenal lost here the differencewas small and they were very close to the other opponents but at themoment we still have a comfortable distance between us and theothers."
He is intent on telling his men to stay "calm and confident". TheChelsea manager, whose team are six points ahead of Wigan with a gamemore played, argued that United would love to swap places, but hecannot deny a dip in form.
The winners had no need to enter a debate when there was a victory tobe savoured after the 4-1 rout at the Riverside and the loss to Lille."Everyone knows where the basis for this performance came from," saidthe United midfielder Alan Smith, savouring the reaction to thecriticism from, amongst others, the captain Roy Keane. "Sometimes youneed to be reminded of what it means to play for United. Roy Keane isa proud person and he told us exactly what he said."
Ferguson in rude health after Keano therapy
Richard Williams at Old TraffordMonday November 7, 2005The Guardian
There could have been no better occasion for Sir Alex Ferguson to geta very significant monkey off his back. On the day of his 19thanniversary as manager of Manchester United, after a week in whichmany voices questioned his right to celebrate a 20th, he confrontedJose Mourinho and came out a winner for the first time in sevenmeetings. Though it would be an exaggeration to say that United werereborn in yesterday's victory, few witnesses would doubt that theycreated a platform from which to mount a resurgence.
Ferguson himself had a short answer to a question about the rumours ofhis enforced departure before the end of the season. "It's a load ofbollocks," he told Sky TV as he reflected on a match in which United'scompetitive spirit appeared to erase doubts about his continuingability to motivate his players.When Mourinho said last week that he considered United to be Chelsea'sclosest rivals, it seemed likely that he was both killing Fergusonwith flattery and dealing Arsène Wenger yet another insult into thebargain. The Chelsea manager appears to believe that the best way todeal with Ferguson is to pal up with him, call him "boss" and share abottle of red wine. In that way, perhaps, he hopes to avoid the sortof fangs-bared commitment with which United traditionally respond toFerguson's highly personal dislike of Wenger.
Yesterday's performance, lacking the ferocity conferred by thepresence of Roy Keane, was not quite of the 18-certificate varietywith which United knocked Wenger's team out of the FA Cup in April oflast year and then, eight months later, put an end to Arsenal's49-match unbeaten record. Their results over the past few weeks haveexposed the comparative meagreness of Ferguson's resources,particularly in the enforced absence of his two dynamic full-backs,Gary Neville and Gabriel Heinze, and the team have stuttered badly. IfUnited were to prevail yesterday, they needed to overcome their ownrecent failings and to find a constructive response to the clubcaptain's midweek criticisms.
Luckily for them, Chelsea are experiencing a dip of their own. Theirrocket-propelled start to the season is receding into history, andyesterday's outcome demonstrated that if they are to maintain theirdominance they will need to knuckle down and fight. Yesterday Unitedset them the perfect example, overcoming their own initial hesitancythrough precisely the kind of collective effort of will that theircritics claim has become an endangered commodity at Old Trafford.
"We wanted to make sure that we played quick, passing football,getting it into their box as soon as we could," Ferguson saidafterwards. "We tried to instil that into them in the last few days.
"The loss to Lille on Wednesday night was not a good one. No matterwhat we said about the terrible pitch, we didn't play well enough towin it. How you handle yourselves after something like that isimportant. Everyone here has got on with the job."
Chelsea's own lack of fluency made United's job easier. Enjoying thevast majority of possession in the early stages, the home side lookedstilted in their movements. The man with the ball would stop, give apass to a stationary team-mate, and then start moving again. Thegeometry was static and relatively easy for Chelsea to counter.
But when the west London team proved to have few attacking ideas oftheir own, beyond hitting long balls for Didier Drogba to chase,United were given the scope to play themselves back into some sort ofrecognisable shape. What was not lacking, the watching Keane wouldhave noticed, was effort. Alan Smith lacks too many of the necessaryattributes to make him the captain's ideal understudy, but very littlecould be said against his performance in yesterday's demandingenvironment. Two tackles midway through the first half, on Drogba andJoe Cole, were of the crunchingly uncompromising sort that can liftthe whole team.
United were drifting at the time, and the chant of "There's only oneKeano" had been heard from both ends of the ground. Five minutes afterSmith had made his point, United were ahead when Darren Fletcher,another to have felt the lash of Keane's tongue, chased a lost causeat the far post and jumped to head the winning goal. Smith acceptedthe man-of-the-match award, but Fletcher probably deserved an extraswig from the presentation bottle of champagne for the fight he showedthroughout the match and for the header with which, after 54 minutes,he created a chance that Ruud van Nistelrooy should not havesquandered.
And so Roman Abramovich sat in the stands watching the end ofChelsea's unbeaten run in the league, while Malcolm Glazer and hissons, somewhere in the United States, could breathe a sigh of reliefin the knowledge that United's recent poor results might not, afterall, have imperilled their highly geared debt repayments.
"It was a fantastic spectacle," Ferguson said. "The keenness anddesperation to play of our young players was marvellous, but in thelast five minutes we were under the cosh because Chelsea went foreverything. That's what champions do. We've done it many times in thepast ourselves. And today was a turning point because the supportersshowed how much they care for the club. When they're like that, itraises the ante and puts the players under pressure to do well. Todaythey were unbelievable."
United's width was the key to unlocking Chelsea
David Pleat's chalkboard
Monday November 7, 2005The Guardian
Manchester United went back to playing with their traditional widthand that was the key to them starting so positively - and scoring whatturned out to be the decisive goal. Although Chelsea found a responsein the second half and gained the ascendancy, they could not equalise.Sir Alex Ferguson decided to stretch Chelsea by asking CristianoRonaldo to hug the left touchline. With United passing to him at everyopportunity, it worked brilliantly before the interval. They got theball across the pitch with such quick passes that Ronaldo was able torun at Paulo Ferreira before the full-back could intercept or hadcover.
When the ball was with Wes Brown on the other side, Ferreira wastucked in to cover his centre-backs. But with three rapid passesUnited pulled him out wide and got Ronaldo one against one with him,running at speed. Ferreira had no protection because John Terry wasmarking Ruud van Nistelrooy and William Gallas was covering on theleft. With Chelsea stretched it opened room in the middle for WayneRooney.Ronaldo's value was shown when he provided the cross from which DarrenFletcher scored. With Fletcher giving width on the right when his teamhad possession and tucking in when they lost it, United had a niceshape from which to dictate play. Chelsea found it hard to buildattacks when they had the ball at the back because Rooney stuck nearClaude Makelele and disrupted his promptings.
Makelele is usually so good at protecting Chelsea but he was renderedalmost redundant as an intercepter in front of his back four - Unitedbypassed him rather than going through the middle and prevented himfrom cutting out passes in front of his central defenders.
Chelsea did not get close enough to their opponents to prevent theball being worked to Ronaldo, but in the second half they closed thatspace and stopped the flow of passes to the wing. Makelele movedcloser to Rooney rather than sitting and hoping to intercept thingsand his midfield colleagues got tighter to Alan Smith and PaulScholes, allowing Chelsea to dominate.
That forced Ronaldo to tuck in to defend, so Ferreira was closer andRonaldo was less of an attacking threat. Jose Mourinho took chances,with Eidur Gudjohnsen coming on for Michael Essien and playing furtherforward, Shaun Wright-Phillips using his pace against tiring legs andCarlton Cole replacing Asier Del Horno. But United blocked bravely andheld on to win a vibrant game which was a credit to the Premiership.
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Independent :Ferguson told to mind his language as United end Chelsea's 40-game runBy Andy HunterPublished: 07 November 2005Manchester United were unified in their retort to accusations ofdecline at Old Trafford yesterday, their players inflicting a firstPremiership defeat on Chelsea after 40 unbeaten games and theirmanager, Sir Alex Ferguson, describing claims his job is underpressure as "absolute bollocks" live on national television.
The United manager was reprimanded on air by Sky reporter GeoffShreeves for his expletive but Ferguson was in irrepressible mood ashe savoured a tumultuous victory over Jose Mourinho's side, which senthis side third in the table and reignited their pursuit of thechampions.
After a week in which successive defeats at Middlesbrough and Lilleand the notorious Roy Keane interview had aggravated a sense of crisisat Old Trafford, there was a momentous sense of relief when DarrenFletcher, one of the players who had been the target of the Unitedcaptain's criticism, sent a looping header over Petr Cech in the 31stminute and ultimately condemned Chelsea to their first League reversesince 16 October 2004.
However, when asked if he had ever been under more pressure during his19 years at the United helm than he was before yesterday's victory,Ferguson bristled: "That's absolute bollocks; people forget we went 13games without winning once" before being asked to curb his languagefor the benefit of watching children.
United remain an ominous 10 points behind the reigning champions, butFerguson insisted: "This is a big result and a big performance. Wewere terrific for an hour and, though I thought we sat back too muchin the last five minutes, we got there. It is an enormous result. Youdon't get as much consistency when you have to play young lads all thetime but they have carried us because of our injuries and they wereoutstanding. They needed more belief in their own ability and we havetried to instil that in them."
Fletcher was not the only Keane target to respond as the injured clubcaptain would have wished, with Alan Smith producing his finestperformance as a midfielder to claim the man-of-the-match award."Everyone knows where the criticism has come from and it is not justRoy," Smith said. " We need to carry on the belief we showed today."
Chelsea's loss was their third in four games but Mourinho was adamantthe end of their unbeaten Premiership record would not spiral into thekind of slump that undermined Arsenal's attempts to retain the titleafter losing at Old Trafford last season.
"I know what happened to Arsenal but no, it won't happen to us," hesaid. " I don't think we will need to bounce back from this because wehave shown that we have bounced back from Betis. We had chances; wewere the better team, but once they scored they defended with greatspirit. United have been through a difficult period and though this isa fantastic result for them it will not be enough to stop us becomingchampions of England again. I believe we showed here why we arechampions."
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Telegraph:
Smith leads the Red resistance movementBy Henry Winter Manchester United (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 0
Manchester United banished the blues yesterday, stopping Chelsea intheir smooth stride and breathing new life into their own season.Showing the determination of their manager, re-paying a debt ofloyalty to their supporters and reminding Roy Keane of theirresilience, Sir Alex Ferguson's players stood up for themselves andstood firm in the teeth of the champions' pressure. Here was onebroadcast United's players would like to make Keane sit through.
Alan Smith, one of those criticised by the United captain, respondedmost vigorously. Spiky of hair and commitment, Smith took the sight ofa visitor settling in possession as a personal affront, and flew in torectify the situation, tracking and tackling as if he had Keane on hisshoulder, whispering the words from recent unflattering headlines.
Smith deservedly collected the man-of-the-match bubbly, a prize thisdown-to-earth teetotal soul will probably use as a door-stop. Not thetype to paint the town red, Smith certainly painted the midfield redyesterday. Chelsea's midfielders could hardly catch breath, such wasSmith's relentlessly dogged attentions. Frank Lampard increasinglyresembled a jogger being chased down the road by a particularlyannoying Yorkshire terrier.
Commitment and collectivity suffused United from start to finish, fromEdwin van der Sar at the back through Smith in midfield to WayneRooney in attack. One second-half moment encapsulated United's passionplay, Rooney dropping into the right-back role to repel a long PauloFerreira pass and then dispossessing Asier del Horno, who had thetemerity to seize on the loose ball.
Rooney, like Smith, was covering every blade of grass, clearlyrelishing Ferguson's decision to go with him floating off Ruud vanNistelrooy in a 4-4-2 formation. Inspired by the England pair,United's performance exuded defiance. Ferguson's men may have fadedafter the hour, wilting as Eidur Gudjohnsen arrived to orchestrateChelsea attacks, but they never broke under the pressure. United clungon, like a heavyweight on the ropes, withstanding the battering,refusing to yield their advantage.
In terminating Chelsea's 40-game unbeaten record in the league, Unitedwere far removed from the ghosts who had been vanquished atMiddlesbrough and Lille over the past tumultuous week. Now they mustmaintain yesterday's conviction for the remainder of the season,starting at Charlton Athletic on Nov 19.
This will have done their confidence the world of good. Even in theopening minutes, when Rio Ferdinand was caught out by Lampard's longball and Didier Drogba's pace, Van der Sar was there, saving hisdefender's blushes. That was the United way yesterday, covering foreach other, showing a unity not witnessed in recent days.
Ferdinand himself refused to hide after his early embarrassment,putting in some vital tackles to thwart Chelsea. Paul Scholes wasalmost back to his old creative self, pinging passes around with thecrispness and frequency many feared lost. The little midfielder almostscored, rolling back the years by racing forward and meeting Rooney'spass with a wonderful shot which snaked just wide.
Defending high up the pitch, Van Nistelrooy even dropped deep to houndClaude Makelele. Tackles were thundering in all around, not themalicious kind that halted Arsenal's Invincibles in theirrecord-breaking tracks last year, but whole-hearted, ball-seekingefforts. Smith led the resistance movement, sliding in to dispossessDrogba and then bowling into Joe Cole.
Chelsea were forced on the back foot, unable to organise their fabledraiding parties. In the 31st minute, the champions were caught outspectacularly. Here was the United of yore, breaking with conviction,speed and a dash of wing-play. Rooney played the catalyst, working theball from a central station 40 yards out to Scholes and then CristianoRonaldo out on the left.
The Portuguese flier turned Ferreira, and crossed high to the far-postwhere Darren Fletcher lurked. Although growing in danger, thesituation still seemed a fire Chelsea could extinguish. Meeting theball before Michael Essien could properly pressurise him, the youngScot headed back across goal, the ball clearing Petr Cech and thenJohn Terry on the line. United's celebrations were long and loud.
But they were wary, knowing the champions would hit back. Gudjohnsen'sreplacing of Essien, precision replacing power, brought greatercontrol and cleverness to Chelsea's surges. And so the siege of Vander Sar's goal began. Drogba saw a shot deflected wide by the divingJohn O'Shea, another denigrated of late yet resolute here.
And so the great rearguard action intensified. Ferdinand hustled JoeCole into conceding the ball. Smith stopped Gudjohnsen with anothertackle. Van der Sar, all good positioning and sharp reflexes, made awonderful save from close range to deny Lampard.
United were sitting deep, too deep, and the Stretford End urged themforward. "Attack, attack, attack," they pleaded. But that wasChelsea's approach, and only a magnificent clearance from Smith robbedDrogba of a promising scoring opportunity. Mourinho kept introducinghigh-speed locksmiths, like Carlton Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, toopen up United's back door, but it was bolted firmly shut.
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Times:
United discover perfect remedyBy Matt DickinsonManchester United 1 Chelsea 0
THE GLAZER HEART BEATS WITH SUCH passion for Manchester United that,on the day that the empire was in greatest peril, not one member ofthe family bothered to cross the Atlantic. No doubt they watched thematch on television, but that was no substitute at all for witnessingthe stirring of a mighty beast within Old Trafford.Not Roy Keane (absent with injury) or even his hugely impressiveunderstudy, Alan Smith, but the United crowd, of course. They havebeen mocked down the years, even by Keane, but their raucous revivalyesterday was every bit as stunning, perhaps more so, than the superbperformances of Smith and Paul Scholes, among others.
Accustomed to jeering Rio Ferdinand, booing their "heroes" or watchingin silence, yesterday they reminded the world that Old Trafford canstill be one of sport's great cathedrals. "The crowd was the turningpoint," Sir Alex Ferguson said, shortly before turning the airwavesblue by describing talk of the worst crisis of his 19-year reign as"absolute b*****ks".
Whether or not this turns out to be a victory of lasting significance— and only a brave man will rush to predict Chelsea's decline — thiswas a magnificent, memorable occasion witnessed by an estimated 750million viewers worldwide. One that the Glazers should have attendedif only to realise how much this great institution can stir the soul."Caring for the club is done in different ways," Ferguson said.
Staying at home to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said everythingabout the devotion of the new owners.
All that can be said for the Americans is that, as detachedbusinessmen, they should at least know better than to read too muchinto the result. José Mourinho reaffirmed his belief that Chelsea willgo on to retain their Barclays Premiership title and, despite theending of a 40-match unbeaten league run, it may be wishful thinkingto believe that they will collapse like Arsène Wenger's Invincibles.
For United, last season's victory over Arsenal (the infamous Battle ofthe Buffet) was also supposed to be a critical juncture but Ferguson'smen went on to lose at Portsmouth and then draw at home to ManchesterCity in subsequent league matches. Will Scholes revert to his mediocreform, will Smith lose his snap and will Ferdinand slip back intocomplacent ways against Charlton Athletic?
Ten points behind Chelsea, albeit with a game in hand, it will be awhile before we can say that this was anything other than a roar ofdefiance in the long death throes of Ferguson's reign. His players canstill rouse themselves for a one-off battle against the best but thosewho doubted their ability to win the title or the European Cup shouldnot be revising their opinion simply because of one victory, howevertumultuous.
United rode their luck to survive Chelsea's second-half onslaught butat least they could point out that this victory did not require thebullying tactics so often employed to overcome Arsenal's superiortechnique. Mourinho could argue, as he did, that his team were unluckyto lose but he could not dispute that United's half-time lead was wellmerited.
The looping header from Darren Fletcher which was, in the end, theonly measurable difference between the two teams, may not have beendeliberately placed just inside the post but it was the culmination ofa slick move involving Wes Brown, Wayne Rooney, Scholes and theeffervescent Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was only when Mourinho replaced Michael Essien with EidurGudjohnsen in the 55th minute — belatedly by the standards of thedecisive Portuguese — that Chelsea began to put United under sustainedpressure. At right-back, Wes Brown looked ready to crack under thestrain but, with a bit of luck and a lot of hacking the ball away,Ferdinand and his defenders survived.
If one moment summed up United's resilience, it came in the 74thminute when Smith flung himself into a crucial challenge inside hisown area. Leaping to his feet, he angrily berated John O'Shea forfailing to cut out the danger earlier. Hair cut to the scalp and facescrewed up in rage, Keane would have been proud. Or perhaps not. Maybethe skipper will march into the training ground this morning and say:"It's very well to do that in a big match against Chelsea but wherewere you lot when Middlesbrough were sticking four away last week?"
Chelsea's defeat will be cheered up and down the land and Wigan nowlie only six points behind with a game in hand. It is unlikely thatMourinho will feel Paul Jewell's breath down his neck but, for acouple of weeks at least, it is a lovely thought.
PRAWN TO BE WILD
IT WAS NOT just the Manchester United players who seemed desperate toprove Roy Keane wrong yesterday. The home support, once described byKeane as prawn sandwich-eating mutes, gave great vocal support fortheir team. Some of the anthems were ironic, not least "My old mansaid 'Be a City fan' " and "Who the f*** are Man United?", and othersoffensive, particularly towards Peter Kenyon, who resigned as Unitedchief executive to take on that role at Chelsea. Compared with thematchday atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, the din was almost unbearable.OLIVER KAY
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Sun:
Man Utd 1 Chelsea 0
DARREN FLETCHER rammed Roy Keane's words down his throat with the goalthat ended Chelsea's 40-game unbeaten run.
United's Scotland midfielder was one of the players most harshlycriticised by Keane in that now infamous programme axed by MUTV.
But he responded in just the manner his injured captain would havewanted, rising to meet Cristiano Ronaldo's cross with a 31st-minutelooping header that dropped in at the far post.
United had to weather a second-half siege from Chelsea to steal the points.
They may have ridden their luck at times, but there was no doubt theirperformance had all the passion and intent that had been lacking indismal defeats to Middlesbrough and Lille.
Alan Smith typified the United spirit, his commitment in midfield wastotal, his tackle count was off the scale and he turned in a displayof which Keane in his prime would have been proud.
Wayne Rooney was not far behind him. He hardly got a sniff in attack,but he never gave Chelsea's backline a moment of peace and producedsome sublime touches which showed just why he is United's andEngland's best player.
This result was important for so many reasons. It ended Chelsea'sPremiership unbeaten run, it broke Jose Mourninho's hoodoo over SirAlex Ferguson and, who knows, it could have saved Fergie's job.
A little bit melodramatic perhaps, but a thumping win for the Blues inUnited's back yard and who knows what might have happened.
Chelsea started the brighter and could have taken the lead when RioFerdinand was caught snoozing on eight minutes.
He may be the most expensive defender in the world, but the formerLeeds man has looked a shadow of the player who dazzled at the WorldCup four years ago.
Ferdinand was not expecting Didier Drobga to get anywhere near a FrankLampard ball over the top.
The Ivory Coast international brought the pass down with a sensationalfirst touch and while Rio stood open-mouthed he fired in a shot whichEdwin van der Sar beat down at his near post.
United had another escape seven minutes later. Asier Del Horno losthis marker, Fletcher, at a free-kick from the right and blasted overthe bar.
At the other end Paul Scholes was only a foot away from giving United the lead.
Silvestre fed Rooney down the inside-left channel and the youngstercontrolled the ball superbly before setting up the ginger marauderarriving from the edge of the box. The former England man cut acrossthe ball with his right foot and it swerved just past the right-handupright.
That effort lifted United and they got a foothold in the game beforetaking the lead on 31 minutes.
Ronaldo's cross from the left found Fletcher unmarked andbackpedalling at the far post. The Scotland star tried to head theball back into the danger zone, but his effort looped across goal andjust dropped in under the bar.
Drobga fired into the sidenetting just before the break and withinfour minutes of the restart Smith cleared Frank Lampard's shot infront of van der Sar.
But United were still a threat at this stage. Fletcher's knockback wasa fraction behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the prolific Dutchmanshould still have done better than blast over from 12 yards.
Jose Mourinho threw on Eidur Gudjohnsen for Michael Essien just beforethe hour and suddenly it was all Chelsea. The Icelander carved out thechance of the game within two minutes of coming on.
He crossed from the left but the unmarked Damien Duff completelymiskicked eight yards out and Drogba slipped as he was about to pullthe trigger.
Drobga then scuffed a close-range shot from Gudjohnsen's pass but theball ran kindly to Lampard who was denied by a brilliant save low downfrom van der Sar.
Joe Cole's shot from the resulting corner was blocked by the omnipresent Smith.
Gudjohnsen was involved again with 20 minutes left. He fed Duff whosent an inviting cross into the danger zone. Del Horno was arriving atpace and sent an acrobatic volley over the bar.
Rooney had a chance to settle the game near the end. Substitute Parkchased a long ball with two defenders and all three collided. The ballbroke to Rooney 25 yards out but his instant shot was blocked for acorner.
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Mirror:
JOSE HITS THE BUFFERSManchester Utd 1 Chelsea 0 It's Theatre of Screams for Mourinho asChelsea's run is stopped by rampant RedsMartin Lipton Chief Football WriterNOW it really is pressure, Jose. And we will find out what your team is made of.
Just like Arsenal's "Invincibles" 13 months ago, Chelsea'sirresistible force was stopped in its tracks by the immovable objectof Manchester United's sheer desire.
As Old Trafford rocked to the rafters, as tension reverberated aroundthe Theatre of Dreams throughout Chelsea's second- half siege, it wasas if the gods of football wanted to teach Jose Mourinho and his mennothing is ever achieved without moments of doubt.
Doubt there must be, even in Mourinho's mind, after a second loss infive days by a team that did not have the word "defeat" in itscollective vocabulary.
And even if most of football has gloried in United and Sir AlexFerguson's discomfort over the past week, it will not just be ArseneWenger who offered up a prayer of thanks to the Laird of Old Traffordlast night.
The bulldozer that had crashed through all obstacles for the firstthree months of the campaign has slipped its gears, while the FortKnox defence has developed cracks that are starting to tell.
This was the team that recorded seven straight clean sheets, thatrarely even looked like being breached.
Now Mourinho's side have conceded in seven of the last eight games,and while the Portuguese boss has railed and warned against the recent"individual mistakes"- his players were not listening.
Perhaps we've got a title race after all.
This was a game won and lost by the old-fashioned virtues, by guts anddetermination, and refusal to be consumed by what at times looked likea superior force, as United dug deep into their reserves of courage.
Yet for all the possession Chelsea had in the second period as theysought to peg back the advantage eked out by Darren Fletcher'sfortuitous header, for all the blue shirts that flooded the Unitedbox, they did not test Edwin Van der Sar enough to win or even draw.
Fletcher did well to get on to the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's crossand his looping header drifted beyond the slow-reacting Petr Cech anddropped just inside the back post over the despairing John Terry.
But if Michael Essien or Asier Del Horno had been in the rightposition, it would not have been possible.
It was a shock to the system, but the type of shock that Mourinho'smen had recovered from all season - until Tuesday in Seville.
Before that Didier Drogba threatened to make Rio Ferdinand's seasonmore depressing, and with Joe Cole influential and Frank Lampard andDamien Duff keen to make inroads, Chelsea had looked calm andcontrolled although Alan Smith ran himself into the ground.
Paul Scholes had gone close after foraging from Wayne Rooney butDrogba, after a beautiful piece of control as Ferdinand lost his runon to Lampard's ball, knew he should have tested Van der Sar.
Yet the longer the half went on, the more United's midfield were ableto get a grip, with Fletcher's goal proof he has more to offer thanRoy Keane suggested.
It should have been over 12 minutes after the restart. Rooney teased aball out to Fletcher on the right, he pulled back but skipper Ruud vanNistelrooy slashed wildly into the Stretford End.
Duff's air-shot only fell for Drogba, who ended up on his backside butstill managed to see his shot screw wildly but fractionally outsidethe post with Van der Sar scrambling.
Cole fired over as the assault intensified. Del Horno prodded over,and when Drogba's shot fell to Lampard, Van der Sar turned the ballbehind.
Cole and Lampard dithered with the shooting opportunities and thedesperation left the Blues open at the other end, with only Terry'sprone body denying Rooney late on.
Not that United fans or the the country cared about that.
Unbeatable? Not any more. Unstoppable? Evidently not. Still, probably,champions.
But the questions are being asked. We have to wait two weeks to see ifChelsea can find the answers. Mourinho wants to know them too.
MAN UTD: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Fletcher,Smith, Scholes, Rooney, van Nistelrooy (Park 82), Ronaldo.
CHELSEA: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Del Horno (C Cole 78),Essien (Gudjohnsen 55), Makelele, Lampard, J Cole (Wright-Phillips74), Drogba, Duff.
ATTENDANCE: 67,864
MAN OF THE MATCH: Smith
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