Sunday, January 27, 2008

sunday papers wigan fa cup

The Sunday TimesJanuary 27, 2008
Thoroughbred Nicolas Anelka gets off the markWigan 1 Chelsea 2Jonathan Northcroft at JJB stadium
HERE WAS the case against video evidence. That Chelsea, kings of the cups, ruled in another knock-out tie is hardly a talking point, but two incidents en route to them winning certainly were. The first was the goal by which Nicolas Anelka, that £15m stopgap, set up the victory, the second involved an off-the-ball incident between Michael Brown and Claude Makelele that had Chelsea manager Avram Grant and his minions shooting to their feet as if an electric current had just passed through their seats. Wigan’s outrage concerning the first instance matched Chelsea’s over the second, though action replays, both times, provided confusion, not clarification.
The one certain thing about Anelka’s goal was that his finish was that of a thoroughbred. On a day when the defending was good and the pitch as rutted as a corrugated iron roof, chances were difficult to create and what was needed were ruthless scorers. Anelka, filling in for Didier Drogba and already looking brilliant business by Grant, again proved to be one. Juliano Belletti lofted a pass and Anelka ran beyond Wigan’s backline to beat Chris Kirkland to the ball. On the volley and with a beautifully judged touch he toed it past the goalkeeper, but had he been offside? The pictures appeared to show that he was level with Paul Scharner, the last defender, and therefore legal and Steve Bruce did not demur. But the cameras were at the wrong angle to be conclusive. Scharner was probably wrong to berate the linesman, but it was just possible that he was not.
That made it 1-0 to Chelsea, which became 2-0 when Shaun Wright-Phillips converted a breakaway and 2-1 thanks to Antoine Sibierski’s late but brilliant riposte. Brown and Makelele tangled just after Anelka scored. The Wigan midfielder moved to block off his opponent as Chelsea were moving upfield. Brown put an arm out and the Frenchman ran into it, taking a blow on the chin, but was Brown’s action a deliberate effort to elbow someone or was the contact acciden-tal? Once more, replays left matters open to interpretation. Why ask the cameras questions if they cannot provide answers? The brigade who want football to become like an American sport, with constant interruptions so TV can pass judgement, should think carefully. Grant seemed a little embarrassed, in hindsight, at how his bench had reacted over Makelele, claiming it was because Uriah Rennie, the referee, did not stop the game quickly and they were concerned Makelele might have sustained an injury, having just returned from nasal surgery.
“There was no incident as far as I’m concerned. I asked everyone on their bench individually: did you see it? None of them had,” Bruce scoffed. As for Anelka’s goal, his opinion was “he wasn’t offside. For three days we’d been talking about how Anelka always plays on the shoulder of the last defender, always on the brink of offside and it was our own fault. You can’t take risks with him”.
Where television’s influence was discernable and definitive was in the size of the crowd.
Even by Wigan’s standards, 14,166 was poor given admission prices were reduced and the FA Cup holders were in town. The lack of interest was a pity as for once two Premier League managers treated a cup tie with absolute seriousness. Bruce and Grant used their strongest XIs, Grant declining to rest any of the side who overcame Everton in Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final.
Wigan limited Chelsea through their workrate and pressing. While Grant may have had Shaun Wright-Phillips in the hole and Joe Cole pushed so far up he was sometimes Anelka’s strike partner, but his players never forgot their defensive duties.
How Bruce needs his new arrival, Marlon King, because Emile Heskey had to shoulder too far much in Wigan’s attack. Until Anelka scored, Heskey had produced the most penetrating moment, turning Alex and angling a pass through to Mar-cus Bent, who reacted slowly and Wayne Bridge cleared. At 1-0 down, Bruce brought on Jason Koumas and Sibierski in search of greater creativity and the pair combined for a glorious goal, Sibierski swivelling and beating Petr Cech with a volley.
It would have been worthy of saving any game but this was now beyond Wigan. As Wigan pressed at 1-0, Anelka found Wright-Phillips after Kevin Kilbane’s slip and he converted calmly. Three goals, two controversies, one winner - and no help from the TV cameras.
Player ratings: Wigan: Kirkland 6, Melchiot 7, Bramble 6, Scharner 6, Kilbane 6, Valencia 7, Brown 6, Palacios 7 (Sibierski 77min), Taylor 6 (Koumas 58min, 6), Heskey 7 (Aghahowa 84min), Bent 5
Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 7, Alex 6, Carvalho 7, Bridge 7, Sidwell 6, Makelele 6, Cole 6, Wright-Phillips 6, Malouda 5 (Ferreira 80min), Anelka 7 (Pizarro 90min)
Star man: Wilson Palacios (Wigan)
Scorers: Wigan: Sibierski 87
Chelsea: Anelka 53, Wright-Phillips 82
Yellow cards: Wigan: Bramble, Scharner, Palacios, Aghahowa
Chelsea: Alex, Carvalho
Referee: U Rennie
Attendance: 14,166 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Nicolas Anelka keeps Chelsea's double alive By William Johnson at the JJB Stadium
Wigan (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 2
Nicolas Anelka, after several agonising near misses since his recent £15 million transfer from Bolton, finally opened his Chelsea account and then set up the clinching second for Shaun Wright-Phillips against Wigan to keep Avram Grant's team on course for a Wembley cup double.
Anelka, predatory in the North West playing at Liverpool, Manchester City and Bolton, broke the deadlock eight minutes into the second half of what had been until then a desperately disappointing tie which only belatedly rose to the standard expected of one of the plums selected for live television.
The French striker displayed all the sharpness he showed as an Arsenal youngster to propel the holders into the last 16. Firstly, he was alert to time his darting run on to Juliano Belletti's chip to meet it on the volley just before the advancing Chris Kirkland to steer the ball into an unguarded net. He then showed commendable unselfishness by refusing the chance of a second for himself by teeing up Wright-Phillips for a much simpler finish - a tap-in which reduced the ensuing goal of the match from Wigan substitute Antoine Sibierski to consolation status.
"Anelka is a proven striker and he showed his class today," Grant said. "We need him more than ever at the moment because we are short of players in attack."
Anelka's goal rescued a contest which had threatened to be the dampest of squibs. Wigan's defenders felt aggrieved that he was allowed to execute a clinical finish and Paul Scharner sprinted 40 yards to make the assistant referee aware of his complaint - an over-reaction which brought a yellow card.
The official had been spot on and a disappointed Wigan manager Steve Bruce agreed by suggesting his players' attempts to lay the offside trip had cost them dearly.
Eight minutes from time Anelka was through again after eluding the challenge of Kevin Kilbane to burst clear and tee up Wright-Phillips 10 yards out to the delight of the Chelsea faithful who were in the area on cup duty for the second time in four days, having watched them account for Everton in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.
Chelsea deserved their latest success under the astute guidance of Grant, who is steadily reducing his predecessor Jose Mourinho to a distant memory.
They were hardly threatened by hosts whose priority is Premiership survival until Sibierski chested the ball down just outside the penalty area and unleashed a terrific shot on the turn.
Until then, Cech was called into action only twice, to save with his feet from Emile Heskey and then gather a Sharner free kick, but he was almost beaten a second time in stoppage time when Marcus Bent struck the top of the crossbar with a fierce drive from a tight angle.
The excitement of the second half contrasted sharply with a first which would have stretched the patience of the armchair audience at tea time and it was a hard slog for those who occupied the half-full JJB Stadium as they watched the highly paid players from both teams struggle to cope with a pitch not conducive to producing flowing football. If Joe Cole, whose goal secured Chelsea's Carling Cup final place, had scored after 47 seconds with his side's best chance of that opening period it might have turned into a more appealing spectacle.
Similarly, if Bent had profited from his Wigan strike partner Emile Heskey's splendid through ball at the other end and not allowed Wayne Bridge to recover and clear, his side might have forced the holders out of their comfort zone.
Man of the match Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)Great goal and unselfish lay-off for the winner.

Match details
Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Kilbane, Valencia, Brown, Palacios, Taylor, Bent, HeskeyBooked: Bramble, Scharner, Palacios, Aghahowa. Subs: Sibierski, Koumas, AghahowaChelsea: Cech, Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge, Malouda, Makelele, Sidwell, Wright-Phillips, Joe Cole, AnelkaBooked: Alex, Carvalho. Goals: Anelka 53, Wright-Phillips 82. Subs: Ferreira, PizarroReferee: Uriah Rennie ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Wigan Athletic 1 Chelsea 2: Anelka delivers knockout punchDave Hadfield at the JJB StadiumSunday, 27 January 2008
Nicholas Anelka's first goal for Chelsea set up the Carling Cup finalists for progress on another front. Anelka broke his duck with a brilliantly taken if hotly disputed goal after 53 minutes of an undistinguished FA Cup fourth-round tie.
He then turned unselfish provider eight minutes from the end to present Shaun Wright-Phillips with his side's second, effectively settling a match which Chelsea had always struggled to dominate.
In the time remaining, the Wigan substitute Antoine Sibierski pulled one back when he took the ball on his chest and volleyed in on the turn and Marcus Bent skimmed the bar when threatening an equaliser. In the final analysis, however, Chelsea and Anelka had done just enough to stay in the running for four trophies.
"One goal and one assist," said Anelka's manager Avram Grant about his most eye-catching contribution so far. "He was very, very good today and it's not easy to play football on this pitch."
The Frenchman made it look easy enough when he timed his run to perfection to claim his first strike for his new club. Ryan Taylor, who had been brought in by Wigan for the transferred Denny Landzaat, lost possession in midfield and Juliano Belletti played in what looked merely a hopeful long ball.
Anelka, lurking just onside, arrived in time to meet the ball and guide it over the head of the advancing Chris Kirkland. Paul Scharner was booked for leading the protests that insisted he had been offside, but replays suggested that he had been level with the last man, Scharner himself, at worst and had thus got it exactly right. That was the view of the Wigan manager, Steve Bruce. "If we've tried to play offside, we're at fault," he said. "You can't take that risk with someone like Anelka.
"It's the one thing we've talked about for the last three days. He's always on your shoulder, always on the verge of being offside. It's another individual error and it's cost us the game."
It did not help their cause that Wigan were opened up so easily for a second. Again it was an optimistic long punt that paved the way, this time from the substitute, Paulo Ferreira. Anelka got rid of his markers rather too easily and rolled the ball square to give Wright-Phillips a tap-in when he could probably have scored himself.
Wigan's surge came too late, but they had been the better side for the middle section of a game in which the football never quite mastered the deteriorating playing surface.
Chelsea had started brightly enough, with Joe Cole missing a reasonable chance in the first minute, but gradually the game came to be played more and more in the air. The major excitement came when both benches got into a heated debate after Michael Brown appeared to floor Claude Makelele with a stray arm.
Grant and Bruce yelled across the no-man's land separating the technical areas, but the Chelsea manager explained afterwards that he had not seen the incident and was angry because Uriah Rennie was allowing play to go on while Makelele was injured on the ground.
It was the end of a very satisfactory week for Chelsea, especially in view of how depleted their squad is at the moment.
"This week has told me what I thought before," said Grant. "The players have developed very well in the last two or three months."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Anelka bridges Chelsea class gap at WiganWigan 1 Chelsea 2
By JOE BERNSTEIN
Nicolas Anelka showed why Chelsea invested £15million in him as he kept the London club in the running for four competitions.
Anelka's debut goal for his new club was a beauty, quite out of keeping with the rest of an awful game on an awful pitch. For good measure, he set up a late second for Shaun Wright- Phillips — and even displayed a broad smile no one expected from a player who used to have a sulky image.
The FA Cup-holders fancy a double return to Wembley, having already booked their place in the Carling Cup final, and this was Avram Grant's side's eighth win in a row.
Even more impressive is the fact that Chelsea won yesterday without nine key players. Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou are on African Cup of Nations duty, while John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko are injured and Ashley Cole was absent after a week in which there have been lurid allegations regarding his private life.
Without so many big players, Grant needed his first big-money signing to shine. Anelka did not let him down. The former Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool striker, taken from Bolton during the transfer window, showed his class with the crucial opening goal after 53 minutes.
Juliano Belletti chipped a 60-yard pass with backswing and Anelka's clever run saw him advance past Titus Bramble from an onside position. If that was good, the finish was truly great. The France striker noted Chris Kirkland rushing out from goal and deftly extended his right leg to divert the ball past him as it dropped over his shoulder.
"Nicolas played very well on a pitch that wasn't easy and shouldn't be allowed at a Premier League club," said Grant. "He scored one goal and made one assist. But he is a proven striker. I think my judgment on him is right, not only because of this game."
Wigan manager Steve Bruce complained: "We spoke for three days about Anelka playing on the shoulder of the last defender — and we still let him do it.
"Chelsea's biggest strength remains their resilience. Alex has come in and the greatest thing you can say is that John Terry hasn't been missed."
Anelka's moment of class separated Chelsea from Bruce's honest grafters. The Wigan boss won the FA Cup twice as a player with Manchester United but is unlikely to get to Wembley as a manager unless he upgrades his squad.
Wigan huffed and puffed but were always hanging on. The dreadful pitch restricted Chelsea's chances to a curled effort from Joe Cole and a penalty appeal after Anelka went down when challenged by Kevin Kilbane.
At least Bruce can unveil new striker Marlon King for Tuesday's relegation six-pointer against Middlesbrough, although another signing, full-back Erik Edman, has suffered a calf injury.
Anelka's strike effectively settled the tie. Wigan had a chance to level moments after they fell behind, but Emile Heskey slammed his shot into Petr Cech's midriff.
The dugouts shouted and glared at each other when Michael Brown challenged Claude Makelele with a forearm and the Frenchman went down clutching his face, but the Wigan midfielder escaped any punishment.
Grant said: "I was only concerned because I thought it might be a head injury and the referee should stop play." But Bruce insisted: "There was no incident, handbags. I asked every one of their bench if they had seen what happened and none of them had."
Chelsea's second goal arrived seven minutes from time. Anelka shook off Kilbane and unselfishly squared to Shaun Wright-Phillips to slot home.
Antoine Sibierski hooked in a consolation strike three minutes from time and there was some late excitement when Marcus Bent skimmed the top of the crossbar in injury-time.
But Chelsea march on. Grant may not have the charisma of the Special One, but his record is beginning to look pretty special.
"We have developed spirit in our play over the last three months," he said. "We have so many players missing but Steve Sidwell, Shaun and others have come in and done a great job."
As for Bruce, the move from Birmingham seems to have stopped his serial whingeing. His view of the JJB pitch? "It's difficult. The rugby league starts in two weeks. That's really going to help!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Observer:
Anelka finds welcome finesse in the gloom
Paul Wilson at the JJB StadiumSunday January 27, 2008The Observer
A Chelsea spokesman before the game said Ashley Cole was unavailable. Then Avram Grant said afterwards he was available, but he thought Wayne Bridge deserved a run. One way or another, Cole's availability has been the story of the week. Sorry about the cheap gags, but you really don't want to know too much about the game, which was the sort of Cup tie that gives the BBC a bad name for screening it when there was a seven-goal thriller on offer at Anfield.
Perhaps that is a little unfair. Wigan made the last few minutes moderately exciting and there were three goals by the end, the first and last both excellent. There was also a masterful contribution from Nicolas Anelka, who scored his first Chelsea goal, made another and added some much needed finesse to another impressively workmanlike win by a team who have won eight in a row. 'I can only admire Chelsea's resilience,' Steve Bruce said. 'They have lost all those players and switched manager and they are as hard to beat as ever. Nothing has changed. I can only commend them.'
Chelsea passed their way around Wigan easily enough, it was the surface they found difficult to master. Lumpy, bald in places and uneven of bounce everywhere, the pitch confounded both teams' attempts at control and the Warriors have not started playing rugby on it yet.
Add in a blustery wind and the fact that Chelsea had played in midweek and you could say the conditions were ripe for an upset, though Wigan did not seem to possess Havant & Waterlooville's have-a-go attitude. Their defence was split open after barely a minute, only for Joe Cole to shoot wastefully wide when he had effortlessly rounded the last defender. Then again, Cole's shot might have been a miscue caused by one of a million bobbles. They might also explain why Kevin Kilbane soon overhit a back-pass to concede a corner and why Shaun Wright-Phillips sent a cross straight into the crowd.
Mainly due to Kilbane surviving an optimistic penalty appeal from Anelka, the home side survived a shaky first few minutes, finding to their relief that Chelsea could not keep up their initial pressure. Marcus Bent was given space and a clear sight of goal from Emile Heskey's pass, but waited too long to shoot and was brushed off the ball by Wayne Bridge. Then Michael Brown had a chance to slip a ball through to Bent but opted to crash into Alex instead, conning Uriah Rennie into booking the Chelsea player.
Someone hit the bar at the first attempt during the half-time entertainment, and the host was not lying when he said it produced the biggest cheer of the night. So it was something of a relief when Anelka stole in at the start of the second half to stun Wigan, since the prospect of a replay was too numbingly awful to imagine.
The goal was Anelka at his lethal best. Paul Scharner was booked for furiously protesting that Anelka had strayed offside, though replays suggested he had timed his run to perfection as Juliano Belletti launched his pass over the defence. While Scharner and Titus Bramble maintained their line expecting Chris Kirkland to collect the ball, Anelka simply ran in behind them to scoop the ball over the goalkeeper at the last moment. 'It wasn't offside, it was our individual error,' Bruce admitted. 'You can't take a chance with Anelka, he's always on your shoulder, and we have spent most of the week working on that. I thought we had a chance in this Cup tie, but we made mistakes.'
The game took an unsavoury turn when Brown felled an unsuspecting Claude Makelele with an elbow to the face. The incident occurred when the ball was elsewhere, so Rennie could not be blamed for missing it, though he must have been aware something serious had taken place as the technical area was suddenly filled with men gesticulating angrily. Brown may face retrospective disciplinary action once the video has been reviewed, though Grant accepted the contact might have been accidental and said the main concern of his bench was that the referee let the play go on with Makelele lying on the floor.
Wigan had their moments after going behind, Petr Cech producing a good save to deny Heskey from close range then a more routine one to prevent Scharner equalising from a free-kick, though as plenty more teams have discovered this season Chelsea are not easy to break down. The Cup holders added a second goal eight minutes from time just to confirm their superiority, Anelka chasing down another long ball and beating an out-of-position Kilbane before rolling a pass across the face of goal for Wright-Phillips to finish.
The home fans who left after that will have missed a late consolation goal, a terrific shot on the turn from Antoine Sibierski on the edge of the area and arguably the game's best strike. It would have graced Wembley, but that will not be happening, thank goodness, despite Bent hitting the bar in stoppage time. Chelsea versus Manchester United was bad enough.
Man of the match
Nicolas Anelka Just what you expect from a £15m signing. Anelka ran cleverly, took his goal well just after half time and made another for Shaun Wright-Phillips near the end. Altogether he was too much for the Wigan defence to handle.
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Thursday, January 24, 2008

morning papers everton away cc semi

The Times
January 24, 2008
One touch of brilliance pierces the gloom and bursts Everton’s bubbleEverton 0 Chelsea 1 (Chelsea win 3-1 on agg)Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent
For Fabio Capello, the England manager, it must have seemed a very long way to come for very little. The game was tired and tame, the players who were of interest were largely uninspired and the occasion was muted. The big team won, the smaller team lost and the first-team coach who said that he cared little for the tournament is now on his way to Wembley, with barely a smile.
Fortunately, amid so much that was uninspiring, there was an absolute gem of a winning goal, scored by an Englishman and certain to catch Capello’s eye, much like torchlight in a graveyard. It came from Joe Cole, who is sure to be named in Capello’s first squad on February 2, and perhaps is the answer to his problems if Michael Owen fails to regain his form and the England manager is forced to play Wayne Rooney as a striker, with a supporting midfield player behind.
Cole has long coveted a more central, attacking role and, although he did not get it in a depleted Chelsea team here — surprisingly, Avram Grant, their first-team coach, played Shaun Wright-Phillips through the middle and kept Cole wide on the right — he showed what he can do in front of goal with the 68th-minute intervention that decided the game and, with it, the tie, given Chelsea’s 2-1 advantage from the first leg.
Capello has taken to leaving games early, as Sven-Göran Eriksson did when he was the England head coach, but it was to be hoped that he was still in his seat when Cole provided the only moment worth watching on a disappointing night, making what started as nothing more than a hopeful long pass from Florent Malouda appear more like a flash of genius with a finish that deserved a place at Wembley, even if not much else did.
Cole outran Joleon Lescott, took the ball down with one touch, and then finished with a flourish, a right-foot shot that beat Tim Howard at his near post, more through speed and surprise than studied placement. And that was all it took, really. On a night that promised so much for Everton, David Moyes’s team disappointed like at no other time this season, failing to show the cutting edge that could have put Chelsea under pressure, given that a 1-0 home win would have made the Merseyside team Wembley bound for the first time since 1995.
It was never likely to happen on this showing. Two saves by Petr Cech in the space of a minute midway through the second half were the only time that Chelsea looked stretched, despite a makeshift line-up that included Wright-Phillips and Steve Sidwell as a central midfield pairing, an accident waiting to happen against a team with more to offer. In the end, though, Chelsea won at a canter and, while Grant claims that the Carling Cup is way down his list of priorities, he may get caught up in the atmosphere once he is at Wembley; Tottenham Hotspur’s hunger for a trophy and a desire for Chelsea not to go the same way as Arsenal should see to that.
Indeed, it was the memory of Tuesday night’s show at White Hart Lane that made this encounter seem such a damp squib. Tottenham showed how to get on the front foot on such an occasion, but Moyes simply does not have the same quality at his disposal.
Both clubs have been affected by the exodus to the African Cup of Nations, but, while Everton are without Yakubu Ayegbeni, their record £11.25 million signing, who is on duty with Nigeria, Chelsea replaced Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker, by lavishing £15 million on Nicolas Anelka. That was the difference.
Emotions were high at Goodison Park, certainly, with the club enjoying their most significant night of domestic cup football in more than a decade, but their play could not keep step with the expectation. Everton have spent too long playing safe against teams with the might of Chelsea to go hell for leather now, and Moyes’s game plan of using Andrew Johnson as a lone striker, with Tim Cahill withdrawn in support, resembled a sling-shot against Chelsea’s armour-plated defence.
In the first half, neither team conjured a clear opportunity, trading instead in the lesser currency of half-chances and hope until Anelka hit the bar in the first attack of the second half. Chelsea looked increasingly dangerous on the break and, when Cole broke the stalemate, few were surprised. It could have been different had the much-needed galvanising goal for the home team arrived first, and there were two close shaves, in the 57th minute when a short corner by Mikel Arteta was met by Phil Neville, at last drawing a save worthy of the name from Cech, and then when Leon Osman took Cech by surprise, his shot forcing an ungainly clearance off the line with his legs.
At those moments, Goodison Park at last reached the decibel levels that had been promised, yet by the end, all was quiet. Everton did not turn up for the party and Chelsea have enjoyed too many bigger bashes of late to put out the flags for the Carling Cup.
Everton (4-4-1-1): T Howard – P Neville, P Jagielka, J Lescott, N Valente – M Arteta, M Fernandes (sub: J Vaughan, 78min), L Carsley (sub: V Anichebe, 70), L Osman – T Cahill – A Johnson. Substitutes not used: A Hibbert, A Stubbs, S Wessels. Booked: Carsley, Fernandes, Valente, Neville.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech – J Belletti, Alex, R Carvalho, W Bridge – C Makelele – J Cole (sub: C Pizarro, 82), S Wright-Phillips, S Sidwell, F Malouda (sub: A Cole, 90) – N Anelka (sub: T Ben Haim, 90). Substitutes not used: P Ferreira, C Cudicini. Booked: Makelele, Belletti.
Referee: S Bennett.

The final:
Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Wembley, February 24, 3pm

Mirror image
Remarkably, in their first 28 games in charge of Chelsea in all competitions (including last night’s cup-tie), José Mourinho and Avram Grant share identical records:
Played 28 Won 21 Lost 2 Drawn 5
Source: Opta ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------telegraph:
Joe Cole sends Chelsea to another finalBy Tim Rich
Everton (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 1Agg: 1-3
Avram Grant's attempt to convince the world that Chelsea were not especially bothered by the Carling Cup sounded false from the moment it left his lips. Not since Don Revie constructed his all-white machine at Leeds has there been a club who have set out so remorselessly to win everything. 'The Special One' did not get his name by picking and choosing his trophies and nor, it seems, will his successor.
The Carling Cup was the first silverware Jose Mourinho won as manager of Chelsea and for the third time in four seasons they find themselves in the final. Although Tottenham, their opponents on Feb 24, reached Wembley rather more spectacularly, this semi-final was at least settled by an exquisite goal, a long ball from Florent Malouda that Joe Cole controlled instinctively with one touch and buried past Tim Howard with the second.
It was a wonderful move but not one the romantics would have wanted. The People's Club had been beaten by a billionaire's plaything. However, Everton did not do nearly enough to reach their first final since 1995. Their manager, David Moyes, had said that to reach Wembley they would have to play as well as they had ever done against a side they had not beaten for eight years. This, they never remotely did.
Perhaps Everton were tempting fate by printing the Wembley Arch on the front of the matchday programme. Perhaps they were tempting fate by playing reruns of their finest semi-final, the defeat of Bayern Munich in 1985.
But when you have a history, it is as well to remember it and at Goodison they sang and screamed about it. Grant was right; this semi-final did mean more to Everton than to Chelsea, who took an embarrassingly small contingent, some of them from Cyprus, to Goodison. But it was not because Everton are a small club.
Interrupted only by a minute's silence for Wally Fielding, who played more than 400 times for the club in the immediate post-war years, Goodison provided plenty of evidence for Arsene Wenger's theory that it is a naturally more intimidating venue than Anfield. Both provide grand theatre, but the noise from the Gwladys is not as self-conscious as that from the Kop.
Everton might have been carried away by this riptide of emotion but, instead of indulging in cavalry charges, they attacked cleverly through Mikel Arteta and Manuel Fernandes, who having stalked out of Goodison in the summer has now stalked back in after falling out with the Valencia manager, Ronald Koeman.
Their best chance of the first half fell to one of Everton's more regular threats, the centre-half Joleon Lescott, whose own goal may have decided the first leg at Stamford Bridge but who had also scored seven times for Everton. It was a toss-up whether he or Tim Cahill would reach Arteta's corner first but Lescott's header was saved at full stretch on the line by Petr Cech, who yesterday morning had become a father for the first time.
And until Everton relaunched their attacks around the hour mark, that was almost his only real piece of work in a contest that became less emotional and more attritional as the minutes ticked relentlessly by. Only in terms of atmosphere did it compare with Tuesday's semi-final at White Hart Lane.
Although both sides had lost a significant number of players to the Africa Cup of Nations, Chelsea were also deprived of the injured Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, whose father's goal had deprived Everton of a place in the 1980 FA Cup final. John Terry, still nursing his injured foot, met England manager Fabio Capello for the first time, in the directors' box.
Nevertheless, Chelsea were still hungry and knew that a single goal, especially if it was the first one of the night, would virtually see them to Wembley. Joe Cole and Florent Malouda were both given openings and both shot into the crowd but it was Nicolas Anelka who provided the most obvious threat. For Phil Jagielka the task of marking him must have been like having to stand guard over a panther.
Just after the interval, he finally broke free, driving his shot almost on to the intersection of post and bar but had the top of Jagielka's head not made contact with the Frenchman's shot, it would almost certainly have been the decisive goal Chelsea craved.
For someone whose collective transfer fees amount to more than £80 million, it could be thought Anelka might not be overly motivated by this competition but despite winning the Double in his first season at Arsenal, he has not seen much silverware since lifting the European Cup with Real Madrid in 2000. Even to big players, the Carling Cup matters.
Match details
Everton (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Valente; Arteta, Fernandes (Vaughan 78), Carsley (Anichebe 70), Osman; Cahill; Johnson. Subs: Wessels (g), Hibbert, Stubbs.Booked: Carsley, Fernandes, Nuno Valente, Neville. Chelsea (4-4-1-1): Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge; J Cole (Pizarro 82), Sidwell, Makelele, Malouda (A Cole 90); Wright-Phillips; Anelka (Ben-Haim 90). Subs: Cudicini (g), Ferreira. Booked: Makelele, Belletti. Goal: Joe Cole 69Referee: S Bennett (Kent).---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Everton 0 Chelsea 1 (Chelsea win 3-1 on agg.): Cole's flash of brilliance puts Chelsea on road to Wembley
Some nights cry out for a fairytale finish. In an old fashioned stadium and an old fashioned football atmosphere, Everton chased silverware here last night in a way which rekindled memories of what the League Cup once stood for. In the words of the club anthem which thundered out before kick off, it was all "enough to make your heart go wooooah".
But the reverie ended 20 minutes before the finish, with an audacious piece of skill by Joe Cole which would have delighted the onlooking Fabio Capello as much as it destroyed Evertonians. A 40-yard crossfield pass by Florent Malouda, for once the undoing of Joleon Lescott as it bisected him and Phil Jagielka, left Cole to control with one touch and unleash a right-foot shot which sent Chelsea through to face Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on 24 February. It left Everton still searching for the trophy which would tell the world that they are much more than just valiant losers.
There was plenty of consolation for David Moyes here, if he chose to take it. The quality of the players he has assembled was unquestionable with Mikel Arteta demonstrating there is probably no better deliverer of a ball in the Premier League at the moment. Lescott will also have impressed Capello, the new England manager, hugely with a commanding performance against Nicolas Anelka. The way that he toe-poked a lofted ball from Shaun Wright-Phillips out of Anelka's path early in the second half said everything about his potential.
But Moyes was not consoled. He knew that while his own side's chances were marginal, Chelsea's were clinical, clear cut and could have elicited more goals. Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, was probably being disingenuous when he said on Tuesday that the Carling Cup did not matter to him. Chelsea are now in their third Carling Cup final in four years and the side Grant fielded demonstrated that he wants the trophy much more than Manchester United and Arsenal. Anelka was a constant threat, Wright-Phillips troublesome and energetic and Claude Makelele created a spine with Ricardo Carvalho which maintained the side's shape. Everton never looked like reversing the 2-1 first-leg deficit after the initial blood and thunder.
And yet the atmosphere had told how badly Everton wanted a victory. Tim Cahill had predicted it would be "ridiculous" and rarely in the 13 years since Everton last appeared at Wembley had Goodison heard noise like it. Amid all this, the silence which suddenly descended in memory of the legendary, late post-war Everton striker Wally Fielding before kick off was stunning.
Everton's play never quite matched the theatre. There was an instant reminder of realities when Anelka shielded the ball into the path of the first-leg matchwinner Wright-Phillips two minutes in. His thumping shot from 30 yards was headed off course and behind by Jagielka.
Arteta kept the home fires burning though. Among several absorbing duels in a game which will have held much interest for Capello was that between the Spaniard and Wayne Bridge. Arteta edged it – just – and when he delivered one of the pinpoint corners Everton fans are so familiar with, early in the match, a goal threatened. Lescott stepped back from Alex to head the cross firmly towards goal but Petr Cech did well to save with the distraction of Cahill diving towards him. As Moyes later observed, Everton had no better chance all night.
The opening exchanges set the tone for a thrilling first half which pitched the flash fluorescence of Chelsea – for whom Anelka looks a bargain buy – against sheer Evertonian spirit. Chelsea's chances were the better. Malouda sent Anelka through the central channel and he was flagged offside when he looked half a yard on. Malouda blasted over on the half hour after finding room to shoot. Anelka could find only the side netting after a Lee Carsley deflection delivered the ball into his path five yards from goal on the left.
Arteta created where he could, delivering another perfect ball which Andrew Johnson took while reversing, span and pushed the ball into his path as he bore down on the penalty area but he could only to find the side netting.
Though Anelka hit the bar after the ball bounced off Cole early in the second half, Everton were pressing at their hardest when the goal came. Arteta – who else? – had just picked out Phil Neville from a short corner and the full-back, running in, thumped in a low shot through a crowded which Cech, a heroic figure last night, did well to stop. A deft Jagielka flick was also kicked clear by Cech.
It is now 52 years since Everton beat Chelsea in a cup competition and for Moyes there is anguish in that. "We've got to take the next step," he said.
Everton (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville, Lescott, Jagielka, Nuno Valente; Arteta, Carsley (Anichebe, 70), Fernandes (Vaughan, 78), Osman; Cahill; Johnson. Substitutes not used: Hibbert, Stubbs, Wessels.
Chelsea (4-1-3-2): Cech; Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge; Makelele; Wright-Phillips, Sidwell, Malouda (A Cole, 90); J Cole (Pizarro, 83), Anelka (Ben Haim, 90). Substitutes not used: Ferreira, Cudicini.
Referee: S Bennett (Kent).
Spurs travails at hands of Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur ended one London jinx in handing out a 5-1 thrashing to Arsenal (6-2 on aggregate) on Tuesday, but now face a similar task against Chelsea in the Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday 24 February.
Spurs recorded a 5-1 win against their west London neighbours in the 2002 League Cup semi-final, but that came after a run of 26 games without success. Since then, they have won just once in 15 matches against Chelsea.
Avram Grant's side were due at White Hart Lane for a Premier League game the day before the final. That game will now be rearranged for a later date.
23 Jan '02 LCSF Tottenham 5 Chelsea 1
10 Mar '02 FA6R Tottenham 0 Chelsea 4
13 Mar '02 PL Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0
3 Nov '02 PL Tottenham 0 Chelsea 0
1 Feb '03 PL Chelsea 1 Tottenham 1
13 Sep '03 PL Chelsea 4 Tottenham 2
3 Apr '04 PL Tottenham 0 Chelsea 1
19 Sep '04 PL Chelsea 0 Tottenham 0
15 Jan '05 PL Tottenham 0 Chelsea 2
27 Aug '05 PL Tottenham 0 Chelsea 2
11 Mar '06 PL Chelsea 2 Tottenham 1
5 Nov '06 PL Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1
11 Mar '07 FA6R Chelsea 3 Tottenham 3
19 Mar '07 FA6RR Tottenham 1 Chelsea 2
7 Apr '07 PL Chelsea 1 Tottenham 0
12 Jan '08 PL Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cole power puts an end to Everton's final dreams
Andy Hunter at Goodison ParkThursday January 24, 2008The Guardian
Everton songs drifted through the windows at Goodison Park long after their dreams of a first Wembley appearance for 13 years had evaporated last night but it was Chelsea who had the monopoly on defiance.Resolute in defence, clinical in attack and nerveless amid a fierce examination of character, this was Jose Mourinho's vision of perfection rekindled by Chelsea although, unlike Avram Grant, the Special One never left Merseyside having delivered victory in a cup semi-final. The Israeli must produce more than one showpiece occasion against Tottenham Hotspur to justify his appointment but a baton appeared to have been passed last night in the competition that began Mourinho's haul of five trophies in three seasons.
A touch of class from Joe Cole secured victory at Goodison and, before the watching Fabio Capello, the England international's finish was both timed and executed to perfection. Yet Chelsea's place at Wembley on February 24 - their third Carling Cup Final appearance in four seasons - was never seriously in doubt despite the fierce passion that drove David Moyes's side.The tie, far removed from the rich entertainment that did for Arsenal at White Hart Lane, was shaped by spirit and settled by quality. Chelsea's excellence in those departments, along with their fixation on the Carling Cup, has not diminished with the change of manager and it was with the humility his predecessor lacked that Grant spoke of only beginning his task of satisfying Roman Abramovich here. Compared with the tumult that stirred around Stamford Bridge last autumn, the transition between managers appeared seamless last night. The club's appetite for honours has been similarly unaffected.
Everton's Latin motto may translate as 'Nothing but the best is good enough' but that was exposed as patently untrue by Chelsea's commanding display. The best Moyes' side had to offer could not overturn their first-leg deficit and they rarely threatened to do so. While Everton have designs on breaking the elite in England there remains a gulf between expectation and reality, perspiration and quality. Few teams can demonstrate that truism as ruthlessly as Chelsea and, though they had four key players absent on African Cup of Nations duty, it was Everton who missed the cutting edge of Yakubu Ayegbeni, the steel of Joseph Yobo and the invention of Steven Pienaar more.
In terms of who craved a place in the final more there was no contest. Goodison provided the team from west London with the kind of Merseyside welcome usually reserved for Anfield in a Champions League semi-final and the only empty seats in the house were those in the away section. The visitors requested 6,000 tickets for this semi-final. They sold 2,600. Grant's admission that the competition meant more to Everton after 13 trophy-less years may have riled sections of the home support but it was undoubtedly true. The occasion bore that out although, unfortunately for Everton, the Chelsea players were not as compliant as the attitude of their manager and supporters indicated.
Moyes' side were fast and furious as they sought to overturn not only a 2-1 deficit but the tide of recent history in this fixture. In 18 games against the Londoners Everton had failed to emerge victorious, a sequence stretching back to 2000, and their hopes of transforming the tie were almost extinguished by Shaun Wright-Phillips inside three minutes. The winger, making a miraculous recovery from the ankle injury sustained at Birmingham City on Saturday, was the scourge of Everton at Stamford Bridge and so nearly continued where he left off in the first leg. A shot from the edge of the area appeared destined for Tim Howard's goal until Phil Jagielka intervened to deflect the ball inches wide.
The pressure on Petr Cech's goal remained minimal. His wife presented him with a daughter, Adela, yesterday morning and presumably there were more palpitations there than he had inside Everton's den. Only once was the Czech international troubled before the interval when Mikel Arteta delivered a rare corner beyond the first Chelsea defender. Joleon Lescott sent a free header towards goal butCech saved comfortably.
With such a solid platform and pace in attack the visitors had the personnel to exploit Everton's search for a breakthrough. They did so in the most exquisite fashion 21 minutes from time, Florent Malouda instigating the move that settled the contest with a raking 50-yard pass over the home defence. For once Lescott and Nuno Valente lost their man and, with a sublime piece of control and equally accomplished finish inside Howard's near post, Cole sent Chelsea to Wembley.
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Cole has the final say as his breakaway goal ends Everton's challengeEverton 0 Chelsea 1 (J Cole 69)
By MATT LAWTON
A glance at the Barclays Premier League table was enough to fool us into thinking this could be every bit as dramatic as the semi-final that had been contested at White Hart Lane the previous evening.
Fourth, after all, were playing third and only one goal separated them after an absorbing first leg.
But the gulf between fourth and third remains enormous when fourth happens to be an Everton side punching well above their weight and third remains the most expensively assembled squad in English football history.
Even on a night when so many key players were missing, Chelsea proved too strong for a determined Everton.
Proved, much to the disappointment of fans so desperate to reach their first final since Joe Royle's 'dogs of war' snarled their way to FA Cup glory in 1995, too well organised, too deadly when the one real chance presented itself to Joe Cole.
While Chelsea marvelled at the manner in which Cole controlled Florent Malouda's 50-yard pass before driving a half-volley past Tim Howard, Everton had to concede that their industry was not matched by the invention they so clearly needed.
They could find no way past a back four led quite brilliantly by Ricardo Carvalho and a certain individual who spent the morning at his wife's side as she gave birth to a daughter, then traded the theatre greens for his grey goalkeeping kit.
Petr Cech made fine saves to deny Joleon Lescott, Phil Neville and Phil Jagielka.
Chelsea also went close when Nicolas Anelka sent an effort against the bar via the head of Jagielka.
But until Cole struck in the 70th minute, they performed rather as they might have done under Jose Mourinho, protecting their one-goal advantage in a fashion that would have met with the approval of their former manager.
Avram Grant said he was not that bothered if his side won or lost and, judging by the sea of empty seats in the visitors' section, Chelsea's fans were of much the same opinion.
But Grant will be pleased that, like Tottenham's Juande Ramos, he too has reached a final after only a few months in charge.
His side, presumably, will be more adventurous when they meet Tottenham at Wembley in their second final at the new stadium.
Certain players performed well. Steve Sidwell was excellent, as were Claude Makelele and the entire Chelsea back line.
But it was not a night for those who demand a bit of flare and ambition. Not the kind of night Roman Abramovich would normally enjoy.
The atmosphere was terrific, the desire to reach a Wembley final for the first time in 13 years almost tangible.
A reminder, perhaps, for Chelsea of those Champions League semi-finals across Stanley Park at Anfield.
For Chelsea's players it must have been every bit as intimidating as it was against Liverpool. The roar that accompanied the sight of Manuel Fernandes winning the ball from Florent Malouda.
The cry when Petr Cech dived to his left to deny Lescott yet another goal.
Chelsea had also threatened in the early stages, Wright-Phillips unleashing a shot that Jagielka bravely headed to safety.
But the momentum was most definitely with the home side and the side chasing the goal that would put them level in this tie.
It was not going to be easy. Not when Everton had failed to beat Chelsea for 18 consecutive matches, dating back to 2000. But they were determined to give it a go.
Maybe they were encouraged by the team they had seen reach the final the previous night. That, after all, was Tottenham's first win against Arsenal in 22 games. Maybe the sight of a Chelsea team missing John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba was all they needed to convince them it could be done.
Andy Johnson clearly fancied his chances, shooting from distance only to see his effort drift wide.
Lee Carsley was more accurate moments later when he caught Wright-Phillips with a reckless challenge that invited the first yellow card of the night.
Predictably, it was proving hard for Everton to penetrate Chelsea's defence. Terry might have been missing but Carvalho was there to make sure they had the measure of their opponents.
It enabled Chelsea to break forward with confidence and remind Everton of the threat they could pose, Anelka testing Tim Howard with a teasing effort.
Everton were attacking in numbers but that sometimes proved dangerous, not least when Lescott lost possession on the edge of the Chelsea box and the visitors quickly accelerated up the pitch. In the end, though, Wright-Phillips drove his shot yards over the bar and a moment of panic passed.
Johnson went closer with a shot that hit the side netting but the first half was concluded with a feeling of frustration for Everton.
When Anelka then saw his effort clip Jagielka's head and rebound off the bar shortly after the break, the dream of that final appeared to be slipping from Everton's grasp.
But they continued to battle, continued to search for a breakthrough. When Neville forced a fine save from Cech with a shot that he probably intended to be a cross, Everton spirits lifted. Likewise when Jagielka tried to beat Chelsea's formidable goalkeeper with a cheeky backheel.
Nothing, however, was going to break Chelsea's concentration. Not the arrival of a new baby and not the close attention of Lescott and Nuno Valente.
Cole must have been aware of both men as Malouda's diagonal ball floated in his direction, but he brought it down on his right foot before leaving Howard and his team-mates to reflect on what might have been.
Everton: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Nuno Valente, Osman, Cahill, Carsley, Arteta, Fernandes, Johnson. Subs: Wessels, Hibbert, Vaughan, Stubbs, Anichebe.
Chelsea: Cech, Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge, Makelele, Malouda, Sidwell, Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips, Anelka. Subs: Cudicini, Ashley Cole, Pizarro, Ferreira, Ben-Haim.
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)

Sunday, January 20, 2008

sunday papers brum away

Mail:
Chelsea boss Avram's on a roll as Pizarro nips in
Birmingham 0 Chelsea 1
By DANIEL KING
Claudio Pizarro cost £15million less than Nicolas Anelka but it was the Peruvian, a substitute and free transfer, who snatched an undeserved win for unconvincing Chelsea.
Just moments before his late winner, Pizarro had shown his team's growing desperation by trying to fool referee Rob Styles with a dive in the penalty area. But the striker redeemed himself, at least in his team's eyes, with the headed goal which made an off-key display by Anelka on his full debut irrelevant.
If winning games when you are not playing well is the mark of champions, then Chelsea are still looking good to give Manchester United and Arsenal a run for their money.
Birmingham will rightly feel hard done by. A week after claiming a deserved point at the Emirates Stadium, Alex McLeish's team once more matched their supposed betters. More than matched, in many ways, not least because they played as a team against a disjointed Chelsea who still show little sign of becoming the exciting, attacking force Avram Grant promised to deliver.
Although Grant differs from his predecessor in almost every other way, he shares with Jose Mourinho the uncanny knack of seeing a different game from almost everyone else.
Grant said: "I thought we deserved to win. We had control of the ball for most of the game. It was one of Pizarro's best performances for us and he deserved to score the goal.
"We have momentum now because we have won so many games, when no one expected us to. We cannot wait to get players back from injury and the Africa Cup of Nations."
It was an injury which gave Pizarro a chance to shine, Shaun Wright-Phillips hurting his ankle in a challenge which eventually forced him off before the half-hour mark.
Despite enjoying spells of possession in the first half, Chelsea created only one half-chance from open play. Birmingham gave the ball away too frequently to be fluent, but when they did put their game together they looked much the more dangerous side.
Cameron Jerome went closest, first heading against the post when nervous-looking Petr Cech drove a poor clearance straight at the Birmingham striker and then using his pace and power to create two quickfire shooting opportunities, which were blocked by Juliano Belletti and Alex.
The home side began the second half in the same vein and should have been ahead when Olivier Kapo jinked along the byline and Cech could only get a weak hand on his cross. Unfortunately for Birmingham, Sebastian Larsson did not react quickly enough to send the rebound into the net.
Just when you were wondering what on earth had happened to Anelka, he had the chance to score the sort of goal for which he has been signed. Florent Malouda touched the ball through to his fellow Frenchman, well inside the box, but Anelka's shot was weak and Maik Taylor kept it out easily with his legs.
It was soon time for the Birmingham fans to see their own new multi-million pound striker and, with what may have been his first touch, James McFadden turned on to a quick free-kick from Franck Queudrue but the angle of his low shot favoured Cech, who saved.
Although Chelsea at last began to apply some sustained pressure, desperation crept in when Pizarro threw himself to the ground in the area and was deservedly shown the yellow card.
"Continentals see it as being clever," said a stony-faced McLeish. "If he had got his team a penalty, none of the Chelsea players, even the English ones, would have complained."
The Birmingham manager was more upset about the poor marking which allowed Pizarro to head in Belletti's corner just moments later.
"It was a great performance,'" said McLeish. "We rattled Chelsea, but unfortunately we've nothing to show for our efforts."
There was time after the goal for Anelka to sting Taylor's hands, but for once in the Premier League, cheap and cheerful had, in a way, won the day.
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The Sunday TimesJanuary 20, 2008
Claudio Pizarro in head start as Chelsea beat BirminghamBirmingham 0 Chelsea 1
Brian Doogan at St Andrews
NICOLAS ANELKA’S frustrated efforts to secure his first Chelsea goal epitomised an unconvincing, vulnerable performance by Avram Grant’s team. But, with only 11 minutes remaining, substitute Claudio Pizarro’s header from a corner kick – the Peru international’s first goal since he scored in a 3-2 win against Birmingham on the opening day at Stamford Bridge – secured victory for the visitors and Grant was able to walk away smiling about a result that proved beyond Arsenal a week ago at the Emirates.
If Chelsea can maintain their present momentum – this was a fifth victory in six Premier League games – they can surely be a viable threat in the title race when they reintroduce the likes of Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Frank Lampard and John Terry from African Cup of Nations duty and from injury. Petr Cech was more active than his counterpart, Maik Taylor, in goal, and Ricardo Carvalho was susceptible to Cameron Jerome’s pace in an unbalanced defensive partnership with Alex.
But Chelsea managed to hang on as a fortuitous header by Jerome struck the post in the first half, Sebastian Larsson missed a sitter in the second and “a world-class delivery” – Birmingham manager Alex McLeish’s justified description of Juliano Belletti’s corner kick – presented Pizarro with the perfect opportunity.
“Birmingham are a hard team to play, they know how to defend, they make good counter-attacks and we had to be patient. It was very important to win here,” Grant said. “We have momentum now. We have won so many games in the past three months when nobody thought these players could do it.”
Despite Grant’s insistence that his side dominated the majority of the game, there was no real conviction about this Chelsea display. Claude Makelele was superb in his customary role in front of the back four, breaking up Birmingham attacks and setting up Joe Cole and Florent Malouda at the other end, but his level of assurance was lacking elsewhere. Joe Cole’s delivery lacked the precise effectiveness of Belletti’s decisive corner. Taylor was well protected by the central defensive duo of Liam Ridgewell and Rafael Schmitz, and Anelka was reduced to a few speculative shots on goal and one opportunity with which he ought to have done better. He won a corner off Schmitz in the opening minute, did the same again in a challenge with Franck Queudrue and secured another with a shot from the left side of the penalty area which struck Larsson.
An injury to Shaun Wright-Phillips forced Grant to replace him with Pizarro. Malouda’s tame shot from a Makelele cross from the left and an Alex header wide from a Malouda cross from the right typified Chelsea’s impotence.
Ashley Cole had to block a shot by Garry O’Connor on the edge of the penalty area before a corner by Larsson was headed wide by O’Connor. Cech saved another header by Jerome from Larsson’s cross.
Chelsea almost came undone when Cech took a return ball from Alex and half-scuffed a clearance which was met by Jerome’s head on the edge of the penalty area. Fortunately for Cech and Chelsea, the ball hit the right post and bounced wide. Birmingham kept up the pressure and O’Connor’s cross was knocked away by Carvalho but Jerome’s shot required a block by Alex. The corner fell for Fabrice Muamba, whose shot cleared the crossbar.
Anelka had chances in the second half, the first when he beat Damien Johnson but he dragged his shot between Ridgewell’s legs and wide.
Twice his touch let him down when he failed to control the ball from a header down and Olivier Kapo cleared before a clever one-two between Anelka and Malouda on the edge of the area yielded a shot, as Schmitz challenged him, which Taylor saved. Birmingham continued to look dangerous and a header down on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area presented Larsson with an opportunity from 25 yards but he sliced his shot wide. Then the Swede missed a glorious chance when Kapo beat Carvalho and drove in a low ball which eluded Cech and, somehow, Larsson missed from point-blank range.
Cech denied Birmingham debutant James McFadden with a save at his near post before, out of the blue, Chelsea struck gold.
Belletti swung in his corner kick with pace to the near post and Pizarro met it with a solid header past Taylor. “We didn’t do our job of man-marking in the box and we got punished,” reflected McLeish.
Match stats
Star man: Claude Makelele (Chelsea) Player ratings: Birmingham: Taylor 7, Kelly 6, Schmitz 7, Ridgewell 7, Queudrue 7, Larsson 6, Muamba 6, Johnson 7, Kapo 6, O’Connor 6 (Forssell 72min), Jerome 7 (McFadden 72min)Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 6, Alex 6, Carvalho 6, A Cole 7, Wright-Phillips 5 (Pizarro 29min, 6), Makelele 8, Ballack 6, J Cole 7 (Sidwell 85min), Anelka 5, Malouda 7 (Bridge 90min) Yellow cards: Birmingham: Muamba Chelsea: Pizarro Referee: R StylesAttendance: 26,567 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Claudio Pizarro picks up pieces at BirminghamBy Duncan White at St Andrew's
Birmingham City (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 1
All the attention may have been focused on Avram Grant's first multi-million pound signing but it was a Jose Mourinho bargain that eventually broke a spirited Birmingham. Nicolas Anelka, the £15 million arrival from Bolton, made his full debut amid much expectation but it was Claudio Pizarro, a summer free transfer from Bayern Munich, who came off the bench to head the winner, thumping in Juliano Belletti's fine corner.
The Peruvian marksman had been dropped to accommodate Anelka but when Shaun Wright-Phillips was forced off with a worrying ankle injury, Pizarro came on to play as a deep-lying striker. He hadn't scored in the Premier League since the first day of the season when he found the net against the same opposition, but he came up with the goods and Chelsea have now won six on the spin. Grant was not optimistic about the injury to Wright-Phillips, though. "It's not looking so good," said Grant. "We keep losing our in-form players and I want to get him back as soon as possible." It is also bad news for Fabio Capello, who may lose the winger for his first game as England manager, against Switzerland on Feb 6. The only beneficiary is fellow right-winger David Beckham, who is desperate to earn his 100th cap in that game.
With Didier Drogba away with the Ivory Coast - and seemingly determined to make that absence permanent in the summer - Anelka has been charged with becoming Chelsea's chief source of goals. But Pizarro, it seems, may still have a big part to play in the future of this club. "It was one of his best games," said a predictably laconic Grant. "He deserved it." Chelsea didn't. Birmingham, who gave a debut to their own big-money signing in substitute James McFadden, were dreadfully unfortunate not to score and, for much of the game, they dominated a strangely lacklustre Chelsea. With the game scoreless, McFadden even came close to crowning his first appearance since his £5 m move from Everton with a goal, running onto a quickly-taken Franck Queudrue free-kick only for his shot to be blocked by Petr Cech.
By then Birmingham had spurned a series of chances to take the lead, especially in the periods either side of half-time when they put tremendous pressure on Ricardo Carvalho and co. Cameron Jerome twice came desperately close. When Cech, under pressure, hooked a clearance straight at Jerome, the Birmingham striker could not quite steer his header into the open goal - it hit the post and squirmed wide. Just before the break and with the Chelsea defence in disarray his shot beat the prone Cech only to be blocked by the covering Alex.
If that was frustrating for the roaring home support, then Sebastian Larsson had them hanging their heads after the break. With Birmingham still on top, Fabrice Muamba breezed past Carvalho before squaring to the Swedish winger. Larsson somehow managed to send the ball on a vertical trajectory from point-blank range.
Chelsea got desperate - no-one more than Pizarro who disgraced himself with an appallingly obvious dive in the box. He was justly booked but moments later scored the winner, which made swallowing this defeat all the harder for Alex McLeish's valiant players.
Match summary
Birmingham ratings: Taylor 7/10, Kelly 5, Schmitz 6, Ridgewell 7, Queudrue 7, Larsson 6, Muamba 5, Johnson 6, Kapo 6, O’Connor 5 (Forssell 4), Jerome 8 (McFadden 5). Possession 30%, offsides 1, shots on target 2, shots off target 6, corners 6, fouls conceded 10, yellow cards 1, red cards 0.Chelsea ratings: Cech 7/10, Belletti 9, Alex 7, Carvalho 8, A Cole 7, Wright-Phillips 5 (Pizarro 8), Makelele 8, Ballack 7, J Cole 6 (Sidwell 4), Anelka 7, Malouda 7 (Bridge 4).Possession 70%, offsides 4, shots on target 6, shots off target 3, corners 10, fouls conceded 7, yellow cards 1, red cards 0.Best moment: Midway through the second half Joe Cole deluded two Birmingham defenders with a double drag back before pushing the ball around a bemused third to earn space on the wing. Thrilling stuff. Worst moment: Sebastian Larsson was given the ball by Fabrice Muamba right in front of goal and with space aplenty he coived to slice the ball so finely that it shot straight up into the air. A horror miss. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pizarro steals in to pick Birmingham's pocket
Duncan Mackay at St AndrewsSunday January 20, 2008The Observer
It would not have surprised fans leaving this match if they had met a cavalcade of police cars, blue lights flashing, rushing to the ground, such was the daylight robbery Chelsea pulled off. Totally outplayed for two-thirds of this match by a Birmingham side rejuvenated under Alex McLeish, they managed to nick all three points thanks to one of two chances they created.It came from an unlikely source, too, in the shape of substitute Claudio Pizarro, the Peruvian who has been such a disappointment this season and probably only owed his place on the bench to the absence of so many regulars.
But Chelsea will be grateful he took his opportunity. By the time he struck in the 79th minute they were probably thinking they would be glad to leave here with a draw, such was the superiority Birmingham were exerting.It was a point illustrated by the fact that the corner Juliano Belletti floated over for Pizarro to meet with an acrobatic diving header that sailed past Maik Taylor was their first of the half. It was his second Premier League goal of the season. The other one? For Chelsea against Birmingham on the opening day.
The ground was again not full, which is sure to spark another debate in the local press, especially coming so soon after McLeish was allowed to spend £7m on buying James McFadden from Everton and Dave Murphy from Hibernian.
It is a favourite topic of Birmingham chairman David Sullivan, and he renewed his attack on the club's poor attendances. In the programme he wrote: 'It does hurt us a bit, as a board, seeing Derby getting 32,000 gates, week in week out, and Sunderland over 40,000.'
Avram Grant may come across as Leonard Cohen's less cheerful brother, but he has now fashioned a run of 12 victories in 17 Premier League matches. It has largely been achieved while missing captain John Terry and Frank Lampard, whose absence again for this match cast further doubt over whether he will be available for Fabio Capello's first England match against Switzerland next month.
With Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou on service in the African Nations Cup, there were further problems for Grant - and Capello - when Shaun Wright-Phillips limped off in the 29th minute.
It also robbed Nicolas Anelka of a vital avenue of service in his first start for the club. He worked hard up front, alongside the ineffectual Florent Malouda, but Birmingham's tactics of stifling the opposition, which had worked so well the previous week in a draw against Arsenal, again reaped dividends.
It nearly led to a bigger bonus in the 38th minute with an incident that nearly so produced a moment that could have been a staple on a bloopers DVD for years to come. Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, with no Birmingham player within 10 metres of him, went to kick the ball out but succeeded only in hitting it straight at Cameron Jerome, whose header bounced back off a post.
It had the effect of whipping up the crowd and got Jerome's adrenaline going because three minutes later he saw a double effort blocked, the second by Alex off the line as the Birmingham player followed up his first effort.
Birmingham's high-octane finish to the half was maintained into the second period from crowd and players, with Chelsea being pegged back in their own half for long periods.
But it is a truism that you have to take your chances when they come, something that marks out the leading clubs from the rest. It is a lesson Sebastian Larsson is probably pondering after being guilty of one of the misses of the season in the 56th minute. He was four yards from goal when Olivier Kapo's low cross found him unmarked only for the Swede to fall over his own feet and embarrassingly loop the ball wide.
Mind you, Larsson would probably point to what happened down the other end 10 minutes later when, following good interchange work with Malouda, Anelka found himself in acres of space and presented with Chelsea's best opportunity of the match.
But even £15m, does not guarantee a 100 per cent success rate and the Frenchman hit a pretty poor effort straight at Maik Taylor, who was able to smother it with his legs.
The introduction of McFadden, Birmingham's record signing, in the 72nd minute was greeted with great enthusiasm by the crowd and he so nearly marked his debut with a goal within three minutes, firing a low shot that Cech kept out with his legs. It turned out to be a valuable save.
THE FANS' VERDICT
Paul Rivers, VBBFootball.com If I could give Rob Styles a mark, it would be a two. He was awful. We call him 'cyclops', because he has only one eye and that's for the big clubs - he seemed to give Chelsea every decision. We certainly didn't deserve to lose. You could tell Chelsea are a class side with their passing and movement, but they had no cutting edge and really didn't look like scoring. We, on the other hand, had chances we just couldn't put away. I was beginning to think what an entertaining 0-0 draw it was when they scored. It was undeserved, because we were the better team for most of the game. We've played the top three in successive games and got one point. This time last year we were winning games for fun, which was probably why the date on the match programme said 19 January 2007. Wishful thinking.
Player ratings Taylor 7; Kelly 7, Schmitz 7, Ridgewell 6, Queudrue 8; Larsson 8, Muamba 7, Johnson 7, Kapo 9; O'Connor 7 (Forssell 7), Jerome 8 (McFadden 8)
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group We were lucky to get all three points. We looked like 11 strangers and I felt quite sorry for Anelka as he was getting no service whatsoever. Some of our defending was comical - Cech and Carvalho weren't on the same wavelength, which is very unusual, and it was worse with Alex. They weren't talking and at one point the ball almost just rolled into the net. Grant seems tactically naive and only changed things when he had no choice, when Wright-Phillips had to go off. Pizarro did quite well, while Anelka did what he could. Malouda made a goalline clearance, but otherwise was poor, though no one covered themselves in glory.
Player ratings Cech 5; Belletti 6, Alex 5, Carvalho 7, A Cole 6; Wright-Phillips 7 (Pizarro 7), Makelele 7, Ballack 6, J Cole 5 (Sidwell 6); Anelka 7, Malouda 5 (Bridge n/a)
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Birmingham Mail:
Birmingham City 0 Chelsea 1Jan 19 2008
By John Curtis SUBSTITUTE Claudio Pizarro gave Chelsea a 1-0 win against battling Birmingham City at St Andrew's.
The Peru international's only other goal for Blues since his summer move from Bayern Munich had been on the opening day of the season against the same opposition.
He struck 11 minutes from time to earn Avram Grant's side a fourth successive win despite again being decimated by injuries and African Nations Cup call-ups.
Chelsea seldom fired on all cylinders despite having more of the possession but would have been pleased with the contribution made on his full debut by £15million capture Nicolas Anelka.
Alex McLeish's side gave a performance as committed as the one which had seen them share the spoils with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend with skipper Damien Johnson impressive in the middle of the park.
But the former Scotland boss must be concerned by the number of goals his side concede from set pieces as Pizarro was first to react for the winner to a corner from Juliano Belletti.
Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips needed early treatment after landing awkwardly on an ankle following an aerial challenge with Johnson and he eventually was replaced by Pizarro.
Chelsea enjoyed the bulk of the possession for the majority of the opening 45 minutes with Michael Ballack and Florent Malouda impressive.
Birmingham midfielder Fabrice Muamba became the first player to be yellow carded after 11 minutes for a mis-timed challenge on Ricardo Carvalho.
Ballack was over-ambitious in going for goal from fully 40 yards out after Sebastian Larsson fouled Ashley Cole and the ball dribbled through to home goalkeeper Maik Taylor.
City were on the back foot for the majority of the time and full-back Stephen Kelly got an important touch on a fiercely driven free-kick by Ballack across the face of goal.
Birmingham were finding space on occasions in behind the two Chelsea full-backs on the counter-attack but could not take advantage of the situations with the final ball letting them down.
But Cameron Jerome could have put Birmingham ahead after 38 minutes after a blunder by Cech.
Cech made a mess of his clearance which flew at pace towards Jerome and his instinctive header from 18 yards out hit the outside of the post.
Birmingham started to build up some momentum towards the interval and Jerome was twice more denied by blocks in front of goal from Cole and Alex.
Chelsea seemed rattled and unsettled by the aggressive approach of Alex McLeish's side, who left the pitch at half time to a standing ovation.
Anelka gave a glimpse of his class when dummying Johnson but he dragged his 20-yard shot wide.
Birmingham were now having almost as much of the possession as the visitors and a half volley from Larsson was not too far off target.
The Swedish international then saw a low cross from Kapo bobble off his leg and wide after it had taken a slight deflection off Cech.
Kapo was an increasing influence and one deft pass played in Jerome whose shot was blocked by Cech, although the City striker had strayed marginally offside.
Chelsea created their best opening to date after 68 minutes when Malouda played in Anelka who found himself with only Taylor to beat.
But Rafael Schmitz got across just to make a vital touch on his eventual shot and Taylor was able to make the block.
McLeish made a double substitution after 73 minutes with the injured Jerome and O'Connor replaced by newcomer McFadden and Mikael Forssell.
And McFadden was soon in the thick of the action, forcing Cech to beat away his low drive.
But with 11 minutes left all the home side's hard work was undone as Pizarro headed in Belletti's corner despite the efforts on the line of Larsson to keep the ball out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, January 13, 2008

sunday papers spurs home

Mail:
Not much is missing as Chelsea march onChelsea 2 Tottenham 0
By IAN RIDLEY
Going to Chelsea at the moment is a bit like arriving in a famous old city. Locals will tell you how much is missing from the glory days while visitors are often surprised at how much remains.
Without a clutch of players away at the African Cup of Nations, and with the injured John Terry and Frank Lampard continuing to watch from the stands, Chelsea were still too strong for a strangely limp Tottenham, whose recovery under Juande Ramos remains fitful.
Though never outstandingly impressive, Chelsea were comfortable enough, driven shots from Juliano Belletti and Shaun Wright-Phillips in either half bare reflection of a routine superiority that was almost Mourinho-esque.
Chelsea fans also got an extended glimpse of Nicolas Anelka, their £15million signing from Bolton, who came close to a debut goal after coming on as a substitute when he forced Radek Cerny, selected once again in place of England keeper Paul Robinson, into a good save and hit the crossbar in the last minute.
It is now 74 games since Chelsea were beaten in a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge, and 21 matches dating back to 1990 since they lost to Tottenham here. If they can continue to eke out results until the cavalry return, they could yet disturb the apparent two-horse title race between Manchester United and Arsenal.
They can draw only encouragement, too, from Arsenal and Liverpool dropping points, cementing them in third position and taking them closer to second as they themselves continued a run that has now seen them win seven and draw one of their last eight league matches.
Avram Grant is determined to change the style established by his predecessor as manager.
"We don't play long balls and always try to pass the ball," he said. "We play a lot of combinations and in 90 per cent of matches we create two or three times more chances than the other teams."
It certainly suits Joe Cole, who revelled in the freedom yesterday, and should suit Anelka, Grant believes.
It was the first week that Chelsea had to do without Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Mikel Obi, along with Terry and Lampard.
It meant Grant having to blood Anelka following a later injury to Claudio Pizarro when he would have preferred to hold him back. The consolation for them, though, was that Petr Cech was fit to resume in goal. And still they had a potent central midfield, featuring Claude Makelele, Cole and Michael Ballack, which was too good for Tottenham's. Spurs had to field youngsters Kevin Prince Boateng and Jamie O'Hara there in the absence through suspension of Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone and were often outplayed.
So much did Boateng, in particular, struggle with the pace of the game that he was booked early on for hauling back Cole with an effectiveness that might interest England rugby union coach Brian Ashton. As they sought to cope, only Aaron Lennon shone, and only in patches, offering an energetic outlet on the right.
One of Lennon's crosses glanced off Dimitar Berbatov, largely anonymous, another found Steed Malbranque at the far post, Cech saving the Frenchman's volley in what would be Spurs' only shot on target.
But for all their control, Chelsea toiled to create clear-cut chances, the goal that gave them the lead coming out of the blue in the 19th minute. Brazilian Belletti strode forward with the ball from the right-back position and, with the crowd urging him to shoot,obliged by letting fly from more than 30 yards and finding the top left corner of Cerny's goal.
Anelka arrived on the scene 12 minutes into the second half and almost had a goal to celebrate within two minutes. From Wright-Phillips' back-heel, Anelka swivelled to send in a shot from 12 yards that Cerny turned away low to his right.
Spurs made their own change, bringing on unpredictable French teenager Adel Taarabt and, for a while, Chelsea laboured. When Ballack fouled Lennon on the edge of their penalty area, Berbatov shot inches over the bar.
But Tottenham's revival never looked like lasting and Chelsea sealed the game 10 minutes from time. Joe Cole wriggled his way through a couple of half-hearted Tottenham tackles and laid the ball into the path of Wright-Phillips, who drilled a low shot into the net.
"It was an evenly balanced game which was not reflected in the score," said Ramos. It was a glossy verdict and one that Tottenham's enduringly inconsistent players would do well not to take comfort in.
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The Sunday TimesJanuary 13, 2008
Nicolas Anelka sees how it's doneChelsea 2 Tottenham 0
Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge
Eagerly awaited, rapturously received, Nicolas Anelka twice came within an ace of a goal and looked well capable of adding to the many he has scored in numerous cities.
This, of course, is his second sojourn in London. As a teenager he was whisked away for nothing by Arsenal, exploiting the rules then in force, from an infuriated Paris Saint-Germain. Later, the Gunners casually threw PSG £500,000, subsequently pocketing £22.3m when they sold a dissident Anelka to Real Madrid. Now, aged 28, he cost Chelsea £15m; mere chicken feed to their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
Anelka seems a much calmer figure now he is no longer handled, as he was at Highbury, by his two belligerent brothers as agents. In north London he had clashes with club and colleagues. And over the years, despite such splendid performances as that against England at Wembley in 1999 when he scored the goals for France in a 2-0 victory and had another dubiously disallowed, he has been in and out of the France team; all too often in conflict with the managers. Now Chelsea have become his fifth English club after spells at Manchester City, Liverpool and, somewhat surprisingly, Bolton.
Yesterday, after 58 minutes, he replaced the Peru international striker Claudio Pizarro, who had been playing a good deal more effectively than in recent games. Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, said afterwards that Pizarro was injured. “We didn’t plan to use him [Anelka] because he didn’t train with the team but it’s good to have him.” Indeed it was; whether or not he had trained, he looked as sharp and incisive an opportunist as ever.
Scarcely had he taken the field when the always exuberant and effective Chelsea right-back Juliano Belletti found Shaun Wright-Phillips. On it went to Anelka, who shot hard and low only for the Spurs keeper, Radek Cerny, preferred for the second time in a week to the erratic England international Paul Robinson, to hurl himself at the ball to make the save.
On 90 minutes, Anelka had a higher shot which came back from the underside of the bar after an attempt by Wright-Phillips was only half cleared by Spurs. Anelka could scarcely have come closer to a goal.
Wright-Phillips, highly praised by Grant for his performance in central midfield and, in the last 10 minutes, up front, deserved to score the second goal on 80 minutes. This time, it was a throw-in by Belletti that Joe Cole neatly and expertly moved on to Wright-Phillips, who shot past Cerny and inside the left-hand post.
Chelsea’s first goal, after 19 minutes, was spectacular. A glorious right-footed shot from 35 yards by Belletti, who had already looked sprightly and adventurous, ripped past a hapless Cerny and into the Tottenham net.
Spurs, despite the presence at one time or another of so many noted strikers, seldom seemed likely to score but 10 minutes after the first Chelsea goal, they almost did so. When Aaron Lennon crossed incisively from the right, the other Spurs flank man, Steed Malbranque, closed in from the left to hit a ferocious shot that Petr Cech did well to reach at full stretch.
Malbranque, alas, did not survive the whole match. Prone as he sometimes is to rash tackles, he perpetrated one in the second half that gained him a yellow card that might even have merited a darker colour. When in the second half he seemed likely to receive a second yellow but escaped with a lecture from the referee, Tottenham pulled him off and substituted him with his fellow Frenchman, the rangy and committed Adel Taarabt.
With so many players off to take part in the African Cup of Nations, including Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast, who still insists he wants to leave Chelsea, Grant had to make a number of enforced changes. As he pointed out, his Ukraine international striker Andriy Shevkenko, after seeming at long last to recover something of his old form, will be out for some time. Certainly the acquisition of Anelka will be of enormous benefit, even when Drogba returns, and whether or not he stays.
Tottenham were conspicuously lacking two regular, suspended, midfield players in Tom Huddlestone and the gifted and elusive England international Jermaine Jenas. Their replacements, young Kevin-Prince Boateng and Jamie O’Hara, did what they could, but against such a populous and talented Chelsea midfield that was inevitably limited.
Shortly before he was substituted, Boateng did, from the right, put over a high insidious cross that was missed by friend and foe.
O’Hara, whose substitution preceded that of Boateng by seven minutes, had just been booked and was quite properly taken off for his own protection, not to mention the team’s.
Tottenham’s Spanish manager, Juande Ramos, felt it was “a very balanced game” and that Tottenham had been unfortunate to lose. Both Chelsea goals, he emphasised, had been scored from outside the area, though this hardly seemed sufficient mitigation. As for Grant, he told us how happy he was that Chelsea were now playing positive football, passing the ball successfully rather than hitting it long. Rather like the usual criticism of his more flamboyant and voluble predecessor, Jose Mourinho.
Almost at the end, Joe Cole, busy and effective all afternoon in a right-flank position, with the fit-again Frenchman Florent Malouda on the left, had a low shot which Cerny dived to turn past the right-hand post. By then, the game was emphatically lost and won. And Anelka looked as if he could and would win Chelsea many others.
Player ratings
Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 8, Carvalho 6, Alex 6, A Cole 6, Malouda 6 (Bridge 84min), Makelele 6, Ballack 6, Wright-Phillips 7 (Sidwell 90min), J Cole 7, Pizarro 7 (Anelka 58min, 7)
Tottenham: Cerny 7, Chimbonda 6, Dawson 6, King 7, Lee 6, Lennon 6, O’Hara 6 (Defoe 77min), Boateng 6 (Kaboul 84min), Malbranque 6 (Taarabt 59min, 6), Keane 6, Berbatov 6
Star man: Juliano Belletti (Chelsea) Scorers: Chelsea: Belletti 19, Wright-Phillips 80
Referee: A Wiley Attendance: 41,777 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Chelsea still stalk Man Utd and ArsenalBy Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (1) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0
Doggedly, Chelsea continue to stalk the Premier League's leading pair. Arsenal and Manchester United may be the only teams to have beaten Chelsea under Avram Grant, but they cannot pull away from the erstwhile champions, despite the absence from action of (to name but a few) John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien.
Due partly to the African Cup of Nations, Drogba and Essien will not be back in a hurry, and nor will John Obi Mikel or Salomon Kalou. Yet the signs are that Grant's squad contains enough quality and spirit to cope and keep the challenge alive until the return matches with the top two are staged here in March and April. The arrival of Nicolas Anelka, whom only a magnificent save from Pavel Cerny and a centimetre of crossbar denied a couple of goals on his debut as a £15?million substitute, serves only to enhance the impression that the third horse can stay in the race.
A Chelsea defence screened by Claude Makelele so restricted Tottenham's threat that Petr Cech had only one tricky task: to block Steed Malbranque's volley in the first half. In attack, meanwhile, Grant had devised an interesting formation which was almost like the old W-shaped forward line, with Claudio Pizarro (later Anelka) at centre forward, Joe Cole and Florent Malouda on the wings and Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Ballack acting as sort of inside forwards. It produced some bright stuff, especially in a second half during which Wright-Phillips sparkled and scored, if less spectacularly than Juliano Belletti had done in the first.
At Wigan in November, the Brazilian right-back had run from the halfway line before lashing the ball home and this has encouraged Chelsea's fans to yell "Shoot!" whenever he takes possession, even if the range is demanding. Here it was 30 yards, but he obliged them, letting fly with one that moved a bit but essentially beat Cerny, who had seen it all the way, through pace. Amid an explosion of blue glee, Spurs' deposed England goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, watched from the bench.
Cerny's attempt to stop Wright-Phillips's shot also caused some comment, albeit not from Juande Ramos; the Spurs manager merely said goals were conceded by the team as a whole. He also deflected questions about whether a goalkeeper was top of his shopping list for the rest of the winter window. Unless something was lost in the translation from Spanish, his general impression of the match was sheer twaddle.
"It was evenly balanced," said Ramos, "with dominance passing from one side to the other." The only difference had been that Chelsea struck twice from outside the penalty area.Grant made more sense, saying he was pleased with his team's results and also the manner in which they were playing. Asked to elaborate, he said: "We don't play long balls but pass in a more organised way, with plenty of combinations."
He was also delighted to have overcome a side as good tactically as Ramos's, praising Wright-Phillips for not only his contribution in midfield but his adaptability in moving forward late to claim his "fantastic" goal, the opportunity for which was expertly fashioned by a lively Joe Cole.
Anelka, Grant observed, would not have appeared but for an injury to Pizarro. "Normally he would not have been in the squad because he had not trained with the team [after signing from Bolton only on Friday night]. But despite that he got used to the style of the team very quickly." Indeed. Within 90 seconds the Frenchman was receiving a cleverly backheeled reverse ball from Wright-Phillips on his chest, turning and, with a smooth low shot, bringing the very best from a diving Cerny. In the last few minutes, he seized on a slip by Michael Dawson and belted a left-footer against the underside of the crossbar: a vibrant end to another good Stamford Bridge day.
For all the tactical expertise to which Grant referred, Spurs had been unimpressive, notably at the front, where Ricardo Carvalho and Alex prevented Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov from exhibiting their often splendid partnership. Berbatov did have one chance in the first half, when he needed to make firmer contact with a cross from Aaron Lennon, but for most of the afternoon Chelsea gave an excellent demonstration of how to defend as a team. No wonder Grant was happy. "Even without so many players, and with some of those we do have playing out of their normal position, we are playing good football and winning."
The most pleasing sight for Ramos must have been the form of his captain, Ledley King, without whose class the match might have been lost by half-time. There is so much talk of the future of Berbatov, but the fitness of King is just as pertinent to Spurs's fortunes.
Man of the matchJuliano Belletti (Chelsea) 8
• Scored with only shot on goal • Won 86 per cent of tackles ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0: Anelka cameo puts Chelsea in good heart for title challenge
Debutant only defied by crossbar as Blues cruise to keep step with United By Nick Townsend at Stamford Bridge A match as much about one man as the remainder on parade, even though he sat hunched in woolly hat and protective gear for nearly an hour. And for once that individual was not Dimitar Berbatov, but another master of predatory skills. After 53 minutes, he began warming up.
The crowd rose to applaud the player given the squad number 39. That opportunity was something of a rarity for them yesterday, because up until then there had been precious little else to persuade them to do so.
By the 58th minute he was on, and though Nicolas Anelka did not quite open his Chelsea career with a goal – though so nearly did when following a superb back-heel from Shaun Wright-Phillips, he swivelled and forced a splendid save from Radek Cerny and later hit the bar – he did enough to confirm just why he is here.
"You could not ask for more," was the succinct observation of his manager, Avram Grant. However, the Israeli admitted that his pricey acquisition, signed from Bolton Wanderers on Friday for £15m, and whose aggregate transfer fees of around £85m make him the most expensive player ever, was only on the bench because of the shortage of forwards available to him – Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are at the African Nations Cup and Andriy Shevchenko is injured.
"Normally, he [Anelka] wouldn't have been in the squad because he hasn't trained with the players. But he adapted very quickly to the style of this team."
After a match comfortably won with goals in each half, from Juliano Belletti and Wright-Phillips, who is thriving in a more central midfield role, no one should rule out Chelsea's claim to the championship.
It had all been a decidedly sedate opening for a London derby. Claudio Pizarro, supported wide by Florent Malouda and Joe Cole, and with Michael Ballack and Wright-Phillips tucked in behind, worked hard to breach a Spurs rearguard which still appears fragile at times, even with the return of captain Ledley King. But it was all to no avail until, after 18 minutes, Belletti decided to turn the heat up.
The defender advanced into the visitors' half, Tottenham obligingly retreated before him, and from 30 yards he struck a devilish shot high and wide of Cerny, playing in place of Paul Robinson. The England goalkeeper, with his Spurs' future clearly in doubt, was again dropped to the substitutes' bench by the manager, Juande Ramos, who refused to attribute that opener to Cerny.
"Goals are conceded by the team as a whole," he said. It is becoming a familiar refrain. Spurs, who had not won in 20 League and Cup visits here, had their moments, though you struggle to recall them. Aaron Lennon looked particularly threatening against his fellow England team-mate, Ashley Cole and it was the midfielder, who fashioned an opportunity for Steed Malbranque with a deep cross. Cerny's compatriot, Petr Cech, returning after recovering from a hip injury, saved well.
We had to wait for the spice anticipated from a fixture of this nature until after the interval, though Kevin-Prince Boateng stirred the home crowd after an attempted rugby tackle on Joe Cole for which he was cautioned.
By the end, Malbranque, Jamie O'Hara and Lennon had also been yellow-carded for Spurs and Claude Makelele and captain Ballack for the hosts. The last-named had brought down Lennon inches outside the area, only for Berbatov to dispatch the free-kick over Cech's bar. It was that kind of afternoon for the Bulgarian and Spurs. This was a poor exhibition from Ramos's men, and his claim that it was "very evenly balanced" was a refusal to recognise reality.
Ten minutes from time, the Blues confirmed their win. Joe Cole took a throw-in from Belletti in his stride, and teased the Tottenham defence before feeding Wright-Phillips, who unhesitatingly drove the ball home from just outside the area. In the closing minutes, Anelka pounced on an error, to thump the ball against the bar. He could afford to smile. As Grant and Chelsea could last night.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Observer:
Belletti capitalises on Cerny blunder
Duncan Castles at Stamford BridgeSunday January 13, 2008
When Tottenham Hotspur were seeking a new goalkeeper three years ago the brief was simple: get someone who would be good support for Paul Robinson and not place excessive pressure on the occasionally fragile No 1.But here, as a speculative shot flew 35 yards through Radek Cerny's poorly positioned arms, Juande Ramos may have realised the folly of that policy - and paid cutting Robinson's legs from under him the previous Wednesday.
If Robinson has suffered his share of calamities this season it is hard to imagine him conceding that goal. Culled by England ahead of the loss to Croatia, Robinson has now been told that he is surplus to Tottenham requirements. Surplus, perhaps, but the club had best find a sounder replacement fast.Not that Ramos would publicly admit as much. 'Goals are conceded by the team as a whole and it's not a question of doling out responsibility to one player or another,' he said.
'We've conceded two goals and lost the game. It's just a bad result. We are working with a squad of happy players at the moment. We were in a very complicated position in the league table but we are very happy with the players we've got."
Is Robinson happy with his lot? A broad grin spread across Ramos' face. 'That's a question he would have to answer.'
Cerny's failure to deal with Juliano Belletti's long-distance punt set the tone of this match. Tight and evenly balanced until that point, Tottenham were a goal down and chasing a team that rarely cedes an advantage. When Shaun Wright-Phillips embellished Chelsea's lead late in the second half, the visitors were back to a familiar scenario - a poor performance following an impressive one.
At Ashburton Grove on Wednesday, Ramos wore a small smile, a sign of satisfaction at the tactical triumph that almost earned a rare victory. If the Spaniard's first months at Tottenham have not provided quite the radical transformation he's been credited with, his authority has been steadily underlined.
Of all the boardroom machinations that undermined his predecessor Martin Jol, the relationship with the sporting director Damien Comolli was especially damaging. Jol was repeatedly denied signings, Comolli instead providing new recruits who proved over-priced and ill-judged. With Comolli's future at the club tied to his own, Ramos should not suffer the same fate.
Chairman Daniel Levy has been informed that Ramos would exchange all but a handful of the squad. In an impromptu training-ground meeting, Jermain Defoe was told to toe the disciplinary line or find another club. By Wednesday evening, Ramos was dropping Robinson without a word of warning. At least the goalkeeper deigned to warm up yesterday.
As Avram Grant continued his policy of partial rotation, he took no account of Ashley Cole's perennial problems with Aaron Lennon. The winger underlined them early, shimmying past a prostrate left-back to draw a corner. He delivered Spurs' best chances, placing a cross on Dimitar Berbatov's head and a second on to Steed Malbranque's boot, whose volley was well met by Petr Cech.
By then Tottenham were chasing the game. As Belletti wandered forward from the halfway line, there should have been nothing on but a pass. Instead the Brazilian aimed for goal and from a distance and height that should have been parried his shot swerved slightly and comfortably through Cerny's hands. 'You're worse than Robinson,' taunted the Chelsea fans.
Tottenham started treading water, lacking the energy or insight that characterised their play against Arsenal until Adel Taarabt took over on the left wing, spreading crosses and passes around. Lennon drew a free-kick that Berbatov lifted fractionally over.
An unusually irate Grant introduced Nicolas Anelka and claimed almost instant reward when Wright-Phillips played the £15million striker into position for a finely executed spin and left-foot shot that Cerny touched away.
'He played without training even once but got used very quickly to the style of the team,' said Grant. 'You cannot ask more from the first performance.'
The game grew more ill-tempered and yellow cards were shown with regularity until Wright-Phillips settled it. Joe Cole was provider, collecting a throw-in, gliding through tacklers and squaring for a shot that travelled low through Ledley King's legs and into the net.
Anelka all but added a third, crashing a shot off underside of bar, but the game was up. Next time these sides meet Tottenham might consider employing a goalkeeper they trust.
THE FANS' VERDICT
James Aidan, Observer reader It was a lovely performance, but the game swung on our being able to control their strikers, and them not controlling ours. Keane and Berbatov didn't get much supply, though when Berbatov did get anything Alex had him in his pocket. Wright-Phillips was man of the match and is finally being played in his proper position as an inside forward, not on the wing. Belletti's goal was a Brazilian wonder-shot, with a massive swerve on it, and I don't think any keeper would have saved it. Anelka's arrival brings a subtlety to the forward line. Spurs worked very hard - O'Hara looked very good - and in the first 20 minutes of the second half they were all over us and could have equalised from a set piece. But once we scored the second it was over.
Player ratings Cech 8; Belletti 9, Alex 8, Carvalho 8, A Cole 7; Makelele 7; Wright-Phillips 9, (Sidwell N/A), Ballack 8; J Cole 7, Pizarro 7 (Anelka 8), Malouda 5 (Bridge 6)
Dave Mason, Observer reader I was confident going into the game, based on Wednesday, but we didn't have the quality to break them down. In midfield we missed Jenas and it showed how stupid two-ton Tommy was getting sent off last week. We needed more effort from everybody - Keane, Berbatov and Lennon showed none at all. Cerny had to come in, but the first goal was eminently stoppable and for the second Lee showed their player the inside. Basic, basic poor defending. We pressed in the second half and had a couple of threatening corners, but Cech was great.
Player ratings Cerny 6; Chimbonda 6, Dawson 6, King 7, Lee 5; Lennon 5, Boateng 5 (Kaboul 5), O'Hara 6 (Defoe 5), Malbranque 6 (Taarabt 5); Keane 4, Berbatov 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW :
Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0
By ROB BEASLEY at Stamford Bridge
AVRAM GRANT had to choose between the two incredible sulks — and judged it perfectly.
He opted for naughty Nic ahead of the brooding Berbatov and got it spot on.
Not to mention saving himself £20million in the process.
New £15m signing Nicolas Anelka had to be content with a place on the bench, while £35m-rated Dimitar Berbatov started for Spurs.
Yet for the best part of an hour it was difficult to say who was making the greater contribution.
The Bulgarian probably just about edged it — but then Anelka actually came on in the 58th minute. After that, it was no contest.
Quick, lively, alert and dangerous. The French ace was everything that Berbatov wasn't.
And remember, Anelka only signed for Chelsea late on Friday night and had not trained with his new team-mates.
In fact, Blues boss Avram Grant revealed the former Bolton hitman would have been sitting up in the stands if Chelsea were not suffering a striker crisis.
Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are away at the African Cup of Nations, Andriy Shevchenko is injured and Claudio Pizarro was forced to lead the line carrying a knock.
Grant admitted: "We had to use Anelka because we are so short of strikers. But ideally he would not even have been in the squad."
Anelka went oh so close to scoring just minutes into his debut.
His fourth touch of the afternoon produced an instant shot on the turn from a clever Shaun Wright-Phillips back-heel that Tottenham keeper Radek Cerny did well to push away.
We had to wait another couple of minutes for Berbatov's first meaningful moment.
A wreckless foul by Chelsea captain Michael Ballack finally presented the Bulgarian with his opportunity. Central position, just outside the box and not an opponent within 10 yards.
He still couldn't hit the target, though, as he curled his effort high and wide.
Spurs tested Blues keeper Petr Cech just once in the entire match, when Steed Malbranque fired in a rasping volley just on the half-hour.
But the ball flew straight at Cech, who managed to bat it away and protect Chelsea's early lead.
And what an opener it was. Right-back Juliano Belletti scored a long-range screamer at Wigan in November. Until yesterday, that had been regarded as a fluke.
The Brazilian proved otherwise at Stamford Bridge.
He was just inside the Spurs half alongside the centre circle when he picked up a sideways pass from the fit-again Claude Makelele.
Belletti took a couple of paces forward and then hammered an unstoppable rocket of a shot into the top corner.
Cerny couldn't get anywhere near it. Paul Robinson wouldn't have either. It was a classic.
Tottenham never looked like coming back and Chelsea were always the more threatening.
But Spurs boss Juande Ramos insisted: "It was a very evenly-balanced game.
"Chelsea grabbed two goals from outside the penalty area but in terms of domination of the game, it wasn't reflected in the scoreline."
Ballack had a goal rightly ruled out for offside just before the break.
But midway through the second half, the home side had still failed to add to Belletti's brilliant opener.
One chance, one mistake and Spurs could be level. That opportunity came with less than 15 minutes to go.
Kevin-Prince Boateng crossed from the right, centre-half Alex missed his header and Robbie Keane ghosted in at the far post yet failed to apply the killer touch.
Tottenham's slim hopes of salvaging the day evaporated moments later when a rejuvenated Wright-Phillips drilled Chelsea further in front.
Belletti's throw down the line released Joe Cole, who tormented full-back Lee Young Pyo before squaring a low ball to Wright-Phillips.
The England winger reacted in an instant, flashing a first-time effort beyond Cerny's dive for 2-0. A fine finish from a player brimming full of confidence at last.
With three minutes to go, Wright-Phillips was put in the clear by Joe Cole but dragged his shot wide.
Anelka hit the underside of the bar with a rising, close-range shot in the 90th minute.
And in injury-time, Joe Cole forced Cerny into a fingertip save.
Anelka has insisted: "I want this to be my last club, I don't want to go anywhere else any more."
Anyone reckon Berbatov is thinking along the same lines? Doubtful.
Berbatov trudged off at the end having had one meaningful moment.
Curling a rasping free kick just beyond the angle after a wreckless foul on the edge of the box by Michael Ballack.