sunday papers hudds fa cup

The Sunday TimesFebruary 17, 2008
Frank Lampard’s double strike bursts Huddersfield bubbleChelsea 3 Huddersfield 1Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge
THERE was, almost on half-time, one coruscating moment of hope for Huddersfield. So very much the underdog, a goal behind from the 18th minute, largely and predictably outplayed by their hosts, they suddenly and sensationally equalised. And a very good goal indeed it was.
From Luke Beckett, the Huddersfield striker, the ball went on to Chris Brandon, then out to the right flank, where James Berrett had moved. His excellent high cross reached Michael Collins on the left of goal and he swept the ball instantly and dramatically into the net.
If it seemed too good to last, there were still moments in the second half, as Huddersfield’s manager, Andy Ritchie emphasised when, “we were a bit dangerous; so we annoyed them!”
They annoyed Chelsea sufficiently for the Londoners to score a couple more goals, and twice to have goals given offside with Matthew Glennon, the brave and defiant Huddersfield goalkeeper, blocking the shot but unable to hold the ball.
Chelsea rested a number of first-choice players, although Jon Obi Mikel and the impressive Salomon Kalou were back from participating in the African Cup of Nations. So was Ghana’s Michael Essien, but we did not see him until 80 minutes had been played. We did not see the formidable Didier Drogba at all, Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, telling us that he had a slight problem with his knee but none of any other kind, suggesting he would be back for the Champions League tie against Olympiakos on Tuesday.
Especially welcome for Chelsea was the unexpectedly early return and the dominant form of John Terry, whom Grant kept on the field for the whole game, but had initially planned to keep him on for just 70 minutes. Claudio Pizarro, the Peru international, was given the lone frontman role, and he contributed in the second half with an inspired dribble, coming in from the left to shoot.
Glennon duly blocked that one, but the ebullient young Scott Sinclair was given offside when he put the ball in the net, as had Kalou previously been when following up an attempt from Terry, also blocked by Glennon. But the Chelsea captain, in the first half, had actually been obliged to clear off his own line on 38 minutes from the Huddersfield defender, Nathan Clarke.
Ritchie was full of praise for Frank Lampard, goalscorer yesterday as well as substantial cre-ator: “Lampard is top notch,” said Ritchie. “His drive and his vision. He’s so quick with the ball at his feet. He moves the ball around. And that’s what produces the holes in your defence. He’s always a threat and he’s going to score goals.”
For his part, Grant intimated that he expected Lampard to sign a new contract for Chelsea.
Chelsea might well have gone ahead as early as the sixth minute. Kalou, on the left, went easily past the 36-year-old Frank Sinclair, once a Chelsea defender himself, and crossed for the other Sinclair to beat Glennon. But Robbie Williams came to the rescue on the line.
So it was another dozen minutes before Lampard, instantly exploiting a right-wing pass from the irrepressible Sinclair, put Chelsea ahead. The game was moving to the interval and a Chelsea lead that might have been greater then suddenly Huddersfield scored.
In the second half, it took 15 minutes for Chelsea to eventually restore their lead. Kalou flicked the ball skilfully from the right to Lampard, who duly drove home his second goal. The third came when Kalou himself raced through the Huddersfield defence and beat Glennon for the third time.
Yet though the game was now beyond them, Huddersfield bravely refused to lie down and die, indeed, we were in stoppage time when Williams fired a left-footed free kick not at all far wide of the right-hand Chelsea post.
Haven’t we met before?
Huddersfield full-back Frank Sinclair was at Chelsea for eight years and was an FA Cup winner as the Blues beat Middlesbrough 2–0 in the 1997 final. The following season, he scored in their 2-0 League Cup final win – again over Boro -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Lionheart Lampard hits the ton against proud HuddersfieldChelsea 3 Huddersfield 1
By MALCOLM FOLLEY Frank Lampard and John Terry, the Englishmen at the heart of Chelsea, ensured the romance of the FA Cup was restricted to a one act play at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Huddersfield manager Andy Ritchie had the luxury of delivering his half-time talk with his team level.
Tell the 6,000 fans who travelled from Yorkshire to London that the potential of the Cup to weave dreams and spells is an anachronism in a modern world.
With the last kick of the first half, Michael Collins had illustrated control, poise and an assassin's eye to shoot Huddersfield on terms.
Those fans, embedded in The Shed end, became in an instant a loud, boisterous choir. Their team may be living in the wrong end of League One — indeed they began yesterday as the lowest-ranked team in the competition — but that had not deterred them from making the journey in a fleet of coaches, by train or by car. It was a day to travel in hope, if not expectation.
And for 15 minutes, those fans were rewarded with Huddersfield holding Chelsea, the club with a substitutes' bench yesterday that cost more than £90million to recruit.
Collins' goal, taken in his stride as he expertly brought James Berrett's pass out of the air, was a moment of some sobriety for Chelsea. Manager Avram Grant — winner of just one domestic cup with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel 14 years ago — had selected a shadow team with an eye on the week ahead.
Perhaps he was beyond criticism. After all, Chelsea play Olympiacos in the Champions League in Athens on Tuesday, then defend the Carling Cup against Tottenham in the all- London Wembley showpiece on Sunday.
Having spent weeks dealing with injuries to men like Terry and Lampard, and having to compensate for the absence of other critical players at the African Cup of Nations, such as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou, Grant is now spoiled by an abundance of riches.
His reaction was to include reserve keeper Carlo Cudicini, Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim, Scott Sinclair and Claudio Pizarro.
In truth, Grant might have shuffled his resources any number of ways and still found a com-bination with enough skill, experience and firepower to have condemned Huddersfield to an uncomfortable afternoon. Yet, in the end, Grant was grateful for the presence of Lampard and Terry, men assured of a starting place when Grant has to turn his attention to creating the very best blend of Chelsea from the personnel at his disposal.
Lampard had returned to the team just six days ago and Terry, against imposing odds, made his comeback after two months out with a broken foot. Their contribution was immense and meaningful. The game was 19 minutes old when Sinclair drove the ball across the Huddersfield penalty area. As he has done countless times before, Lampard arrived late to strike a sweet firsttime shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Six years and nine months after Claudio Ranieri paid £11million to take him across London from West Ham, Lampard had claimed his 100th goal for the Blues. In his box for the first time since Christmas, Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich broke into a grin in celebration.
Perhaps, like his team, he assumed the job had been done because, frankly, there was not a huge amount of urgency about Chelsea's football.
Terry was required to clear from Chelsea's goal line in the 38th minute after Nathan Clarke whipped in a shot following a Huddersfield corner.
Chelsea could not claim they had not been warned and Collins, outstanding throughout, seized Huddersfield's equaliser with a clarity of thought. His shot beat Cudicini at the near post, allowing Ritchie went to deliver his half-time talk with an amount of optimism.
But Lampard was to offer the Cup holders the moment of inspiration they needed on the hour. He cut through Huddersfield with a determined run and when his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Matthew Glennon, the England midfielder squeezed the rebound in off the inside of a post. Danger had passed.
Lampard's measured pass in the 69th minute invited Kalou to place the tie out of Huddersfield's reach. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lampard joins the 100 club to break Huddersfield's hearts
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday February 17, 2008The Observer
After all the shenanigans of the global Premier League - the gift that no one wanted - it was a relief to return to the old-fashioned simplicities of the Cup. It all ended as expected, but a Huddersfield equaliser on the brink of half time ensured it remained a contest longer than expected and gave their magnificent fans some reward on their grand day out. 'We got fantastic backing from them,' said manager Andy Ritchie.
Chelsea's season, meanwhile, is just about to become interesting. They are favourites to win both the domestic cups and they have a sporting chance in their two main targets. 'It has happened because we did a fantastic job in December and January,' said Avram Grant.The Huddersfield fans packed what used to be the Shed and easily outsang their rivals. They had already had plenty of fun prior to the kick-off as Tube nonsense meant they enjoyed their first taste of frottage. 'It's never this packed in Huddersfield,' said one with glee. 'Are you sure they don't charge us extra?' replied his friend.
Chelsea fielded their second team. Indeed, if you take the view that Alex is better than Terry, and Ballack is better than Lampard, then everyone selected was technically a reserve. Their bench, however, was for the ages. Henrique Hilario, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Andriy Shevchenko, Nicolas Anelka. Replace Hilario with Petr Cech and it would be unimprovable and, at a cost of a £100million or so, the most expensive ever assembled. How long before the first heist movie in which the so-called bad guys kidnap substitute footballers? Ocean's 18 anyone?
The first chance was beautifully crafted by Salomon Kalou, jinking in from the left and setting up Scott Sinclair, whose sharp shot was kicked off the line by Robbie Williams. Huddersfield forced a corner. 'Where were you when you were shit,' sang their fans and the returning Frank Sinclair appeared to nod his assent. A trademark Frank Lampard free-kick went straight into the wall and Steve Sidwell - who gave him the No 9 shirt? - skied the ball over. Minutes later Lampard scored his 100th goal for the club, Scott Sinclair's cross from the right enabling him to sweep the ball into the net. It is a figure that Ballack is unlikely to match.
Huddersfield tried manfully and Nathan Clarke was unfortunate to have a volley from a corner cleared away. Then Michael Collins snuck in behind Paulo Ferreira on the left and with the last kick of the half calmly placed his shot past Carlo Cudicini. Against all the odds we had a match on our hands. An emboldened Michael Collins nearly found a way through the middle. Chelsea looked uncharacteristically vulnerable as the fear of embarrassment crept in.
'Chelsea give us a song,' Huddersfield supporters sang from The Shed. The natural order of things was in danger of being upset. John Terry's shot was half-saved by Matthew Glennon and Kalou pounced on the rebound, but he was offside. Could it be one of those games?
Well, no. Lampard stormed through the centre of the Huddersfield defence, drew a sprawling save from Glennon and then toe-poked the rebound in. The third goal was sublime, Mikel finding Lampard with a switch pass and the England player swiftly feeding Kalou, who broke quickly down the left and finished with aplomb.
Ten minutes from time Lampard left the pitch to be replaced by Michael Essien and with Schevchenko already on we were given an indication of how they might line up with Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka. That is to say, Essien and Mikel in front of a back four, two wide men, and the two strikers. A formidable formation.
Man of the match - Frank LampardThe England man scored his 100th and 101st goals for the club and made his team's third on the day. It is still uncertain with whom he plays best, but as Chelsea progress on four fronts there will be plenty of opportunities to resolve that.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 3 Huddersfield Town 1: Lampard turns on the style to settle Chelsea's frayed nerves
England midfielder finds his stride as Terriers bite back before faltering Ronald Atkin at Stamford Bridge
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Though they duly headed back north empty-handed, Huddersfield, players and supporters alike, had the traditional grand day out in London beloved of FA Cup minnows and for a gloriously unbelievable quarter of an hour at the start of the second half, were actually holding the world's richest team 1-1. Then reality, in the shape of the sublime Frank Lampard, set in and Chelsea are through to the quarter-finals, their dream of a four-trophy season still afloat.
Lampard's form, in his second game back after missing 10 matches with a thigh injury, was alone worth the train fare from Yorkshire. He scored the first goal, then the second, and set up the pass for the third.
Not content, he dominated the midfield as well as surging forward time after time to supplement the indifferent efforts of Claudio Pizarro, before trotting off 10 minutes from time to a standing ovation.
Chelsea, with a visit to Greece in the Champions' League on Tuesday and the Carling Cup final next Sunday, opted to rest a host of big names and offered a bench place for others.
Towards the end, in the space of a few minutes, the manager, Avram Grant, brought on Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien and Nicolas Anelka – £70 million worth of talent. Such was the nature of Huddersfield's task. They tackled it bravely and lost good-naturedly to a club 56 places above their lowly position in League One.
Their equaliser, out of the blue on the stroke of half-time, was greeted with a mix of delight and disbelief by the supporters who filled one end of Stamford Bridge, while radio men in the media zone were hysterical. Perhaps fortunately for Chelsea, the whistle blew for the interval soon afterwards and they were able to retreat, regroup and reassure themselves that they were capable of better stuff than they had managed in the first half.
With grizzled veterans such as Frank Sinclair, captain for the day on his return to a stadium where he played for seven seasons, and Robert Page deputed to deny this "lesser" Chelsea, it was always going to be a big ask.
Scott Sinclair grabbed his chance to show his stuff down the right, while Salomon Kalou, back from African Nations Cup duty with the Ivory Coast, kept Sinclair on the hop and Lampard just kept on driving forward, ably backed by John Obi Mikel and that rarity among the starters, Steve Sidwell.
Huddersfield's manager, Andy Ritchie felt, rightly, his team were "a little in awe" of the opposition in the opening half. "Some of our tackles could have been stronger," he said. Accordingly, Chelsea were invited to pour forward but could manage only one goal.
It came in the 18th minute, after a spell in which Sinclair's shot curled past Matthew Glennon but was cleared off the line by Robbie Williams.
Sinclair's next foray ended with a square pass along the edge of the penalty box. Lampard strode on to it, picked his spot and sidefooted his 10th of the season and his 100th for the club. Glennon soon pulled off a sprawling stop to deny Lampard a second before the visiting fans, who had been lustily cheering the winning of throw-ins and corners, were given a goal.
John Terry, out since before Christmas with a foot problem, had already cleared Nathan Clarke's hooked shot away from the line when it beat Carlo Cudicini as Huddersfield began to discover form and self-belief.
Even so, it came as a surprise to most of the 41,000 crowd when James Berrett's lofted pass was collected by Michael Collins, closing in from the left, and driven between Cudicini and his near post. "The goal gave us a real lift at half-time and for the first 15 minutes afterwards we looked very dangerous," said Ritchie. "But we must have annoyed them."
The annoyance manifested itself in Lampard's second strike of the afternoon. Mikel and Kalou were the architects, the first sending a fine ball forward, the second turning it into the stride of the advancing Lampard. Glennon managed to block the shot but Lampard was on a run, in every sense, in this Cup tie and he forced the ball home at the second opportunity.
Kalou and Sinclair had efforts disallowed for offside before Kalou wrapped up the win in the 70th minute. Lampard aimed a glorious ball from the centre circle which sent him charging in to cut inside the tiring Sinclair before scoring off Glennon's body.
Lampard, said the opposition's manager in admiration, "was top notch, super". So he was.
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Frank Lampard helps beat Huddersfield TownBy Jonathan Wilson at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (1) 3 Huddersfield Town (1) 1
There was a quarter-hour spell just after half-time when Chelsea were under pressure, but the truth is this was a routine victory.
Huddersfield will feel they came out of the game with credit - and there was, at times, a pleasing zip and intelligence to their football - but they must also know that they were comfortably outclassed.
Chelsea had dominated when, seven minutes before half-time, Phil Jevons hooked over his shoulder as Chelsea struggled to clear a corner and John Terry - who suffered no ill effects on his return after a foot injury - cleared off the line.
That chance came as something of a surprise, and it was even more of a shock when, in first-half injury time, Michael Collins stole in behind Paulo Ferreira, gathered James Berrett's diagonal ball and clipped a neat finish past Carlo Cudicini with the outside of his right foot.
"The goal gave us a real lift," Huddersfield manager Andy Ritchie said. "In the first 15 minutes of the second half we were very dangerous, but we annoyed them and they managed to take the game on."
That was largely down to Frank Lampard who, having put Chelsea ahead with his 100th goal for the club, added a goal and an assist to ensure their progress.
"He's a player who doesn't only know how to score goals," Chelsea manager Avram Grant said. "He makes assists and he does defensive work."
Grant insisted that, despite recent suggestions that Lampard could be on his way out of the club, he was confident a new deal would be negotiated in the summer. "I want him in the club, and I think he will stay at Chelsea," Grant said. "I don't see any other idea."
Lampard's contract expires in summer 2009 and, under Article 17 of Fifa's transfer regulations, he would be entitled to buy out the final two years of the deal - albeit at a cost of roughly £8 million. He has his critics, and it is far from clear that he and Michael Ballack can play together in the same midfield, but his value to Chelsea was obvious yesterday.
In his programme notes, Grant had spoken of the FA Cup as "a competition with fantastic history and importance to the supporters", the implication being that it matters little to anyone else. But then, when one side so clearly have half an eye on Tuesday's Champions League fixture against Olympiakos, perhaps that is simply expressing the truth. To call this a second-string Chelsea would be unfair - if only because there is no such thing any more at the Big Four clubs - but it is safe to assume that Scott Sinclair will not be starting in Athens.
The 18-year-old winger, who was such a significant part of Plymouth's Cup run last season, impressed with his pace and liveliness. But for a superb, lunging clearance from Robbie Williams, he would have given Chelsea the lead after six minutes, as he seized on Solomon Kalou's low cross and shaped a finish beyond Huddersfield goalkeeper Matthew Glennon. It was then, from his 18th-minute cross, that Lampard swept in the opener.
Lampard then laid on the third for Kalou with 20 minutes remaining. The Ivorian had an excellent African Cup of Nations and, as though to make the point, celebrated by running to Michael Essien as he warmed up on the touchline and performing the kangaroo dance with which Ghana had marked each of their goals during the tournament. Essien was asked, in an excruciating television link up, to enact the dance for the Ghanaian president, John Kuffour; his reaction to Kalou's mimicry, predictably, was an embarrassed grin.
On a largely flat afternoon, there was at least some bounce.
Man of the mathFrank Lampard (Chelsea) • Back from injury and scoring again. Plus an assist source.
Telegraph View: Jonathan Wilson at Stamford BridgeBest Moment: Just after the quarter hour, Frank Sinclair casually stepped inside Frank Lampard. For a second, it seemed he was, once again, the smooth sultan of Stamford Bridge. Within a minute Scott Sinclair crossed for Lampard to put Chelsea ahead and it became apparent that he was neither the best Frank nor the best Sinclair on the pitch. Worst moment: Poor Claudio Pizarro. He scrambled through five challenges in the Huddersfield box 18 minutes into the second half only for Matthew Glennon to make an excellent save from his falling shot.
Match details
Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira, Ben-Haim, Terry, Bridge, Sidwell (Shevchenko 75), Obi, Lampard (Essien 81), Kalou, Pizarro (Anelka 85), Sinclair. Subs not used: Hilario, Carvalho. Goals: Lampard 18, 60, Kalou 70. Huddersfield: Glennon, Sinclair, Clarke, Page, Williams, Collins, Brandon, Holdsworth, Berrett (Schofield 85), Beckett (Booth 80), Jevons (Kamara 73). Subs not used: Eastwood, Mirfin. Goals: Collins 45. Att: 41,324 Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).