The Sunday Times
September 14, 2008
Rich pickings for Chelsea
David Walsh
Rich pickings for Chelsea
David Walsh
A young man stood outside a department store in Piccadilly about three hours before this game began. He wasn't selling anything, nor looking to buy; rather he just stood there singing softly but nevertheless sweetly. “We have Robinho, we have Robinho, we have Robinho.” He wasn’t drunk, nor crazed; merely a City fan.
But his little melody did bear witness to the wonderful strangeness of the day. It was a Saturday in Manchester, football was in the autumnal and City were the story. Earlier in the month, the city’s poor relation found it had a trillionaire godfather in the Middle East and so the club moves from rags to riches, from Bianchi to Robinho.
And what better way to announce this new-found wealth but to play host to rivals that were once considered the Premier League’s richest. Along the roads to Middle Eastlands, they were selling Brazilian jerseys bearing Robinho's name and number, they had light blue T-shirts that proclaimed City the wealthiest club in the world.
Such was the expectation, the bonhomie, that hardened City fans were doffing their hats to lampposts and inside the ground, there wasn’t a spare seat. Neither was the game a disappointment and there was much to like about the richer, star-speckled City. Robinho started alongside his Brazilian compatriot Jo and so John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho kept their minds on the game.
Seven minutes in, Robinho galloped wide to take a corner and every City fan stood and applauded. Excessive perhaps but five minutes later, they had good reason to express their gratitude. Jo and Carvalho went for a ball on the edge of the penalty area, the defender seemed to get the ball before Jo fell over but Mark Halsey saw it differently.
Robinho spent ages lining up the free, Chelsea spent longer lining up the wall, the crowd had time to consider every penny of that £32.4m and, then in a flash, everything was reduced to chance. Wall member John Mikel Obi got his head to Robinho’s free kick, deflecting it wickedly past his goalkeeper, Petr Cech.
But that deflection was a detail easily ignored by an entranced crowd. In those minutes, the hype was justified, the transfer fee an irrele-vance and City were on their way. Except that Chelsea hadn’t come from London like Chelsea teams of bygone days. Even in the moment of that goal, there wasn’t a hint of doubt, nor a trace of panic in their reaction.
And in a game which ebbed and flowed with excellent football, their passing was crisper and more penetrative. Robinho may become a very fine Premier League player in time but he wasn’t that yesterday. He gave the ball away too often and we are talking about straightforward passes missing the target.
He wasn’t a patch on Frank Lampard, who was the game's best player and by quite some distance. To every good Chelsea move, he was centra: the choice of his pass, the timing, the accuracy, the weight, he had it all and it was a joy to watch. What the other Chelsea players love about Lampard is that he never takes a fraction more time to make the than is necessary.
It is clear too that Lampard likes playing with Deco, they weave patterns that look simple but because it all done quickly, it creates space and there were times yesterday when Chelsea looked a very slick side. Their equaliser came just four minutes after City’s goal, and even if that was timely for them, it wasn't that surprising.
For they picked up the pace after conceding and when Shaun Wright-Phillips conceded a corner against his former club, Lampard's delivery picked out Terry, whose header ricocheted off Joe Cole backwards into Carvalho's path and the centre-back slammed his right-foot volley high into the roof of the net. Poor City goalkeeper Joe Hart was lucky that he wasn’t in the way. Perhaps the Gods were making up to Carvalho after that free kick award.
The game continued to hum along; City were good but Chelsea were better. Florent Malouda got his head to a Joe Cole cross but the ball crashed against the bar and when Jo and later Stephen Ireland had good shooting chances, Carvalvo got back to make brilliant blocks. Ia there a central defender anywhere who makes those tackles better than the Portuguese?
By the time Ireland’s effort was blocked, Chelsea were already in front, thanks to another demonstration of Lampard’s class. He surged through from midfield, exchanged passes with Ashley Cole and, forced on to his left foot, he rifled his shot into the far corner. Brilliant. Though City kept playing and the fun continued, Chelsea were always superior.
Anelka got their third goal, after good work by Malouda and a clever final pass from Joe Cole. Fifteen the end, John Terry got a straight red card – the first of his career – when Mark Halsey deemed him the last defender when he fouled Jo. It was a slightly harsh decision as other defenders scampered back and were not far away when the Brazilian fell.
City kept trying but even with Jo, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta all showing they can become big players for the club, there was a challenge to the nouveau riche in the performance of the team with Roman's old money and it was this: can City absorb all their new wealth and find the team spirit that make Chelsea so for-midable? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Frank Lampard cashes in on Manchester City flawsManchester City (1) 1 Chelsea (1) 3 By Duncan WhiteLast Updated: 11:11PM BST 13 Sep 2008
It will take a lot more than one brilliant Brazilian to overturn the Premier League hierarchy. Robinho may have made a thrilling debut in English football, opening the scoring with a deflected free-kick, but ultimately this game merely underlined that the team he spurned are still a marker of excellence for any incalculably rich owner.
Chelsea were outstanding and this would have been a perfect evening for Luiz Felipe Scolari had it not been for Terry’s late red card, which has ruled the England captain out of the Premier League clash with Manchester United on Sunday.
This is, like it or not, 21st century football: polyglot players performing for the super-rich in ultramodern stadiums. Amidst the minting of cliches – 'Middle-Eastlands’, the 'clash of the cash’ – and the cheerful offending of Gulf sensibilities – tea-towels– there was no disguising that this game was part of a paradigm shift in English football. Sheikh Mansour’s £210 million takeover of Manchester City means Roman Abramovich is no longer the exception.
The Russian oligarch’s new position in the financial food chain was amply demonstrated by City’s giving a debut to Robinho, the Brazilian winger that Scolari had so publicly coveted. And what a debut it proved. Rumours of the former Real Madrid man’s flakiness have been greatly exaggerated. He was bursting with enthusiasm and threat and will undoubtedly win many games for City this season.
It took him 13 minutes to bring the house down. Jo, with whom Robinho formed a £50 million plus all-Brazilian strike partnership, just managed to get a toe to the ball before Ricardo Carvalho just beyond the 'D’.
There was no debating who was going to take the free-kick. With Robinho standing expectant, referee Mark Halsey escalated the pressure by his patient insistence that the Chelsea players did not infiltrate the 10 yards. When the Brazilian finally struck the ball he curled it with his instep into the middle of the wall, the ball clipping John Obi Mikel’s forehead and diverting into the side netting.
Robinho went wheeling away into his trademark thumb-sucking celebration with jubilant team-mates haring after him.
The hysteria lasted all of three minutes. Lampard’s corner was met by a leaping Terry and the England captain’s header hit Joe Cole before sitting up for Carvalho. The Portuguese centre-back volleyed in like he was Van Basten. With that Chelsea were back in the right mindset.
Indeed Scolari’s team played with exceptional fluidity and elegance as they poured forward and would have run away with this game if they had taken their chances. Florent Malouda came ludicrously close, heading Joe Cole’s cross onto the bar only for the rebound to fly straight to the relieved Joe Hart, who had missed the cross. Malouda and Anelka spurned further headed chances and when Pablo Zabaleta cleared lamely to Anelka, the French striker could not beat Hart at the near post.
Not that City did not offer stylish glimpses themselves. Stephen Ireland shot over after a flair flick from Jo and the Brazilian striker went close himself with a left-footed curler, only for Carvalho to deflect it over. Shaun Wright-Phillips was especially lively against his former club, relishing the vocal support of the supporters on his home debut.
Yet as the game unfolded, Chelsea grew stronger, their exquisite passing pulling City apart. The second goal came from a rapier counterattack: Mikel to Joe Cole to Lampard to Malouda and back to Lampard.
The Chelsea midfield has been brilliant in these early season games and his confidence found expression in his bold finish, side-stepping Richard Dunne before shooting left-footed across Hart and into the net.
Ireland might have equalised if not for another heroic Carvalho block but with 20 minutes left Chelsea landed the decisive blow.
Joe Cole’s cute through ball with the outside of his boot was perfect for Anelka, who beat Hart easily at the near post.
The drama was not done, though. Jo pushed the ball past Terry just beyond the halfway line and Terry for some reason decided to bring the Brazilian down, wrapping an arm around his waist.
Despite Carvalho seemingly being there to cover, referee Halsey instantly produced the red card. Foolish from Terry; harsh from Halsey. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent:
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3: Reality check for City after Chelsea spoil Robinho party
Scolari's men remind new rivals in money stakes that you cannot buy instant success
By Guy Hodgson at the City of Manchester Stadium
Eastlands was ready to party. Supporters were decked in Robinho shirts and arab head-dresses to mark the twin arrival at Manchester City of Britain's most expensive footballer and the wealth of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Then an icy blast of reality hit them.
Just because you are the planet's richest club, it does not mean you can catch up the elite overnight, and last night "Middle Eastlands" was quickly disabused of the theory that a Champions' League place will come as easily as the next million pounds. City did not flop their big entrance nor revert to calamitous type but they were comprehensively beaten by Chelsea who have a five-year start on collecting the world's best footballers.
City have just one, Robinho, and to be fair to the Brazilian you cannot expect even the most expensive player ever in British football to do much more than score on his debut. The £32.5m man did, with a first-half free-kick, but the problem was that Chelsea, who oozed the class of potential champions, got three goals through Ricardo Carvalho, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka. Even the late sending-off of John Terry for a cynical foul could not derail the visitors.
"It's an important three points," Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, said. "When we went 1-0 behind I saw that the team were nervous but after they equalised I think they largely controlled the game. We have some injuries and I had to change A, B and C but the players who came in did very well. I'm more happy with that than the 3-1 result."
Mark Hughes, the Manchester City manager, also found plusses beyond the scoreline. "We know where we are at the moment," he said. "It's very early in our development in terms of a squad and a team. Chelsea were well drilled and knew exactly what they were trying to do, and that comes as a consequence of playing winning football for the past five or six years.
"It's not going to happen overnight. We all realise that. People have got a little bit ahead of themselves and a little bit hysterical but as a squad we know the level we are at." Whether it was hysteria is a moot point but the mood around Eastlands before the game was of mounting, and pinch-me-am-I-dreaming, excitement.
Given the pressure to live up to his billing, it was not a surprise that Robinho's first two touches were misplaced passes but before the words "what a waste of money" could emanate from the Chelsea fans, the Brazilian had put City ahead after 13 minutes. Carvalho was harshly judged to have brought down Jo 22 yards out and there was a helping glance off John Obi Mikel's head but you could not fault the drama or the crispness of the shot as Robinho curled the free-kick past Petr Cech.
The place erupted, Robinho ran to the touchline and collapsed to the ground under a pile of team-mates, but Chelsea are not a side to accept a supporting role and within three minutes they had equalised. A corner was won by Terry, the ball rebounded off Joe Cole and Carvalho crashed a volley past Joe Hart.
That goal ushered sobriety into the party and Chelsea spent the rest of the match creating edifying patterns. Lampard was outstanding, Deco, Carvalho and Joe Cole were fractions behind him and City, who had the chance to train with Robinho for the first time on Friday, looked what they are: a team in search of understanding.
Florent Malouda hit the bar with a header and Lampard fired just over immediately after the interval so it had been coming when Chelsea took the lead after 53 minutes. Lampard passed to Malouda and with the home defenders distracted by Chelsea's strikers there was a yard of potential on the edge of their area. The England midfielder is a master at exploiting this space and when the ball was returned he swerved round Richard Dunne's challenge and hit a low shot into the opposite corner.
City needed something extraordinary to get back into the match and they went somewhere nearer to it in the 77th minute when Jo seized on a mistake by Deco and would have raced away had he not been brought down with a rugby tackle by Terry.
His sending-off was a rare discordant note for the visitors on a night when victory was relatively easily achieved. "We expect to make a better fist of it when we meet them again," Hughes warned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------City find Lampard and co too rich for them
Manchester City 1 Robinho 13 Chelsea 3 Carvalho 16, Lampard 53, Anelka 69
Daniel Taylor The Observer, Sunday September 14 2008 Frank Lampard scored Chelsea's second goal as they beat Manchester City at Eastlands. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
In the end, it was a reminder for the Premier League's newest billionaires not to get too far ahead of themselves. Manchester City's supporters will have enjoyed their first sight of Robinho and the swish of his right boot that brought him a debut goal. Yet, ultimately, Chelsea made it a bruising experience for all those fancy-dress 'Arabs' who had walked down Joe Mercer Way with tea-towels tied round their heads and something that looked suspiciously like Cherry Blossom smeared on their cheeks.
For that, Chelsea have to take immense credit. They were a goal down after 13 minutes, when Robinho offered the first tantalising glimpse of his talent by floating a free-kick past Petr Cech, but their response was emphatic to the point of being brutal. Ricardo Carvalho equalised within two minutes and second-half goals from Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka confirmed their superiority, the only downside for Luiz Felipe Scolari being John Terry's red card 13 minutes from the end for an alleged professional foul on Jô, City's other Brazilian recruit. It was harsh, to say the least, and television replays confirmed that Terry was not the last defender.
Strangely for someone who is usually so outspoken, Scolari refused to talk about it, but Chelsea should have a watertight case to launch an appeal and prevent their captain missing next week's match against Manchester United.
That apart, it was an evening of huge satisfaction for Chelsea, whose performance sent out a clear message that there is an established order of merit at the top of English football - and, for now at least, that City are still some way off it.
Typical City, you could say. Yet it would be unfair to pick fault with these nouveau riche wannabes. Mark Hughes's team made a significant contribution to an absorbing game,and it would be wrong for anyone to presume that the optimism that has been swirling around Eastlands will evaporate on the back of one bad result.
'I wouldn't say it's a reality check,' Hughes said. 'We know exactly where we are at this stage of our development. It's early days for us and we always knew Chelsea would be really difficult opponents.'
Perhaps, in hindsight, it was just City's misfortune to come across Chelsea in their first game since the Abu Dhabi United Group moved into power. For the past fortnight it has been constantly rammed down Chelsea's throats that they are no longer the richest club on the planet and that City are on the verge of worldwide domination. This was their opportunity to respond and, once Robinho had scored, they did so in a manner that might have left the Brazilian pondering whether, money aside, he had joined the right club, after all. 'I'm happy for him that he scored,' Scolari said. 'But I'm even happier that we scored three.'
Robinho, in fairness, seemed happy enough in his new surroundings and Hughes described himself as 'delighted' with his new signing. 'Robinho was excellent. He showed in glimpses what he can produce and he also has an excellent work ethic, which a lot of people don't realise. It was difficult because he has just come off a flight from Brazil and he has played a lot of football. But I felt it was important he was exposed to what the Premier League is about. He will be better for it.'
You wonder sometimes whether, when he is running with the ball, his step-over routine slows him down. But we can quickly forgive him because, overall, it was a debut that demonstrates this is a genuine superstar. One little pirouette to spin away from Ashley Cole was particularly enjoyable and there was something beautifully choreographed about the way he announced his introduction to English football.
It came from a free-kick, 20 yards from goal. In a central position, it was the kind of area that every dead-ball specialist cherishes and there was never any doubt about who would be given the responsibility of taking it. Cech probably knew what was coming too, but Robinho's shot flicked off Lampard in the wall and the deflection was decisive.
At that stage it looked like being a difficult evening for Chelsea, but equalising so quickly made a huge difference. Had they allowed City to get up a head of steam, the attacking trio of Robinho, Jô and Stephen Ireland looked as if their elaborate, triangular patterns could inflict more damage. Instead, Chelsea won a corner, Lampard swung the ball towards the penalty spot and the entire defence were guilty of collective ball-watching. Terry connected with the ball first, sending his header goalwards only for the ball to come back off Joe Cole. The bounce fell fortuitously for Carvalho, who thumped a volley into the roof of the net.
The remainder of the first half saw Chelsea emerge as the dominant side, with Florent Malouda striking the crossbar with one header, then sending another flashing wide. Hughes talked of his players 'losing their spark' whereas, after the interval, Chelsea produced some lovely, crisp, pass-and-move football. Lampard's goal was a case in point, with four players involved before the midfielder exchanged passes with Malouda, sidestepped Richard Dunne and fired a precise left-foot shot beyond Joe Hart.
Sporadically, City still looked dangerous, with Shaun Wright-Phillips particularly impressive against his old club. But Pablo Zabaleta had a difficult debut at right-back and, as they looked for an equaliser, they left more space at the back. Chelsea, who brought on the fit-again Didier Drogba in the second half, were in control and the game was effectively ended as a contest in the 70th minute when Cole sent Anelka running clear and the former City striker clipped his shot past Hart.
After that, there was a genuine threat it could become a rout, but Terry's sending-off changed the mood and Chelsea were happy to see out the final exchanges, content in the knowledge that there was nothing Robinho or anyone could do to stop them.
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Mail:
Blue eclipse for Robinho - Chelsea deliver reality check to City's £32.5m Brazilian debutant By PATRICK COLLINS
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3
The evening which saw a rare and wonderful talent introduced to the English game was also the evening which witnessed the captain of England fall miserably short of the standards he ought to represent.
Robinho of Brazil, bought by Manchester City for £32.5million, scored a memorable goal and displayed the flair which has already endeared him to the blue battalions of Manchester.
Terry, with Chelsea easing to a convincing victory, tripped Robinho's compatriot Jo in the 77th minute as the forward ran on goal. He was then at the finger-jabbing fore of an extended argument as he contested the decision with referee Mark Halsey.
It made for a distasteful end to what had been a captivating occasion. And it will be fascinating to see how the Football Association reacts to the captain's antics. The City fans seemed uncertain about the turn events had taken. Before the match, they strolled in the evening sunshine and wondered what to expect.
There were a good many 'sheikhs', tea-towels around their heads but looking faintly embarrassed. The rest seemed slightly bewildered, like Lottery winners who are pleased with their fortune but reluctant to give up their day jobs.
Inevitably, there was some provocation from the Chelsea followers, for whom wad-waving has long been a way of life. It came down to sheikh versus oligarch, billions against trillions.
Chelsea could point out that their man owns Francis Bacon's Triptych, a Boeing 767, a country estate in several countries, a fleet of ocean-going yachts and more toys than Hamleys. But City could trump those boasts by commending their new patron, who owns the Al Jazeera network, five per cent of Ferrari and an awful lot of oil. Time was when a Manchester City chairman might take pride in owning a Chrysler.
This chap owns the Chrysler Building. It all seemed somehow misplaced in an English football ground, with the real world outside dreading the onset of a deep depression. But the outside world rarely intrudes into football, and this occasion continued that tradition.
City's manager Mark Hughes had struggled to express his feelings about his new acquisition. 'Whenever Robinho gets the ball, you feel that something will happen,' he said. True enough, but £32.5m tends to promote such expectations. What was genuinely surprising was the fact that the young man did not disappoint.
The omens were not encouraging, since he had played in two World Cup qualifiers this week and arrived in Manchester in the early hours of Friday morning. Moreover, after walking out to a clamorous reception, he kissed the City badge. He may well be a terrific player, but clearly he needs to work on his sense of irony. Yet soon, only the magic seemed important. His first pass was intercepted but after that, he scarcely wasted a ball.
Control at a touch, pass in an instant, moving into new and damaging space. The old managers used to say it would be an easy game, if only the players wouldn't complicate it. This player is blissfully uncomplicated. And then, in the 12th minute, he raised simplicity to a new level. Ricardo Carvalho came sweeping across to challenge Jo, 20 yards out and in the centre of the field. The free-kick may have been harsh, and certainly it was long disputed. But the execution was extraordinary.
With scarcely a stride, Robinho chipped the ball over the wall, a brush off a defender's shoulder leaving Petr Cech minimally three yards adrift. It was that killing simplicity which separates the extraordinary players from the rest, and the roar told it all. Blue Moon was bellowed, prayers were muttered and euphoria reigned for all of four minutes.
Then City remembered their oldest habits when a Frank Lampard corner was met by Carvalho. Joe Cole squeezed a rebound and Carvalho struck the scoring volley. And so it was that they attacked like Brazil, but defended like Manchester City. Slowly, inevitably, Chelsea started to dictate terms, driven vigorously from midfield by Lampard.
City continued to defend with misplaced generosity and Florent Malouda almost punished their lapses with two strong headers, the first of which bounced off the bar. At half-time, Deco and Robinho swapped shirts as they departed, and we suspected that the Brazilian's day was done. But he returned, full of running, as Chelsea went about wrapping up the result.
In 52 minutes, they broke out in numbers when a City attack broke down to leave them short at the back. John Obi Mikel began the advance, Joe Cole and Lampard carried it on, and Lampard moved into space for a successful swing of his left foot.
In 69 minutes, with Chelsea in total control, Joe Cole played a short, incisive ball through the square defence and Nicolas Anelka scored comfortably against his old colleagues.
There was time for City to fight, and time for Terry to take the gloss off his own side's victory. Terry was given a straight red by referee Mark Halsey for pulling down striker Jo just inside the Chelsea half, with fellow defender Carvalho closing in.
'I have never seen a man get sent off before for a professional foul where there were two players behind him,' said Lampard. 'I saw one this morning in the Liverpool-Manchester United game that only got a yellow card.'
Victory this time to the oligarch. But, in time, the sheikh of Manchester may have things to say.
‘We have started the season very well and we will get better,’ said Lampard. ‘It is great to have people like Didier Drogba fit again because he is the best striker in the world to me.’---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
MAN CITY 1, CHELSEA 3 Frank Lampard leaves Manchester City sheikhing By ANDY DUNN at Eastlands, 13/09/2008
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH could probably have dug deeper and found the £32.5million for Robinho but decided to give the money to Frank Lampard instead. And that was the finest piece of business in the maddest of transfer windows.
Robinho started by kissing the City crest after his opening goal — and ended the night crestfallen.
And Lamps showed that his new contract — valued at the price of a Robinho — boasts the most valuable signature of the summer. After Ricardo Carvalho had cancelled out the Brazilian’s storybook opener, Lampard produced the defining moment of the game and edged Chelsea ahead.
It was left to Nicolas Anelka to confirm the Londoners’ huge superiority and show the sheikhs that City are going to need an awful lot of their money if they are to fulfil the pipedreams going around Eastlands.
Not even John Terry’s harsh, late dismissal — for a tug on Jo some 40 yards out — could take the shine off a shimmering Chelsea performance. Terry now misses Sunday’s crucial clash with Manchester United
City supporters arrived with their heads swathed in towels — the type they usually throw in about now.
Had Sven still been here, he probably would have thought they were real ones.
The genuine article had, of course, provided the readies to recruit Robinho, for whom this occasion must have been extremely confusing. From Real to surreal.
And for a little while, he clearly thought he HAD signed for Chelsea. How else can you explain his insistence on passing to Carvalho, Jon Obi Mikel and just about anyone else in a black jersey?
But Robinho has some presence — and a fairly decent scriptwriter.
When ref Mark Halsey — setting the tone early for a pitiful display — mistook Carvalho’s immaculate timing for an infringement against Jo, Robinho’s official introduction somehow seemed inevitable.
If you conveniently forget that a deflection from Mikel’s spiky hair is what kept keeper Petr Cech anchored, then the free-kick was a pleasant taster of Brazilian delights to come. But Robinho will soon discover false dawns are a speciality in the land of the blue moon.
And no sooner had he finished sucking a celebratory thumb than his team fell to a sucker-punch. In an interesting departure from the defensive coaching manual, City decided to leave Terry and Carvalho unmarked for a corner.
Novel. Innovative, even. And rank amateurish.
And even though Joe Cole got in the way of Terry’s header — that bang on the head still obviously taking its toll — the Portuguese defender sent the rebound home.
He is some player, Carvalho.
In his civvies, he looks like a mature student. But what he reads is the game. Better than most. And his intervention to lift Jo’s left-footed curler clear of the bar was a typical example of his work.
Terry was crowned the Champions League Defender of the Year.
Bedrock
Many would argue not only is the England skipper not the best defender in Europe, he is not the best in south west London. The type of partnership which has been the bedrock of Chelsea success for so long is one which Micah Richards and Richard Dunne have occasionally threatened to emulate.
And I put the emphasis on occasionally.
They looked like a couple on a blind date. You speak, no you speak.
Which all made Chelsea’s failure to secure a half-time lead bemusing. Anelka, maybe not having emerged from the fantastic sulk with France last week, headed straight at a photographer from Position A and Florent Malouda — showing a verve under Big Phil that had previously been very well-hidden — put his sitter against the angle of bar and post and back into the arms of Joe Hart.
Anelka’s reception was indifferent. From both sets of fans. Unlike the one afforded to Shaun Wright-Phillips. From both sets of fans. The irksome aspect of watching Wright-Phillips buzz as effectively as this is to remember all that wasted time at Stamford Bridge.
Plughole
He chased the fast buck all the way down the plughole. But Chelsea’s midfield is a tough club to get into.
And its king is still Lampard, who is possibly the most consistent performer in the history of the Premier League. It is the England midfielder’s directness that impresses. And his runs are not physically quick, they are mentally quick.
His half-a-yard advantage over rivals is entirely between the ears.
After laying out a simple pass to Malouda, he anticipated its return, in an instant created a favourable angle and then rolled a superbly-controlled left-footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1. Deco is the perfect foil for Lamps: the intricacy to complement the incisiveness.
The £8million paid out for Deco — and the £32.5m saved on Robinho — might just mean Chelsea, after all, enjoyed the shrewdest summer.
Robinho had certainly faded into obscurity by the time Anelka converted Joe Cole’s cute 69th-minute pass, and confirmed it will take an awful lot of oil money to turn this City into slickers.
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But his little melody did bear witness to the wonderful strangeness of the day. It was a Saturday in Manchester, football was in the autumnal and City were the story. Earlier in the month, the city’s poor relation found it had a trillionaire godfather in the Middle East and so the club moves from rags to riches, from Bianchi to Robinho.
And what better way to announce this new-found wealth but to play host to rivals that were once considered the Premier League’s richest. Along the roads to Middle Eastlands, they were selling Brazilian jerseys bearing Robinho's name and number, they had light blue T-shirts that proclaimed City the wealthiest club in the world.
Such was the expectation, the bonhomie, that hardened City fans were doffing their hats to lampposts and inside the ground, there wasn’t a spare seat. Neither was the game a disappointment and there was much to like about the richer, star-speckled City. Robinho started alongside his Brazilian compatriot Jo and so John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho kept their minds on the game.
Seven minutes in, Robinho galloped wide to take a corner and every City fan stood and applauded. Excessive perhaps but five minutes later, they had good reason to express their gratitude. Jo and Carvalho went for a ball on the edge of the penalty area, the defender seemed to get the ball before Jo fell over but Mark Halsey saw it differently.
Robinho spent ages lining up the free, Chelsea spent longer lining up the wall, the crowd had time to consider every penny of that £32.4m and, then in a flash, everything was reduced to chance. Wall member John Mikel Obi got his head to Robinho’s free kick, deflecting it wickedly past his goalkeeper, Petr Cech.
But that deflection was a detail easily ignored by an entranced crowd. In those minutes, the hype was justified, the transfer fee an irrele-vance and City were on their way. Except that Chelsea hadn’t come from London like Chelsea teams of bygone days. Even in the moment of that goal, there wasn’t a hint of doubt, nor a trace of panic in their reaction.
And in a game which ebbed and flowed with excellent football, their passing was crisper and more penetrative. Robinho may become a very fine Premier League player in time but he wasn’t that yesterday. He gave the ball away too often and we are talking about straightforward passes missing the target.
He wasn’t a patch on Frank Lampard, who was the game's best player and by quite some distance. To every good Chelsea move, he was centra: the choice of his pass, the timing, the accuracy, the weight, he had it all and it was a joy to watch. What the other Chelsea players love about Lampard is that he never takes a fraction more time to make the than is necessary.
It is clear too that Lampard likes playing with Deco, they weave patterns that look simple but because it all done quickly, it creates space and there were times yesterday when Chelsea looked a very slick side. Their equaliser came just four minutes after City’s goal, and even if that was timely for them, it wasn't that surprising.
For they picked up the pace after conceding and when Shaun Wright-Phillips conceded a corner against his former club, Lampard's delivery picked out Terry, whose header ricocheted off Joe Cole backwards into Carvalho's path and the centre-back slammed his right-foot volley high into the roof of the net. Poor City goalkeeper Joe Hart was lucky that he wasn’t in the way. Perhaps the Gods were making up to Carvalho after that free kick award.
The game continued to hum along; City were good but Chelsea were better. Florent Malouda got his head to a Joe Cole cross but the ball crashed against the bar and when Jo and later Stephen Ireland had good shooting chances, Carvalvo got back to make brilliant blocks. Ia there a central defender anywhere who makes those tackles better than the Portuguese?
By the time Ireland’s effort was blocked, Chelsea were already in front, thanks to another demonstration of Lampard’s class. He surged through from midfield, exchanged passes with Ashley Cole and, forced on to his left foot, he rifled his shot into the far corner. Brilliant. Though City kept playing and the fun continued, Chelsea were always superior.
Anelka got their third goal, after good work by Malouda and a clever final pass from Joe Cole. Fifteen the end, John Terry got a straight red card – the first of his career – when Mark Halsey deemed him the last defender when he fouled Jo. It was a slightly harsh decision as other defenders scampered back and were not far away when the Brazilian fell.
City kept trying but even with Jo, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta all showing they can become big players for the club, there was a challenge to the nouveau riche in the performance of the team with Roman's old money and it was this: can City absorb all their new wealth and find the team spirit that make Chelsea so for-midable? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Frank Lampard cashes in on Manchester City flawsManchester City (1) 1 Chelsea (1) 3 By Duncan WhiteLast Updated: 11:11PM BST 13 Sep 2008
It will take a lot more than one brilliant Brazilian to overturn the Premier League hierarchy. Robinho may have made a thrilling debut in English football, opening the scoring with a deflected free-kick, but ultimately this game merely underlined that the team he spurned are still a marker of excellence for any incalculably rich owner.
Chelsea were outstanding and this would have been a perfect evening for Luiz Felipe Scolari had it not been for Terry’s late red card, which has ruled the England captain out of the Premier League clash with Manchester United on Sunday.
This is, like it or not, 21st century football: polyglot players performing for the super-rich in ultramodern stadiums. Amidst the minting of cliches – 'Middle-Eastlands’, the 'clash of the cash’ – and the cheerful offending of Gulf sensibilities – tea-towels– there was no disguising that this game was part of a paradigm shift in English football. Sheikh Mansour’s £210 million takeover of Manchester City means Roman Abramovich is no longer the exception.
The Russian oligarch’s new position in the financial food chain was amply demonstrated by City’s giving a debut to Robinho, the Brazilian winger that Scolari had so publicly coveted. And what a debut it proved. Rumours of the former Real Madrid man’s flakiness have been greatly exaggerated. He was bursting with enthusiasm and threat and will undoubtedly win many games for City this season.
It took him 13 minutes to bring the house down. Jo, with whom Robinho formed a £50 million plus all-Brazilian strike partnership, just managed to get a toe to the ball before Ricardo Carvalho just beyond the 'D’.
There was no debating who was going to take the free-kick. With Robinho standing expectant, referee Mark Halsey escalated the pressure by his patient insistence that the Chelsea players did not infiltrate the 10 yards. When the Brazilian finally struck the ball he curled it with his instep into the middle of the wall, the ball clipping John Obi Mikel’s forehead and diverting into the side netting.
Robinho went wheeling away into his trademark thumb-sucking celebration with jubilant team-mates haring after him.
The hysteria lasted all of three minutes. Lampard’s corner was met by a leaping Terry and the England captain’s header hit Joe Cole before sitting up for Carvalho. The Portuguese centre-back volleyed in like he was Van Basten. With that Chelsea were back in the right mindset.
Indeed Scolari’s team played with exceptional fluidity and elegance as they poured forward and would have run away with this game if they had taken their chances. Florent Malouda came ludicrously close, heading Joe Cole’s cross onto the bar only for the rebound to fly straight to the relieved Joe Hart, who had missed the cross. Malouda and Anelka spurned further headed chances and when Pablo Zabaleta cleared lamely to Anelka, the French striker could not beat Hart at the near post.
Not that City did not offer stylish glimpses themselves. Stephen Ireland shot over after a flair flick from Jo and the Brazilian striker went close himself with a left-footed curler, only for Carvalho to deflect it over. Shaun Wright-Phillips was especially lively against his former club, relishing the vocal support of the supporters on his home debut.
Yet as the game unfolded, Chelsea grew stronger, their exquisite passing pulling City apart. The second goal came from a rapier counterattack: Mikel to Joe Cole to Lampard to Malouda and back to Lampard.
The Chelsea midfield has been brilliant in these early season games and his confidence found expression in his bold finish, side-stepping Richard Dunne before shooting left-footed across Hart and into the net.
Ireland might have equalised if not for another heroic Carvalho block but with 20 minutes left Chelsea landed the decisive blow.
Joe Cole’s cute through ball with the outside of his boot was perfect for Anelka, who beat Hart easily at the near post.
The drama was not done, though. Jo pushed the ball past Terry just beyond the halfway line and Terry for some reason decided to bring the Brazilian down, wrapping an arm around his waist.
Despite Carvalho seemingly being there to cover, referee Halsey instantly produced the red card. Foolish from Terry; harsh from Halsey. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent:
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3: Reality check for City after Chelsea spoil Robinho party
Scolari's men remind new rivals in money stakes that you cannot buy instant success
By Guy Hodgson at the City of Manchester Stadium
Eastlands was ready to party. Supporters were decked in Robinho shirts and arab head-dresses to mark the twin arrival at Manchester City of Britain's most expensive footballer and the wealth of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Then an icy blast of reality hit them.
Just because you are the planet's richest club, it does not mean you can catch up the elite overnight, and last night "Middle Eastlands" was quickly disabused of the theory that a Champions' League place will come as easily as the next million pounds. City did not flop their big entrance nor revert to calamitous type but they were comprehensively beaten by Chelsea who have a five-year start on collecting the world's best footballers.
City have just one, Robinho, and to be fair to the Brazilian you cannot expect even the most expensive player ever in British football to do much more than score on his debut. The £32.5m man did, with a first-half free-kick, but the problem was that Chelsea, who oozed the class of potential champions, got three goals through Ricardo Carvalho, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka. Even the late sending-off of John Terry for a cynical foul could not derail the visitors.
"It's an important three points," Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, said. "When we went 1-0 behind I saw that the team were nervous but after they equalised I think they largely controlled the game. We have some injuries and I had to change A, B and C but the players who came in did very well. I'm more happy with that than the 3-1 result."
Mark Hughes, the Manchester City manager, also found plusses beyond the scoreline. "We know where we are at the moment," he said. "It's very early in our development in terms of a squad and a team. Chelsea were well drilled and knew exactly what they were trying to do, and that comes as a consequence of playing winning football for the past five or six years.
"It's not going to happen overnight. We all realise that. People have got a little bit ahead of themselves and a little bit hysterical but as a squad we know the level we are at." Whether it was hysteria is a moot point but the mood around Eastlands before the game was of mounting, and pinch-me-am-I-dreaming, excitement.
Given the pressure to live up to his billing, it was not a surprise that Robinho's first two touches were misplaced passes but before the words "what a waste of money" could emanate from the Chelsea fans, the Brazilian had put City ahead after 13 minutes. Carvalho was harshly judged to have brought down Jo 22 yards out and there was a helping glance off John Obi Mikel's head but you could not fault the drama or the crispness of the shot as Robinho curled the free-kick past Petr Cech.
The place erupted, Robinho ran to the touchline and collapsed to the ground under a pile of team-mates, but Chelsea are not a side to accept a supporting role and within three minutes they had equalised. A corner was won by Terry, the ball rebounded off Joe Cole and Carvalho crashed a volley past Joe Hart.
That goal ushered sobriety into the party and Chelsea spent the rest of the match creating edifying patterns. Lampard was outstanding, Deco, Carvalho and Joe Cole were fractions behind him and City, who had the chance to train with Robinho for the first time on Friday, looked what they are: a team in search of understanding.
Florent Malouda hit the bar with a header and Lampard fired just over immediately after the interval so it had been coming when Chelsea took the lead after 53 minutes. Lampard passed to Malouda and with the home defenders distracted by Chelsea's strikers there was a yard of potential on the edge of their area. The England midfielder is a master at exploiting this space and when the ball was returned he swerved round Richard Dunne's challenge and hit a low shot into the opposite corner.
City needed something extraordinary to get back into the match and they went somewhere nearer to it in the 77th minute when Jo seized on a mistake by Deco and would have raced away had he not been brought down with a rugby tackle by Terry.
His sending-off was a rare discordant note for the visitors on a night when victory was relatively easily achieved. "We expect to make a better fist of it when we meet them again," Hughes warned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------City find Lampard and co too rich for them
Manchester City 1 Robinho 13 Chelsea 3 Carvalho 16, Lampard 53, Anelka 69
Daniel Taylor The Observer, Sunday September 14 2008 Frank Lampard scored Chelsea's second goal as they beat Manchester City at Eastlands. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
In the end, it was a reminder for the Premier League's newest billionaires not to get too far ahead of themselves. Manchester City's supporters will have enjoyed their first sight of Robinho and the swish of his right boot that brought him a debut goal. Yet, ultimately, Chelsea made it a bruising experience for all those fancy-dress 'Arabs' who had walked down Joe Mercer Way with tea-towels tied round their heads and something that looked suspiciously like Cherry Blossom smeared on their cheeks.
For that, Chelsea have to take immense credit. They were a goal down after 13 minutes, when Robinho offered the first tantalising glimpse of his talent by floating a free-kick past Petr Cech, but their response was emphatic to the point of being brutal. Ricardo Carvalho equalised within two minutes and second-half goals from Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka confirmed their superiority, the only downside for Luiz Felipe Scolari being John Terry's red card 13 minutes from the end for an alleged professional foul on Jô, City's other Brazilian recruit. It was harsh, to say the least, and television replays confirmed that Terry was not the last defender.
Strangely for someone who is usually so outspoken, Scolari refused to talk about it, but Chelsea should have a watertight case to launch an appeal and prevent their captain missing next week's match against Manchester United.
That apart, it was an evening of huge satisfaction for Chelsea, whose performance sent out a clear message that there is an established order of merit at the top of English football - and, for now at least, that City are still some way off it.
Typical City, you could say. Yet it would be unfair to pick fault with these nouveau riche wannabes. Mark Hughes's team made a significant contribution to an absorbing game,and it would be wrong for anyone to presume that the optimism that has been swirling around Eastlands will evaporate on the back of one bad result.
'I wouldn't say it's a reality check,' Hughes said. 'We know exactly where we are at this stage of our development. It's early days for us and we always knew Chelsea would be really difficult opponents.'
Perhaps, in hindsight, it was just City's misfortune to come across Chelsea in their first game since the Abu Dhabi United Group moved into power. For the past fortnight it has been constantly rammed down Chelsea's throats that they are no longer the richest club on the planet and that City are on the verge of worldwide domination. This was their opportunity to respond and, once Robinho had scored, they did so in a manner that might have left the Brazilian pondering whether, money aside, he had joined the right club, after all. 'I'm happy for him that he scored,' Scolari said. 'But I'm even happier that we scored three.'
Robinho, in fairness, seemed happy enough in his new surroundings and Hughes described himself as 'delighted' with his new signing. 'Robinho was excellent. He showed in glimpses what he can produce and he also has an excellent work ethic, which a lot of people don't realise. It was difficult because he has just come off a flight from Brazil and he has played a lot of football. But I felt it was important he was exposed to what the Premier League is about. He will be better for it.'
You wonder sometimes whether, when he is running with the ball, his step-over routine slows him down. But we can quickly forgive him because, overall, it was a debut that demonstrates this is a genuine superstar. One little pirouette to spin away from Ashley Cole was particularly enjoyable and there was something beautifully choreographed about the way he announced his introduction to English football.
It came from a free-kick, 20 yards from goal. In a central position, it was the kind of area that every dead-ball specialist cherishes and there was never any doubt about who would be given the responsibility of taking it. Cech probably knew what was coming too, but Robinho's shot flicked off Lampard in the wall and the deflection was decisive.
At that stage it looked like being a difficult evening for Chelsea, but equalising so quickly made a huge difference. Had they allowed City to get up a head of steam, the attacking trio of Robinho, Jô and Stephen Ireland looked as if their elaborate, triangular patterns could inflict more damage. Instead, Chelsea won a corner, Lampard swung the ball towards the penalty spot and the entire defence were guilty of collective ball-watching. Terry connected with the ball first, sending his header goalwards only for the ball to come back off Joe Cole. The bounce fell fortuitously for Carvalho, who thumped a volley into the roof of the net.
The remainder of the first half saw Chelsea emerge as the dominant side, with Florent Malouda striking the crossbar with one header, then sending another flashing wide. Hughes talked of his players 'losing their spark' whereas, after the interval, Chelsea produced some lovely, crisp, pass-and-move football. Lampard's goal was a case in point, with four players involved before the midfielder exchanged passes with Malouda, sidestepped Richard Dunne and fired a precise left-foot shot beyond Joe Hart.
Sporadically, City still looked dangerous, with Shaun Wright-Phillips particularly impressive against his old club. But Pablo Zabaleta had a difficult debut at right-back and, as they looked for an equaliser, they left more space at the back. Chelsea, who brought on the fit-again Didier Drogba in the second half, were in control and the game was effectively ended as a contest in the 70th minute when Cole sent Anelka running clear and the former City striker clipped his shot past Hart.
After that, there was a genuine threat it could become a rout, but Terry's sending-off changed the mood and Chelsea were happy to see out the final exchanges, content in the knowledge that there was nothing Robinho or anyone could do to stop them.
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Mail:
Blue eclipse for Robinho - Chelsea deliver reality check to City's £32.5m Brazilian debutant By PATRICK COLLINS
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3
The evening which saw a rare and wonderful talent introduced to the English game was also the evening which witnessed the captain of England fall miserably short of the standards he ought to represent.
Robinho of Brazil, bought by Manchester City for £32.5million, scored a memorable goal and displayed the flair which has already endeared him to the blue battalions of Manchester.
Terry, with Chelsea easing to a convincing victory, tripped Robinho's compatriot Jo in the 77th minute as the forward ran on goal. He was then at the finger-jabbing fore of an extended argument as he contested the decision with referee Mark Halsey.
It made for a distasteful end to what had been a captivating occasion. And it will be fascinating to see how the Football Association reacts to the captain's antics. The City fans seemed uncertain about the turn events had taken. Before the match, they strolled in the evening sunshine and wondered what to expect.
There were a good many 'sheikhs', tea-towels around their heads but looking faintly embarrassed. The rest seemed slightly bewildered, like Lottery winners who are pleased with their fortune but reluctant to give up their day jobs.
Inevitably, there was some provocation from the Chelsea followers, for whom wad-waving has long been a way of life. It came down to sheikh versus oligarch, billions against trillions.
Chelsea could point out that their man owns Francis Bacon's Triptych, a Boeing 767, a country estate in several countries, a fleet of ocean-going yachts and more toys than Hamleys. But City could trump those boasts by commending their new patron, who owns the Al Jazeera network, five per cent of Ferrari and an awful lot of oil. Time was when a Manchester City chairman might take pride in owning a Chrysler.
This chap owns the Chrysler Building. It all seemed somehow misplaced in an English football ground, with the real world outside dreading the onset of a deep depression. But the outside world rarely intrudes into football, and this occasion continued that tradition.
City's manager Mark Hughes had struggled to express his feelings about his new acquisition. 'Whenever Robinho gets the ball, you feel that something will happen,' he said. True enough, but £32.5m tends to promote such expectations. What was genuinely surprising was the fact that the young man did not disappoint.
The omens were not encouraging, since he had played in two World Cup qualifiers this week and arrived in Manchester in the early hours of Friday morning. Moreover, after walking out to a clamorous reception, he kissed the City badge. He may well be a terrific player, but clearly he needs to work on his sense of irony. Yet soon, only the magic seemed important. His first pass was intercepted but after that, he scarcely wasted a ball.
Control at a touch, pass in an instant, moving into new and damaging space. The old managers used to say it would be an easy game, if only the players wouldn't complicate it. This player is blissfully uncomplicated. And then, in the 12th minute, he raised simplicity to a new level. Ricardo Carvalho came sweeping across to challenge Jo, 20 yards out and in the centre of the field. The free-kick may have been harsh, and certainly it was long disputed. But the execution was extraordinary.
With scarcely a stride, Robinho chipped the ball over the wall, a brush off a defender's shoulder leaving Petr Cech minimally three yards adrift. It was that killing simplicity which separates the extraordinary players from the rest, and the roar told it all. Blue Moon was bellowed, prayers were muttered and euphoria reigned for all of four minutes.
Then City remembered their oldest habits when a Frank Lampard corner was met by Carvalho. Joe Cole squeezed a rebound and Carvalho struck the scoring volley. And so it was that they attacked like Brazil, but defended like Manchester City. Slowly, inevitably, Chelsea started to dictate terms, driven vigorously from midfield by Lampard.
City continued to defend with misplaced generosity and Florent Malouda almost punished their lapses with two strong headers, the first of which bounced off the bar. At half-time, Deco and Robinho swapped shirts as they departed, and we suspected that the Brazilian's day was done. But he returned, full of running, as Chelsea went about wrapping up the result.
In 52 minutes, they broke out in numbers when a City attack broke down to leave them short at the back. John Obi Mikel began the advance, Joe Cole and Lampard carried it on, and Lampard moved into space for a successful swing of his left foot.
In 69 minutes, with Chelsea in total control, Joe Cole played a short, incisive ball through the square defence and Nicolas Anelka scored comfortably against his old colleagues.
There was time for City to fight, and time for Terry to take the gloss off his own side's victory. Terry was given a straight red by referee Mark Halsey for pulling down striker Jo just inside the Chelsea half, with fellow defender Carvalho closing in.
'I have never seen a man get sent off before for a professional foul where there were two players behind him,' said Lampard. 'I saw one this morning in the Liverpool-Manchester United game that only got a yellow card.'
Victory this time to the oligarch. But, in time, the sheikh of Manchester may have things to say.
‘We have started the season very well and we will get better,’ said Lampard. ‘It is great to have people like Didier Drogba fit again because he is the best striker in the world to me.’---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
MAN CITY 1, CHELSEA 3 Frank Lampard leaves Manchester City sheikhing By ANDY DUNN at Eastlands, 13/09/2008
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH could probably have dug deeper and found the £32.5million for Robinho but decided to give the money to Frank Lampard instead. And that was the finest piece of business in the maddest of transfer windows.
Robinho started by kissing the City crest after his opening goal — and ended the night crestfallen.
And Lamps showed that his new contract — valued at the price of a Robinho — boasts the most valuable signature of the summer. After Ricardo Carvalho had cancelled out the Brazilian’s storybook opener, Lampard produced the defining moment of the game and edged Chelsea ahead.
It was left to Nicolas Anelka to confirm the Londoners’ huge superiority and show the sheikhs that City are going to need an awful lot of their money if they are to fulfil the pipedreams going around Eastlands.
Not even John Terry’s harsh, late dismissal — for a tug on Jo some 40 yards out — could take the shine off a shimmering Chelsea performance. Terry now misses Sunday’s crucial clash with Manchester United
City supporters arrived with their heads swathed in towels — the type they usually throw in about now.
Had Sven still been here, he probably would have thought they were real ones.
The genuine article had, of course, provided the readies to recruit Robinho, for whom this occasion must have been extremely confusing. From Real to surreal.
And for a little while, he clearly thought he HAD signed for Chelsea. How else can you explain his insistence on passing to Carvalho, Jon Obi Mikel and just about anyone else in a black jersey?
But Robinho has some presence — and a fairly decent scriptwriter.
When ref Mark Halsey — setting the tone early for a pitiful display — mistook Carvalho’s immaculate timing for an infringement against Jo, Robinho’s official introduction somehow seemed inevitable.
If you conveniently forget that a deflection from Mikel’s spiky hair is what kept keeper Petr Cech anchored, then the free-kick was a pleasant taster of Brazilian delights to come. But Robinho will soon discover false dawns are a speciality in the land of the blue moon.
And no sooner had he finished sucking a celebratory thumb than his team fell to a sucker-punch. In an interesting departure from the defensive coaching manual, City decided to leave Terry and Carvalho unmarked for a corner.
Novel. Innovative, even. And rank amateurish.
And even though Joe Cole got in the way of Terry’s header — that bang on the head still obviously taking its toll — the Portuguese defender sent the rebound home.
He is some player, Carvalho.
In his civvies, he looks like a mature student. But what he reads is the game. Better than most. And his intervention to lift Jo’s left-footed curler clear of the bar was a typical example of his work.
Terry was crowned the Champions League Defender of the Year.
Bedrock
Many would argue not only is the England skipper not the best defender in Europe, he is not the best in south west London. The type of partnership which has been the bedrock of Chelsea success for so long is one which Micah Richards and Richard Dunne have occasionally threatened to emulate.
And I put the emphasis on occasionally.
They looked like a couple on a blind date. You speak, no you speak.
Which all made Chelsea’s failure to secure a half-time lead bemusing. Anelka, maybe not having emerged from the fantastic sulk with France last week, headed straight at a photographer from Position A and Florent Malouda — showing a verve under Big Phil that had previously been very well-hidden — put his sitter against the angle of bar and post and back into the arms of Joe Hart.
Anelka’s reception was indifferent. From both sets of fans. Unlike the one afforded to Shaun Wright-Phillips. From both sets of fans. The irksome aspect of watching Wright-Phillips buzz as effectively as this is to remember all that wasted time at Stamford Bridge.
Plughole
He chased the fast buck all the way down the plughole. But Chelsea’s midfield is a tough club to get into.
And its king is still Lampard, who is possibly the most consistent performer in the history of the Premier League. It is the England midfielder’s directness that impresses. And his runs are not physically quick, they are mentally quick.
His half-a-yard advantage over rivals is entirely between the ears.
After laying out a simple pass to Malouda, he anticipated its return, in an instant created a favourable angle and then rolled a superbly-controlled left-footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1. Deco is the perfect foil for Lamps: the intricacy to complement the incisiveness.
The £8million paid out for Deco — and the £32.5m saved on Robinho — might just mean Chelsea, after all, enjoyed the shrewdest summer.
Robinho had certainly faded into obscurity by the time Anelka converted Joe Cole’s cute 69th-minute pass, and confirmed it will take an awful lot of oil money to turn this City into slickers.
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