sunday papers spurs away 0-1

The Sunday Times
Luka Modric gives Hiddink first Chelsea defeat
Tottenham 1 Chelsea 0: Chelsea fail to capitalise on Man Utd defeat as they slump to a Luka Modric winner at Tottenham
Nick Townsend at White Hart Lane

IN RECENT days Chelsea have reminded you of the rogue truck driver in Steven Spielberg’s film Duel. They have promised a relentless pursuit, driving their quarry to distraction and constant glances in his wing-mirror. That image stayed in the mind yesterday as events across London at Craven Cottage filtered through. Yet despite the rare act of neighbourliness from Fulham, who subjected Manchester United to a second consecutive league defeat, Chelsea failed to capitalise. And like the denouement of the movie, you suspect that the Blues’ title aspirations crashed and burnt here.
In theory, Chelsea are still battling on three fronts for trophies. But interim manager Guus Hiddink, who had overseen a 100% league record since arriving at Stamford Bridge, knew in his heart that this was an opportunity spurned. As he conceded, before departing to Amsterdam to visit his sick father, followed by the journey to Russia to oversee the national team’s World Cup qualification programme: “If Manchester United are losing, those are the moments when you have to strike, and we didn’t do that. That’s why we said beforehand that the pressure was not just on Manchester United. It was on us as well.”
The portents had not been auspicious for Tottenham. Not with one league victory over their London rivals in 37 attempts. Worse, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp had not enjoyed a victory over Chelsea since his West Ham team beat them a decade ago.
How he will have enjoyed this, although at the final whistle a remarkably composed Redknapp’s only show of emotion was a high-five with Luka Modric, the diminutive Croatian who was accorded a standing ovation when he was substituted late on after a performance of vision and industry. “He really is an amazing footballer,” said Redknapp. “And he’s not a lightweight. Physically, he’s not afraid to mix it with the big boys.”
This run of only one defeat in 16 at home under Redknapp means Spurs are aiming for Europe — seventh place should be sufficient — rather than preparing for the Championship. Not that relegation was ever likely, given their plethora of talent.
Things are looking up for Spurs, who announced record profits of £39.8m for the last six months of 2008, though that was not so much financial prudence; more a consequence of the £50m-plus sale of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane. Keane has returned from Liverpool to a team no longer encumbered by relegation fears, and they took the game to Chelsea.
Early on, it was Michael Essien, determined to make up for lost time, who caught the eye. The Ghanaian has been instrumental in Chelsea recently producing the style of football for which their owner has yearned.
His captain, John Terry, has described Essien as “part-man, part-machine” in recognition of the way he had launched himself body and soul into his previous three league games after a cruciate ligament injury. Not just a powerhouse in himself, but a catalyst, in the manner he has released the potential in others, such as Michael Ballack.
Inevitably, it was Essien who produced the first threat to the home goal, with a fierce drive. Juliano Belletti, who did not have the best of halves, following in, caught Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. Thereafter, however, it was Spurs, the beneficiaries of Modric’s driving presence, who seized the initiative.
Jermaine Jenas’s mighty drive flew just over the angle, and Petr Cech had to stand firm to repel Keane’s volley after Alex allowed a long clearance to bounce through to the Irishman. Keane again tested Cech after Vedran Corluka had thrust into the Chelsea heart and switched the ball to him. Then Keane broke, but despite support, made the save easy for Cech. At the other end, Nicolas Anelka brought Gomes into action, but otherwise Chelsea’s attack looked impotent.
The visitors’ indifferent first half was exemplified by the lack of presence of Didier Drogba, who had got little return from his confrontation with Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King. The Ivorian had to be helped off just before the interval after a collision with King. The manner in which he staggered off, you feared for his health. But he duly returned after the break. After four minutes of the second period, the striker was angrily demanding more from his teammates after Chelsea had fallen behind.
The goal was fashioned by Aaron Lennon, who has signed a new five-year deal with Tottenham. Although his final ball is sometimes found wanting, this time his low cross dissected two defenders, allowing Modric to steal in and opt for accuracy rather than power to beat Cech. The Croatian failed to connect cleanly with another chance that would have settled matters. And in the final 20 minutes Chelsea were fuelled by hope as Spurs retreated.
Drogba brought a fine save from Gomes, who also denied Ricardo Quaresma. One powerful downward header from Terry was brilliantly turned away. Then, from a Frank Lampard corner, an Alex header bounced up and struck the bar.
Chelsea “will fight to the bitter end”, Hiddink had promised in the week. He knows that if his men continue to succumb so readily, there can be only one conclusion.
Star man: Luca Modric (Tottenham)
Yellow cards: Tottenham: Palacios, Modric Chelsea: Belletti, Ballack
Referee: M Dean
Attendance:36,034
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Gomes 7, Corluka 6, Woodgate 7, King 7, Assou-Ekotto 6, Lennon 7 (Zokora 90min), Jenas 6, Palacios 6, Modric 8 (O’Hara 86min), Bent 5, Keane 6
CHELSEA: Cech 6, Bosingwa 6, Alex 6, Terry 7, A Cole 6, Essien 7 (Malouda 75min), Ballack 5, Lampard 6, Belletti 5 (Quaresma 60 min, 5), Drogba 6, Anelka 5

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Telegraph:

Defeat costs Chelsea title chances at Tottenham HotspurIt was set up beautifully for them, to coin one of Guus Hiddink’s favourite words. By Trevor Haylett at White Hart Lane

With Manchester United’s capitulaton there was the opportunity to reduce the gap at the top of the Premier League to a single point but in a manner that had the home faithful crowing all the way down Tottenham High Road, Chelsea also met defeat and that could prove crucial in the final reckoning.
It was Chelsea’s first reverse in eight games under their Dutch interim manager and they could have no complaints. Tottenham harried them from the first whistle, created the better goalscoring opportunities and after Luka Modric shot them ahead at the start of the second half they proved they had the resilience to shut out the threat from Drogba & Co.
Chelsea were ragged late on, Frank Lampard over-hitting a free-kick into the stands while Ricardo Quaresma did the same with a crossing opportunity. Nevertheless it took a tremendous save from Heurelho Gomes to deny John Terry and then fortune favoured the hosts in added time as Alex’s header came back off the bar for the goalkeeper to flap away.
Hiddink is too experienced a manager to know though that Chelsea deserved nothing more. “With Manchester United losing these are the moments that you have to strike and we couldn’t do it,” he said. “It was a missed opportunity but we said before that there’s not only pressure on United but on those chasing them as well.”
A 30-minute delay following a security scare put both sets of supporters in good voice at the start and Spurs responded to the urgings of their followers by hounding their opponents. Darren Bent and Jermaine Jenas were particularly aggressive in the early stages and denied Chelsea the foothold they wanted.
A couple of tricky runs from Aaron Lennon kept the expectancy levels high but it was Chelsea who threatened first when Gomes needed two attempts to grasp Michael Essien’s low effort.
Spurs responded with a Jenas drive that only narrowly cleared the angle of bar and upright. A Robbie Keane volley after Alex had misjudged the bounce of the ball brought Petr Cech into action and he remained the busier of the two goalkeepers as Keane and Modric continued to probe away with intelligence.
Didier Drogba took a whack to the head from Ledley King as they challenged for a high ball and, left groggy, chose to make an early exit for the dressing-room near the end of the first half.
He was there at the restart but it was to witness his side falling behind. Chelsea will look back at two contributory factors to the goal. A moment’s complacency by Michael Ballack meant they didn’t clear their lines cleanly and then they switched off to allow two Spurs players to ghost into space on the edge of the area as Lennon cut the ball back.
Either Keane or Luka Modric could have taken advantage and for a moment it looked as if they were going to get in each other’s way. Keane backed off, leaving the Croatian to sweep home his second league goal of the campaign.
“It was sloppy defending,” said Hiddink, “and we had told them to get through the first 10 minutes of the second half and then we could take control. Sometimes with gifted players they look to make the perfect pass but they just have to clear it. When you’re in the kitchen and it’s steaming you have to extinguish the fire.”
An identical move might have brought a second but this time Modric shot into the ground. At the other end Spurs needed Gomes to be fully alert when Drogba tried to blast one in at the near post. His reflexes were never better demonstrated that when he kept out Terry as all Chelsea’s late endeavours came to nought, pushing Spurs up into the top half of the table.
“It was well deserved over the 90 minutes,” said Harry Redknapp. “The only time they got at us was in the last 15 minutes when they started launching it.”

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Mail:

Tottenham 1 Chelsea 0: Guus Hiddink knows the score but can't close the gap
By IAN RIDLEY

The strains of Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur broke out as the final whistle sounded at White Hart Lane, but down in the King's Road last night the old Ian Dury classic What a Waste might have been more appropriate.With kick-off delayed for 30 minutes by a security scare outside the ground, Chelsea began the game knowing that Manchester United were losing at Fulham, a defeat confirmed midway through the second half here. The carrot could hardly have been bigger.
Instead, there is merely stick for a lame and limp Chelsea who blew their big opportunity.
Only belatedly did they stir themselves, with Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes proving himself a hero as the home side clung on to the outstanding Luka Modric's goal from early in the second half.Chelsea remain four points behind United when the gap could have been just one. 'If it is steamy in the kitchen, you have got to put out the fire,' lamented the Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.
'We talked at half-time about them coming at us in the first 10 minutes and after that we could control the game. But it was sloppy defence to let them score their goal. Then the team woke up.'But the wake-up call was from a recurring bad dream. It was this very week last year when they were held 4-4 by Spurs, after being 3-1 up, and their title challenge began its list towards the rocks.
Their stumble this time around was all the more baffling, given their dominance over their north London rivals. They went into the game having lost only once against them in 17 Premier League seasons. In addition, they had won all four league games since Hiddink replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari.Chelsea met Spurs, though, at a bad time, with Harry Redknapp's managerial manoeuvres now beginning to pay off. They have lost only once at home in 17 games under him, and have taken 14 points from their last six unbeaten games.'Well-deserved,' was his verdict. 'They only got at us in the last 15 minutes when they started launching it. We are playing as good as anybody in the country. We worked them hard and everybody stuck to their job.'The UEFA Cup - the Europa League next season - could even be a target. 'You've got to fancy it,' said Redknapp. 'We've got to start looking upwards now.'Chelsea have not beaten a London club in the league this season and it was easy to see why in the first half.
They were slow to start and although Michael Essien, whose return has galvanised Chelsea, got in a low shot that Gomes saved well, it took almost another half hour for the Tottenham goalkeeper to be troubled again, saving from Nicolas Anelka. In between, a bubbly Tottenham created the better openings, with Robbie Keane looking especially bouncy.
After Jermaine Jenas had sent a fierce shot just over the angle of Petr Cech's post and crossbar, Keane forced a good save from the goalkeeper with a powerful drive. The Irish striker should have done better, though, when set up by Vedran Corluka for a shot from the edge of penalty area but hit it at Cech.Surely Hiddink would instil more urgency into his side for the second half? Instead, it was Tottenham who showed greater eagerness and claimed the lead. Aaron Lennon teased Ashley Cole out on the right before sending in a low cross, which was met sweetly by Modric, sweeping the ball in from 12 yards past an uncharacteristically languid Cech.'Modric is a special footballer,' said Redknapp. 'And he's definitely not a lightweight. He's much stronger than that.'
Chelsea did improve with the arrival of Ricardo Quaresma. First he supplied Frank Lampard for a header that Corluka blocked then, after Drogba had seen a shot saved by Gomes, the Portuguese curled in another that the goalkeeper clutched. The Brazilian did even better with a late save from John Terry's pointblank header.'I brought him from Brazil to PSV Eindhoven,' said Hiddink of Gomes. 'It was the same there. In the first weeks he had a difficult time but I know that he is a great athlete and will save Tottenham points.'Now Chelsea can only hope that theirs was an aberration, while Manchester United's almost unheard of consecutive defeats constitute a proper blip.
TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Gomes; Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Zokora 90min), Palacios, Jenas, Modric (O'Hara 87); Bent, Keane.Subs (not used): Cudicini, Bentley, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Dawson.Booked: Palacios, Modric.
CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Belletti (Quaresma 61), Essien (Malouda 76), Lampard, Ballack; Drogba, Anelka.Subs (not used): Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Kalou, Mancienne.Booked: Belletti, Ballack.

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Independent:

Modric halts Hiddink's run as Chelsea fail to narrow gap
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 0
By Jason Burt at White Hart Lane

As Guus Hiddink boarded his plane back to Amsterdam last night for the international break that then takes him on to Russia, he will have reflected on this, the one that got away and with it, perhaps, the slim hopes of the Premier League title also. Sloppy, wasteful and, for the first time under him, an intimation from the Chelsea manager, interim or permanent, that "gifted players" at his disposal had perhaps believed the hype a bit too much. Again. They let him, and Chelsea, down.
"It was a huge opportunity missed, knowing that United were 2-0 down," Hiddink said, containing his rage. Just. "By the time the team had woken up they were down." But that opportunity to close the gap at the top to a single point was tossed away, and the Dutchman's eighth game in charge ended with a first defeat. "These are the moments to strike," Hiddink added.
Because of a delayed start – a suspect vehicle meant the match kicked off at 3.30pm – Chelsea knew what had happened at Craven Cottage. It made it all the more annoying for Hiddink, whose ire must have been directed at lacklustre displays by Michael Ballack and Nicolas Anelka in particular. Still, Spurs were indebted to two outstanding saves late on from Heurelho Gomes – palming away John Terry's point-blank header from a free-kick and tipping another header, this time from Alex, on to the crossbar in injury time. Not that Spurs, bold and positive, didn't deserve their victory, courtesy of a fine strike from the impressive Luka Modric even if, for his intelligence, his calm in the eye of a raging storm of a London derby, Robbie Keane was the stand-out presence.
Spurs are resurgent under Harry Redknapp, who boldly claimed that his team were playing as well as any in the League and that all fear of relegation was now banished. Instead it is onwards and upwards and a tilt at grabbing that seventh spot, and Europa League football next season.
Qualifying for next year's World Cup is, for the next 10 days at least, Hiddink's primary concern after he visits his sick, elderly father today before flying to Moscow for two games – Russia at home to Azerbaijan and away to Liechtenstein. It may be somewhat different to the white heat and fury of this encounter.
How Chelsea missed Ricardo Carvalho. A swollen ankle ruled out the defender and soon Spurs were stretching their opponents, with Jermaine Jenas's drive narrowly clearing the bar and, twice, Keane being presented with opportunities, forcing a parry from Petr Cech with a half-volley after Alex's error, and then wasting an opportunity with a side-footed shot, held by the goalkeeper, following a barrelling run by Vedran Corluka.
From Chelsea, there was no threat. And then they fell behind. Ballack was to blame, firstly by surrendering possession and then by failing to track Modric. Ballack's loose clearance eventually led to Jonathan Woodgate heading the ball out to Aaron Lennon, watched by England's manager, Fabio Capello. He ran at Ashley Cole. For once Lennon's delivery was clever and precise as he pulled his cross back for Modric to shoot low and powerfully and beyond Cech for only his fourth goal of a burgeoning season.
Hiddink talked of Chelsea's failure "in the kitchen" to put out Spurs' fire and Modric, in almost a carbon copy of the goal, threatened to add a second when Keane's superb cross-field pass instigated another attack.
Chelsea had to respond. On came Ricardo Quaresma, for the defensive Juliano Belletti, and they poured forward. Ledley King brilliantly blocked Anelka, Gomes parried Drogba's low shot and then the Brazilian made his two outstanding saves to preserve an outstanding victory.
Attendance: 36,034
Referee: Mike Dean
Man of the match: Keane
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer
Chelsea left reeling as Modric spikes their challenge
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Modric 50 Chelsea 0
Duncan Castles at White Hart Lane

Well might Harry Redknapp have smiled as the whistle ended this compelling derby. Rare are the days when Tottenham do serious damage to fellow Londoners. Precious was the pleasure of inflicting the first setback upon a storied foreign coach's entry into the English game.
Guus Hiddink had been making a habit out of the sturdy single-goal victory as Chelsea manager, gradually ratcheting up the pressure on Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League. A run of six domestic victories ended at White Hart Lane as the Dutchman fell to a 1-0 defeat – his frustration increased by the knowledge of United's aberration at Fulham a few miles south-west.
"We missed a huge opportunity," ­Hiddink said. "These are the days in such a tough league when you have to be right at the key moments. If Man United is losing those are the moments to strike, but we didn't do it."
For Spurs it was an afternoon of reassurance as they near the end of an oft-fretful season. Relegation now avoided in all but the arithmetic, their fans will use ­performances such as this as fuel for dreams of what might be next term – imagining the scorer Luka Modric and the creator Aaron Lennon undoing more than just Chelsea. "Well deserved," argued Redknapp with justification. "I think that's 18 points from nine games. The way we're playing I think we are as good as anybody in the country at the moment. We've just got to keep that going."
Criticised both inside and outside the club for deciding to scrap Tottenham's Uefa Cup campaign, Redknapp's reward has been a one-game-a-week schedule and a consistent line-up. Fielding Ledley King at centre-back every match has been an obvious advantage; using the same midfield four has brought a creative understanding. With three trophies to play for and a fragile squad to handle, Hiddink has shuffled both personnel and formation. Here, Alex covered for Ricardo Carvalho's newly strained ankle, while Juliano Belletti replaced Deco on the right of a midfield unusually anchored by Michael Ballack.
Kick-off delayed half an hour as police removed a suspect van from outside the South Stand, Chelsea began scrappily, misplacing passes as the home side rushed bodies behind the ball in their own half and pressed lustily in the other. If Michael Essien pulled an early save from Heurelho Gomes, Belletti caused more pain by ­falling on his compatriot's head.
Hiddink redirected Nicolas Anelka to the left wing as he tried to take a grip on possession, but it was Tottenham coming closer to goal. Jermaine Jenas curled a shot just over; a long ball put Robbie Keane in for a spectacular volley, spectacularly saved by Petr Cech. Corners were a threat and the captain strained Cech again after Vedran Corluka sprinted away from two markers to manufacture another opening.
Chelsea were struggling, their only other first-half chance coming when Didier Drogba optimistically attempted a tight-angled volley that flew across the area for Anelka to shoot on target. The Ivorian was forced to take his half-time break early, unintentionally clattered by King as they contested a high ball.
Drogba returned after the interval, but so did Chelsea's troubles. Applying the game sense Redknapp has been teaching him, Lennon shifted Ashley Cole left and right, then clipped a pass low and square into the area. Devoid of a marker, Modric swivelled directly into a shot that angled wide enough of Cech to find the net.
Soon the pair almost repeated the dose, Lennon crossing and Modric shooting higher as Cech scrambled away. ­Hiddink added a genuine winger in Ricardo Quaresma, but his team's chances came from distance and Gomes's hesitation on a cross. When Florent Malouda joined him and Chelsea went to 4-2-4, John Terry had a close-range header gloriously saved by Gomes. From the subsequent corner Lennon demonstrated there is still some polishing to be done as he broke away and chose the sky over three team-mates.
As Chelsea pushed even their centre-backs up, Tottenham grew agonisingly looser. King saved them from Anelka with a lunging block, Alex headed on to the underside of the bar, and Ballack's shot in the dying seconds was cleared from the line. It was a defeat, said Hiddink, that came from "sloppy defending" and a poor start to both halves. Only because Chelsea lost was he even speaking to the media, having a flight to catch to Amsterdam to visit his ill father: "There are more important things in life."

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NOTW:
TOTTENHAM 1, CHELSEA 0 Capital punishment for Hiddink

From ROB SHEPHERD at White Hart Lane, 21/03/2009

GUUS HIDDINK offered a dose of double Dutch after Chelsea failed to re-assert themselves as credible title challengers.
“When you are in the kitchen and it’s steaming, you have to learn to extinguish the fire,” Hiddink reflected enigmatically following Luka Modric’s winner for Tottenham.
But Hiddink’s underlying message was crystal clear. Chelsea blew a massive chance on a day when Manchester United invited them back into the title race.
“That was a huge opportunity missed,” he agreed.
“We knew that Manchester United were losing and this was a chance for us to make ground — and when the right opportunity comes along you have to take the key moments and turn them to your advantage.
“But we didn’t do that and it’s not just about us not making ground up on United but also letting Liverpool in. This was a moment to strike and we didn’t do that.”
Quite what the fire was referring to was not quite so obvious.
And Hiddink was in too much of a hurry to elaborate as he rushed off to catch a flight to see his ill father in Amsterdam before joining up with Russia.
It could have been the opportunity presented by United’s failure at Fulham, or when Tottenham stepped up a gear just after the break.
More particularly, though, it seemed a reference to the failure of Michael Ballack to use his experience in the 50th minute and quell a Tottenham attack which eventually led to Modric’s goal.
After the first wave was broken up, Ballack had the chance to clear but mis-hit the ball. Jonathan Woodgate nodded out wide to Aaron Lennon, who teased Ashley Cole before pulling back a precise cross into the path of Modric. The Croatian midfielder then slotted an emphatic shot from the edge of the box beyond Petr Cech.
It was only Modric’s second league goal since his £15million summer move from Dinamo Zagreb. But it was just what his outstanding display deserved.
Clearly, Hiddink felt the strike could have been prevented as he complained: “We were very sloppy on their goal. Big internationals with lots of caps should know you can’t always look for the perfect pass.”
One suspects Ballack suffered a rather more graphic rollicking than that and the rest of the team a plain rebuke about this opportunity missed.
Yet with the very last kick, Ballack was desperately unlucky not to have redeemed himself when his snap-shot from the edge of the box was chested off the line by Benoit Assou- Ekotto.
Indeed, in the last phase of the game, Chelsea went close to an equaliser on three occasions. Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes, no longer a clown-like figure, pulled off a stunning reaction save at the foot of his post to keep out a John Terry header in the 79th minute.
Then in stoppage time, after an Alex header had bounced up from the turf and hit the bar, the Brazilian keeper displayed great reflexes to claw the ball away. Moments before, Ledley King made a mighty block to prevent Nicolas Anelka slotting home.
For all the spirit Chelsea displayed in the closing stages, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp was right in his assertion that his side deserved it. They never let Chelsea settle into a rhythm and displayed far more attacking invention.
Spurs are surely now safe, being closer to a Europa Cup spot than the Plimsoll line. That is great credit to how Redknapp has turned the club’s fortunes around since inheriting a dispirited squad from Juande Ramos in October when they were bottom with two points from eight games.
“We have to make certain we are safe, but the time now is to start looking upwards,” said Redknapp.
“We can’t think of ourselves as safe quite yet but we’re playing as well as anybody in the country at the moment.”
Given the way things have suddenly altered at the top, Chelsea will not throw in the towel. But one suspects, just like last season, they will reflected they lost the league at White Hart Lane.
It was precisely this time last year when Chelsea started to allow their title challenge to slip when they surrendered a 3-1 lead, eventually being held to a 4-4 draw.
So even the 30-minute delay to kick-off after a stranded vehicle near the ground caused a security alert did not take any sting out of the start.
It was fast and furious from the off but that was more down to Spurs than Chelsea. Redknapp’s side showed the greater tempo and urgency with Robbie Keane leading the way.
Offered the freedom of expression denied to him in that short stint at Liverpool, Keane was a constant menace, dropping into the hole to create openings and keep Ballack occupied in the holding role.
He was also a goal threat, forcing Cech into a fine save in the 17th minute from a well-hit volley then making the Chelsea keeper react sharply with another effort from the edge of the area.
The Blues struggled to create any sort of threat before the break as they lacked attacking width. With Anelka playing to the left of Didier Drogba rather than wide on the left and Cole pegged back by Lennon, the visitors could not make inroads down that side.
The same applied to the right where Juliano Belletti was out of his depth as a winger. Even when Chelsea got the ball forward, Woodgate and King were in command until that late bombardment.
In contrast, Tottenham were full of menace — especially Modric who is revelling in a role which allows him to roam around the front line from the left. Eventually the adrenalin rush of a new manager had to run out.
Incredibly, this defeat means the Blues have yet to win a London derby this season. That is what you call capital punishment — and it would seem this defeat has killed off Chelsea’s title hopes.

morning papers man city home 1-0

The Times

Michael Essien continues impressive comeback to send Chelsea into second place

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 0
Matt Hughes at Stamford Bridge

Manchester City’s owners are discovering the hard way that the most important ingredients in a team are those that money cannot buy. Commitment, teamwork and organisation were all displayed by Chelsea yesterday as they reestablished their foothold in the title race, but for the visiting team such qualities were nowhere to be seen.
Such characteristics should be instilled by a manager, which is why City may give serious thought to replacing Mark Hughes in the summer. Hughes deserves some sympathy for being saddled with players who appear to have little sense of professional pride, but the buck for failing to motivate them stops with him.
One of the most talented groups of players in the club’s history, who were good enough to beat Arsenal 3-0 in November, have become something of an embarrassment. City could go on to win the Uefa Cup and even qualify for next season’s competition via their league position, but such success should not be allowed to disguise a series of dismal away performances that have brought only one league win this season. Hughes featured on the shortlist when Chelsea were looking for a new manager last summer, but he may have to seek employment at a smaller club in the event that he loses his job Oddly, given the frequency with which they wield the axe, Chelsea stand as exemplars of the model managerial switch, as the side have been transformed since Guus Hiddink took over last month.
The Dutchman has given his players a renewed appetite and self-belief to engineer a run of six wins from seven matches and, given their sense of purpose, it is conceivable that they could go unbeaten for the remainder of the season. Manchester United cannot rest easy on their four-point lead yet, with Chelsea determined to pursue them vigorously.
If Michael Ballack can be successfully converted into a holding midfield player, as Hiddink achieved yesterday, with the Germany captain sitting deep to allow Michael Essien and Frank Lampard to rampage forward at will, anything is possible.
Without leaving second gear Chelsea had far too much for City, who deserved to return to the North West having suffered a repeat of the 6-0 hiding they experienced on their previous visit to Stamford Bridge. If anything, Chelsea’s dominance was even more pronounced than on that occasion and with better finishing they could have moved a long way ahead of United’s goal difference, rather than drawing level on plus 33.
Lampard had the ball in the net in the third minute only to be adjudged offside and the sole surprise when Chelsea took the lead 15 minutes later was the identity of the scorer. One of Essien’s many nicknames is “The Train” - he is also known to his teammates as “The Bison” and, less charitably, “Mummy’s Boy” - and as well as powerful locomotive qualities he also shares the railway network’s occasionally erratic sense of timing, arriving to score for a second time in as many matches after being missing because of injury for most of the season.
To mark his first home appearance since August, City gave Essien the freedom of their penalty area, allowing him to swing wildly at Lampard’s free kick, the ball flying off his shin beyond Shay Given.
If Essien’s goal was fortuitous, then the luck deserted Chelsea for the remainder of the afternoon, particularly in the second half as they pushed to add to their tally. Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti went close, while their dominance was such that even Florent Malouda got in on the act, with the substitute having a shot cleared off the line by Richard Dunne.
City offered nothing in return, to leave Hughes searching for excuses, with the Welshman claiming that the bright spring sunshine had adversely affected his players. That may explain why Robinho and Elano sought sanctuary in the dressing-room when they were removed in the second half. Sheikh Mansour, the City owner, may wish to consider installing a retractable roof at the City of Manchester Stadium just in case, as well as signing some players with character.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech 5 - J Bosingwa 6, R Carvalho 6, J Terry 6, A Cole 6 - M Ballack 6 - N Anelka 6, F Lampard 7, M Essien 7, Deco 5 - D Drogba 7. Substitutes: J Belletti 6 (for Deco, 41min), F Malouda (for Drogba, 71). Not used: Hilário, J O Mikel, R Quaresma, S Kalou, Alex. Next: Tottenham (a).
Manchester City (4-1-3-2): S Given 6 - M Richards 5, R Dunne 5, N Onuoha 5, W Bridge 5 - P Zabaleta 4 - S Wright-Phillips 5, S Ireland 5, Robinho 4 - F Caicedo 3, Elano 4. Substitutes: C Evans 4 (for Caicedo, 55min), K Etuhu 4 (for Elano, 66), V Bojinov (for Robinho, 81). Not used: J Hart, J Garrido, G Fernandes, G Berti. Next: Sunderland (h).
Referee: M Riley Attendance: 41,810
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Telegraph:

Chelsea leapfrog Liverpool to second spot

Liverpool might have ensured there will be no automatic coronation of Manchester United this season, yet it is Chelsea who are emerging as the most convincing heirs to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Premier League throne. By Jeremy Wilson at Stamford Bidge
Having finished in the top two in each of the past four seasons, they look rejuvenated under Guus Hiddink and their performance in Sunday’s 'Battle of the Billionaires’ against Manchester City suggested a further rediscovery of the resilience and consistency that carried them to five trophies under Jose Mourinho.
A gap of four points and one game to Manchester United may still prove decisive but, unlike Liverpool, Chelsea have an abundance of players with the experience of winning a Premier League title. In Hiddink, they also have a manager with the stature to rival Ferguson and the Dutchman was canny enough yesterday to cast himself as the underdog while deflecting any pressure in the direction of Old Trafford. “It’s clear that after Saturday’s unexpected result that the tension has come back in the league,” said Hiddink. “It gives a blow. It depends on their calmness if it goes on. When you are in the driver’s seat and someone else is coming, you can get a little bit nervous. The door is a little bit open.
Of course [they are vulnerable]. In the Premier League, many teams have the capacity to win there. It’s not a battle between the managers. It’s a battle between the players. Rafael is experienced, Sir Alex is very experienced. Let me, as a schoolboy, chase them.”
The schoolboy, though, may have to do without Deco for the rest of the season after the Portugal midfielder limped off yesterday with a hamstring injury. Hiddink is more confident about Didier Drogba’s ability to quickly recover from a knock to his knee and can draw particular confidence from the return of Michael Essien.
The contrasting performances of Essien, who scored Chelsea’s winning goal after 18 minutes, and Robinho, who was virtually anonymous, certainly supported Hiddink’s pre-match theory that it is not the size of a club’s bank account that counts, but the way they utilise their resources.
Luiz-Felipe Scolari previously declared that a fit Essien would be like having “five new players” and, in the space of just six days, the Ghanaian has gone some way to proving his theory.
Against Juventus, he scored the pivotal goal in Chelsea’s progression to the Champions League quarter-finals and his presence yesterday again inspired fresh midfield urgency.
Sensibly, he was not wasted at right-back or utilised as a holding midfield but instructed to burst forward alongside Frank Lampard.
His goal, though, owed most to quick-thinking and a dash of good fortune. With Lampard lining up a free-kick just inside the Manchester City half, Essien drifted into space on the edge of the penalty area and hooked a first-time volley off his shin beyond Shay Given.
Stephen Ireland was perhaps guilty of some slack marking, though it was not the only time that City were unable to nullify Chelsea’s variety of passing.
Lampard was particularly outstanding and a precise through-ball split the City defence after 36 minutes, with Drogba back-heeling into the path of Michael Ballack, who shot narrowly over.
Chelsea were also denied a convincing penalty claim shortly before half-time when Nedum Onouha appeared to tug at Nicolas Anelka’s shirt and then trip his former team-mate. City could give further thanks for conceding just one goal after Juliano Belletti’s 25-yard shot flew beyond Given but cannoned to safety off the inside of the post.
On the back of just one away league victory this season, there were no real positives from a flat City performance. Robinho’s most memorable contribution involved arguing with Mike Riley over perceived injustices, while Elano headed straight for the tunnel after being substituted. After initially sitting in the dugout, Robinho also reacted to his substitution by heading in the direction of the away dressing-room before the match had finished. “It was difficult to get Robinho into the game,” said Hughes. “But all our attackers struggled. You can’t just expect one player to carry the team. We have other players who have to stand up to the plate.
“All is fine [with Elano]. No problem. With 10 minutes to go, he [Robinho] is getting recovery strategies, fluids down him, so it’s not an issue. The sunshine affected both teams in a negative way. We had to try and put some extra legs and energy on the pitch in the end.”
The boos and chants of “what a waste of money” that accompanied Robinho’s departure, however, suggested that the Chelsea supporters did not share Scolari’s regret over the way Manchester City hijacked his signing. Indeed, after six wins and a draw from seven matches, it is the judgment of Hiddink in which Chelsea can increasingly trust.

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Mail:
Chelsea 1 Manchester City 0:
Blues jump into second as Robinho flops again By NEIL ASHTON Football News Correspondent
What a result for Chelsea. Not just the victory that leaves them four points behind Manchester United, but their failure to sign Robinho last August is the save of the season. It certainly looked that way when Roman Abramovich walked across the pitch at the final whistle, heading into the home dressing room to slap Guus Hiddink on the back after Chelsea's fourth successive victory in the Barclays Premier League. There were no thumb-sucking celebrations at Stamford Bridge from the Brazilians, just a good old-fashioned strop from two of Manchester City's potential match-winners.
Elano was at it first, feigning surprise when he was substituted in the 65th minute and then heading straight down the tunnel towards the dressing room. A dressing down, more like. He was followed shortly afterwards by Robinho, swapping shirts with Salomon Kalou on his way down the steps and no doubt wishing he had held his nerve last August to wait for Chelsea to improve their offer.
'Don't make anything of it,' pleaded City's manager Mark Hughes after they slipped pathetically to their ninth defeat of the season on the road. Hard not to when two of the Premier League's most talented players wandered aimlessly across the pitch until Hughes plucked up the courage to haul them off. 'You can't expect one player to carry a team. We have other players who have to stand up and be counted. It wasn't Robbie's day.'
Even when the sun is shining, as it was at Stamford Bridge, their team-mates could not convince them to come out to play - they were shirking their responsibilities and hiding in the shade. 'The sun affected both teams,' claimed Hughes. 'It certainly didn't shine too kindly on us.' No kidding. Robinho's sole contribution to the game was to repeatedly tell Michael Ballack to '**** off' as Shaun Wright-Phillips scampered away with the ball after he failed to retreat the full 10 yards when the Chelsea midfielder took a first-half free-kick. This team had 10th written all over them when Robinho scored on his debut in a 3-1 defeat at Eastlands last September and yet apparently they are making great strides. Where are they this morning? Tenth. They are eight places and 26 points behind Chelsea, a team with a sniff - and it is no more than that at the moment - of a third Premier League title.
Chelsea were always comfortable. Not convincing by any means, but there is a resilient look about them. They seem ready for a battle in the remaining nine games and will believe they are back in the hunt, ready to overhaul Manchester United in the run-in if Sir Alex Ferguson's team somehow slip up. This morning they will scan the fixture list again - Tottenham, Newcastle, Bolton, Everton, West Ham, Fulham, Arsenal, Blackburn and Sunderland, believing they are capable of winning every one of those games. Hiddink even changed his formation to accommodate Deco, who limped off with a hamstring injury after just 41 minutes of his first start since they lost 3-0 at Manchester United in January, and that bulldozer Michael Essien. They lined up 4-4-2, highly unusual for Chelsea, with Essien on the right until he unexpectedly popped up inside the area to divert Frank Lampard's 17th-minute freekick beyond Shay Given. Essien's game was explosive, giving a barnstorming performance and reminding John Mikel Obi, easily Chelsea's weakest link, how to dictate matches. His goal, his second in less than a week after his equaliser against Juventus last Tuesday, was supposed to be the catalyst to go on and score two, three or four past their second-rate opponents.
Instead they played within themselves, always ready to tap their foot on the gas if City threatened to turn this into a contest.
They never looked likely to. Valeri Bojinov's effort, shortly after he came on as Robinho's replacement, was their only shot, an embarrassing footnote in this embarrassingly one-sided game. 'Sometimes it is difficult when we play away because Robbie is obviously a threat and opponents know that,' added Hughes. 'We couldn't get him in the game, we're an attack-minded team but we didn't have the sharpness we need when we come up against the top-class teams.' Chelsea threatened to be top class, picking holes in City's defence whenever the mood took them. Ballack read Didier Drogba's mind by running on to his delicious back-heel in the first half but clipping his effort wide of the target. Drogba and Frank Lampard then took it in turns to shoot wide and Juliano Belletti, on as a substitute for Deco, rattled Given's post after the break. Hiddink has overseen this impressive transformation, turning Chelsea into a football force again and laying the foundations for the future. His (allegedly) short stay in England will not cost anything like that £34m City paid for Robinho, but at least Chelsea are on to a winner.
MATCH FACTSCHELSEA (4-4-2): Cech 6; Bosingwa 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 6; Essien 8, Lampard 6, Ballack 6, Deco 5 (Belletti 42min, 6); Anelka 6, Drogba 5 (Malouda 70, 6).MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-1-1): Given 6; Richards 5, Dunne 7, Onuoha 6, Bridge 6; Wright-Phillips 6, Zabaleta 6, Elano 4 (Etuhu 65, 6), Ireland 6; Robinho 4 (Bojinov 81); Caicedo 5 (Evans 53, 5). Booked: Elano, Evans. Man of the match: Michael Essien. Referee: Mike Riley.
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Independent:
Essien gives flicker of hope to Blues' title bid
Chelsea 1 Manchester City 0
By Sam Wallace
Guus Hiddink's way of describing Chelsea's pursuit of Manchester United in the title race was to declare yesterday that Sir Alex Ferguson was in the driver's seat but that he must be "nervous" someone was behind him. To extend the metaphor a little further, let us imagine that in Ferguson's rear-view mirror he can see a portly yet composed Dutchman, astride his beloved Harley-Davidson and accelerating gently.
Hiddink really does have a Harley motorcycle back in Amsterdam but for now it gathers dust while he goes about rejuvenating Chelsea's season. Let no-one get too carried away, Hiddink's team are still four points behind United, whose game in hand means that they are still very much in control of this title race but at least Chelsea have regained some credibility. Michael Essien's goal yesterday gave them hope, albeit slim, that the race is not over.
Undefeated since he took over last month, this was Hiddink's sixth win out of seven in all competitions and suddenly Chelsea have something of that old indomitable attitude about them. He played down the suggestions that his team might overhaul United, comparing himself to a "schoolboy" in relation to Ferguson and Rafael Benitez, but do not be fooled. No-one quite knows how United will respond to Saturday's result but if they stumble again, Chelsea look very well placed to take advantage.
Hiddink's side are in second place now, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference and revving up nicely. "It is clear that after Saturday's unexpected result that the tension has come back in the league," he said. "It's a boost. But if we want to track them, we have to keep on winning. That will create tension to the end of the season, which is good for everyone."
Hiddink was not yet ready to call it on with Ferguson although you can be assured that the Chelsea manager has an ego to compare with the best of them, however humble he is currently playing it. "It's a battle between the players," he said. "They [Benitez and Ferguson] are both very experienced – Rafael is experienced. Sir Alex is very experienced. Let me, as a schoolboy, chase them. At the end, it's about the players.
"I don't know if you can compare the two clubs or how they will react to this. But it gives United a blow. It depends on their calmness if it goes on. But they have experience. I don't know what their reaction will be. Let's hope for everyone [that United struggle]. When you are in the driver's seat and someone else is coming, you can get a little bit nervous."
The impact of Essien, whose goal came in just his second start since his return from injury, is exactly the little bit of good fortune that every new manager needs.
Hiddink may already have proved himself with his initial impact upon this Chelsea team but Essien's return has been his reward. The player they call "The Train" played as if he had never been away, a full 90 minutes of match-winning commitment that embodied the Chelsea of Jose Mourinho.
Essien was everything Mourinho wanted in a footballer, a supreme athlete who scored crucial goals. He was a major factor in Mourinho's second title-winning season and then he scored the goal against Valencia in 2007 that gave Avram Grant his first big win as Chelsea manager.
Yesterday, Essien was the force in Hiddink's side. It says everything about the player who has recovered from the cruciate knee ligament injury sustained in August, playing for Ghana in Tripoli, to make a difference to Chelsea's season.
To take the true value of Essien you only had to see how ambivalent Hiddink was about the strong possibility that Deco will not play again this season.
The Portuguese midfielder came off after 41 minutes complaining of the hamstring problem that has troubled him this season. Would he be playing again? "I have my doubts to be honest," Hiddink said, "but let's see what happens." He did not sound like a manager for whom the world has just caved in. Deco out, Essien in. It seems like a good deal for Chelsea. Whether Deco ever plays again for the club is also debatable, he is strongly connected to the Scolari regime and has not been able to sustain the early promise he showed this season.
In contrast, Essien is just about the most saleable asset Chelsea have. He took his goal brilliantly, volleying in Frank Lampard's clever free-kick to him on the edge of the box after 18 minutes.
After that, Chelsea had a good shout for a penalty when Nedum Onuoha dragged down Nicolas Anelka on 32 minutes but they were hardly stretched. Manchester City were predictably dreadful away from home where they have won just twice in their last 20 games.
The real embarrassment for Mark Hughes was a desperate performance from his moody Brazilians, Elano and Robinho, both of whom were substituted long after they had effectively given up.
It is a mystery why Hughes bothers to pat these players on the back as they leave the field, the assumption being that he is just keeping them happy until the end of the season when, at the very least, Elano can be offloaded. The City manager deserves better than this. It is rare for the Chelsea fans to be able to sing "what a waste of money" at an opposing player without a hint of irony but it was justified in Robinho's case.
Richard Dunne kicked substitute Florent Malouda's shot off the line in the closing stages to keep the difference down to one goal but in reality this was a hammering for City in everything but the scoreline.
Hiddink's greatest regret must be that – Chelsea having played their two games against United before he arrived – he must leave it to others to try to beat the champions. On current form he would fancy his chances against United.
Goal: Essien (18) 1-0.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, A Cole; Ballack; Anelka, Essien, Lampard, Deco (Belletti, 41); Drogba (Malouda, 72). Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Mikel, Quaresma, Kalou, Alex.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Given; Richards, Dunne, Onuoha, Bridge; Zabaleta, Ireland; Wright-Phillips, Elano (Etuhu, 68), Robinho (Bojinov, 82); Caicedo (Evans, 55). Substitutes not used: Hart (gk), Garrido, Fernandes, Berti.
Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire).
Booked: Manchester City: Elano, Evans.
Man of the match: Essien.
Attendance: 41,810.
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Guardian:
Essien provides spark as Chelsea stay in the chase
Chelsea 1 Essien 18 Manchester City 0
Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge
It was a luxury to amble into closer contention for the Premier League title. Chelsea will not yet be utterly convinced that they can track down the leaders Manchester United, who are four points clear with a game in hand, but at least they will feel rested after this simple victory. Mark Hughes, the visitors' manager, referred to missing players and a weariness in the wake of a Uefa Cup win over Aalborg on Thursday.
The Danes, however, had hardly tested City and if the club is to achieve a status that corresponds with its wealth they will have to develop a different mentality. Chelsea's lead was narrow in theory, but of oceanic breadth to City. While Michael Essien's goal delivered the win, it was his sheer vigour that counted for more. The Ghanaian had appetite and influence in his first league start since sustaining cruciate ligament damage while with his country in September.
City were despondent long before he tired. With a single away victory in the league, the subdued tone of Hughes' team is not without cause. They are six points clear of the relegation zone. That margin makes it highly unlikely that they will be demoted, but it is galling even to have to contemplate such a possibility. It is appropriate to sympathise for a manager under pressure following the arrival of new owners, but Hughes would have been feeling ill-at-ease no matter who held the shares.
Though even-tempered afterwards, it must have infuriated the Welshman that City had a single attempt on target, from the substitute Valeri Bojinov, that hardly troubled Petr Cech. Essien's effort was never likely to be overhauled. It was taken with his shin, but the true untidiness lay in the visitors' defending after 18 minutes. Frank Lampard had no trouble finding Essien with a free-kick struck from the middle of the pitch. The midfielder connected first-time and the ball flew past the left hand of Shay Given.
That contact contained its element of luck, but there was nothing haphazard about Essien's influence overall. If he has been absent for much of the campaign, that at least makes him a footballer whose dynamism will also make a deep impression on wearying rivals. City had certainly lost sight of him when he headed off-target from a Lampard delivery in the 39th minute.
Earlier Lampard had been at the heart of an exquisite move that Ballack started and then sought to finish. Stepping onto the backheel by Drogba the German fired wide. There was an abundance of opportunities and Chelsea will be reproached for spurning them. City did at least persist and Richard Dunne, for instance, kicked clear an effort by the substitute Florent Malouda with three minutes remaining.
Damage limitation cannot satisfy a club of such means. The crowd jeered the eventual substitution of the ineffectual Robinho. Had Chelsea succeeded in signing him before City stepped in he would have been idolised here. On this occasion, the Brazilian was far advanced on the left but that was largely a ploy to check the trademark surges of the Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa. Of Robinho's dozen goals for City, just two have come in away games and he has not scored at all since December 28.
The statistics, of course, must reflect the help he is given and there was little impact at Stamford Bridge from, for example, Stephen Ireland, who had been enjoying an excellent campaign. Chelsea could afford to be unflustered even when they might, for instance, have railed against the referee Mike Riley when Nicolas Anelka was denied a penalty after appearing to be fouled by Nedum Onuoha in the 32nd minute.
If Guus Hiddink broods at all it will be over the pernicious hamstring injury that curtailed Deco's afternoon. The manager suggested afterwards that the Portuguese international might even have come to the end of his involvement for this season. Chelsea's means are not extensive in certain areas and it suits them that the main priority must lie in the Champions League, a tournament in which just five further games have to be negotiated by the eventual winners.
The caretaker Hiddink continues to be unbeaten with the club. This latest success could have been resounding even though Chelsea did not have to push themselves to the limits. It did not, for instance, feel like a turning point had been reached when the substitute Juliano Belletti hit the post with a long-range effort after 62 minutes. Any uncertainty lay in the eventual margin of City's loss.
Hughes impresses with the calmness shown in a trying campaign, yet he does need to galvanise his squad. Chelsea, for their part, might enjoy living in what is relative seclusion following the hullabaloo of the Mourinho era. The league may well be out of reach but the side is now going about its work with quiet effectiveness.

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Sun:
Chelsea 1 Man City 0
MICHAEL ESSIEN'S stunner helped Chelsea keep up the pressure on Man Utd
By IAN McGARRY
GUUS HIDDINK has got everything right since he joined Chelsea.
Attitude, decisions, results.
Yesterday was no exception as his team won their fourth consecutive league match to close the gap at the top to four points.
Michael Essien is nicknamed The Train by team-mates for the unstoppable way he plays the game.
If events of the past six days are anything to go by, however, maybe they should rename him the Goal Machine.
His strike made the difference against Manchester City yesterday just as it did when he struck against Juventus last Tuesday.
This was only his third league start of the season and his first in six months.
On this form, though, it is not hard to see why the Blues struggled so much when he was out with damaged cruciate ligaments.
The Ghana international takes the game to opponents, moving the ball from one part of the pitch to another in the blink of an eye.
That frees up Frank Lampard to take up positions further forward and receive a pass rather than make it.
Consequently, a team which has too often gone off the rails recently is suddenly running like a dream.
The same cannot be said of their opponents yesterday.
Manchester City were desperate against Chelsea.
Desperate at the back, desperate in midfield and totally devoid of any desperation to win.
And while Chelsea chase Manchester United, the day when the Red Devils’ neighbours are considered proper rivals remains a distant dream.
Hiddink actually called that one too. Last Friday he said he thought it was ‘unlikely’ that City could win the Premier League in the foreseeable future. In reality, their performance at Stamford Bridge suggested they would struggle to win a pub league.
The clash of football’s richest clubs turned out to be a contest between the haves and have nots.
Forget City’s trillions versus Chelsea’s billions.
It was something much less expensive but more valuable which separated the two teams at Stamford Bridge — heart.
The score said it was 1-0 to Chelsea but if you calculated the score based on effort and desire it would have been much, much more.
Even Hiddink said: “We really weren’t under any threat from City for the whole game.”
As a player, Mark Hughes was the epitome of ambition and hunger.
At United and Chelsea, he was always up for a fight and the last to give up.
Sparky by name, explosive by nature — that was the best way to sum up Hughes the player.
Which makes it all the more puzzling why he sits placidly on the sidelines while his team does even less on the pitch. Even worse, when he hooked two of the worst offenders — Elano and Robinho — he applauded them off the pitch.
For what? Their amazing contribution, tireless work-rate and commitment to the team?
Or was he just humouring them because, having tried criticising them before, he realises it only makes them moan and play worse.
In that sense, you have to have some sympathy for Hughes.
He knows it is a matter of weeks before he loses his job, so why go to war with his players.
Well, one reason would be to improve his job prospects after City, assuming his payoff will not be so great to allow him to retire. Hiddink, on the other hand, looks more and more likely to walk out of Chelsea in the summer a hero.
This game was a microcosm of how he has turned around the team’s fortunes since replacing Phil Scolari.
Chelsea continue to defend as if their lives depend on it and attack like there’s no tomorrow.
They should have been three up by half-time in this contest but for some poor finishing and a worse decision by ref Mike Riley.
Michael Ballack should have scored from Didier Drogba’s brilliant backheel, while Nicolas Anelka was hauled back and hacked down by Nedum Onuoha. It should have been a penalty but amazingly, it was not given. It did not matter.
After 18 minutes, Lampard played a fiendish pass from a free-kick which Essien simply lobbed over Shay Given.
A move rehearsed on the training ground last week, neither midfielder could quite believe they had been allowed the space to make it work.
City players, however, seem allergic to work. Pablo Zabaleta was supposed to mark Essien, while Stephen Ireland just looked on.
Despite losing Drogba and Deco to injury — the Ivorian should not be out for long, but the prognosis is not so optimistic on the Portuguese international — Chelsea look to be in rude health.
On the other hand, City’s condition continues to decline — and even money cannot cure it.

morning papers juventus away 2-2

The Times
Michael Essien helps Chelsea see off Claudio Ranieri and JuventusJuventus 2 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea win 3-2 on aggregate)
Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent, Turin
On the eve of this match Guus Hiddink offered only platitudes when asked what qualities a team required to win the Champions League, but his players provided a far more eloquent answer. In a performance of bravery, resilience and no little luck, Chelsea booked their place in the quarter-finals by doing just enough to draw a spellbinding match, in doing so demonstrating that they have what it takes to return to Italy for the final on Wednesday, May 27.
Chelsea have become experts in navigating their way through the latter stages of this competition, reaching the semi-finals in four of the past five years, and this latest group of players have shown that they are equally tournament-savvy.
As with Liverpool, Chelsea’s main men seem to raise their games on the biggest of European nights, with Petr Cech, the goalkeeper, outstanding and Didier Drogba arriving in the nick of time to score the 83rd-minute goal that sealed their passage. Even those boys in blue short of their best, such as Michael Ballack, dug in to contribute when it mattered, the sign of a side who have yet to peak.
Chelsea were second best for long spells against a Juventus team whose energy belied their advancing years, but such is the self-belief instilled by Hiddink that they never looked like losing, even when the home side were laying siege to their goal midway through the second half. The transformation since that supine surrender at Old Trafford two months ago has been simply extraordinary. What a difference a manager makes.
Chelsea’s modus operandi does them few favours, though any lingering doubts that the club were correct to dispense with Luiz Felipe Scolari can now be dispelled. It is certainly difficult to imagine that these players would have absorbed so much pressure before striking on the counter-attack under the likeable Brazilian, but they are a different proposition under Hiddink. Were it not for the fact that he made such a spectacularly bad appointment in the first place, it would be time to lavish some praise upon Roman Abramovich, the owner.
In a little more than a month, Hiddink has turned a collection of unhappy, self-centred individuals into a team. Before last night his main contribution had been hard work and organisation, but even allowing for a perfectly good goal from Drogba being disallowed, another ingredient was added to the mix — luck. The Dutchman rolled the dice with an outrageously bold team selection and his numbers came up.
Hiddink’s gamble on Michael Essien’s fitness initially backfired as Chelsea were overrun in the first half, but it was eventually vindicated as the Ghana midfield player showed remarkable stamina to follow up Frank Lampard’s shot to tap in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Essien’s brain may have been scrambled by being played out of position on the right of midfield, but his legs, lungs and heart remain strong.
Hiddink’s removal of Essien just after an hour was also well judged, as by that stage even he was tiring and his replacement, Juliano Belletti, played a crucial part in seeing Chelsea over the line. The Brazil player was one of few players to distinguish himself under Scolari and he confirmed his status as an invaluable squad player, shoring up the midfield and getting into an advanced possession to square the ball for Drogba to score his team’s second equaliser of the night.
Chelsea would have gone through on away goals even without Drogba’s fourth goal in five matches, but were never comfortable and several obvious weaknesses remain. Given the lack of creativity elsewhere in his squad, Hiddink has little option but to persevere with Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front, leaving them vulnerable against opposition able to attack with width.
Juventus did just that in an opening 45 minutes in which they dominated, Cristian Molinaro providing José Bosingwa and Essien with all sorts of problems down the left before Vincenzo Iaquinta gave the home side a deserved lead. The Italy striker, playing in a midfield role, drifted in from the left to play a beautifully judged one-two with David Trezeguet, bisecting Alex and John Terry with his run to shoot past Cech. Three minutes later, Ballack gave the ball away to Alessandro Del Piero, whose shot was tipped over.
Cech also had to be at his best during the second half as Juventus pushed for a second, even after being reduced to ten men when Giorgio Chiellini was sent off for a second booking. The Czech Republic goalkeeper denied Trezeguet from point-blank range, but he was powerless to prevent Del Piero giving Juventus the lead for a second time, from the penalty spot, to set up a thrilling finish. The return of Ricardo Carvalho from a hamstring injury should solve some defensive problems, as Cech cannot always be relied upon to save them.
Chelsea somehow found an extra gear to leave the Old Lady lamenting their fate as the fat lady sang, but will need to add greater quality to undoubted character if they are to take part in the Roman carnival in May.
Juventus (4-4-2): G Buffon — Z Grygera, O Mellberg, G Chiellini, C Molinaro — V Iaquinta (sub: S Giovinco, 61min), Tiago, C Marchisio, P Nedved (sub: H Salihamidzic, 45) — D Trezeguet (sub: Amauri, 78), A Del Piero. Substitutes not used: A Manninger, J Zebina, C Poulsen, L Ariaudo. Booked: Salihamidzic, Chiellini, Del Piero. Sent off: Chiellini.
Chelsea (4-1-3-2): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex (sub: R Carvalho, 89), J Terry, A Cole — J Obi Mikel — M Essien (sub: J Belletti, 66), M Ballack, F Lampard — D Drogba, N Anelka. Substitutes not used: Hilário, F Malouda, Deco, S Kalou, M Mancienne. Booked: Cech, Drogba, Cole, Anelka.
Referee: A Mallenco Undiano (Spain).
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Telegraph:

Chelsea beat Juventus to reach Champions League quarter-finalsJuventus (1) 2 Chelsea (1) 2: Agg: 2-3 By John Ley in Turin
Michael Essien made a triumphant return in Italy last night, the midfielder scoring the goal that takes Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Champions League in his first start for six months following knee surgery.
Guus Hiddink decided to gamble by recalling Essien, but if it was a risk, then Essien did not disappoint, his lungs and legs lasting admirably before being substituted midway through the second half. Once again, the Dutchman displayed an ability to do no wrong. He may be insistent that his tenure at Chelsea will last only until the end of the season but, with each success, he is making it increasingly harder for Roman Abramovich not to offer him the world to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea look to Roberto Mancini and Frank Rijkaard to replace Luiz Felipe ScolariIt was not all plain sailing here, however. When Vincenzo Iaquinta gave Juventus an early lead, restoring aggregate parity, Chelsea were under pressure highlighting a poor first half performance. However, Didier Drogba, whose goal in the first leg was to prove so important, saw an effort clearly cross the line just before the 45th minute goal, but referee Alberto Mallenco, unaided by his assistant, failed to give it.
Essien responded seconds later to regain the aggregate lead but drama followed with Juventus reduced to ten men, Giorgio Chiellini walking for two yellow cards before Alessandro Del Piero converted a controversial 70th minute penalty to make for a nervous ending. Chelsea were heading for the last eight on the away goals rule but Drogba, with his fourth goal in five games, ensured a numerical advantage.
Perhaps it was the full moon that affected the poor performance of the Spanish referee, but Chelsea can feel happy with a job well done. It was no frills football, but a performance, nethertheless, of determination and intelligence. And it gives England a 1-0 advantage in a three-game rubber, with Manchester United and Arsenal now charged with completing what could be a memorable hat-trick of successes over Italian opposition.
When the first chance was created it came from a blue shirt, with Michael Ballack venturing forward strongly before unleashing a half volley off target. And then Anelka was only narrowly offside as he tested Juve’s defence.
But just when Chelsea appeared to be settling, Juventus restored aggregate parity with a masterclass in finishing. Iaquinta fed Trezeguet then continued his run, accepting the return pass and finishing with style, right-footed into the bottom corner.
The goal was designed to measure Chelsea’s resolve but when Del Piero tested Petr Cech, his swerving effort had to be punched over by the goalkeeper. Another Del Piero attempt, a dipping free kick, was held comfortably by Cech.
Chelsea’s formation meant that they effectively lacked a presence on the left side of midfield, though Anelka did drift wide, as shown shortly before half time when the Frenchman delivered a healthy cross, only for the Juventus defence to clear easily.
But a poor attempt from Anelka only highlighted the poor first half performance, easily the worst during Hiddink’s tenure.
But with just 30 seconds of normal time remaining Chelsea appeared to have a perfectly good goal ruled out. Former Chelsea player Tiago handled and Drogba’s free-kick was met by Gianluigi Buffon, but unconvincingly, and the ball appeared to cross the line.
Chelsea’s players were clearly furious but within seconds they did score and this time it counted. Frank Lampard shot from 25 yards, it took a slight deflection and was pushed onto the cross bar but Essien was on hand to bundle the ball home, right on the stroke of half time.
Television replays confirmed Drogba’s attempt did cross the line so the value of Essien’s goal could not be over-stated. The away goal meant that Juventus now needed to score twice to halt Chelsea’s passage but with Buffon looking erratic – he had to punch clear another Lampard effort early in the second half – is was the Italians who seemed more vulnerable.
Chelsea were now in control, frustrating both Juventus and their boisterous fans with good, sensible possession. This was no frills football, engineered by strong defending, good running off the ball and a solid midfield.
When Chelsea did come under pressure, Terry made a telling clearance from Salihamidzic, while Cech saved easily from Del Piero. Cech then saved well was Trezeguet on a night when he produced one of his finest performances for some time.
The referee, who had a poor game, created confusion in the 72nd minute. Play was halted by more than a minute as Chelsea argued with the Spaniard as it became apparent that he had awarded a penalty, against Chelsea, after spotting a handball in the defensive wall, with Belletti guilty of illegally halting Trezeguet’s free kick.
When play resumed, Del Piero converted the kick, almost nonchalantly, to the left of Cech.
But to make their task harder, Juve were reduced to 10 men for the final 20 minutes when Giorgio Chiellini, already cautioned, received a second yellow card for shoving Drogba in the back.
The referee was losing control and caused confusion when he halted play before awarding Juventus a penalty, converted by Del Piero. That made the remaining 20 minutes nervous, for Chelsea at least. However, Drogba converted Belletti’s cross in the 83rd minute to make certain of their passage.

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Independent:
Drogba seals Chelsea passage
Juventus 2 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea win 3-2 on aggregate)
By Glenn Moore at Stadio Olimpico
Didier Drogba, whose disaffection was symbolic of Chelsea's mood under Luiz Felipe Scolari, underlined his rejuvenation, and subsequent status as the key player in Guus Hiddink's successful start, with the crucial goal in Piedmont last night.
Two-one down on the night Chelsea were in jeopardy of an early departure from the Champions League when Drogba, whose goal separated the sides in the first leg, stole his fourth in five games with seven minutes of the game remaining.
That finally killed off a brave performance from Claudio Ranieri's Juventus who had drawn level on aggregate after just 18 minutes through Vincenzo Iaquinta. Chelsea struggled to assert themselves but Michael Essien, making his first start after six months out with injury, scored a precious away goal in first-half stoppage time. That seemed enough, especially when Giorgio Chiellini was dismissed with 20 minutes left, but the evergreen Alessandro del Piero converted a penalty four minutes later to put the tie in doubt once again. Drogba, however, had the last word, stealing a goal which will make his 31st-birthday today all the sweeter. "Drogba's form is very important to us," said Hiddink. "What is important for us is he shows his commitment and is always busy. He does not give a central defender an easy night, and it is even better when he scores. He is doing very well, the goal showed he is sharp."
As well as the jolt of conceding early Chelsea also had what looked a good goal ruled out though the ball had crossed the goalline. Chelsea did score almost immediately after, and their response to such adversity cheered Hiddink who added: "A team which shows a reaction like that can win seven or eight times out of 10."
The Dutchman had approached the tie cautiously, dropping Salomon Kalou in favour of Essien and deploying a four-man midfield in which John Obi Mikel was in the anchor role and the left side was left unstaffed.
It was Essien's first start since suffering a knee injury playing for Ghana in September and it soon became apparent his role was to stifle Pavel Nedved. This quickly became irrelevant as Nedved suffered a knee injury. Ranieri must have despaired. He already had four midfielders injured, which was one reason for playing Iaquinta alongside David Trezeguet with Del Piero, a veteran of four Champions League finals, three of them lost, in the hole.
Nedved's departure seemed to unsettle Chelsea more for Iaquinta struck as they adjusted to Juve's new shape. It was a poor goal to concede. The Italian international played a simple pass into Trezeguet and kept going, Trezeguet flicking the ball into his path for Iaquinta to drive past Petr Cech's left hand.
The crowd erupted. Suddenly the banner they unfurled before the match, which copied Barack Obama's slogan, "Yes we can", seemed realistic. Yet Juventus failed to build on their advantage, Chelsea stifling them before striking back.
In the circumstances the equaliser was richly deserved. The circumstances were that two minutes from the break Tiago handled and Drogba's free-kick appeared to be clawed back from behind the line by Gianluigi Buffon. The goal was not given, prompting both managers to add their voices to the clamour for the introduction of goalline technology, but it mattered not. Within two minutes Buffon was again stretching for the ball after Frank Lampard tried his luck from 30 yards. Buffon pushed the shot against the bar, it bounced down, possibly over the line. Essien settled all arguments by winning the foot race with two defenders to stab the ball in. The Ghanaian had not looked match-fit, but he was sharp enough when it mattered.
"We started sloppily," added Hiddink. "We lost too many duels and they could play easy passes into our defence. We were not marking well and they scored. But we knew we must not panic as we can score at any moment, which we did. In the second half we controlled the game more."
Juve's frustration at Chelsea's control, of the tie and of the play, manifested itself on the pitch, where Chiellini was booked for ploughing through the back of Michael Ballack, and off it as the crowd were moved to jeer both a mis-directed pass, and Ranieri's decision to withdraw Iaquinta.
However, the game was not yet safe and Chelsea's own nerves were exposed when Cech got in a scramble on the edge of his box, and handled outside it. He was booked and though the free-kick came to naught Juventus were encouraged.
The Italians then pressed again and Cech redeemed himself by tipping over a Trezeguet header following a Del Piero cross. Hiddink's response was to replace the tiring Essien with Juliano Belletti. More significantly Anelka was moved to wide left in a 4-5-1 formation.
Juventus' task became mountainous when Chielli was dismissed with 20 minutes to go for scything down Drogba from behind, his second yellow card. But the drama was not finished. Belletti handled a Trezeguet free-kick in the area. After what seemed an age, with the Spanish referee besieged by Chelsea protests, Del Piero calmly rolled in the spot-kick.
Juve, roared on, pushed forward, leaving gaps which Chelsea exploited when the tireless Ballack released Belletti on the right and Drogba slid in to convert the cross. Chelsea are through to their fifth quarter-final in six years but they will have to play better if they are to finally realise Roman Abramovich's dream.
Juventus (4-3-1-2): Buffon; Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Marchisio, Tiago, Nedved (Salihamidzic, 13); Del Piero; Iaquinta (Giovinco, 61), Trezeguet (Amauri, 79). Substitutes not used: Manninger (gk), Zebina, Poulsen, Ariaudo.
Chelsea (4-1-3-2): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex (Carvalho, 88), Terry, A Cole; Mikel; Essien (Belletti, 65), Ballack, Lampard; Drogba, Anelka. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Deco, Kalou, Malouda, Mancienne.
Referee: A Undiano Mallenco (Spain).
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Guardian:
Essien and Drogba draw the sting from 10-man JuveJuventus 2 Iaquinta 19, Del Piero (pen) 74 Chelsea 2 Essien 45, Drogba 83
Dominic Fifield at the Stadio Olimpico
Chelsea have their quarter-final and scars aplenty to show for this skirmish with the Old Lady. A frenzied evening marked by a flurry of goals and cards, a timely reward for a player whose season had appeared wrecked by injury, and some bizarre decisions from the officials ended with Guus Hiddink's side safely ensconced in the last eight. They may not have sent shockwaves across Europe, but at least there is evidence that the resilience is back.
It took a goal against 10 men finally to deflate Claudio Ranieri's side. Juliano Belletti, whose handball had presented Juventus with an unlikely late lead, eked out space down the right and crossed low for Didier Drogba, capitalising on the space left by the dismissed Giorgio Chiellini, to slide in the second equaliser. That was fine reward for the Ivorian, though it was Michael Essien's name that was chorused at the end, the midfielder having scored on his first start in over six months. There is more to come from the Ghanaian, and the same might be said of this team.
Chelsea had known this was likely to prove an uncomfortable occasion. Juve had overcome first-leg deficits to force progress in the knock-out phase of this competition four times in the past, and had shown flashes of class in thrusting the home side back in the first leg despite conceding an early goal. Hiddink must have feared seeing his side subjected to a scorching start and his selection was nothing if not bold, handing Essien a first start since August and with Nicolas Anelka, absent from training all last week nursing a toe injury, beginning up front.
The pair had an immediate impact, if not in the way their manager had envisaged. Both clattered Pavel Nedved in the early exchanges, forcing the Czech from the field before the quarter-hour mark clutching his ribs and leaving Juve apparently shorn of creativity. Even so they had forged level in the tie before, with the interval approaching, Essien proved his worth in more legitimate manner.
The visitors were still coming to terms with a linesman's insistence that Drogba's near-post free-kick, bent round the wall, had not crossed the line when, within seconds, Frank Lampard emerged from the midfield stodge to crash a shot from distance on to the underside of the crossbar via Buffon's touch. The ball cannoned down near the goal-line again with Buffon prone for Essien, marauding through the centre, to knock it into the net.
The Ghanaian has been through so much on the sidelines this season that he deserved the reward – celebrated with gusto and the coaching staff – and it was a dagger to Juve's hopes. For so long they had appeared destined to prosper, their midfield runners disturbing Chelsea's rhythm and the clever inter-play of their front trio threatening to expose the frailties which had surfaced too often before Hiddink's arrival.
The game had taken almost 20 minutes to erupt. Then David Trezeguet collected Vincenzo Iaquinta's pass and flicked an exquisite ball inside John Terry and Ashley Cole for the Italy forward to gather. His finish was emphatic and the Premier League team quivered.
In the aftermath of that goal the contest had appeared Juve's for the taking. Alessandro Del Piero, losing Mikel John Obi at will, had prompted and provided to make up for Nedved's absence. It was the veteran's free-kick that had Petr Cech palming up and away with little conviction, the goalkeeper gathering another swerving attempt as the home side, sensing vulnerability, toyed with befuddled opponents. Yet the manner of the riposte just before the interval knocked the belief from the Italians' approach.
Thereafter it was Chelsea who threatened further reward, conceding possession in the centre and waiting for Juventus's frantic players to over-elaborate before pouncing on the counter. Lampard, his influence restored, glided into dangerous areas. There was outrage in the Curva Sud when Cech handled outside his area, sliding out near the touchline to gather but was shown only yellow, the locals taking their ire out on the officials who had denied Drogba the first-half goal.
The tone of the tie had been transformed, the urgency all Italian but Chelsea restored to their dogged best, though the officials were not done influencing affairs just yet. Chiellini's second yellow card, this one for dissent, had appeared to have settled matters, but the Spanish official penalised Belletti for handball as Del Piero's free-kick veered into the area to present the Italians with an unlikely route back into the game. Del Piero calmly stroked in the penalty and Chelsea, so dominant, were fretting again.
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Mail:
Juventus 2 Chelsea 2: The Train is on time with vital goal as Juve fall
Chelsea win 3-2 on aggreagateBy Matt Lawton from Turin
Amid the chaos and confusion of an enthralling Champions League encounter, Michael Essien, known to his team-mates as The Train, arrived on time and so, more crucially, did a goal from Didier Drogba. Chelsea are through to yet another Champions League quarter-final but they made hard work of it here, almost contriving at one stage to succumb to a spirited Juventus side that had actually been reduced to 10 men. It was absorbing stuff. A bumptiously-executed penalty from the forever-young Alessandro Del Piero and suddenly the Italians had 16 minutes to score what would have been a decisive goal.
But from Juliano Belletti came a cross that made amends for the needless handball that had led to Del Piero's spot-kick; and from a rejuvenated Drogba came the goal that had Guus Hiddink shaking his fist in celebration at the final whistle. In fairness to the Old Lady, she probably felt as if she had been mugged, given how she dominated much of this contest. Chelsea were disappointing last night, as even Ray Wilkins admitted in his half-time verdict to the television cameras. 'We were poor,' he said. In fairness to Chelsea they did, however, have what replays suggested was a perfectly good goal disallowed when Gianluigi Buffon failed to stop Drogba's bullet free-kick from crossing the line in the 43rd minute.
Chelsea, down to what amounted to a wonderful opening goal from Vincenzo Iaquinta in the 19th minute, were struggling and the sight of the match officials signalling for play to continue in the wake of Buffon's controversial save only worsened their mood. Little more than three minutes later, though, in first-half added time, and Essien had demonstrated why his comparison to a locomotive goes beyond that awesome combination of pace and power.
Mussolini once made the trains run on time in Italy and even he would have admired the sheer perfection of Essien's arrival after seeing Buffon push a deflected effort from Frank Lampard against the bar. In the second or so Buffon spent trying desperately to regain his balance and possession of the ball, Essien had pounced ahead of Juve's central defenders to mark his long-awaited return to Champions League football in style. It must have been tough for Claudio Ranieri to take, especially when he had proved to his former employers that his tinkering is sometimes based on sound tactical thinking. The loss of Pavel Nedved to injury after only 13 minutes amounted to a major disruption but Ranieri reshuffled his side impressively, deploying Del Piero in Nedved's playmaker role, pushing Iaquinta alongside David Trezeguet in attack and sending on the excellent Hasan Salihamidzic to sit in central midfield.
Only six minutes later and the switch had produced a goal. A backheel from Iaquinta was followed by a great pass from Trezeguet that in turn was rewarded with a sublime finish from his new partner. If they made John Terry and Ashley Cole look rather foolish, it was as much down to the sheer quality of their football as it was the static nature of Chelsea's defending. It was exactly what both sides deserved, Juve for their invention and industry, Chelsea for naively believing they could sit back and protect the one-goal advantage they had brought from Stamford Bridge. Hiddink said it would be dangerous to sit so deep but that was exactly the approach his side employed, inviting Juve to extend their lead, forcing Petr Cech to make the first of a series of fine saves to deny Del Piero. Not once in those previous five games under Hiddink had Chelsea gone a goal behind but here they were in such a position and they appeared to be in trouble, albeit in a tie that was now perfectly balanced. Frustration began to surge through those blue Chelsea veins. Essien was incensed when a decision was given against him. Michael Ballack shook his head when a pass went astray. They seemed bereft of ideas. Sadly lacking in inspiration. Until, that is, they suddenly earned a free-kick shortly before the interval. A free-kick that would lead to a goal that would not be given but would succeed in injecting some life into this stuttering Chelsea side.
Hiddink said they might need a bit of good fortune as well as good football and it did eventually come in the form of the deflection that suddenly made Lampard's shot that much more difficult for the brilliant Buffon. A goal for Essien. Disaster for Juve. Thanks to the away-goal rule, Juve now needed to score twice to progress to the last eight but my how hard they worked in trying to trying to perform what appeared the impossible. After the break and the fluent football had given way to a more frantic approach but one that in some ways was more effective. Cech had to produce a world-class save to guide a Trezeguet header to safety and the Chelsea goalkeeper excelled again when he held a searching free-kick from Sebastian Giovinco. When Giorgio Chiellini was then dismissed in the 71st minute for a second yellow card for what seemed to be dissent, Chelsea must have thought they were home and dry. That, however, was before Belletti - on as a replacement for the exhausted Essien - decided in a moment of madness to raise a hand in stopping a free -kick from Trezeguet. This Del Piero did not miss, ignoring the disgraceful protests of an angry Chelsea mob and inviting Juve to make the final 16 minutes all the more compelling.

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sunday papers coventry fa cup 2-0

Sunday Times

Chelsea on a Sky Blues cruise Coventry 0 Chelsea 2
Joe Lovejoy at Ricoh Arena

CHELSEA moved routinely into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with their fifth win in as many matches under Guus Hiddink, but the new manager’s 100% record is sure to come in for a much sterner test than this in Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Juventus. Nicolas Anelka, absent yesterday with a foot injury, may be fit for the trip to Turin.
Coventry’s Chris Coleman said beforehand that the Premier League team would need to be at their best to win at the Ricoh Arena, which was sold out for the first time since it was opened in 2005. He was wrong.
Chelsea hardly had to change out of second gear to dispose of disappointingly poor opposition, whose performance reflected their status in the bottom half of the Championship. Coleman’s post-match complaint that the referee, Steve Bennett, had been “too smug and friendly” with the Chelsea players and had “talked down” to the home team had the sour-grapes taste of a bad loser.
Coventry have lost to Sheffield United, Derby and Cardiff recently, and how they accounted for Blackburn in the last round of the Cup is a mystery after this performance. Hiddink was spot on when he spoke of “a very good end to a normal day’s work”. He added: “I thought we controlled the game well and made a beautiful second goal which killed it.”
The outcome was never in doubt from the 15th minute, when Scott Dann, Coventry’s centre-half and captain, feebly surrendered possession to the resurgent Didier Drogba, whose powerful, driven finish provided him with his third goal in the last four matches.
Drogba immediately ran to Michael Essien, whose return, after a six-month absence, was Chelsea’s post-match focus. Essien, who replaced John Obi Mikel after 64 minutes, is a more accomplished option for the midfield anchor role, and Hiddink intends to restore him to the starting line-up sooner rather than later. Chelsea’s second goal, which removed any lingering hopes the home crowd may have entertained, came in the 72nd minute when Ricardo Quaresma’s break and cross from the right enabled the charging Alex to score with an emphatic finish at the far post.
Coventry were tediously reliant on the long ball and their most dangerous weapon was Aron Gunnarsson’s long throw, so it was not without irony that the second goal started from one of these howitzer hurls from the Icelander, cleared by Michael Ballack for Quaresma to break away and centre to the onrushing Alex. Much was made by Coleman of the fact that Alex and Drogba had been off the field receiving treatment for a clash of heads and were allowed back on too early when Gunnarsson took the throw. It was a moot point, and not one of major consequence.
The two goals apart, the best chance saw Frank Lampard’s dipping free kick from distance tipped over the bar by Kieran Westwood for the save of the match. Coventry’s outstanding opportunity came midway through the first half when Leon Best, playing in a protective mask, left Alex on his backside and evaded John Terry, only to shoot as if the mask was a blindfold. Clinton Morrison’s finishing was similarly woeful late on.
Hiddink said that he had fined Ashley Cole for being drunk and disorderly in the early hours of Thursday morning but, after “assessing all the facts”, he had not considered dropping him. It had been “a little thing we had to cope with” and the issue was now closed. The manager preferred to discuss the return of Essien and Ricardo Carvalho, who was an unused substitute here, which had brought his squad back up to something approaching full strength. Of Drogba’s improved form, Hiddink said: “From the first day, when I saw him in our Cup tie at Watford, and after that in training, he has been working very hard. I don’t know what happened before I came, but I haven’t had any complaints about his attitude or his commitment.
“I have devised a specific programme for him to work on his positioning. I don’t have to force him to do that extra work, he does it willingly.”
Last night, Hiddink had already turned his attention to Tuesday evening, arriving back at his west London home in time to watch the Turin derby between Juventus and Torino. No doubt he was pondering a starting role return for Essien. “I have many hours between now and the start of the Juve game to make a decision,” he said. “It is very good to have him back. You could see today he played 30 minutes but he has to pick up the game rhythm. The other players in the team you can see have the game rhythm.”
Coleman said: “This was the biggest game for the club at this new stadium, but we need to move on. It is going to be difficult against Bristol City on Tuesday, but we’ve got to get back on it. We will have to get back to reality.”
COVENTRY: Westwood 6, Wright 5, Dann 4, Turner 5, Hall 5, Henderson 6, Doyle 5 (Beuzelin 59min, 5), Gunnarsson 7, Eastwood 5, Best 5, Morrison 5
CHELSEA: Cech 6, Bosingwa 6, Alex 6, Terry 6, A Cole 6, Ballack 6, Mikel 5 (Essien 64min), Lampard 6, Kalou 5 (Quaresma h-t, 6), Drogba 7 (Di Santo 80min), Malouda 4

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Telegraph:

Chelsea too strong for Coventry and ease in to FA Cup semi-finals
Never mind Cardiff’s heroics last year, when the cream of the Premier League take the FA Cup seriously there can, sadly, only be one outcome. Hence, there was never much likelihood of Coventry upsetting Chelsea, let alone threaten the class of ’87’s unrivalled place in Sky Blues history. By Clive White
Now it’s back to the long shot of Championship promotion and a match at Ashton Gate for Chris Coleman’s side while Guus Hiddink’s team moves on to the San Siro on Tuesday, dreaming of European glory. As a preparation for their match with Juventus this tie was next to useless – unless, of course, Claudio Ranieri is of a mind to get his Italian all-stars to start pumping it long like Coventry.
The ingredients for an upset yesterday were all there on Coventry’s side: they have been in good form at home recently, beating the Championship’s top two Wolves and Birmingham, not to mention Blackburn Rovers in the previous round. Coleman was confident and it wasn’t difficult to see how the Ricoh Arena could become a cauldron for the opposition if Coventry’s tails were up. Perhaps they just needed a lucky break, say, a deflection into Petr Cech’s goal off someone’s knee, a la Gary Mabbutt in ’87. No, on second thoughts, perhaps not.
Chelsea were just too good, which is not to say they were great, even if Hiddink did punctuate his post-match comments with liberal use of the word “beautiful”, as the Dutch tend to do. They gave the impression they had an extra engine in reserve never mind extra gears had Coventry come up with something special. Coleman admitted as much, but did have one or two gripes afterwards.
Firstly, he criticised referee Steve Bennett’s decision to allow two Chelsea players – Didier Drogba and Alex – back onto the field of play prematurely after sustaining injury, from which point Chelsea broke upfield and scored the match-clinching second goal – through Alex - and secondly, he objected to what he saw as Bennett’s smugness.
“He was too smug towards us,” said Coleman. “Talking to my players – my senior players – they were saying he was very, very friendly with some of the Chelsea boys. I understand it’s Chelsea and sometimes you can be in awe of great players – and they are great players – but he had to do a job. They [the Coventry players] weren’t happy with him, they weren’t happy with his attitude.”
Instead of the flying start, which City so desperately needed, they got a false one. A backward header by Ben Turner to Scott Dann after 15 minutes should have presented no difficulty to the Coventry captain, but instead of dealing with it emphatically, he dallied and was dispossessed by Drogba. The Chelsea striker is in the mood these to make his own chances without being handed one on a plate and he nonchalantly took the ball wide of Keiren Westwood in goal before wellying home his sixth goal of the season.
“He is dangerous,” said Hiddink, who does a nice line in understatement, “and it is good for the whole group that we have him back. He still makes little mistakes, but he can improve. For me he is a guy who has been working hard from day one. I don’t want to judge what happened before.”
Coventry’s back four never really recovered from that and the insides of an old central defender like Coleman must have been churning on the touchline. Coventry didn’t want for effort but the quality just wasn’t there. Once in the first half Leon Best, the hero of their win over Blackburn, went on a winding run that his namesake would have been proud but then finished with a shot that was more Clyde Best than George Best.
At times in the first half it was as much as Coventry could do to get out of their own half never mind threaten Cech’s goal; perhaps it was his lurid orange outfit that repelled them. About the closest Coventry came to making a game of it was when Clinton Morrison came within inches of connecting with a speculative overhead kick to a long throw from Aron Gunarsson after 66 minutes.
Four minutes later the game was up for them. Drogba and Alex banged heads in the Chelsea area – not that they needed to – and had to wait on the touchline for permission to return to the fray after treatment, which they did a little too promptly for Coleman’s liking. To make matters worse, Drogba was the one who sent substitute Ricardo Quaresma on his way with a right-wing break and from his cross Alex powered home like the goalscorer he isn’t.

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Mail:

Coventry 0 Chelsea 2: Coventry give up without a fight as Hiddink's men stay on the trophy trailBy PATRICK COLLINS
A few moments after the final whistle, Guus Hiddink was asked for his reaction to reaching an FA Cup semi-final. He said he was pleased with the result and satisfied with the performance. He added: 'Coventry are not a difficult team to play.'The Chelsea coach realised his error immediately. He winced, apologised for his English and insisted that Coventry had, in fact, been extremely difficult opponents. And although Hiddink seems an honest man, nobody believed him.For Chelsea's progress to the last four was almost indecently simple. They went through their paces, ticked their boxes, completed their chores and accepted their reward without spilling a drop of surplus sweat.
The anticipated gap in class was revealed as a chasm. They have surely experienced more arduous examinations on the training ground. Even those of us who still detect a dusting of magic in the oldest Cup competition in the world cannot begin to defend such palpable mismatches at the quarter-final stage.It is traditional to console the underdogs by claiming that they gave it a real go, never conceded an inch, did themselves proud. In reality, none of those cliches rings particularly true.
Coventry were unduly cautious, indifferently organised and utterly devoid of guile. Take away the odd, vaguely neanderthal long throw from Aron Gunnarsson and they offered nothing to hurt Chelsea.Not until the game was dead and buried in the last 15 minutes did they even contemplate genuine enterprise as opposed to dour containment.
Coventry's manager Chris Coleman, while admitting that his men had been beaten out of sight by a vastly superior football team, erected a daft little smokescreen by suggesting that the referee Steve Bennett had been on overly friendly terms with the Chelsea stars, that he had spoken dismissively to the honest yeomen of Coventry.In short, that he had been a trifle 'smug'. It was a curious distraction, almost Warnockian in its paranoia, and the best we can say is that his heart was not really in it.He had been rather more frank in his programme notes, where he announced: 'We have always said that the League is the most important thing.' Which is rather sad, if undeniably true.The Coventry public were rather more enthusiastic. They maintained the noise from start to finish, bawling their support for a lost cause and cheerfully abusing their Chelsea player of choice.
Frank Lampard was lightly burned and Didier Drogba energetically derided. But, inevitably, the heaviest flak was reserved for Ashley Cole. Throughout the 90 minutes, his every touch was greeted with a barrage of boos.He affected indifference, but on occasion he looked quite hurt. For Ashley knows, better than most, just what boos can do to a man.Yet these diverting sideshows could not divert the inevitable course of the game. Within two minutes of a dire first half, Drogba was whipping a self-made opportunity past the far post.After 15 soporific minutes, an innocuous ball came drifting towards the Coventry back line. Scott Dann had two chances to clear, and declined both. Drogba seized the subsequent chance with punitive efficiency.
From there on, it became a lesson in pass and move, with Chelsea possession secure beyond challenge and the odd half-chance emerging from their total domination.The wonder was that half-time arrived with only a goal's difference between the sides, the more so since Coventry's central defenders were the football equivalent of 'walking wickets'.Chelsea brought on Ricardo Quaresma for Salomon Kalou at the interval, and later felt sufficiently at ease to involve the massively influential Michael Essien for the last 25 minutes. Six minutes later, the game was put to bed.It was a curiously assembled goal. Drogba and his central defender team-mate Alex clashed heads inside the Chelsea box. After treatment, they demanded to return as Gunnarsson wound himself up for yet another throw.
Referee Bennett held them back, then waved them on as the ball was contested. It was knocked clear to Quaresma, who made urgent strides down the right, saw the pass early and played it perfectly.Alex, careering forward, met the cross with a striker's precision. Poor old Coleman worked hard to find something sinister in Bennett's conduct at that throw but, once again, his heart was not in it.So Chelsea came sauntering home, with a Wembley semi-final secure and Juventus appearing on their radar for a Champions League collision on Tuesday.Their season could yet be memorable, as they continue to fight on several fronts. But one thing is certain: the next few weeks will offer all manner of tests. And every one will be infinitely more demanding than yesterday's gentle stroll in the Warwickshire sunshine.
COVENTRY (4-3-1-2): Westwood; Wright, Dann, Turner, Hall; Henderson, Doyle (Beuzelin 59min), Gunnarsson; Eastwood; Morrison, Best. Subs (not used): Marshall, Ward, Osbourne, McPake, Simpson, Thornton. Booked: Beuzelin.CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Ballack, Mikel (Essien 65), Lampard; Kalou (Quaresma 46), Drogba (Di Santo 80), Malouda.Subs (not used): Hilario, Carvalho, Quaresma, Belletti, Mancienne.Referee: S Bennett (Kent).

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Indy:

No romance for Coventry as Hiddink's honeymoon goes on
Coventry City 0 Chelsea 2
By James Corrigan at the Ricoh Arena
Five out of five and at least one visit to Wembley booked in for the fans. Guus Hiddink's first four weeks in charge must now be credited as being the start of dreams. Of a billionaire's dream at that. In truth, though, anything but advancement from this rather dull FA Cup quarter-final would have been disappointing for Guy the Gorilla, never mind Guus the Genius; particularly as Hiddink fielded his strongest XI. With the Champions' League return leg at Juventus looming on Tuesday, it was, as the Coventry manager, Chris Coleman, called it, "the greatest compliment".
Perhaps Hiddink was thinking back to the club's humiliating exit at the same stage against Barnsley last year; or perhaps he was expecting rather more from a Coventry side who never truly managed to raise themselves above their Championship standing. Then again, maybe Hiddink truly does hold the old competition in such high esteem. "We don't have priority for the Champions' League," he said. "The FA Cup is not just respected in England but worldwide."
Certainly it would have been no surprise to see him "rest" Ashley Cole after his arrest outside a West End nightspot in the early hours of Thursday morning. Hiddink maintained that after "addressing the issue" with the England defender he did not think about dropping him – "not for a single moment". As it was, Cole's performance was both sober and orderly; a description that neatly summed up Chelsea.
Coleman billed it as "the biggest game in the history of this stadium", which seeing as it has been in use since August 2005 was not the grandest of statements. Nevertheless, this was the first time the Ricoh Arena had been at capacity. Well, that is not strictly true, as Oasis had also managed to raise the sold-out signs. Coleman was certainly looking back in anger about the referee's display.
"I was disappointed with [Steve] Bennett," said the Welshman. "He was too smug towards us. Some of my players said he was very friendly to the Chelsea players. They weren't happy with his attitude."
Coleman admitted Coventry did not exactly help themselves; especially with the first goal. Just 15 minutes had gone when a boot upfield was first allowed towards their area by Ben Turner, where it was then miscontrolled by Scott Dann as the bulk of Didier Drogba was bearing down on him. The Ivorian's finish from a rapidly diminishing angle – Drogba's third goal in four games – was one of the game's two moments of class.
The other came with the lightning-swift break which led to a second goal that Coleman was to dispute vehemently and Hiddink was to label "beautiful". Alas, in between the fare was all too ugly as Chelsea struggled to find the killer ball and Coventry embarked on their wild Guus chase.
Leon Best created the home side's finest chance with a jinking run before shooting over, and Frank Lampard and the rejuvenated Drogba both went close. The game was made to wait until the 72nd minute for the second goal. Coleman's ire was again directed towards Bennett, whom he believed waved on Alex and Drogba too quickly when the pair had been forced to leave the pitch after receiving treatment for a clash of heads.
Chelsea were down to nine men as they tried to defend one of many Aron Gunnarsson long throw-ins. But before the ball had bounced the two Blues were running back on, and within 30 seconds Alex had side-footed into the net up at the other end following a cross by the substitute Ricardo Quaresma. It was a bizarre passage, which probably stemmed from a bizarre law. Even Hiddink admitted: "That rule needs to be reconsidered."
For now he has more pressing concerns. Nicolas Anelka is doubtful to figure in Turin, where Chelsea will seek to convert their 1-0 advantage, while he has a quandary about whether to start Michael Essien. Yesterday the midfielder came on with 25 minutes remaining for his first action in six months following an anterior cruciate ligament injury. It was a pleasing sight for the Blues. Indeed, everything looks that much rosier now.
Attendance: 31,407.
Referee: Steve Bennett.
Man of the match: Drogba.
Match rating: 5/10.
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Observer:

Drogba strikes as Coventry go out with a whimper
Coventry City 0 Chelsea 2 Drogba 15, Alex 72
Paul Wilson at the Ricoh Arena Didier Drogba scored, Ashley Cole was booed, Michael Essien made his first appearance for six months and Alex rounded things off with one of the stranger goals of the season. Oh... and Chelsea ended up in the FA Cup semi-finals. This was another occasion when the fabled drama and romance of the competition were somewhere else. ITV might have had more luck screening a Tic Tac commercial.
Perhaps that is a little harsh on Coventry City, who tried hard without ever looking remotely in Chelsea's class, though the underdogs hardly helped themselves by conceding a soft early goal that allowed the Premier League side to take it easy. "Chelsea are good enough to make their own goals," Chris Coleman said. "They don't need any help from us. That was a bit of nerves on our part."
The Coventry manager had promised he did not want to go out of the Cup with a whimper and felt his team might be able to match their opponents if one or two of the Chelsea players had an off-day, but whimper it was and it was the City ­players who had the off-day, ­particularly the centre-back pairing of Scott Dann and Ben Turner. Dann had already had a lucky escape as early as the second minute when he let the ball bounce and saw Drogba whisk past him to shoot wide. But when he repeated the error 13 minutes later the Ivorian striker was less forgiving.
Turner put his fellow defender under pressure with a weak and misdirected clearing header, yet even so Dann had time to deal with the situation but instead allowed Drogba to push him off the ball. Once goalside the rejuvenated striker expertly rounded Keiren Westwood and scored from a narrow angle.
That goal killed the game as a contest. Leon Best put Coventry's best chance of the first half high over the bar and Chelsea came close to another goal when ­Westwood had to tip over Frank ­Lampard's 25-yard free-kick. Chelsea operated at half pace for the rest of the game, perhaps with an eye on their Champions League game in Turin on Tuesday, and felt comfortable enough to send on Essien for the last half hour, to feel his way back to match fitness after knee-­ligament surgery. According to Guus Hiddink, the Ghanaian is unlikely to start against Juventus and Nicolas Anelka is rated doubtful as well.
By that stage of the second half Coventry were pinning most of their attacking hopes on long throws from Aron Gunnarsson, rather an odd sight to behold as the tight sidelines of the Ricoh Arena necessitate a round-the-corner run-up, a bit like a high jumper approaching the bar. When Gunnarsson reached the touchline one did not quite know whether to expect a throw or a Fosbury flop, though one of his lobs was almost turned in by Clinton Morrison after 70 minutes. His next one led directly to Chelsea's second goal.
The visitors were forced to defend it with Drogba and Alex off the field receiving treatment after an accidental collision. Referee Steve Bennett waved them on as the throw came in, Michael Ballack cleared, Florent Malouda made space in the middle and found Ricardo Quaresma on the right, and when the cross came in Alex was on the end after running the length of the pitch. More bizarre still was Coleman moaning about it.
"The referee shouldn't have let them back on the pitch so quickly," he said. "He's supposed to see where the ball bounces first. But my players weren't very happy with his attitude. He was on very friendly terms with the Chelsea players and smug towards us."
Unsurprisingly, Hiddink failed to see the logic in that argument. "We scored a beautiful goal on the counter," he said. "But I do think the rule needs looking at. We were at a disadvantage, having to defend a throw with two of our tallest players off the field. Referees should be able to wait until the teams are equal."
On this evidence, even Coleman must accept that might be a very long wait.
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NOTW:

COVENTRY 0, CHELSEA 2 Didier Drogba is cooking for Guus From ROB BEASLEY at the Ricoh Arena, 07/03/2009
WHO let the Drog out? Guus Hiddink of course — and Chelsea are now reaping the richest of rewards.
It’s five wins in row for the Dutch boss and three goals in four for the infuriating Ivorian. Drogba has been reborn under Chelsea’s ‘interim coach’. The sulky, brooding, malcontent has become a silky, barn-storming, marauder.
He’s scored as many goals in the last fortnight as he had all season under the axed Big Phil Scolari. A cynic would say he’s playing to get away — and Drogba’s certainly hinted at it often enough in recent times.
But it might just be that a bit of love and comfort from Hiddink has done far more than the hardline approach of the Brazilian, who famously banished the Blues striker to train with the youth team after a 3-0 thrashing at Manchester United.
At the Ricoh arena the ‘old’ Drogba turned up and there’s no doubting that, at his brilliant best, Drogba is a massive asset for Chelsea, a tormentor of even the best of defences. Which is why he had so much fun here in the Midlands.
Because, on this performance, Coventry skipper Scott Dann and poor old Ben Turner could never be described as top-drawer defenders.
There they were with one man to mark between them and still City’s centre-backs couldn’t cope. Turner was in turmoil as early as the second minute when Drogba taunted and teased him to escape in the area before dragging his shot disappointingly wide. But Drogba was not so wasteful with 15 minutes gone.
Again he terrorised Turner before committing keeper Kieren Westwood with a clever feint followed by a fearsome left-foot shot to convert an early goal and dampen the excitement and expectation of the first full house at the Ricoh for a football match.
There were 31,407 packed into the ground, including 5,500 travelling Chelsea fans, who noisily contributed to the atmosphere.That attendance has been topped only by a concert here by American rockers Bon Jovi last summer.
Drogba was delighted with his second goal in a week and he ran down the touchline to the Chelsea bench to share the moment with fit-again team-mate Michael Essien.
The Ghana international, who has played just two games for the Blues this season, was back in the squad for the first time since rupturing knee ligaments playing for his country way back in early September.
It was a demonstration of team togetherness and unity, something Chelsea have been accused of lacking this term. But the Blues now look back in business for the business end of the season.
Not that Coventry rolled over and lay down. Boss Chris Coleman would not allow that. In fact, masked raider Leon Best embarrassed Alex and Chelsea captain John Terry with a searing 24th-minute run into the box but then ruined it all by blazing wildly over.
Frank Lampard’s free-kick 10 minutes later was a better lesson in accuracy. The England star’s drive was arrowing for the top corner when highly-rated City goalkeeper Westwood threw himself full-length to his left to touch it past the angle with his fingertips.
That let-off sparked an instant reaction from City — with Freddie Eastwood smashing a fierce shot. It was Coventry's first on target but it flew straight into the arms of Petr Cech. Mind you, Chelsea were labouring to add to their early lead, with Drogba and Salomon Kalou both off target just before the break.
After the interval City began to hope they could rescue the game. They began to get a territorial foothold in the Chelsea half and the long throws of Aron Gunnarsson were the biggest danger to a Chelsea defence that’s had trouble this term dealing with high balls into the middle. It raised the noise to unprecedented levels that even Bon Jovi would have struggled to match but it was from one such long throw that Chelsea actually killed the game.
Both sides were unhappy with events in the lead-up to the Londoners’ crucial second goal.
Chelsea’s Alex and Drogba clashed heads trying to clear an aerial assault and crashed to the turf. It looked serious enough for both Chelsea and Coventry’s physios to race on to the pitch to offer first aid to the stricken pair. But once they were recovered, referee Steve Bennett ordered them off the pitch. That left Chelsea to defend a Gunnarsson special with only nine men — and they were not happy about it.
But it was soon City’s turn to moan as Chelsea had the last laugh. Michael Ballack won a towering header to clear the throw and impressive sub Ricardo Quaresma scampered away down the right to lead a telling counter-attack.
The on-loan winger then clipped over a superb ball into the middle where, of all people, Alex was on hand to finish off.
He and Drogba had raced back on to the pitch as soon as Gunnarsson had launched his latest missile and moments later the Brazilian centre-back was charging forward to seal an April trip to Wembley for Chelsea’s third FA Cup semi-final in four years. And with Essien and Ricardo Carvalho back again they could just be coming good at the right time.
Both could feature against Juventus in Turin on Tuesday as Hiddink hunts down silverware on a second front.
Smug
But Chris Coleman accused ref Bennett of being too “friendly” with Chelsea’s stars and complained: “I was disappointed with Bennett. He was too smug. My senior players said he was very friendly with the Chelsea boys.
“I know people respect great players and sometimes they can be in awe of them.”
Coleman was angry over the build-up to Chelsea’s second goal. Drogba and Alex clashed heads and Bennett ordered the pair off the pitch while City’s Gunnarsson launched a long throw-in.
But as soon as the ball had left Gunnarsson’s hands they stormed back on to the pitch as the visitors broke away to score.
Coleman moaned: “I was not happy with the way Alex and Drogba re-entered the field after treatment. Then who scores Chelsea’s second goal? Alex!”
Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink was also unhappy. He said: “We had two of our best headers of the ball off the field when we had to defend a dangerous situation.”
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