swansea 1-1

Independent:

Swansea City 1(Sinclair, 39)Chelsea 1 (Taylor, og 90)
JAMES CORRIGAN LIBERTY STADIUM

Chelsea discovered what Arsenal, Tottenham and so many other Premier League teams already knew. Swansea City at home are a mighty proposition who are anything but coy in taking it to their affluent visitors.
Andre Villas-Boas can thank a huge deflection in injury time for sparing him last night.
The points appeared lost when, in the 93rd minute, Jose Bosingwa's cross – "a nothing ball" as Brendan Rodgers called it – was turned into the net by the home defender Neil Taylor. Despite their outrageous luck, Chelsea may have been deserving of a point, but it must be suspected Roman Abramovich thinks his richly assembled squad should be worthy of rather more.
The XI which Rodgers fielded last night cost £7.5m. That's roughly a sixth of what Chelsea paid for one man. Fernando Torres was not the only multi-millionaire who played below his price tag here – Ashley Cole was having a bad night even before his late red card – but the Spaniard's latest round of blanks did highlight his continued inadequacy. The last Premier League team Torres scored against was Swansea – in September. It is now more than 1,000 minutes since he scored in any competition.
As if to ram home the point about value for money, Scott Sinclair was almost the home hero. Eighteen months ago, Chelsea happened to allow the 22-year-old to join Swansea for £1.5m. At least Sinclair had the good grace not to celebrate his fine volley. "It was great skill," said Rodgers, himself a former Stamford Bridge employee. "Scott is a terrific talent who just needed a platform. Like many Chelsea youngsters."
Arsenal and Newcastle can close the gap to three points tonight in what now appears a race for fourth place, although Villas-Boas refused to concede the title. But with 12 points separating them from Manchester City, the Portuguese's sights are set on Tottenham, in third. "Seven points is nothing," he said. It is if the Chelsea defence makes a habit of playing this poorly.
The absence of John Terry – the captain whose racism case goes to court this morning was missing with a knee injury – was keenly felt, but it was strange Villas-Boas opted not to play £7m capture Gary Cahill. Villas-Boas explained the England international was on the bench because of the "solidarity" his side had shown in their recent run. His loyalty was misplaced.
"We gave Swansea the initiative in the first half," he said, "but we were very confident in the second half." One could not argue with him on his initial claim. Swansea's reward for their exquisite movement and passing precision came in the 39th minute. Bosingwa tamely nodded out a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick and from the edge of the area Sinclair showed the balance of a gymnast to swivel before producing a wonderfully arched volley into the top corner.
Villas-Boas's analysis of Chelsea's response was true in the sense that they stopped Swansea's monopolisation of possession, but even though they were pressing forward they created very little, with Ashley Williams supreme leading the Swansea back four. "They defended very well," agreed Villas-Boas.
Michael Essien and Boswinga both came close with spectacular efforts and when Cole upended Nathan Dyer in the 84th minute and was dismissed for a second yellow – a transgression which means he misses the weekend confrontation with United – the Blues' gloom seemed set. Then Bosingwa let fly and poor Taylor unwittingly did the rest.

Match Facts

Substitutes: Swansea Agustien 6 (Sigurdsson, 67), Moore (Sinclair ,77). Chelsea Essien 6 (Romeu, 65), Lukaku (Malouda, 80).
Booked: Swansea Taylor, Rangel. Chelsea Cole , Malouda, Meireles. Sent off: Chelsea Cole (86).
Man of the match Williams. Match rating7/10. Possession: Swansea 42% Chelsea 58%.

Attempts on target: Swansea 5 Chelsea 10.
Referee A Marriner (West Midlands).Attendance 20,526.

===================

Telegraph:

Ashley Cole sees red as Chelsea leave it late to deny stylish Swansea
Stuart James at Liberty Stadium

Good fortune was smiling on Chelsea, although the point that was salvaged in stoppage time came at a cost. Trailing to Scott Sinclair's wonderful first-half goal and down to 10 men after Ashley Cole picked up a second yellow card for a lunge on Nathan Dyer, Chelsea looked devoid of ideas and were on the brink of a sixth league defeat of the season until José Bosingwa's cross deflected off Neil Taylor to leave Michel Vorm stranded.
Relief coursed through André Villas-Boas on the touchline but the bigger picture is that this represented another two dropped points for a Chelsea side who will have to face Manchester United on Sunday without Cole. The England international will receive an automatic one-match suspension for the red card that the referee, Andre Marriner, was left with no option to brandish after Cole brought Dyer down in the 86th minute.
The game looked to be up for Chelsea at that point. Although they had enjoyed much more of the ball in the second half, after being outplayed during the opening 45 minutes by a Swansea side who caught the eye with their incisive passing, Chelsea lacked penetration, in particular up front, where Fernando Torres was once again a passenger. He touched the ball just nine times in the first half and has failed to score for Chelsea in 1,076 minutes or, to put it another way, his past 17 appearances for the club.
Instead it was left to Bosingwa to rescue something from an unconvincing display. The full-back picked up possession on the right and turned the Swansea substitute Kemy Agustien one way and then the other before sweeping a cross that struck Taylor and slipped inside Vorm's near post.
"I think it was [two] completely different halves," said Villas-Boas, who claimed Chelsea will "continue to persist" with Torres despite the Spaniard's glaring lack of confidence. "In the second half we were competent and managed to create lot of problems by pressing them. In the first half we conceded the initiative and they found spaces to create problems. They were magnificent."
Villas-Boas had no complaints with Cole's red card and also attached no blame to Dyer, whom Arsène Wenger had accused of diving in Swansea's previous home match. "The first [booking] is fair," he said. "The second is a difficult challenge to assess because of the speed it happened at. Ashley thought he would get the ball. Dyer anticipates. [I'm] not sure if [there was] enough contact because Dyer came straight up. [But] Ashley said there was contact. I'm not blaming Dyer. Ashley made a bet and got a little bit of him."
On a day when Chelsea announced losses of £67.7m, it seemed a ironic that they should fall behind to a goal from a player they allowed to leave the club for only £500,000 the summer before last. Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped in a free-kick and Bosingwa's poor defensive header was dispatched by Sinclair with some style, the winger finding the top corner with a sweet volley against the club for whom he made only five league appearances. "He's a terrific talent. He just needed a platform," said Brendan Rodgers.
The Swansea manager was unfortunate not to see his side go ahead earlier on, Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz forced into last-ditch clearances to deny Sigurdsson and Danny Graham during a period when the home team were dominant. Yet Chelsea turned the tables after the interval and their pressure delivered belated reward. "It was disappointing to lose the goal so late but I can give nothing but credit to the players," said Rodgers.

======================

Telegraph:

Swansea upwardly mobile against Chelsea despite late own goal misery
By Jeremy Wilson, at Liberty Stadium

It was only a 90-minute snapshot of a 38-game Premier League season but, on this evidence, Roman Abramovich selected the wrong Jose Mourinho protégé.
Yes, Chelsea snatched a deflected equaliser but the dominant theme of another uplifting occasion at the Liberty Stadium was Swansea’s wonderfully slick passing football.
Brendan Rodgers, former Chelsea reserve team manager, continues to extract considerably more flair from Swansea than Andre Villas-Boas, Mourinho’s ex-scout, is coaxing from the supposed superstars at Stamford Bridge. A one-dimensional Chelsea performance was further marred by the dismissal of Ashley Cole, who collected two bookings and will now miss Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester United.
With Chelsea down to 10 men and having created few chances, Rodgers knew that feeling such deep disappointment at a 1-1 draw was also testament to just how far Swansea have come. Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea have all now returned from trips to South Wales in the past month without tasting victory. “The players were magnificent – they deserved to win the game,” said Rodgers.
As much as it was a tale of two managers, this was also a story of two strikers. Scott Sinclair, who made just one league start in five deeply frustrating years at Stamford Bridge, scored for Swansea while 1,076 minutes have now elapsed since Fernando Torres registered his last Chelsea goal.
At £50million, Torres has cost Chelsea 100 times more than they recouped from selling Sinclair to Swansea for £500,000 two seasons ago. While Villas-Boas offered his usual support for Torres, he also looked forward to the return of Chelsea’s long-time talisman Didier Drogba from the African Cup of Nations.
“We all know the significance of Didier to this team,” he said.
With Frank Lampard and Drogba absent, there was a distinctly unfamiliar core to the Chelsea team. They looked disjointed in the opening exchanges as Swansea initially dominated both chances and possession.
The first clear chance was from a set piece. Sinclair’s accurate delivery was met by Steven Caulker but, despite falling invitingly for Danny Graham, the shot was skewed wide.
Further difficulty was caused with another direct ball into the heart of Chelsea’s defence. Angel Rangel launched a clearance from the right and, with Ivanovic failing to deal with the danger, Petr Cech hastily charged out. Cech missed the ball, leaving the goal at Gylfi Sigurdsson’s mercy. His shot was cleared off the line by Branislav Ivanovic, with Luiz scampering back to make a similar goal-saving block from Graham’s follow-up.
Swansea took a deserved lead in the 39th minute. Juan Mata had needlessly conceded a foul deep inside his own half and, from another dead-ball position, Chelsea’s defensive frailties were exposed. Sigurdsson’s free-kick landed on the edge of the six-yard box, with Jose Bosingwa unable to clear the penalty area with his header. Sinclair brilliantly punished the mistake, hooking his finish over Cech into the corner of the goal.
His previous association with Chelsea meant that the celebration was muted but the internal sense of elation must have been considerable.
The Chelsea dressing-room was short of obvious leaders but they emerged for the second-half with more purpose. Luiz remained unpredictable defensively but frequently stepped out to offer an extra man in midfield and provide some variety to Chelsea’s attacks. Yet while Mata, Bosingwa, Daniel Sturridge and Michael Essien all provided fleeting moments of danger, there was often a gaping hole in the centre of Chelsea’s attack. It appeared that a miserable evening had been compounded in the 85th minute when Cole was sent-off, but Bosingwa salvaged an unlikely point with a low drive that deflected off Neil Taylor and beyond Vorm.
Villas-Boas later expressed doubt over Cole’s second booking for a late challenge on Dyer and rejected the accusation that his team had been lucky. Yet after another unconvincing performance, and with Manchester United due at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the dilemma is clear. Does Villas-Boas revert to that tried and tested core who were unavailable last night or does he use the remainder of this season to accelerate the process of change? With Chelsea losing further ground last night on the top three, their ongoing Champions League status is likely to hinge on finding the right answer.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor; Sigurdsson (Agustien 67), Allen; Dyer, Britton, Sinclair (Moore 77) Graham. Goal: Sinclair 39
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole; Malouda (Lukaku 80), Romeu (Essien 65) Meireles; Sturridge, Torres, Mata. Goal: Taylor og 90
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Att: 20,526

==================================

Mail:

Swansea 1 Chelsea 1: Chelsea's late show denies old boy Scott
By MATT BARLOW

Funny how Chelsea should bump into Scott Sinclair and Brendan Rodgers on a day when they recorded another eye-watering annual loss and returned from Wales grateful for a draw they barely deserved.
The Blues finished the game with 10 men after Ashley Cole was sent off four minutes from time and the England left-back will miss Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
It was Jose Bosingwa who rescued a point with a strike in stoppage time that deflected in off Neil Taylor but this was another sobering evening for Andre Villas-Boas.
Swansea had dominated and taken the lead with a brilliant goal from Sinclair, the 22-year-old winger sold for £500,000 by Chelsea after one Barclays Premier League start.
Sinclair has been doing just fine in the top flight in a Swansea team under the guidance of Rodgers, another who left Stamford Bridge to fulfil his ambitions. The Swans have beaten Arsenal and drawn with Tottenham and Chelsea in their last three home games.
Last night, Rodgers stood on the touchline beside Villas-Boas, another former member of Jose Mourinho’s backroom team, who must be aware of whispers from Madrid that the Special One is seeking a move back to England.
All this on the first anniversary of Chelsea’s record transfer splurge on Fernando Torres, who took his personal goal drought through the 1,000-minute mark at Swansea, and David Luiz and the day the club revealed a loss of £67.7million for the year ending June 2011.
It may have been marginally down but includes nearly £30m spent sacking Carlo Ancelotti and recruiting Villas-Boas and his backroom team from Porto.
‘The club is focused on complying with the requirements of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations while maintaining its ability to challenge for major trophies,’ said chairman Bruce Buck, although Chelsea have continued to spend heavily since last June.
Fees for Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, Oriol Romeu, Raul Meireles, Thibaut Courtois and Gary Cahill total more than £70m and Chelsea added Kevin de Bryune yesterday, completing his £6.5m transfer from Genk, where he will spend the rest of the season.
The Blues also signed Nottingham Forest teenager Patrick Bamford for £1.5m. In the absence of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Petr Cech was captain and there was a distinct lack of personality on the pitch as they struggled.
Swansea ought to have taken the lead in the 16th minute from one of the trio of efforts triggered when Cech came out of his area and was beaten to the ball by Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Branislav Ivanovic hurled his body in front of Sigurdsson’s drive and Luiz slid across goal to thwart Danny Graham on the follow-up. Joe Allen collected the loose ball on the edge of the area but Cech recovered to block his shot with his feet.
It may have been spirited last-ditch defending but it emphasised Swansea’s first-half dominance. As at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, Daniel Sturridge was Chelsea’s only real threat in attack.
Torres worked hard without summoning a shot of any kind through the entire game. The Spaniard did manage to set up a chance when he mis-controlled a cross from Luiz into the path of Sturridge, who fired wide.
Another attempt by Sturridge forced Michel Vorm into action and Luiz failed to capitalise on a free header from a corner before Swansea took the lead in the 39th minute.
Bosingwa was unable to clear a free-kick swung in from the right by Gylfi Sigurdsson and his header fell at the feet of Sinclair, who adjusted smartly and hooked the bouncing ball over Cech into the top corner.
‘He’s a terrific talent who just needed a platform like a lot of the young Chelsea players,’ said Rodgers.
Chelsea improved in the second half, forcing Swansea back for long periods yet were unable to open up the Swansea back-four. Instead they were restricted to long-range efforts from Michael Essien and Bosingwa.
Disillusioned Chelsea fans cheered when Florent Malouda was substituted in the 80th minute and, when Cole (left) was dismissed for a second yellow card, for a late sliding tackle on Nathan Dyer, it seemed they had run out of ideas.
Dyer almost grabbed Swansea’s second before Bosingwa drifted into the box from the right and swung his left boot. The shot clipped Taylor on its way through and flashed past Vorm.
‘It was a terrific performance,’ said Rodgers. ‘We deserved to win. We dominated in the first half and we were punished by a deflection.’


==================================

Express:

SWANSEA 1 CHELSEA 1: BLUES TAKE A LIBERTY IN LAST MINUTE
By Tony Banks

THIS PART of South Wales has become a tricky destination for the Premier League’s big boys this season.
Chelsea looked set to become the latest Liberty Stadium victims until Jose Bosingwa got their 10 men out of jail with a last-gasp effort deflected in off Neil Taylor which earned them a point they barely deserved.
Andre Villas-Boas’ side looked to be on the way to their sixth defeat of the season until Bosingwa’s shot from just inside the area three minutes into injury time took a diverson off Taylor and flew into the far corner.
They had looked out for the count at that point, after five minutes earlier seeing Ashley Cole sent off for his second yellow card, while trailing to ex-Chelsea man Scott Sinclair’s superb first half strike.
Chelsea had released figures before the game revealing that they had lost £67.7 million, down from £70.9m the previous year.
It still meant that Roman Abramovich had ploughed more than £1 billion into the club since buying it in 2003. He must have wondered why he bothered at times as his team were outplayed for long spells.
Villas-Boas looked on the bright side, saying: said: “We put in a great effort in the second half and got the reward.
“If we had played like that in the first then we might have got the result.”
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said: “It feels like a defeat. It was a terrific performance and we deserved to win.”
Chelsea left new £7m signing Gary Cahill on the bench again and Swansea, conquerors of Arsenal last time out, and who had previously held Tottenham, set about Chelsea.
As goalkeeper Petr Cech blundered, it took frantic clearances off the line from Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz to keep them out.
But when another free-kick from Gylfi Sigurdsson was only half cleared, Sinclair latched on to it and superbly volleyed home.
Chelsea were by some distance second best – sluggish, unimaginative and sloppy, constantly exposed by Swansea’s pace and invention. But Michael Essien crashed a 30-yard effort over the bar, and Daniel Sturridge stabbed wide as they piled on the pressure.
Fernando Torres, who has now gone 1076 minutes since his last Chelsea goal, was again a peripheral figure. Nathan Dyer almost added a second goal and was then cut down by Cole who was sent off.
It looked all over until Bosingwa’s late effort.
Torres now has just two games before Didier Drogba returns from the African Nations Cup.
Villas-Boas issued a stark warning about what will happen then, saying: “When Didier returns he will be competition. We all know his significance to this team and his record.”

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Allen; Dyer, Sigurdsson (Agustien 67), Sinclair (Moore 77); Graham. Booked: Taylor, Rangel. Goal: Sinclair 39.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Luiz, Ivanovic, Cole; Meireles, Romeu (Essien 65), Malouda (Lukaku 80); Sturridge, Torres, Mata. Booked: Cole, Malouda, Meireles. Sent off: Cole 86. Goal: Taylor 90 og.

Referee: A Marriner (W Midlands).

==========================