Monday, May 25, 2015

Sunderland 3-1




Independent:

Chelsea 3 Sunderland 1
Loic Remy and Diego Costa on target as Champions battle back from a goal down to win
 
Jack Pitt-Brooke  

This was an all-afternoon party with a football match thrown in, as Chelsea were crowned Premier League champions for the fourth time and gave one of their greats a historic send-off. Chelsea, not that it mattered, beat Sunderland 3-1 but took a few minutes out of the first half to say goodbye to Didier Drogba.

This was the last hurrah for Drogba, who announced before the game that he is leaving, at 37 years old, to find more first-team football in the final seasons of his career. He started, was captain – the idea of John Terry – and was roared on to the pitch.
Drogba played for 28 uneventful minutes before his choreographed exit, without precedent in modern sport. When the boards went up, showing Diego Costa was to come on, Drogba embraced his team-mates before they carried him on their shoulders off the pitch. Drogba, from his perch, waved goodbye to the whole stadium, his final farewell.
The Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, ran his plans past his Sunderland counterpart, Dick Advocaat, beforehand and was delighted by the send-off his players gave Drogba. “The players decided between them because they like him a lot,” he said. “I’m really happy because he was part of the other team, but he belongs also to this new Chelsea.”
That, in brief, was the theme of the afternoon, the final handover from the first champion Mourinho team here to the second. Eight members of that first side – Alexei Smertin, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Claude Makelele, William Gallas, Carlo Cudicini and Geremi – were paraded before kick-off, 10 years on from that first title which set up everything which has followed.
 Didier Drogba was carried off the field by his team-mates in his final ever game for Chelsea 
Drogba, of course, is not the only link from that side to this. Petr Cech has also been a feature of both, and he too was rewarded with a start and with the adulation of the crowd. His future, though, is less clear. Cech, like Drogba, wants to play more first-team football and he still has one year left on his contract. Mourinho would love to keep him at Stamford Bridge but admitted it is not entirely in his hands.
“He is a legend of this club,” Mourinho said, “and one of our strengths this season was to have the two best goalkeepers in the Premier League. It is no problem to have both. But I am not in control of Petr’s decision.”
If Cech does leave there will only be John Terry and Mourinho of the 2004-05 team left, and Mourinho spoke quite touchingly about the transition between generations. “To have the champions of 2005 and the champions of 2015 here is an amazing feeling because I feel as if I belong to both,” he said. “That team of 2005 is over, finished. To be back for the end of that team was hard, but my job is Chelsea’s future. It would be my dream to be here in 2025 and be with the champions of 2005, 2015 and 2025.”
Who knows what will happen in 10 years’ time? But when Mourinho challenged these players to “win on a regular basis” it had an ominous ring.
 Loic Remy celebrates his second goal of the afternoon 
The match itself was beside the point – Sunderland had secured safety from relegation on Wednesday – but they took a surprise lead when Steven Fletcher headed in Adam Johnson’s corner. Costa equalised from the spot – the perfect end to his season – before Loïc Rémy scored twice at the end to win the match.
Advocaat could relax, having masterminded safety, and he admitted afterwards he would decide next week whether to sign the two-year deal Sunderland have offered him to stay in charge. He can leave with his head held high, and he is not the only one.

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

Guardian:

Champions Chelsea ensure Drogba’s goodbye against Sunderland ends well
Chelsea 3 - 1 Sunderland

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

It was at 5.12pm when John Terry, the departing Didier Drogba at his side and team-mates coiled to spring at his back, finally hoisted the Premier League trophy. The title had already been theirs for three weeks, although Chelsea’s superiority over allcomers had actually been established during that searing start last autumn and was only fleetingly challenged by Manchester City at the turn of the year. Chelsea have been top for 274 days, the only club of the 92 to remain unbeaten at home. Theirs has been a campaign of utter dominance.
The achievement was rightly celebrated with gusto; players and staff parading with their families amid the ticker-tape as Madness blared out over the public address system and those from the Shed End to the Matthew Harding stand bounced in glee. José Mourinho flung his winner’s medal to his daughter, Matilde, and offered eight fingers to the cameras, the tally of league titles he has secured at four clubs and as many countries. Drogba, crowned by the lid of the trophy, took the microphone and made a point of mentioning the absent Frank Lampard, a scorer for Manchester City on his final appearance in English football at the distant Etihad.
Perhaps all the pomp and circumstance would have been more suited for the immediate aftermath of that victory over Crystal Palace on 3 May, when the title was sealed. At least the joyous delirium gave Drogba and, most likely, Petr Cech fitting sendoffs after glittering careers in these parts. The Ivorian, as befits a player of his charisma, managed to hog the limelight in a last-day win of which he played barely 28 minutes. Chelsea’s captain for the day had been retired from the fray just after Sunderland had taken the lead, the home players propping him on their shoulders – Branislav Ivanovic, Mikel John Obi and Juan Cuadrado took the brunt – and chairlifting him from the field.
It took two minutes for Drogba to depart, the entire coaching staff and the sporting director, Michael Emenalo, waiting on the touchline to clap hands with the striker. The theatre had been pre-arranged, and cleared with Sunderland’s Dick Advocaat before kick-off. It gave the occasion the feel of a testimonial, although some players warrant such adulation.
“He was part of the ‘other’ team,” said Mourinho, a reference to the 2005 Premier League title winners, eight of whose number had joined Cech, Drogba and John Terry on the pitch before kick-off to mark that achievement a decade on. “But he also belongs to this new Chelsea. For these players to know him, train with him, live with him, play with him, share with him is fantastic. He was very, very good for these young people. They learned from a good example.”
His replacement, Diego Costa, duly hauled the hosts level by scoring his 20th league goal of an impressive first campaign in English football from the penalty spot after John O’Shea tripped Cuadrado. Another substitute, Loïc Rémy, scored twice after the interval to ensure the third highest points tally in this club’s history, even if it was Drogba, returning to the pitch post-match, who claimed the match ball as his own. No one was denying him that.
For Cech, an awkward decision awaits. He may already have determined that the time is right to move on, 11 years since he arrived in south-west London, after a frustrating season largely spent playing understudy to Thibaut Courtois. The crowd made clear their desire for him to stay, rejoicing in his denials of Sebastian Larsson, Connor Wickham and Jermain Defoe, even if Steven Fletcher had been able to nod the visitors ahead, having been untracked at a corner beyond the far post.
“He’s a legend of this club but he’s a legend at 33,” Mourinho said of Cech. “And 33 for a goalkeeper is a very young legend. I’m not sure, if Petr was not here to make decisive saves in the seven [league] matches he played, if we could be champions, so his contribution was decisive.” He set Cech’s current team-mates the challenge to secure trophies such as this “on a regular basis”. “This team is just at the beginning,” he added. “It won the Capital One Cup and the Premier League. They have to win more to be better than the side of 2005.”
Sunderland, too, have issues to address. Advocaat’s achievement in staving off relegation was impressive and there is a clamour for him to stay on and instigate the overhaul of the playing staff the Dutchman admitted was necessary. “It’s not up to me because they offered me already two or three years,” he said. “But I have to be honest to myself and to everybody what I will do for the future.”
He will make a decision, in conversation with the sporting director, Lee Congerton, this week at about the same time as Chelsea depart for Thailand and Australia for a post-season tour. The celebrations, to be continued in Monday’s parade through the borough, will be protracted.

Man of the match Loïc Rémy (Chelsea)

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 Sunderland 1: Blues collect Premier League trophy as Didier Drogba and Petr Cech bid farewell

By  Matt Law, at Stamford Bridge

Jose Mourinho displayed eight fingers for his eight career titles before placing the Premier League crown on the head of Didier Drogba as Chelsea celebrated their title success.
Manager Mourinho wants this season’s Premier League trophy to be the start of a new glorious era for him and Chelsea, but it also marks the end of an era for Drogba and most probably Petr Cech.
Drogba was handed the captaincy for the day and was carried off the pitch by his Chelsea team-mates to a standing ovation from fans and the club’s staff in the 30th minute of the victory over Sunderland in a staged tribute to the striker.
One suspects this was also a final Stamford Bridge farewell for goalkeeper Cech, who stood arm-in-arm for ‘selfies’ with Drogba as Chelsea’s players partied on the pitch.
As 37-year-old Drogba posed wearing the top of the Premier League trophy on his head, he conducted the celebrations of the younger players - just as he acted as mentor for the likes of Player of the Year Eden Hazard during the season.
“The substitution of Didier was decided because he had a problem with his knee and, in normal conditions, he could not play for long,” said Mourinho.
“We left him on for half an hour. The captaincy was John’s desire.
“The players to bring him off the pitch? I think that was decided between them because they like him a lot. I’m really happy because he was part of the other [2004/05] team, but he belongs also to this new Chelsea. He was very, very good for these young people - Hazard, Willian, Oscar. They learned from a good example. His was a fantastic contribution this season.” Mourinho refused to accept that this was Cech’s last Chelsea game, insisting the 33-year-old is a “young” legend. Blues fans made their feelings clear by singing “we want you stay.”
“Not just the fans, I also want him to stay,” said Mourinho. “I didn’t sing it, but I keep saying the same. He’s a legend of this club, but he’s a legend at 33. The age of 33 for a goalkeeper is a very young legend.
“One of our strengths this season was to have the two best goalkeepers in the Premier League. When Thibaut (Courtois) was injured, Petr made decisive saves in matches for us. I’m not sure if Petr was not here in these seven matches if we could be champions, so his contribution was decisive.” Asked when talks over Cech’s future will happen, Mourinho added: “I hope never. I hope never, but I don’t know.” Chelsea were one goal down when Drogba was carried off on the shoulders of his team-mates. Adam Johnson’s inswinging corner was headed past Cech at the back post by Steven Fletcher, whose goal was his first for Sunderland since November 3.
But just six minutes after replacing Drogba, Diego Costa netted his 20th Premier League goal of the season from the penalty spot after Juan Cuadrado had been brought down by John O’Shea.
Cuadrado had to be replaced by Loïc Rémy and the Frenchman netted twice to make sure Chelsea signed off in style. His first goal came with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, following good work from Hazard, and his late second was from a Nemanja Matic cross.
Drogba and Cech, together with John Terry, had been part of an on-pitch celebration of the 2004/05 title-winning team ahead of kick-off that was also attended by Carlo Cudicini, Ricardo Carvalho, Claude Makélélé, William Gallas, Geremi, Alexey Smertin, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Paulo Ferreira.
Explaining his personal celebration and how this latest title ranks in his list of achievements, Mourinho said: “Eight [titles] is a lot, eh? I may run out of fingers in the future. Let’s go for ninth and tenth. Then maybe I have to use my feet.
“For me, to have here today the champions of 2004/05 and the champions of 2014/15 is an amazing feeling because I feel as if I belong to both. That team of 2005 is over, finished. I belong to two generations.
“My job is Chelsea’s future and Chelsea’s future is this team that we’ve been working with in the last few years. It’d be a dream to be here in 2025 and be with the champions of 2005, 2015 and 2025. That would be fantastic.
“This team is just at the beginning. It won the Capital One Cup and the Premier League. They have to win more to be better than 2005. You can win something in a certain moment in your career and that’s it. Or, during your career, you can win on a regular basis. That’s what makes the difference between someone who is a champion and ‘the champions’. Let’s motivate them to go in that direction.”
Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat confirmed he has been offered the permanent job and has promised to make a quick decision.
“They offered me already two or three years,” said Advocaat. “I will make a decision as quick as possible, because the club must know.”

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

Mail:

Chelsea 3-1 Sunderland: Loic Remy scores double as champions sign off with victory before lifting Premier League trophy

•Sunderland took the lead through Scotland striker Steven Fletcher who headed home at the back post
•Chelsea replied through Diego Costa's penalty after John O'Shea fouled Juan Cuadrado in the area
•Didier Drogba was carried off by his team-mates after suffering an injury on what will be his final game for the club
•Loic Remy scored a double in the second half to ensure Chelsea's Premier League title party could start in style

By Neil Ashton for the Daily Mail

In the 15 frenzied minutes it took a crew to assemble the stage for Chelsea to receive the Barclays Premier League trophy, their supporters were treated to the raw statistics.
Chelsea had been top of the table for a record 268 days, from the moment they beat Everton 6-3 at Goodison Park on August 30 to this final, momentous day in the English football calendar.
‘That’s why we’re champions,’ they sang from the stands.
Jose Mourinho’s team have been unbeaten at Stamford Bridge, winning 15 matches at home on the way to reclaiming the Premier League title by eight points. ‘Bring on the champions,’ they bayed.
And so they did, one by one until they finally, agonisingly got their hands on some shiny silverware to celebrate in front of their supporters.
There were references to the champions everywhere - more than 100 in the club programme alone - but this is an important day in the history of this club and Mourinho. This lot are winners.
The frenzied celebrations are the start of a 48 hour Chelsea-fest, a party starting at Stamford Bridge that will continue through streets awash with blue and white scarves on Monday.
Their 3-1 victory was almost incidental to the main event, a trophy lift that took place at 510pm, after every member of the backroom staff, coaching staff and playing staff had been wheeled out.
Chelsea have been too good for all comers this season, as they demonstrated by recovering from a goal down to record their 26th victory of a 38 game league programme. The proof is in the pudding.
This sure tasted sweet for those boys in blue, cantering to victory with goals from substitutes Diego Costa, from the penalty spot, and two from Loic Remy after the break.
The trophy lift is a familiar feeling for the captain John Terry, certainly executed far better than the clumsy attempt by the players to hoist Didier Drogba off the field in the 30th minute wearing the captain’s armband.
Drogba had announced, in the hours before kick off, that he would leave Chelsea in search of one final season of first team football farther afield. What a send off it turned out to be.
‘Mr Mourinho came to me before the game and explained it - we knew it would happen,’ admitted Advocaat. ‘It’s no problem, the player deserves it.’ Sunderland had just taken the lead when Steven Fletcher read Adam Johnson’s left footed corner to head Dick Advocaat’s team into the lead after 29 minutes.
It was a spirited start by Sunderland, but the reality is that their season ended when they secured their place in the Premier League with that feverish 0-0 draw at Arsenal on Wednesday.
It has all came together for Chelsea in one joyous celebration, patiently waiting three weeks, since they were confirmed as champions, to get their hands on the trophy itself. The trick is to keep hold of it, to begin the title defence in August with the same resilience and desire that they showed to get back into this game.
Chelsea equalised after 35th minutes when John O’Shea clumsily bundled over Juan Caudrado inside the penalty area to gift them a penalty. Costa, on as a substitute, easily beat Vito Mannone.
They had to wait until late in the second half to pierce Sunderland’s defence again, with Eden Hazard providing the chance for Remy to beat Mannone from long range.
Remy, who had replaced the injured Cuadrado two minutes before half-time, scored again when he read Nemanja Matic’s pass across goal.
There was a glimpse into the future too when the Danish central defender Andreas Christensen was brought on to make his Premier League debut 13 minutes from time. Soon this club will be talking about the past, particularly after Drogba announced that he is to leave Chelsea for the second, presumably final, time. He has been an ambassador for this club.
So has Petr Cech, who will also bid farewell to Chelsea after 10 hugely successful years at the club. Both leave with their heads held high.
‘Petr is a 32 year old legend, and I want him to stay because we have the two best keepers in the Premier League,’ reflected Mourinho, as he sipped champagne and revealed that he had already bought a new watch to celebrate their title win. Mourinho’s smile said so much, handing his daughter Matilde his winner’s medal because his son Jose Junior is in Holland at a tournament with his club Fulham.
Here the lap of honour of appreciation took forever, soaking it all up again as they made their way towards their fans in all four corners of this stadium.
When they clamber on to that bus on Monday, they will be right back at the top.

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

Mirror:
Chelsea finally lift the Premier League trophy after beating Sunderland at Stamford Bridge

By John Cross
 
Goals from Costa and Remy ensured that the Champions got their title-winning party off on the right foot - with a 3-1 victory over the Black Cats

It was as much leaving party as celebration for the champions.
Chelsea legends Didier Drogba, 37, and Petr Cech, 33, were given a wonderful send off as they bid farewell to Stamford Bridge during the post-match knees-up on the pitch.
Drogba’s goodbye was bizarre as he was carried off shoulder high by his team mates - after being substituted to a standing ovation from the fans after just half an hour.
It was the sort of thing you only see in testimonials. And, in truth, it did feel like a friendly at times as Sunderland’s defending didn’t exactly make life difficult for Chelsea.
In fact, Dick Advocaat’s men - already assured of survival - almost played their part in the celebrations as they stood aside and let Chelsea enjoy their coronation.
Steven Fletcher, with his first goal in six months, briefly threatened to be party pooper as he gave Sunderland a 26th minute lead. But it never really looked as if an upset was on the cards.
Diego Costa, who came on for Drogba, equalised from the penalty spot after Sunderland captain John O’Shea tripped Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado in the 37th minute.
Chelsea substitute Loic Remy, who has been a bit part player for so much of the season, showed he might have much to offer next season with two goals, albeit courtesy of some woeful defending.
Remy’s first came after 70 minutes when Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone should have stopped his 20 yard shot. The second came with a tap-in two minutes from time after the Sunderland defence went AWOL.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho paid a glowing tribute to Drogba - who was made captain - while the fans chanted at Cech “we want you to stay” throughout the game.
Mourinho said: “The substitution was decided because he had a problem with his knee and, in normal conditions, he could not play for long. We left him on for half an hour.
“The captaincy was John's desire, to give him the armband. The players to bring him off the pitch? I think that was decided between them because they like him a lot.
“It’s not just the fans, I also want (Cech to stay). I didn't sing it, but I keep saying the same. He's a legend of this club, but he's a legend at 33. 33 for a goalkeeper is a very young legend.
"When Thibaut Courtois was injured, Petr made decisive saves in matches for us. I'm not sure if Petr was not here in these seven matches if we could be champions, so his contribution was decisive.”
Mourinho held up eight fingers during the post-match celebrations to represent the number of titles he has won at four different clubs. But he has already set his sights on more.
“A lot, eh? I may run out of fingers in the future,” said Mourinho who threw his medal to his daughter Matilde into the crowd. “Let's go for ninth and tenth.
“We had the players from 2005 here. It’d be a dream to be here in 2025 and be with the champions of 2005, 2015 and 2025. That would be fantastic, but my future doesn't matter. What matters is Chelsea's future.”
Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat revealed he has been offered a three year deal to stay but admitted the squad needs a major overhaul and says he will announce his decision quickly.
Advocaat said: “Wait and see. It's not up to me, because they offered me already two or three years. But I have to be honest to myself and to everybody what I will do for the future.”

Player ratings
Chelsea: Cech 7, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 7, Mikel 6, Matic 6, Willian 7, Cuadrado 6, Hazard 7, Drogba 6
Subs: Costa 6, Remy 8 MOTM, Christensen 6
Sunderland: Mannone 5, Jones 5, O'Shea 5, Coates 5, Van Aanholt 6, Rodwell 6, Larsson 6, Johnson 6, Defoe 6, Wickham 6, Fletcher 6
Subs: Giaccherini 6

====================
Star:

Chelsea 3 Sunderland 1: Blues round off season in style with emotional goodbyes
AS testimonials go, it was more eventful than most.

By Paul Brown

With the title already long won this was all about celebrating and waving goodbye to some of Chelsea’s greatest.
You can’t blame them. They did all the hard work weeks ago and had the championship wrapped up with three games to spare.
But you don’t often see Premier League games conducted like this.
It felt like a testimonial because to all intents and purposes that’s how Chelsea treated it.
There were free squad posters handed out outside, free flags on every seat and you could even have a free photo taken with a Blues player of your choice superimposed on to it next to you.
They also paraded some of the heroes of their 2005 title win before kick-off.
Jose Mourinho stressed in his programme notes how much Chelsea wanted to sign off with a win, and of course they did.
But he also wrote: “When we clinched the title, the warriors were empty, dry, and it is difficult to be ready to compete.”
And it was what happened in the 28th minute of this match that summed up how seriously they took it.
In a pre-planned move, Didier Drogba was carried off the pitch by his team-mates to a standing ovation.
Mystified Sunderland players didn’t know whether to clap along or complain about timewasting. It’s a good job they didn’t need to win to stay up…
Drogba has been a great servant to Chelsea over the years and deserved a great send-off. Even for the second time.
But it felt a little disrespectful to Sunderland, who briefly threatened to spoil the party when Steven Fletcher headed them in front after an unwitting flick-on by Nemanja Matic at a corner.
Petr Cech was also waving goodbye, and Fletcher’s first goal for Sunderland since November denied the Czech a 229th clean sheet for Chelsea.
Then, nine minutes after Drogba’s exit, his replacement scored the equaliser from the penalty spot.
It was a controversial one too, with John O’Shea barely touching Juan Cuadrado as he went down on the edge of the box.
But after complaining about penalties all season, Mourinho wasn’t complaining this time as Diego Costa struck home his 20th goal of the season.
Chelsea took the lead with 20 minutes to go when fellow substitute Loic Remy fired home past Vito Mannone after a storming run from Eden Hazard.
Hazard, the PFA and FWA player of the year, started the game despite having three wisdom teeth removed earlier in the week. It didn’t seem to affect him.
Mind you. He wasn’t up against much. By the time Remy made it three with a tap-in from a Matic cross in the 88th minute the game was being played at walking pace.
Sunderland had won on two of their previous visits to the Bridge.
But with survival already secured they didn’t put up much of a fight, and end the season a place behind next door neighbours Newcastle.
When it was finally over it was handshakes and hugs all round, a sea of blue flags waving from every stand and owner Roman Abramovich, sleeves rolled up, clapping away in his box.
Chelsea are worthy winners. They’ve been top of the table for a record 268 days.
They have the best manager in the business, the best first XI in the country and the best player in the league in Hazard.
They also have a skipper in John Terry who became the first player on a championship-winning team to play every minute of every game since Gary Pallister did it for Manchester United in 1993.
“That’s why we’re champions” they sang just before Terry finally lifted the trophy. It won’t be the last time they sing it.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 6; Ivanovic 6, Terry 6 Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Mikel 6 (Christensen 78), Matic 6; Cuadrado 6 (REMY 44, 8), Willian 6, Hazard 6; Drogba 5 (Costa 28, 7). Subs: Courtois, Luis, Costa, Christensen, Boga, Solanke
Sunderland: (4-3-3): Mannone 6; Jones 6, Coates 6, O’Shea 5, Van Aanholt 6; Johnson 6 (Giaccherini 75), Larsson 6, Rodwell 6; Wickham 6, Defoe 6; FLETCHER 7. Subs: Pickford, Cattermole, Reveillere, Graham, Vergini, Buckley
Referee: Lee Mason 6

STAR MAN: Loic Remy – Double strike
STAR SHOCKER: John O’Shea – Penalty culprit
Match: 3


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

West Brom 0-3



Independent:

West Bromwich Albion 3 Chelsea 0

Saido Berahino catches the eye as Chelsea lose their cool

Simon Hart

Even Jose Mourinho’s teams take their foot off the gas sometimes and last night, at the Hawthorns, Chelsea paid the price as they fell to their first Premier League defeat since New Year’s Day.

Chelsea have already proven their championship credentials but here they barely stepped out of second gear and duly succumbed to two goals from Saido Berahino – offering a reminder of his rich potential – and a third from Chris Brunt.

For Chelsea it was a third league defeat of the campaign and their heaviest in the Premier League under Mourinho since a 3-0 loss at Middlesbrough in 2006. It means his 2015 vintage cannot reach the 90-point mark they managed in his two previous championship seasons.

From the Londoners’ perspective, though, it was a night which will be best remembered for the bizarre sending-off of Cesc Fabregas, who responded to a melée sparked by Diego Costa by kicking the ball at Brunt to earn a straight red card – a sanction that should mean he will miss the first two games of next season.

One notable statistic before this match was that John Terry was looking to become the first outfield player in a title-winning team to play every minute of every game since Gary Pallister for Manchester United in 1992/93. The old warhorse completed another 90 minutes here, although his uncharacteristic failure to deal with an early cross into the box led to a chance for Callum McManaman, who skipped away from Filipe Luis and flashed in a shot that Thibaut Courtois turned behind.

If that suggested a lack of intensity in the champions’ play, the feeling was confirmed by Berahino’s ninth-minute strike. Given space to turn on to a Joleon Lescot pass just outside the ‘D’ of the penalty box, the Albion forward curled a wonderful first-time strike to the left of Courtois and into the corner.

After the improbable sight of Craig Dawson nutmegging two Chelsea players in succession, Costa did his best to stir the visitors into life, holding off Darren Fletcher and pulling the ball back for Eden Hazard, whose close-range strike was deflected over. However, rather than simply add some spark to proceedings, the Spanish international then decided to chuck in a  flamethrower, starting the flare-up that led to Fabregas’s red card.

John Terry brings down Berahino for a penalty early in the second half John Terry brings down Berahino for a penalty early in the second half (Reuters)

Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous line about former Stamford Bridge favourite Dennis Wise – “He could start a fight in an empty house” – came to mind as Costa shoved Gareth McAuley to the ground off the ball. When the pair squared up again, referee Mike Jones intervened, booking Costa, and it was at that moment that Fabregas kicked the ball into the crowd of players, striking Brunt’s head.

It gave the home fans a pantomime villain to jeer and they almost had another goal to cheer as James Morrison fed Brunt on the left of the area but Courtois made the save. Instead it was Berahino who doubled the lead with his 20th goal of an impressive season from the penalty spot moments after the restart. Terry was the culprit, swiping at Berahino’s right leg as he shaped to shoot, and although Courtois got a hand to Berahino’s strike he could not keep it out.

Terry could easily have been sent off but escaped even a booking and Chelsea’s 10 men nearly found a foothold in the game when Loïc Rémy beat Boaz Myhill with a shot from 20 yards that cannoned off the foot of the post. As it was, the game was up on the hour when Brunt exchanged passes with Craig Gardner from a short corner and carried the ball into the box before arrowing in a shot off the hands of  Courtois at the near post.

Albion have now taken the scalps of both Manchester United and Chelsea in the past fortnight and the celebratory mood was quite a contrast with last season’s final game when the Hawthorns was virtually empty by the time of the team’s misleadingly titled lap of honour – a transformation that speaks volumes for the impact made by Tony Pulis since he replaced Alan Irvine on New Year’s Day.

Saido Berahino celebrates after giving West Bromwich Albion the lead Saido Berahino celebrates after giving West Bromwich Albion the lead (EPA)

An intriguing summer lies in store with chairman Jeremy Peace confirming that “interested parties” – both overseas investors – are conducting due diligence with a view to a takeover. Peace promised a “smooth transition” with Pulis going nowhere, however.

The game offered further evidence of Pulis’s wisdom in recruiting Fletcher and Albion’s performance made it a difficult evening for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who lasted 73 minutes before making way for another youngster, Nathan Aké. Mourinho’s final substitute was debutant Isaiah Brown. A product of the Albion academy who made his league debut at 16 in May 2013, he incensed Albion by departing for Stamford Bridge three months later. Even in defeat, Mourinho had managed a last laugh of sorts.



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


Guardian:


West Bromwich’s Chris Brunt has last laugh after Cesc Fàbregas’s sending off

West Brom 3 - 0 Chelsea


Stuart James at The Hawthorns


This was not the way José Mourinho envisaged the Premier League champions playing out the rest of the season and it is a measure of the damage that was done that the repercussions of a chastening night will be felt at the beginning of the next campaign.

Two goals from the impressive Saido Berahino – his 19th and 20th of the season – and another from Chris Brunt secured a memorable victory for West Bromwich Albion and inflicted Chelsea’s heaviest league defeat under Mourinho since 2006. Yet it was the bizarre red card that Cesc Fàbregas received in the 30th minute that riled the Portuguese more than anything.

Mike Jones, the referee, was dealing with a melee on the other side of the penalty area after Diego Costa had been booked following an off-the-ball altercation with Gareth McAuley, when Fàbregas, stood about 20 yards away, kicked the ball in the direction of a crowd of Albion players and caught Brunt on the side of the head.

Darren Fletcher, the Albion captain, reacted furiously and was straying close to the line – arguably overstepping it – when he confronted the Spaniard, almost running into him. Jones, on the scene moments later, reached for his back pocket and brandished the red card.

The offence will go down as violent conduct and means that Fàbregas, in what was essentially a meaningless game, has picked up a three-match suspension that rules him out of the final fixture of this term, at home against Sunderland, and, much more significantly, the first two matches of next season. The debate about whether the decision was harsh was guaranteed to go on long into the night but whatever the rights and wrongs of the sending off, there is no escaping the fact that it was a stupid thing for Fàbregas to do, especially when the referee was stood so close to Brunt.

Mourinho, not surprisingly, took a dim view of the referee’s decision-making and implied that a more experienced official than Jones would have handled it differently and taken a more lenient view.

“I would like to see it again because what is this sending off for?” the Chelsea manager said. “Where is the danger of the situation? Where is the aggressivity in the situation to get a red card in a friendly game almost? I really don’t understand.

“I think Fletcher was aggressive, yes. He pushes in the chest because he is experienced and he knows where he can push for a yellow card but it’s much more aggressive. What Fàbregas did, for me, a top referee, a stable big personality in control of the game goes there, two or three words, and he’s done. It’s a bizarre red card.” Mourinho suggested that Chelsea have no intention of appealing – “We lose all the time, we have a fantastic record on appealing,” he said sarcastically – but the Portuguese reacted with disbelief when told of the length of the suspension. “Three-game ban for this? Jesus Christ. Three-game ban for this? Harsh? Of course it’s harsh, if you get three games with this.”

It was that sort of night for Chelsea as Albion followed up their 1-0 win over Manchester United earlier in the month with another highly impressive result. While Mourinho had a point when he suggested that Chelsea would have played better if the title was not already in the bag – “I think this is a consequence of being champions so early,” he said in defence of their performance – Albion deserve credit for the way in which they punished the visitors.

Berahino was in the mood from the start and with the transfer window soon to open, chose a good evening to showcase his talent. His first goal, beautifully curled into the far corner from about 22 yards, set Albion on their way after nine minutes and the 21-year-old also won and converted the penalty, after John Terry scythed him down, that doubled their lead two minutes after the restart.

Chelsea, for whom the 19-year-old Ruben Loftus-Cheek made a second successive Premier League start, came close to pulling a goal back when Loïc Rémy’s low shot struck the base of an upright in the 56th minute but four minutes later Albion had a third and the game was effectively over. Brunt played a short corner with Craig Gardner and from just inside the penalty area, unleashed a powerful shot that seemed to beat Thibaut Courtois for pace as it flew inside his near post.

Mourinho gave Isaiah Brown, a former Albion schoolboy, his first senior appearance for Chelsea when he brought him on as a late substitute, but even the sight of ‘the one that got away’ was not going to ruin the home supporters’ evening. “Izzy, Izzy, what’s the score?” chanted the jubilant Albion fans.



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


Telegraph:


West Brom 3 Chelsea 0

Saido Berahino bags double as Cesc Fabregas dismissal sparks collapse

By  Henry Winter, Football Correspondent, at the Hawthorns


Jose Mourinho strode across the pitch at the final whistle, heading towards the Chelsea supporters, the Special One holding up one finger to signal they were No 1 over the season. Chelsea had the title won, their season’s work done, but were simply second best from the first whistle here, despite the exhortations of their travelling support.

Saido Berahino scored twice and was an all-round, high-class irritant to Chelsea while Chris Brunt thundered in a marvellous third for Tony Pulis’s free-flowing West Brom. Chelsea’s hopes dropped and their embarrassment rose at 1-0 down when Cesc Fabregas had a moment of madness, kicking the ball at Brunt’s head and being dismissed for violent conduct. Mourinho complained about the imminent three-game ban but really he should have saved his breath and ire for his errant player.

The Chelsea flaw show really erupted on the half-hour. Diego Costa began the handbags convention, pushing his marker who was being constantly hailed by the Albion fans with the chant of “Gareth McAuley is better than JT”. As Mike Jones was cautioning Costa, the usual arguments broke out, particularly Joleon Lescott and Branislav Ivanovic.

The ball had fallen away to the right and Fabregas decided to contribute to the discourse from afar. Nobody expected the Spanish intervention. With one touch Fabregas knocked the ball five yards forward, and with his next, Fabregas thumped it towards the debating society that had gathered around Jones.

Chelsea rather coyly explained via Twitter that “Fabregas was sent off for kicking the ball in the direction of a group of players, and it hit an Albion player”.

Everyone turned to see who had delivered this mad missile. Fabregas’s mask was never going to hide the identity of the offender. Darren Fletcher got there first, risking censure himself by aggressively pushing Fabregas. John Terry was furious about Fletcher’s response. Jones was focused solely on Fabregas, and brandished the inevitable red card.

This was Fabregas’s first dismissal since Jan 21, 2006, during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Everton. He knocked Tim Cahill over and missed Arsenal’s next game – against Mourinho’s Chelsea. As Fabregas made his way past the technical area towards the tunnel at the Hawthorns, Mourinho ignored him. Fabregas was fortunate that the ball hit Brunt. Its next stop would have been Jones, which would have brought a far longer ban.

Long-running records occupied Chelsea’s thoughts. Their fans’ second-half “We’ve won the league” chant lasted more than half-an-hour, challenging some of their choral endurance efforts, notably the “Chelsea” sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace” at Elland Road in April 1998.

If Terry completes 90 minutes against Sunderland next Sunday, he will become the first outfield player since Gary Pallister in 1992-93 to finish as a champion having played every minute of the season. Frank Lampard was eight minutes short in 2004-05, having been withdrawn early by Mourinho at the Hawthorns. Back during their first title, won by Ted Drake’s side in 1954-55, Derek Saunders and Eric Parsons played all 42 games.

Terry led Chelsea out here as Brunt, Berahino, Fletcher and company formed a guard of honour before setting about the champions of England. Berahino struck after eight minutes. Lescott delivered the ball in from the left for the unmarked Berahino, who was lurking on the edge of the area. As Gary Cahill vainfully tried to close him down, Berahino unleashed his shot, the ball flying between Thibaut Courtois and the keeper’s left-hand upright.

Ending a 10-game drought, Berahino’s 13th Premier League goal of the season meant he has now scored more in the Premier League than the England captain, Wayne Rooney, and there was another to come. Of the contenders for Roy Hodgson’s squad to be announced on Thursday, only Charlie Austin (17) and Harry Kane (20) have scored more. Berahino, though, looks destined for the under-21s party announced by Gareth Southgate at 10.30am on Wednesday.

Fabregas then departed. Chelsea tried to rally. Costa was booed, and soon fouled by Jonas Olsson, presenting Filipe Luis with a free-kick opportunity but Boaz Myhill saved. Although Costa was now in full feisty mood, Albion were in charge, and playing with freedom and invention.

Lescott turned into Franz Beckenbauer briefly, embarking on a run upfield. Claudio Yacob put in an elegant flick. Brunt brought a good low save from Courtois.

Albion struck again two minutes into the second half. When Brunt played the ball through, Berahino turned sharply and was through on goal. Showing a rare lack of composure and timing this season, Terry dived in and brought Berahino down. He could have followed Fabregas but for Cahill covering. Berahino drove his penalty past Courtois.

There is constant talk about the 21-year-old’s future and this was another reminder of Berahino’s quality, and why he will be coveted by others. From Albion’s perspective, it is vital to keep Berahino as he suits Pulis’s tactics so well, playing the front-runner role tirelessly.

Albion fans were loving it, chanting towards the Chelsea faithful: “Champions of England? You’re having a laugh!” The visiting supporters immediately hit back with: “Champions of England – you’ll never sing that!” (Apart from 1920).

Watching their team disintegrate, Chelsea fans contented themselves with chanting “We’ve won the league”. Loïc Rémy hit a post but it was West Brom scoring next on the hour. When Brunt cut in from the right, Chelsea’s defence was again sluggish, allowing him to drill his left-footed shot past Courtois.

Berahino was substituted to great acclaim with 11 minutes remaining, being replaced by Brown Ideye, and passing the incoming Chelsea substitute Izzy Brown. There is still some anger at the Hawthorns over how the home-grown Brown left them for only £1 million.

“Izzy played against Wigan when he was 16 for us, and we lost him the following year,’’ said the chairman Jeremy Peace earlier this season. “He just didn’t come back for pre-season. It’s the carrot dangled in front of the parents. It will be interesting to see who ends up furthest [Berahino or Brown].”

Brown was greeted with chants of “One greedy b------” and “Izzy – what’s the score?” Albion do receive additional cash for each block of five appearances that Brown makes for Chelsea. He led the line briefly but it was soon all over, bar the Mourinho pointing.



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


Mail:

West Brom 3-0 Chelsea: Saido Berahino scores deadly double and Cesc Fabregas sees red for moment of madness as Blues lose

By Neil Ashton for the Daily Mail


Jose Mourinho has watched the champions hit most of their targets this season. Most goals, most wins, pretty much most of everything.

Here at The Hawthorns, on a barmy night for the game, Cesc Fabregas hit the bullseye when he inexplicably let fly with a ball that smacked Chris Brunt on the side of the head from the best part of 20 yards. Two questions remain unanswered: how, and why?

It was struck with such piercing accuracy that it belonged to a coaching academy, a masterclass in target practice as the West Brom midfielder’s bonce shuddered with the shock.

‘Three game ban for this?’ Mourinho inquired. ‘Jesus Christ.’ The tremors could be felt all over the world after the Barclays Premier League champions were so soundly beaten. Fabregas brought back memories of the day when a youth team player at West Ham’s Chadwell Heath training ground was caught on camera hitting Harry Redknapp on the head as part of a dare.

The almighty thwack here, along with the inevitable red card from referee Mike Jones, did nothing to take the gloss off this extraordinary win for Tony Pulis and his rampant West Bromwich team.

By the end West Brom’s players were patting the champions on the head, ruffling their hair as they took the clippers to Mourinho’s team. They were razor sharp here. This victory is one to cherish for Pulis, looking on from his technical area with quiet satisfaction as two goals from Saido Berahino and a beauty from Brunt humbled the champions.

By then West Brom were already ahead, sitting on the eighth minute lead given to them by Berahinho when he received the ball on the edge of the area from Joleon Lescott.

With a twist of his shoulder he took Chelsea defender Gary Cahill out of the game and with barely any backlift he beat the outstretched left arm of Thibaut Courtois.

Berahino ran for the TV cameras, kissing the lens after planting a smacker beyond the Belgian No 1.

His game was full of passion, with the raucous West Brom supporters in the Smethwick End showering him with love as he celebrated in front of them.

The place went bonkers, with West Brom’s brilliant support serenading their heroes with cries of ‘Ole’ every time they touched the ball towards the end of the first half. It was compelling.

So too was the incident leading up to the dismissal of Fabregas because this had been building from the moment West Brom captain Darren Fletcher left a bit on Diego Costa.

The Chelsea forward had begged Mourinho to play, pulling on his No19 shirt for the first time since April 4. Self-discipline is not his strong point.

He was spoiling for a fight as usual, giving it large to Gareth McAuley, among others, when he threatened to invade the centre forward’s personal space. Here he was a waste of space, replaced by the former West Brom academy graduate Izzy Brown in the second half. Chill out, man.

After that it was all about West Brom, with their potent, vibrant football lifting them into 13th place in the Premier League after this stirring win. McAuley, Lescott, Fletcher and Berahino were magnificent here.

There was a sense that the second goal was coming, with that feeling lingering in the air as West Brom launched wave upon wave of attack towards the end of the first.

They were made to wait, but not for long, because Chelsea captain John Terry gave away a penalty a minute into the second half when he brought down Berahinho.

The West Brom striker scored from spot, beating Courtois with a low drive to the keeper’s right. Pulis’ team had snapped and snarled, denying Fabregas, Hazard and Loic Remy room to operate with their usual freedom. West Brom did a number on those three little tricksters.

‘Darren Fletcher, he’s won more than you’ rang out around this stadium, a tribute to a player who has captained this team with distinction since his move from Manchester United.

Hazard toiled out on the left, lacking his customary zest after a season that he will remember for winning the PFA player of the year award and the FWA Footballer of the Year.

He had a decent chance when he exchanged passes with Costa in the first half, but somehow he managed to lift his effort over Boaz Myhill’s crossbar.

This was all about West Brom, though, and they added a third in the 60th minute with a clever set-piece move out on the right that was finished with a low drive from the boot of Brunt.

It finished the night off handsomely for Pulis, turning to Mourinho on the side of pitch to tell him that the champions have been head and shoulders above anyone else.

For the champions, this was nothing more than a slap round the face.



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


Mirror:

West Brom 3-0 Chelsea: Cesc Fabregas sees red as champions slump to defeat at the Hawthorns

By John Cross


Cesc Fabregas was sent off as Chelsea’s end-of-season tour went horribly wrong at The Hawthorns.

West Brom’s two goal hero Saido Berahino piled on the embarrassment for ten-man Chelsea as the champions looked as if they have packed up for the summer already.

And Fabregas will also get an extended summer break because his red card means he will get a three match ban which means he misses the start of next season.

Fabregas got his marching orders in the 29th minute after bizarrely kicking the ball and hitting West Brom midfielder Chris Brunt on the side of the head.

But Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho refused to blame Fabregas or his players - and instead claimed their title rivals were to blame for their defeat.

Mourinho said: “A three game ban for this? Jesus Christ. Of course it’s harsh. I would like to see it again. What is it a sending off for? Was it aggressive? Darren Fletcher pushed Fabregas and was more aggressive.

“The ideal scenario was to be champions, go on holiday and not play again. Look at Bayern Munich they have lost their games since winning the title. We have taken one point from our last two games.

“Let’s blame the players a little bit, myself a little bit, but also the other contenders for not being good enough to challenge us until the end. If we had still needed to win that game, would we have got the result? We won’t know.”

It doesn’t help when Chelsea striker Diego Costa - back after a six week injury absence - looks as if he could start a fight in an empty room.

Typically it was Costa who started the melee which led to Fabregas’s red card. Costa was booked after a ding-dong with Albion defenders Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson.

But as the players swarmed around the referee in the penalty box, Fabregas kicked the ball towards the group, hit Brunt on the side of the face and got himself sent off.

It was a moment of madness in a bizarre game which saw Berahino fire West Brom ahead with a glorious ninth minute opener as Chelsea suffered only their third defeat of the season.

Chelsea were already down to ten men when they conceded a second from a penalty a minute after the restart. John Terry upended Berahino in the box and the West Brom striker fired in the spot kick. Few strikers have given Terry such a hard game this season.

Brunt then completed the victory with a stunning 20 yard pile driver on the hour mark which beat Courtois.


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


Express:


West Brom 3 Chelsea 0: Baggies stun champions with Berahino at the double

CESC FABREGAS was sent off in bizarre circumstances as champions Chelsea were brought crashing down to earth by West Brom.

By Brendan McLoughlin

Saido Berahino netted twice to take his tally to 20 for the campaign with Chris Brunt adding a third, as Jose Mourinho’s team slumped to a first Premier League defeat since New Year’s Day.

Yet it was the extraordinary 29th-minute red card of Fabregas for which the contest will be ultimately remembered.

With play stopped, the Spain international, some 20 yards away, mindlessly kicked the ball into a crowd of players – still tussling after Diego Costa and Gareth McAuley had clashed – and struck Brunt on the head.

Altogether it was very much a night to forget for the Blues, with the second half played out to a chorus of “We’ve won the league” from their supporters.

Callum McManaman fired an early warning to Chelsea within five minutes, getting the better of Filipe Luis before flashing a shot goalwards from an acute angle, which Thibaut Courtois did well to divert away for a corner with his knees.

The Belgium international had no answer to Berahino’s brilliance four minutes later, however, as the Baggies forward ended a nine-match goal drought.

He controlled Joleon Lescott’s sideways pass 20 yards out and whipped a wonderful, arcing shot inside the right upright.

But after Chelsea’s Eden Hazard had a shot diverted for a corner came the controversy.

Costa was cautioned after he clashied with McAuley off the ball. Fabregas then booted the ball and hit Brunt and, after receiving a furious shove from Albion skipper Darren Fletcher, he received his marching orders from referee Mike Jones.

Chelsea, though, almost levelled when Luis forced a fine save from Boaz Myhill with a well-executed free-kick.

Within two minutes of the restart, Albion were celebrating again. Once again, Berahino was the thorn in Chelsea’s side, turning sharply to outfox Gary Cahill before being sent tumbling inside the penalty area after being clearly caught by John Terry.

Chelsea’s captain, having been the last man, could count himself somewhat fortunate to escape without sanction. Berahino dusted himself down before lashing his penalty into the right corner. Courtois guessed correctly but the shot just had too much venom.

The 57th minute provided further evidence it was not Chelsea’s night as Loic Remy, having side-stepped Claudio Yacob, cracked a shot against the inside of the left post before the ball was scrambled to safety.

It went from bad to worse for Chelsea on the hour mark.

A quickly taken short corner between Brunt and substitute Craig Gardner handed the Northern Ireland international a sight of goal and his driven shot squirmed underneath Courtois to beat the keeper at his near post.

West Brom (4-5-1): Myhill; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Lescott; Brunt, Fletcher, Yacob, Morrison (Baird 89), McManaman (Gardner 54); Berahino (Ideye 79). Booked: Fletcher, Olsson, Gardner.  Goals: Berahino 9, 47 pen, Brunt 60. NEXT UP: Arsenal (a), Sun PL.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis; Loftus-Cheek (Ake 73), Matic; Remy (Brown 79), Fabregas, Hazard; Costa (Cuadrado 64). Booked: Costa, Cuadrado. Sent off: Fabregas 29. NEXT UP: Sunderland (h), PL.

Referee: M Jones (Cheshire).


===========

Star:


West Brom 3 Chelsea 0: Berahino double helps Baggies embarrass Blues as Fabregas sees red

SAIDO BERAHINO scored twice as champions Chelsea slumped to only their third league defeat of the season.


By Dave Armitage


But Chelsea were also hit by Cesc Fabregas bizarre sending off as their 16-match unbeaten run, stretching back to New Year's Day came to an abrupt halt at The Hawthorns.

Berahino double strike and one from Chris Brunt capped off a miserable last away day for Jose Mourinho's table-toppers.

Mourinho pointed one finger aloft in front of the travelling fans at the end so this was only a minor irritation.

His side had come out to be saluted with a West Brom guard of honour but that was about as respectful as Albion got as they ripped into the visitors right from the off.

Fabregas' hopes of setting a new Premier League assists record were blown out of the water when he was sent off after 30 minutes for launching a ball at a melee of players and hitting Brunt smack on the head.

His act of stupidity means he misses the chance to take his total of 18 past Thierry Henry's best-ever mark on 20 into the bargain.

Berahino set the ball rolling with a stunning first half goal and a penalty just a minute into the second half.

Brunt blasted home a third on the hour as the ten-man champions struggled to cope.

Anyone who thought it would be a rather tame end of season affair was in for a shock. It was action from the word go and not all of it to suit the purists.

Mourinho resisted the temptation to field a few of his kids and it's probably just as well, as tempers flared in an incident-packed first half hour.

Both teams were at it from the word go and in the ninth minute Berahino rocked the champs with a goal of stunning quality.

The young striker latched onto a short ball from Joleon Lescott, got it into his stride and unleashed an unstoppable 20-yarder into the far corner of the net.

Courtois launched every last inch of his giant frame through the air but couldn't get near the ball as it flew into the far corner of his net.

Then the fun and games really started, finishing with Fabregas' mindless red card.

It started with a dust-up which left everyone wondering where to look next, even referee Mike Jones, who briefly looked like he was losing control.

Diego Costa had already barged Gareth McAuley to the floor before trying to manhandle him again which led to the two squaring up

The referee had to intervene, but as he was sorting it out with a yellow card to the Chelsea man, Fabregas bizarrely kicked the ball into the group from a good 20 yards away.

His ability to pick out a man is legendary but this time he struck Brunt on the head and Mr Jones decided enough was enough and Fabregas was off..

The second half carried on just where the first had finished, Berahino grabbing a second from the spot within a minute of the re-start.

John Terry had sent the fleet-footed striker tumbling with a challenge that was a split-second too late and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Remy so nearly got one back for the visitors but his shot bounced out off the post just before Brunt capped it off with a third minutes later.

WEST BROMWICH (4-5-1): Myhill; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Lescott; Yacob, Morrison (Baird 89), Fletcher, McManaman(Gardner 54), Brunt; Berahino (Ideye 79). Subs not used: Rose, Wisdom, Anichebe, Mulumbu.

CHELSEA(4-4-2): Courtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis; Matic, Loftus-Cheek (Ake 73), Fabregas, Hazard; Costa(Cuadrado 64), Remy (Brown 79). Subs not used: Blackman, Mikel, Azpilicueta, Chistensen.

REFEREE: Mike Jones.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Liverpool 1-1


Independent:

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1

John Terry and Steven Gerrard on target as draw hands Manchester United Champions League football

Sam Wallace

The 185th goal of Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool career was not one to put alongside all those last-gasp game-changers or trophy-clinching interventions of old, but it was at least one last reminder of just how much he will be missed at the club he has served for so long.
As Brendan Rodgers pointed out afterwards, his skipper has scored the important goals in both Liverpool’s previous games and now has just two more matches in the red No 8 shirt before he calls it a day at the only club of his life. Today was remarkable for the ripple of applause around Stamford Bridge when Gerrard was substituted with 11 minutes left in a stadium that is consumed with baiting the Liverpool captain.

It was led by Jose Mourinho who has gone to his usual lengths this week to tell everyone how much he loves his “dear enemy” Gerrard, the generosity he is prepared to show when the title is in the bag and non-one represents a threat any longer. He was at it again today, describing a career in the MLS as an “El Dorado holiday” and leaving no-one in any doubt that, as far as he was concerned, Gerrard was effectively retiring.
Even so, the applause was a strange moment given the animosity between the two clubs’ supporters which otherwise went on unchecked. It was hard to know what that gesture meant in the grand scheme of things and you got the feeling that there would have been much less of it if Chelsea were still involved in a title race.

It was the last time Gerrard would go head-to-head with John Terry too, another former England captain and a player with whom his career has been entwined. Seven months younger than Gerrard, Terry is readying himself for another season as a Premier League captain and he scored again against Liverpool, making him the highest scoring defender in the league’s 23-year history. In fact he was arguably man of the match.
Terry’s opening goal, a header after five minutes, was one thing but it was a brilliantly-timed penalty-box tackle late in the game on the powerful Jordon Ibe which summarised the Chelsea captain’s superb season.

Gerrard has now played his last game against one of the big clubs of English football and Liverpool have as good as lost that last Champions League place to Manchester United. They need a six-point and 14-goal swing to secure fourth place now and even the ever-optimistic Rodgers was in no mood to apply the power of positive thought when it came to the last two games of the season.
The Premier League season is slowly fizzling out and no amount of pre-game bells and whistles can change that mood. Not content with the pre-match guard of honour from Liverpool, Chelsea laid on a novelty blue carpet and the flame bursts that are de rigueur now at any match that feels a bit underwhelming in terms of atmosphere.

There was a strange start to the game when Cesc Fabregas kicked Raheem Sterling on the ankle with the kind of tackle that might have been a red card at a different time in a different game to this off-key, slowed-down occasion. Andre Marriner got himself in a muddle, getting out a red card first for John Obi Mikel, then a yellow before he corrected himself and booked Fabregas.
Later, Rodgers would say that Fabregas should have been dismissed for the tackle in a press conference in which he was scarcely able to conceal his despondency at how the season is finishing for Liverpool. Mourinho made some effort not to rise to the bait saying that he did not want any more of the “theatre” that had followed the two sides’ Capital One Cup semi-final.
The Chelsea goal came soon after. Rickie Lambert was badly static and allowed Terry to jump over him and head the ball in direct from a Fabregas corner. It was another slow start for Liverpool which their manager would have cause to bemoan later on.

Mourinho made five changes from the team that beat Crystal Palace with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the 19-year-old Lewisham lad from the Chelsea academy promoted for his first league start. This is, of course, Mourinho’s next challenge, bringing through a few of the kids from the all-conquering academy. But there will be no passengers with him. These kinds of games are precisely the sort of chances that will have to be seized by Loftus-Cheek and his peers.
Later, Mourinho said that he would give a chance to the Under-21s’ Nathan Ake and Isaiah Brown in next weekend’s game against West Bromwich Albion, with the West Midlands club having first developed Brown before he was signed by Chelsea. Against Sunderland at home on the last day of the season Mourinho pledged to play his best side which does not bode well for Dick Advocaat’s team if they need points to survive then.

Gerrard, playing holding midfield, did not have the happiest of times in the first half. There was an unfortunate tumble when he tried to tackle Fabregas and the usual frustrations trying to get Liverpool going. Then, from nowhere, he arrived at the back post to head in a Jordan Henderson free-kick having been completely unmarked when Mikel and Gary Cahill got mixed up.
It was not the sort of goal that Chelsea, in full Mourinho-mode usually concede. Cahill, on for the injured Kurt Zouma, seemed to block the path of Mikel as he did a bad job of tracking Gerrard. There were no exuberant celebrations from Gerrard. It wasn’t one of those goals.
After half-time there was a much better performance from Liverpool and they had the best of the second half, although too few chances created to win it. The best opportunity  fell to Philippe Coutinho on 49 minutes when Sterling cut the ball back to the Brazilian, who missed the target. Chelsea struggled to create a treat in attack while their long-term injured striker Diego Costa amused himself by sitting among the fans in the east stand.

Latterly, Rodgers brought on the teenagers Jerome Sinclair, 18, and Ibe, 19, the former of whom was Liverpool’s youngest player of all time when he made his debut at 16 and six days in 2012. An indication, perhaps, of where the Liverpool manager’s thoughts are for next season. The Champions League will not be a concern this time around.


===========

Guardian:


Liverpool’s Champions League dreams end with draw at champions Chelsea
Chelsea 1 - 1 Liverpool

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge


For Liverpool, the game is up. An afternoon which had begun with a grudging show of respect for the newly crowned Premier League champions, the visitors lining up along either side of a blue carpet to form a guard of honour as Chelsea trooped triumphantly into the arena, ended with Champions League football effectively out of their reach. Given the constant and bellowed reminders of the destiny of this season’s title, this was a galling occasion for those in red.

The deficit from the top four has been extended to six points with two games to play, and goal difference counting horribly against them. As “outstanding” as Brendan Rodgers insisted his team were after the interval, this performance failed to yield the victory which would have preserved those fading chances. Instead, the talk in the aftermath was of a “big summer ahead” when shrewd recruitment, and presumably plenty of persuasion if key targets are to be secured, will be required if their challenge is to prove more persuasive next year. A Europa League campaign most likely awaits, and that will create its own disruption.

In truth Liverpool, as the team with something at stake, had felt the more threatening of the sides on show with Chelsea, as José Mourinho conceded, struggling throughout to generate proper intensity to their approach having already secured the campaign’s most glittering prize. Yet, for all that Raheem Sterling, Jordan Ibe and the league debutant, Jerome Sinclair, buzzed disconcertingly in enemy territory, supplied by the elusive Philippe Coutinho, the visitors lacked the quality to prevail. The Brazilian saw a late shot deflected off Gary Cahill to wrong-foot Thibaut Courtois for a split second, though the chance played out in slow motion and the goalkeeper was able to flop down on the loose ball. It all rather summed up Liverpool’s season, a campaign when the goals of Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge have been so sorely missed. They lacked bite here to inflict proper wounds.
The goals that were mustered in a disjointed contest were supplied by the old guard. John Terry’s opener had been thumped in early, Cesc Fàbregas’s corner veering into the penalty area for the centre-half to rise too easily above Rickie Lambert and plant a header down and beyond Simon Mignolet and Steven Gerrard on the goal-line. The goal was Terry’s 39th in the Premier League, establishing him as the highest scoring defender in the revamped top flight.

Liverpool complained, with some justification, that his supplier should not have been on the pitch even then, Fábregas having been guilty of a nasty foul on Sterling’s right ankle in the opening 25 seconds. “He should have been sent off,” said Rodgers. “It was out of control, diving [in], stretching. A poor challenge.” Andre Marriner had actually flashed a red card at Mikel John Obi, so off the pace had he been in that opening minute, before correcting that to a lenient yellow for Fábregas. The confusion hardly inspired confidence.
The visitors’ response to the concession had actually been impressive, sparked as it was by Coutinho spitting shots at goal for Branislav Ivanovic to block and Courtois to save, though parity was only restored when their own captain made his presence felt. Ivanovic’s foul on Adam Lallana earned a free-kick which Jordan Henderson arced over the muddle in the six-yard box. Gerrard, having edged away from Mikel, was unmarked as he nodded in his first goal against these opponents in a decade.
It was his first ever reward at Stamford Bridge, an arena where he has been mercilessly heckled over the years, memories of which would not be erased by the charitable and admirable ovation granted him by all corners of the ground upon his substitution 11 minutes from time. Mourinho praised that reaction for the “dear enemy” who will not grace this stage again. Gerrard, himself, was not quite ready to forgive and forget.

Chelsea had actually been denied a potential farewell of their own, Petr Cech having cried off the fixture with a minor calf injury having been pencilled in to start the game. “The next game, at West Bromwich Albion [on Monday week], he plays,” said Mourinho, who intends to pick the likes of Nathan Aké and Isaiah Brown at the Hawthorns. “Izzy Brown came from West Bromwich so it’ll be special for the kid to play in that house … the boys deserve it, all of them, but I can’t give a special day for everyone.”

He offered Ruben Loftus-Cheek an hour here on his first Premier League start, with the teenager doing little wrong in a midfield brief before being withdrawn as his manager sensed Liverpool’s late urgency might leave him exposed. “Coutinho was getting more space between the lines, so it was best for the boy to leave,” added the Portuguese. “But it was a fantastic experience for him, to feel the intensity and the speed of the game. He’s going to be a Chelsea player, that’s no doubt. I’m happy.”
The same cannot be said for Liverpool, even with the point secured on a ground where Chelsea remain unbeaten in the league. For Rodgers, and the hierarchy at Anfield, a pivotal summer awaits.


Man of the match Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)

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

Telegraph:


Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1
Steven Gerrard unable to rescue Liverpool's Champions League hopes
By Henry Winter, Stamford Bridge


Steven Gerrard hit Chelsea with a header during the match and a volley after it. Presented with an opportunity to commend Chelsea fans for their standing ovation as his farewell tour took in an otherwise bilious Bridge, Liverpool's captain responded by lambasting them for their abusive songs and "Caution - slip hazard" laminated placards about him.
He could have been diplomatic and decorous, could have been polite and thanked his hosts for the momentary cessation of hostilities but the Huyton kid in him came out fighting. "Chelsea fans have shown me respect for a couple of seconds but slaughtered me all day,'' he told Sky. "It was nice of them to turn up for once today". Ouch.
This was Gerrard unplugged, unconsidered, undignified. His barb resembled the verbal equivalent of his battering challenge on Manchester United's Ander Herrera at Anfield on March 22. Take that. The twilight of his career almost carries echoes of his early days, the reckless challenges and heated moments.
Gerrard is, of course, too professional, and too dedicated to Liverpool's cause to use these final moments to settle old scores but it doesn't half feel like it. Thoughts of his finest moments in that famous shirt are clearly at the forefront of his mind as he prepares to wear it for the final time. Last week, Gerrard was asked by a BBC reporter whether his goal against QPR "was your best ever header?" He replied: "Istanbul wasn't bad."
To which the reporter remarked: "I forgot about that." "I don't,'' was Gerrard's instant response.
The curtain falling on a celebrated career is inevitably emotional which might explain his outburst which actually left Chelsea fans occupying the moral high ground. It is, perhaps, slightly harsh to criticise Gerrard when only those who have been in his situation, taking corners as foam-flecked strangers a yard away berate him, his family and his faulty footing, can understand the pressure but he should take their caustic chants as compliments. Closing fast on his 35th birthday, a usually reflective character should note that rival fans rarely bother singing about poor opposition players.
He has endured it before and received plenty here. Walking towards the Matthew Harding stand to take a first-half corner, Gerrard was greeted with countless hand gestures which would not be found in nearby Knightsbridge etiquette schools. When Liverpool's captain fell over at one point, deceived by a turn from the outstanding Cesc Fabregas, the Chelsea fans crowed "he slips when he wants", harking back to Gerrard's stumble at Anfield last season that allowed Demba Ba to score and effectively end Liverpool's title dream.
Chelsea fans have long insulted the symbol of Liverpool because he rejected their overtures in 2004 and 2005, choosing to stay at Anfield, because of a decade-long duel with Frank Lampard and because of residual grief over the 2005 Champions League "ghost goal" semi-final. Spilling over into the national sphere, there has always been the issue over the England armband which the Shed and Matthew Harding ends felt belonged to John Terry. How fitting that Terry should score here, taking early control of the plot-line, before Gerrard equalised, claiming the focus back.
He refused to celebrate only his second goal in 40 games against Chelsea, seemingly because he wanted to get on with trying to secure all points but his withdrawal on 79 minutes was sportingly acknowledged by Chelsea fans. Jose Mourinho held his thumb up in appreciation of the crowd's salute, although moments later many launched back into the Gerrard "slip" song. At the final whistle, Mourinho embraced a player he called a "dear enemy", a powerhouse midfielder he tried to recruit for Inter Milan and Real Madrid as well as twice during his first Chelsea spell. Gerrard was finally in Mourinho's clutches, and then was gone, down into the tunnel, towards an inviting microphone.
Maybe there was also frustration at the outcome shaping his words. Maybe he felt time's unforgiving passage with a young English central-midfielder stepping into the fray and impressing. Ruben Loftus-Cheek did well on his full debut for Chelsea, making some good interceptions, snaking out those long legs to nick the ball, shadowing Philippe Coutinho, and distributing the ball simply and accurately. All of his 27 passes found their intended destination.
Maybe Gerrard was aggrieved that the draw all but condemned Liverpool to the Europa League, a fate that Chelsea fans certainly mentioned loudly. Liverpool are now six points and 14 goals adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United with only two games remaining. Gerrard would have loved to have left for LA Galaxy with the satisfaction of having helped his beloved club into the Champions League but it is not to be. United, another team Gerrard has issues with, have surely secured Champions League football - the season's main mission accomplished for Louis van Gaal.
Maybe it was simply a Chelsea v Liverpool thing. Amazingly, given the enmity between the sides, there were half-and-half Chelsea and Liverpool friendship scarves on offer outside Stamford Bridge for £10, although the salesman admitted he was prepared to negotiate. Maybe it was the sight of Terry scoring, meaning that Chelsea defenders have now contributed 20 goals in all competitions this season. With Luis Suarez gone and Daniel Sturridge injured, Liverpool have laboured for goals and Gerrard is their top scorer with 12, eight in the Premier League.
Whatever his post-match dig, Gerrard began the afternoon in gracious mode, forming a guard of honour as Terry and the new champions emerged and walked down a blue carpet. There was no standing on ceremony by the champions. Fabregas lunged at Raheem Sterling, catching the Liverpool attacker on the ankle. Andre Marriner deemed Fabregas' dangerous challenge worthy only of yellow, laughable really given the velocity and venom.
Fabregas was soon inflicting more damage on Liverpool with his 18th Premier League assist of the season. He curled in a corner that dropped towards a melee of players, holding and baulking. Terry wanted the ball most, attacking it with strength and timing, beating Rickie Lambert to head it powerfully past Simon Mignolet. In registering his 39th Premier League goal, Terry broke David Unsworth's record for a defender in the division. Terry's path of celebration took him close to the Liverpool fans in the Shed and he sensibly turned away, although not before a missile whistled past. Antagonism could be heard and seen all over, especially when Gerrard was in possession.
On the cusp of half-time, he scored. When Jordan Henderson lifted in a free-kick from the left, Gerrard escaped John Obi Mikel to direct a downward header into the net for his first goal against Chelsea since October 2005. Gerrard and his team emerged first for the second half, and played well. A mazy run from Sterling ended with a cutback for Coutinho, who shot just wide. Gerrard was then substituted, giving the Chelsea fans their chance to clap him and then castigate him. Old hostilities resumed, continued by Gerrard after the final whistle.

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


Mail:


Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool:
Steven Gerrard threatens to spoil title party with equaliser but Jose Mourinho's side extend unbeaten run to all but end the Reds' Champions League dreams
MATT BARLOW


The sense of awkwardness lingered long after Liverpool had formed a guard of honour to welcome their triumphant hosts.
Only a win would have changed that — and the fact that they could not produce one against a coasting Chelsea team means Brendan Rodgers requires a miracle if his side are to return to the Champions League next season.
Liverpool shuffled out uneasily for the new-fangled tradition of applauding the champions onto the pitch. And they shuffled off at the end, heads bowed, aware they were now six points behind Manchester United with two to play and 14 worse off on goal difference.
For all their dashing approach play, goals are a problem. They smashed the century last season as they finished second behind Manchester City, but Steven Gerrard's simple back-post header which equalised John Terry's opener was only the 50th this term.
It has left a black hole, which is pulling them towards the unloved Europa League after this campaign which has reinforced the theory that only Luis Suarez (helped perhaps by no European competition) lifted them briefly back into the elite.
Suarez is not about to return, Daniel Sturridge remains injured and Gerrard, having proved in the last two games he can still summon an important goal and influence results, is bound for Los Angeles.
It was nice that Chelsea supporters followed Jose Mourinho's lead and applauded Gerrard off, but they have taunted him relentlessly since his costly slip at Anfield, this time last year. And it is easier to be magnanimous with the title in the bag.
Mourinho's infamous 'little horse' was never that small, but it has grown and gathered pace as Liverpool lost ground which will be hard to reclaim.
Chelsea coasted through the occasion in a mood of self-congratulation set by the guard of honour and pre-match flamethrowers and boosted by Mourinho, who awarded a first start to teenager Ruben Loftus-Cheek and a recall for John Obi Mikel.
Kurt Zouma came in at centre-half for the experience, only to limp off with a knee injury before half-time, and Petr Cech would have played too, according to the manager, were it not for a slight calf problem.
Still, the champions had few problems keeping the visitors at arm's length and, compared to recent fiery clashes, it was all rather tame, despite a flashpoint which exploded inside a minute and caught out referee Andre Marriner.
Cesc Fabregas was late as he slid into a midfield tackle on Raheem Sterling, which left the Liverpool winger writhing in agony, clutching his right ankle. Marriner let play flow, but when the ball went dead he sought out Mikel and showed him the red card.
As Mikel recoiled in shock, the referee took advice from an assistant, made some hasty apologies, explaining it had been a mistake and showed a yellow card to Fabregas. Mikel was eventually booked in the second half.
In truth, the Fabregas tackle could easily have been interpreted as a straight red. Rodgers certainly thought so - and that might have made for a very different game.
As it was, Sterling completed 90 minutes, although in obvious discomfort and, a few minutes after his escape, Fabregas delivered the swerving corner from which Chelsea took the lead.
Terry was the man on the end of it, climbing high above Rickie Lambert to thump a powerful header past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and Gerrard, who was covering on the line.
It was the eighth of the season for the Chelsea captain and the 65th of his club career. It also hoisted him clear at the top of the list of top-scoring defenders in the Premier League, with 39.
Stamford Bridge reacted as if that was that, but Liverpool responded well to the set-back and were level, two minutes before the interval.
Branislav Ivanovic fouled Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson curled the free-kick towards the far post, where Gerrard drifted away from Cahill and Mikel to nod in a simple finish from a couple of feet out, his second headed goal in as many games having grabbed the winner against Queen's Park Rangers.
Liverpool improved after the break. 'Outstanding,' said Rodgers, but, in all honesty, it fell quite flat. There were tantalising glimpses of skill from Lallana as he wriggled by Ivanovic and Philippe Coutinho rippled the side-netting after a burst of energy from Sterling.
On went Nemanja Matic in a bid to generate a healthier tempo and add aggression to the midfield and off came Loftus-Cheek. Mourinho hailed him 'a Chelsea player, for sure' and promised more academy products would be on parade at West Bromwich next week.
Willian and Fabregas went close in the closing stages but it didn't happen, and the manager shrugged and said this was understandable.
'After being champions, celebrating and a couple of days off, it's normal your intensity goes a bit down,' said Mourinho. 'We played at our limits for many weeks trying to reach the title as soon as possible. I knew today would be difficult.'
Liverpool's challenge faded, too. Rodgers sent on teenagers Jerome Sinclair, who made his Premier League debut, and Jordan Ibe, leaving 20-year-old Sterling as the oldest of a three-man front line.
Coutinho came closest to stealing the points. His ambitious effort hit Cahill and took a meaty deflection but it also took the pace off the ball and Thibaut Courtois was able to adjust, while sat on the turf and stop it rolling over the line.
A sitting-down save seemed a fitting way to end the affair and those in red put their heads down and left the scene.

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

Mirror:
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool: Reds' Champions League hopes all but over after score draw at Stamford Bridge
By John Cross


Brendan Rodgers' side now need to win both final games, hope Man United lose theirs, and see a 15-goal swing go in their favour
There was to be no last fairytale. But a feisty farewell filled with bitterness and disappointment.
Steven Gerrard left the pitch when he was substituted in the 79th minute to a standing ovation from both sets of fans which was the sort of goodbye befitting one of English football’s all time greats.
But Gerrard’s very pointed dig post-match at the Chelsea fans for “turning up for once” showed any thoughts of kissing and making up are long gone.
The rivalry between Gerrard and Chelsea runs too deep and this was all too painful for any sugar coating to be applied to a hugely disappointing result for Liverpool.
Incredibly, it was Gerrard’s first ever goal at Stamford Bridge which, down the years, has been the scene of so much drama for Liverpool’s captain.
The match started with a guard of honour but finished honours even and a draw that was not enough to keep alive any realistic hope of Liverpool reaching the Champions League next season.
Gerrard gave everything but, while his mind is still willing, the legs are showing their age and the 34-year-old can no longer dominate games like he used to.
And make no mistake, this was a game that meant everything to Gerrard. The chants from the Chelsea fans about him slipping at Anfield a year ago clearly rile him.
That fatal slip - when Gerrard’s mistake let in Demba Ba as Liverpool blew the title - will never be forgotten, not least by the Chelsea fans who held up placards all around the ground to remind him.
It was cruel but not perhaps as painful as Gerrard and the rest of the Liverpool players having to applaud Chelsea’s newly crowned champions onto the pitch before the game.
And the sort of humiliation must have been another motivating factor for Liverpool who knew it was win-or-bust to try and catch Manchester United in fourth place.
They tried but just could not dig deep enough even if their recovery from John Terry’s early opener and second half performance probably deserved all three points.
For Chelsea, it felt as if - with teenager Ruben Loftus-Cheek given a chance in midfield - they are winding down with the title in the bag. But their rivalry with Liverpool is such that they were never going to just stand aside.
Perhaps that was illustrated by Cesc Fabregas’ fierce challenge on Raheem Sterling within the first minute. Referee Andre Marriner gave Fabregas a yellow, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers claimed it should have been red.
But while Sterling and Liverpool were still licking their wounds, Chelsea went ahead and suddenly Rodgers was left facing mission impossible.
Fabregas put over a right wing corner, Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert lost Terry in the penalty box and the Chelsea captain was left unmarked to power home a header. Gerrard was on the post but ended up on his backside as he tried in vain to clear.
But, typically, it was Gerrard who led the Liverpool fight back. Jordan Henderson’s 44th minute free kick found Gerrard unmarked at the far post and the Liverpool captain headed powerfully into the net.
Suddenly it was game on. Liverpool were always chasing a miracle to pip United into fourth but no-one does that better than Gerrard.
Philippe Coutinho, buzzing around the Chelsea box, caused problems as he fired into the side netting after 49 minutes as Liverpool bossed the second half with Martin Skrtel’s never-say-die spirit epitomising their battling display.
When finally Gerrard was substituted after 79 minutes, it seemed as if Liverpool’s last hope went with him. Coutinho’s 89th minute shot deflected off Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois recovered in time to make a fine save.
Gerrard’s battle with Chelsea has been entertaining down the years but even Liverpool’s captain can no longer bridge the gap.
Liverpool’s season will end in disappointment outside of the top four and their failings this season mean Rodgers will have to overhaul his squad this summer.
But one player they will never be able to replace is Steven Gerrard.

Courtois 6 - One excellent save when Coutinho shot was deflected.
Ivanovic 6 - Another strong performance at right back.
Zouma 5 - Went off injured before having chance to shine.
Terry 7 - Superb again, another magnificent defensive display.
Luis 6 - Steady but nowhere near as good as Azpilicueta.
Mikel 6 - Some brutal challenges showed he’s still a force.
Loftus-Cheek 6 - Steady if not spectacular. Showed he can cope.
Fabregas 6 - Brutal tackle on Sterling, corner for Terry opener.
Willian 7 - His work rate is sensational. Chelsea’s best player.
Hazard 6 - Not even Hazard can be brilliant every time.
Remy 5 - Not at his peak match fitness and struggled at times.
Subs: Cahill 6, Matic 6, Cuadrado

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

Express:


Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 1: Old guard on scoresheet as Reds Champions League hopes fade
ONE year ago today, the campaign finished with Liverpool in second place and Chelsea two points behind in third.


By MATTHEW DUNNE


Canvass the opinion of any of the Liverpool fans making their way out through the Shankly Gates for the final time that season and many were predicting that 12 months down the line they would be genuine contenders for the leadership.
So much for exit polls. Although Liverpool gamely fought to hold Chelsea in their own constituency yesterday, they remain a massive 22 points behind them.
Mind you, we are getting used to massive swings from red to blue, and in keeping with Ed Miliband’s departure, perhaps it is no wonder that the leadership credentials of Brendan Rodgers are also being called into question.
Certainly, after just five minutes of yesterday’s game, Liverpool were in desperate need of somebody to whip them into shape. They couldn’t win even the simplest of crosses in the box.
It was a straightforward corner swung in by Cesc Fabregas towards the obvious candidate John Terry. Unlike in politics, it is no good just standing against your opponent, you have got to jump.
However, Rickie Lambert’s leaden-footedness afforded Terry a trademark header into the corner and enabled him to collect the39th Premier League goal, taking him clear of the record for a defender that he had previously shared with David Unsworth.
That’s not to say the Blues were fighting an entirely clean campaign. Within the first minute Fabregas had slid in studs-up on Raheem Sterling’s ankle, which provoked something of a card fiasco from referee Andre Marriner.
In initially showing a yellow card to John Mikel Obi, arguably the West Midlands official had not only got the player wrong but the colour of the card. The mistaken identity, at least, was corrected – a good job as Mikel was subsequently shown a “second” yellow in the second half. But Fabregas was lucky.
Marriner chose to keep his cards in his pocket when Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a 19-year-old making his first start for Chelsea, collected Philippe Coutinho moments later but it was clear he was going to have a busy afternoon.
Indeed, even after the early Chelsea goal the tetchiness of a supposedly post-title run-around continued to detract from the football.
The home side were playing well within themselves yet remained comfortably in control. Nevertheless, Fabregas’s easily saved near-post shot was all they had to show for their, for want of a better word, efforts.
Then, a minute before half-time, it happened. Jose Mourinho said he had spent hours over the years working out how to stop Steven Gerrard – marking him from set-pieces would seem to be a good starting point. Henderson’s free-kick from just shy of the corner flag gave him time to pick the perfect spot inside the upright to send the teams in unexpectedly level.
Undeniably, Liverpool were the better side. Fabregas remained a threat for Chelsea and Liverpool never looked entirely comfortable with Willian’s direct running style.
Behind them, Loftus-Cheek continued an impressive debut. Early adrenalin out of his system, he showed rare composure for a 19-year-old, happy to tidy up around the Chelsea defence in elegant, unhurried style.
Although Nemanja Matic replaced him for the final half-hour, Liverpool continued to build in strength, thanks mainly to the introduction of another substitute, Jordan Ibe.
When Jordan Henderson’s injury-time shot went inches wide of Thibault Courtois’ post, Rodgers may have been denied a rare victory over his former mentor, but at least he could take some encouragement that a reinvented team maybe can emerge from the disappointment of this season.
Sterling is apparently staying, Ibe growing, Henderson maturing into an accomplished defensive midfielder and Coutinho proving a consistent playmaker.
A strong right-wing presence, a strong left-wing presence, a bit of austerity thrown in, and somebody with decent No10 material. But all the time Chelsea have Mourinho in the house, even New Liverpool have a long way to go.


CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois 6; Ivanovic 6, Zouma 5 (Cahill 35, 6), Terry 7, Filipe Luis 6; Mikel 7, Loftus-Cheek 7 (Matic 60, 5); Willian 7 (Cuadrado 83), Fabregas 8, Hazard 6; Remy 6. Booked: Fabregas, Ivanovic, Mikel, Luis. Goal: Terry 5. NEXT UP: West Brom (a) Mon, PL.


LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Mignolet 5; Johnson 6, Lovren 6, Skrtel 6, Can 5; Gerrard 7 (Lucas 79), Henderson 7; Coutinho 7, Lallana 6 (Ibe 71, 7), Sterling 7; Lambert 5. Booked: Lallana, Skrtel, Lambert 6 (Sinclair 68). Goal: Gerrard 44. NEXT UP: Crystal Palace (a) Sat, PL.
REFEREE: Andre Marriner (West Midlands).

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

Star:


Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1: Reds set for Europa League as captains cancel each other out
IT WAS a goal-scoring afternoon for two 34-year-old skippers who once led England.

By David Woods

But while Steven Gerrard has a life in Los Angeles with LA Galaxy to anticipate, his opposite number in blue, John Terry, can look forward to plenty more glory with Chelsea.
And once again there was bitter disappointment for Gerrard.
In 2013-14, his infamous slip at Anfield let in Demba Ba to score in Jose Mourinho’s men’s 2-0 win, a loss that all but signalled the end of Liverpool’s title challenge.
Yesterday, there was no Stevie G catastrophe as he continued to try and bow out with a flourish.
But this draw ensured that, barring some goal-scoring frenzy in their last two games and successive Manchester United defeats, there won’t be any Champions League football for Brendan Rodgers and his men next season.
Having wrapped up the title a week earlier, Chelsea played with a bit more freedom yesterday, particularly in the first half.
But even with some of them possibly thinking more about somewhere like the West Indies rather than West Brom in a week, the Kop lot couldn’t take them down, to make it eight games without a win against the Blues.
Terry became the Premier League’s all time goal-scoring defender with No. 39 in the fifth minute.
Cesc Fabregas sent over a corner from the right and Rickie Lambert lost Terry, whose header was too strong for Simon Mignolet, with Gerrard also unable to stop it crossing the line.
To highlight Liverpool’s season of striking woe, it made it ten league goals combined from Chelsea defenders Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill, compared to eight by Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, Lambert and Daniel Sturridge.
Fabregas probably should not have been on the pitch. His late challenge on Raheem Sterling in the first minute was a shocker and could easily have justified a red rather than a yellow from Andre Marriner.
The Spaniard also tugged Sterling’s shorts in the 18th minute and somehow avoided giving away a foul.
But having benefitted from some poor marking, the Blues were uncharacteristically sloppy themselves in the 45th minute.
Jordan Henderson’s free-kick from the left picked out Gerrard, who lost marker Mikel all too easily to nod home at the far post from close range.
His celebration against the team and manager who tried so hard to sign him was extremely restrained, running back to the half-way line like a player you’d expect to see in black and white footage.
How Rodgers must wish he had Diego Costa in his squad to replace Luis Suarez. The 19-goal striker sat with the Chelsea fans in the Upper East Stand due to his latest hamstring injury.
He will have seen more exciting games, although this was a much more open one than a week earlier when the 1-0 defeat of Crystal Palace landed the title.
In the 49th minute Sterling set up Philippe Coutinho, but he fired into the side-netting. Willian then dragged a shot just wide of the far post.
Fabregas did manage a tame shot on target and had another, better one deflected for a corner by the excellent and brave Skrtel.
Bizarrely, when Gerrard came off in the 79th minute the Chelsea fans, led by Mourinho, clapped him off, having taunted him all game about that cock-up a year ago.
Funny old game, as Jimmy Greaves is famous for saying.
Courtois did well late on to react when Sterling tried to sneak in a shot at his near post, but the game petered out to leave Liverpool on 62 points, 18 less than at this stage last season.