Lamps shining out: Frank fires four to keep Grant believing in titleChelsea 6 Derby 1
By NEIL ASHTON - More by this author » Last updated at 23:49pm on 12th March 2008
Reeling one minute, Avram Grant would have you believe that Chelsea are reeling in their Barclays Premier League title rivals the next.
For that, he has Frank Lampard to thank. Left out of the side beaten by Championship strugglers Barnsley in the FA Cup quarterfinal last week , the Chelsea midfielder was restored to the team and responded in quite remarkable fashion.
He scored four times, admittedly against the worst team ever to play in the Barclays Premier League (© Paul Jewell), as Chelsea began what Grant optimistically believes is a charge towards the title.
They eventually rattled in six, cuffing Jewell's pathetic side aside with astonishing ease, to move within five points of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Lampard pointed to the stands after each of his goals. Perhaps he would have been better off pointing at the manager.
At least the captain called it correctly. 'The result and the performance at Barnsley was not acceptable,' wrote John Terry in last night's programme notes. 'Everyone in the team must take their fair share of responsibility.'
Everyone, it appears, except the manager. Grant ignored the worst Chelsea performance in recent memory in his typically uninspiring address to the supporters and chose, instead, to thank them for travelling to South Yorkshire.
The official line is that Lampard was injured last weekend. The jungle drums suggest he would have been the first name on the team sheet if it had been a match Chelsea believed was in the balance.
This one never was. From the moment Lampard scored from the spot after 28 minutes, the game was beyond this desperate Derby side.
Why wait another nine games before they are booted back to the Championship? They should be sent back now. The industrious Kenny Miller aside, Derby were nothing short of a disgrace.
Chelsea scored again three minutes before the break when Carroll's dreadful clearance fell invitingly for Salomon Kalou to send a sweetly-taken half-volley into an empty net from 25 yards. They had a taste for it now.
Lampard converted Joe Cole's cross on 57 minutes, and the match ball was his when Carroll palmed Nicolas Anelka's effort into his path nine minutes later.
By then, Cole had scored the goal his incisive performance deserved in the 64th minute, but Lampard left an indelible mark on the game when his left-foot strike streaked past Carroll.
Is he sitting out Sunderland on Saturday then, Avram? 'He has scored over 100 goals for Chelsea and now his target is 150,' said Grant. 'I am sure he can do it.'
Much depends on whether Lampard's long-running contract dispute can be resolved. He scored the third hat-trick of his Chelsea career last night, but this was his first in the Premier League. A class act, he remains an important cog.
'Negotiations are not my area, but the club want Frank to stay and Frank wants to stay,' added Grant.
'He is a very important member of the team and he can always make a difference.'
Last night, Lampard was the difference and Chelsea finished this game playing something resembling 4-2-4 — all-out attack against a team who are out of time.
'I might not bother turning up on Saturday for Manchester United,' admitted Jewell. 'We were outclassed, but at least that means there is one less game to play. 'Once again, the supporters were our best player. I was squirming in my seat because this was heavyweights against ABA lightweights.
'The personnel will change next season, that is for sure. I didn't think a team could give in as easily as that. Not enough of this team has desire.'
Miller aside, none of them had it. David Jones, on as a late substitute, pulled a goal back for Derby, but the club are doomed.
They were blitzed at Stamford Bridge, brushed aside by a team that has been brooding ever since that embarrassing loss at Barnsley.
'We are still in with a chance of winning the major trophies,' claimed Grant. In that case, he had better win one of them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Frank Lampard leads Chelsea rout of Derby By John Ley
Chelsea (2) 6 Derby County (0) 1
Frank Lampard ensured normal service was resumed at Stamford Bridge last night, when Chelsea forgot their FA Cup pain to lead the Rams to their latest slaughter. Lampard's four goals took Chelsea to within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a game in hand, and three points behind second-placed Manchester United.
Both teams must visit Stamford Bridge, so those who believe Chelsea could finish the season without a trophy count them out of the title race only at their peril. As for Derby, they are in danger of becoming the worst ever team in the Premier League; with just nine games to go they have 10 points and a goal difference of minus 49.
Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, made five changes from the team humiliated at Barnsley with Paulo Ferreira, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Claude Makelele all returning. But, surprisingly, there was no place for Didier Drogba.
The Ivory Coast striker, rested on Saturday with a slight knock, was on the bench, but again Grant decided he could not start with both Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, fuelling more speculation that the former's days at Stamford Bridge are coming to an end.
Drogba has started only three games since early December, so his fitness may be a contributing factor to his place as a substitute, alongside the returning Andrei Shevchenko, back on the bench for only the second time since Boxing Day.
John Terry, the Chelsea captain, warned before the game that the club had to respond to the defeat at Oakwell. He wrote in the programme: "The result and the performance weren't acceptable and everyone in the team must take responsibility. Everyone needs to perform when selected. We can't have any more days like Saturday. Losing [in] the FA Cup was horrible."
Derby arrived with Robbie Savage back in midfield, as captain, after being left out of the goalless draw against Sunderland. With 10 defeats and four draws under Paul Jewell, they started at odds of 20-1 to become the first team to win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League for more than four years.
Chelsea offered early signs that they would dispatch Derby in merciless fashion. They forced their first corner within 48 seconds, while only the right post prevented an opening goal in the third minute. Anelka and Kalou combined for Lampard, who was allowed to waltz through white shirts before sending his effort against woodwork.
When Derby were offered a chance, Kenny Miller avoiding the offside trap, he shot like a striker whose side do not know how to score, the ball arriving closer to the corner flag than the target.
Working on the theory that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, Derby had to make a defensive change after just 16 minutes when the experienced Alan Stubbs, following a tangle with Anelka, had to be replaced by Dean Leacock.
Despite their possession - the ball rarely left Derby's half in the opening 45 minutes - Chelsea were struggling to atone for their poor performance at Barnsley. Michael Ballack had the ball in the net after 20 minutes but was ruled offside while Joe Cole had one effort saved and hit another wide.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute but it took a penalty to split the two very different sides. Joe Cole's clever pass was chased into the area by Lampard, but he had his ankles tapped by Leacock and dispatched the kick to the right of Roy Carroll for his 14th goal of the season.
The second goal, in the 42nd minute, was a comedy of errors; Carroll slid on his backside outside his area, in an attempt to clear from the feet of Anelka and the ball fell to Kalou, who had the simple task of turning the ball into an unguarded net.
Derby's second-half resistance, while commendable, was limited and in the 57th minute Joe Cole exchanged passes with Anelka, resisted a challenge from Stephen Pearson and rolled the ball across goal for Lampard to tap in his second of the night.
In the 64th minute Chelsea added their fourth with Anelka's shot parried by Roy Carroll and Joe Cole converting the rebound.
Lampard's hat-trick was completed in the 66th minute. His fourth, and best, came seven minutes later when he met Ferreira's pass before forcing his way into the area and finishing well.
Derby responded a minute later, when David Jones capitalised on Chelsea's celebrations to claim only their sixth away goal of the campaign.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 6 Derby County 1: Lampard hits four as Derby reel under Chelsea backlashBy Glenn MooreThursday, 13 March 2008
There can be few better sights for a beleaguered Premier League manager than Derby County's coach pulling up outside the ground. So it proved last night as Chelsea put their Oakwell nightmare behind them with a brutal dissection of the Premier League's bottom club.
While the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account, there was no disguising Chelsea's desire to make a statement, nor their capacity to do so. The victory brought them within five points of leaders Arsenal, with a game in hand and the Gunners due at the Bridge in 10 days' time. A season mired in controversy may yet end in triumph. "What happened on Saturday happened," said Grant in reference to the FA Cup exit at Barnsley. "We were not happy but we know we need to continue. So far in the league we have done well and we will fight to the end."
Grant, who was booed by a few Chelsea fans as he took his seat, would be entitled to have left with a broad smile on his face. Of course he did not. Perhaps he was wise. The board will have noted the sub-par attendance; 3,000 below capacity, the lowest league gate of the season.
Those who stayed away missed a commanding performance from Frank Lampard. Badly missed at Oakwell, he helped himself to four goals here. Lampard's contract negotiations remain unresolved but Grant said: "I think he will be here next season. I am almost sure about it."
Joe Cole who, like Salomon Kalou, scored once, was equally responsible for the rout. David Jones' late goal was no consolation.
"It was a world heavyweight champion against a lightweight," said Derby's manager, Paul Jewell. "I spent the night squirming in my seat. They are a great team, and we are not."
Jewell admits he has written this season off. Derby have won once, in September, have collected 10 points from 29 games and are 16 points adrift of safety, well on course to set new Premier League records for least points won and most goals conceded. Chelsea, however, are the "crisis club", with Grant said to be under pressure from a mutinous dressing room and a discontented owner. They are third in the Premier League and in the last eight of the Champions League. How Derby would love a crisis like that.
Chelsea, though, do have to be judged differently because of their spending, even if the brightness of the spotlight owes much to their being based, with the national press, in the capital. The financial aspect colours everything, even their progress to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals, which is mentioned here because it was hailed pre-match last night, perhaps to take minds off the FA Cup. It is a shame many of Chelsea's youth players have been bought in.
The man with the mike could hardly be blamed for trying to lift a flat atmosphere. Chelsea, showing five changes from Saturday as Grant reverted, goalkeeper apart, to the team which had won 4-0 at Upton Park, soon lifted the mood. Lampard, released by Kalou's clever reverse pass in the second minute, rolled a shot past Roy Carroll only to see it strike the post and bounce out.
A massacre loomed yet, two minutes later, Kenny Miller outwitted John Terry to run on to a through-ball. He shot wildly but it was a warning to take nothing for granted. Not that complacency was a problem, Saturday's defeat was too fresh in the mind for that. The issue was nerves, brought on by expectation and fear of a repeat of the Barnsley fiasco.
Derby, though, did not set about Chelsea the way Barnsley had. Instead they retreated into deep defence – perhaps because they were pitting a central defence whose combined age was 69 against the pace of Nicolas Anelka. That tactic was undermined when Alan Stubbs limped off to be replaced by Dean Leacock. There is a reason Leacock has been displaced by the thirtysomethings and his naïvety was revealed 11 minutes later when he dived into a challenge on Lampard as the midfielder ran on to Joe Cole's pass. Lampard slid home the penalty.
Miller then stretched Carlo Cudicini from an Eddie Lewis free-kick but the siege quickly resumed. Under constant pressure a defence which has been changed as often as Derby's is liable to break; so it did. Two minutes before the interval Darren Moore dithered as Anelka chased a Lampard pass and Carroll cleared hastily but only as far as Kalou, who chipped into the empty goal.
Derby moved to 4-4-2 soon after the break but any hope of salvaging a point soon disappeared. Anelka, who troubled Derby all night, linked with Joe Cole whose low cross was tapped in by Lampard. That was the first of four goals in 16 minutes. Joe Cole tapped in after Carroll had denied Anelka. Lampard took a short pass from Kalou, strolled forward and drove in from 25 yards to complete his hat-trick. He then weaved around two defenders before sliding a shot inside the near post. It was Lampard's first four-goal haul and took his tally to 17, not bad for a "quiet" season.
Derby's long-suffering supporters were given some relief when Jones scored their first goal for five hours and 44 minutes. Grant then allowed Shevchenko a rare outing and Chelsea (coincidentally) lost their menace. But Derby needed the respite. On Saturday they play Manchester United.
"Did Chelsea look like a club in crisis?" Jewell was asked. "I was too busy looking at our crisis," he replied.
Goals: Lampard (28) 1-0; Kalou (42) 2-0; Lampard (57) 3-0; J Cole (64) 4-0; Lampard (66) 5-0; Lampard (72) 6-0; Jones (73) 6-1.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cudicini; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Essien, 73), Ballack (Drogba, 67), Lampard; J Cole (Shevchenko, 74), Anelka, Kalou. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.
Derby County (4-5-1): Carroll; Edworthy, Moore, Stubbs (Leacock, 16), McEveley; Ghaly (Earnshaw, 52), Savage, Pearson, Lewis (Jones, 58), Sterjovski; Miller. Substitutes not used: Price (gk), Villa, Earnshaw.
Booked: Derby McEveley.
Referee: C Foy (Lancashire)
Man of the match: Lampard.
Attendance: 39,447.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesMarch 13, 2008
Chelsea’s gluttony at expense of Derby is sign of unhealthy trendChelsea 6 Derby 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent
Every silver lining has a cloud and the good-news bulletins that followed the arrival of four English teams in the Champions League quarter-finals were swiftly followed by this terrifying reminder that the gap between top and bottom in the Barclays Premier League is seismic, fissure-like and growing.
Chelsea scored six, Frank Lampard alone got four and the truth is that either tally could have doubled, such was the superiority of Avram Grant’s side.
The difference was embarrassing. As Lampard carved out a second-half hat-trick in 15 minutes that also included a goal from Joe Cole, anyone who cares for football would have felt uncomfortable with this preposterous walkover. Lampard is an exceptional player, but, even so, this is not right. This is not how it is meant to be.
So much of the game had the look of a training-ground exercise — and some of the goals, too. Previously, looking at Derby County’s forlorn league record, one could be forgiven for asking if they really are as bad as that. Sadly, the answer is yes. Paul Jewell inherited a team well on their way to being confirmed as the worst in Premier League history and has not been able to improve them.
Deep down, Chelsea will know the ultimate meaninglessness of this scoreline, too. It is not even Derby’s worst defeat of the season, having lost by six without reply to Liverpool.
Certainly, Chelsea’s fans understood. The win kept their title hopes alive, but they still left early to avoid the traffic. There was no hint of the jubilation that would traditionally greet such a result. What did you expect? It was only Derby.
Lampard looked happy, though, and well he should. Even the frailty of the opposition should not detract from his feat in scoring three goals from midfield, plus a smartly taken penalty, which he also won. Indeed, the strangest thing about Chelsea’s win was that only one of the six goals was scored by a striker, Salomon Kalou, and even then he was playing in a wide attacking role. Nicolas Anelka failed to get on the scoresheet; so, too, Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko, the substitutes.
The rout began in earnest after 26 minutes when Dean Leacock, an early replacement for the injured Alan Stubbs, whose experience was sorely missed, tripped Lampard in the area. The England midfield player stepped up and struck his shot to Roy Carroll’s left. Derby heads went down and did not lift, much to Jewell’s fury.
efore half-time, Chelsea got a second goal and the cushion that enabled them to play with such ease after the interval. Lampard was the architect, slipping a pass through to Anelka, who was thwarted by a clearance from Carroll. The ball travelled only as far as Kalou, who hit it, first time, from 25 yards into an unguarded net.
“The fourth official has indicated one minute of added time,” a stadium announcer said as the half-time whistle loomed. To be fair, he could have indicated decent Thai restaurants in the Fulham area or recommended a good book; the contest all had paid to see was long over.
The second half belonged to Lampard. In the 57th minute, he converted a tap-in from a cross by Joe Cole as Derby ball-watched and nine minutes later he struck a shot from the edge of the area that Carroll could not stop. His fourth, in the 72nd minute, was another medium-range effort, perhaps the best of the night, cutting inside and riding two challenges after a pass from Joe Cole. They will miss him more than they know if his contract talks again break down. Between Lampard’s second and third, Joe Cole also scored, first to the loose ball after Claude Makelele had set Anelka clear and Carroll had saved.
“Frank Lampard is an important player for the team. What more can I say, he always scores,” Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, said. “I am sure he will be here next season. If Frank says he wants to stay at Chelsea and Chelsea say they want Frank to stay, what is the problem?”
What indeed? David Jones, a substitute, did at least put Derby on the scoresheet, but the event was treated more with amusement even by the home supporters, another of many worrying signs on a night that was good for Chelsea but disquieting for the rest of us.
“They looked like championship heavyweights, we looked like ABA lightweights,” Jewell, the Derby manager, said. “Everything they needed to do they did better than us. I was squirming again for 90 minutes. It comes to something when you are happy to settle for six. I’ll make allowances for ability, but I find it difficult to accept that we cannot match their desire.”
It gets no easier. Derby’s next match is against Manchester United on Saturday. “I’ll see you there,” a journalist told Jewell, cheerily. “I might not turn up,” the manager replied, no doubt wishing he had that option.
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini – P Ferreira, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole – F Lampard, C Makelele, M Ballack (sub: D Drogba, 67min) – J Cole (sub: A Shevchenko, 74), N Anelka, S Kalou. Substitutes not used: Hilário, M Essien, Alex.
Derby County (4-5-1): R Carroll – M Edworthy, D Moore, A Stubbs (sub: D Leacock, 15), J McEveley – M Sterjovski, H Ghaly (sub: R Earnshaw, 52), S Pearson, R Savage, E Lewis (sub: D Jones, 58) – K Miller. Substitutes not used: L Price, E Villa. Booked: McEveley.
Referee: C Foy. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lampard hits four as Chelsea backlash punishes Derby
Dominic Fifield at Stamford BridgeThursday March 13, 2008The Guardian
Chelsea found respite in a rout last night. The traumas endured in their FA Cup humiliation at Barnsley were exorcised in part against a hapless Derby County, with Frank Lampard, so conspicuous by his absence at Oakwell, gorging himself on four goals. The irony was that, unlike in South Yorkshire, Chelsea would still have won without him.Derby may have been wretched, their manager, Paul Jewell, wincing agonisingly throughout this latest embarrassment, but this was the fillip Chelsea and Avram Grant so desperately needed. Victory was to be expected, yet its manner was encouraging. Arsenal are only five points away at the top. It is mathematically possible, if distinctly unlikely given that Derby host Manchester United on Saturday, that Chelsea could be top this time next week.
Grant may have enjoyed himself on the sidelines but this was Lampard's night. The England midfielder was the last player to leave the turf at the end, saluting all sides of the ground having swollen his season's tally to 17 goals in all competitions.He hit the post after three minutes, scored the first from the penalty spot and the last smartly from the edge of the area, holding off James McEveley before spinning and planting his shot inside Roy Carroll's near post. Every touch left Derby smarting, with Lampard the 16th player to score four times in a game in the Premier League.
In between there was a tap-in from the outstanding Joe Cole's cross and a shot from distance which fizzed through Carroll's increasingly beleaguered resistance. "He scored his 100th goal for Chelsea earlier this season and I think he'll get 150 goals for this club," said Grant, despite the reality that negotiations over a new contract with the player have been suspended until the summer.
"I think he'll be here next season, but the situation hasn't changed. Negotiations are not my area but I'm sure that Frank will stay at Chelsea. He says he wants to stay, and Chelsea want him to stay also."
This was his third hat-trick at the club and his easiest, despite the others coming against Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup and Leicester City in the Carling Cup. This game was such a mismatch that Chelsea did not need to summon a particularly rampant rhythm to unsettle their visitors. Derby have long since given up on this campaign. Their goal difference has plummeted to -49, with this the 23rd successive league match, and 15th under Jewell, without a win.
The manager cuts a helpless figure these days. The thought of confronting Manchester United at Pride Park on Saturday is already sending a chill down his spine. "I might not turn up," he offered, his season now an exercise in counting down the days to a return to the relative relief of the Championship.
David Jones's consolation, tucked away neatly after Lampard had completed his personal haul, was only their sixth goal away from home all season.
"It's heavyweight boxing against an ABA lightweight, but at least there are less games left," admitted Jewell. "We've just been outclassed, outfought. Everything they can do they can do better than us. I'd have settled to be six down with 20 minutes to go, such was the difference between the sides.
"I sat for 90 minutes squirming in my seat. I knew it was going to be tough this season but I didn't think that we'd be as easy to beat as we are."
This was shambolic. Dean Leacock, on for the injured Alan Stubbs, had tripped Lampard to concede the penalty which opened the floodgates. Salomon Kalou's second, lobbed from midway inside the Derby half after Carroll had half-cleared amid confusion with Darren Moore, was suitably farcical to deflate the visitors yet further. Joe Cole's deserved reward came courtesy of the goalkeeper's parry from Nicolas Anelka's drive.
So it was Rams to the slaughter, and for them this season cannot end soon enough.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
sunday papers barnsley fa cup
The Sunday TimesMarch 9, 2008
Tykes shock brittle BluesBarnsley 1 Chelsea 0Andrew Longmore at Oakwell
So this hazy, crazy, Cup year careers on. As if the lunchtime exit of Manchester United was not enough of an upset, albeit to a Premier League side, Chelsea were humbled by Barnsley on a Yorkshire night made for the underdogs. So no member of the big four reaches the semi-finals of the Cup and all is right with the world outside the Champions League. The Cup holders are out.
Barnsley’s goal came midway through the second half from Kayode Odejayi, a Nigerian, who rose high above Carlo Cudicini to continue Barnsley’s single-handed slaying of giants. First Liverpool, now Chelsea. This was another proud night for Barnsley, another proud night for the Championship. It will be Barnsley’s first semi-final since 1912, just after the sinking of the Titanic.
Then, they went on to beat West Bromwich Albion to win the Cup. Doubtless Sid “Skinner” Normanton was playing and Michael Parkinson and Dickie Bird were in the stands.
What price a repeat? West Brom take on Bristol Rovers today, mindful of an unlikely reprise of another age.
This was a night for celebration of the unsung and underfunded. Barnsley made a brief appearance in the Premier League a decade ago, but the gaps have widened since then.
Chelsea, 4-0 winners over Olympiakos in midweek, could not be faulted for effort or accused of complacency, but they were hurried and harried out of their stride, particularly in the first half, by a side who took up where they left off at Anfield. “When Chelsea’s team sheet went up in the dressing room, the players looked at it and turned away,” said Simon Davey, the Barnsley manager. “There was no fear.”
Avram Grant looked even more downcast than usual. “This is the most disappointing day since I came to Chelsea,” said the Chelsea manager. “It was very, very disappointing, but I need to congratulate Barnsley. They showed a good spirit.”
Not for the first time this season, a top side made the mistake of underestimating more lowly brethren. Chelsea might, as Grant claimed, have put out a side that should have beaten Barnsley, but without Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Chelsea are vulnerable in games of grit and muscle.
Nicolas Anelka is a different type of centre-forward, mobile and swift, but last night tellingly absent when the crosses came in. One moment summed up his night as Joe Cole broke down the right, reached the byline and saw his low cross roll across the six-yard box with Anelka drifting to the near post and no one following up behind him.
For a spell, Chelsea did threaten to breach the left side of the Barnsley defence but Dennis Souza, a burly Brazilian, and Stephen Foster threw body and soul into the fray and, particularly as Chelsea laid siege to the Barnsley goal in the closing 10 minutes, blocked every shot.
The goal came midway through the second half and from an unlikely source. The last goal Odejayi scored was against Scunthorpe in September, but long before he rose to head beyond the flailing Cudicini, he had terrorised John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of one of the steeliest defences in the land.
Before last night, his main claim to fame was to be Ade Akinbiyi’s cousin. He is certainly from the same stock, powerful and strong, but prone to goal droughts and subject of some vociferous barracking from the home fans. Odejayi had his revenge last night and, much to his surprise, got a signed shirt from Terry as a memento.
Barnsley set about their task with a purpose and an invention that must have surprised Chelsea. Davey had instilled in his side a real belief, not difficult when you have won at Anfield, but he might also have pointed out that his team had gone four games without a win since Liverpool.
If Odejayi was significant to the growing confidence of the home team, little Jamal Campbell-Ryce, a jack-in-the-box of a winger, gave Juliano Belletti a torrid opening quarter. One dribble past two static Chelsea defenders was ended by a gang of blue shirts. The energy fizzed through the team like an electric cable. Barnsley began to believe that lightning could strike twice.
Cole, Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips all weaved pretty patterns on the bare but far from unplayable pitch. Barnsley stood resolute in defence and, like Chelsea, broke swiftly when the moment came.
Cudicini’s hesitation almost allowed Odejayi to score in the first half as a back pass caught the keeper unawares and Istvan Ferenczi, Odejayi’s strike partner and, at £250,000, Barnsley’s most expensive purchase, hit the outside of the post after a neat piece of control from a free kick.
Still, it seemed only a matter of time before the laws of economics asserted themselves. Surely Chelsea could not follow United out of the Cup. Surely Bristol Rovers could not last longer than all of them? Chelsea lifted the tempo, but just as Barnsley began to tire, Odejayi outjumped Cudicini from Martin Devaney’s long cross to power home his second goal of the season. “When is the dream going to end?” asked Davey. No one had a ready answer.
Barnsley: Steele 7, Van Homoet 6, Foster 8, Souza 8, Kozluk 7, Campbell-Ryce 7, Hassell 6, Howard 6, Devaney 6 (Togwell 73min), Odejayi 9 (Coulson 80min), Ferenczi 7
Chelsea: Cudicini 5, Belletti 5 (Pizarro 74min), Terry 6, Carvalho 6, Bridge 5, Wright-Phillips 5, Essien 5, Ballack 6, J Cole 7, Anelka 5, Malouda 4 (Kalou 62min)
Scorer: Odejayi 66 Star man: Kayode Odejayi (Barnsley) Referee: S BennettAttendance: 22,410 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Barnsley in dreamland as Chelsea crash outAlex Morfey at Oakwell Stadium
Barnsley (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 0
As if beating Liverpool at Anfield in the fifth round three weeks ago was not enough, the Coca-Cola Championship side managed to go one better, with Odejayi the man of the hour.
The Nigerian striker, a £200,000 buy from Cheltenham in May, had not found the net for 28 appearances, but he undoubtedly scored the most important goal of his career to send Barnsley into the semi-finals at Wembley.
Make no mistake, this was no fluke because although manager Avram Grant made six changes to his team from the one that romped over Olympiacos in the Champions League in midweek, there was still a star-studded line-up on view.
Barnsley boss Simon Davey had described that win as "men against boys," and departed Stamford Bridge feeling quite "unnerved" at how the Blues had dismantled the Greeks.
Needless to say, though, he was expecting far more from his Tykes, and that is what he duly received as Yorkshire grit took on the might of the millionaires from the Kings Road.
There was no Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira or Ashley Cole, who were all rested.
Even without Lampard, there was a distinctly English slant towards the Chelsea side as captain John Terry was joined by Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
As if to prove no fear would be shown, Barnsley took the game to their opponents, carving out the opening chance inside three minutes. The livewire Jamal Campbell-Ryce's through ball found Brian Howard inside the area, the Tykes captain who had scored the late winner at Anfield.
Although Howard's stabbed shot was blocked by Michael Essien, it at least underlined Barnsley's intent that they would not be as easy a pushover as Olympiacos.
Half-chances followed for Chelsea, interspersed by a number of counter-attacks from the home side, who used Campbell-Ryce's pace along with the height and power of strikers Istvan Ferenczi and Odejayi.
In the 15th minute, Joe Cole drilled an effort goalwards, and despite a slight deflection that carried the shot inches wide, there was no corner.
Underlining Barnsley's commitment, Rob Kozluk threw his body in front of a Cole drive that followed three minutes later, and that was it in terms of first-half chances for Chelsea.
Instead, it was the Tykes who should have headed into the break with the lead, initially in the 21st minute when Carlo Cudicini was caught napping on the edge of the six-yard box. The Italian goalkeeper made a hash of attempting to trap a backpass, allowing Odejayi to thunder in, but his nudge was wide.
Then, eight minutes from the interval, Ferenczi should have found the target after latching onto Bobby Hassell's free-kick from deep.
But after flicking the ball up with his right foot, he fired wide from 12 yards, with the Hungarian then sinking to his knees and with his head in his hands as he appreciated he should have done better.
Within a minute, Barnsley were on the attack again as Howard played in Odejayi, and although forced wide, he still fired in a powerful shot that forced Cudicini into his first save via his legs.
Perhaps inevitably, Chelsea then dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second period as Barnsley were penned back inside their own half, resorting on occasion to desperate, but effective defending.
From their sporadic opportunities, Cole had a further shot blocked by Dennis Souza, while on-loan goalkeeper Luke Steele made an easy save from a low Nicolas Anelka drive.
Cole and Terry then combined to set up the Frenchman in the 57th minute, but again the determined home side thrust bodies in the way when it mattered most.
After weathering the storm, Barnsley then conjured a goal to lift the proverbial roof off Oakwell, one which is likely to result in further inquests from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich following those held in the wake of the Carling Cup final defeat to Tottenham.
Ferenczi initially fed Martin Devaney on the right, and after a run from Marciano van Homoet pulled away Bridge, the right winger delivered a piercing cross to the heart of the area.
At 6ft 2ins, Odejayi managed to rise in front of the outstretched hands of Cudicini and nod home only his second goal for the club this season into an empty net.
Chelsea poured forward for the remainder of the game, but despite the pressure, not once was Steele was forced into a save as a wall of 10 red shirts protected him.
When the final whistle sounded, and despite warnings over the tannoy not to do so, a pitch invasion ensued - one you could not begrudge the delirious Barnsley faithful.
Best moment: Odejayi's joyful reaction as he netted the winner.
Worst moment: Joe Cole squandering Chelsea's best chance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0: Odejayi stuns Chelsea
Nigerian downs Chelsea as Barnsley reach first semi-final since Titanic sank
By Steve Tongue at OakwellSunday, 9 March 2008
Football followers yearning to see a name other than that of the big four clubs on the FA Cup will have their wish granted for the first time since 1995. The holders Chelsea last night followed Manchester United out of the competition, falling to a rare goal halfway through the second half by the Nigerian striker Kayode Odejayi.
It came against the run of play, though Barnsley, unlike their previous triumph at Liverpool, required neither good fortune nor goalkeeping pyrotechnics to achieve a sensation. This one takes them to Wembley and a first semi-final since the Titanic went down 96 years ago.
Chelsea were sunk through a failure to capitalise on the few clear chances they created, the best of which fell to John Terry right at the finish. The home side were therefore allowed to stay in a game that for all their bravery seemed to be drifting away from them early in the second half. Little was demanded of Luke Steele, the goalkeeper who had frustrated Liverpool in the fifth round, but he dealt with everything competently.
At the other end, however, Carlo Cudicini, deputising for the injured Petr Cech, was comprehensively beaten to a right-wing cross for the goal that sent Oakwell into raptures not experienced here since the "just like watching Brazil" year up among the big boys a decade ago.
Brazil would have been tested by yesterday's combination of scuffed-up pitch, wind and rain, all of which added to the sense of a proper cup tie. Yet Barnsley never resorted to the big boot, the captain and Anfield match-winner Brian Howard leading the way with his passing from midfield.
Chelsea's manager Avram Grant, who may now need to win the Champions' League to keep his job, said: "It is not a pitch we can play quality football on. In the first half we didn't play good but give a lot of credit to Barnsley. There is always a lot of pressure as manager of a big club like Chelsea."
There is none whatsoever on Simon Davey, who in his second season in charge of Barnsley has brought the club back into the national spotlight. He took the trouble to visit Stamford Bridge for last Wednesday's Champions' League tie against Olympiakos and learnt an important lesson from the Greeks' feeble display. "Olympiakos sat back and allowed Chelsea to dictate," he said. "We had to take the game to them, show them no respect and get in their faces."
Taking no chances, Grant brought in six fresh players, though Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba had to be replaced because of injury. The team selected should have been sufficient to see off a side 33 places below them in the grand scheme of things so it was all the more surprising that Barnsley created the two authentic chances of the first half.
In the 35th minute Ricardo Carvalho allowed Bobby Hassell's free-kick to drop over his head, where the lurking Istvan Ferenczi should have done better than clip the outside of a post. Within a minute, Howard put through the other striker, Odejayi, but by delaying his shot he allowed Cudicini a more favourable angle to make a block.
There had been another uncomfortable moment for the holders when Cudicini was uncertain whether he could pick up the ball without punishment and hacked against Odejayi, from whom it bounced past a post.
In between those moments of excitement for an already vocal home crowd, Grant's team were restricted to half-chances, and often betrayed by a bobble off the pitch at the wrong moment. Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Chelsea's best player, Joe Cole, all suffered. Anelka's shot after Terry headed the ball down to him was then blocked at the expense of a corner and Jamal Campbell-Ryce blocked Anelka's drive almost on the line.
The worry for the home side was that two strikers who have only half-a-dozen goals between them in more than 60 appearances this season had each wasted their big chance. There would be one more, however, the hardest one, which suddenly materialised amid all the Chelsea pressure in the 66th minute.
Martin Devaney sent in a cross from the right to which Odejayi, who was signed from Cheltenham Town last summer, beat Cudicini, nodding in a powerful header that will go down in Oakwell folklore.
Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson, Davey has no objection whatever to playing the Cup semi-finals at Wembley. "I've never been there as a player or supporter and it'll be a day to enjoy," Davey said.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Odejayi stars as Barnsley storm on
Spencer Vignes at OakwellSunday March 9, 2008The Observer
And they say lightning never strikes twice. Having disposed of Liverpool in the previous round, Barnsley only went and did it again by knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup on a memorable night in South Yorkshire. Dickie Bird, Darren Gough, Arthur Scargill, Michael Parkinson - your boys dished out one hell of a beating.In a year of surprises in the old competition, this in many ways was perhaps the biggest. Only one division separates the Londoners from the Tykes, yet in terms of playing power and overall resources the two are light years apart. This had been billed by many as Barnsley's cup final, the expectation being that their dramatic run would be brought to an honourable end. Instead, they are Wembley-bound for the semi-finals. The way this year's competition is panning out, you would not bet against them winning it.
The only goal of the game was scored by a Nigerian forward with just one strike to his name so far this season. Step forward 26-year-old journeyman Kayode Odejayi, bought for the relatively large sum of £200,000 from Cheltenham last May. The man menaced Chelsea's back line all evening and left the field to a standing ovation with nine minutes of normal time remaining. No matter what he goes on to achieve in his career, he will always be remembered in this corner of Yorkshire as the hero who put Barnsley into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1912. And to think he was playing only because team-mate Jon Macken was cup-tied.'I didn't think that the Anfield win could be eclipsed, but it has been,' said manager Simon Davey, who admitted his own career as a lower-division midfielder has been 'blown away' by recent events at Oakwell. 'I can't believe it. I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and find it's all been a dream. I think the players went out and enjoyed the game. Nobody was found wanting. Everybody put a shift in and they've come up trumps again. To go to Anfield and win and then to beat Chelsea in the same season is a fantastic achievement and the players deserve a lot of credit.'
So can Barnsley, crazy as it sounds, win the FA Cup? 'I really don't know what to believe any more,' Davey added. 'But when you've beaten Liverpool and Chelsea, there's no one to fear.'
All the pre-match indications were that the Tykes were going to struggle. OK, so the Yorkshiremen had won at Liverpool and, in the only previous FA Cup meeting between the sides, thumped Chelsea 4-0 at Oakwell in 1989, when both outfits were in the old Second Division. However, their record since scaling the heights at Anfield three weeks ago has been pretty poor, with just three Championship points collected from a possible 12. There was also the spectre of Chelsea's last visit here hanging over proceedings, a 6-0 win for the Londoners in 1997 during Barnsley's memorable yet ultimately ill-fated year-long sojourn in the top flight. On that occasion Gianluca Vialli bagged four goals. Yesterday you could have got relatively low odds of 45-1 on Nicolas Anelka repeating that feat.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Barnsley's supporters still packed Oakwell in hope, inspired by Chelsea manager Avram Grant's decision to rest Frank Lampard and Davey's battle cry that 'anything is possible'. Throughout the first half it looked as though that was just the case - and then some. By the time referee Steve Bennett blew for the break, Barnsley should have been one goal up, maybe two.
Their first decent opportunity arrived in the 22nd minute when Carlo Cudicini, unsure whether a ball from John Terry constituted a back-pass or not, struck his clearance into the advancing Odejayi, only to see it rebound narrowly past his right post to safety.
Had Istvan Ferenczi kept his head instead of volleying wide from 10 yards out, Barnsley would have had the lead their endeavour and no little skill deserved. Within a minute, Cudicini had redeemed himself with a good block from Odejayi at the expense of a corner. It was backs-to-the-wall stuff from Chelsea, who failed to test Luke Steele, hero of Barnsley's fifth-round win at Liverpool, seriously throughout the entire half.
It looked as though the Yorkshiremen would pay for their failure in front of goal as Grant's side came out firing in the second period. Shaun Wright-Phillips fed Anelka on the right and he in turn found Joe Cole, only for a bobble to distract the England man, who shot well wide. Anelka cut inside only to hit a weak daisy-cutter straight at Steele. Another Anelka effort was blocked. The tide appeared to have turned.
And then up stepped Odejayi. When Martin Devaney hoisted a high ball in from the right in the 66th minute, the forward - later to have his shirt signed in a magnanimous gesture by Terry - rose high above Cudicini to head down and into Chelsea's net, sending three sides of Oakwell into delirium.
The bulk of the remaining 24 minutes plus stoppage time was, hardly surprisingly, played in Barnsley's half of the field. Yet Davey's side managed to hold out, surviving one or two scares and a premature pitch invasion staged by home supporters. It was not quite like watching Brazil, as the old Barnsley saying goes, but it was a dammed sight more dramatic.
'I need to congratulate Barnsley. They played well and showed good spirit today,' said Grant, who nevertheless had a slight pop at the state of the Oakwell pitch, criticism rejected by Davey, who responded by calling it a 'good passing surface'.
As for questions regarding whether Chelsea had underestimated Barnsley, Grant said: 'We knew this team beat Liverpool away, so I don't think it's a case of taking them lightly. Maybe this year is the [FA] Cup not for the big teams. This was a game we needed to win and we didn't win. We lost the game today. We are not happy about it, but it's happened.'
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Paul Gallagher, BarnsleyFC.org.uk What a day! I'm still shaking. I hope the FA go easy on our pitch invasion, it was understandable. We really deserved this - we had the best chances and defended brilliantly when we had to. It was great Odejayi scored - he's come in for a bit of stick recently. But it's unfair to single anyone out - they all worked their socks off. You never know, after knocking out Liverpool and Chelsea we really could get to the final. It would be good to get the least fancied team next, but we've proved we can take anyone on. Chelsea weren't that bad, though I didn't like to see Joe Cole diving around. We sang 'Premiership, you've having a laugh' and then our old favourite: 'It's just like watching Brazil.'
Fan's player ratings Steele 10; Van Homoet 10, Foster 10, Souza 10, Kozluk 10; Devaney 10 (Togwell 9), Hassell 10, Howard 10, Campbell-Ryce 10; Ferenczi 10, Odejayi 10 (Coulson 9)
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group It was awful. Grant has changed a team of winners into 11 strangers. It shows our desperation that when we needed a goal we had to bring on Pizarro. Did their keeper have a save to make? We desperately missed Lampard and Drogba, but against Barnsley we should be able to cope. Essien and Wright-Phillips were particularly poor. You have to be worried now - the players have a huge lack of confidence. The West Ham result was papering over the cracks - they were woeful, whereas Barnsley, like Spurs, were up for it and beat us. Abramovich is going to have to face up to the fact that he has made a big mistake with Grant and get in someone new to salvage our season.
Fan's player ratings Cudicini 6; Belletti 6 (Pizarro 5), Carvalho 7, Terry 6, Bridge 7; Wright-Phillips 4, Essien 3, Ballack 6, Malouda 5 (Kalou 5); J Cole 7, Anelka 7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Barnsley fairy-tale: Odejayi the giant wipes out Grant's Cup holdersBarnsley 1 Chelsea 0
By IAN RIDLEY
The last time Barnsley reached the FA Cup semi-finals was back in 1912, the year the Titanic sank. And 96 years on, the iceberg won again as the Premier League's blue riband super vessel failed to navigate choppy northern waters.
A second-half goal by 26-year-old Nigerian Kayode Odejayi — whose story is the very stuff of the old trophy's legend — sunk the holders amid delirious scenes at Oakwell and extended the Championship club's fairytale Cup run that saw them beat Liverpool at Anfield last time.
It may not quite have been like watching Brazil, as their fans sing, but it was a deserved win for a plucky, battling display against a Chelsea side that only belatedly came to life in a last-gasp onslaught that saw John Terry scoop over the bar at the death.
Odejayi's glorious header sealed a famous night for a player only getting his chance due to injuries.
Not long ago a Conference player with Forest Green Rovers, he moved on for £5,000 to Cheltenham Town before Barnsley signed him for £200,000. And he is sponsored by a local cab company called Blueline.
The big question was how would Chelsea's millionaires cope with the culture shock of playing here, along with a swirling wind that pierced the gaps in the Oakwell stands, and driving rain that only deepened the grey pallor of the surrounding buildings.
The answer, at first, was badly. As manager Simon Davey promised, his Barnsley team were determined to have a go at Chelsea, despite a host of injuries and a recent run of four games without that Anfield win.
They duly made a lively start, notably when Bobby Hassell's reverse ball found captain Brian Howard, who seemed surprised to discover himself in so much space in the Chelsea penalty area eight yards out until Ricardo Carvalho intervened.
Howard, goalscoring hero against Liverpool, then almost hit the corner flag with a shot that at least showed Barnsley's intent.
The home side's front pairing of the Hungarian, Istvan Ferenczi, and the unorthodox Odejayi were a handful, and the latter almost gave Barnsley the lead. Terry's backpass put Carlo Cudicini in trouble and the Italian, deputising for injured Petr Cech, launched a kick that the Nigerian got a foot to, the ball fizzing wide.
The danger for Barnsley was in getting carried away. As they hurtled into Chelsea, they left themselves exposed to the counter-attack, with the Premier League side perfectly set up to capitalise through the pace of Nicolas Anelka, replacing Didier Drogba, backed up by Joe Cole.
The curious element of manager Grant's Chelsea selection was wide man Shaun Wright-Phillips tucking into the rested Frank Lampard's midfield slot.
Cole was close with a volley from a half-cleared corner, then seemed certain to score when a gap opened up for him, only for Rob Kozluk to block the shot determinedly. The left back also headed bravely away from under his own bar following a cross by Wayne Bridge.
Back Barnsley came, though, and they nearly grabbed a lead before half-time.
First Hassell played a free kick up to Ferenczi, who brought the ball down on his chest before turning Terry and firing against the outside of a post. Then Odejayi took a pass from Howard in his stride before drilling an angled shot that Cudicini saved with his feet.
Chelsea emerged for the second half with more verve and almost snatched a lead when Cole, well set up by Anelka, was unlucky to see the ball bobble in the act of shooting and Kozluk again was able to toe away his shot.
Soon after, Anelka ended a mazy run with a shot straight at Luke Steele, a rare attempt to trouble the home goalkeeper.
Now Chelsea were in control, but in this amazing season such is the Cup ... Devaney, who had given Bridge a difficult game, sent in a deep cross from the right and Odejayi rose high at the far post as Cudicini was slow off his line, the ball looping off the striker's head into the net to send Oakwell into raptures and line up a semi-final trip to Wembley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tykes shock brittle BluesBarnsley 1 Chelsea 0Andrew Longmore at Oakwell
So this hazy, crazy, Cup year careers on. As if the lunchtime exit of Manchester United was not enough of an upset, albeit to a Premier League side, Chelsea were humbled by Barnsley on a Yorkshire night made for the underdogs. So no member of the big four reaches the semi-finals of the Cup and all is right with the world outside the Champions League. The Cup holders are out.
Barnsley’s goal came midway through the second half from Kayode Odejayi, a Nigerian, who rose high above Carlo Cudicini to continue Barnsley’s single-handed slaying of giants. First Liverpool, now Chelsea. This was another proud night for Barnsley, another proud night for the Championship. It will be Barnsley’s first semi-final since 1912, just after the sinking of the Titanic.
Then, they went on to beat West Bromwich Albion to win the Cup. Doubtless Sid “Skinner” Normanton was playing and Michael Parkinson and Dickie Bird were in the stands.
What price a repeat? West Brom take on Bristol Rovers today, mindful of an unlikely reprise of another age.
This was a night for celebration of the unsung and underfunded. Barnsley made a brief appearance in the Premier League a decade ago, but the gaps have widened since then.
Chelsea, 4-0 winners over Olympiakos in midweek, could not be faulted for effort or accused of complacency, but they were hurried and harried out of their stride, particularly in the first half, by a side who took up where they left off at Anfield. “When Chelsea’s team sheet went up in the dressing room, the players looked at it and turned away,” said Simon Davey, the Barnsley manager. “There was no fear.”
Avram Grant looked even more downcast than usual. “This is the most disappointing day since I came to Chelsea,” said the Chelsea manager. “It was very, very disappointing, but I need to congratulate Barnsley. They showed a good spirit.”
Not for the first time this season, a top side made the mistake of underestimating more lowly brethren. Chelsea might, as Grant claimed, have put out a side that should have beaten Barnsley, but without Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Chelsea are vulnerable in games of grit and muscle.
Nicolas Anelka is a different type of centre-forward, mobile and swift, but last night tellingly absent when the crosses came in. One moment summed up his night as Joe Cole broke down the right, reached the byline and saw his low cross roll across the six-yard box with Anelka drifting to the near post and no one following up behind him.
For a spell, Chelsea did threaten to breach the left side of the Barnsley defence but Dennis Souza, a burly Brazilian, and Stephen Foster threw body and soul into the fray and, particularly as Chelsea laid siege to the Barnsley goal in the closing 10 minutes, blocked every shot.
The goal came midway through the second half and from an unlikely source. The last goal Odejayi scored was against Scunthorpe in September, but long before he rose to head beyond the flailing Cudicini, he had terrorised John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of one of the steeliest defences in the land.
Before last night, his main claim to fame was to be Ade Akinbiyi’s cousin. He is certainly from the same stock, powerful and strong, but prone to goal droughts and subject of some vociferous barracking from the home fans. Odejayi had his revenge last night and, much to his surprise, got a signed shirt from Terry as a memento.
Barnsley set about their task with a purpose and an invention that must have surprised Chelsea. Davey had instilled in his side a real belief, not difficult when you have won at Anfield, but he might also have pointed out that his team had gone four games without a win since Liverpool.
If Odejayi was significant to the growing confidence of the home team, little Jamal Campbell-Ryce, a jack-in-the-box of a winger, gave Juliano Belletti a torrid opening quarter. One dribble past two static Chelsea defenders was ended by a gang of blue shirts. The energy fizzed through the team like an electric cable. Barnsley began to believe that lightning could strike twice.
Cole, Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips all weaved pretty patterns on the bare but far from unplayable pitch. Barnsley stood resolute in defence and, like Chelsea, broke swiftly when the moment came.
Cudicini’s hesitation almost allowed Odejayi to score in the first half as a back pass caught the keeper unawares and Istvan Ferenczi, Odejayi’s strike partner and, at £250,000, Barnsley’s most expensive purchase, hit the outside of the post after a neat piece of control from a free kick.
Still, it seemed only a matter of time before the laws of economics asserted themselves. Surely Chelsea could not follow United out of the Cup. Surely Bristol Rovers could not last longer than all of them? Chelsea lifted the tempo, but just as Barnsley began to tire, Odejayi outjumped Cudicini from Martin Devaney’s long cross to power home his second goal of the season. “When is the dream going to end?” asked Davey. No one had a ready answer.
Barnsley: Steele 7, Van Homoet 6, Foster 8, Souza 8, Kozluk 7, Campbell-Ryce 7, Hassell 6, Howard 6, Devaney 6 (Togwell 73min), Odejayi 9 (Coulson 80min), Ferenczi 7
Chelsea: Cudicini 5, Belletti 5 (Pizarro 74min), Terry 6, Carvalho 6, Bridge 5, Wright-Phillips 5, Essien 5, Ballack 6, J Cole 7, Anelka 5, Malouda 4 (Kalou 62min)
Scorer: Odejayi 66 Star man: Kayode Odejayi (Barnsley) Referee: S BennettAttendance: 22,410 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Barnsley in dreamland as Chelsea crash outAlex Morfey at Oakwell Stadium
Barnsley (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 0
As if beating Liverpool at Anfield in the fifth round three weeks ago was not enough, the Coca-Cola Championship side managed to go one better, with Odejayi the man of the hour.
The Nigerian striker, a £200,000 buy from Cheltenham in May, had not found the net for 28 appearances, but he undoubtedly scored the most important goal of his career to send Barnsley into the semi-finals at Wembley.
Make no mistake, this was no fluke because although manager Avram Grant made six changes to his team from the one that romped over Olympiacos in the Champions League in midweek, there was still a star-studded line-up on view.
Barnsley boss Simon Davey had described that win as "men against boys," and departed Stamford Bridge feeling quite "unnerved" at how the Blues had dismantled the Greeks.
Needless to say, though, he was expecting far more from his Tykes, and that is what he duly received as Yorkshire grit took on the might of the millionaires from the Kings Road.
There was no Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira or Ashley Cole, who were all rested.
Even without Lampard, there was a distinctly English slant towards the Chelsea side as captain John Terry was joined by Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
As if to prove no fear would be shown, Barnsley took the game to their opponents, carving out the opening chance inside three minutes. The livewire Jamal Campbell-Ryce's through ball found Brian Howard inside the area, the Tykes captain who had scored the late winner at Anfield.
Although Howard's stabbed shot was blocked by Michael Essien, it at least underlined Barnsley's intent that they would not be as easy a pushover as Olympiacos.
Half-chances followed for Chelsea, interspersed by a number of counter-attacks from the home side, who used Campbell-Ryce's pace along with the height and power of strikers Istvan Ferenczi and Odejayi.
In the 15th minute, Joe Cole drilled an effort goalwards, and despite a slight deflection that carried the shot inches wide, there was no corner.
Underlining Barnsley's commitment, Rob Kozluk threw his body in front of a Cole drive that followed three minutes later, and that was it in terms of first-half chances for Chelsea.
Instead, it was the Tykes who should have headed into the break with the lead, initially in the 21st minute when Carlo Cudicini was caught napping on the edge of the six-yard box. The Italian goalkeeper made a hash of attempting to trap a backpass, allowing Odejayi to thunder in, but his nudge was wide.
Then, eight minutes from the interval, Ferenczi should have found the target after latching onto Bobby Hassell's free-kick from deep.
But after flicking the ball up with his right foot, he fired wide from 12 yards, with the Hungarian then sinking to his knees and with his head in his hands as he appreciated he should have done better.
Within a minute, Barnsley were on the attack again as Howard played in Odejayi, and although forced wide, he still fired in a powerful shot that forced Cudicini into his first save via his legs.
Perhaps inevitably, Chelsea then dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second period as Barnsley were penned back inside their own half, resorting on occasion to desperate, but effective defending.
From their sporadic opportunities, Cole had a further shot blocked by Dennis Souza, while on-loan goalkeeper Luke Steele made an easy save from a low Nicolas Anelka drive.
Cole and Terry then combined to set up the Frenchman in the 57th minute, but again the determined home side thrust bodies in the way when it mattered most.
After weathering the storm, Barnsley then conjured a goal to lift the proverbial roof off Oakwell, one which is likely to result in further inquests from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich following those held in the wake of the Carling Cup final defeat to Tottenham.
Ferenczi initially fed Martin Devaney on the right, and after a run from Marciano van Homoet pulled away Bridge, the right winger delivered a piercing cross to the heart of the area.
At 6ft 2ins, Odejayi managed to rise in front of the outstretched hands of Cudicini and nod home only his second goal for the club this season into an empty net.
Chelsea poured forward for the remainder of the game, but despite the pressure, not once was Steele was forced into a save as a wall of 10 red shirts protected him.
When the final whistle sounded, and despite warnings over the tannoy not to do so, a pitch invasion ensued - one you could not begrudge the delirious Barnsley faithful.
Best moment: Odejayi's joyful reaction as he netted the winner.
Worst moment: Joe Cole squandering Chelsea's best chance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0: Odejayi stuns Chelsea
Nigerian downs Chelsea as Barnsley reach first semi-final since Titanic sank
By Steve Tongue at OakwellSunday, 9 March 2008
Football followers yearning to see a name other than that of the big four clubs on the FA Cup will have their wish granted for the first time since 1995. The holders Chelsea last night followed Manchester United out of the competition, falling to a rare goal halfway through the second half by the Nigerian striker Kayode Odejayi.
It came against the run of play, though Barnsley, unlike their previous triumph at Liverpool, required neither good fortune nor goalkeeping pyrotechnics to achieve a sensation. This one takes them to Wembley and a first semi-final since the Titanic went down 96 years ago.
Chelsea were sunk through a failure to capitalise on the few clear chances they created, the best of which fell to John Terry right at the finish. The home side were therefore allowed to stay in a game that for all their bravery seemed to be drifting away from them early in the second half. Little was demanded of Luke Steele, the goalkeeper who had frustrated Liverpool in the fifth round, but he dealt with everything competently.
At the other end, however, Carlo Cudicini, deputising for the injured Petr Cech, was comprehensively beaten to a right-wing cross for the goal that sent Oakwell into raptures not experienced here since the "just like watching Brazil" year up among the big boys a decade ago.
Brazil would have been tested by yesterday's combination of scuffed-up pitch, wind and rain, all of which added to the sense of a proper cup tie. Yet Barnsley never resorted to the big boot, the captain and Anfield match-winner Brian Howard leading the way with his passing from midfield.
Chelsea's manager Avram Grant, who may now need to win the Champions' League to keep his job, said: "It is not a pitch we can play quality football on. In the first half we didn't play good but give a lot of credit to Barnsley. There is always a lot of pressure as manager of a big club like Chelsea."
There is none whatsoever on Simon Davey, who in his second season in charge of Barnsley has brought the club back into the national spotlight. He took the trouble to visit Stamford Bridge for last Wednesday's Champions' League tie against Olympiakos and learnt an important lesson from the Greeks' feeble display. "Olympiakos sat back and allowed Chelsea to dictate," he said. "We had to take the game to them, show them no respect and get in their faces."
Taking no chances, Grant brought in six fresh players, though Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba had to be replaced because of injury. The team selected should have been sufficient to see off a side 33 places below them in the grand scheme of things so it was all the more surprising that Barnsley created the two authentic chances of the first half.
In the 35th minute Ricardo Carvalho allowed Bobby Hassell's free-kick to drop over his head, where the lurking Istvan Ferenczi should have done better than clip the outside of a post. Within a minute, Howard put through the other striker, Odejayi, but by delaying his shot he allowed Cudicini a more favourable angle to make a block.
There had been another uncomfortable moment for the holders when Cudicini was uncertain whether he could pick up the ball without punishment and hacked against Odejayi, from whom it bounced past a post.
In between those moments of excitement for an already vocal home crowd, Grant's team were restricted to half-chances, and often betrayed by a bobble off the pitch at the wrong moment. Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Chelsea's best player, Joe Cole, all suffered. Anelka's shot after Terry headed the ball down to him was then blocked at the expense of a corner and Jamal Campbell-Ryce blocked Anelka's drive almost on the line.
The worry for the home side was that two strikers who have only half-a-dozen goals between them in more than 60 appearances this season had each wasted their big chance. There would be one more, however, the hardest one, which suddenly materialised amid all the Chelsea pressure in the 66th minute.
Martin Devaney sent in a cross from the right to which Odejayi, who was signed from Cheltenham Town last summer, beat Cudicini, nodding in a powerful header that will go down in Oakwell folklore.
Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson, Davey has no objection whatever to playing the Cup semi-finals at Wembley. "I've never been there as a player or supporter and it'll be a day to enjoy," Davey said.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Odejayi stars as Barnsley storm on
Spencer Vignes at OakwellSunday March 9, 2008The Observer
And they say lightning never strikes twice. Having disposed of Liverpool in the previous round, Barnsley only went and did it again by knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup on a memorable night in South Yorkshire. Dickie Bird, Darren Gough, Arthur Scargill, Michael Parkinson - your boys dished out one hell of a beating.In a year of surprises in the old competition, this in many ways was perhaps the biggest. Only one division separates the Londoners from the Tykes, yet in terms of playing power and overall resources the two are light years apart. This had been billed by many as Barnsley's cup final, the expectation being that their dramatic run would be brought to an honourable end. Instead, they are Wembley-bound for the semi-finals. The way this year's competition is panning out, you would not bet against them winning it.
The only goal of the game was scored by a Nigerian forward with just one strike to his name so far this season. Step forward 26-year-old journeyman Kayode Odejayi, bought for the relatively large sum of £200,000 from Cheltenham last May. The man menaced Chelsea's back line all evening and left the field to a standing ovation with nine minutes of normal time remaining. No matter what he goes on to achieve in his career, he will always be remembered in this corner of Yorkshire as the hero who put Barnsley into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1912. And to think he was playing only because team-mate Jon Macken was cup-tied.'I didn't think that the Anfield win could be eclipsed, but it has been,' said manager Simon Davey, who admitted his own career as a lower-division midfielder has been 'blown away' by recent events at Oakwell. 'I can't believe it. I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and find it's all been a dream. I think the players went out and enjoyed the game. Nobody was found wanting. Everybody put a shift in and they've come up trumps again. To go to Anfield and win and then to beat Chelsea in the same season is a fantastic achievement and the players deserve a lot of credit.'
So can Barnsley, crazy as it sounds, win the FA Cup? 'I really don't know what to believe any more,' Davey added. 'But when you've beaten Liverpool and Chelsea, there's no one to fear.'
All the pre-match indications were that the Tykes were going to struggle. OK, so the Yorkshiremen had won at Liverpool and, in the only previous FA Cup meeting between the sides, thumped Chelsea 4-0 at Oakwell in 1989, when both outfits were in the old Second Division. However, their record since scaling the heights at Anfield three weeks ago has been pretty poor, with just three Championship points collected from a possible 12. There was also the spectre of Chelsea's last visit here hanging over proceedings, a 6-0 win for the Londoners in 1997 during Barnsley's memorable yet ultimately ill-fated year-long sojourn in the top flight. On that occasion Gianluca Vialli bagged four goals. Yesterday you could have got relatively low odds of 45-1 on Nicolas Anelka repeating that feat.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Barnsley's supporters still packed Oakwell in hope, inspired by Chelsea manager Avram Grant's decision to rest Frank Lampard and Davey's battle cry that 'anything is possible'. Throughout the first half it looked as though that was just the case - and then some. By the time referee Steve Bennett blew for the break, Barnsley should have been one goal up, maybe two.
Their first decent opportunity arrived in the 22nd minute when Carlo Cudicini, unsure whether a ball from John Terry constituted a back-pass or not, struck his clearance into the advancing Odejayi, only to see it rebound narrowly past his right post to safety.
Had Istvan Ferenczi kept his head instead of volleying wide from 10 yards out, Barnsley would have had the lead their endeavour and no little skill deserved. Within a minute, Cudicini had redeemed himself with a good block from Odejayi at the expense of a corner. It was backs-to-the-wall stuff from Chelsea, who failed to test Luke Steele, hero of Barnsley's fifth-round win at Liverpool, seriously throughout the entire half.
It looked as though the Yorkshiremen would pay for their failure in front of goal as Grant's side came out firing in the second period. Shaun Wright-Phillips fed Anelka on the right and he in turn found Joe Cole, only for a bobble to distract the England man, who shot well wide. Anelka cut inside only to hit a weak daisy-cutter straight at Steele. Another Anelka effort was blocked. The tide appeared to have turned.
And then up stepped Odejayi. When Martin Devaney hoisted a high ball in from the right in the 66th minute, the forward - later to have his shirt signed in a magnanimous gesture by Terry - rose high above Cudicini to head down and into Chelsea's net, sending three sides of Oakwell into delirium.
The bulk of the remaining 24 minutes plus stoppage time was, hardly surprisingly, played in Barnsley's half of the field. Yet Davey's side managed to hold out, surviving one or two scares and a premature pitch invasion staged by home supporters. It was not quite like watching Brazil, as the old Barnsley saying goes, but it was a dammed sight more dramatic.
'I need to congratulate Barnsley. They played well and showed good spirit today,' said Grant, who nevertheless had a slight pop at the state of the Oakwell pitch, criticism rejected by Davey, who responded by calling it a 'good passing surface'.
As for questions regarding whether Chelsea had underestimated Barnsley, Grant said: 'We knew this team beat Liverpool away, so I don't think it's a case of taking them lightly. Maybe this year is the [FA] Cup not for the big teams. This was a game we needed to win and we didn't win. We lost the game today. We are not happy about it, but it's happened.'
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Paul Gallagher, BarnsleyFC.org.uk What a day! I'm still shaking. I hope the FA go easy on our pitch invasion, it was understandable. We really deserved this - we had the best chances and defended brilliantly when we had to. It was great Odejayi scored - he's come in for a bit of stick recently. But it's unfair to single anyone out - they all worked their socks off. You never know, after knocking out Liverpool and Chelsea we really could get to the final. It would be good to get the least fancied team next, but we've proved we can take anyone on. Chelsea weren't that bad, though I didn't like to see Joe Cole diving around. We sang 'Premiership, you've having a laugh' and then our old favourite: 'It's just like watching Brazil.'
Fan's player ratings Steele 10; Van Homoet 10, Foster 10, Souza 10, Kozluk 10; Devaney 10 (Togwell 9), Hassell 10, Howard 10, Campbell-Ryce 10; Ferenczi 10, Odejayi 10 (Coulson 9)
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group It was awful. Grant has changed a team of winners into 11 strangers. It shows our desperation that when we needed a goal we had to bring on Pizarro. Did their keeper have a save to make? We desperately missed Lampard and Drogba, but against Barnsley we should be able to cope. Essien and Wright-Phillips were particularly poor. You have to be worried now - the players have a huge lack of confidence. The West Ham result was papering over the cracks - they were woeful, whereas Barnsley, like Spurs, were up for it and beat us. Abramovich is going to have to face up to the fact that he has made a big mistake with Grant and get in someone new to salvage our season.
Fan's player ratings Cudicini 6; Belletti 6 (Pizarro 5), Carvalho 7, Terry 6, Bridge 7; Wright-Phillips 4, Essien 3, Ballack 6, Malouda 5 (Kalou 5); J Cole 7, Anelka 7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Barnsley fairy-tale: Odejayi the giant wipes out Grant's Cup holdersBarnsley 1 Chelsea 0
By IAN RIDLEY
The last time Barnsley reached the FA Cup semi-finals was back in 1912, the year the Titanic sank. And 96 years on, the iceberg won again as the Premier League's blue riband super vessel failed to navigate choppy northern waters.
A second-half goal by 26-year-old Nigerian Kayode Odejayi — whose story is the very stuff of the old trophy's legend — sunk the holders amid delirious scenes at Oakwell and extended the Championship club's fairytale Cup run that saw them beat Liverpool at Anfield last time.
It may not quite have been like watching Brazil, as their fans sing, but it was a deserved win for a plucky, battling display against a Chelsea side that only belatedly came to life in a last-gasp onslaught that saw John Terry scoop over the bar at the death.
Odejayi's glorious header sealed a famous night for a player only getting his chance due to injuries.
Not long ago a Conference player with Forest Green Rovers, he moved on for £5,000 to Cheltenham Town before Barnsley signed him for £200,000. And he is sponsored by a local cab company called Blueline.
The big question was how would Chelsea's millionaires cope with the culture shock of playing here, along with a swirling wind that pierced the gaps in the Oakwell stands, and driving rain that only deepened the grey pallor of the surrounding buildings.
The answer, at first, was badly. As manager Simon Davey promised, his Barnsley team were determined to have a go at Chelsea, despite a host of injuries and a recent run of four games without that Anfield win.
They duly made a lively start, notably when Bobby Hassell's reverse ball found captain Brian Howard, who seemed surprised to discover himself in so much space in the Chelsea penalty area eight yards out until Ricardo Carvalho intervened.
Howard, goalscoring hero against Liverpool, then almost hit the corner flag with a shot that at least showed Barnsley's intent.
The home side's front pairing of the Hungarian, Istvan Ferenczi, and the unorthodox Odejayi were a handful, and the latter almost gave Barnsley the lead. Terry's backpass put Carlo Cudicini in trouble and the Italian, deputising for injured Petr Cech, launched a kick that the Nigerian got a foot to, the ball fizzing wide.
The danger for Barnsley was in getting carried away. As they hurtled into Chelsea, they left themselves exposed to the counter-attack, with the Premier League side perfectly set up to capitalise through the pace of Nicolas Anelka, replacing Didier Drogba, backed up by Joe Cole.
The curious element of manager Grant's Chelsea selection was wide man Shaun Wright-Phillips tucking into the rested Frank Lampard's midfield slot.
Cole was close with a volley from a half-cleared corner, then seemed certain to score when a gap opened up for him, only for Rob Kozluk to block the shot determinedly. The left back also headed bravely away from under his own bar following a cross by Wayne Bridge.
Back Barnsley came, though, and they nearly grabbed a lead before half-time.
First Hassell played a free kick up to Ferenczi, who brought the ball down on his chest before turning Terry and firing against the outside of a post. Then Odejayi took a pass from Howard in his stride before drilling an angled shot that Cudicini saved with his feet.
Chelsea emerged for the second half with more verve and almost snatched a lead when Cole, well set up by Anelka, was unlucky to see the ball bobble in the act of shooting and Kozluk again was able to toe away his shot.
Soon after, Anelka ended a mazy run with a shot straight at Luke Steele, a rare attempt to trouble the home goalkeeper.
Now Chelsea were in control, but in this amazing season such is the Cup ... Devaney, who had given Bridge a difficult game, sent in a deep cross from the right and Odejayi rose high at the far post as Cudicini was slow off his line, the ball looping off the striker's head into the net to send Oakwell into raptures and line up a semi-final trip to Wembley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 06, 2008
morning papers olympiakos home
The TimesMarch 6, 2008
Michael Ballack puts paid to any sign of nerves in Chelsea talent showChelsea 3 Olympiacos 0 (Chelsea win 3-0 on agg)
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent
There may be the international round of fixtures so coveted by Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, after all. One difference: it will be going by the name of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea became the third English club to enter the last eight of the most prestigious European tournament last night and, with Liverpool expected to make it a quartet when they take a 2-0 lead to Inter Milan’s San Siro stadium next week, it is likely that half of the teams in the draw in Nyon, Switzerland, a week tomorrow will be from one league: a first.
It is too early to get excited; three is quite common. Since 1998, a trio of teams from one country has reached the quarter-finals on nine occasions and from England twice (Manchester United, Arsenal and Leeds United in 2001, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea last season), but four is the magic number. If Liverpool stay strong in Milan on Tuesday, English football will have made history.
Liverpool may have it tough, but Chelsea went through without breaking sweat. Credit to them, this was an assured, commanding performance, but it helped that Olympiacos were shocking, arguably the weakest team seen at this stage of the competition since it converted to a 32-club extravaganza in 1999-2000. One can only ponder the ability of Werder Bremen and Lazio if the Greek champions were able to finish level on points with Real Madrid in group C.
Perhaps European football is fragmenting, as the leading domestic leagues have done, into a two-tier system based on wealth. Olympiacos keep winning the Greek league because regular Champions League football gives them the business advantage, but they cannot compete with the real elite of Europe, whose regular ventures into the knockout phase bring even greater riches.
Chelsea have reached the quarter-finals in four of their five seasons in the Champions League. They are in a different class, financially and technically, and last night it showed. Their bench would have had the beating of Olympiacos, let alone their first team.
Chelsea were very good, but they did not need to be for long. A goal up after six minutes, two clear after 25, they scored a third from the first attack of the second half and declared the event over. Olympiacos showed a spark only when Fernando Belluschi, a substitute, came on and Chelsea switched off; he hit the bar and caused a few problems from free kicks around the penalty area. Chelsea had three players booked during this period, even if Frank Lampard once more looked unfortunate to be punished, and that may come back to haunt them when the stakes grow higher.
That aside, it was a drive in the country. Olympiacos’s resistance lasted no longer than Chelsea’s first attack in each half and from the time the second goal went in, Avram Grant’s men were cruising to the quarter-finals with the windows down and something summery by Van Morrison on the stereo.
After the delights of Arsenal’s win against AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday, this was an anticlimax, but while Chelsea’s conservatism is so often blamed for a dull 90 minutes, for once it was not their fault. For a team with vast European experience, Olympiacos had nothing to offer. It was not that they lacked ambition, more that they lacked anything at all.
Carlo Cudicini, the Chelsea goalkeeper, who was standing in for Petr Cech after he injured an ankle in training the morning before the match and will be missing for up to three weeks, was untroubled until late in the second half, when he let a free kick by Belluschi go and was startled to see it hit the bar. At the other end, Antonios Nikopolidis, the Olympiacos goalkeeper, was less fortunate and the game was only six minutes old when his defence suffered a breach.
Lampard collected a throw-in on the left and whipped in a cross that Michael Ballack met with his head. Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, had said before the match that he was mildly concerned that it could be a nervous night if goals did not come early. He need not have worried. Olympiacos could not deal with anything in the air and lacked the grit to match Chelsea’s physical presence. The first goal was an exercise in simplicity and there was no sign of tension in the ground. Olympiacos did not give anyone time to get nervous.
Within 20 minutes Chelsea had scored a second and the game was as good as over. Again, Olympiacos had the chance to mount a straightforward rearguard action but lacked the determination. First, Claude Makelele won a header from a clearance, then John Terry won another and Ballack’s shot was saved before Lampard got to the loose ball first for a tap-in.
You want to know how comfortable Chelsea were? Makelele had a crack at goal. Twice. Once after 19 minutes, again after 68. The crowd roared and laughed. It was like a testimonial game. Chelsea had further chances and would not have been flattered had the work of Didier Drogba and Joe Cole been rewarded.
When the second half brought no change of tempo, Chelsea took advantage again, scoring from a corner by Lampard, courtesy of another debacle at the back. Drogba got a touch, Ricardo Carvalho another and Salomon Kalou scrambled the ball over the line from two yards. “Are you Brentford in disguise?” the Chelsea fans sang to the red-and-white-striped visiting team and it would have been an easy mistake to make. It is Barnsley and Derby County next. Amazingly, they may give Chelsea more of a game.
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini – P Ferreira, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole – M Ballack, C Makelele, F Lampard (sub: M Essien, 75min) – J Cole (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 78), D Drogba, S Kalou (sub: F Malouda, 69). Substitutes not used: Hilário, Alex, J Belletti, N Anelka. Booked: Lampard, Ferreira, Terry.
Olympiacos (4-3-2-1): A Nikopolidis – M Zewlakow, P Antzas, Júlio César, A Pantos – C Patsatzoglou, K Ledesma (sub: F Belluschi, 52), I Stoltidis – V Torossidis (sub: M Sisic, 75), P Djordjevic (sub: Leonardo, 57) – D Kovacevic. Substitutes not used: M Sifakis, L Núñez, K Mendrinos, M Konstantinou. Booked: Pantos. Referee: M González (Spain). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:Lampard inspired as Chelsea serve up treatBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (2) 3 Olympiakos (0) 0Agg: 3-0
Chelsea meted out the same treatment to Olympiakos that the Greeks inflict on their dinner plates. Olympiakos' defence, as brittle as ancient crockery, was smashed into countless pieces by Chelsea's superb attacking. The only surprise was that the Londoners managed only three goals.
Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou all scored while Lampard delivered one of those fine, box-to-box performances that marks him out as one of the best midfielders at work in Europe. If Liverpool survive their visit to Inter Milan next week, as they should, then half the quarter-finalists will hail from the Premier League. No Petr Cech, no Michael Essien, no John Obi Mikel, no Nicolas Anelka, no problem. Chelsea's resources are so deep that they take any tinkering, any injuries in their quick-moving stride. Lampard, contentiously omitted for the first leg in Athens, was terrific, creating Ballack's early goal, scoring himself and constantly being at the heart of all that was good about Chelsea.
Fabio Capello, the England manager who was watching from the smart seats, will have enjoyed the sight of so many Englishmen shining, from a revitalised Lampard to an untroubled John Terry, from the sprightly Ashley Cole to the lively Joe Cole. Lampard was the pick of the bunch, particularly in a first half that he ran.
Lampard's vision and passing were swiftly in evidence. Seizing on Ashley Cole's quick throw-in after five minutes, Lampard had already noted his team-mates' forward runs. Two touches nudged the ball in from the left-hand touchline. Lampard's third picked out Ballack magnificently, the ball bent towards the near post for the German to beat the static Antonios Nikopolidis with a firm, well-placed header.
It resembled one of those training-ground rehearsals where defenders are told to hold their positions while the attackers hone their art. Olympiakos could have brought over four statues from the Parthenon and reacted to Chelsea's movement more adroitly.
With Lampard in such dynamic mood, Chelsea kept pouring forward through the middle and out wide. Kalou and, particularly, Ashley Cole created havoc down the left. Joe Cole and Ballack combined well down the right. Chelsea's movement was fast and fluid. Olympiakos were constantly stretched. This was a mismatch.
The next thrust of the Chelsea knife brought more pain. Another panicky Olympiakos clearance after 25 minutes was met by Claude Makelele, whose clever header found Terry tucked in on the right. Chelsea's captain immediately sent Ballack through and Olympiakos were cut open. Again.
The German unleashed a strong shot which Nikopolidis got a hand to, but merely diverted into the path of Lampard. On a night of Greeks bearing gifts, the England international gratefully accepted the easiest of tap-ins that almost arrived in pretty wrapping, a nice bow and a note saying "help yourself".
If only Olympiakos players had the same verve as their animated supporters, who brought colour and noise to the Bridge. Chelsea fans stoked up the atmosphere more by chanting "Panathinaikos". At least Olympiakos were giving Chelsea a challenge in the singing department.
"You're not singing any more", Chelsea fans chanted three minutes after the break when Lampard created a third. Over swirled the corner, catching out Olympiakos, Didier Drogba getting a slight touch and sending the ball on to Kalou. Controlling the ball with his thigh, Kalou flicked it home expertly.
Lampard should have made it 4-0 but dragged his shot wide. Olympiakos coach Panagiotis Lemonis tried to breathe some life into his team, and introduced Fernando Belluschi. John Bellushi might have had more impact on the Blues Brothers, who remained in control.
Amazingly, Olympiakos finally gave Carlo Cudicini something to think about. For an hour, the goalkeeper understudying for the injured Cech had just watched events form afar. For an hour, Cudicini could have wandered down the King's Road, perhaps done some late-night shopping and even grabbed a pizza, before returning to the Bridge without anyone noticing his absence.
Even when Belluschi delivered a decent free-kick over Chelsea's wall, Cudicini hardly had to move far to collect the ball. Moments later he clutched Leonardo's corner and launched a counter-attack that brought chances for Joe Cole and Makelele, both saved by Nikopolidis.
Lampard, whose ludicrous weekend sending-off at West Ham was rightly rescinded, then suffered another on-field injustice when he was cautioned for diving, another decision devoid of logic. Caught accidentally by Christos Patsatzoglou in the area, Lampard was bowled over. The combination of gravity plus speed of collision meant Lampard had little choice but to fall down.
Avram Grant decided to spare Lampard any more poor decisions and called him to the bench to be replaced by Essien. As Lampard walked off, Chelsea fans stood as one to salute their inspired No 8. Chelsea's coach then withdrew Joe Cole for Shaun Wright-Phillips and, with Florent Malouda already on for Kalou, this meant Drogba had to complete this dead tie.
Draining the squad's leading striker seemed strange, unless Grant intends resting Drogba for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final exertions at Oakwell. One thing is sure: Barnsley will give Chelsea more of a game than Olympiakos.
Belluschi shivered the crossbar late on, and then Cudicini saved magnificently from Paraskevas Antzas but Chelsea were already home and hosed in the Champions League quarter-finals.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 3 Olympiakos 0 (Chel win 3-0 on agg): Ballack fires confident Chelsea as Greeks offer little resistance
By Sam Wallace, Football CorrespondentThursday, 6 March 2008
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, unless it happens to be the pitiful Olympiakos, who gave Chelsea a bona fide free ride into the Champions League quarter-finals last night. Avram Grant's team are now 60 games undefeated at home in all competitions over two years and few came easier than this stroll at Stamford Bridge.
It is not Chelsea's fault that this victory was not the epoch-making triumph achieved by Arsenal at San Siro on Tuesday night, for that blame the Greeks. For a club who have won the title in their domestic league for 10 out of the last 11 seasons Olympiakos were so dreadful it was tempting to think that the Chelsea players faced stiffer opposition on that recent paintballing trip in the Surrey countryside to rebuild team morale.
Ahead in six minutes through Michael Ballack's goal, the only surprise was that Chelsea did not score more than the two further goals added by Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou. Apart from their finishing, this was Chelsea at their ruthless, remorseless best – from Ballack's opener to the very last moments when the Spanish referee called time as they prepared to take their last corner of the match.
Chelsea's victory means that there are three English teams through to the Champions League quarter-finals, and just Liverpool left to make it into the draw for the quarter-finals on 14 March. This week will be remembered for Arsenal's humbling of Milan, not Chelsea's destruction of Olympiakos, but it was ever thus for poor old Grant. It will take a performance like this against one of the big boys of European football to convince everyone that he truly is the real deal.
An indicator of just how comfortable Chelsea had it last night was that Claude Makelele had two shots on goal – probably equalling his season's average in one match – and he even nearly scored from one. Carlo Cudicini, in for the injured Petr Cech, made his first save some time around the hour and his main preoccupation for most of the match, until a late Olympiakos rally, was keeping himself warm.
If there was a frustrating element for Chelsea it was that they incurred some needless bookings – to John Terry, Lampard and Paulo Ferreira – which may come back to haunt them later in the competition. But this was a night to admire the power and control of the great blue machine, and by the end even Olympiakos' boisterous support appeared to have reconciled themselves to the inevitable.
Another big game, another big-name midfielder left out of the team by Grant. In the first leg against Olympiakos it was Lampard; in the Carling Cup final it was Ballack; and last night it was the turn of Michael Essien to sit on the bench. It is a sign of just how difficult Grant is finding juggling the big names that it was Ballack who originally believed he was not in the team – only for Essien to find himself left out in the cold.
All that politics around the team selection was rendered irrelevant when, with six minutes gone, Chelsea took the lead through Ballack. For all their impact in the opening stages, the Olympiakos team might as well have booked themselves in for the stadium tour rather than lined up on the pitch. They seemed to approach the occasion like the first day at a daunting new school and no team fit the role of bullies better than Chelsea.
There was an uninspiring 4-5-1 formation from the visitors from Piraeus with, on his own in attack, Darko Kovacevic – a big lump of a centre-forward, the like of which Terry will happily keep in his pocket all night. In the fifth minute, Ashley Cole took a quick throw to Lampard on the left wing, the midfielder hit a curling cross to the near post and Ballack was on hand to head the ball past goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis.
It was tempting to say that was the game over there and, although Olympiakos picked themselves up briefly after Chelsea's second goal, any faint self-belief they may have had appeared to expire in those early stages. Joe Cole had already made an excellent chance for Didier Drogba, which he volleyed over, when Chelsea scored their second goal on 25 minutes.
Claude Makelele's header found Joe Cole on the right who in turn headed it first time into the path of Ballack. His shot was stopped at the near post by Nikopolidis who, nonetheless, could not hold it. Cue Lampard to roll in his 103rd career goal for Chelsea from one yard out. From then, the unbeaten home record that stretches back to that 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League in February 2006 never looked in doubt.
With Kalou on the left, Joe Cole on the right and Lampard and Ballack bossing the centre of midfield this was an intimidating demonstration of Chelsea's power – to which the Greek side singularly failed to respond. The overall possession count was 57 per cent in Chelsea's favour which, in Champions League terms, is the football equivalent of a military occupation. Having listened to what was presumably a less than inspiring team talk from their harassed-looking manager Panagiotis Lemonis, Olympiakos came out for the second half and promptly conceded a third goal.
A kind description of Kalou's goal would have been that it came from a goalmouth scramble – but, when it comes to the Olympiakos defence, the description goalmouth shambles works just as well. Lampard's corner from the left wing was headed on limply by Drogba and Kalou was allowed two touches one yard out from goal to put the ball into the net.
Joe Cole and Makelele both had good chances to score in the later stages until Olympiakos put together some token resistance towards the end of the game. The substitute Fernando Belluschi struck the bar with a shot and Cudicini was obliged to make another good stop moments later.
Lampard was booked for diving which, in the circumstances, looked harsh. Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips were brought on and many of those who played last night can probably expect to be rested for Saturday's trip to Barnsley in the FA Cup. It would be hard to bet against Chelsea coming through that game still alive in three competitions this season. Compared to the resistance that they encountered last night, the visit to Oakwell looks like a tricky encounter.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Wright-Phillips, 79), Ballack, Lampard (Essien, 76), Kalou (Malouda, 70); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex, Belletti, Anelka.
Olympiakos (4-5-1): Nikopolidis; Zewlakow, Antzas, J Cesar, Pantos; Torosidis (Sisic, 75), Patsatzoglou, Ledesma (Belluschi, 53), Stoltidis, Djordjevic (Leonardo, 57); Kovacevic. Substitutes not used: Sifakis (gk), Nunez, Mendrinos, Konstantinou.
Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).
Quarter-final qualifiers
Barcelona, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Arsenal, Chelsea, Schalke, Roma, Liverpool/Internazionale
The draw for the last eight (1/2 and 8/9 April) and semi-finals is on Friday 14 March. Teams from the same country can be drawn together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Kalou caps cakewalk for rampant Chelsea
Stuart James at Stamford BridgeThursday March 6, 2008The Guardian
Avram Grant can only dream that Chelsea's progress in the Champions League will remain so serene. While Manchester United and Arsenal faced testing examinations before taking their place in the last eight 24 hours earlier, Chelsea secured their quarter-final berth with consummate ease last night. Olympiakos had the air of a team enjoying a day out, although there will be few memories to cherish when they arrive back in Athens this morning.
It is now 60 matches unbeaten in all competitions for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a record the Greek champions were never in danger of ruining. Olympiakos's frailties were brutally exposed as Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou delivered victory.The scoreline was in keeping with Olympiakos's record in England, having conceded at least two goals on each of their previous seven visits. Containing Chelsea and seeking to strike on the counter-attack had been their original gameplan but damage limitation quickly became the primary objective after Chelsea struck twice inside the opening 25 minutes. A procession duly unfolded, with the only doubt surrounding Chelsea's winning margin.
Grant praised "the character and attitude" of his side but, as well as Chelsea played at times, this was no reliable barometer of their ability to win the European Cup in Moscow. Arsenal, Manchester United and, providing they negotiate next week's second leg in Milan, Liverpool are possible opponents in the next round and, while Grant expressed no preferences, the Chelsea manager will expect a far more demanding challenge.
So comfortable were Chelsea that Didier Drogba, restored in place of Nicolas Anelka, and Kalou, deployed on the left in an attacking trident which also featured Joe Cole, were showboating before half-time. John Terry had also taken the opportunity to maraud forward on occasions, a measure of the confidence coursing through the Chelsea side.
Only in the final 10 minutes, when the substitute Fernando Belluschi at last offered an attacking threat, did Olympiakos trouble Carlo Cudicini. Twice the Chelsea goalkeeper then made smart saves, thwarting Belluschi and Paraskevas Antzas, although for the remainder of the evening the Italian could have been forgiven for wondering if his presence was necessary in the absence of Petr Cech.
Cech had been unexpected omission, having twisted an ankle in training 24 hours earlier, an injury which might have unsettled Chelsea's preparations for a European tie on other occasions. That possibility was discounted inside five minutes, however, as Chelsea took an early lead through Ballack's first Champions League goal of the season.
Lampard was the architect, the England midfielder whipping a right-footed cross towards the corner of the six-yard box which Ballack, timing his run impeccably, headed emphatically inside the near post. Ashley Cole's quick throw-in had exposed a lack of concentration within the Olympiakos defence in the lead-up to the breakthrough, and the defending of the Greek side was little better when Lampard and Ballack combined again 20 minutes later.
Amid consternation in the Olympiakos penalty area, Predrag Djordjevic's clearance carried height rather than distance, encouraging Claude Makelele to maintain Chelsea's pressure. The Frenchman's header found Terry in space on the corner of the penalty area, inviting the captain to glance into the path of Ballack. An angled drive was parried by Antonios Nikopolodis, leaving Lampard, with the goal at his mercy from two yards, to tap home.
Olympiakos were crestfallen, the interval providing only temporary respite. The second half was not three minutes old when Lampard drifted an inswinging corner towards the near post. Following a slight touch from Drogba, Kalou was afforded the time and space to take a touch inside the six-yard box before bundling the ball beyond the stranded Nikopolidis.
A rout beckoned and the fourth goal should have arrived five minutes later when Kalou's pass released Lampard, only for the midfielder to screw his shot wide. Lampard was later booked for an alleged dive, prompting Grant to withdraw the midfielder wary of a second dismissal in two games. It was the only moment of concern for the Chelsea manager on a night which revealed little about his players' prospects in the competition.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Treble top: Chelsea join United and Arsenal in last eight of Champions LeagueChelsea 3 Olympiacos 0 (Agg: 3-0)
By MATT BARLOW
The plan hatched two years ago was to lure Michael Ballack to Chelsea, install him alongside Frank Lampard in central midfield and sit back as the pair obliterated opponents with their goal power.
It has taken a while but finally evidence is starting to seep out of Stamford Bridge that it may not have been such a foolhardy idea and gross waste of money.
West Ham had no answer on Saturday and last night Olympiacos were destroyed in similar fashion by the dynamic duo who earn £250,000 between them each week.
Ballack drifted forward to open the scoring after only six minutes with a simple header from Lampard's left-wing cross.
Nineteen minutes later, Lampard was on the spot to grab the second after Ballack's fierce shot had been parried.
Yes, they are blessed with similar talents, perhaps powered by the same single-minded dedication. They even drive the same kind of car, a Ferrari 599, white and black in the case of Ballack, blue for Lampard.
But if Avram Grant can devise a system which maximises their goal power he will be one up on Jose Mourinho.
If he goes all the way to Moscow in the Champions League he will be two up. No one will care about who had the most Carling Cups.
Salomon Kalou added the third as Chelsea joined Arsenal and Manchester United in next week's draw for the quarter-finals and Liverpool take a two-goal lead to Inter Milan with a great chance to make it a quartet from the Barclays Premier League in the last eight.
If Grant is to reach the final in May, he will have to outfox far better teams than Olympiacos but, after winning only once in a tentative February, his team looked firmly back in their ruthless rhythm last night.
They have extended their unbeaten home record to 60 games and the manager will go to Barnsley in the FA Cup on Saturday without fear of the chop.
John Terry had called for patience before the game, aware of the major headache an early Olympiacos goal would cause, but the Chelsea captain, who watched the first leg from the bench in Greece, declared his intent with two strong headers in the opening seconds. It set the tone.
From a free-kick awarded as Terry won the second of those headers, Didier Drogba muscled into the penalty area and took aim.
His effort was helped on by Joe Cole, beating the goalkeeper but thumping into the foot of a post. The offside flag went up, harshly as Cole looked level, but Chelsea had set their tempo high.
When a ball rolled into touch on the left, Ashley Cole gathered it in a flash. He threw it to Lampard, who swung a cross to the near post where Ballack slipped his marker, Ieroklis Stoltidis, and rose to head in the 14th Champions League goal of his career.
The Blues were three up inside 22 minutes at West Ham on Saturday and killed off the Greeks with the second when Lampard tucked in the rebound after Antonios Nikopolidis had parried Ballack's drive into his path.
It must rank among the easiest of his 103 Chelsea goals. Midfield remains Grant's greatest puzzle.
He seems content to share the anchor role between Claude Makelele and John Mikel Obi, leaving Ballack, Lampard and Michael Essien to contest the other two places in the 4-3-3 system.
Lampard missed out in Greece, Ballack at Wembley. Essien, the only player to start Chelsea's first seven European games this season but only one booking from a ban, was sacrificed last night.
He watched the Lampard and Ballack show from the bench before a 14- minute cameo.
In effect, the personnel mattered little. It was the intensity, absent in Athens and at Wembley, which put the home team in command.
Olympiacos, unbeaten in 21 games upon arrival in London, were swept aside like the Hammers. Out of their depth for long periods.
Quick in the tackle and certain in the pass, this was Chelsea at their dominant best. Their movement in attack was fluid and Joe Cole and Kalou worked tirelessly to cover the hard yards on the flanks, supported by their full backs.
At one point, Grant strode to the touchline to issue a palms down gesture which said: 'OK, let's not go mad.'
Kalou forced in the third when a Lampard corner found a bizarre route through a crowded goal area to the back post and there could have been more.
Lampard screwed a chance wide and Drogba saw a goal ruled out for offside. Nikopolidis saved again from Joe Cole and even Makelele ventured forward to try his luck.
The only slight blemishes on a victorious night were a trio of needless yellow cards for Lampard, Terry and Paulo Ferreira.
Carlo Cudicini, making his second European appearance of the season, after Petr Cech injured his ankle on the eve of the game, was barely troubled until the closing minutes when Olympiacos launched a surprise late attack.
Fernando Belluschi rattled the bar from 25 yards and then Stoltidis stepped forward to test the Italian goalkeeper with a free-kick, given for a foul by Terry, who hobbled out of Stamford Bridge with a sore foot but insisted it was nothing serious.
Cudicini failed to hold the vicious low drive from Stoltidis but reacted superbly, springing to his feet to turn a follow-up around the post from Paraskevas Antzas, who held his head as though it was just one of those nights.
Olympiacos have now lost on all eight of their visits to England and have conceded 27 goals.
Cudicini's shut-out means it is now 10hr 21min since Chelsea conceded a goal in European football.
That was scored by Valencia's David Villa in November. Goals from Lampard and Ballack, clean sheets galore.
Roman Abramovich, who jetted back after Russia's presidential elections to see the game, can continue to fantasise about Moscow on May 21.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cudicini 6; Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7; Ballack 8, Makelele 7, Lampard 8 (Essien 76min); J Cole 7 (Wright Phillips 79), Drogba 7, Kalou 7 (Malouda 71, 6). Booked: Lampard, Ferreira, Terry.
OLYMPIACOS (4-5-1): Nikopolidis 6; Zewlakow 5, Antzas 6, Julio Cesar 6, Pantos 6; Torosidis 5 (Sisic 75, 6), Patsatzoglou 6, Ledesma 6 (Belluschi 54, 6), Stoltidis 6, Djordjevic 5 (Leonardo 57, 6); Kovacevic 5. Booked: Stoltidis.
Man of the match: Frank Lampard.
Referee: Manuel Gonzalez (Spain). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
Lamps and Ballack lead the Blues on Greek cruise
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16, 2ND LEG: CHELSEA 3 OLYMPIACOS 0 Chelsea win 3-0 on aggregateCHELSEA DUO 'SHOWBOAT' IN EASY WIN Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer 6/03/2008
Hands Up all those who still insist Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack can't play together?
Thought so. And while Avram Grant has only regained some of the authority he lost at Wembley the other week, the response hasn't been too bad at all.
Last night, as Ballack and Lampard combined to set each other up and Chelsea cruised into the last eight of the Champions League with a contemptuous dismissal of the giftbearing Greeks, the real Blues were back on display.
Ballack's close-range header was the first act of an evening of non-stop running by the German, while Lampard's tap-in killed off the tie before the break.
Salomon Kalou cashed in with another simple finish as Chelsea romped home at a canter, reaching the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the five seasons since Roman Abramovich arrived with his bottomless pit of cash.
Abramovich is desperate to see his side in the final in Moscow in May but a week after manager Grant lost his cool at the criticism that came his way after the Carling Cup debacle, his team have come out firing on his behalf.
Maybe you should get angry every week, Avram.
Chelsea made five changes to the side that grafted to a laborious goalless draw in the first leg in Athens, with keeper Petr Cech a high-profile absentee. But Chelsea may well have managed without anyone between the posts, such was their dominance. There was certainly a big change in attitude between last night's line-up and the side that played in Greece. Two weeks ago, Chelsea had been negative and restricted, fearful of committing themselves and letting the home side control the tempo. Last night could not have been more different, as Grant's side tore into the Greeks from the start to take an iron grip on the contest.
The opening goal only took five minutes, by which time Chelsea could have been three up. Joe Cole was wrongly flagged offside as he hit the post after a Didier Drogba run, then a terrific low cross by Ashley Cole was just cleared.
From the throw, the left-back found Lampard, who floated in to the near post, and the Greeks were statues as Ballack read the centre and directed his simple but secure header between the static Antonios Nikopolidis and his upright. Joe Cole was a constant menace, pulling wide right and then popping up on the other side during a terrific move which ended with Drogba volleying just over the bar.
The Greeks were looking a well-beaten side already, and on 25 minutes, the Blues were two goals to the good.
Lampard's free-kick was only half-cleared and Claude Makelele and then John Terry played head-tennis.
Ballack, so alert, latched on to the loose ball, rifling a low shot which was parried by Nikopolidis straight to Lampard. The Chelsea No.8 simply walked his 13th goal of the season over the line. It was all too easy, with Terry able to rampage forward from the back. At half-time the only question being asked was how many Chelsea would get.
Olympiacos, quite honestly, were hopeless - outgunned and outclassed.
Chelsea, to their credit, kept looking for more. Only a desperate block by Cristian Ledesma denied Lampard after he linked with Drogba two minutes after the restart.
From the resulting corner, though, the third did come.
Nobody bothered to pick up Ricardo Carvalho as Lampard arced the flag-kick into the six-yard box and when the ball bounced down off the Portuguese defender's heels, Kalou poked home from a couple of feet.
Now it was getting embarrassing as the Greeks capitulated, Lampard angling a low strike just wide of the far post after another huge gap was opened up down the right.
Drogba thought he had a fourth as he stroked home from Lampard's pass, only for the flag to cut short his celebrations, while Joe Cole and Makelele were denied by Nikopolidis.
This one, though, was long since over.
Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Ballack, Makelele, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, J Cole.
Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Zewlakow, Julio Cesar, Antzas, Pantos, Ledesma, Patsatzoglou, Torosidis, Djordjevic, Stoltidis, Kovacevic.
Chelsea v OLYMPIACOS
62% POSSESSION 38%
8 SHOTS ON TARGET 3
6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 3
4 OFFSIDES 6
4 CORNERS 4
20 FOULS 18
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 37,721
Man Of The Match: Ballack ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 3 Olympiakos 0 By IAN McGARRY
A LOT has been said about Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack.That both men play a very similar position. True. They both drive a Ferrari 599. True. They cannot play in the same team. False.
A virtuoso performance in perfect harmony from two of the world’s best midfielders saw Chelsea romp home against Olympiakos at Stamford Bridge last night. This was no ordinary victory, though. In the realm of the Champions League, where only the best get on, Chelsea were masterful.
Ever since his free transfer from Bayern Munich two years ago and his much-publicised mega-salary, Germany captain Ballack has found it difficult to live up to the hero status of England star Lamps.
While Lampard has shown again and again his value to the Blues, Ballack has had to overcome injury and poor form.
But he has finally started to show the quality which saw Chelsea outbid Europe’s biggest teams to sign him. And he is doing it with the help of Lampard. Between them, the pair earn around £250,000 a week.
But last night they were priceless as Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
A goal apiece — each helping the other to score — followed a similar show of excellence in the 4-0 romp at West Ham last Saturday.
And all on a night which could have been far more tricky for Avram Grant’s Blues.
With keeper Petr Cech unable to start because of an ankle injury which may yet keep him out of Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Barnsley, the omens were all in Olympiakos’ favour.
Add to that the referee was Manuel Gonzalez, who oversaw Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Liverpool last season, and it looked a bit dodgy.
Not for long though. The seeds of the partnership which looked so fruitful against West Ham were soon in full bloom.
Ballack scored Chelsea’s third at Upton Park but he was quicker off the mark against the Greeks.
Lampard flighted a perfect sixth-minute cross to the German, whose header beat Antonios Nikopolidis at the near post. It was a sweet moment for Ballack, who feared he may be dropped.
In the end it was Michael Essien who stayed on the bench in what proved a cute move by boss Grant. Joe Cole was another who proved himself in the Premier League clash and he was given licence to roam across the frontline last night.
Cole came close on a couple of occasions but it was dynamic duo Ballack and Lamps who put Chelsea out of sight.
With Olympiakos struggling to cope with an attack which flooded at them in numbers, the Blues’ new midfield partnership struck again after 25 minutes.
This time Ballack was sent free to face the keeper one-on-one.
But when his shot was deflected, guess who followed up and swept the ball into the open goal? Yes, super Frank was on hand to notch his 103rd goal for Chelsea. After Grant admitted the Champions League is the club’s priority this season, Lamps’ goal looked invaluable as this contest raced towards half-time.
Having produced an accomplished display in Athens, Olympiakos were expected to provide much tougher opposition in London than this.
But all they had to show for the first period was a cross from Vassilis Torosidis which had keeper Carlo Cudicini mildly flustered before Paulo Ferreira cleared. Apart from a late flurry, that was the sum of Olympiakos’ threat.
Not Chelsea’s though. Just after the break they won a corner on the right and it was three.
Lampard delivered a bending cross which Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho touched on for Salomon Kalou to tuck home the third.
Terry was magnificent
It was more proof of Chelsea’s utter domination and made their bid to be crowned kings of Europe more credible.
A scoreline which was already the most convincing of any of the first knockout-phase games pressed home their claims.
At the back, John Terry was magnificent in winning every aerial challenge while marshalling the defence to make the visitors look more like tourists.
Grant could afford to withdraw Kalou, Lamps and Joe Cole in a second period which should have seen Drogba on the scoresheet as well.
His effort was wrongly ruled offside, though it barely mattered.
Chelsea march on in another competition and now face Barnsley with their hopes of making this a memorable season even greater than before.
The third of four English sides to reach the last eight in Europe, this is becoming as intense a race as the Premier League.
And with Lamps and Ballack in this kind of form, anything is possible for Chelsea.
Michael Ballack puts paid to any sign of nerves in Chelsea talent showChelsea 3 Olympiacos 0 (Chelsea win 3-0 on agg)
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent
There may be the international round of fixtures so coveted by Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, after all. One difference: it will be going by the name of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea became the third English club to enter the last eight of the most prestigious European tournament last night and, with Liverpool expected to make it a quartet when they take a 2-0 lead to Inter Milan’s San Siro stadium next week, it is likely that half of the teams in the draw in Nyon, Switzerland, a week tomorrow will be from one league: a first.
It is too early to get excited; three is quite common. Since 1998, a trio of teams from one country has reached the quarter-finals on nine occasions and from England twice (Manchester United, Arsenal and Leeds United in 2001, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea last season), but four is the magic number. If Liverpool stay strong in Milan on Tuesday, English football will have made history.
Liverpool may have it tough, but Chelsea went through without breaking sweat. Credit to them, this was an assured, commanding performance, but it helped that Olympiacos were shocking, arguably the weakest team seen at this stage of the competition since it converted to a 32-club extravaganza in 1999-2000. One can only ponder the ability of Werder Bremen and Lazio if the Greek champions were able to finish level on points with Real Madrid in group C.
Perhaps European football is fragmenting, as the leading domestic leagues have done, into a two-tier system based on wealth. Olympiacos keep winning the Greek league because regular Champions League football gives them the business advantage, but they cannot compete with the real elite of Europe, whose regular ventures into the knockout phase bring even greater riches.
Chelsea have reached the quarter-finals in four of their five seasons in the Champions League. They are in a different class, financially and technically, and last night it showed. Their bench would have had the beating of Olympiacos, let alone their first team.
Chelsea were very good, but they did not need to be for long. A goal up after six minutes, two clear after 25, they scored a third from the first attack of the second half and declared the event over. Olympiacos showed a spark only when Fernando Belluschi, a substitute, came on and Chelsea switched off; he hit the bar and caused a few problems from free kicks around the penalty area. Chelsea had three players booked during this period, even if Frank Lampard once more looked unfortunate to be punished, and that may come back to haunt them when the stakes grow higher.
That aside, it was a drive in the country. Olympiacos’s resistance lasted no longer than Chelsea’s first attack in each half and from the time the second goal went in, Avram Grant’s men were cruising to the quarter-finals with the windows down and something summery by Van Morrison on the stereo.
After the delights of Arsenal’s win against AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday, this was an anticlimax, but while Chelsea’s conservatism is so often blamed for a dull 90 minutes, for once it was not their fault. For a team with vast European experience, Olympiacos had nothing to offer. It was not that they lacked ambition, more that they lacked anything at all.
Carlo Cudicini, the Chelsea goalkeeper, who was standing in for Petr Cech after he injured an ankle in training the morning before the match and will be missing for up to three weeks, was untroubled until late in the second half, when he let a free kick by Belluschi go and was startled to see it hit the bar. At the other end, Antonios Nikopolidis, the Olympiacos goalkeeper, was less fortunate and the game was only six minutes old when his defence suffered a breach.
Lampard collected a throw-in on the left and whipped in a cross that Michael Ballack met with his head. Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, had said before the match that he was mildly concerned that it could be a nervous night if goals did not come early. He need not have worried. Olympiacos could not deal with anything in the air and lacked the grit to match Chelsea’s physical presence. The first goal was an exercise in simplicity and there was no sign of tension in the ground. Olympiacos did not give anyone time to get nervous.
Within 20 minutes Chelsea had scored a second and the game was as good as over. Again, Olympiacos had the chance to mount a straightforward rearguard action but lacked the determination. First, Claude Makelele won a header from a clearance, then John Terry won another and Ballack’s shot was saved before Lampard got to the loose ball first for a tap-in.
You want to know how comfortable Chelsea were? Makelele had a crack at goal. Twice. Once after 19 minutes, again after 68. The crowd roared and laughed. It was like a testimonial game. Chelsea had further chances and would not have been flattered had the work of Didier Drogba and Joe Cole been rewarded.
When the second half brought no change of tempo, Chelsea took advantage again, scoring from a corner by Lampard, courtesy of another debacle at the back. Drogba got a touch, Ricardo Carvalho another and Salomon Kalou scrambled the ball over the line from two yards. “Are you Brentford in disguise?” the Chelsea fans sang to the red-and-white-striped visiting team and it would have been an easy mistake to make. It is Barnsley and Derby County next. Amazingly, they may give Chelsea more of a game.
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini – P Ferreira, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole – M Ballack, C Makelele, F Lampard (sub: M Essien, 75min) – J Cole (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 78), D Drogba, S Kalou (sub: F Malouda, 69). Substitutes not used: Hilário, Alex, J Belletti, N Anelka. Booked: Lampard, Ferreira, Terry.
Olympiacos (4-3-2-1): A Nikopolidis – M Zewlakow, P Antzas, Júlio César, A Pantos – C Patsatzoglou, K Ledesma (sub: F Belluschi, 52), I Stoltidis – V Torossidis (sub: M Sisic, 75), P Djordjevic (sub: Leonardo, 57) – D Kovacevic. Substitutes not used: M Sifakis, L Núñez, K Mendrinos, M Konstantinou. Booked: Pantos. Referee: M González (Spain). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:Lampard inspired as Chelsea serve up treatBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (2) 3 Olympiakos (0) 0Agg: 3-0
Chelsea meted out the same treatment to Olympiakos that the Greeks inflict on their dinner plates. Olympiakos' defence, as brittle as ancient crockery, was smashed into countless pieces by Chelsea's superb attacking. The only surprise was that the Londoners managed only three goals.
Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou all scored while Lampard delivered one of those fine, box-to-box performances that marks him out as one of the best midfielders at work in Europe. If Liverpool survive their visit to Inter Milan next week, as they should, then half the quarter-finalists will hail from the Premier League. No Petr Cech, no Michael Essien, no John Obi Mikel, no Nicolas Anelka, no problem. Chelsea's resources are so deep that they take any tinkering, any injuries in their quick-moving stride. Lampard, contentiously omitted for the first leg in Athens, was terrific, creating Ballack's early goal, scoring himself and constantly being at the heart of all that was good about Chelsea.
Fabio Capello, the England manager who was watching from the smart seats, will have enjoyed the sight of so many Englishmen shining, from a revitalised Lampard to an untroubled John Terry, from the sprightly Ashley Cole to the lively Joe Cole. Lampard was the pick of the bunch, particularly in a first half that he ran.
Lampard's vision and passing were swiftly in evidence. Seizing on Ashley Cole's quick throw-in after five minutes, Lampard had already noted his team-mates' forward runs. Two touches nudged the ball in from the left-hand touchline. Lampard's third picked out Ballack magnificently, the ball bent towards the near post for the German to beat the static Antonios Nikopolidis with a firm, well-placed header.
It resembled one of those training-ground rehearsals where defenders are told to hold their positions while the attackers hone their art. Olympiakos could have brought over four statues from the Parthenon and reacted to Chelsea's movement more adroitly.
With Lampard in such dynamic mood, Chelsea kept pouring forward through the middle and out wide. Kalou and, particularly, Ashley Cole created havoc down the left. Joe Cole and Ballack combined well down the right. Chelsea's movement was fast and fluid. Olympiakos were constantly stretched. This was a mismatch.
The next thrust of the Chelsea knife brought more pain. Another panicky Olympiakos clearance after 25 minutes was met by Claude Makelele, whose clever header found Terry tucked in on the right. Chelsea's captain immediately sent Ballack through and Olympiakos were cut open. Again.
The German unleashed a strong shot which Nikopolidis got a hand to, but merely diverted into the path of Lampard. On a night of Greeks bearing gifts, the England international gratefully accepted the easiest of tap-ins that almost arrived in pretty wrapping, a nice bow and a note saying "help yourself".
If only Olympiakos players had the same verve as their animated supporters, who brought colour and noise to the Bridge. Chelsea fans stoked up the atmosphere more by chanting "Panathinaikos". At least Olympiakos were giving Chelsea a challenge in the singing department.
"You're not singing any more", Chelsea fans chanted three minutes after the break when Lampard created a third. Over swirled the corner, catching out Olympiakos, Didier Drogba getting a slight touch and sending the ball on to Kalou. Controlling the ball with his thigh, Kalou flicked it home expertly.
Lampard should have made it 4-0 but dragged his shot wide. Olympiakos coach Panagiotis Lemonis tried to breathe some life into his team, and introduced Fernando Belluschi. John Bellushi might have had more impact on the Blues Brothers, who remained in control.
Amazingly, Olympiakos finally gave Carlo Cudicini something to think about. For an hour, the goalkeeper understudying for the injured Cech had just watched events form afar. For an hour, Cudicini could have wandered down the King's Road, perhaps done some late-night shopping and even grabbed a pizza, before returning to the Bridge without anyone noticing his absence.
Even when Belluschi delivered a decent free-kick over Chelsea's wall, Cudicini hardly had to move far to collect the ball. Moments later he clutched Leonardo's corner and launched a counter-attack that brought chances for Joe Cole and Makelele, both saved by Nikopolidis.
Lampard, whose ludicrous weekend sending-off at West Ham was rightly rescinded, then suffered another on-field injustice when he was cautioned for diving, another decision devoid of logic. Caught accidentally by Christos Patsatzoglou in the area, Lampard was bowled over. The combination of gravity plus speed of collision meant Lampard had little choice but to fall down.
Avram Grant decided to spare Lampard any more poor decisions and called him to the bench to be replaced by Essien. As Lampard walked off, Chelsea fans stood as one to salute their inspired No 8. Chelsea's coach then withdrew Joe Cole for Shaun Wright-Phillips and, with Florent Malouda already on for Kalou, this meant Drogba had to complete this dead tie.
Draining the squad's leading striker seemed strange, unless Grant intends resting Drogba for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final exertions at Oakwell. One thing is sure: Barnsley will give Chelsea more of a game than Olympiakos.
Belluschi shivered the crossbar late on, and then Cudicini saved magnificently from Paraskevas Antzas but Chelsea were already home and hosed in the Champions League quarter-finals.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 3 Olympiakos 0 (Chel win 3-0 on agg): Ballack fires confident Chelsea as Greeks offer little resistance
By Sam Wallace, Football CorrespondentThursday, 6 March 2008
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, unless it happens to be the pitiful Olympiakos, who gave Chelsea a bona fide free ride into the Champions League quarter-finals last night. Avram Grant's team are now 60 games undefeated at home in all competitions over two years and few came easier than this stroll at Stamford Bridge.
It is not Chelsea's fault that this victory was not the epoch-making triumph achieved by Arsenal at San Siro on Tuesday night, for that blame the Greeks. For a club who have won the title in their domestic league for 10 out of the last 11 seasons Olympiakos were so dreadful it was tempting to think that the Chelsea players faced stiffer opposition on that recent paintballing trip in the Surrey countryside to rebuild team morale.
Ahead in six minutes through Michael Ballack's goal, the only surprise was that Chelsea did not score more than the two further goals added by Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou. Apart from their finishing, this was Chelsea at their ruthless, remorseless best – from Ballack's opener to the very last moments when the Spanish referee called time as they prepared to take their last corner of the match.
Chelsea's victory means that there are three English teams through to the Champions League quarter-finals, and just Liverpool left to make it into the draw for the quarter-finals on 14 March. This week will be remembered for Arsenal's humbling of Milan, not Chelsea's destruction of Olympiakos, but it was ever thus for poor old Grant. It will take a performance like this against one of the big boys of European football to convince everyone that he truly is the real deal.
An indicator of just how comfortable Chelsea had it last night was that Claude Makelele had two shots on goal – probably equalling his season's average in one match – and he even nearly scored from one. Carlo Cudicini, in for the injured Petr Cech, made his first save some time around the hour and his main preoccupation for most of the match, until a late Olympiakos rally, was keeping himself warm.
If there was a frustrating element for Chelsea it was that they incurred some needless bookings – to John Terry, Lampard and Paulo Ferreira – which may come back to haunt them later in the competition. But this was a night to admire the power and control of the great blue machine, and by the end even Olympiakos' boisterous support appeared to have reconciled themselves to the inevitable.
Another big game, another big-name midfielder left out of the team by Grant. In the first leg against Olympiakos it was Lampard; in the Carling Cup final it was Ballack; and last night it was the turn of Michael Essien to sit on the bench. It is a sign of just how difficult Grant is finding juggling the big names that it was Ballack who originally believed he was not in the team – only for Essien to find himself left out in the cold.
All that politics around the team selection was rendered irrelevant when, with six minutes gone, Chelsea took the lead through Ballack. For all their impact in the opening stages, the Olympiakos team might as well have booked themselves in for the stadium tour rather than lined up on the pitch. They seemed to approach the occasion like the first day at a daunting new school and no team fit the role of bullies better than Chelsea.
There was an uninspiring 4-5-1 formation from the visitors from Piraeus with, on his own in attack, Darko Kovacevic – a big lump of a centre-forward, the like of which Terry will happily keep in his pocket all night. In the fifth minute, Ashley Cole took a quick throw to Lampard on the left wing, the midfielder hit a curling cross to the near post and Ballack was on hand to head the ball past goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis.
It was tempting to say that was the game over there and, although Olympiakos picked themselves up briefly after Chelsea's second goal, any faint self-belief they may have had appeared to expire in those early stages. Joe Cole had already made an excellent chance for Didier Drogba, which he volleyed over, when Chelsea scored their second goal on 25 minutes.
Claude Makelele's header found Joe Cole on the right who in turn headed it first time into the path of Ballack. His shot was stopped at the near post by Nikopolidis who, nonetheless, could not hold it. Cue Lampard to roll in his 103rd career goal for Chelsea from one yard out. From then, the unbeaten home record that stretches back to that 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League in February 2006 never looked in doubt.
With Kalou on the left, Joe Cole on the right and Lampard and Ballack bossing the centre of midfield this was an intimidating demonstration of Chelsea's power – to which the Greek side singularly failed to respond. The overall possession count was 57 per cent in Chelsea's favour which, in Champions League terms, is the football equivalent of a military occupation. Having listened to what was presumably a less than inspiring team talk from their harassed-looking manager Panagiotis Lemonis, Olympiakos came out for the second half and promptly conceded a third goal.
A kind description of Kalou's goal would have been that it came from a goalmouth scramble – but, when it comes to the Olympiakos defence, the description goalmouth shambles works just as well. Lampard's corner from the left wing was headed on limply by Drogba and Kalou was allowed two touches one yard out from goal to put the ball into the net.
Joe Cole and Makelele both had good chances to score in the later stages until Olympiakos put together some token resistance towards the end of the game. The substitute Fernando Belluschi struck the bar with a shot and Cudicini was obliged to make another good stop moments later.
Lampard was booked for diving which, in the circumstances, looked harsh. Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips were brought on and many of those who played last night can probably expect to be rested for Saturday's trip to Barnsley in the FA Cup. It would be hard to bet against Chelsea coming through that game still alive in three competitions this season. Compared to the resistance that they encountered last night, the visit to Oakwell looks like a tricky encounter.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Wright-Phillips, 79), Ballack, Lampard (Essien, 76), Kalou (Malouda, 70); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex, Belletti, Anelka.
Olympiakos (4-5-1): Nikopolidis; Zewlakow, Antzas, J Cesar, Pantos; Torosidis (Sisic, 75), Patsatzoglou, Ledesma (Belluschi, 53), Stoltidis, Djordjevic (Leonardo, 57); Kovacevic. Substitutes not used: Sifakis (gk), Nunez, Mendrinos, Konstantinou.
Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).
Quarter-final qualifiers
Barcelona, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Arsenal, Chelsea, Schalke, Roma, Liverpool/Internazionale
The draw for the last eight (1/2 and 8/9 April) and semi-finals is on Friday 14 March. Teams from the same country can be drawn together.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Kalou caps cakewalk for rampant Chelsea
Stuart James at Stamford BridgeThursday March 6, 2008The Guardian
Avram Grant can only dream that Chelsea's progress in the Champions League will remain so serene. While Manchester United and Arsenal faced testing examinations before taking their place in the last eight 24 hours earlier, Chelsea secured their quarter-final berth with consummate ease last night. Olympiakos had the air of a team enjoying a day out, although there will be few memories to cherish when they arrive back in Athens this morning.
It is now 60 matches unbeaten in all competitions for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a record the Greek champions were never in danger of ruining. Olympiakos's frailties were brutally exposed as Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou delivered victory.The scoreline was in keeping with Olympiakos's record in England, having conceded at least two goals on each of their previous seven visits. Containing Chelsea and seeking to strike on the counter-attack had been their original gameplan but damage limitation quickly became the primary objective after Chelsea struck twice inside the opening 25 minutes. A procession duly unfolded, with the only doubt surrounding Chelsea's winning margin.
Grant praised "the character and attitude" of his side but, as well as Chelsea played at times, this was no reliable barometer of their ability to win the European Cup in Moscow. Arsenal, Manchester United and, providing they negotiate next week's second leg in Milan, Liverpool are possible opponents in the next round and, while Grant expressed no preferences, the Chelsea manager will expect a far more demanding challenge.
So comfortable were Chelsea that Didier Drogba, restored in place of Nicolas Anelka, and Kalou, deployed on the left in an attacking trident which also featured Joe Cole, were showboating before half-time. John Terry had also taken the opportunity to maraud forward on occasions, a measure of the confidence coursing through the Chelsea side.
Only in the final 10 minutes, when the substitute Fernando Belluschi at last offered an attacking threat, did Olympiakos trouble Carlo Cudicini. Twice the Chelsea goalkeeper then made smart saves, thwarting Belluschi and Paraskevas Antzas, although for the remainder of the evening the Italian could have been forgiven for wondering if his presence was necessary in the absence of Petr Cech.
Cech had been unexpected omission, having twisted an ankle in training 24 hours earlier, an injury which might have unsettled Chelsea's preparations for a European tie on other occasions. That possibility was discounted inside five minutes, however, as Chelsea took an early lead through Ballack's first Champions League goal of the season.
Lampard was the architect, the England midfielder whipping a right-footed cross towards the corner of the six-yard box which Ballack, timing his run impeccably, headed emphatically inside the near post. Ashley Cole's quick throw-in had exposed a lack of concentration within the Olympiakos defence in the lead-up to the breakthrough, and the defending of the Greek side was little better when Lampard and Ballack combined again 20 minutes later.
Amid consternation in the Olympiakos penalty area, Predrag Djordjevic's clearance carried height rather than distance, encouraging Claude Makelele to maintain Chelsea's pressure. The Frenchman's header found Terry in space on the corner of the penalty area, inviting the captain to glance into the path of Ballack. An angled drive was parried by Antonios Nikopolodis, leaving Lampard, with the goal at his mercy from two yards, to tap home.
Olympiakos were crestfallen, the interval providing only temporary respite. The second half was not three minutes old when Lampard drifted an inswinging corner towards the near post. Following a slight touch from Drogba, Kalou was afforded the time and space to take a touch inside the six-yard box before bundling the ball beyond the stranded Nikopolidis.
A rout beckoned and the fourth goal should have arrived five minutes later when Kalou's pass released Lampard, only for the midfielder to screw his shot wide. Lampard was later booked for an alleged dive, prompting Grant to withdraw the midfielder wary of a second dismissal in two games. It was the only moment of concern for the Chelsea manager on a night which revealed little about his players' prospects in the competition.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Treble top: Chelsea join United and Arsenal in last eight of Champions LeagueChelsea 3 Olympiacos 0 (Agg: 3-0)
By MATT BARLOW
The plan hatched two years ago was to lure Michael Ballack to Chelsea, install him alongside Frank Lampard in central midfield and sit back as the pair obliterated opponents with their goal power.
It has taken a while but finally evidence is starting to seep out of Stamford Bridge that it may not have been such a foolhardy idea and gross waste of money.
West Ham had no answer on Saturday and last night Olympiacos were destroyed in similar fashion by the dynamic duo who earn £250,000 between them each week.
Ballack drifted forward to open the scoring after only six minutes with a simple header from Lampard's left-wing cross.
Nineteen minutes later, Lampard was on the spot to grab the second after Ballack's fierce shot had been parried.
Yes, they are blessed with similar talents, perhaps powered by the same single-minded dedication. They even drive the same kind of car, a Ferrari 599, white and black in the case of Ballack, blue for Lampard.
But if Avram Grant can devise a system which maximises their goal power he will be one up on Jose Mourinho.
If he goes all the way to Moscow in the Champions League he will be two up. No one will care about who had the most Carling Cups.
Salomon Kalou added the third as Chelsea joined Arsenal and Manchester United in next week's draw for the quarter-finals and Liverpool take a two-goal lead to Inter Milan with a great chance to make it a quartet from the Barclays Premier League in the last eight.
If Grant is to reach the final in May, he will have to outfox far better teams than Olympiacos but, after winning only once in a tentative February, his team looked firmly back in their ruthless rhythm last night.
They have extended their unbeaten home record to 60 games and the manager will go to Barnsley in the FA Cup on Saturday without fear of the chop.
John Terry had called for patience before the game, aware of the major headache an early Olympiacos goal would cause, but the Chelsea captain, who watched the first leg from the bench in Greece, declared his intent with two strong headers in the opening seconds. It set the tone.
From a free-kick awarded as Terry won the second of those headers, Didier Drogba muscled into the penalty area and took aim.
His effort was helped on by Joe Cole, beating the goalkeeper but thumping into the foot of a post. The offside flag went up, harshly as Cole looked level, but Chelsea had set their tempo high.
When a ball rolled into touch on the left, Ashley Cole gathered it in a flash. He threw it to Lampard, who swung a cross to the near post where Ballack slipped his marker, Ieroklis Stoltidis, and rose to head in the 14th Champions League goal of his career.
The Blues were three up inside 22 minutes at West Ham on Saturday and killed off the Greeks with the second when Lampard tucked in the rebound after Antonios Nikopolidis had parried Ballack's drive into his path.
It must rank among the easiest of his 103 Chelsea goals. Midfield remains Grant's greatest puzzle.
He seems content to share the anchor role between Claude Makelele and John Mikel Obi, leaving Ballack, Lampard and Michael Essien to contest the other two places in the 4-3-3 system.
Lampard missed out in Greece, Ballack at Wembley. Essien, the only player to start Chelsea's first seven European games this season but only one booking from a ban, was sacrificed last night.
He watched the Lampard and Ballack show from the bench before a 14- minute cameo.
In effect, the personnel mattered little. It was the intensity, absent in Athens and at Wembley, which put the home team in command.
Olympiacos, unbeaten in 21 games upon arrival in London, were swept aside like the Hammers. Out of their depth for long periods.
Quick in the tackle and certain in the pass, this was Chelsea at their dominant best. Their movement in attack was fluid and Joe Cole and Kalou worked tirelessly to cover the hard yards on the flanks, supported by their full backs.
At one point, Grant strode to the touchline to issue a palms down gesture which said: 'OK, let's not go mad.'
Kalou forced in the third when a Lampard corner found a bizarre route through a crowded goal area to the back post and there could have been more.
Lampard screwed a chance wide and Drogba saw a goal ruled out for offside. Nikopolidis saved again from Joe Cole and even Makelele ventured forward to try his luck.
The only slight blemishes on a victorious night were a trio of needless yellow cards for Lampard, Terry and Paulo Ferreira.
Carlo Cudicini, making his second European appearance of the season, after Petr Cech injured his ankle on the eve of the game, was barely troubled until the closing minutes when Olympiacos launched a surprise late attack.
Fernando Belluschi rattled the bar from 25 yards and then Stoltidis stepped forward to test the Italian goalkeeper with a free-kick, given for a foul by Terry, who hobbled out of Stamford Bridge with a sore foot but insisted it was nothing serious.
Cudicini failed to hold the vicious low drive from Stoltidis but reacted superbly, springing to his feet to turn a follow-up around the post from Paraskevas Antzas, who held his head as though it was just one of those nights.
Olympiacos have now lost on all eight of their visits to England and have conceded 27 goals.
Cudicini's shut-out means it is now 10hr 21min since Chelsea conceded a goal in European football.
That was scored by Valencia's David Villa in November. Goals from Lampard and Ballack, clean sheets galore.
Roman Abramovich, who jetted back after Russia's presidential elections to see the game, can continue to fantasise about Moscow on May 21.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cudicini 6; Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7; Ballack 8, Makelele 7, Lampard 8 (Essien 76min); J Cole 7 (Wright Phillips 79), Drogba 7, Kalou 7 (Malouda 71, 6). Booked: Lampard, Ferreira, Terry.
OLYMPIACOS (4-5-1): Nikopolidis 6; Zewlakow 5, Antzas 6, Julio Cesar 6, Pantos 6; Torosidis 5 (Sisic 75, 6), Patsatzoglou 6, Ledesma 6 (Belluschi 54, 6), Stoltidis 6, Djordjevic 5 (Leonardo 57, 6); Kovacevic 5. Booked: Stoltidis.
Man of the match: Frank Lampard.
Referee: Manuel Gonzalez (Spain). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
Lamps and Ballack lead the Blues on Greek cruise
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16, 2ND LEG: CHELSEA 3 OLYMPIACOS 0 Chelsea win 3-0 on aggregateCHELSEA DUO 'SHOWBOAT' IN EASY WIN Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer 6/03/2008
Hands Up all those who still insist Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack can't play together?
Thought so. And while Avram Grant has only regained some of the authority he lost at Wembley the other week, the response hasn't been too bad at all.
Last night, as Ballack and Lampard combined to set each other up and Chelsea cruised into the last eight of the Champions League with a contemptuous dismissal of the giftbearing Greeks, the real Blues were back on display.
Ballack's close-range header was the first act of an evening of non-stop running by the German, while Lampard's tap-in killed off the tie before the break.
Salomon Kalou cashed in with another simple finish as Chelsea romped home at a canter, reaching the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the five seasons since Roman Abramovich arrived with his bottomless pit of cash.
Abramovich is desperate to see his side in the final in Moscow in May but a week after manager Grant lost his cool at the criticism that came his way after the Carling Cup debacle, his team have come out firing on his behalf.
Maybe you should get angry every week, Avram.
Chelsea made five changes to the side that grafted to a laborious goalless draw in the first leg in Athens, with keeper Petr Cech a high-profile absentee. But Chelsea may well have managed without anyone between the posts, such was their dominance. There was certainly a big change in attitude between last night's line-up and the side that played in Greece. Two weeks ago, Chelsea had been negative and restricted, fearful of committing themselves and letting the home side control the tempo. Last night could not have been more different, as Grant's side tore into the Greeks from the start to take an iron grip on the contest.
The opening goal only took five minutes, by which time Chelsea could have been three up. Joe Cole was wrongly flagged offside as he hit the post after a Didier Drogba run, then a terrific low cross by Ashley Cole was just cleared.
From the throw, the left-back found Lampard, who floated in to the near post, and the Greeks were statues as Ballack read the centre and directed his simple but secure header between the static Antonios Nikopolidis and his upright. Joe Cole was a constant menace, pulling wide right and then popping up on the other side during a terrific move which ended with Drogba volleying just over the bar.
The Greeks were looking a well-beaten side already, and on 25 minutes, the Blues were two goals to the good.
Lampard's free-kick was only half-cleared and Claude Makelele and then John Terry played head-tennis.
Ballack, so alert, latched on to the loose ball, rifling a low shot which was parried by Nikopolidis straight to Lampard. The Chelsea No.8 simply walked his 13th goal of the season over the line. It was all too easy, with Terry able to rampage forward from the back. At half-time the only question being asked was how many Chelsea would get.
Olympiacos, quite honestly, were hopeless - outgunned and outclassed.
Chelsea, to their credit, kept looking for more. Only a desperate block by Cristian Ledesma denied Lampard after he linked with Drogba two minutes after the restart.
From the resulting corner, though, the third did come.
Nobody bothered to pick up Ricardo Carvalho as Lampard arced the flag-kick into the six-yard box and when the ball bounced down off the Portuguese defender's heels, Kalou poked home from a couple of feet.
Now it was getting embarrassing as the Greeks capitulated, Lampard angling a low strike just wide of the far post after another huge gap was opened up down the right.
Drogba thought he had a fourth as he stroked home from Lampard's pass, only for the flag to cut short his celebrations, while Joe Cole and Makelele were denied by Nikopolidis.
This one, though, was long since over.
Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Ballack, Makelele, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, J Cole.
Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Zewlakow, Julio Cesar, Antzas, Pantos, Ledesma, Patsatzoglou, Torosidis, Djordjevic, Stoltidis, Kovacevic.
Chelsea v OLYMPIACOS
62% POSSESSION 38%
8 SHOTS ON TARGET 3
6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 3
4 OFFSIDES 6
4 CORNERS 4
20 FOULS 18
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 37,721
Man Of The Match: Ballack ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 3 Olympiakos 0 By IAN McGARRY
A LOT has been said about Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack.That both men play a very similar position. True. They both drive a Ferrari 599. True. They cannot play in the same team. False.
A virtuoso performance in perfect harmony from two of the world’s best midfielders saw Chelsea romp home against Olympiakos at Stamford Bridge last night. This was no ordinary victory, though. In the realm of the Champions League, where only the best get on, Chelsea were masterful.
Ever since his free transfer from Bayern Munich two years ago and his much-publicised mega-salary, Germany captain Ballack has found it difficult to live up to the hero status of England star Lamps.
While Lampard has shown again and again his value to the Blues, Ballack has had to overcome injury and poor form.
But he has finally started to show the quality which saw Chelsea outbid Europe’s biggest teams to sign him. And he is doing it with the help of Lampard. Between them, the pair earn around £250,000 a week.
But last night they were priceless as Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
A goal apiece — each helping the other to score — followed a similar show of excellence in the 4-0 romp at West Ham last Saturday.
And all on a night which could have been far more tricky for Avram Grant’s Blues.
With keeper Petr Cech unable to start because of an ankle injury which may yet keep him out of Saturday’s FA Cup clash at Barnsley, the omens were all in Olympiakos’ favour.
Add to that the referee was Manuel Gonzalez, who oversaw Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Liverpool last season, and it looked a bit dodgy.
Not for long though. The seeds of the partnership which looked so fruitful against West Ham were soon in full bloom.
Ballack scored Chelsea’s third at Upton Park but he was quicker off the mark against the Greeks.
Lampard flighted a perfect sixth-minute cross to the German, whose header beat Antonios Nikopolidis at the near post. It was a sweet moment for Ballack, who feared he may be dropped.
In the end it was Michael Essien who stayed on the bench in what proved a cute move by boss Grant. Joe Cole was another who proved himself in the Premier League clash and he was given licence to roam across the frontline last night.
Cole came close on a couple of occasions but it was dynamic duo Ballack and Lamps who put Chelsea out of sight.
With Olympiakos struggling to cope with an attack which flooded at them in numbers, the Blues’ new midfield partnership struck again after 25 minutes.
This time Ballack was sent free to face the keeper one-on-one.
But when his shot was deflected, guess who followed up and swept the ball into the open goal? Yes, super Frank was on hand to notch his 103rd goal for Chelsea. After Grant admitted the Champions League is the club’s priority this season, Lamps’ goal looked invaluable as this contest raced towards half-time.
Having produced an accomplished display in Athens, Olympiakos were expected to provide much tougher opposition in London than this.
But all they had to show for the first period was a cross from Vassilis Torosidis which had keeper Carlo Cudicini mildly flustered before Paulo Ferreira cleared. Apart from a late flurry, that was the sum of Olympiakos’ threat.
Not Chelsea’s though. Just after the break they won a corner on the right and it was three.
Lampard delivered a bending cross which Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho touched on for Salomon Kalou to tuck home the third.
Terry was magnificent
It was more proof of Chelsea’s utter domination and made their bid to be crowned kings of Europe more credible.
A scoreline which was already the most convincing of any of the first knockout-phase games pressed home their claims.
At the back, John Terry was magnificent in winning every aerial challenge while marshalling the defence to make the visitors look more like tourists.
Grant could afford to withdraw Kalou, Lamps and Joe Cole in a second period which should have seen Drogba on the scoresheet as well.
His effort was wrongly ruled offside, though it barely mattered.
Chelsea march on in another competition and now face Barnsley with their hopes of making this a memorable season even greater than before.
The third of four English sides to reach the last eight in Europe, this is becoming as intense a race as the Premier League.
And with Lamps and Ballack in this kind of form, anything is possible for Chelsea.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
sunday papers west ham away
The Sunday TimesMarch 2, 2008
Frank Lampard sent off as Chelsea soarWest Ham 0 Chelsea 4
Taciturn is as taciturn does. After his diatribe against the media last Friday, Avram Grant was anything but exuberant about his team’s crushing victory over West Ham at Upton Park. He would give no explanation about his decision to leave Didier Drogba on the bench throughout, reasoning that he would not speak about players who had not been on the pitch.
In Drogba’s absence, Nicolas Anelka was the solitary striker and performed in stark contrast with his unhappy afternoon in the Carling Cup final when Grant inexplicably put him out on the left wing.
Chelsea’s win was the more remarkable because for most of the game they were reduced to 10 men after the sending off of Frank Lampard on 34 minutes. Challenged by Luis Boa Morte, he responded with a push. The referee, Peter Walton, had a short discussion with his lines-man, then rather surprisingly showed Lampard the red card.
Neither manager seemed convinced. West Ham’s Alan Curbishley said: “As they both got up, I think Frank pushed him. Sometimes you look at that and hope common sense might prevail, but the referee looked at it and decided to send him off. A soft one, I think.”
Grant’s view was that the decision was given from some 20 yards away. “I didn’t see it,” he said, but understood the offence was “a slap in the face of Boa Morte. If so, then it’s a red card - if the assistant referee is right.”
Before his departure, Lampard had made a significant contribution to his team’s success. After 17 minutes, following Anton Ferdinand’s rash foul on Salomon Kalou, Lampard calmly put away the penalty. On 22 minutes, it was his cross from the left that gave Michael Ballack, completely unmarked, the chance to crash home a right-footed goal and Chelsea’s third.
The previous week, West Ham fans were induced to criticise their team for being too defensive at Fulham. Here against Chelsea, West Ham were scarcely defensive at all. Their marking and tackling were simply abysmal. “You could argue,” admitted Curbishley, “that we should have got people closer to them.” Indeed you could.
West Ham’s back four was disastrously porous, and they were hardly helped by their midfield. Chelsea could have gone ahead in the second minute when a Lampard free kick was met by the head of John Terry, pushed away by Robert Green, then knocked into the net by Anelka, who was given offside.
Three minutes after the penalty, Chelsea doubled their lead, exploiting a West Ham defence that was distracted to a degree. Anelka, out on the left, where he is perfectly happy to wander when stationed in the middle, sent across a ball that Joe Cole swept past Green.
Cole also played a crucial role in Chelsea’s fourth goal against a team that could not press home its numerical advantage. After 64 minutes, Kalou neatly set up Joe Cole. His shot was beaten out by Green, only for it to come to Ash-ley Cole, who steered his shot into the far corner of the goal. With the exception of Terry’s clearance off the line, West Ham’s 11 scarcely threatened Chelsea’s 10.
Curbishley seemed to be whistling in the dark when he asserted: “I thought the first half was quite even in terms of possession . . . when you’re playing against the top three or four sides and you go down quickly, it’s a long way to come back.” The ineptitude and fallibility of the West Ham defence, coupled with Chelsea’s direct, quick, intelligent football made it inevitable that goals would be scored. “The game got away from us in five minutes,” said Curbishley. “I don’t think Joe Cole will hit [another] one like that with his left foot.”
Asked whether he thought Chelsea still had a chance of the title, Grant responded: “I think that we’re in the title race all the time. We used our chances in the first half, and then we had some more in the second half playing with one man short, but we played very clever, and they didn’t create one chance.” Grant had somehow forgotten Terry’s glorious overhead clearance off the line from Carlton Cole.
It was surprising to see West Ham take Carlton Cole off the field after 65 minutes, substituting him with Bobby Zamora, who was plainly not yet match fit, and keeping on Dean Ashton, a half-time substitute, who is still plainly seeking for form.
As for Chelsea, you could not help thinking that with this kind of form, they could have swept Spurs aside at Wembley. Whether Grant has decided that Drogba and Anelka cannot play together and must always play separately, remains to be seen. At present Chelsea have an embarrassment of riches.
Match stats
Player ratings: West Ham: Green 6, Neill 5, Ferdinand 5, Upson 6, McCartney 5, Faubert 6 (Solano 66min), Mullins 6, Noble 7, Ljungberg 6, Boa Morte 6 (Ashton ht, 6), C Cole 6 (Zamora 65min) Chelsea: Cech 6, Ferreria 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 8, A Cole 6, J Cole 7 (Essien 69min), Makelele 6 (Alex 84min), Ballack 7, Lampard 6, Kalou 7 (Malouda 75min), Anelka 7 Star man: John Terry (Chelsea) Yellow cards: Chelsea: Terry, Ballack Red card: Chelsea: Lampard Referee: P Walton Attendance: 34,969 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Chelsea attempt to entertain at Upton ParkBy Roy Collins at Upton Park
West Ham United (0) Chelsea (3) 4
The Football Association are considering preventing the undignified sight of referees being baited by a posse of players during a match by banning anyone but team captains from even talking to officials.
In Chelsea's case, it would do nothing to clean up their act since captain John Terry is possibly the worst offender in the Premier League. His berating of referee Peter Walton, as well as one of his assistants, after Frank Lampard's dismissal for pushing Luis Boa Morte, was another disgraceful addition to his crime sheet, with Walton unable to restart the game for a few minutes.
Having said that, Terry was faultless and outstanding on the field of play, as were the whole Chelsea team in a performance that finally put some flesh on manager Avram Grant's promise to turn them into a team of entertainers. It was also vindication of Grant's managerial credentials after the abuse and criticism he suffered after the Carling Cup final defeat last week.
The Carling Cup may have gone, but Chelsea are still in a couple of little cup competitions called the FA Cup and Champions League and, on the basis of this win and another slip-up by Arsenal, they are right back in the title mix. They even looked like Arsenal at times.
Grant partly responded to his critics by putting Nicolas Anelka in a more familiar central role, rather than out on the left wing, where he played against Spurs at Wembley, and also restored Joe Cole and Michael Ballack to the starting line-up. Displaying plenty of courage, considering the pressure he was under to get a victory, he left Didier Drogba on the bench and kept Shaun Wright-Phillips out of the squad altogether as he shuffled his resources with Wednesday's Champions League tie against Olympiakos in mind.
Perhaps he knew just how woeful West Ham were, a side who have built a reputation for defensive competence this season with the best record outside the top four. Here, though, they did not even think to bolt the stable door after the horse had bolted, with Chelsea still knocking the ball around and creating the better chances when down to 10 men.
West Ham manager Alan Curbishley was right when he said: "It probably sounds mad but I thought the first half was fairly even in terms of possession and play." Right, that is, to admit it was mad since Chelsea took the Hammers apart with three goals in six first-half minutes, having already had a perfectly good effort by Anelka ruled out for offside.
Lampard, who so enjoys the warm-hearted applause he gets from West Ham fans after his long years of service here, slotted home the first from the penalty spot after Anton Ferdinand had brought down Salomon Kalou. There was then much snogging of the club badge, just to let the home fans know that they were not the only ones capable of a wind-up.
Joe Cole scored a second from outside the box and then Ballack, who had set that one up, plundered one himself after a cross by Kalou. Just over 20 minutes gone and some West Ham fans were already leaving, one or two questioning the goalkeeping of Robert Green, the man who has 'England's number four' on his gloves, which might be a bit optimistic on this showing.
Once Lampard was sent off, one would have expected a cavalry charge from West Ham, but, on the one occasion they beat Petr Cech with a fine chip from Carlton Cole, Terry showed his determination to keep a clean sheet by running back and clearing the ball off the line.
Curbishley thought the Lampard sending off was harsh, saying: "You look at those situations sometimes and hope common sense will prevail," though Grant was upset more that the call for the red card, as with the penalty given against Chelsea at Wembley, came not from the referee but an assistant. Grant said: "The assistant said that Frank slapped Boa Morte's face and, if he did, then that is a red card. But I don't know. I haven't asked Frank yet."
It is doubtful whether West Ham could have scored had Chelsea had another couple of players sent off. The final insult was delivered by Ashley Cole, also restored to the side, who opened his account for the Blues after namesake Joe's shot was pushed out by Green. It was his first goal for three years, though he celebrated as if he had never scored before.
Chelsea may appeal against Lampard's sending off, though after what happened to Middlesbrough's Jeremie Aliadiere, who got an extra game tacked on for a "frivolous" appeal, they may think better of it. A fourth game for Lampard would see him missing the game against Arsenal at the Bridge at the end of this month. That is a match that no Chelsea player will want to miss.
Opta ratings
West Ham United: Green 6, Neill 7, Ferdinand 6, Upson 7, McCartney 7, Faubert 5 (Solano 4), Mullins 6, Noble 8, Ljungberg 4, Boa Morte 4 (Ashton 5), Cole 6 (Zamora 3) Possession 54 per cent, offsides 2, shots on target 3, shots off target 4, corners 6, fouls conceded 14, yellow cards 0, red cards 0Chelsea: Cech 7, Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7 [y], A Cole 8, J Cole 8 (Essien 6), Makelele 6 (Alex 5), Ballack 7, Lampard 7 [red card], Kalou 7 (Malouda 4), Anelka 7Possession 46 per cent, offsides 3, shots on target 8, shots off target 5, corners 1, fouls conceded 8, yellow cards 2, red cards 1Best moment: The fantastic goal-line clearance by John Terry from Carlton Cole's chip over goalkeeper Petr Cech.Worst moment: Terry and team-mates Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou baiting referee Peter Walton after he sent off Frank Lampard. Only a booking for Ballack broke it up.Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
West Ham Utd 0 Chelsea 4: Lampard off but old boys back to haunt Hammers
Grant has last laugh as new-look Chelsea storm to simple victory
By Ronald Atkin at Upton ParkSunday, 2 March 2008
Avram Grant, take a bow. The lugubrious Israeli does not do exultation, at least not in public, but his Chelsea team indulged in plenty of cavorting on his behalf, carving apart West Ham despite the first-half dismissal of Frank Lampard. After the miseries of last Sunday's Carling Cup final, it was a bounce-back of boomerang proportions.
There had been confident pre-match talk from West Ham sources about deepening Chelsea's unhappiness but in the end it was simply another Hammer horror show to add to Chelsea's impressive statistics against them: six wins in a row now, 17 scored and three conceded. Three goals had been clocked up by the 22nd minute, and a possible fourth by Nicolas Anelka in the first 25 seconds ruled out for offside, before West Ham keeper Robert Green actually managed to save a shot. And, even against 10 men, there was no way back from that for the home side.
Despite the shot and shell following his team selections for Wembley, Grant stuck his head above the parapet again and made six changes for this game. Didier Drogba never got off the bench, Michael Essien only came on late, Joe and Ashley Cole, Salomon Kalou and Michael Ballack were on from the start this time and Anelka, entrusted with the front running after last week's nightmare, was a constant threat. It all worked a treat. As ever, Grant was close-mouthed about the reasons for his selections. "I give respect to all in the squad" was how he put it.
The West Ham manager Alan Curbishley said it all: "They've put themselves back in the race, shown everybody it was a one-off last week. They have a massively strong, talented squad." The irony was that West Ham found themselves three down despite having had more of the game.
After Anelka's offside, they might have had three themselves. Carlton Cole was halted in the act of pulling the trigger by a well-timed Ricardo Carvalho tackle, Petr Cech twice dived to thwart Fredrik Ljungberg dashes and the keeper pulled off a blinding save from Mark Noble.
At the other end, everything went in. Anton Ferdinand precipitated the collapse by fouling Kalou as he surged past. "It was a poor penalty to give away," said Curbishley. "Anton got it wrong." Lampard, resoundingly booed as a former West Ham employee, tucked it away. Three minutes later there was more to boo about as another former Hammer, Joe Cole, collected Anelka's short pass to fire left-footed into the corner.
It became three goals in five minutes when Lampard rolled the ball invitingly across the edge of the penalty area and Ballack brilliantly accepted the invitation with a half-volley.
In the 34th minute came the sending-off incident. Luis Boa Morte was adjudged to have fouled Lampard and as the pair climbed back to their feet on the fringe of the Chelsea penalty zone Lampard pushed his opponent in the chest with both hands. When his attention was drawn to this by a linesman, referee Peter Walton sparked the loudest home cheer of the afternoon by flourishing the red card.
Grant tartly observed that it was the second game in succession that the referee had needed an assistant's intervention to give a decision against his team, but once more Curbishley spoke more eloquently for the brotherhood of managership: "With things like that, you think common sense might prevail." At half-time West Ham opted for the thunderball approach, replacing Boa Morte with Dean Ashton. They deserved a goal, and would have had one but for John Terry's acrobatics. Carlton Cole's lob evaded Cech's outstretched arms but the Chelsea captain's overhead kick on the goalline denied them.
While that miss was being mourned, Kalou slipped Joe Cole clear and though Green turned the shot aside it was straight to the other Cole, Ashley, who netted from a sharp angle. The dismayed home fans would have agreed with Curbishley's summation: "We got it wrong today."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Observer:
All-change Chelsea coast with 10 men
Duncan Castles at Upton ParkSunday March 2, 2008The Observer
'Wait with the knife,' implored Avram Grant in the wake of last Sunday's League Cup final debacle against Tottenham. Another London club answered his call yesterday, West Ham United not so much providing the critics with another blade for the Chelsea manager as plunging one into themselves in disorganised, hot-headed capitulation.Though Frank Lampard suffered a first-half sending-off at the ground that abuses him above all others, Chelsea were by that point three beautifully taken goals to the good and in little danger of conceding to a West Ham side whose intended attacking diamond was devoid of lustre and edge.
Grant's first Premier League victory since January keeps his team nominally in contention for the title and may go some way to easing the concerns of Roman Abramovich as the owner spent the weekend in Russia on electoral duties. Whether it will reassure the Israeli's players of his abilities as a top-tier manager, however, is a moot point.Be it rotation or reaction, Grant didn't just alter his cup final team, he threw it in the dustbin and started from scratch. Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, Wayne Bridge, Juliano Belletti and Shaun Wright-Phillips were all dropped. The formation, at least, remained the same - 4-3-3 - though with Anelka as the attacking point rather than the former untouchable, Drogba.
From the French striker came an almost immediate finish, albeit it one that fell victim to a linesman's flag. Lampard's free-kick was met by John Terry, posing a now unusual threat in the opposition area. Robert Green got hands to the defender's downward header but only to push it in the direction of Anelka, who strode on to finish from a position that was arguably illegal.
If that represented a promising start - Chelsea's dominance of set pieces has all but evaporated since José Mourinho's dismissal - their football soon showed signs of slipping into the long-ball drudgery that Grant once claimed he had banned, yet which so blemished their Wembley outing. Petr Cech again kicked regularly long to a bemused Anelka; the full-backs oft copied him.
Sunday's excuse that Spurs' two forwards prevented Chelsea from building from the back was not available here, Alan Curbishley choosing to line his attack up in a diamond that placed Luis Boa Morte well behind the centre-forward, Carlton Cole. Neither, though, was there much threat from West Ham. For all Upton Park bayed , their first quarter-hour produced little more than a penalty-box scramble and a Julien Faubert header that looped gently on to the roof of Cech's net.
If such creation looked sparse at that point, it was to appear far worse in the wake of a five-minute spell in which every shot Chelsea aimed at goal found the net. The first was due entirely to Anton Ferdinand. Charging into the area at speed, Salomon Kalou touched the ball so far ahead of himself it seemed unrecoverable until Ferdinand came careering across to bundle the Ivorian over.
It was not so much a soft penalty as a stupid one. Ignoring the home fans' dietary advice, Lampard walked confidently up, awaited Green's dive, and placed the spot kick in the opposite corner.
Next to strike was Joe Cole, quite exquisitely, as he watched Anelka's clever pass all the way across the area and sent it sweetly into the far corner. As if inspired by the precision, Michael Ballack hit a right-foot volley into the opposite corner after Lampard spotted another opening in the defence.
Less intelligent was the midfielder's treatment of Boa Morte on a rare foray into Chelsea territory. Pressing the forward from behind, Lampard ended up collapsed on top of the Portuguese, who responded by kicking out a leg. When Boa Morte attempted to rise, Lampard shoved him to the ground once more in an action the linesman deemed worthy of a red card. Ballack disagreed, seeing yellow for instigating another ruck.
Needless to say, the home support loved watching their most detested former player take the long walk. As he exited one Upton Park regular lunged across on crutches to abuse the midfielder. Less satisfying was their team's response. Mark Noble stretched Cech and Ballack with shot and cross, and Joe Cole might have won a penalty as Ricardo Carvalho grabbed handfuls of his shirt, but it was Anelka and Joe Cole who came closest to delivering the next goal.
Dean Ashton came on after the interval, the home side belatedly began to exert some consistent pressure, and they would have scored had Terry not raced backwards to clear Carlton Cole's chipped finish off the goal-line. Instead, Chelsea added another as Joe Cole drew a save from Green that Ashley Cole screwed back between the posts from an acute angle. Knife withdrawn from Grant... at least until Wednesday.
Man of the match: Joe Cole
Chelsea's most creative player since Avram Grant's promotion to manager, Cole underlined the strangeness of his omission from League Cup final XI. Scorer of one goal, creator of another, the winger's dancing hyperactivity drew a stadium-round ovation.
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Pete May, Author, Hammers in the Heart You have to give Curbishley credit for getting us to 10th with all the injuries we've had, but we're a bit worried about things fizzling out now we have 40 points, like his Charlton teams used to. Our defence all had a bad game, with Ferdinand losing out to Anelka in the air all the time. We started with two strikers who have scored three this season so perhaps it's time to give Ashton and Zamora a few games, and Freddie Sears may be worth a run. We could have done without Lampard touching his badge after he scored, but the biggest cheer was for his sending-off. Our players weren't booed off at the end - everyone had left.
Fan's player ratings Green 5; Neill 4, Ferdinand 4, Upson 5, McCartney 4; Noble 6, Mullins 4; Faubert (Solano n/a) 4, Boa Morte 4 (Ashton 6), Ljungberg 5; Cole 5 (Zamora n/a)
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group West Ham were shocking, but we wanted to win and prove something after last week and, although we were quite surprised when we heard about the six changes, particularly leaving Drogba out, it worked out fine. We've given up trying to second-guess Grant because there seems no rhyme nor reason to his choices, and that's part of the reason we haven't taken to him. Joe Cole was excellent, though. He and Lampard are always good against West Ham, but this was Cole's best game of the season and Lampard stuck his penalty away after missing against them last season. If he'd stayed on we could have had six or seven.
Fan's player ratings Cech 8; Ferreira 8, Carvalho 9, Terry 8, A Cole 7; Makelele 8 (Alex n/a); Ballack 8 Lampard 7; Kalou 6 (Malouda n/a), Anelka 8, J Cole 9 (Essien 6)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
All smiles as Chelsea show their solidarity for GrantWest Ham 0 Chelsea 4
By Malcolm FolleyDidier Drogba, wearing a beanie and gloves, appeared on the pitch only after Chelsea's impressive work was concluded yesterday. Yet it was a cameo rich in significance.
After the anaemic performance Chelsea produced against Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final, Drogba was one of six players to be culled for this critical assignment on the other side of London.
After a week of unflattering stories leaking from Stamford Bridge — offering tales of player unrest with senior management figures such as assistant Henk ten Cate and a gathering mistrust of the leadership of Avram Grant — how would Drogba react to being made redundant?
His response at the final whistle, after Chelsea had played with 10 men for 56 minutes following Frank Lampard's first-half dismissal, was a very public illustration of dressing room unity. Drogba shook hands with his team-mates and warmly applauded those Chelsea fans left as the sole occupants of Upton Park.
The importance of this result and the scale of Chelsea's defiance may not manifest itself until the end of the season. But there was a sense that events unfolding in East London yesterday amounted to the resurrection of Chelsea's threat to the prominence of Arsenal and Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League.
Chelsea captain John Terry admitted as much when he said: 'We could have allowed ourselves to dwell on last week's result, but we didn't. We had to forget it.
"We had our talk last week, but the things that were discussed will stay private with the players.
"It was up to me, Lamps and Didier to get the players going again and I think we showed that today. We have stayed positive and confidence is high after this result."
Grant, who perhaps unwisely ended months of cautiously dull appearances in front of the media by berating his critics on the eve of this game, watched the mayhem unfold with no little satisfaction. He demanded that he should be afforded greater respect.
Of course, Grant's abiding difficulty is that he is cursed with stepping into the limelight vacated by the departure of Jose Mourinho.
Only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger manage with the same theatrical command.
Grant's outburst only succeeded in making himself sound petulant. Yet yesterday, his team spoke for him with an eloquence that had been muted at Wembley. And three of the players he omitted from the cup final, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole, scored at Upton Park.
Furthermore, this result was accomplished despite losing Lampard in the 34th minute of his return to his old manor.
The England midfielder was involved in a scuffle on the ground with Luis Boa Morte. Once back on his feet, an assistant referee judged Lampard had pushed Boa Morte to the ground and referee Peter Walton produced a red card.
But before his short shift was brought to an end, Lampard had done sufficient damage to his old club where, all too predictably, the West Ham crowd always give him remorseless abuse.
In the 16th minute, Lampard scored from the penalty spot after Anton Ferdinand brought down Salomon Kalou.
This was the first in a three-goal storm during six memorable minutes. Joe Cole scored with a divine left-footed shot in the 20th minute, then Ballack arrived on the right edge of the penalty area to meet Lampard's floated cross with a fierce half-volley.
"They were as clinical finishes as you'll see," said West Ham manager Alan Curbishley.
"Chelsea have put themselves back in the title race with a performance that shows what happened last week was a one-off.
"It sounds mad, but even though they scored three goals, I really thought the first half was quite even in terms of the football. Chelsea have a massively talented squad.
"You are talking about a side which, if you don't get it right and find yourself three down in 20-odd minutes, that is a massive situation to come back from. We couldn't do that."
Terry acrobatically cleared the ball from under Chelsea's crossbar in a rare moment of menace from Carlton Cole early in the second half, but the denouement was provided by another Cole, Ashley. Chelsea's left-back materialised at the far post to score his first Premier League goal for the club from an acute angle.
As a red-blooded reaction to the past week's headlines, this was a performance to sound alarm bells in North London and Manchester. And the sight of Drogba smiling with relish over a victory achieved without him, told a story of its own. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
By ROB BEASLEY at Upton Park
THERE you go Avram. Pick the right players, play them in their proper positions and look what happens!
Chelsea turn on the style, win at a canter, score stunning goals and are right back in the mix.
Just what the main man Roman Abramovich wants.
Trouble is this thumping victory over one set of London rivals only served to underline how badly wrong boss Grant got it against Spurs last weekend.
For three of Chelsea's goals at Upton Park — the best three goals — all came from players he had left out at Wembley.
Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole scored screamers as Chelsea suddenly looked like world-beaters again.
The Blues certainly answered all the critics and doubters with an awesome show of class.
The writing was on the wall in the second minute when Nicolas Anelka knocked in the rebound after Robert Green could only parry John Terry's header.
Referee Peter Walton ruled it out for offside. It wasn't. But it didn't matter.
On 17 minutes Anton Ferdinand was outpaced by Salomon Kalou and tripped him in the box.
Only one man was ever going to take the penalty — Frank Lampard.
Super Frank or Fat Frank, depending on your allegiance, duly sent Green the wrong way in retaliation for all the boos and jibes he suffers at Upton Park.
His celebrations were in marked contrast to those of Joe Cole, who barely acknowledged his left-foot strike three minutes later.
But the celebrations were in full flow again as Chelsea capped a devastating five-minute burst with the third.
This time the swaggering Lampard was the creator as his audacious pass with the outside of his foot allowed Ballack to effortlessly half-volley home.
Harsh
Lampard was pumping, maybe too pumped.
And when he and Luis Boa Morte tangled on the edge of the Chelsea box in the 35th minute he was a little over-zealous and pushed the Hammers midfielder to the floor.
West Ham fans bayed for action but Walton's straight red looked a little harsh. Chelsea boss Grant said the referee's version was that Lampard had "slapped the face of Boa Morte".
He added: "If that's true then it was a red card — but I didn't see it and haven't asked Frank yet."
Luckily for Chelsea it made no difference whatsoever.
The Hammers were hapless even against 10 men and in the 64th minute they conceded a fourth.
Joe Cole's shot was parried by the over-worked Green and Ashley Cole slotted home his first Chelsea goal from the narrowest of angles.
West Ham were truly woeful.
Mark Noble had a first-half drive tipped over by Petr Cech.
And on the hour Carlton Cole's clever lob over Cech was acrobatically cleared off the line by Terry.
But that was it.
Chelsea are back in business with a bang after last Sunday's Carling Cup disaster against Spurs.
And right back in the title chase after wobbly Arsenal's stumble at home to Villa.
Grant's men now sit seven points behind the leaders with a game in hand and with both the Gunners and Manchester United still to visit the fortress that is Stamford Bridge.
The League Cup may have been surrendered without even a whimper but clearly the Blues are ready to battle all the way for the League. West Ham boss Alan Curbishley certainly thinks so.
He said: "That performance showed everyone it was a one-off last week and they are now back to their best. Chelsea are certainly back in the race."
Blues skipper Terry added: "That is the perfect message to send out.
"I think that's some of the best football we have played this year — and it tells everyone everything's OK at Chelsea."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank Lampard sent off as Chelsea soarWest Ham 0 Chelsea 4
Taciturn is as taciturn does. After his diatribe against the media last Friday, Avram Grant was anything but exuberant about his team’s crushing victory over West Ham at Upton Park. He would give no explanation about his decision to leave Didier Drogba on the bench throughout, reasoning that he would not speak about players who had not been on the pitch.
In Drogba’s absence, Nicolas Anelka was the solitary striker and performed in stark contrast with his unhappy afternoon in the Carling Cup final when Grant inexplicably put him out on the left wing.
Chelsea’s win was the more remarkable because for most of the game they were reduced to 10 men after the sending off of Frank Lampard on 34 minutes. Challenged by Luis Boa Morte, he responded with a push. The referee, Peter Walton, had a short discussion with his lines-man, then rather surprisingly showed Lampard the red card.
Neither manager seemed convinced. West Ham’s Alan Curbishley said: “As they both got up, I think Frank pushed him. Sometimes you look at that and hope common sense might prevail, but the referee looked at it and decided to send him off. A soft one, I think.”
Grant’s view was that the decision was given from some 20 yards away. “I didn’t see it,” he said, but understood the offence was “a slap in the face of Boa Morte. If so, then it’s a red card - if the assistant referee is right.”
Before his departure, Lampard had made a significant contribution to his team’s success. After 17 minutes, following Anton Ferdinand’s rash foul on Salomon Kalou, Lampard calmly put away the penalty. On 22 minutes, it was his cross from the left that gave Michael Ballack, completely unmarked, the chance to crash home a right-footed goal and Chelsea’s third.
The previous week, West Ham fans were induced to criticise their team for being too defensive at Fulham. Here against Chelsea, West Ham were scarcely defensive at all. Their marking and tackling were simply abysmal. “You could argue,” admitted Curbishley, “that we should have got people closer to them.” Indeed you could.
West Ham’s back four was disastrously porous, and they were hardly helped by their midfield. Chelsea could have gone ahead in the second minute when a Lampard free kick was met by the head of John Terry, pushed away by Robert Green, then knocked into the net by Anelka, who was given offside.
Three minutes after the penalty, Chelsea doubled their lead, exploiting a West Ham defence that was distracted to a degree. Anelka, out on the left, where he is perfectly happy to wander when stationed in the middle, sent across a ball that Joe Cole swept past Green.
Cole also played a crucial role in Chelsea’s fourth goal against a team that could not press home its numerical advantage. After 64 minutes, Kalou neatly set up Joe Cole. His shot was beaten out by Green, only for it to come to Ash-ley Cole, who steered his shot into the far corner of the goal. With the exception of Terry’s clearance off the line, West Ham’s 11 scarcely threatened Chelsea’s 10.
Curbishley seemed to be whistling in the dark when he asserted: “I thought the first half was quite even in terms of possession . . . when you’re playing against the top three or four sides and you go down quickly, it’s a long way to come back.” The ineptitude and fallibility of the West Ham defence, coupled with Chelsea’s direct, quick, intelligent football made it inevitable that goals would be scored. “The game got away from us in five minutes,” said Curbishley. “I don’t think Joe Cole will hit [another] one like that with his left foot.”
Asked whether he thought Chelsea still had a chance of the title, Grant responded: “I think that we’re in the title race all the time. We used our chances in the first half, and then we had some more in the second half playing with one man short, but we played very clever, and they didn’t create one chance.” Grant had somehow forgotten Terry’s glorious overhead clearance off the line from Carlton Cole.
It was surprising to see West Ham take Carlton Cole off the field after 65 minutes, substituting him with Bobby Zamora, who was plainly not yet match fit, and keeping on Dean Ashton, a half-time substitute, who is still plainly seeking for form.
As for Chelsea, you could not help thinking that with this kind of form, they could have swept Spurs aside at Wembley. Whether Grant has decided that Drogba and Anelka cannot play together and must always play separately, remains to be seen. At present Chelsea have an embarrassment of riches.
Match stats
Player ratings: West Ham: Green 6, Neill 5, Ferdinand 5, Upson 6, McCartney 5, Faubert 6 (Solano 66min), Mullins 6, Noble 7, Ljungberg 6, Boa Morte 6 (Ashton ht, 6), C Cole 6 (Zamora 65min) Chelsea: Cech 6, Ferreria 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 8, A Cole 6, J Cole 7 (Essien 69min), Makelele 6 (Alex 84min), Ballack 7, Lampard 6, Kalou 7 (Malouda 75min), Anelka 7 Star man: John Terry (Chelsea) Yellow cards: Chelsea: Terry, Ballack Red card: Chelsea: Lampard Referee: P Walton Attendance: 34,969 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Chelsea attempt to entertain at Upton ParkBy Roy Collins at Upton Park
West Ham United (0) Chelsea (3) 4
The Football Association are considering preventing the undignified sight of referees being baited by a posse of players during a match by banning anyone but team captains from even talking to officials.
In Chelsea's case, it would do nothing to clean up their act since captain John Terry is possibly the worst offender in the Premier League. His berating of referee Peter Walton, as well as one of his assistants, after Frank Lampard's dismissal for pushing Luis Boa Morte, was another disgraceful addition to his crime sheet, with Walton unable to restart the game for a few minutes.
Having said that, Terry was faultless and outstanding on the field of play, as were the whole Chelsea team in a performance that finally put some flesh on manager Avram Grant's promise to turn them into a team of entertainers. It was also vindication of Grant's managerial credentials after the abuse and criticism he suffered after the Carling Cup final defeat last week.
The Carling Cup may have gone, but Chelsea are still in a couple of little cup competitions called the FA Cup and Champions League and, on the basis of this win and another slip-up by Arsenal, they are right back in the title mix. They even looked like Arsenal at times.
Grant partly responded to his critics by putting Nicolas Anelka in a more familiar central role, rather than out on the left wing, where he played against Spurs at Wembley, and also restored Joe Cole and Michael Ballack to the starting line-up. Displaying plenty of courage, considering the pressure he was under to get a victory, he left Didier Drogba on the bench and kept Shaun Wright-Phillips out of the squad altogether as he shuffled his resources with Wednesday's Champions League tie against Olympiakos in mind.
Perhaps he knew just how woeful West Ham were, a side who have built a reputation for defensive competence this season with the best record outside the top four. Here, though, they did not even think to bolt the stable door after the horse had bolted, with Chelsea still knocking the ball around and creating the better chances when down to 10 men.
West Ham manager Alan Curbishley was right when he said: "It probably sounds mad but I thought the first half was fairly even in terms of possession and play." Right, that is, to admit it was mad since Chelsea took the Hammers apart with three goals in six first-half minutes, having already had a perfectly good effort by Anelka ruled out for offside.
Lampard, who so enjoys the warm-hearted applause he gets from West Ham fans after his long years of service here, slotted home the first from the penalty spot after Anton Ferdinand had brought down Salomon Kalou. There was then much snogging of the club badge, just to let the home fans know that they were not the only ones capable of a wind-up.
Joe Cole scored a second from outside the box and then Ballack, who had set that one up, plundered one himself after a cross by Kalou. Just over 20 minutes gone and some West Ham fans were already leaving, one or two questioning the goalkeeping of Robert Green, the man who has 'England's number four' on his gloves, which might be a bit optimistic on this showing.
Once Lampard was sent off, one would have expected a cavalry charge from West Ham, but, on the one occasion they beat Petr Cech with a fine chip from Carlton Cole, Terry showed his determination to keep a clean sheet by running back and clearing the ball off the line.
Curbishley thought the Lampard sending off was harsh, saying: "You look at those situations sometimes and hope common sense will prevail," though Grant was upset more that the call for the red card, as with the penalty given against Chelsea at Wembley, came not from the referee but an assistant. Grant said: "The assistant said that Frank slapped Boa Morte's face and, if he did, then that is a red card. But I don't know. I haven't asked Frank yet."
It is doubtful whether West Ham could have scored had Chelsea had another couple of players sent off. The final insult was delivered by Ashley Cole, also restored to the side, who opened his account for the Blues after namesake Joe's shot was pushed out by Green. It was his first goal for three years, though he celebrated as if he had never scored before.
Chelsea may appeal against Lampard's sending off, though after what happened to Middlesbrough's Jeremie Aliadiere, who got an extra game tacked on for a "frivolous" appeal, they may think better of it. A fourth game for Lampard would see him missing the game against Arsenal at the Bridge at the end of this month. That is a match that no Chelsea player will want to miss.
Opta ratings
West Ham United: Green 6, Neill 7, Ferdinand 6, Upson 7, McCartney 7, Faubert 5 (Solano 4), Mullins 6, Noble 8, Ljungberg 4, Boa Morte 4 (Ashton 5), Cole 6 (Zamora 3) Possession 54 per cent, offsides 2, shots on target 3, shots off target 4, corners 6, fouls conceded 14, yellow cards 0, red cards 0Chelsea: Cech 7, Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7 [y], A Cole 8, J Cole 8 (Essien 6), Makelele 6 (Alex 5), Ballack 7, Lampard 7 [red card], Kalou 7 (Malouda 4), Anelka 7Possession 46 per cent, offsides 3, shots on target 8, shots off target 5, corners 1, fouls conceded 8, yellow cards 2, red cards 1Best moment: The fantastic goal-line clearance by John Terry from Carlton Cole's chip over goalkeeper Petr Cech.Worst moment: Terry and team-mates Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou baiting referee Peter Walton after he sent off Frank Lampard. Only a booking for Ballack broke it up.Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
West Ham Utd 0 Chelsea 4: Lampard off but old boys back to haunt Hammers
Grant has last laugh as new-look Chelsea storm to simple victory
By Ronald Atkin at Upton ParkSunday, 2 March 2008
Avram Grant, take a bow. The lugubrious Israeli does not do exultation, at least not in public, but his Chelsea team indulged in plenty of cavorting on his behalf, carving apart West Ham despite the first-half dismissal of Frank Lampard. After the miseries of last Sunday's Carling Cup final, it was a bounce-back of boomerang proportions.
There had been confident pre-match talk from West Ham sources about deepening Chelsea's unhappiness but in the end it was simply another Hammer horror show to add to Chelsea's impressive statistics against them: six wins in a row now, 17 scored and three conceded. Three goals had been clocked up by the 22nd minute, and a possible fourth by Nicolas Anelka in the first 25 seconds ruled out for offside, before West Ham keeper Robert Green actually managed to save a shot. And, even against 10 men, there was no way back from that for the home side.
Despite the shot and shell following his team selections for Wembley, Grant stuck his head above the parapet again and made six changes for this game. Didier Drogba never got off the bench, Michael Essien only came on late, Joe and Ashley Cole, Salomon Kalou and Michael Ballack were on from the start this time and Anelka, entrusted with the front running after last week's nightmare, was a constant threat. It all worked a treat. As ever, Grant was close-mouthed about the reasons for his selections. "I give respect to all in the squad" was how he put it.
The West Ham manager Alan Curbishley said it all: "They've put themselves back in the race, shown everybody it was a one-off last week. They have a massively strong, talented squad." The irony was that West Ham found themselves three down despite having had more of the game.
After Anelka's offside, they might have had three themselves. Carlton Cole was halted in the act of pulling the trigger by a well-timed Ricardo Carvalho tackle, Petr Cech twice dived to thwart Fredrik Ljungberg dashes and the keeper pulled off a blinding save from Mark Noble.
At the other end, everything went in. Anton Ferdinand precipitated the collapse by fouling Kalou as he surged past. "It was a poor penalty to give away," said Curbishley. "Anton got it wrong." Lampard, resoundingly booed as a former West Ham employee, tucked it away. Three minutes later there was more to boo about as another former Hammer, Joe Cole, collected Anelka's short pass to fire left-footed into the corner.
It became three goals in five minutes when Lampard rolled the ball invitingly across the edge of the penalty area and Ballack brilliantly accepted the invitation with a half-volley.
In the 34th minute came the sending-off incident. Luis Boa Morte was adjudged to have fouled Lampard and as the pair climbed back to their feet on the fringe of the Chelsea penalty zone Lampard pushed his opponent in the chest with both hands. When his attention was drawn to this by a linesman, referee Peter Walton sparked the loudest home cheer of the afternoon by flourishing the red card.
Grant tartly observed that it was the second game in succession that the referee had needed an assistant's intervention to give a decision against his team, but once more Curbishley spoke more eloquently for the brotherhood of managership: "With things like that, you think common sense might prevail." At half-time West Ham opted for the thunderball approach, replacing Boa Morte with Dean Ashton. They deserved a goal, and would have had one but for John Terry's acrobatics. Carlton Cole's lob evaded Cech's outstretched arms but the Chelsea captain's overhead kick on the goalline denied them.
While that miss was being mourned, Kalou slipped Joe Cole clear and though Green turned the shot aside it was straight to the other Cole, Ashley, who netted from a sharp angle. The dismayed home fans would have agreed with Curbishley's summation: "We got it wrong today."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Observer:
All-change Chelsea coast with 10 men
Duncan Castles at Upton ParkSunday March 2, 2008The Observer
'Wait with the knife,' implored Avram Grant in the wake of last Sunday's League Cup final debacle against Tottenham. Another London club answered his call yesterday, West Ham United not so much providing the critics with another blade for the Chelsea manager as plunging one into themselves in disorganised, hot-headed capitulation.Though Frank Lampard suffered a first-half sending-off at the ground that abuses him above all others, Chelsea were by that point three beautifully taken goals to the good and in little danger of conceding to a West Ham side whose intended attacking diamond was devoid of lustre and edge.
Grant's first Premier League victory since January keeps his team nominally in contention for the title and may go some way to easing the concerns of Roman Abramovich as the owner spent the weekend in Russia on electoral duties. Whether it will reassure the Israeli's players of his abilities as a top-tier manager, however, is a moot point.Be it rotation or reaction, Grant didn't just alter his cup final team, he threw it in the dustbin and started from scratch. Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, Wayne Bridge, Juliano Belletti and Shaun Wright-Phillips were all dropped. The formation, at least, remained the same - 4-3-3 - though with Anelka as the attacking point rather than the former untouchable, Drogba.
From the French striker came an almost immediate finish, albeit it one that fell victim to a linesman's flag. Lampard's free-kick was met by John Terry, posing a now unusual threat in the opposition area. Robert Green got hands to the defender's downward header but only to push it in the direction of Anelka, who strode on to finish from a position that was arguably illegal.
If that represented a promising start - Chelsea's dominance of set pieces has all but evaporated since José Mourinho's dismissal - their football soon showed signs of slipping into the long-ball drudgery that Grant once claimed he had banned, yet which so blemished their Wembley outing. Petr Cech again kicked regularly long to a bemused Anelka; the full-backs oft copied him.
Sunday's excuse that Spurs' two forwards prevented Chelsea from building from the back was not available here, Alan Curbishley choosing to line his attack up in a diamond that placed Luis Boa Morte well behind the centre-forward, Carlton Cole. Neither, though, was there much threat from West Ham. For all Upton Park bayed , their first quarter-hour produced little more than a penalty-box scramble and a Julien Faubert header that looped gently on to the roof of Cech's net.
If such creation looked sparse at that point, it was to appear far worse in the wake of a five-minute spell in which every shot Chelsea aimed at goal found the net. The first was due entirely to Anton Ferdinand. Charging into the area at speed, Salomon Kalou touched the ball so far ahead of himself it seemed unrecoverable until Ferdinand came careering across to bundle the Ivorian over.
It was not so much a soft penalty as a stupid one. Ignoring the home fans' dietary advice, Lampard walked confidently up, awaited Green's dive, and placed the spot kick in the opposite corner.
Next to strike was Joe Cole, quite exquisitely, as he watched Anelka's clever pass all the way across the area and sent it sweetly into the far corner. As if inspired by the precision, Michael Ballack hit a right-foot volley into the opposite corner after Lampard spotted another opening in the defence.
Less intelligent was the midfielder's treatment of Boa Morte on a rare foray into Chelsea territory. Pressing the forward from behind, Lampard ended up collapsed on top of the Portuguese, who responded by kicking out a leg. When Boa Morte attempted to rise, Lampard shoved him to the ground once more in an action the linesman deemed worthy of a red card. Ballack disagreed, seeing yellow for instigating another ruck.
Needless to say, the home support loved watching their most detested former player take the long walk. As he exited one Upton Park regular lunged across on crutches to abuse the midfielder. Less satisfying was their team's response. Mark Noble stretched Cech and Ballack with shot and cross, and Joe Cole might have won a penalty as Ricardo Carvalho grabbed handfuls of his shirt, but it was Anelka and Joe Cole who came closest to delivering the next goal.
Dean Ashton came on after the interval, the home side belatedly began to exert some consistent pressure, and they would have scored had Terry not raced backwards to clear Carlton Cole's chipped finish off the goal-line. Instead, Chelsea added another as Joe Cole drew a save from Green that Ashley Cole screwed back between the posts from an acute angle. Knife withdrawn from Grant... at least until Wednesday.
Man of the match: Joe Cole
Chelsea's most creative player since Avram Grant's promotion to manager, Cole underlined the strangeness of his omission from League Cup final XI. Scorer of one goal, creator of another, the winger's dancing hyperactivity drew a stadium-round ovation.
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Pete May, Author, Hammers in the Heart You have to give Curbishley credit for getting us to 10th with all the injuries we've had, but we're a bit worried about things fizzling out now we have 40 points, like his Charlton teams used to. Our defence all had a bad game, with Ferdinand losing out to Anelka in the air all the time. We started with two strikers who have scored three this season so perhaps it's time to give Ashton and Zamora a few games, and Freddie Sears may be worth a run. We could have done without Lampard touching his badge after he scored, but the biggest cheer was for his sending-off. Our players weren't booed off at the end - everyone had left.
Fan's player ratings Green 5; Neill 4, Ferdinand 4, Upson 5, McCartney 4; Noble 6, Mullins 4; Faubert (Solano n/a) 4, Boa Morte 4 (Ashton 6), Ljungberg 5; Cole 5 (Zamora n/a)
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group West Ham were shocking, but we wanted to win and prove something after last week and, although we were quite surprised when we heard about the six changes, particularly leaving Drogba out, it worked out fine. We've given up trying to second-guess Grant because there seems no rhyme nor reason to his choices, and that's part of the reason we haven't taken to him. Joe Cole was excellent, though. He and Lampard are always good against West Ham, but this was Cole's best game of the season and Lampard stuck his penalty away after missing against them last season. If he'd stayed on we could have had six or seven.
Fan's player ratings Cech 8; Ferreira 8, Carvalho 9, Terry 8, A Cole 7; Makelele 8 (Alex n/a); Ballack 8 Lampard 7; Kalou 6 (Malouda n/a), Anelka 8, J Cole 9 (Essien 6)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
All smiles as Chelsea show their solidarity for GrantWest Ham 0 Chelsea 4
By Malcolm FolleyDidier Drogba, wearing a beanie and gloves, appeared on the pitch only after Chelsea's impressive work was concluded yesterday. Yet it was a cameo rich in significance.
After the anaemic performance Chelsea produced against Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final, Drogba was one of six players to be culled for this critical assignment on the other side of London.
After a week of unflattering stories leaking from Stamford Bridge — offering tales of player unrest with senior management figures such as assistant Henk ten Cate and a gathering mistrust of the leadership of Avram Grant — how would Drogba react to being made redundant?
His response at the final whistle, after Chelsea had played with 10 men for 56 minutes following Frank Lampard's first-half dismissal, was a very public illustration of dressing room unity. Drogba shook hands with his team-mates and warmly applauded those Chelsea fans left as the sole occupants of Upton Park.
The importance of this result and the scale of Chelsea's defiance may not manifest itself until the end of the season. But there was a sense that events unfolding in East London yesterday amounted to the resurrection of Chelsea's threat to the prominence of Arsenal and Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League.
Chelsea captain John Terry admitted as much when he said: 'We could have allowed ourselves to dwell on last week's result, but we didn't. We had to forget it.
"We had our talk last week, but the things that were discussed will stay private with the players.
"It was up to me, Lamps and Didier to get the players going again and I think we showed that today. We have stayed positive and confidence is high after this result."
Grant, who perhaps unwisely ended months of cautiously dull appearances in front of the media by berating his critics on the eve of this game, watched the mayhem unfold with no little satisfaction. He demanded that he should be afforded greater respect.
Of course, Grant's abiding difficulty is that he is cursed with stepping into the limelight vacated by the departure of Jose Mourinho.
Only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger manage with the same theatrical command.
Grant's outburst only succeeded in making himself sound petulant. Yet yesterday, his team spoke for him with an eloquence that had been muted at Wembley. And three of the players he omitted from the cup final, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole, scored at Upton Park.
Furthermore, this result was accomplished despite losing Lampard in the 34th minute of his return to his old manor.
The England midfielder was involved in a scuffle on the ground with Luis Boa Morte. Once back on his feet, an assistant referee judged Lampard had pushed Boa Morte to the ground and referee Peter Walton produced a red card.
But before his short shift was brought to an end, Lampard had done sufficient damage to his old club where, all too predictably, the West Ham crowd always give him remorseless abuse.
In the 16th minute, Lampard scored from the penalty spot after Anton Ferdinand brought down Salomon Kalou.
This was the first in a three-goal storm during six memorable minutes. Joe Cole scored with a divine left-footed shot in the 20th minute, then Ballack arrived on the right edge of the penalty area to meet Lampard's floated cross with a fierce half-volley.
"They were as clinical finishes as you'll see," said West Ham manager Alan Curbishley.
"Chelsea have put themselves back in the title race with a performance that shows what happened last week was a one-off.
"It sounds mad, but even though they scored three goals, I really thought the first half was quite even in terms of the football. Chelsea have a massively talented squad.
"You are talking about a side which, if you don't get it right and find yourself three down in 20-odd minutes, that is a massive situation to come back from. We couldn't do that."
Terry acrobatically cleared the ball from under Chelsea's crossbar in a rare moment of menace from Carlton Cole early in the second half, but the denouement was provided by another Cole, Ashley. Chelsea's left-back materialised at the far post to score his first Premier League goal for the club from an acute angle.
As a red-blooded reaction to the past week's headlines, this was a performance to sound alarm bells in North London and Manchester. And the sight of Drogba smiling with relish over a victory achieved without him, told a story of its own. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
By ROB BEASLEY at Upton Park
THERE you go Avram. Pick the right players, play them in their proper positions and look what happens!
Chelsea turn on the style, win at a canter, score stunning goals and are right back in the mix.
Just what the main man Roman Abramovich wants.
Trouble is this thumping victory over one set of London rivals only served to underline how badly wrong boss Grant got it against Spurs last weekend.
For three of Chelsea's goals at Upton Park — the best three goals — all came from players he had left out at Wembley.
Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole scored screamers as Chelsea suddenly looked like world-beaters again.
The Blues certainly answered all the critics and doubters with an awesome show of class.
The writing was on the wall in the second minute when Nicolas Anelka knocked in the rebound after Robert Green could only parry John Terry's header.
Referee Peter Walton ruled it out for offside. It wasn't. But it didn't matter.
On 17 minutes Anton Ferdinand was outpaced by Salomon Kalou and tripped him in the box.
Only one man was ever going to take the penalty — Frank Lampard.
Super Frank or Fat Frank, depending on your allegiance, duly sent Green the wrong way in retaliation for all the boos and jibes he suffers at Upton Park.
His celebrations were in marked contrast to those of Joe Cole, who barely acknowledged his left-foot strike three minutes later.
But the celebrations were in full flow again as Chelsea capped a devastating five-minute burst with the third.
This time the swaggering Lampard was the creator as his audacious pass with the outside of his foot allowed Ballack to effortlessly half-volley home.
Harsh
Lampard was pumping, maybe too pumped.
And when he and Luis Boa Morte tangled on the edge of the Chelsea box in the 35th minute he was a little over-zealous and pushed the Hammers midfielder to the floor.
West Ham fans bayed for action but Walton's straight red looked a little harsh. Chelsea boss Grant said the referee's version was that Lampard had "slapped the face of Boa Morte".
He added: "If that's true then it was a red card — but I didn't see it and haven't asked Frank yet."
Luckily for Chelsea it made no difference whatsoever.
The Hammers were hapless even against 10 men and in the 64th minute they conceded a fourth.
Joe Cole's shot was parried by the over-worked Green and Ashley Cole slotted home his first Chelsea goal from the narrowest of angles.
West Ham were truly woeful.
Mark Noble had a first-half drive tipped over by Petr Cech.
And on the hour Carlton Cole's clever lob over Cech was acrobatically cleared off the line by Terry.
But that was it.
Chelsea are back in business with a bang after last Sunday's Carling Cup disaster against Spurs.
And right back in the title chase after wobbly Arsenal's stumble at home to Villa.
Grant's men now sit seven points behind the leaders with a game in hand and with both the Gunners and Manchester United still to visit the fortress that is Stamford Bridge.
The League Cup may have been surrendered without even a whimper but clearly the Blues are ready to battle all the way for the League. West Ham boss Alan Curbishley certainly thinks so.
He said: "That performance showed everyone it was a one-off last week and they are now back to their best. Chelsea are certainly back in the race."
Blues skipper Terry added: "That is the perfect message to send out.
"I think that's some of the best football we have played this year — and it tells everyone everything's OK at Chelsea."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)