The TimesMarch 24, 2008
Grateful Avram Grant reverts to battering ram
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Stamford Bridge
Roman Abramovich may wish to reconsider his quest for the beautiful game after this. In the first half, Chelsea played the fast, one-touch passing football that is closest to their benefactor’s heart, and it got them nowhere. A goal down with 20 minutes remaining, they converted to the direct, aesthetically unappealing approach that has been the root of so many bad vibes from the owner’s box at Stamford Bridge, and clawed victory from the clutches of defeat. The result: Chelsea are now established as the biggest threat to Manchester United’s supremacy this season. Avram Grant, football genius, as they don’t like to sing around these parts.
The Chelsea first-team coach would be permitted a wry smile – as opposed to his standard expression, which is that of a man who has returned to find his car clamped at midnight – at his change of fortune here. Trailing to a header from Bacary Sagna, the Arsenal defender, he removed Claude Makelele for Nicolas Anelka and Michael Ballack for Juliano Belletti after 70 minutes, the second substitution bringing a chorus of disapproval from the crowd and noisy chants endorsing José Mourinho, Grant’s predecessor.
Within 12 minutes, Chelsea were ahead, thanks to the chaos caused in Arsenal’s defensive ranks by the introduction of a second striker, while the second goal was the work of a free kick from the unwelcome Belletti. Nobody sang for Grant when his instincts were proven correct, but there is still time.
This was a milestone for the new manager, with three points taken from a title rival. All eyes will now be on the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge on April 26, although Chelsea cannot afford to drop points between now and then, and need another club to do them a favour, too, with five points and an inferior goal difference the gap between them and United – Arsenal, perhaps, who must go to Old Trafford on April 13.
What Chelsea have going for them is that four of their last seven matches are at home, and Stamford Bridge remains a stronghold. No team has won here since Claudio Ranieri’s time, although when Sagna ran off Salomon Kalou to glance a header past Carlo Cudicini in the 59th minute, Arsenal were shaping to go as close as any. That the goal came from a corner by Cesc Fàbregas was no surprise. Following on from his stunning performance in the San Siro against AC Milan earlier this month, the Spaniard was rising to the occasion in another big game, pulling the strings, toying with the tempo of the occasion, slowing the play down, making it react to his bidding. Some of his passes inside the Chelsea full backs were sublime, the high points of the creative action. What changed was Chelsea’s approach, which moved from playing Arsenal fruitlessly at their own game to presenting them with the type of physical challenge that has long been an Achilles heel.
For 70 minutes, Chelsea laboured as Arsenal Lite, with excellent, swift exchanges of passing and good movement, but to little effect. It was noticeable that for all their possession their best chance of the first half came from an absolute hoof out of defence by John Terry, which dropped at the feet of Didier Drogba on the run, a poor first touch sending the ball harmlessly into the hands of Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper.
When Grant introduced Anelka as Drogba’s partner, a move which closely coincided with a rearrangement in the Arsenal back four as Sagna, the right back, left the field injured, Chelsea abandoned all pretence of trying to tickle Arsenal into submission.
Out came the battering ram, and there is nobody better to administer it than Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker, whose scoring form returned at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Undaunted by his first-half miss, he bullied Arsenal’s defence to defeat, Kolo Touré, his countryman, finding his presence particularly undesirable.
What his goals lacked in splendour they made up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. There was nothing greatly handsome about Chelsea’s 72nd-minute equaliser, other than the sheer effort put in by Drogba and Frank Lampard in battling for a long ball struck by Belletti. When it finally broke loose, Drogba’s finish was smart and decisive, and his goal ripped the guts out of Arsenal. From there, the worst that Chelsea were going to do was draw.
In the 81st minute, they upgraded. Belletti struck a free kick from the right, which Anelka flicked on, Drogba losing Touré to win the game with a shot on the half volley, struck into the ground but with enough force to beat Almunia, even though the goalkeeper got his hands to it. A minute later, Chelsea threatened again, with another Belletti cross met by Drogba, although this time Almunia tipped it round.
At the end, Chelsea looked belligerent, Arsenal humbled. Christophe Lolllichon, Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, was sent from the bench by Mark Clattenburg, the referee, during injury time for throwing the ball away, but there was little point in winding the clock down in such childish fashion. Arsenal did not have an equalising goal in them by that time, and the ineffectiveness of their own attacking substitute, Theo Walcott, introduced after 75 minutes, must have been a particular worry to Fabio Capello, the watching England manager. (Although not as big a worry as the form of Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal’s Drogba, must be to Arsène Wenger. He barely showed all game.)
This was a serious defeat and Arsenal knew it. For a month Wenger’s team had kept their head above water, not playing well but drawing matches, fooling the world that this was a blip not a slump. Now there can be no doubt. From five points clear, Arsenal are six points adrift of Manchester United and no longer in a position to guarantee qualification for the Champions League. Chelsea’s fate may only be to trot up in second place, but one would rather be in Grant’s shoes right now than Wenger’s. And that is the first time anybody has wished for that this season.
How they rated
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 7 M Essien 7 R Carvalho 7 J Terry 7 A Cole 7 M Ballack Y 6 C Makelele 6 F Lampard 7 J Cole Y 7 D Drogba Y 8 S Kalou 5 Substitutes: J Belletti 7 (for Ballack, 70min), N Anelka 6 (for Makelele, 70), J O Mikel (for J Cole, 88). Not used: Hilário, Alex. Next: Middlesbrough (h).
Arsenal: (4-4-1-1): M Almunia 6 B Sagna 7 K Touré 5 W Gallas 7 G Clichy 6 E Eboué Y 6 F Fàbregas 7 M Flamini 7 R van Persie 5 A Hleb 5 E Adebayor 5 Substitutes: A Diaby (for Sagna, 71), T Walcott (for Van Persie, 75), N Bendtner (for Flamini, 88) Not used: J Lehmann, P Senderos. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Avram Grant's stock rises after Chelsea victoryBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Of the many surprises this eventful season, the sight of Avram Grant outwitting Arsene Wenger ranks right up there. Short of Ashley Cole becoming a referee or Didier Drogba surviving a game without medical attention, the season may not produce any greater shocks than Grant getting his substitutions as right as in the 72nd minute here.
Just when the words "taxi for Grant" were forming on thousands of lips, the mood almost turned into "open-top bus for Grant" when his changes brought two goals from Drogba. Almost but not quite. Chelsea fans clearly remain sceptical about Jose Mourinho's successor. The terrace jury will be out until April 26 when Manchester United visit the Bridge. In the stock market of footballing fortunes, the wise broker will buy United in huge quantities, sell every Arsenal share sharpish, even at a loss, and hold on to Chelsea for a while longer.
There is life in the title race still, but it would be a major surprise if United faltered now. Five points clear of second-placed Chelsea, the champions effectively enjoy another point with their vastly superior goal difference (49 to Chelsea's 32). United also have the best team with goals all over, and the prolific presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the Footballer of the Year in waiting.
As United have waxed, Arsenal have waned. Eduardo's injury, William Gallas' sulk, Wenger's poor team selection at Old Trafford in the FA Cup: all have served to chip away at Arsenal's confidence. Gallas sought to rally his nervous players before kick-off with constant exhortations of "no fear".
Arsenal's captain repeated it, mantra-like, to Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor. He was clearly concerned. For 70 minutes, Arsenal held their own, even taking the lead through Bacary Sagna, but then old fears rushed back, cramping their movement.
Suddenly, the defence resembled isolated individuals, not a strong collective. Suddenly, Adebayor stopped making those clever runs. Suddenly, Fabregas and his fellow-midfielders were outmanoeuvred. Suddenly, all the doubts came flooding back over Wenger's failure to strengthen his squad in January. Chelsea recruited Nicolas Anelka. Wenger refused to open a war chest reported to contain £70 million, even though the defence urgently required cover and a top-class left-sided midfielder would have helped.
Fear seeped into Arsenal hearts. Emboldened by Grant's introduction of Anelka, Chelsea pounced. Drogba, clearly enjoying Anelka's ability to distract opposing centre-halves, sensed Arsenal's fear and went for the jugular. Like lightning, Drogba struck twice, ensuring Arsenal suffered their worst run in the league for nine years.
If the garlands were rightly thrown Drogba's way, Mark Clattenburg deserves huge praise for his handling of a derby that is occasionally of the demolition variety.Although young, the Geordie exudes an authority that players respect and he confirmed his reputation as the best referee in the country after Howard Webb.
Gathering both captains beforehand, Clattenburg urged them to make it a good, clean fight and both sides responded. Emmanuel Eboue's fuse burned for a while but Arsenal's Mr Combustible calmed down eventually. Even Ashley Cole kept his studs down and his mouth closed.
The only person who really fell foul of Clattenburg was Chelsea's goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, who was asked to vacate the dug-out for holding on to the ball and incurring the wrath of Wenger. It was the only argument Chelsea lost all afternoon.
They were definitely tested for 70 minutes. Arsenal looked confident as the game unfolded. Fabregas delivered a sublime pass to Hleb, before teeing up Robin van Persie. The Dutchman's magic wand of a left foot almost conjured up a goal; his first touch controlled the ball, his second drew a low save from Carlo Cudicini.
Back came Chelsea, suddenly going direct as an absorbing game flowed from end to end. John Terry lifted a long ball forward, which Drogba initially read well, getting goalside of Gallas. He should have scored, but misjudged the ball's speed which bounced off his knee.
Tempers briefly flared. Wenger accused Michael Ballack of diving over a Fabregas challenge. Eboue, already cautioned for breaking early from a wall, flirted with dismissal with a series of moans.
But this was football played with proper intent, with respect to the fore. Fabregas produced a superb dispossession of Salomon Kalou. Then Manuel Almunia saved brilliantly from Ballack and Joe Cole.
The drama was only beginning. The second half produced classic fare, the tone set from the moment Cudicini denied Mathieu Flamini. Back came Arsenal again, this time more fruitfully. When Fabregas curled a corner towards the near-post, all Arsenal players were closely marked apart from one. Sagna had escaped Kalou and the Frenchman's flicked header was perfect, angled to bisect Chelsea's keeper and his upright for his first Arsenal goal. Why teams do not place full-backs guarding each post remains one of the mysteries of the modern era.
The resolve in Chelsea's ranks shone through. Ballack tested Almunia again. Arsenal's defence needed to be at their best to resist the rising blue surge. When Sagna slipped and twisted his ankle, Arsenal lost one of the pillars of their defence. Reorganising the back-line produced what Wenger lamented afterwards as a "disturbance".
Too true. Eboue went to right-back, Hleb pushed across to right midfield, Van Persie shuffled across, allowing Abou Diaby in on the left of midfield. Yet it was Grant's substitutions that initially drew most concern, particularly the arrival of Juliano Belletti. Fans cried "you don't know what you are doing" and chanted for Mourinho.
What happened next was certainly special. Belletti's installation at right-back allowed the excellent Michael Essien into midfield. Belletti also made his mark, delivering a long pass to Drogba. The ball continued through to Frank Lampard and then off Toure and back to Drogba. With his right foot he sent it racing low past Almunia from 20 yards: 1-1.
Drogba's celebrations were almost as spectacular as his goal, whipping his shirt off and then throwing himself into the front row of the stalls. Clattenburg waited patiently to administer the yellow card. Drogba shrugged his shoulders, and set about embarrassing Arsenal again.
Clearly enjoying Anelka's company, Drogba plundered his second eight minutes later. Another Belletti delivery set the scene, this time Anelka becoming involved, rising above Gallas to flick the ball on to Drogba. Toure slipped, allowing the ball to travel through to Drogba, whose response was terrific. Despite being off-balance, he connected well with the ball, firing it down and in. United, though, were the big winners this weekend.
Scouting for Capello
John Terry pressed his claim for the England captaincy in front of Fabio Capello with a typically commanding display - even risking an ankle injury, such was the strength of one second-half challenge on Alexander Hleb. Joe Cole wrought havoc with his blistering pace, floating a superb cross to the back post from which fellow international Ashley Cole could have added to Arsenal's embarrassment. Frank Lampard was anonymous by comparison, the substitution of Michael Ballack indicating that his midfield partnership with the German had misfired.
Man of the match Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 9 • Two goals from four shots• Four dribbles• Two tackles---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1: Grant's last roll of the dice leaves Arsenal's title dreams in tatters
Respect. It is the issue that has gripped English football for seven stormy days and with 20 minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge yesterday it was running out fast for Avram Grant. Derision poured on him from his own team's fans, Jose Mourinho's name ringing out and the Chelsea manager on the brink of a disaster of his own making.
Two goals from Didier Drogba later and Chelsea's maligned manager at last had a Premier League victory over one of the big beasts of English football as well as a foothold in the title race. Respect? Grant might have to wait longer to hear his name sung at Stamford Bridge but give the man his due today: within 11 minutes of his two controversial substitutions Chelsea had completed a remarkable comeback that puts them second in the table and within five points of Manchester United.
The dust settles on another Grand Slam Sunday and the head says that this time these two games have almost lived up to the preposterous hype. There was a 3-0 victory for United over Liverpool after Javier Mascherano ran roughshod over the Football Association's new guidelines for showing respect to officials and was dismissed. Then a Drogba-inspired Chelsea victory after Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Before he reached the light, however, Grant had to experience his darkest moment first. His decision to take off Claude Makelele and, more controversially, Michael Ballack, on 70 minutes elicited an extraordinary response from the fans. As the German shook his head so the Chelsea support began to chant "You don't know what you're doing". By the time Ballack had trudged down the tunnel the Chelsea fans were singing the name of Grant's predecessor.
There is nothing in all the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's resources that can protect his manager from that kind of humiliation. Very quickly, the reaction of the crowd had made these two substitutions from Grant feel like a last roll of the dice; one last desperate attempt to salvage something. Chelsea's 77-game domestic unbeaten run at home was at stake; Mourinho's legacy hung heavy over him. For Grant, this move had to work.
That it was Drogba who won the game for Chelsea was bitterly ironic; he is one of a few players who will for ever be a Mourinho loyalist. As the Ivorian came off the pitch at the end there was the briefest of handshakes with Grant but a hug for his assistant, Steve Clarke. Arsène Wenger tartly pointed out that there was a suspicion of offside over the first Chelsea goal but even he could not deny that his side failed to deal with the power of Drogba.
The big winner from this weekend? Undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side's lead at the top is extended by two points and whose team have again shown that they have far fewer flaws than any of those in pursuit of them. Chelsea conceded yet another goal from a set piece; Arsenal proved themselves susceptible to the muscle and directness of Drogba. In contrast, United rumble on, still capable, you suspect, of much more should they need to produce it.
This is an ever more brittle Arsenal team, whose dream of winning the title with their beautiful, fragile style of football has surely been broken on a run of five league games without a win. Since that draw with Birmingham on 23 February they have thrown away a lead of eight points over Chelsea. Next season they hope to get all this right, to mature into a team capable of winning games like this, but that kind of transformation felt a long way away come full-time yesterday.
For Grant, however, the story could yet be about this season rather than next. Chelsea play United on 26 April at Stamford Bridge in a game that will make the difference in this title race and Ferguson's side cannot afford to drift within striking distance of Chelsea during the interim.
In the meantime, this was the day which Grant finally got his substitutions right. Derided for his mismanagement of the Carling Cup final, he repeated the same mistakes against Spurs in the 4-4 draw on Wednesday and, with 20 minutes left, the Chelsea fans' confidence in his ability to get it right was running thin. Ballack was having one of his better games, but Grant wanted to move Michael Essien into midfield, Juliano Belletti in at right-back and sacrifice Makelele for the extra striker Nicolas Anelka.
He was forced into it by Arsenal's goal which was Sagna's first for the club. Just before the hour, Cesc Fabregas struck his corner to the near post where, Salomon Kalou had failed to notice before it was too late, Sagna had run. The right-back got the sweetest of touches to guide the ball into Carlo Cudicini's net.
One goal down, Anelka and Belletti on and Sagna off injured. Within a minute Chelsea equalised. Arsenal failed to deal with Ricardo Carvalho's long ball, it bounced around the box, off Frank Lampard and into the path of Drogba, who had been offside when the original pass was played. In the first half, he had clumsily kneed a through-ball to Manuel Almunia when in on goal. This time he dispatched the equaliser past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
If that was soft then the second will have hurt Wenger even more. This time it was a ball into the area from Belletti, headed on by Anelka and, disastrously for Arsenal, missed by Kolo Touré. With a second to hit his snap-shot in the box, Drogba slammed in the winner. Could Almunia have done better? The ball bounced awkwardly but it was certainly not beyond the powers of the Arsenal goalkeeper to stop it.
There was just a brief flash of that unpleasant Chelsea attitude when goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon made an attempt to announce himself to the world by withholding the ball from Abou Diaby and was asked by the referee Mark Clattenburg to leave the dugout. That was a reminder of the bad old Chelsea, just as the nature of their comeback felt more like the indomitable Chelsea of Mourinho.
Goals: Sagna (59) 0-1; Drogba (73) 1-1; Drogba (82) 2-1.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Essien, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Anelka, 70); J Cole (Mikel, 89), Ballack (Belletti, 70), Lampard, Kalou; Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Sagna (Diaby, 71), Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Eboué, Fabregas, Flamini (Bendtner, 89), Van Persie (Walcott, 76); Hleb; Adebayor. Substitutes not used: Lehmann (gk), Senderos.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear).
Booked: Chelsea J Cole, Ballack, Drogba; Arsenal Eboué.
Man of the match: Drogba.
Attendance: 41,284.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grant's switches prove there is no substitute for decisive intervention
Kevin McCarra at Stamford BridgeMonday March 24, 2008The Guardian
Here was the Premier League season in miniature for these clubs, with Chelsea doggedly clambering upwards and Arsenal taking a tumble just when it looked as if they had a secure footing with the opening goal. The departure from normality lay in the radical effect that Avram Grant had. If his substitutions had to be deplored when Chelsea slithered to a 4-4 draw at Tottenham then the changes he made yesterday must be applauded
Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka came on to contribute to the winner, the second of Didier Drogba's goals. The chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from his own fans when that pair were introduced to address the 1-0 deficit reflected the lack of confidence in the Grant regime, but no one is entirely clear about Chelsea's actual worth nowadays.
There are rational causes for gladness around Stamford Bridge now that a fixture with a principal rival has finally been won by the Israeli. What is more, Chelsea have overtaken Arsenal to stand second in the table, five points behind the leaders Manchester United, whom they have still to meet on this ground.
The overall situation will please Sir Alex Ferguson and the Old Trafford squad but Chelsea are at least putting up a fight. They will be particularly capable of making heads ring if Drogba can go on landing blows as he did here. The Ivorian must be infuriating to Stamford Bridge devotees, since it sometimes feels as if he had no sooner set down his pen after signing for the club than the tales of his disaffection began to spread.
He was fully engaged yesterday, particularly after the interval. Arsenal were unlucky since Drogba should have been given offside in the build-up to the equaliser as the ball was launched through the middle. Nonetheless, Arsène Wenger's team began to reel from the moment they opened the scoring. That goal from the right-back Bacary Sagna exposed Chelsea's deficiencies at set-pieces, just as Tottenham had done.
The Frenchman broke away from Salomon Kalou and got in front of Frank Lampard to head in a Cesc Fábregas corner from an acute angle at the near post in the 59th minute. Before long, Sagna hurt an ankle and he eventually had to be replaced, a factor that Wenger blamed, in part, for the outbreak of confusion in his back four. As the Arsenal manager knows, of course, his squad have to be far more resilient than this in adversity.
Arsenal have improved this season, but it now looks like the early stage of a revival. In future, a larger squad will be essential and so, too, will be an enhanced hardiness because brittleness has become apparent over the pounding of the long Premier League programme. A five-point lead has, in mercurial fashion, been converted into a six-point deficit.
Arsenal's showing here was good enough for a period to suggest that the club, who had been the last to beat Chelsea on the Premier League here in February 2004, would repeat the feat. They had been developing some enterprise even before they scored, with Mathieu Flamini, for instance, seeing a raking drive blocked by the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini after 47 minutes.
Chelsea, by and large, had been toiling. The exasperation would have peaked when Kalou, with an opportunity at last, had a fresh-air shot just before the interval. In retrospect it is not too difficult to explain the downfall of Arsenal that lay ahead. Direct football was productive and it took no more than a clearance from John Terry for Drogba to tear through, only for the ball to bounce off his knee as he raced towards Manuel Almunia.
With 17 minutes to go, the striker was initially offside. Permitted to proceed, Drogba pushed a pass towards Frank Lampard and when possession came back to him he shot home confidently, past the left hand of Almunia. The winner, eight minutes from the close, saw Belletti clip a free-kick and Anelka nod it into the centre for an unmarked Drogba to fire into the net.
There might have been a hat-trick for the striker but Almunia made an excellent save after Belletti had pulled a cut-back to him. This victory contained traces of the old Chelsea in the steadfastness shown in a moment of crisis. In addition to seeing Arsenal move in front they also had to put up with handicaps, such as the hip injury that hampered Lampard.
It is, all the same, much too soon to declare that a fresh phase of Chelsea ascendancy is in the making. The hardened sceptic can also quibble over the precise amount of credit due Grant. His alterations to the line-up worked but with the team in arrears it took no feat of imagination to see some worth in sending on Belletti, an attack-minded full-back, and Anelka, an outstanding forward.
There are more delicate judgments to be made while ferrying a lead to the full-time whistle and the knee-jerk use of Alex as a third centre-half just because Tottenham were employing three attackers was misconceived last Wednesday. Grant, overall, has deserved this breathing space. Chelsea's consistency against the lesser teams was not to be sniffed at since other clubs have found it elusive. Now, too, Grant has taken a prize scalp in the Premier League.
Expressions of gratitude to Chelsea are unfashionable because the sheer wealth of the club seems to exclude affection for them. Nonetheless, it is they, with United due here on April 26, who have sustained a little suspense over the outcome of the Premier League contest.
How the managers compared
Selection
Avram Grant Michael Essien at right-back made this an attack-minded team, reflecting Chelsea's need
Arsène Wenger Resisted temptation to start with Theo Walcott, selecting Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboué; arguably strongest line-up
Tactics
Grant With Makelele deep, Lampard and Ballack supported an attacking trio. Switched to 4-4-2 before reverting to type in the last few minutes
Wenger Two midfield holders with Van Persie joining Eboué in supporting down flanks
Motivation
Grant Touchline demeanour rarely veers from impassive, yet Drogba's double had Israeli punching the air
Wenger Flashes of frustration before Sagna scored. Mood darkened by the end as realisation of defeat set in
Substitutions
Grant Introduction of Anelka and Beletti proved masterful and,
ultimately, match-winning
Wenger Injury forced Abou Diaby's entry for Sagna; Walcott for Van Persie was similarly like-for-like. Bendtner's arrival reflected desperate times
Verdict
Grant This, possibly, was the day Grant proved his quality
Wenger His team's confidence is ebbing away before his eyes---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Avram's wish is Granted as Chelsea star Drogba sinks ArsenalChelsea 2 Arsenal 1
By NEIL ASHTON
Avram Grant: Tactical Genius.
All those coaching seminars in Israel, all those mistakes in high-profile matches and all those moments of indecision have finally paid off.
"You don't know what you're doing," sang Chelsea's fans in the 70th minute. Oh yes he did.
He brought off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, replaced them with Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka and swapped 4-3-3 for 4-4-2. Genius.
Three minutes later they were level and eight minutes from time they were back in the hunt for the Barclays Premier League title.
That appeared to be unthinkable when they threw away maximum points at White Hart Lane last Wednesday and unpalatable after Bacary Sagna had put Arsenal ahead.
Suddenly it has become a distinct possibility. Who would have thought it?
Certainly no one inside Stamford Bridge when puzzled Chelsea supporters began singing the name of Jose Mourinho as Grant made the substitutions that appeared to land this game right in Arsenal's laps.
The Special One was at home with his feet up in Setubal, switching between the TV remote, sipping champagne and chuckling to himself as Chelsea set about surrendering their remarkable 77-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge.
The bubbles had almost burst. Arsenal had the game won.
The spirit of the San Siro swept through the Gunners, confidence flooded through them after William Gallas's pep talk on the pitch before the match and they dictated the tempo.
Sagna's goal put them back in the hunt for their first League title since the Invincibles in 2004.
Forget the draws with Birmingham, Aston Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough: this was the real Arsenal.
High energy when the stakes are high. Instead, they are for the high jump.
"We should have won, but couldn't cope with Chelsea's long balls," said manager Arsene Wenger.
"Defensively, we have problems."
No kidding.
Gallas failed to clear when Drogba scored Chelsea's 73rd-minute equaliser and the Arsenal captain, along with central defensive partner Kolo Toure, were to blame when they conceded another.
"This is a big setback," admitted Wenger. "We are not short of confidence, but we have drawn four of our last five games.
"We had lapses in concentration and we have paid for it. We have to swallow it, but we were in control. Chelsea played long balls and we couldn't deal with it."
More accurately they could not deal with Drogba.
Gallas kept him quiet, making him stew for 45 minutes before he finally made an impact.
When he did, Drogba was ruthless.
The shirt was ripped off when he slid towards the Chelsea fans after he lashed the equaliser beyond Manuel Almunia.
Then came his second with a swivelled finish. Almunia got a touch, but the strike was too clean and too sweet for the Arsenal keeper.
"It was about time he did that," said Grant. "We had a few players who came back from the Africa Cup of Nations who were not in the best condition, but he is better now."
Drogba has done for Arsenal. Wenger will not admit it — he is too stubborn — but his team could not cope with the aerial bombardment after Grant's impressive changes.
Arsenal were nine points clear of Chelsea on February 23 and are now one point behind them.
They were six ahead of Manchester United at the same stage, but now they are lagging behind.
Not quite Devon Loch, but Wenger is flogging a dead horse.
They were in the home straight when they beat Blackburn on February 11, but Wenger has the international week to brood about the worst run at the club in nine years. That has to hurt.
He should spend the next seven days on Fantasy Island after complaining that Drogba's first goal was offside, but at least Grant is living in the real world.
With seven games to go, Chelsea are in the chase. Five points behind United — who visit Stamford Bridge on April 26. Absorbing stuff.
Little wonder that gladiator Grant entered the auditorium with something of a swagger. Someone had just told him that he had become the most successful manager in Chelsea's history with a 76 per cent win rate in the League (compared to you know who's 75.25). Absurd.
This was the man who could not beat a big team, remember. Beaten by Manchester United in his first game, beaten at Arsenal in December, beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final and beaten by Barnsley in the FA Cup.
The margin for error is wafer thin, but at least Grant is the first to recognise it.
"Sometimes the substitutions work, sometimes they don't," he added.
"We want to have two ways of playing and I told John Terry to tell the rest of the players to switch to 4-4-2. We had two good chances before we equalised, but I'm just glad the substitutions worked out."
Lucky manager? Well, it is better than being a losing one. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
KISS OF LIFE EASTER SLAM DAY CHELSEA 2 ARSENAL 1FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Drogba fires Chelsea into second place and turns Grant into real Special One Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer Avram Grant turned the title race on its head last night - and transformed himself into Chelsea's new Special One.
Four days after his tactical tinkering cost Chelsea two vital points at Spurs, the Blues boss was staring at a cataclysmic defeat which would have ended his side's remarkable unbeaten home record and surely spelled the end of his reign.
With Chelsea trailing to Bacary Sagna's close-range header, Blues fans turned on Grant as he boldly hauled off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, sending on Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti as he switched to an orthodox 4-4-2.
Chelsea supporters chanted "You don't know what you're doing," and bellowed the name of their long-lost Special One.
It was as much a statement of contempt as Ashley Cole's behaviour towards Mike Riley at White Hart Lane four days earlier, the Chelsea fans seemingly desperate to condemn the manager they have never really accepted.
But Jose Mourinho himself could not have masterminded such a dramatic turnaround.
The move which could have killed Grant instead unleashed the predatory beast within striker Didier Drogba, who capitalised on Arsenal's sudden defensive disarray to fire a two-goal salvo which turned the game. Within a minute of the switch Drogba was clearly offside when Belletti pumped forward, although he had got back into an onside position by the time his attempted pass to Frank Lampard fell back at his feet.
And there was no doubting the finish as Drogba drilled into the bottom corner of the net to haul Chelsea level.
And when he claimed his 13th of the season eight minutes from time to kill off Arsenal, there was no arguing with the impact on both clubs' seasons.
This time Belletti's early free-kick found Anelka out-jumping William Gallas to nod down and with Kolo Toure losing his balance, Drogba was able to spin and find the other corner despite Manuel Almunia getting a touch.
It was a shocking way for Arsenal to go down to only their second league defeat of the season - now the side which could have been eight points clear a month ago suddenly finds itself out of the top two.
No wonder Grant responded like a man possessed, pumping his fists at the final whistle after finally picking up the "big" win he has sought to bolster his reign all season.
Incredibly, Grant has picked up six points more than Arsene Wenger since replacing Mourinho in September.
And in gaining 57 points out of the 75 available during his reign, he has a marginally better league record, percentage-wise, than the Portuguese during his three years in charge.
Not that any of that mattered last night for Grant, who must have been fearing the worst when Sagna was allowed to get on the end of Cesc Fabegas' near-post corner and divert home his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini paid for failing to have a team-mate on the post. At that point you would not have given a prayer for Grant. Even though his side had remained level at the break, Arsenal had been growing in confidence.
Robin van Persie snatched at one opportunity and Cudicini, all over the place, was bailed out by John Terry after heading straight to Emmanuel Eboue before hacking the ball virtually off his own goalline.
Six minutes before the break, Chelsea's uncertainty at set-pieces was underlined when Gallas turned Toure's header against the post, although an offside flag had gone up.
Just after Sagna had nudged home, Ashley Cole missed a back-post sitter and the writing seemed on the wall for Chelsea and Grant.
By the end, though, everything had changed.
Grant lives on, emboldened, invigorated and with the title still possible.
Wenger, by contrast, was a study in dejection. Who would have believed it? But they still won't chant Grant's name.
Chelsea: Cudicini 6, Essien 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7, Ballack 6 (Belletti, 70, 7), Makelele 6 (Anelka, 70, 7), Lampard 7, J Cole 7 (Mikel, 88), Drogba 8, Kalou 6
Arsenal: Almunia 6, Sagba 7 (Diaby, 72, 5) Toure 6, Gallas 5, Clichy 7, Eboue 7, Fabregas 7, Hleb 6, Flamini 6 (Bendtner, 88), Van Persie 6 (Walcott, 77), Adebayor 5
Chelsea v Arsenal
52% POSSESSION 48%
7 SHOTS ON TARGET 6
3 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5
5 OFFSIDES 1
4 CORNERS 2
11 FOULS 14
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 41,824
Man Of The Match: Drogba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
CHELSEA fans will not find it easy but they will have to consider a new chant about manager Avram Grant: You
DO know what you’re doing!
Blues supporters were sharpening the knives again for Grant, as he made a controversial double substitution on 70 minutes with the home side trailing to a Bacary Sagna header.
They were furious at the introduction of right-back Juliano Belletti for midfielder Michael Ballack, immediately after Nicolas Anelka had replaced Claude Makelele.
Chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ rang round the ground, followed by a chorus for much-loved former boss Jose Mourinho.
Grant had been heavily criticised five days earlier for his substitutions at Tottenham, where Chelsea conceded a late goal to draw 4-4, and it seemed he had messed up once more.
But this time the Israeli had the last laugh, as Didier Drogba struck twice to turn the game around.
The winner came with eight minutes left, after the two subs had combined to set up the Ivory Coast star.
It still was not enough for Grant to get any credit, with the fans preferring to get stuck into former Blue and current Arsenal skipper William Gallas.
Yet the result means Chelsea are now Manchester United’s closest challengers in the Premier League title race, only five points adrift. It was the first time Grant had won against one of the top teams and they host United at the Bridge on April 26.
Despite all their off-field troubles and claims of in-fighting, they are hanging in there.
Drogba wants to leave in the summer and has little or no rapport with Grant. But he is still doing the business.
His two goals made it 13 for his club in a season in which he has suffered a prolonged injury absence and been on duty at the African Nations Cup.
As for Arsenal, their title challenge is falling apart.
They had drawn their previous four games to lose top spot and manager Arsene Wenger had vowed they would get back on track and win the championship.
But this second league defeat of the season could be a mortal blow.
It was great news for United boss Alex Ferguson. He joked he wanted both these teams to lose but a victory for Chelsea was far preferable to one for Arsenal.
Gallas had wanted a win badly and went round his players at the start eyeballing them all, telling them to show ‘no fear’. Yet there appeared to be fear on both sides, even to tackle, because of the FA’s current clampdown on discipline.
Nobody wanted to put a foot in and it was definitely somewhat tame for the first half.
There were a lot of long balls from Chelsea and Drogba should have scored when he raced on to John Terry’s hoof. But he lost control and Manuel Almunia gathered.
Salomon Kalou had an air shot from six yards and Almunia saved superbly to his left from Ballack.
The game came to life in the second half, sparked by right-back Sagna’s header on 59 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas delivered a corner to the near post and Sagna got ahead of Kalou and Frank Lampard to head his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini scrambled across in vain to keep it out.
Soon after, Sagna had to go off as he twisted an ankle clearing the ball and the visitors lost their shape.
Grant made his substitutions, putting former Gunner Anelka up front alongside Drogba and switching Michael Essien from right-back into midfield.
Despite the vitriol from the stands, Chelsea were level within three minutes — though Wenger complained it should have been disallowed for offside against both Drogba and Anelka. His argument was a strong one. But the linesman missed it and Drogba met Belletti’s through ball as it sailed over Gallas. He took a return pass from Lampard and then rifled a low shot beyond Almunia.
Drogba whipped his shirt off in celebration, earning a booking in the process. On another day, it would have driven him demented. But he merely patted referee Mark Clattenburg on the shoulder and trotted off.
Gallas and Kolo Toure were struggling to cope with Chelsea’s two-pronged attack and Anelka scuffed a good chance wide.
But on 82 minutes Chelsea bagged the winner. It was started by coach Steve Clarke, who jumped off the bench to encourage Belletti to take a quick free-kick.
The delivery was perfect and Anelka climbed above Gallas to flick the ball on.
Toure lost his footing and Drogba swivelled and shot home via Almunia’s outstretched right hand.
As time ticked down, the Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lolichon was sent off for not giving the ball back to Abou Diaby.
Not much respect there and none from ex-Arsenal man Ashley Cole, as he cocked an ear to the Gunners supporters mocking them about the score.
Considering the stick that he had taken all game, we can let Ashley off for once.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
morning papers spurs away
Telegraph:
Robbie Keane has last word for Spurs in classicBy Henry Winter at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 Chelsea (2) 4
Avram Grant continues to fluff his lines on the big stage. The Chelsea coach's negative substitution of an attacker, Salomon Kalou, for a centre-half, Alex, invited Spurs on, setting up a thrilling climax in which Robbie Keane struck a marvellous equaliser which will have been celebrated as wildly by followers of Arsenal and Manchester United as by the Tottenham faithful.
As well as showing the weakness in the dugout, Chelsea also showed their studs, and Ashley Cole should have been banished for a horrific lunge at Alan Hutton deemed worthy of only a yellow card by Mike Riley. Spurs were livid. The Riley report could be interesting. The Hutton report would be more damning.
The first half had contained enough drama for a whole game, conjuring up three goals in a frantic first 20 minutes and concluding with Ashley Cole's horrific lunge. It was breathless stuff, with no quarter asked or granted, particularly not from a visiting corps clearly in merciless mood.
Drogba had shown Chelsea's ruthless intent early on, although his headed goal was cloaked in controversy. Essien, allowed to roam through Claude Makelele's assiduous anchoring, charged upfield, eventually losing possession as Pascal Chimbonda slid in. Riley bizarrely deemed the challenge illegal.
Almost 30 yards out, the free-kick appeared perfectly placed for a Frank Lampard special but Drogba claimed responsibility, taking two steps and bending the ball into the leaping bodies in the wall. It cannoned clear, Drogba screaming for a handling offence before realising Chelsea still had the initiative.
The ball was in the domain of John Terry, who rolled back the years to when he was a more creative player on the park pitches of east London. The Chelsea captain elegantly lifted the ball across from the left towards the far post. Drogba had read Terry's intentions, darting in ahead of the slow-reacting Jermaine Jenas to nod Chelsea in front.
Jenas swiftly made amends. When Claude Makelele was penalised for climbing over Aaron Lennon, probably the one person in the Premier League the Frenchman could tower over, Jenas took charge of the free-kick on the right. The England international's delivery was magnificent, the ball hoisted to the far post.
As Terry clutched a handful of Dimitar Berbatov's shirt to prevent the Bulgarian reaching the ball, Jenas' free-kick continued to Jonathan Woodgate. One of the most uplifting sights for Spurs fans this year has been Woodgate rising high, having eluded his marker - in this case Drogba - to headed powerfully in.
Tottenham were triumphant, their fans taunting Chelsea relentlessly over the Carling Cup final outcome. Chelsea responded with ditties about Spurs' bruising encounter with the Old Bill in Seville last year.
Largely unimpressive since that Wembley success, Spurs now played with greater conviction. The determination flooding through Juande Ramos' men was evident, painfully so for Essien as Didier Zokora hit him with a meaty man-and-ball challenge.
Essien is made of strong stuff, though, and shortly after climbing to his feet he swept Chelsea ahead. Joe Cole made the telling break, dribbling through the middle. With Essien and Drogba lurking on the edge of the area, Cole released the ball, which rebounded from Drogba to Essien. His response was magnificent, the ball lifted unerringly over Robinson for his first of the season.
The goal simply reflected Chelsea's superiority, particularly in a midfield dominated by Essien, Makelele and Frank Lampard. Spurs strove to find an equaliser and when Jenas wriggled in from the left, Drogba threw himself in to try to block. Inevitably, Drogba stayed down, nursing another seemingly terminal injury, stirring unrest among the home fans. A plastic bottle was thrown on to the pitch as Drogba miraculously recovered.
A good game then turned nasty, Derby-day fireworks erupting. Chimbonda fouled Joe Cole, who gave the linesman some choice London invective for ignoring the offence. Cole was booked, Lampard should have followed him for catching Jenas, and then came Ashley Cole's assault on Hutton, an offence that deserved more than yellow and triggered a near brawl.
Adding insult to iniquity, Ashley Cole set the scene for Chelsea's third, delivering a quick throw-in to Makelele, who swiftly found Kalou. Chelsea's No 21 cleverly worked the ball across the edge of the area to Joe Cole, who darted around Chimbonda.
Still the angle was tight. Still Robinson had to be negotiated. Cole's shot sped through Robinson's legs, clipped the keeper's heel and looped up and in, to Robinson's deep anguish. "England's No 4," the Chelsea hordes chanted.
Even before Robinson regained some pride with an outstanding save from Drogba, Spurs had pulled a goal back. When Tom Huddlestone curled over a corner, Berbatov leaned gently into Terry, opening up a yard of space. As the ball dropped in, Berbatov flicked a header, almost languidly, high into the net.
Still the tempo never ebbed in a classic match. Cudicini saved superbly from Keane. Essien hit a post. Huddlestone dived disgracefully and was deservedly booked.
As the spell-binding entertainment continued, Huddlestone displayed his more positive side. Keane clipped over a corner from the left and Berbatov's presence caused chaos in the box, allowing the ball to fly through to Huddlestone. What a response! The midfielder drilled the ball unerringly in past Cudicini: 3-3.
But there was more, remarkably so. When Spurs foolishly conceded possession on the right, Chelsea leapt into life, Drogba finding Joe Cole. The England international again ghosted around Chimbonda and found the net with a brilliant finish, the ball placed at speed past the exposed Robinson.
But then came Keane. What a finish! What a game!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail:
Unbelievable - a 4-4 thriller as Spurs stop Chelsea and Cole makes horror tackle
By NEIL ASHTON
Ashley Cole was caught up in a red card storm last night as Chelsea's title ambitions were blown apart on a dramatic night at White Hart Lane.
Cole escaped with a booking after a horror tackle on Tottenham defender Alan Hutton during an incredible 4-4 draw.
Spurs players surrounded referee Mike Riley following the challenge in the first half and furious assistant manager Gus Poyet told fourth official Steve Bennett: 'That is a f****** red card and you know it.'
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said: 'The referee decided it was a yellow card, but we've seen tackles which were much less serious and they have earned red cards.
'Robbie Keane was sent off for a tackle less serious than that against Birmingham. But we have to respect the officials' decisions.
'It's best not to dwell on that kind of action. We're just very fortunate there weren't any injuries to players.'
This incredible match boiled over when Frank Lampard took out Jermaine Jenas, who had to be substituted at half-time, but there was more to come.
The major flashpoint occurred when Cole clashed with Hutton and Tottenham demanded the left back's dismissal. Players clashed as they walked down the tunnel and Poyet could be seen remonstrating with Cole.
Poyet said: 'It would be unfair on Ashley to talk about only his challenge after the game we had. I prefer not to go into it, but it looked strange.'
Incredibly, Chelsea manager Avram Grant claimed he did not see the incident — even though it happened in front of the Chelsea bench.
Grant said: 'The assistant referee was in my way. I saw the Tottenham bench jump up, but the referee was two metres away. We must respect his decision.'
Chelsea were awesome in the first half and they appeared intent on heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal level on points in the Barclays Premier League.
Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead after two minutes and, although Jonathan Woodgate equalised for Tottenham, Michael Essien put them back in front with a delicious lob.
Man of the match Joe Cole scored after the break, but Spurs fought back with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Joe Cole appeared to have won it for Chelsea with a brilliant turn and shot, but Robbie Keane's curled effort in the 88th minute secured a point for Spurs.
Grant added: 'It's very disappointing to lead 1-0 and 3-1, then to concede goals from two corners and a free-kick.
'I don't know whether to laugh. One of our strengths is that we defend well against corners and free-kicks, yet Tottenham have scored five from set-pieces against us in two games.
I don't know how to explain that. It's very unusual for us. There was a big mistake from us and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. But we showed a great spirit in the team.
'We're closer to Arsenal than we were before. We'll be at home on Sunday and we'll come to fight to win the game. We're five points off the top, still in the race and we'll continue fighting.'
Chelsea's game plan was undone by a series of bizarre tactical substitutions that invited Spurs to attack.
Their confusion was illustrated in the closing moments when Drogba approached assistant manager Steve Clarke and asked: 'What are we supposed to be doing?'
Spurs were rewarded when Keane scored one of the best goals of his career.
Ramos added: 'At 3-1 and in the second half against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be very difficult, but the game was very open.
'The team believed in themselves and scoring the goal to make it 3-2 quite soon afterwards made things a bit more open and possible.
'It reminds me of the 6-4 against Reading, and against Aston Villa we had a 4-4 result at White Hart Lane. They were spectacular games, too.'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Tottenham 4 Chelsea 4: Chelsea hopes fade as Grant's tactics are exposed in thrillerBy Sam WallaceThursday, 20 March 2008
While Avram Grant fiddled, Chelsea's title ambitions burned. It was, quite simply, the most extraordinary game of the season so far - a conflagration of eight goals, three Tottenham comebacks and another set of bizarre tactical decisions from a Chelsea manager who just cannot get it right in the big games.
When the dust had settled after Robbie Keane's brilliant 88th-minute equaliser, Grant was left to wonder whether this was the moment that his club's title ambitions died. Manchester United are five points ahead, Chelsea's opportunity to draw level with Arsenal in second place has gone. Roman Abramovich cannot grumble about the entertainment value but he must take issue at the way Grant’s team are blowing their chances of a trophy.
This was the game that had everything. There was a sublime performance from Joe Cole, whose two goals made him the outstanding performer before Grant's decision to substitute him with Chelsea 4-3 up. And on the dark side there was an horrendous studs-up challenge from Ashley Cole before half-time that could have broke Alan Hutton's leg and was met with a terrible decision from Mike Riley who booked Cole instead of sending him off.
Against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and, in the last two games against Spurs, Grant has failed to beat the big beasts of English football. Juande Ramos picked the same XI that beat Chelsea in last month's Carling Cup final and, by the skin of his teeth, has again frustrated Grant. At 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 up his Chelsea team should have won this game, yet by the end even Grant's own players seemed baffled by his substitutions.
With his team 3-2 in the lead, having led 3-1, the Chelsea manager tried to close out the game in Jose Mourinho-fashion by bolstering his defence. He sent on the Brazilian defender Alex da Costa as sweeper in what seemed like a counter-move to Ramos's decision to bring on Darren Bent, a third striker. But on the pitch, Chelsea lost their shape, Didier Drogba looked to the bench in despair and Tom Huddlestone equalised. The game was in the balance again.
Then, after Joe Cole had seemingly got Grant off the hook with a brilliant second goal to put his team 4-3 in the lead, the Chelsea manager struck again. Off came Cole this time for Michael Ballack and Chelsea were caught cold once again. After a clearance struck Ricardo Carvalho's back, Keane hit a 20-yard equaliser past Carlo Cudicini and Grant must have felt the cold sweat break out on his forehead. Ramos had out-thought him.
Tiny margins for error; huge consequences. The basis of the five trophies won by Mourinho was a sure-footedness in pressurised situations. It is the hallmark of all great managers and, once again, Ramos showed he has that judgement in abundance. Grant seems to lack it. The Spurs manager made two substitutions – his key call was Bent coming on for Ledley King on 68 minutes – and he got it right.
It was telling that, at 4-4 in the very last moments of the match, Grant was lucky that Spurs did not take all three points. The excellent Dimitar Berbatov twisted into space and had a clear shot at goal that only Cudicini's desperate save stopped. Sunday at Stamford Bridge provides Grant with his shot at redemption against Arsenal, but on this evidence there is no doubt which team will win if it comes down to the manager's decisions.
Take a deep breath and go back to the start. Four minutes into the game and Drogba met John Terry's peach of a cross with a downward header past Paul Robinson. It was the Ivorian's first Premier League goal since 11 September, his first goal in any competition since the Carling Cup final.
1-1: on 12 minutes Jonathan Woodgate, who had lost Drogba for the first goal, headed home Jermaine Jenas' free-kick for the equaliser. 2-1 to Chelsea: on 19 minutes Joe Cole's throughball took a touch off Drogba before Michael Essien lifted a brilliant chip over Robinson. Then it started to get nasty.
Terry's knee caught Berbatov's head as the two tumbled in the Chelsea area. Lampard went straight through Jenas and at half-time the Spurs man was substituted for Huddlestone. Riley did not even book Lampard but his worst decision was to come. Just before half-time, Hutton moved in to control a ball by the touchline and from out of the frame came Ashley Cole, lunging, stretching and with studs raised. Had Hutton's foot been grounded when Cole connected with his leg then the injury would have been disastrous. The card was yellow but should have been red.
3-1 to Chelsea: on 52 minutes, Joe Cole took the long route around Pascal Chimbonda in the right channel before striking a low shot that cannoned off Robinson's legs and in. 3-2: six minutes later the Tottenham comeback began. Huddlestone's corner found Berbatov who flighted a header into the corner. 3-3: on 75 minutes a loose corner fell to Huddlestone who drilled in the equaliser.
The finale. 4-3: another goal from Joe Cole who burst through and struck the ball into the roof of Robinson's goal on 80 minutes and was then substituted. 4-4: Keane's riposte, White Hart Lane in raptures. In the 90th minute, Grant sent on Andrei Shevchenko but it was a bit late then to be changing a team that had already been pulled apart by its own manager.
Goals: Drogba (3) 0-1; Woodgate (12) 1-1; Essien (20) 1-2; J Cole (52) 1-3; Berbatov (61) 2-3; Huddlestone (75) 3-3; J Cole (80) 3-4; Keane (88) 4-4.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent, 68), Chimbonda; Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone, h-t), Zokora, Malbranque; Keane, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Tainio, Dawson.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira (Shevchenko, 89), Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Ballack, 82), Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Alex, 71); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Wright-Phillips.
Referee: M Riley (Yorkshire).
Booked: Tottenham Keane, Huddlestone; Chelsea J Cole, A Cole.
Man of the match: J Cole.
Attendance: 36,178--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keane blunts Chelsea challenge in thriller
Kevin McCarra at White Hart LaneThursday March 20, 2008The Guardian
If there are no more trophies to be pursued this season, Tottenham Hotspur might still take vast satisfaction from savaging Chelsea's campaign for the title. They did so in an almost inconceivably galling way here last night, recovering from 3-1 and 4-3 down. The exquisite goal with which they secured the draw two minutes from the close would have been memorable in even the most insignificant match, with Robbie Keane bending a finish round Carlo Cudicini from the fringes of the penalty area after the ball had bounced to him off the back of Ricardo Carvalho.
Unfortunately for Avram Grant, people will not stay entranced by the spectacle for long and Chelsea lag five points behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester United. The Chelsea manager's plans were misconceived when the Carling Cup final was lost to Tottenham last month and here he threw the contest open when attempting to shut down the match. He inclined to misguided caution once the opposition had trimmed the deficit to 3-2 when Dimitar Berbatov climbed above John Terry to head home a corner from the substitute Tom Huddlestone in the 61st minute.Juande Ramos introduced another forward in Darren Bent and Grant reacted by removing an attacker in Salomon Kalou so that he could have an additional centre-back in Alex. That simply encouraged Tottenham and diminished the best aspect of Chelsea's display, their fluid menace. The game was level at 3-3 after 75 minutes, when a Keane corner broke to Huddlestone and he finished with a well-controlled drive.
Still Chelsea had enough individuality to respond, with Joe Cole restoring the lead 10 minutes from the end. He took a through-pass from Didier Drogba and fired high into the net. He had been giving a superb display and there was no benefit in sparing him the remainder of the evening, as Grant did by introducing Michael Ballack. Once again the effect would have been heartening for Tottenham.
Chelsea's prospects of regaining the title are diminished and on Sunday they meet the side who remain above them in second place, Arsenal. Much had seemed to be running in favour of Grant's team. On the verge of the interval, for instance, Ashley Cole ought to have been sent off for a terrible airborne lunge in which the defender's left boot was sunk into the right shin of the Spurs full-back Alan Hutton.
Mike Riley, the referee, was somehow persuaded that a booking would suffice. The justifiable anger was great although it does not seem that the punishment can be upgraded retrospectively since there is no indication that the official did not see the incident clearly. There was seething resentment and the Tottenham assistant manager, Gus Poyet, had an arm round the neck of Cole as he remonstrated with him while the sides were going off at half-time.
Chelsea, as a whole, ought still to have been remembering this occasion, watched by the England head coach Fabio Capello, with pride. Instead they can merely be relieved that Cudicini denied Berbatov a winner in stoppage-time. The rematch with the identical Tottenham starting XI that had overcome them at Wembley last month, however, was still excruciating for the visitors, particularly since there had been long passages of encouragement for them. Chelsea were often polished and had the lead in the third minute.
A Drogba free-kick was hit into the wall and after Claude Makelele had directed play out to the left the Ivorian was free at the far post to head in a deep cross from Terry. That was Drogba's first Premier League goal since November 11.
Tottenham were level in the 12th minute. Jermaine Jenas lifted in a free-kick from the right and, as Drogba elected to assist Terry with the marking of Berbatov, Jonathan Woodgate headed home untroubled. That, even so, did nothing to undermine the perception that Chelsea were the slicker.
After 20 minutes, Joe Cole made a penetrating run before Michael Essien got between Ledley King and Pascal Chimbonda to loft the ball over Paul Robinson with the outside of his right foot. Chelsea's advantage was stretched in the 52nd minute as Joe Cole collected a ball from Makelele on the right, beat Chimbonda and hit the net with a finish which broke off Robinson.
The mastery proved to be mere illusion. Grant will naturally be aghast that famously sturdy Chelsea were so flimsy at set pieces in particular, but whatever the reasons he is in charge of a team whose remaining home fixtures with Arsenal and United no longer look as if they will be the basis of a triumph. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesMarch 20, 2008
Robbie Keane ensures Tottenham haunt Avram Grant once moreTottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4(Marc Aspland)
How Chelsea must hate Tottenham Hotspur. Beaten by them in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last month, it was the North London side who again thwarted their ambitions, this time in the Barclays Premier League and in an astonishing eight-goal extravaganza at White Hart Lane last night.
Chelsea led three times — once by 3-1 midway in the second half — but had to settle for a draw when Robbie Keane curled home a shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute. After playing catch-up with Arsenal for much of the season, they would have moved level on points with them in second place had they held on for victory.
Instead, they will have to wait until Sunday, when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge. With Manchester United playing Liverpool at Old Trafford, on the same day, the top-of-the-table scrap could take on a completely different complexion by Monday morning. The title race is far from over.
Yet it might have been so much worse for Chelsea, with Tottenham — 2-1 winners after extra time at Wembley — going agonisingly close to stealing a remarkable win in the last throes of stoppage time. Dimitar Berbatov’s close-range shot was destined for the net until Carlo Cudicini, the goalkeeper, stuck out an arm. “We could have won it,” Juande Ramos, the Tottenham head coach, said, still in a state of some disbelief.
And it could have been so much worse for Chelsea had Ashley Cole, the England left back, been sent off — as he should have been — shortly before half-time for a studs-up challenge on Alan Hutton, the Tottenham right back. That Mike Riley, the referee, opted for a yellow card rather than a red spared Cole a suspension.
Cole’s reaction to the incident was inexcusable, too. He turned his back on Riley, and it was not exactly the example to set, the day after the FA had announced its £200 million-worth of investment in grassroots football. The showing of greater respect to referees is one of its key objectives.
Still, having done more than enough to win, with Joe Cole imperious in front of Fabio Capello, the England manager, Chelsea will fight another day. “There were so many positives to take from the game but, in the end, it was disappointing,” Avram Grant, the first-team coach, said. “At least we are closer to Arsenal than before.”
Grant was roundly criticised for his starting line-up at Wembley, mostly for deploying Nicolas Anelka out of position on the left flank and for leaving Joe Cole and Michael Ballack on the bench for too long. Last night, Joe Cole started, Ballack was among the substitutes and Anelka was left out because of a thigh injury.
Grant made six changes from the side that so underperformed at Wembley and, after three minutes, was rewarded when Chelsea went ahead. Didier Drogba battered a free kick into the defensive wall but Claude Makelele regained possession and released John Terry on the edge of the area. The Chelsea captain crossed to the far post and Drogba, running in alone, was allowed to head past Paul Robinson. For all Tottenham’s attacking splendour, their defensive deficiencies were laid bare again. And Chelsea, with revenge on their minds, appeared to be in the mood for it.
Strangely, though, they failed to build on their advantage. Ramos fielded the same team that had beaten Chelsea last month and it was Jonathan Woodgate, who scored the injury-time winner to secure the 2-1 victory on that occasion, who returned to haunt them with another header. This time, Woodgate did not need the good fortune of the ball hitting him in the face. Jermaine Jenas slung over a curling free kick from the right and Woodgate rose high above Drogba to send a looping header over Cudicini.
Chelsea were quick to respond. Joe Cole wriggled his way towards the home area, with barely a challenge, and passed the ball for Michael Essien comfortably to chip in.
Ashley Cole’s lunge at Hutton brought the half to a shuddering halt and prompted heated exchanges among the occupants of both benches.
Their passion undimmed, Chelsea stretched their lead after the break. There was only one outcome when Joe Cole latched on to Salomon Kalou’s pass and rounded Pascal Chimbonda. As Robinson came out, Cole guided the ball in off the goalkeeper’s body.
Game over? By no means. Tottenham bucked up their ideas and pushed forward, more in desperation than by design. Tom Huddlestone swung over a corner from the right and Berbatov, making his first real contribution to the game, headed beyond Cudicini.
Worse was to follow for Chelsea when Huddlestone slammed in the equaliser in the 74th minute. However, Joe Cole quickly responded when he left Chimbonda standing again and drove his shot over Robinson into the roof of the net. Keane’s late equaliser only provided another twist in what is becoming a fascinating race to the top.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson — A Hutton, J Woodgate, L King (sub: D Bent, 69min), P Chimbonda — A Lennon, D Zokora, J Jenas (sub: T Huddlestone, 46), S Malbranque — R Keane, D Berbatov. Substitutes not used: R Cerny, T Tainio, M Dawson. Booked: Keane, Huddlestone.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): C Cudicini — P Ferreira (sub: A Shevchenko, 89), R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — C Makelele — J Cole (sub: M Ballack, 83), M Essien, F Lampard, S Kalou (sub: Alex, 71) — D Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilário, Wright-Phillips. Booked: J Cole, A Cole.
Referee: M Riley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Spurs 4 Chelsea 4By SHAUN CUSTIS
JUST when Avram Grant was winning over the critics again, Chelsea blew it on a night of stunning goals, high drama and controversy. Three times the Blues led — inspired by the brilliant Joe Cole — only to throw it away. Robbie Keane was the Tottenham hero with a stunning 20-yard curler two minutes from time. And it came just four days after Keane’s tantrum at being substituted in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City. Chelsea are now five points behind leaders Manchester United. And — had it not been for an unbelievable save by Carlo Cudicini from Dimitar Berbatov’s shot with seconds to go — they would have left White Hart Lane with nothing. A shocking tackle by Ashley Cole on Spurs defender Alan Hutton on 44 minutes added to an incredible night. The England left-back should have been sent off for the awful lunge on the Scot but ref Mike Riley showed him only a yellow card. But the bottom line is that Chelsea slipped up when it mattered once more. Boss Grant is just not doing it in the big games. His side have drawn with Liverpool and Everton, lost to Arsenal, been beaten by Manchester United and now thrown away a lead at Spurs. The latest failure also came on the back of the Carling Cup Final defeat to Juande Ramos’ men and the shocking FA Cup exit to Barnsley. Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Bolton means the Premier League title has slipped further away with only eight games to play. The Gunners visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday and if Chelsea stumble again it could be all over. You have to feel sorry for Joe Cole who was sensational in front of watching England boss Fabio Capello. The Italian is not convinced English players possess the technical skills to match foreign opponents — but Cole is surely an exception. At times it was a one-man show. Grant made a fatal error in taking him off with seven minutes left in an attempt to protect a 4-3 lead. He also withdrew Salomon Kalou and replaced him with defender Alex when they were 3-2 up. Jose Mourinho had a knack of getting it right with substitutions. Grant has just not got it. Games like these are why the Premier League is the most popular in the world and millions are spent on the rights to watch it. You could not take your eyes off it from the moment Didier Drogba opened the scoring on three minutes. Skipper John Terry’s cross picked out the Ivory Coast hit-man at the far post and he headed home for his first league goal since November 11 in a draw with Everton. Jonathan Woodgate — who won the Carling Cup for Spurs in extra-time — climbed high above Drogba to head the equaliser on 12 minutes. But then Joe Cole began to weave his magic. His mazy dribble through the centre set up Michael Essien who stabbed a chip over the top of the bemused Paul Robinson to restore the lead. As half-time approached tempers boiled over when Ashley Cole launched himself at Spurs full-back Alan Hutton with studs up and both feet off the ground. Cole connected with Hutton just below his knee-cap and was nowhere near the ball. The Spurs bench, players and crowd were incensed. Assistant boss Gus Poyet screamed at fourth official Steve Bennett and referee Riley to send Cole off. That led to a verbal dust-up between Frank Lampard and Poyet. It seemed Cole was facing an early bath but Riley let him off with a yellow card. He was a lucky boy. Poyet waited for Cole to remonstrate with him as the defender headed down the tunnel at half-time — and then Poyet made his point to Riley again. It was a minor miracle that Hutton came back out after the interval. Joe Cole continued to turn it on for Capello although it required the generosity of Pascal Chimbonda to let him in for No 3 on 52 minutes. Kalou’s pass sent Cole away and he ran past Chimbonda without being challenged. Keeper Robinson came out to try and close him down but Cole’s shot cannoned off the keeper’s leg and bounced into the far corner. Game over. Or so it seemed. On the hour Spurs pulled one back when Berbatov climbed above Terry to loop a header into the top corner. Cudicini — who turned out to be something of a Chelsea hero despite conceding four goals — saved superbly from Keane’s close-range effort to preserve the visitors’ lead. Then Spurs levelled as Keane’s corner found its way to sub Tom Huddlestone on the right of the box. The young midfielder, 21, has a reputation for pile-drivers and he did not disappoint with a rocket into the far corner. But Joe Cole was still not finished and when Drogba played him in, the England trickster left the hapless Chimbonda sprawling on the ground before rifling a shot high into the net. Chelsea were back ahead with 11 minutes left. Surely that was it. No. Not at White Hart Lane where the goals have been flooding in all season — at both ends. Cole came off, Michael Ballack went on and Spurs hit back again with two minutes remaining — although it was tough luck on Chelsea’s part. A hopeful punt towards the Blues box hit Ricardo Carvalho on the back and Keane seized on it to fire home from 20 yards. What a difference a few days make. Keane moved from villain to hero with one brilliant strike. But he did prove why he should be kept on until the end. Cudicini’s outstretched left hand prevented Berbatov completing a victory which would have gone down in Spurs history. Wow.
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Mirror:
KIDS LIFT FOR ROM
A Villa Yth 2 Chelsea Yth 3 (Chelsea win 4-3 on agg)
Adam Phillip gave Roman Abramovich a boost last night by helping Chelsea reach the FA Youth Cup final.
Substitute Phillip scored the winner in a stormy clash at Villa Park to set-up a two-legged final with Manchester City after the first leg ended 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Harry Forrester gave Villa the perfect start before Sergio Tejera Rodriguez and Gael Kaku put the Blues ahead.
Forrester made it 2-2 but Phillip sealed it.
Chelsea's Lee Sawyer and Villa's Matthew Roome were both sent off.
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Robbie Keane has last word for Spurs in classicBy Henry Winter at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 Chelsea (2) 4
Avram Grant continues to fluff his lines on the big stage. The Chelsea coach's negative substitution of an attacker, Salomon Kalou, for a centre-half, Alex, invited Spurs on, setting up a thrilling climax in which Robbie Keane struck a marvellous equaliser which will have been celebrated as wildly by followers of Arsenal and Manchester United as by the Tottenham faithful.
As well as showing the weakness in the dugout, Chelsea also showed their studs, and Ashley Cole should have been banished for a horrific lunge at Alan Hutton deemed worthy of only a yellow card by Mike Riley. Spurs were livid. The Riley report could be interesting. The Hutton report would be more damning.
The first half had contained enough drama for a whole game, conjuring up three goals in a frantic first 20 minutes and concluding with Ashley Cole's horrific lunge. It was breathless stuff, with no quarter asked or granted, particularly not from a visiting corps clearly in merciless mood.
Drogba had shown Chelsea's ruthless intent early on, although his headed goal was cloaked in controversy. Essien, allowed to roam through Claude Makelele's assiduous anchoring, charged upfield, eventually losing possession as Pascal Chimbonda slid in. Riley bizarrely deemed the challenge illegal.
Almost 30 yards out, the free-kick appeared perfectly placed for a Frank Lampard special but Drogba claimed responsibility, taking two steps and bending the ball into the leaping bodies in the wall. It cannoned clear, Drogba screaming for a handling offence before realising Chelsea still had the initiative.
The ball was in the domain of John Terry, who rolled back the years to when he was a more creative player on the park pitches of east London. The Chelsea captain elegantly lifted the ball across from the left towards the far post. Drogba had read Terry's intentions, darting in ahead of the slow-reacting Jermaine Jenas to nod Chelsea in front.
Jenas swiftly made amends. When Claude Makelele was penalised for climbing over Aaron Lennon, probably the one person in the Premier League the Frenchman could tower over, Jenas took charge of the free-kick on the right. The England international's delivery was magnificent, the ball hoisted to the far post.
As Terry clutched a handful of Dimitar Berbatov's shirt to prevent the Bulgarian reaching the ball, Jenas' free-kick continued to Jonathan Woodgate. One of the most uplifting sights for Spurs fans this year has been Woodgate rising high, having eluded his marker - in this case Drogba - to headed powerfully in.
Tottenham were triumphant, their fans taunting Chelsea relentlessly over the Carling Cup final outcome. Chelsea responded with ditties about Spurs' bruising encounter with the Old Bill in Seville last year.
Largely unimpressive since that Wembley success, Spurs now played with greater conviction. The determination flooding through Juande Ramos' men was evident, painfully so for Essien as Didier Zokora hit him with a meaty man-and-ball challenge.
Essien is made of strong stuff, though, and shortly after climbing to his feet he swept Chelsea ahead. Joe Cole made the telling break, dribbling through the middle. With Essien and Drogba lurking on the edge of the area, Cole released the ball, which rebounded from Drogba to Essien. His response was magnificent, the ball lifted unerringly over Robinson for his first of the season.
The goal simply reflected Chelsea's superiority, particularly in a midfield dominated by Essien, Makelele and Frank Lampard. Spurs strove to find an equaliser and when Jenas wriggled in from the left, Drogba threw himself in to try to block. Inevitably, Drogba stayed down, nursing another seemingly terminal injury, stirring unrest among the home fans. A plastic bottle was thrown on to the pitch as Drogba miraculously recovered.
A good game then turned nasty, Derby-day fireworks erupting. Chimbonda fouled Joe Cole, who gave the linesman some choice London invective for ignoring the offence. Cole was booked, Lampard should have followed him for catching Jenas, and then came Ashley Cole's assault on Hutton, an offence that deserved more than yellow and triggered a near brawl.
Adding insult to iniquity, Ashley Cole set the scene for Chelsea's third, delivering a quick throw-in to Makelele, who swiftly found Kalou. Chelsea's No 21 cleverly worked the ball across the edge of the area to Joe Cole, who darted around Chimbonda.
Still the angle was tight. Still Robinson had to be negotiated. Cole's shot sped through Robinson's legs, clipped the keeper's heel and looped up and in, to Robinson's deep anguish. "England's No 4," the Chelsea hordes chanted.
Even before Robinson regained some pride with an outstanding save from Drogba, Spurs had pulled a goal back. When Tom Huddlestone curled over a corner, Berbatov leaned gently into Terry, opening up a yard of space. As the ball dropped in, Berbatov flicked a header, almost languidly, high into the net.
Still the tempo never ebbed in a classic match. Cudicini saved superbly from Keane. Essien hit a post. Huddlestone dived disgracefully and was deservedly booked.
As the spell-binding entertainment continued, Huddlestone displayed his more positive side. Keane clipped over a corner from the left and Berbatov's presence caused chaos in the box, allowing the ball to fly through to Huddlestone. What a response! The midfielder drilled the ball unerringly in past Cudicini: 3-3.
But there was more, remarkably so. When Spurs foolishly conceded possession on the right, Chelsea leapt into life, Drogba finding Joe Cole. The England international again ghosted around Chimbonda and found the net with a brilliant finish, the ball placed at speed past the exposed Robinson.
But then came Keane. What a finish! What a game!
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Mail:
Unbelievable - a 4-4 thriller as Spurs stop Chelsea and Cole makes horror tackle
By NEIL ASHTON
Ashley Cole was caught up in a red card storm last night as Chelsea's title ambitions were blown apart on a dramatic night at White Hart Lane.
Cole escaped with a booking after a horror tackle on Tottenham defender Alan Hutton during an incredible 4-4 draw.
Spurs players surrounded referee Mike Riley following the challenge in the first half and furious assistant manager Gus Poyet told fourth official Steve Bennett: 'That is a f****** red card and you know it.'
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said: 'The referee decided it was a yellow card, but we've seen tackles which were much less serious and they have earned red cards.
'Robbie Keane was sent off for a tackle less serious than that against Birmingham. But we have to respect the officials' decisions.
'It's best not to dwell on that kind of action. We're just very fortunate there weren't any injuries to players.'
This incredible match boiled over when Frank Lampard took out Jermaine Jenas, who had to be substituted at half-time, but there was more to come.
The major flashpoint occurred when Cole clashed with Hutton and Tottenham demanded the left back's dismissal. Players clashed as they walked down the tunnel and Poyet could be seen remonstrating with Cole.
Poyet said: 'It would be unfair on Ashley to talk about only his challenge after the game we had. I prefer not to go into it, but it looked strange.'
Incredibly, Chelsea manager Avram Grant claimed he did not see the incident — even though it happened in front of the Chelsea bench.
Grant said: 'The assistant referee was in my way. I saw the Tottenham bench jump up, but the referee was two metres away. We must respect his decision.'
Chelsea were awesome in the first half and they appeared intent on heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal level on points in the Barclays Premier League.
Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead after two minutes and, although Jonathan Woodgate equalised for Tottenham, Michael Essien put them back in front with a delicious lob.
Man of the match Joe Cole scored after the break, but Spurs fought back with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Joe Cole appeared to have won it for Chelsea with a brilliant turn and shot, but Robbie Keane's curled effort in the 88th minute secured a point for Spurs.
Grant added: 'It's very disappointing to lead 1-0 and 3-1, then to concede goals from two corners and a free-kick.
'I don't know whether to laugh. One of our strengths is that we defend well against corners and free-kicks, yet Tottenham have scored five from set-pieces against us in two games.
I don't know how to explain that. It's very unusual for us. There was a big mistake from us and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. But we showed a great spirit in the team.
'We're closer to Arsenal than we were before. We'll be at home on Sunday and we'll come to fight to win the game. We're five points off the top, still in the race and we'll continue fighting.'
Chelsea's game plan was undone by a series of bizarre tactical substitutions that invited Spurs to attack.
Their confusion was illustrated in the closing moments when Drogba approached assistant manager Steve Clarke and asked: 'What are we supposed to be doing?'
Spurs were rewarded when Keane scored one of the best goals of his career.
Ramos added: 'At 3-1 and in the second half against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be very difficult, but the game was very open.
'The team believed in themselves and scoring the goal to make it 3-2 quite soon afterwards made things a bit more open and possible.
'It reminds me of the 6-4 against Reading, and against Aston Villa we had a 4-4 result at White Hart Lane. They were spectacular games, too.'
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Tottenham 4 Chelsea 4: Chelsea hopes fade as Grant's tactics are exposed in thrillerBy Sam WallaceThursday, 20 March 2008
While Avram Grant fiddled, Chelsea's title ambitions burned. It was, quite simply, the most extraordinary game of the season so far - a conflagration of eight goals, three Tottenham comebacks and another set of bizarre tactical decisions from a Chelsea manager who just cannot get it right in the big games.
When the dust had settled after Robbie Keane's brilliant 88th-minute equaliser, Grant was left to wonder whether this was the moment that his club's title ambitions died. Manchester United are five points ahead, Chelsea's opportunity to draw level with Arsenal in second place has gone. Roman Abramovich cannot grumble about the entertainment value but he must take issue at the way Grant’s team are blowing their chances of a trophy.
This was the game that had everything. There was a sublime performance from Joe Cole, whose two goals made him the outstanding performer before Grant's decision to substitute him with Chelsea 4-3 up. And on the dark side there was an horrendous studs-up challenge from Ashley Cole before half-time that could have broke Alan Hutton's leg and was met with a terrible decision from Mike Riley who booked Cole instead of sending him off.
Against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and, in the last two games against Spurs, Grant has failed to beat the big beasts of English football. Juande Ramos picked the same XI that beat Chelsea in last month's Carling Cup final and, by the skin of his teeth, has again frustrated Grant. At 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 up his Chelsea team should have won this game, yet by the end even Grant's own players seemed baffled by his substitutions.
With his team 3-2 in the lead, having led 3-1, the Chelsea manager tried to close out the game in Jose Mourinho-fashion by bolstering his defence. He sent on the Brazilian defender Alex da Costa as sweeper in what seemed like a counter-move to Ramos's decision to bring on Darren Bent, a third striker. But on the pitch, Chelsea lost their shape, Didier Drogba looked to the bench in despair and Tom Huddlestone equalised. The game was in the balance again.
Then, after Joe Cole had seemingly got Grant off the hook with a brilliant second goal to put his team 4-3 in the lead, the Chelsea manager struck again. Off came Cole this time for Michael Ballack and Chelsea were caught cold once again. After a clearance struck Ricardo Carvalho's back, Keane hit a 20-yard equaliser past Carlo Cudicini and Grant must have felt the cold sweat break out on his forehead. Ramos had out-thought him.
Tiny margins for error; huge consequences. The basis of the five trophies won by Mourinho was a sure-footedness in pressurised situations. It is the hallmark of all great managers and, once again, Ramos showed he has that judgement in abundance. Grant seems to lack it. The Spurs manager made two substitutions – his key call was Bent coming on for Ledley King on 68 minutes – and he got it right.
It was telling that, at 4-4 in the very last moments of the match, Grant was lucky that Spurs did not take all three points. The excellent Dimitar Berbatov twisted into space and had a clear shot at goal that only Cudicini's desperate save stopped. Sunday at Stamford Bridge provides Grant with his shot at redemption against Arsenal, but on this evidence there is no doubt which team will win if it comes down to the manager's decisions.
Take a deep breath and go back to the start. Four minutes into the game and Drogba met John Terry's peach of a cross with a downward header past Paul Robinson. It was the Ivorian's first Premier League goal since 11 September, his first goal in any competition since the Carling Cup final.
1-1: on 12 minutes Jonathan Woodgate, who had lost Drogba for the first goal, headed home Jermaine Jenas' free-kick for the equaliser. 2-1 to Chelsea: on 19 minutes Joe Cole's throughball took a touch off Drogba before Michael Essien lifted a brilliant chip over Robinson. Then it started to get nasty.
Terry's knee caught Berbatov's head as the two tumbled in the Chelsea area. Lampard went straight through Jenas and at half-time the Spurs man was substituted for Huddlestone. Riley did not even book Lampard but his worst decision was to come. Just before half-time, Hutton moved in to control a ball by the touchline and from out of the frame came Ashley Cole, lunging, stretching and with studs raised. Had Hutton's foot been grounded when Cole connected with his leg then the injury would have been disastrous. The card was yellow but should have been red.
3-1 to Chelsea: on 52 minutes, Joe Cole took the long route around Pascal Chimbonda in the right channel before striking a low shot that cannoned off Robinson's legs and in. 3-2: six minutes later the Tottenham comeback began. Huddlestone's corner found Berbatov who flighted a header into the corner. 3-3: on 75 minutes a loose corner fell to Huddlestone who drilled in the equaliser.
The finale. 4-3: another goal from Joe Cole who burst through and struck the ball into the roof of Robinson's goal on 80 minutes and was then substituted. 4-4: Keane's riposte, White Hart Lane in raptures. In the 90th minute, Grant sent on Andrei Shevchenko but it was a bit late then to be changing a team that had already been pulled apart by its own manager.
Goals: Drogba (3) 0-1; Woodgate (12) 1-1; Essien (20) 1-2; J Cole (52) 1-3; Berbatov (61) 2-3; Huddlestone (75) 3-3; J Cole (80) 3-4; Keane (88) 4-4.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent, 68), Chimbonda; Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone, h-t), Zokora, Malbranque; Keane, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Tainio, Dawson.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira (Shevchenko, 89), Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Ballack, 82), Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Alex, 71); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Wright-Phillips.
Referee: M Riley (Yorkshire).
Booked: Tottenham Keane, Huddlestone; Chelsea J Cole, A Cole.
Man of the match: J Cole.
Attendance: 36,178--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keane blunts Chelsea challenge in thriller
Kevin McCarra at White Hart LaneThursday March 20, 2008The Guardian
If there are no more trophies to be pursued this season, Tottenham Hotspur might still take vast satisfaction from savaging Chelsea's campaign for the title. They did so in an almost inconceivably galling way here last night, recovering from 3-1 and 4-3 down. The exquisite goal with which they secured the draw two minutes from the close would have been memorable in even the most insignificant match, with Robbie Keane bending a finish round Carlo Cudicini from the fringes of the penalty area after the ball had bounced to him off the back of Ricardo Carvalho.
Unfortunately for Avram Grant, people will not stay entranced by the spectacle for long and Chelsea lag five points behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester United. The Chelsea manager's plans were misconceived when the Carling Cup final was lost to Tottenham last month and here he threw the contest open when attempting to shut down the match. He inclined to misguided caution once the opposition had trimmed the deficit to 3-2 when Dimitar Berbatov climbed above John Terry to head home a corner from the substitute Tom Huddlestone in the 61st minute.Juande Ramos introduced another forward in Darren Bent and Grant reacted by removing an attacker in Salomon Kalou so that he could have an additional centre-back in Alex. That simply encouraged Tottenham and diminished the best aspect of Chelsea's display, their fluid menace. The game was level at 3-3 after 75 minutes, when a Keane corner broke to Huddlestone and he finished with a well-controlled drive.
Still Chelsea had enough individuality to respond, with Joe Cole restoring the lead 10 minutes from the end. He took a through-pass from Didier Drogba and fired high into the net. He had been giving a superb display and there was no benefit in sparing him the remainder of the evening, as Grant did by introducing Michael Ballack. Once again the effect would have been heartening for Tottenham.
Chelsea's prospects of regaining the title are diminished and on Sunday they meet the side who remain above them in second place, Arsenal. Much had seemed to be running in favour of Grant's team. On the verge of the interval, for instance, Ashley Cole ought to have been sent off for a terrible airborne lunge in which the defender's left boot was sunk into the right shin of the Spurs full-back Alan Hutton.
Mike Riley, the referee, was somehow persuaded that a booking would suffice. The justifiable anger was great although it does not seem that the punishment can be upgraded retrospectively since there is no indication that the official did not see the incident clearly. There was seething resentment and the Tottenham assistant manager, Gus Poyet, had an arm round the neck of Cole as he remonstrated with him while the sides were going off at half-time.
Chelsea, as a whole, ought still to have been remembering this occasion, watched by the England head coach Fabio Capello, with pride. Instead they can merely be relieved that Cudicini denied Berbatov a winner in stoppage-time. The rematch with the identical Tottenham starting XI that had overcome them at Wembley last month, however, was still excruciating for the visitors, particularly since there had been long passages of encouragement for them. Chelsea were often polished and had the lead in the third minute.
A Drogba free-kick was hit into the wall and after Claude Makelele had directed play out to the left the Ivorian was free at the far post to head in a deep cross from Terry. That was Drogba's first Premier League goal since November 11.
Tottenham were level in the 12th minute. Jermaine Jenas lifted in a free-kick from the right and, as Drogba elected to assist Terry with the marking of Berbatov, Jonathan Woodgate headed home untroubled. That, even so, did nothing to undermine the perception that Chelsea were the slicker.
After 20 minutes, Joe Cole made a penetrating run before Michael Essien got between Ledley King and Pascal Chimbonda to loft the ball over Paul Robinson with the outside of his right foot. Chelsea's advantage was stretched in the 52nd minute as Joe Cole collected a ball from Makelele on the right, beat Chimbonda and hit the net with a finish which broke off Robinson.
The mastery proved to be mere illusion. Grant will naturally be aghast that famously sturdy Chelsea were so flimsy at set pieces in particular, but whatever the reasons he is in charge of a team whose remaining home fixtures with Arsenal and United no longer look as if they will be the basis of a triumph. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesMarch 20, 2008
Robbie Keane ensures Tottenham haunt Avram Grant once moreTottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4(Marc Aspland)
How Chelsea must hate Tottenham Hotspur. Beaten by them in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last month, it was the North London side who again thwarted their ambitions, this time in the Barclays Premier League and in an astonishing eight-goal extravaganza at White Hart Lane last night.
Chelsea led three times — once by 3-1 midway in the second half — but had to settle for a draw when Robbie Keane curled home a shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute. After playing catch-up with Arsenal for much of the season, they would have moved level on points with them in second place had they held on for victory.
Instead, they will have to wait until Sunday, when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge. With Manchester United playing Liverpool at Old Trafford, on the same day, the top-of-the-table scrap could take on a completely different complexion by Monday morning. The title race is far from over.
Yet it might have been so much worse for Chelsea, with Tottenham — 2-1 winners after extra time at Wembley — going agonisingly close to stealing a remarkable win in the last throes of stoppage time. Dimitar Berbatov’s close-range shot was destined for the net until Carlo Cudicini, the goalkeeper, stuck out an arm. “We could have won it,” Juande Ramos, the Tottenham head coach, said, still in a state of some disbelief.
And it could have been so much worse for Chelsea had Ashley Cole, the England left back, been sent off — as he should have been — shortly before half-time for a studs-up challenge on Alan Hutton, the Tottenham right back. That Mike Riley, the referee, opted for a yellow card rather than a red spared Cole a suspension.
Cole’s reaction to the incident was inexcusable, too. He turned his back on Riley, and it was not exactly the example to set, the day after the FA had announced its £200 million-worth of investment in grassroots football. The showing of greater respect to referees is one of its key objectives.
Still, having done more than enough to win, with Joe Cole imperious in front of Fabio Capello, the England manager, Chelsea will fight another day. “There were so many positives to take from the game but, in the end, it was disappointing,” Avram Grant, the first-team coach, said. “At least we are closer to Arsenal than before.”
Grant was roundly criticised for his starting line-up at Wembley, mostly for deploying Nicolas Anelka out of position on the left flank and for leaving Joe Cole and Michael Ballack on the bench for too long. Last night, Joe Cole started, Ballack was among the substitutes and Anelka was left out because of a thigh injury.
Grant made six changes from the side that so underperformed at Wembley and, after three minutes, was rewarded when Chelsea went ahead. Didier Drogba battered a free kick into the defensive wall but Claude Makelele regained possession and released John Terry on the edge of the area. The Chelsea captain crossed to the far post and Drogba, running in alone, was allowed to head past Paul Robinson. For all Tottenham’s attacking splendour, their defensive deficiencies were laid bare again. And Chelsea, with revenge on their minds, appeared to be in the mood for it.
Strangely, though, they failed to build on their advantage. Ramos fielded the same team that had beaten Chelsea last month and it was Jonathan Woodgate, who scored the injury-time winner to secure the 2-1 victory on that occasion, who returned to haunt them with another header. This time, Woodgate did not need the good fortune of the ball hitting him in the face. Jermaine Jenas slung over a curling free kick from the right and Woodgate rose high above Drogba to send a looping header over Cudicini.
Chelsea were quick to respond. Joe Cole wriggled his way towards the home area, with barely a challenge, and passed the ball for Michael Essien comfortably to chip in.
Ashley Cole’s lunge at Hutton brought the half to a shuddering halt and prompted heated exchanges among the occupants of both benches.
Their passion undimmed, Chelsea stretched their lead after the break. There was only one outcome when Joe Cole latched on to Salomon Kalou’s pass and rounded Pascal Chimbonda. As Robinson came out, Cole guided the ball in off the goalkeeper’s body.
Game over? By no means. Tottenham bucked up their ideas and pushed forward, more in desperation than by design. Tom Huddlestone swung over a corner from the right and Berbatov, making his first real contribution to the game, headed beyond Cudicini.
Worse was to follow for Chelsea when Huddlestone slammed in the equaliser in the 74th minute. However, Joe Cole quickly responded when he left Chimbonda standing again and drove his shot over Robinson into the roof of the net. Keane’s late equaliser only provided another twist in what is becoming a fascinating race to the top.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson — A Hutton, J Woodgate, L King (sub: D Bent, 69min), P Chimbonda — A Lennon, D Zokora, J Jenas (sub: T Huddlestone, 46), S Malbranque — R Keane, D Berbatov. Substitutes not used: R Cerny, T Tainio, M Dawson. Booked: Keane, Huddlestone.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): C Cudicini — P Ferreira (sub: A Shevchenko, 89), R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — C Makelele — J Cole (sub: M Ballack, 83), M Essien, F Lampard, S Kalou (sub: Alex, 71) — D Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilário, Wright-Phillips. Booked: J Cole, A Cole.
Referee: M Riley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Spurs 4 Chelsea 4By SHAUN CUSTIS
JUST when Avram Grant was winning over the critics again, Chelsea blew it on a night of stunning goals, high drama and controversy. Three times the Blues led — inspired by the brilliant Joe Cole — only to throw it away. Robbie Keane was the Tottenham hero with a stunning 20-yard curler two minutes from time. And it came just four days after Keane’s tantrum at being substituted in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City. Chelsea are now five points behind leaders Manchester United. And — had it not been for an unbelievable save by Carlo Cudicini from Dimitar Berbatov’s shot with seconds to go — they would have left White Hart Lane with nothing. A shocking tackle by Ashley Cole on Spurs defender Alan Hutton on 44 minutes added to an incredible night. The England left-back should have been sent off for the awful lunge on the Scot but ref Mike Riley showed him only a yellow card. But the bottom line is that Chelsea slipped up when it mattered once more. Boss Grant is just not doing it in the big games. His side have drawn with Liverpool and Everton, lost to Arsenal, been beaten by Manchester United and now thrown away a lead at Spurs. The latest failure also came on the back of the Carling Cup Final defeat to Juande Ramos’ men and the shocking FA Cup exit to Barnsley. Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Bolton means the Premier League title has slipped further away with only eight games to play. The Gunners visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday and if Chelsea stumble again it could be all over. You have to feel sorry for Joe Cole who was sensational in front of watching England boss Fabio Capello. The Italian is not convinced English players possess the technical skills to match foreign opponents — but Cole is surely an exception. At times it was a one-man show. Grant made a fatal error in taking him off with seven minutes left in an attempt to protect a 4-3 lead. He also withdrew Salomon Kalou and replaced him with defender Alex when they were 3-2 up. Jose Mourinho had a knack of getting it right with substitutions. Grant has just not got it. Games like these are why the Premier League is the most popular in the world and millions are spent on the rights to watch it. You could not take your eyes off it from the moment Didier Drogba opened the scoring on three minutes. Skipper John Terry’s cross picked out the Ivory Coast hit-man at the far post and he headed home for his first league goal since November 11 in a draw with Everton. Jonathan Woodgate — who won the Carling Cup for Spurs in extra-time — climbed high above Drogba to head the equaliser on 12 minutes. But then Joe Cole began to weave his magic. His mazy dribble through the centre set up Michael Essien who stabbed a chip over the top of the bemused Paul Robinson to restore the lead. As half-time approached tempers boiled over when Ashley Cole launched himself at Spurs full-back Alan Hutton with studs up and both feet off the ground. Cole connected with Hutton just below his knee-cap and was nowhere near the ball. The Spurs bench, players and crowd were incensed. Assistant boss Gus Poyet screamed at fourth official Steve Bennett and referee Riley to send Cole off. That led to a verbal dust-up between Frank Lampard and Poyet. It seemed Cole was facing an early bath but Riley let him off with a yellow card. He was a lucky boy. Poyet waited for Cole to remonstrate with him as the defender headed down the tunnel at half-time — and then Poyet made his point to Riley again. It was a minor miracle that Hutton came back out after the interval. Joe Cole continued to turn it on for Capello although it required the generosity of Pascal Chimbonda to let him in for No 3 on 52 minutes. Kalou’s pass sent Cole away and he ran past Chimbonda without being challenged. Keeper Robinson came out to try and close him down but Cole’s shot cannoned off the keeper’s leg and bounced into the far corner. Game over. Or so it seemed. On the hour Spurs pulled one back when Berbatov climbed above Terry to loop a header into the top corner. Cudicini — who turned out to be something of a Chelsea hero despite conceding four goals — saved superbly from Keane’s close-range effort to preserve the visitors’ lead. Then Spurs levelled as Keane’s corner found its way to sub Tom Huddlestone on the right of the box. The young midfielder, 21, has a reputation for pile-drivers and he did not disappoint with a rocket into the far corner. But Joe Cole was still not finished and when Drogba played him in, the England trickster left the hapless Chimbonda sprawling on the ground before rifling a shot high into the net. Chelsea were back ahead with 11 minutes left. Surely that was it. No. Not at White Hart Lane where the goals have been flooding in all season — at both ends. Cole came off, Michael Ballack went on and Spurs hit back again with two minutes remaining — although it was tough luck on Chelsea’s part. A hopeful punt towards the Blues box hit Ricardo Carvalho on the back and Keane seized on it to fire home from 20 yards. What a difference a few days make. Keane moved from villain to hero with one brilliant strike. But he did prove why he should be kept on until the end. Cudicini’s outstretched left hand prevented Berbatov completing a victory which would have gone down in Spurs history. Wow.
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Mirror:
KIDS LIFT FOR ROM
A Villa Yth 2 Chelsea Yth 3 (Chelsea win 4-3 on agg)
Adam Phillip gave Roman Abramovich a boost last night by helping Chelsea reach the FA Youth Cup final.
Substitute Phillip scored the winner in a stormy clash at Villa Park to set-up a two-legged final with Manchester City after the first leg ended 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Harry Forrester gave Villa the perfect start before Sergio Tejera Rodriguez and Gael Kaku put the Blues ahead.
Forrester made it 2-2 but Phillip sealed it.
Chelsea's Lee Sawyer and Villa's Matthew Roome were both sent off.
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
sunday papers sunderland away
Sunday TimesMarch 16, 2008
Chelsea hold firm against SunderlandSunderland 0 Chelsea 1
Pete Oliver at Stadium of Light
The claim from chief executive Peter Kenyon that Chelsea manager Avram Grant has the absolute confidence of the Stamford Bridge hierarchy will no doubt be reviewed at the end of the season. But for now, Grant appears to be doing just enough as his side ground out an unconvincing win to sustain their challenge for the title.
Chelsea’s hopes of regaining the championship, and therefore offering Grant the chance of job security, are likely to lie with their results in home games against Arsenal and Manchester United in the closing weeks of the season, but it is debatable whether they will face a much sterner examination than provided here.
Maximum points from the post-Barnsley FA Cup debacle against Derby and Sunderland were a minimum requirement and John Terry’s early goal yesterday ensured that was the case. But whereas Derby had simply laid down and died in midweek, the Black Cats bared their claws and made Chelsea fight all the way.
The visitors did at least prove they have that invaluable quality in their armoury and Roy Keane must also know that his side is up for their particular battle. No goals and no wins in five games are a concern but Sunderland did create chances and had Chelsea hanging on at the end. Similar performances against Fulham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Bolton during their run-in should bring them the rewards needed to stay up.
It took Chelsea just 10 minutes to take the lead, which would have been damaging enough at the best at times but, for a goalshy Sunderland side going behind, even so early in the game, looked likely to be catastrophic.
Keane had brought back Carlos Edwards and Roy O’Donovan to try and increase Sunderland’s potency and Kenwyne Jones did trouble both Terry and Alex with his aerial power.
One flick-on from Jones allowed O’Donovan to get goal-side of Terry but even though the Irishman went to ground under the Chelsea captain’s challenge, even Keane would have been hard pressed to claim a penalty.
Terry was soon making his muscular presence felt at the other end when he headed home his first goal of the season. Sunderland had already been reliant on a superb tackle from Jonny Evans to halt Salomon Kalou’s run on goal and a Danny Collins block from Joe Cole’s follow-up to keep Chelsea at bay but when the England midfielder delivered a corner from the left, Terry gave Jones the slip to head in at the near post.
Chelsea appeared set for a comfortable afternoon and having put six past Derby days earlier might have envisaged further shooting practice as the fluidity of their attack, led by Didier Drogba rather than Nicolas Anelka, had Sunderland fully stretched.
Yet despite a record of six defeats in six matches against the top four this season, Sunderland’s inferiority complex did not last long as they refused to be cowed. Andy Reid led the riposte, with Jones and O’Donovan continuing to cause a nuisance, particularly to Carlo Cudicini whose overreaction to a slight, if out of order, touch from O’Donovan confirmed the impression that Chelsea did not enjoy not having it all their own way. Cudicini did, though, deserve credit for a fine save to deny Reid, who makes up for a lack of athleticism with a wonderful left foot that would have brought Sunderland level by the break but for the Chelsea goalkeeper, who diverted his free kick away from the top corner.
Unfortunately for Sunderland, Reid’s right foot is not so cultured, as he showed in fluffing a chance early in the second half, although when his miscue found its way to Grant Leadbitter the midfielder had Cudicini scrambling to concede a corner that Collins headed not too far wide.
Chelsea needed the cushion of the second goal that Frank Lampard nearly gave them in first-half stoppage time when Craig Gordon was forced to make a rare save but Sunderland allowed Lampard, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole so little time on the ball that the paucity of chances created made Drogba a virtual spectator.
Grant’s concern was reflected in his replacement of Ballack with Michael Essien as the visitors looked to protect their lead, while at the same time Keane sent on Dwight Yorke as a replacement for O’Donovan.
Within moments of his arrival, Yorke provided the chance for Jones that should have seen Sunderland equalise with 15 minutes to go. Drifting into the penalty area, Jones was superbly picked out by Yorke but the striker could only head weakly at Cudicini from 10 yards.
Jones had the opportunity to make amends in the 90th minute, again from a Yorke cross, but despite outjumping Terry the chance was more difficult and his header flew over the bar. Still Chelsea were not quite over the line, though, as with virtually the last kick of the match Dean Whitehead volleyed wide by inches, a margin that could yet have an effect at both ends of the table.
Star man: Dean Whitehead (Sunderland)
Player ratings: Sunderland: Gordon 6, Bardsley 6, Evans 7, Nosworthy 7, Collins 6, Edwards 5 (Prica 62min), Whitehead 8, Leadbitter 7 (Harte 85min), Reid 7, O’Donovan 6 (Yorke 73min), Jones 7 Chelsea: Cudicini 7, Ferreira 6, Alex 6, Terry 6, A Cole 6, Mikel 6, J Cole 7 (Wright-Phillips 82min), Ballack 5 (Essien 73min), Lampard 7, Kalou 6, Drogba 6
Yellow cards: Sunderland: Leadbitter Chelsea: Mikel
Referee: M Dean
Attendance: 44,679 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Terry plunders the points as Chelsea have to dig deep
Paul Wilson at the Stadium of LightSunday March 16, 2008The Observer
This was not the most fluent display from Chelsea - it was a hard-fought win on a bitterly cold afternoon in the North-East - but you cannot play Derby every week and you get the same number of points for a single-goal victory as for a six-goal rout. Chelsea would have been even happier had Derby managed to hold out against Manchester United for another 14 minutes because Avram Grant's team play Arsenal next weekend and are definitely still in the title race. But, after taking an early lead, they never quite managed to make their superiority count against a gritty Sunderland who improved throughout the game and the final whistle came as a relief to the visiting team.
'It's not easy to play here. We had a very difficult time,' Grant said. 'Sunderland are fighting for their lives and they played very well.'Indeed they did and, with a bit of luck and better finishing at the end, might have claimed a point. Yet Chelsea are no mugs at defending a lead - however slender - and though the Sunderland fans applauded their team at the end for their efforts to get back into the game, they must have feared the worst after giving away a goal after 10 minutes.
The trouble with ranting against refereeing injustices, as Roy Keane was to discover, is that it often makes it even harder for officials to award borderline decisions in your favour. So it proved in the seventh minute here, when Kenwyne Jones won a header from Craig Gordon's clearance and a flat-footed John Terry brought down Roy O'Donovan with a sprawling challenge in the penalty area. Some referees would have awarded a penalty - Mike Dean did not.
O'Donovan did not complain too much and Keane later agreed it was not a penalty, but, three minutes later, it was all academic because Sunderland went a goal behind. There was nothing controversial about this one. Terry slipped his marker at a corner and scored with a free header. Sunderland had no excuses because Michael Ballack had been presented with a free header from Frank Lampard's previous corner and might have opened the scoring, or at least got his attempt on target, had he reacted as sharply and decisively as his captain. There is not much point complaining about decisions going against you if you put yourself under a handicap through dozy defending. 'It was a sloppy goal to give away,' Keane said.
Chelsea could have scored a couple more during a short, but effective, spell of pressure midway into the first half. But Jonny Evans made a terrific saving tackle on Didier Drogba, Gordon got his body behind Ballack's speculative shot and Joe Cole failed to get a touch after Ashley Cole had done the hard work by cutting in from the left and crossing low. Sunderland's best chance of the first half came when Jones was bundled over by John Mikel Obi on the edge of the box and Andy Reid's free-kick had Carlo Cudicini scurrying to keep the ball out of his top corner.
Cudicini was involved in another telling incident just before the interval, when he came out to gather at O'Donovan's feet and was incensed when the Irishman left his foot in. Replays suggested the striker might even have purposely kicked the goalkeeper in the face. The referee could hardly be blamed for missing that, although O'Donovan going unpunished did rather undermine Keane's claim that Sunderland have not had any lucky breaks all season.
Chelsea appeared in no hurry to extend their lead and they almost came to grief in the 54th minute thanks to a moment of dingbat defending. Attempting to clear, Alex sent one header straight up into the air and then, when the ball came down, failed to find a safe way to get it back to Cudicini. Reid could not take immediate advantage, but Grant Leadbitter did better with a shot that Cudicini only just kept out with slight assistance from an upright.
Chelsea carved out a decent opening when Joe Cole played Drogba in behind the Sunderland defence, only for his cross to elude Lampard by a yard. Lampard seemed unimpressed by Drogba's delivery, whereas the centre-forward appeared to feel Lampard could have attacked the ball more.
Drogba would certainly have thrown more of his weight into a header than Jones managed, 15 minutes from the end, when he wasted a great diagonal pass from Dwight Yorke, and a free header in front of goal, by glancing the ball into Cudicini's arms. Almost anything with power or direction would have troubled Cudicini, yet Jones managed neither. He got another chance from the same provider in the final minute and, this time, managed a much more powerful header, only to see it fly over. Dean Whitehead then sent a shot on the turn inches wide in stoppage time, but Chelsea held out.
'We played well as a team. Our reaction after going behind was brilliant,' Keane said. 'But top teams are capable of winning 1-0. We had chances - they took theirs. That's how football works. It's not rocket science.' Keane's task now will be to keep the players' spirits up and take this level of self-belief into more winnable games to come. 'Correct,' he said. 'With my personality, that's easy.'
Man of the match: Frank Lampard
Kenwyne Jones deserved something until blotting his copybook by missing the best chance of the game, but he has been a success for Sunderland this season. Lampard did not fill his boots as he did in midweek, but, for the first hour, he was quietly authoritative in midfield and his passing was excellent.
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Phil Wilson, Observer reader We played well and matched Chelsea for large parts of the game, but they had that extra bit of quality. The defence has been better recently, but we're always liable to concede and, despite all our efforts, they clung on. Reid played well again and is proving a good signing. Jones benefited from having some support - Keane has been isolating him up front too much recently, but he had O'Donovan alongside him. In fact, everyone did pretty well for us, we just couldn't do a Barnsley. I'm still generally optimistic, despite two home defeats in a week. Everton and Chelsea are two of the better teams in the division and we have some winnable home games to come.
Fan's player ratings Gordon 6; Bardsley 7, Evans 7, Nosworthy 8, Collins 7; Edwards 6 (Prica 6), Whitehead 6, Leadbitter 7(Harte n/a), Reid 9; O'Donovan 7, Jones 8
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group We started well, but not long after we scored we went to sleep and almost played like it was a training game. Sunderland really fought and, if it hadn't been for Cudicini, they would have got something out of it. Joe Cole played well and Lampard was involved in everything, but we missed Makelele - there was no link with the strikers and a lack of creativity generally. For them, Jones gave Terry the runaround - Alex was a bit rusty in place of Carvalho.
Fan's player ratings Cudicini 9; Ferreira 8, Alex 7, Terry 7, A Cole 6; Lampard 7, Mikel 7, Ballack 6 (Essien 6); J Cole 8 (Wright-Phillips n/a), Drogba 7, Kalou 6--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Terry's goal gives Grant a pass mark but tougher exams awaitSunderland 0 Chelsea 1
By MALCOLM FOLLEY
Chelsea had no reason to beware the ides of March in the North East yesterday.
Yet the week ahead in London, when Chelsea must meet Tottenham and Arsenal in five days, is fraught with danger for the team Avram Grant inherited from Jose Mourinho with the good fortune of a man finding a winning lottery ticket blowing in the wind.
Against a Sunderland team goalless for six hours 15 minutes, Chelsea prised another three precious points from a road trip to remain in pursuit of Arsenal and Manchester United.
They took the lead with a 10th-minute goal from John Terry, passed the ball with sharpness and precision through Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack for the next 20 minutes and then shut out the game with the kind of pragmatic football that is their hallmark.
For Grant, the stakes just keep mounting, however. The Premier League cannot be won this week, but, arguably, it can be lost if the results against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, and against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday are unfavourable to Chelsea.
"I am positive and optimistic by nature," said Grant last night. "If I was in a situation where I didn't believe in winning the title, I'd be looking for another job."
At face value, Grant's record is outstanding. His team have not been defeated in the league since they were beaten by a solitary goal by Arsenal three months ago, and they have qualified to meet Fenerbahce in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. But it is a record with significant blemish.
A week earlier, they were evicted from the FA Cup at Barnsley; and his team failed him in the Carling Cup Final when Tottenham denied him the chance to win his first piece of silverware.
Those losses will be forgotten if Grant delivers the Champions or Premier League titles, as demanded by proprietor Roman Abramovich. But Grant, for all his protestations, has little margin for error.
"Every game at the end of the season will be difficult," he said, "but from the second week I was manager I saw reasons why we can believe in this team. Chelsea is a big club. When we lose a game, like the one to Tottenham, and the one at Barnsley, it makes us stronger not weaker."
Grant has shown that, contrary to the perception of some critics, Lampard and Ballack compliment one another. A man who likes to be emotionless under public scrutiny, Grant managed a rare smile as he said: "We need to play as much as we can with attacking players, with intelligent players. Yes, Lampard and Ballack can play together."
In midweek, Lampard went on a scoring rampage with four of the six goals that humiliated Derby. Yesterday, he provided the corner that Terry met at the near post to render Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon a spectator in what proved to be the game's decisive moment. It was Terry's first Premier League goal since August, 2006.
At least Sunderland refused to surrender with the meekness Derby had illustrated at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, Sunderland's persistence in the second half threatened to create an equaliser.
Kenwyne Jones, who drew a game of high quality from Terry with his muscular presence, squandered a wonderful chance from an astute diagonal ball from substitute Dwight Yorke in the 74th minute.
Jones cushioned his header into the arms of goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini who, in his career, will have been more inconvenienced by headed back passes.
"Sometimes, a player can have too much time in the box," said Sunderland manager Roy Keane.
"He just didn't get enough on it."
In the final moments, Sunderland captain Dean Whitehead struck a drive narrowly past the right-hand post of Cudicini, who, as at Barnsley last week, looked less than impressive under crosses. Yet Cudicini, deputising for the injured Petr Cech, won the gratitude of his team-mates with an athletic save from Andy Reid's deft free-kick from the edge of the area in the 26th minute.
These are alarming times for Sunderland, now without a goal since February 9 and reliant on their form at the Stadium of Light to secure their Premier League survival.
Yet Keane was not downcast. "If we keep that persistency, that level of intensity and commitment, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine," he said. "But as always, this game is all about what happens in both boxes. Terry took Chelsea's chance and we didn't take ours. It's not rocket science."
At the final whistle, Sunderland supporters rose to offer their team a standing ovation. It was an appropriate gesture to reward the team's manful endeavour, if not their finishing. But the afternoon belonged to Chelsea, a team still pressing hard at home and abroad under Grant's understated management style.
SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Bardsley, Evans, Nosworthy, Collins; Edwards (Prica 62min), Leadbitter (Harte 85), Whitehead, Reid; O'Donovan (Yorke 73), Jones. Subs (not used): Fulop, McShane. Booked: Leadbitter.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cudicini; Ferreira, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Ballack (Essien 73), Obi, Lampard; J Cole (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba, Kalou. Subs (not used): Hilario, Carvalho, Shevchenko. Booked: Obi.
Referee: M Dean(Wirral). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1: Terry's all gold as sputtering Blues leave Keane frustrated
Captain's first Chelsea goal in 19 months gives battling Sunderland a headache Michael Walker< at the Stadium of Light
Sunday, 16 March 2008
One week after Barnsley, Chelsea have re-established some semblance of self-esteem. Seven goals and six points have come, albeit against two relegation contenders, Derby County and Sunderland. But if Chelsea are to regain the title, it is their next two games that will shape their fate, Tottenham away on Wednesday night followed by Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Avram Grant's team will need to play more sustained football in those 180 minutes than they displayed here. Having gone ahead through John Terry's 10th-minute goal, Terry's first for Chelsea for 19 months, Grant saw his team promise considerably more than they delivered. Had Sunderland a more potent strikeforce, Chelsea would have been punished.
But Kenwyne Jones is Sunderland's leading scorer and he has now one goal in his last 20 matches. Jones is not alone in his drought, Sunderland have not scored as a team since 9 February.
This was their fourth consecutive game without a goal and Roy Keane's team couldbe third-bottom by tomorrow night. Hence Chelsea were able to take a lead and then witdraw into themselves for the last hour.
"For the first 30 minutes we played very well," Grant said. "We passed the ball very well and could have scored more. But after that it was more difficult. It's not easy to play here, Sunderland are fighting for their lives and they fought very well. I'm happy with the result."
After Barnsley, as with after Tottenham in the Carling Cup final, Grant said he was pleased with the reaction. "When we lose a game it makes us stronger, not weaker."
Chelsea will be stronger for the inclusion of Nicolas Anelka on Wednesday. Anelka had a hamstring niggle and was missing. That meant another start for Salomon Kalou, who was as sprightly as most in a bright blue opening half-hour. But Kalou faded markedly, as did Joe Cole, leaving Didier Drogba to carry the attack.
Not that Drogba was doing much attacking for the bulk of this game. Yet he looked capable of piercing Sunderland at will in the beginning and contributed to the early pressure that led to home panic and away corners.
It was from one of these that Terry rose to score. It was too easy for both parties, Terry moving away from Jones as Frank Lampard's curling centre reached the six-yard box. Terry's header was firm and gave Craig Gordon no chance, though the goalkeeper might have come to claim the ball away from Terry.
Jonny Evans had already made one block from Joe Cole and when the lively Ashley Cole supplied Joe Cole with another opportunity on 18 minutes it should have been 2-0 and game over.
But there was no second and gradually Sunderland edged their way back into contention. Roy O'Donovan had an optimistic claim for a penalty when dragged down by Terry shortly before the goal – "No penalty," said Keane afterwards – and Dean Whitehead plus Andy Reid grew in influence.
When Reid clipped an exquisite free-kick over the blue wall on 27 minutes it appeared the equaliser was on its way.
But Carlo Cudicini produced a prodigious leap and a firm hand to save. Cudicini was also impressive later on when under pressure at set-pieces. TheItalian was happy to be in the right place when saving from Grant Leadbitter on 53 minutes and then, decisively, from Jones with 15 minutes left.
Dwight Yorke, on as a substitute, floated a perfect cross over Terry and on to Jones's head eight yards out. Any force or direction and Jones's header would have beaten Cudicini but it lacked either of those commodities.
The Stadium of Light groaned, just as it did when Jones missed with another header and when a Whitehead shot slithered past the post in injury time.
But when the whistle went there were thunderous claps and Keane said: "Very rarely do you get applauded off when youlose a game. There were a lotof pluses today, AndyReid, Carlos Edwards, Roy O'Donovan - Kenwyne Jones was outstanding. "It was a sloppy goal from a needless corner so I've mixed emotions. But over the 90 minutes I thought the reaction was brilliant."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
John Terry effort keeps Chelsea on trackBy Martin Hardy at the Stadium of Light
Sunderland (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 1
"If there was even one person in the club who did not believe we could win the title, they should not be in football," whispered Avram Grant. There was no sign of that person yesterday, as Chelsea, with spirit dripping from their sweat-drenched blue shirts, further clawed their way back into the race for the Premier League title.
"I am positive and very optimistic by nature," Grant added. "If I was in a situation where I did not believe, I would look for another job."
Unbeaten in 12 - in the league at least - belief grows within Grant and his players that the timing of their run for the line could not be better.
Certainly, in John Terry they have a captain with the drive and steel to ensure that Manchester United and Arsenal cannot sit comfortably. Terry was all things yesterday. He scored in the 10th minute, losing Kenwyne Jones, his marker, before nodding a Frank Lampard corner home. Then he was the defensive fulcrum, winning headers, cajoling, questioning decisions. Inspiring.
"I am delighted with John Terry," said Grant. "We need him and Frank Lampard and Didier [Drogba]. We are very happy they are back. I hope it is the right moment. JT was excellent today.
"From September we have been in good form. The last few games we have been even better. There are nine games to go and we have to do our job."
Their job for the most part yesterday was surprising, forced onto the back foot by a rejuvenated Sunderland side, who themselves seem to have awoken to the seriousness of their situation.
At least they found the collective spirit that has deserted them in cup competitions. There were no hiding places at a raucous Stadium of Light - not that any of Grant's players suggested they were looking.
Roy Keane bemoaned another defeat, but he could not fault the desire. Crucially, they lacked quality, and goals are becoming extremely difficult to find.
In a second half in which they outplayed their visitors, five good chances were spurned. Danny Collins, Rade Prica and Dean Whitehead went close but Jones, now without a goal in 10, was profligate in the extreme, heading lamely at Carlo Cudicini in the 76th minute and then heading over in added time.
"It's very rare you lose a game and get applauded off, but we got that," said Keane. "Great credit to our supporters for that.
"I have mixed emotions. It was a sloppy goal we gave away but I thought the players' reaction over the 90 minutes was brilliant. However, we lose 1-0. The level of commitment for the club was very good. We created chances. They took their chance, we didn't, but there are a lot of pluses for us.
"We didn't pin them back but I am very happy with our performance. We got the balance right today. The players can take great satisfaction from their level of effort.
"If we can persevere like that, we will be fine. With my personality it is easy to keep their spirits up! Who will win the title? My money is where it's always been, on United."
Keane denied that the rested trio of Kieran Richardson, Daryl Murphy and Michael Chopra had been left out because of disciplinary issues.
Man of the matchJohn Terry (Chelsea) 9
• Passing accuracy 78 per cent• One shot, one goal --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1WORTH A FLUTTER
DAVID HARRISON at The Stadium of Light
WHAT was once a faraway rumble of hooves has turned into a loud roar.
Make no mistake, Chelsea's entry into the Premier League title race is now a stampede.
They won this match at a canter — rather like the mean and majestic Denman, who powered his way to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup — hurdling over the desperate and defiant challenge of their opponents.
Chelsea threatened to trample Sunderland underfoot and it might have been more of a runaway victory but for the Black Cats' spirited second-half response.
Passion
Suddenly Arsenal and Manchester United can no longer afford to view the Blues as a distant threat.
They are right in their faces and ready to go head-to-head in what promises to be one of the top-flight's most compelling finishes for many seasons.
Blues boss Avram Grant is not one for delivering powerful messages but there was a Mourinho-like passion last night.
Grant said: "If there is one person at the club who doesn't believe we can win the title he should not be in football. If I was in a situation where I didn't believe it, I would be looking for another job.
"We got off to a bad start but we have always believed. From the second week I was in the job I have thought we could win it."
Chelsea have proved repeatedly they have staying power. There is a robustness about them now and a strong suggestion they have hit their best form at the right time.
There is a belligerence, too. They have smarted all season at being written off. ‘Ignore us now — if you dare' seems to be their rallying cry.
Slick
The challenges ahead of them will be more strenuous than this — notably the visits of Arsenal next Sunday and then Manchester United in late April.
But titles are won with performances like this — dogged and determined but with moments of real class.
For the first 30 minutes there was a look about Chelsea which would not have been tolerated in the days of the Special One.
Now they are allowed to slick their passes around and rely less on Route One to Didier Drogba.
But when they are up against it, like when Sunderland threw themselves into the fight after half-time, they can revert to type and dig in.
Some things never change. When the going got tough, John Terry rose to the challenge.
If there was a header to be won, a tackle to be made, the Chelsea skipper was always in the thick of it.
The game's only goal was a bit of a throwback as well.
Terry's majestic, soaring header from a corner was the skipper's first of the season.
After their slow start Sunderland contested every ball, launched several goal-worthy attempts and tested Carlo Cudicini with fine efforts from Andy Reid's free-kick and Grant Leadbitter's 20-yarder.
Trouble
But it was not until the 73rd-minute arrival of veteran striker Dwight Yorke that the Black Cats found the subtlety or craft to seriously trouble the Blues.
Twice the 36-year-old picked holes in their defence with astute passes to Kenwyne Jones, but one was headed straight at Cudicini, the other over the bar.
Sunderland were full pelt at the finish and the final whistle came right on cue for the visitors as they began to flag.
The harsh truth for Roy Keane's team is they have now gone 375 minutes without a goal and the threat of relegation will not fade as long as they are so feeble in front of goal.
Boss Keane said: "Chelsea had their chance and took it. We didn't. It's not rocket science.
"I thought my players' performance was brilliant. These top teams are always capable of winning games 1-0, that is the difference."
Sunderland did leave their mark on the match but in a less than savoury manner with Dean Whitehead and Rory O'Donovan leaving trailing feet in the faces of Joe Cole and Cudicini.
Keane the player would have relished such moments of edgy confrontation.
As a manager, he would have preferred a point — or even a goal.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea hold firm against SunderlandSunderland 0 Chelsea 1
Pete Oliver at Stadium of Light
The claim from chief executive Peter Kenyon that Chelsea manager Avram Grant has the absolute confidence of the Stamford Bridge hierarchy will no doubt be reviewed at the end of the season. But for now, Grant appears to be doing just enough as his side ground out an unconvincing win to sustain their challenge for the title.
Chelsea’s hopes of regaining the championship, and therefore offering Grant the chance of job security, are likely to lie with their results in home games against Arsenal and Manchester United in the closing weeks of the season, but it is debatable whether they will face a much sterner examination than provided here.
Maximum points from the post-Barnsley FA Cup debacle against Derby and Sunderland were a minimum requirement and John Terry’s early goal yesterday ensured that was the case. But whereas Derby had simply laid down and died in midweek, the Black Cats bared their claws and made Chelsea fight all the way.
The visitors did at least prove they have that invaluable quality in their armoury and Roy Keane must also know that his side is up for their particular battle. No goals and no wins in five games are a concern but Sunderland did create chances and had Chelsea hanging on at the end. Similar performances against Fulham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Bolton during their run-in should bring them the rewards needed to stay up.
It took Chelsea just 10 minutes to take the lead, which would have been damaging enough at the best at times but, for a goalshy Sunderland side going behind, even so early in the game, looked likely to be catastrophic.
Keane had brought back Carlos Edwards and Roy O’Donovan to try and increase Sunderland’s potency and Kenwyne Jones did trouble both Terry and Alex with his aerial power.
One flick-on from Jones allowed O’Donovan to get goal-side of Terry but even though the Irishman went to ground under the Chelsea captain’s challenge, even Keane would have been hard pressed to claim a penalty.
Terry was soon making his muscular presence felt at the other end when he headed home his first goal of the season. Sunderland had already been reliant on a superb tackle from Jonny Evans to halt Salomon Kalou’s run on goal and a Danny Collins block from Joe Cole’s follow-up to keep Chelsea at bay but when the England midfielder delivered a corner from the left, Terry gave Jones the slip to head in at the near post.
Chelsea appeared set for a comfortable afternoon and having put six past Derby days earlier might have envisaged further shooting practice as the fluidity of their attack, led by Didier Drogba rather than Nicolas Anelka, had Sunderland fully stretched.
Yet despite a record of six defeats in six matches against the top four this season, Sunderland’s inferiority complex did not last long as they refused to be cowed. Andy Reid led the riposte, with Jones and O’Donovan continuing to cause a nuisance, particularly to Carlo Cudicini whose overreaction to a slight, if out of order, touch from O’Donovan confirmed the impression that Chelsea did not enjoy not having it all their own way. Cudicini did, though, deserve credit for a fine save to deny Reid, who makes up for a lack of athleticism with a wonderful left foot that would have brought Sunderland level by the break but for the Chelsea goalkeeper, who diverted his free kick away from the top corner.
Unfortunately for Sunderland, Reid’s right foot is not so cultured, as he showed in fluffing a chance early in the second half, although when his miscue found its way to Grant Leadbitter the midfielder had Cudicini scrambling to concede a corner that Collins headed not too far wide.
Chelsea needed the cushion of the second goal that Frank Lampard nearly gave them in first-half stoppage time when Craig Gordon was forced to make a rare save but Sunderland allowed Lampard, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole so little time on the ball that the paucity of chances created made Drogba a virtual spectator.
Grant’s concern was reflected in his replacement of Ballack with Michael Essien as the visitors looked to protect their lead, while at the same time Keane sent on Dwight Yorke as a replacement for O’Donovan.
Within moments of his arrival, Yorke provided the chance for Jones that should have seen Sunderland equalise with 15 minutes to go. Drifting into the penalty area, Jones was superbly picked out by Yorke but the striker could only head weakly at Cudicini from 10 yards.
Jones had the opportunity to make amends in the 90th minute, again from a Yorke cross, but despite outjumping Terry the chance was more difficult and his header flew over the bar. Still Chelsea were not quite over the line, though, as with virtually the last kick of the match Dean Whitehead volleyed wide by inches, a margin that could yet have an effect at both ends of the table.
Star man: Dean Whitehead (Sunderland)
Player ratings: Sunderland: Gordon 6, Bardsley 6, Evans 7, Nosworthy 7, Collins 6, Edwards 5 (Prica 62min), Whitehead 8, Leadbitter 7 (Harte 85min), Reid 7, O’Donovan 6 (Yorke 73min), Jones 7 Chelsea: Cudicini 7, Ferreira 6, Alex 6, Terry 6, A Cole 6, Mikel 6, J Cole 7 (Wright-Phillips 82min), Ballack 5 (Essien 73min), Lampard 7, Kalou 6, Drogba 6
Yellow cards: Sunderland: Leadbitter Chelsea: Mikel
Referee: M Dean
Attendance: 44,679 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Terry plunders the points as Chelsea have to dig deep
Paul Wilson at the Stadium of LightSunday March 16, 2008The Observer
This was not the most fluent display from Chelsea - it was a hard-fought win on a bitterly cold afternoon in the North-East - but you cannot play Derby every week and you get the same number of points for a single-goal victory as for a six-goal rout. Chelsea would have been even happier had Derby managed to hold out against Manchester United for another 14 minutes because Avram Grant's team play Arsenal next weekend and are definitely still in the title race. But, after taking an early lead, they never quite managed to make their superiority count against a gritty Sunderland who improved throughout the game and the final whistle came as a relief to the visiting team.
'It's not easy to play here. We had a very difficult time,' Grant said. 'Sunderland are fighting for their lives and they played very well.'Indeed they did and, with a bit of luck and better finishing at the end, might have claimed a point. Yet Chelsea are no mugs at defending a lead - however slender - and though the Sunderland fans applauded their team at the end for their efforts to get back into the game, they must have feared the worst after giving away a goal after 10 minutes.
The trouble with ranting against refereeing injustices, as Roy Keane was to discover, is that it often makes it even harder for officials to award borderline decisions in your favour. So it proved in the seventh minute here, when Kenwyne Jones won a header from Craig Gordon's clearance and a flat-footed John Terry brought down Roy O'Donovan with a sprawling challenge in the penalty area. Some referees would have awarded a penalty - Mike Dean did not.
O'Donovan did not complain too much and Keane later agreed it was not a penalty, but, three minutes later, it was all academic because Sunderland went a goal behind. There was nothing controversial about this one. Terry slipped his marker at a corner and scored with a free header. Sunderland had no excuses because Michael Ballack had been presented with a free header from Frank Lampard's previous corner and might have opened the scoring, or at least got his attempt on target, had he reacted as sharply and decisively as his captain. There is not much point complaining about decisions going against you if you put yourself under a handicap through dozy defending. 'It was a sloppy goal to give away,' Keane said.
Chelsea could have scored a couple more during a short, but effective, spell of pressure midway into the first half. But Jonny Evans made a terrific saving tackle on Didier Drogba, Gordon got his body behind Ballack's speculative shot and Joe Cole failed to get a touch after Ashley Cole had done the hard work by cutting in from the left and crossing low. Sunderland's best chance of the first half came when Jones was bundled over by John Mikel Obi on the edge of the box and Andy Reid's free-kick had Carlo Cudicini scurrying to keep the ball out of his top corner.
Cudicini was involved in another telling incident just before the interval, when he came out to gather at O'Donovan's feet and was incensed when the Irishman left his foot in. Replays suggested the striker might even have purposely kicked the goalkeeper in the face. The referee could hardly be blamed for missing that, although O'Donovan going unpunished did rather undermine Keane's claim that Sunderland have not had any lucky breaks all season.
Chelsea appeared in no hurry to extend their lead and they almost came to grief in the 54th minute thanks to a moment of dingbat defending. Attempting to clear, Alex sent one header straight up into the air and then, when the ball came down, failed to find a safe way to get it back to Cudicini. Reid could not take immediate advantage, but Grant Leadbitter did better with a shot that Cudicini only just kept out with slight assistance from an upright.
Chelsea carved out a decent opening when Joe Cole played Drogba in behind the Sunderland defence, only for his cross to elude Lampard by a yard. Lampard seemed unimpressed by Drogba's delivery, whereas the centre-forward appeared to feel Lampard could have attacked the ball more.
Drogba would certainly have thrown more of his weight into a header than Jones managed, 15 minutes from the end, when he wasted a great diagonal pass from Dwight Yorke, and a free header in front of goal, by glancing the ball into Cudicini's arms. Almost anything with power or direction would have troubled Cudicini, yet Jones managed neither. He got another chance from the same provider in the final minute and, this time, managed a much more powerful header, only to see it fly over. Dean Whitehead then sent a shot on the turn inches wide in stoppage time, but Chelsea held out.
'We played well as a team. Our reaction after going behind was brilliant,' Keane said. 'But top teams are capable of winning 1-0. We had chances - they took theirs. That's how football works. It's not rocket science.' Keane's task now will be to keep the players' spirits up and take this level of self-belief into more winnable games to come. 'Correct,' he said. 'With my personality, that's easy.'
Man of the match: Frank Lampard
Kenwyne Jones deserved something until blotting his copybook by missing the best chance of the game, but he has been a success for Sunderland this season. Lampard did not fill his boots as he did in midweek, but, for the first hour, he was quietly authoritative in midfield and his passing was excellent.
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Phil Wilson, Observer reader We played well and matched Chelsea for large parts of the game, but they had that extra bit of quality. The defence has been better recently, but we're always liable to concede and, despite all our efforts, they clung on. Reid played well again and is proving a good signing. Jones benefited from having some support - Keane has been isolating him up front too much recently, but he had O'Donovan alongside him. In fact, everyone did pretty well for us, we just couldn't do a Barnsley. I'm still generally optimistic, despite two home defeats in a week. Everton and Chelsea are two of the better teams in the division and we have some winnable home games to come.
Fan's player ratings Gordon 6; Bardsley 7, Evans 7, Nosworthy 8, Collins 7; Edwards 6 (Prica 6), Whitehead 6, Leadbitter 7(Harte n/a), Reid 9; O'Donovan 7, Jones 8
Trizia Fiorellino, Chair, Chelsea Supporters' Group We started well, but not long after we scored we went to sleep and almost played like it was a training game. Sunderland really fought and, if it hadn't been for Cudicini, they would have got something out of it. Joe Cole played well and Lampard was involved in everything, but we missed Makelele - there was no link with the strikers and a lack of creativity generally. For them, Jones gave Terry the runaround - Alex was a bit rusty in place of Carvalho.
Fan's player ratings Cudicini 9; Ferreira 8, Alex 7, Terry 7, A Cole 6; Lampard 7, Mikel 7, Ballack 6 (Essien 6); J Cole 8 (Wright-Phillips n/a), Drogba 7, Kalou 6--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Terry's goal gives Grant a pass mark but tougher exams awaitSunderland 0 Chelsea 1
By MALCOLM FOLLEY
Chelsea had no reason to beware the ides of March in the North East yesterday.
Yet the week ahead in London, when Chelsea must meet Tottenham and Arsenal in five days, is fraught with danger for the team Avram Grant inherited from Jose Mourinho with the good fortune of a man finding a winning lottery ticket blowing in the wind.
Against a Sunderland team goalless for six hours 15 minutes, Chelsea prised another three precious points from a road trip to remain in pursuit of Arsenal and Manchester United.
They took the lead with a 10th-minute goal from John Terry, passed the ball with sharpness and precision through Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack for the next 20 minutes and then shut out the game with the kind of pragmatic football that is their hallmark.
For Grant, the stakes just keep mounting, however. The Premier League cannot be won this week, but, arguably, it can be lost if the results against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, and against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday are unfavourable to Chelsea.
"I am positive and optimistic by nature," said Grant last night. "If I was in a situation where I didn't believe in winning the title, I'd be looking for another job."
At face value, Grant's record is outstanding. His team have not been defeated in the league since they were beaten by a solitary goal by Arsenal three months ago, and they have qualified to meet Fenerbahce in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. But it is a record with significant blemish.
A week earlier, they were evicted from the FA Cup at Barnsley; and his team failed him in the Carling Cup Final when Tottenham denied him the chance to win his first piece of silverware.
Those losses will be forgotten if Grant delivers the Champions or Premier League titles, as demanded by proprietor Roman Abramovich. But Grant, for all his protestations, has little margin for error.
"Every game at the end of the season will be difficult," he said, "but from the second week I was manager I saw reasons why we can believe in this team. Chelsea is a big club. When we lose a game, like the one to Tottenham, and the one at Barnsley, it makes us stronger not weaker."
Grant has shown that, contrary to the perception of some critics, Lampard and Ballack compliment one another. A man who likes to be emotionless under public scrutiny, Grant managed a rare smile as he said: "We need to play as much as we can with attacking players, with intelligent players. Yes, Lampard and Ballack can play together."
In midweek, Lampard went on a scoring rampage with four of the six goals that humiliated Derby. Yesterday, he provided the corner that Terry met at the near post to render Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon a spectator in what proved to be the game's decisive moment. It was Terry's first Premier League goal since August, 2006.
At least Sunderland refused to surrender with the meekness Derby had illustrated at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, Sunderland's persistence in the second half threatened to create an equaliser.
Kenwyne Jones, who drew a game of high quality from Terry with his muscular presence, squandered a wonderful chance from an astute diagonal ball from substitute Dwight Yorke in the 74th minute.
Jones cushioned his header into the arms of goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini who, in his career, will have been more inconvenienced by headed back passes.
"Sometimes, a player can have too much time in the box," said Sunderland manager Roy Keane.
"He just didn't get enough on it."
In the final moments, Sunderland captain Dean Whitehead struck a drive narrowly past the right-hand post of Cudicini, who, as at Barnsley last week, looked less than impressive under crosses. Yet Cudicini, deputising for the injured Petr Cech, won the gratitude of his team-mates with an athletic save from Andy Reid's deft free-kick from the edge of the area in the 26th minute.
These are alarming times for Sunderland, now without a goal since February 9 and reliant on their form at the Stadium of Light to secure their Premier League survival.
Yet Keane was not downcast. "If we keep that persistency, that level of intensity and commitment, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine," he said. "But as always, this game is all about what happens in both boxes. Terry took Chelsea's chance and we didn't take ours. It's not rocket science."
At the final whistle, Sunderland supporters rose to offer their team a standing ovation. It was an appropriate gesture to reward the team's manful endeavour, if not their finishing. But the afternoon belonged to Chelsea, a team still pressing hard at home and abroad under Grant's understated management style.
SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Bardsley, Evans, Nosworthy, Collins; Edwards (Prica 62min), Leadbitter (Harte 85), Whitehead, Reid; O'Donovan (Yorke 73), Jones. Subs (not used): Fulop, McShane. Booked: Leadbitter.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cudicini; Ferreira, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Ballack (Essien 73), Obi, Lampard; J Cole (Wright-Phillips 82), Drogba, Kalou. Subs (not used): Hilario, Carvalho, Shevchenko. Booked: Obi.
Referee: M Dean(Wirral). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1: Terry's all gold as sputtering Blues leave Keane frustrated
Captain's first Chelsea goal in 19 months gives battling Sunderland a headache Michael Walker< at the Stadium of Light
Sunday, 16 March 2008
One week after Barnsley, Chelsea have re-established some semblance of self-esteem. Seven goals and six points have come, albeit against two relegation contenders, Derby County and Sunderland. But if Chelsea are to regain the title, it is their next two games that will shape their fate, Tottenham away on Wednesday night followed by Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Avram Grant's team will need to play more sustained football in those 180 minutes than they displayed here. Having gone ahead through John Terry's 10th-minute goal, Terry's first for Chelsea for 19 months, Grant saw his team promise considerably more than they delivered. Had Sunderland a more potent strikeforce, Chelsea would have been punished.
But Kenwyne Jones is Sunderland's leading scorer and he has now one goal in his last 20 matches. Jones is not alone in his drought, Sunderland have not scored as a team since 9 February.
This was their fourth consecutive game without a goal and Roy Keane's team couldbe third-bottom by tomorrow night. Hence Chelsea were able to take a lead and then witdraw into themselves for the last hour.
"For the first 30 minutes we played very well," Grant said. "We passed the ball very well and could have scored more. But after that it was more difficult. It's not easy to play here, Sunderland are fighting for their lives and they fought very well. I'm happy with the result."
After Barnsley, as with after Tottenham in the Carling Cup final, Grant said he was pleased with the reaction. "When we lose a game it makes us stronger, not weaker."
Chelsea will be stronger for the inclusion of Nicolas Anelka on Wednesday. Anelka had a hamstring niggle and was missing. That meant another start for Salomon Kalou, who was as sprightly as most in a bright blue opening half-hour. But Kalou faded markedly, as did Joe Cole, leaving Didier Drogba to carry the attack.
Not that Drogba was doing much attacking for the bulk of this game. Yet he looked capable of piercing Sunderland at will in the beginning and contributed to the early pressure that led to home panic and away corners.
It was from one of these that Terry rose to score. It was too easy for both parties, Terry moving away from Jones as Frank Lampard's curling centre reached the six-yard box. Terry's header was firm and gave Craig Gordon no chance, though the goalkeeper might have come to claim the ball away from Terry.
Jonny Evans had already made one block from Joe Cole and when the lively Ashley Cole supplied Joe Cole with another opportunity on 18 minutes it should have been 2-0 and game over.
But there was no second and gradually Sunderland edged their way back into contention. Roy O'Donovan had an optimistic claim for a penalty when dragged down by Terry shortly before the goal – "No penalty," said Keane afterwards – and Dean Whitehead plus Andy Reid grew in influence.
When Reid clipped an exquisite free-kick over the blue wall on 27 minutes it appeared the equaliser was on its way.
But Carlo Cudicini produced a prodigious leap and a firm hand to save. Cudicini was also impressive later on when under pressure at set-pieces. TheItalian was happy to be in the right place when saving from Grant Leadbitter on 53 minutes and then, decisively, from Jones with 15 minutes left.
Dwight Yorke, on as a substitute, floated a perfect cross over Terry and on to Jones's head eight yards out. Any force or direction and Jones's header would have beaten Cudicini but it lacked either of those commodities.
The Stadium of Light groaned, just as it did when Jones missed with another header and when a Whitehead shot slithered past the post in injury time.
But when the whistle went there were thunderous claps and Keane said: "Very rarely do you get applauded off when youlose a game. There were a lotof pluses today, AndyReid, Carlos Edwards, Roy O'Donovan - Kenwyne Jones was outstanding. "It was a sloppy goal from a needless corner so I've mixed emotions. But over the 90 minutes I thought the reaction was brilliant."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
John Terry effort keeps Chelsea on trackBy Martin Hardy at the Stadium of Light
Sunderland (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 1
"If there was even one person in the club who did not believe we could win the title, they should not be in football," whispered Avram Grant. There was no sign of that person yesterday, as Chelsea, with spirit dripping from their sweat-drenched blue shirts, further clawed their way back into the race for the Premier League title.
"I am positive and very optimistic by nature," Grant added. "If I was in a situation where I did not believe, I would look for another job."
Unbeaten in 12 - in the league at least - belief grows within Grant and his players that the timing of their run for the line could not be better.
Certainly, in John Terry they have a captain with the drive and steel to ensure that Manchester United and Arsenal cannot sit comfortably. Terry was all things yesterday. He scored in the 10th minute, losing Kenwyne Jones, his marker, before nodding a Frank Lampard corner home. Then he was the defensive fulcrum, winning headers, cajoling, questioning decisions. Inspiring.
"I am delighted with John Terry," said Grant. "We need him and Frank Lampard and Didier [Drogba]. We are very happy they are back. I hope it is the right moment. JT was excellent today.
"From September we have been in good form. The last few games we have been even better. There are nine games to go and we have to do our job."
Their job for the most part yesterday was surprising, forced onto the back foot by a rejuvenated Sunderland side, who themselves seem to have awoken to the seriousness of their situation.
At least they found the collective spirit that has deserted them in cup competitions. There were no hiding places at a raucous Stadium of Light - not that any of Grant's players suggested they were looking.
Roy Keane bemoaned another defeat, but he could not fault the desire. Crucially, they lacked quality, and goals are becoming extremely difficult to find.
In a second half in which they outplayed their visitors, five good chances were spurned. Danny Collins, Rade Prica and Dean Whitehead went close but Jones, now without a goal in 10, was profligate in the extreme, heading lamely at Carlo Cudicini in the 76th minute and then heading over in added time.
"It's very rare you lose a game and get applauded off, but we got that," said Keane. "Great credit to our supporters for that.
"I have mixed emotions. It was a sloppy goal we gave away but I thought the players' reaction over the 90 minutes was brilliant. However, we lose 1-0. The level of commitment for the club was very good. We created chances. They took their chance, we didn't, but there are a lot of pluses for us.
"We didn't pin them back but I am very happy with our performance. We got the balance right today. The players can take great satisfaction from their level of effort.
"If we can persevere like that, we will be fine. With my personality it is easy to keep their spirits up! Who will win the title? My money is where it's always been, on United."
Keane denied that the rested trio of Kieran Richardson, Daryl Murphy and Michael Chopra had been left out because of disciplinary issues.
Man of the matchJohn Terry (Chelsea) 9
• Passing accuracy 78 per cent• One shot, one goal --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTW:
Sunderland 0 Chelsea 1WORTH A FLUTTER
DAVID HARRISON at The Stadium of Light
WHAT was once a faraway rumble of hooves has turned into a loud roar.
Make no mistake, Chelsea's entry into the Premier League title race is now a stampede.
They won this match at a canter — rather like the mean and majestic Denman, who powered his way to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup — hurdling over the desperate and defiant challenge of their opponents.
Chelsea threatened to trample Sunderland underfoot and it might have been more of a runaway victory but for the Black Cats' spirited second-half response.
Passion
Suddenly Arsenal and Manchester United can no longer afford to view the Blues as a distant threat.
They are right in their faces and ready to go head-to-head in what promises to be one of the top-flight's most compelling finishes for many seasons.
Blues boss Avram Grant is not one for delivering powerful messages but there was a Mourinho-like passion last night.
Grant said: "If there is one person at the club who doesn't believe we can win the title he should not be in football. If I was in a situation where I didn't believe it, I would be looking for another job.
"We got off to a bad start but we have always believed. From the second week I was in the job I have thought we could win it."
Chelsea have proved repeatedly they have staying power. There is a robustness about them now and a strong suggestion they have hit their best form at the right time.
There is a belligerence, too. They have smarted all season at being written off. ‘Ignore us now — if you dare' seems to be their rallying cry.
Slick
The challenges ahead of them will be more strenuous than this — notably the visits of Arsenal next Sunday and then Manchester United in late April.
But titles are won with performances like this — dogged and determined but with moments of real class.
For the first 30 minutes there was a look about Chelsea which would not have been tolerated in the days of the Special One.
Now they are allowed to slick their passes around and rely less on Route One to Didier Drogba.
But when they are up against it, like when Sunderland threw themselves into the fight after half-time, they can revert to type and dig in.
Some things never change. When the going got tough, John Terry rose to the challenge.
If there was a header to be won, a tackle to be made, the Chelsea skipper was always in the thick of it.
The game's only goal was a bit of a throwback as well.
Terry's majestic, soaring header from a corner was the skipper's first of the season.
After their slow start Sunderland contested every ball, launched several goal-worthy attempts and tested Carlo Cudicini with fine efforts from Andy Reid's free-kick and Grant Leadbitter's 20-yarder.
Trouble
But it was not until the 73rd-minute arrival of veteran striker Dwight Yorke that the Black Cats found the subtlety or craft to seriously trouble the Blues.
Twice the 36-year-old picked holes in their defence with astute passes to Kenwyne Jones, but one was headed straight at Cudicini, the other over the bar.
Sunderland were full pelt at the finish and the final whistle came right on cue for the visitors as they began to flag.
The harsh truth for Roy Keane's team is they have now gone 375 minutes without a goal and the threat of relegation will not fade as long as they are so feeble in front of goal.
Boss Keane said: "Chelsea had their chance and took it. We didn't. It's not rocket science.
"I thought my players' performance was brilliant. These top teams are always capable of winning games 1-0, that is the difference."
Sunderland did leave their mark on the match but in a less than savoury manner with Dean Whitehead and Rory O'Donovan leaving trailing feet in the faces of Joe Cole and Cudicini.
Keane the player would have relished such moments of edgy confrontation.
As a manager, he would have preferred a point — or even a goal.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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