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