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Bent off to a flier as Chelsea pay price for missing chances
Chelsea 1 - 1 Charlton
Jon Brodkin at Stamford BridgeMonday January 23, 2006The Guardian
As if it had not been a strange enough weekend in London with a whale in the Thames, events took an even more unusual twist yesterday. For the first time in nine months and 14 matches, Chelsea failed to win at home in the Premiership. Unfortunately for their closest rivals, Wally's death on a barge is unlikely to be followed by the expiry of Chelsea's title challenge. "When they think how far ahead we are, they will go from a smile to [a scowl]," Jose Mourinho said
Charlton will still enjoy their achievement and must be the only team who relish visits to Chelsea. They won here on penalties in the Carling Cup in October and deserved this draw, secured by a debut goal from the substitute Marcus Bent. It had been hard during the first half to imagine Charlton avoiding defeat as Chelsea took the lead and cruised, but an improved display brought an equaliser and might have delivered a winner.The late dismissal of Ricardo Carvalho for a second booking capped the disappointment for a subdued Chelsea, who paid for not taking chances to extend their lead before the interval. They seemed to be playing within themselves at that stage as Charlton posed scant threat, and found it difficult to go up through the gears after Bent's goal. Lacking cutting edge they rarely looked like rescuing an 11th straight Premiership victory.
"When you arrive in January and lose your first two points at home, I think that's a magnificent achievement," said Mourinho, whose team's most recent failure to win in the league here was against Arsenal last April. "When you don't win at home you always feel a taste you don't like but in the context of the Premiership we have one more point and one less game to play and we are going in the direction of the title, so it's not too bad."
Few of his players rose above the ordinary on a poor pitch. There were flashes from Joe Cole but some unsuccessful showiness, too, and Damien Duff faded. Hernán Crespo was rarely prominent, even if his header was fumbled by Thomas Myhre to enable Eidur Gudjohnsen to score and he was wrongly given offside when through late on. Mourinho said Charlton were "lucky to have a linesman that gave them a big help".
Gudjohnsen and Frank Lampard were involved in many of Chelsea's best moments but neither dominated the game, and Mourinho's defence had one of its less assured afternoons once Charlton gained momentum. Carvalho was below par and Asier Del Horno failed to impress. Bent ran off him to score and Luke Young later skipped round the left-back to set up a presentable chance which Darren Bent fired over.
The best individual performances came from Charlton, with Darren Ambrose the pick. He set up Marcus Bent's goal and might have won the match in the 84th minute when denied by Petr Cech. Matt Holland did well after the interval as Charlton defended well, and Marcus Bent could be satisfied. He was brought on in the 40th minute after Young hurt Dennis Rommedahl when jumping for a header. The change helped Charlton by giving their 4-5-1 formation more of a goal threat, with the substitute drifting off the right flank towards the box. Darren Bent had been too isolated earlier.
Marcus Bent took his goal well, running on to Ambrose's chip and flicking a header over the onrushing Cech from near the penalty spot with his back to goal. That gave Charlton a confidence which made sure that, for the first time in 42 matches, Chelsea went ahead in a league game but did not win. Alan Curbishley will trust his team do not now lose six matches in a row, as after their Carling Cup success here. "A result like today goes a long way to getting us back on track," he said.
Charlton had fallen behind when Chris Powell allowed Crespo a free header from a corner and Gudjohnsen forced the ball over the line. When Lampard sent an overhead volley just wide and Del Horno had a header kicked off the line, Chelsea must have felt a win was coming but a revived Charlton surprised them.
Maniche speeded up the tempo for Chelsea after coming on but Mourinho must have sensed it would not be his day when Carvalho was dismissed for a second foul on Darren Bent, another red card after Arjen Robben's a week earlier at Sunderland. "I don't agree with the sending off but we are a clean team," said Mourinho.
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Independent
Chelsea 1 Charlton Athletic 1: Bent seizes on Chelsea's complacency to plunder rare point from the Bridge By Glenn Moore Published: 23 January 2006 First a whale is spotted off Battersea Bridge, then Chelsea drop points at home. These are strange times indeed in west London. In the grand scheme of things their failure to secure an 11th successive league victory is unlikely to derail the champions' path to world domination, or even another Premiership title, but it was unexpected enough to leave Roman Abramovich sporting a perplexed expression and Jose Mourinho a serious one.
This was a reminder that Chelsea are not irresistible, nor are they automatons. After 11 straight home wins in the Premiership this season there was inevitable evidence of complacency after Eidur Gudjohnsen had put them ahead after 18 minutes. However, after Marcus Bent marked his Charlton debut with a well-taken goal shortly before the hour, Chelsea were made to look unremarkable by their well-organised opponents, who became the first team to take a Premiership point away from Stamford Bridge since Arsenal last April.
"We cannot win every game, this day had to arrive one day," Mourinho said. "To lose your first home points at the end of January is a magnificent achievement. We are still going in the direction of the title."
He looked up, saw on the press-room televisions that the match was under way at Old Trafford, and added: "If you ask the winners of Manchester United and Liverpool after the game - who will be happy because they have won - if they want to change places with Chelsea they will lose their happiness immediately. They will think how far we are ahead and the smile will go."
True, but there were a few signs of hope here for the chasing duo. Collectively, Chelsea only extended themselves after Charlton levelled, and individually there were below-par performances. Ricardo Carvalho's dismissal capped a dismal afternoon, Asier del Horno again looked ordinary, neither Damien Duff nor his replacement, Shaun Wright-Phillips, ever troubled Charlton and even the indefatigable Frank Lampard was relatively quiet.
For the visitors Hermann Hreidarsson was inspirational in defence, Darren Ambrose's performance made one wonder why Newcastle let him go, and Marcus Bent maintained his habit, in his peripatetic career, of starting well.
He then tends to fade but maybe he has finally found a home. "He looked like a Charlton player," said a happy Alan Curbishley. The Charlton manager added, in a reference to his team's pre-Christmas dip: "I'm delighted it looks as if we are making an attempt to turn it round. We're not out of woods yet but a result like today's gets us a long way to getting back on track."
There was little indication of drama to come in a first half so soporific it silenced 42,000 people - Thomas Myhre's instructions could be heard 80 yards away.
With the benefit of an observant linesman Charlton kept Chelsea at bay for 18 minutes but were then undone by the same sharp-eyed official. Hernan Crespo beat Jonathan Fortune and Chris Powell to a corner won and taken by Duff. Myhre spilt the flick header but Gudjohnsen stabbed goalwards and the linesman correctly determined the ball had crossed the line before Radostin Kishishev cleared.
Then Chelsea eased up. There was no drive in midfield and sloppy defending allowed both Bryan Hughes and Ambrose to shoot. Yet Charlton's equaliser was still a surprise. Given time to pick a pass Ambrose spotted Marcus Bent between Del Horno and John Terry. The latter stepped up to play offside but Del Horno did not and Bent deftly headed over Petr Cech.
Mourinho sent on the cavalry but while Maniche settled quickly on his debut it made little difference. That said, an errant flag pulled up Crespo after Gudjohnsen sent him clear.
Lampard might also have won the game in a frantic finish but so could have Ambrose as Chelsea, having withdrawn Del Horno, were reduced to two defenders when Carvalho, already booked, needlessly ploughed through Darren Bent nine minutes from time.
Goals: Gudjohnsen (18) 1-0; M Bent (58) 1-1.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Gallas, Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno (C Cole, 79); Lampard, Makelele (Maniche, 62), Gudjohnsen; J Cole, Crespo, Duff (Wright-Phillips, 62). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Ferreira.
Charlton Athletic (4-5-1): Myrhe; Young, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Powell; Rommedahl (M Bent, 39), Holland, Kishishev, Hughes, Ambrose (Bartlett, 90); D Bent. Substitutes not used: Andersen (gk), Perry, Spector.
Referee: S Bennett (Kent).
Booked: Chelsea Carvalho, Terry; Charlton Athletic Kishishev.
Sent off: Carvalho (81).
Man of the match: Hreidarsson
Attendance: 41,355. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Chelsea home record dented on Bent debutBy Clive Tyldesley Chelsea (1) 1 Charlton Athletic (0) 1
Whales in the Thames, mice on the pitch at Old Trafford and Chelsea drop points at home. Whatever next? Life is full of surprises but Jose Mourinho is the man in the television advert who is always one step ahead. To allow Charlton Athletic to knock his team out of the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge was careless, to let them come from behind to blot Chelsea's 100 per cent home record in the Premiership qualified as a shock of Burton Albion proportions. For the second weekend running, the champions had a man sent off too. It's a crisis.
Dream debut: Marcus Bent got off to a perfect start when he scored at Stamford Bridge
Worse still, Charlton deserved their point. Until half-time, the visitors' reinforced midfield seemed equipped only to keep the score down. Eidur Gudjohnsen's close-range goal looked a starter for several. Chelsea were in cruise control. But when Marcus Bent equalised just before the hour, a mood of uncertainty replaced the air of inevitability. Either side could have stolen victory during a frantic finale that saw Ricardo Carvalho shown a second yellow card and both goalkeepers make desperate stops.
Twenty months have passed since Chelsea last took the lead in a league game and failed to claim maximum points. So to concede a goal inside 18 minutes was the last thing Charlton could afford. And a straight-forward and scrappy goal at that. Hernan Crespo escaped his marker to guide a near-post corner goalwards, Thomas Myhre was unable to gather and Gudjohnsen bundled the ball over the line. Hermann Hreidarsson then smothered a Crespo shot and Radostin Kishishev smuggled a header from Asier del Horno off the line. Charlton were hanging in.
"We went behind to a soft set play and our attacks were fizzling out," admitted manager Alan Curbishley. "We had to work so hard to get into their third of the field, I just asked them at half-time to show a bit more composure when we got there. We gave as good as we got after that."
Soon after the restart, Bryan Hughes forced Petr Cech into his first scrambling save, then the lively Darren Ambrose angled a clipped ball behind the Chelsea rearguard and Marcus Bent eluded Del Horno to score with a glancing backward header.
Bent's debut was delayed until Dennis Rommedahl limped off shortly before the interval. Even then, Curbishley resisted the temptation to pair him with his namesake in attack, persisting with the five-man midfield that had kept Chelsea within reach. Charlton's resistance nagged at the assurance of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Co and forced Mourinho into changes. Maniche was introduced to quicken the tempo but Curbishley's team looked every bit as likely to steal a winner.
Darren Bent spurned an opening created by Luke Young, then Ambrose was thwarted by a flying Cech. At the other end, Myhre improvised to keep out a Lampard shot and Crespo was denied by an incorrect offside call. Carvalho was dismissed for a second scything tackle on
Darren Bent. No Premiership red cards under Mourinho, then Arjen Robben and Carvalho despatched on successive weekends. "The linesman was a big help to them and I didn't agree with the red card," the Chelsea manager concluded. "But I'm not angry or frustrated. You can't win every game. This does not affect our momentum towards the title in any way. Ask United or Liverpool if they want to change places with us."
Charlton's momentum has been resurrected by improved results since the turn of the year. "I can't forget the pain of our dreadful run but I sat down at Christmas and thought things have got to change, and we are turning it around," Curbishley said.
Six successive defeats followed the Carling Cup success for Charlton in October, and it would take a similarly epic slump for Chelsea before Mourinho would need to do more than shrug his shoulders about two dropped points. Stranger things have not happened in football, but Chelsea's first dropped home points since last April offered their pursuers the faint hope that anything is possible.
• Man of the match: Darren Ambrose (Charlton).
Match details
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Gallas, Carvalho, Terry, del Horno (C.Cole 80); Gudjohnsen, Makelele (Maniche 63), Lampard; J.Cole, Crespo, Duff (Wright-Phillips 63). Subs: Cudicini (g), Ferreira. Goal: Gudjohnsen (18) Booked: Carvalho, Terry Sent off: CarvalhoCharlton Athletic (4-5-1): Myhre; Young, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Powell; Rommedahl (M Bent 40), Holland, Kishishev, Hughes, Ambrose (Bartlett 90); D Bent. Subs: Andersen (g), Perry, Spector. Goal: Bent (59)Booked: Kishishev. Referee: S.Bennett (Kent).Att: 41,355 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Times;
Chelsea bent but not brokenBy Nick SzczepanikChelsea 1 Charlton Athletic 1
LIGHTNING STRUCK FOR THE SECOND time at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Charlton Athletic were the first visiting team to “beat” Chelsea this season when they eliminated them from the Carling Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw on October 26 and they ended the champions’ perfect home record in the Barclays Premiership by achieving an identical result. When Eidur Gudjohnsen gave Chelsea the lead after 19 minutes, anything other than a routine home win seemed unlikely. But after Marcus Bent had equalised shortly before the hour mark with a goal on his debut for Charlton, the champions were unable to find another gear. In fact, after Ricardo Carvalho had been sent off with ten minutes to play, Charlton might even have won it.
Pelé attended the match and the Brazil legend cannot have been too impressed with a flat interpretation by the Premiership leaders of what he called the beautiful game. However, José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, did his best to appear unconcerned about the result and a first failure in 42 games to win after taking the lead.
“A draw doesn’t make you happy, but in the context of the Premiership it’s a result you have to accept,” he said. “When you get to January and you lose your first two points at home, I think it’s a magnificent achievement. I’m not frustrated — I know how football is. You cannot win every game. Two draws and one defeat all season is fantastic. The record since I arrived, with no defeats at home, is unbelievable. It happened against a team that was well-organised, defended well and showed a bit of danger on the counter-attack.”
However, it took a while for any such danger to manifest itself. The Charlton supporters who missed the first half because of a temporary suspension of services on the Tube were the lucky ones as their team lacked ambition. Their five midfield players seldom took a single stride forward in support of Darren Bent and the only worthwhile pass that came his way was a misdirected one from Gudjohnsen.
Given the ball and allowed to attack at will, Chelsea took only 19 minutes to go in front, albeit with considerable help from Thomas Myhre, the Charlton goalkeeper. He spilt Hernán Crespo’s near-post header from Damien Duff’s corner on the left and Gudjohnsen’s shin made just enough contact with the ball to nudge it over the goalline before Radostin Kishishev could hack it away.
Chelsea might have extended their lead before half-time when Frank Lampard’s overhead kick from a backheeled cross by Joe Cole passed inches wide, but soon after the restart, a change in Charlton’s approach became evident. Bryan Hughes forced a save from Petr Cech after 52 minutes and seven minutes later the scores were level.
Darren Ambrose was allowed space to collect the ball and pick out the run of Marcus Bent from the right with a clever cross. John Terry and Asier Del Horno froze and Bent, on as a substitute, nipped behind them to head the ball over Cech — an encouragingly quick return on Charlton’s investment of £2.5 million on his transfer from Everton last week.
Mourinho sent on Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was linked with a possible bid from Liverpool in a Sunday paper, but he made little impression. With all three substitutes deployed, Chelsea then lost Carvalho for a second bookable challenge on Darren Bent. It could have been costly as Ambrose burst into the gap where the Portugal defender would have been, only to see Cech block his shot.
Alan Curbishley, the Charlton manager, saw the performance as evidence that his team has ended a poor run, but their previous success at Stamford Bridge took so much out of them that they lost their next six matches. Good news, perhaps, for Leyton Orient, next week’s opponents in the fourth round of the FA Cup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------