stoke 1-1

Independent:


Chelsea left adrift by fast-running Walters

Stoke City 1 Chelsea 1: Ancelotti's nine-game plan unravels at first hurdle as Stoke add guile to grit

By Tim Rich at the Britannia Stadium



All the sting from this fixture was drawn half an hour from the start in a flurry of goals at Upton Park. As they changed in the Britannia's dressing rooms, Chelsea would have known Manchester United were two down and the scenario paintedby Carlo Ancelotti that by winning their final nine games the championship could be retained was beginning to take flight.

By the time Chelsea began the warm-up, the electronic screen behind them was showing images, 10 feet high, of Wayne Rooney dragging the title ever closer to Old Trafford. And when the final whistle went and the screen relayed pictures of Stoke's manager, Tony Pulis, embracing his backroom staff it confirmed what most, deep down, at Stamford Bridge, already knew.

The first of those nine games had not been won and by striking the frame of Petr Cech's goal twice in the second half, Stoke demonstratedhow easily it could have been lost. Chelsea's season will come down to two enormous throws of the dice against United in the Champions League. Ancelotti did not concede the title but he has spent the last couple of months trying not to confirm that this was a race Chelsea were still in. "The gap is more open," he said with some familiar shrugs of his dark-suited shoulders.

Stoke away is one of the Premier League's defining tests. Arsenal and Liverpool have stumbled here, Manchester United have never dropped a point in the fierce, frenetic atmosphere of the Britannia and, until yesterday, nor had Chelsea.

In Pulis's words, they were a team who were prepared to exhaust themselves against the rock wall of Stoke's defence rather than save something for Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge. However, particularly on the wings, Stoke have begun to add some fluency and a little beauty to the granite. Watching Stoke is rather like living in a council house with a Canaletto on the wall and their opening goal was a thing of passion, perseverance and beauty.

Having picked up the ball on the left flank, not far from the halfway line, Jonathan Walters beat David Luiz and kept on running. The options began to stretch out before him, with Kenwyne Jones screaming for a pass, but Walters kept going, turned Michael Essien and then shot between him and the sprawling figure of John Terry to beat Cech at his near post.

The reaction was instant. Pulis reflected that "Chelsea pushed us into pockets and kept picking our pockets." However, it was not until Drogba became the first Chelsea striker to score since Fernando Torres' arrival in London, that they emerged with hard cash.

It was safe to assume that Drogba, who had been preferred to Torres as Nicolas Anelka's strike partner, had other things on his mind. The civil war in Ivory Coast is nearing its bloody, predictable climax and he had made a brief return to his homeland in the days before this fixture.

And yet Drogba played with freedom and sometimes brilliance. When Anelka took the ball and gave a brief glance up, he anticipated well before Danny Higginbotham where the chip would go. The result was a fierce, diving header that gave Asmir Begovic not the slightest chance. In the second half he turned and drove against the crossbar. Torres was eventually introduced – "to give us more presence in the box" in Ancelotti's words – but his play again looked drained of self-belief.

As they shook off Chelsea's shackles after the interval, Stoke seemed awash with it. Jermaine Pennant shot into Cech's boots, Marc Wilson sent a free-kick clattering against the crossbar and from the subsequent corner, Robert Huth struck it again.

Stoke are preparing for an FA Cup semi-final, their biggest game since the 1972 League Cup final when they overcame Chelsea at Wembley, and for both clubs this match was supposed to be an hors d'oeuvre. It was one Marco Pierre White would have been proud of.

Attendance: 27,508

Referee: Peter Walton

Man of the match: Drogba

Match rating: 7/10




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Observer:


Stoke's Jonathan Walters makes Chelsea's slim title hopes vanish

Paul Wilson at the Britannia Stadium


Chelsea went down to an early goal, recovered, and sent on all their available attackers in search of the three points to keep their title hopes alive. There the similarity with Manchester United ended, however, and after accepting his side could not afford to drop any more points and retain a realistic chance of overhauling the leaders Carlo Ancelotti will now be able to concentrate on the Champions League.

For their part Stoke did not resemble West Ham either. They moved just a point nearer safety, after creating any number of chances to win a riotously entertaining contest, but most important they never looked like collapsing to defeat. They will be in the Premier League next season, and no one who witnessed this pulsating, eventful, ridiculously open game will have any complaints about that.

"It was always going to be difficult, but the gap is now even wider," Ancelotti said. "Clearly the Champions League is now our best hope of success because we are level with the other teams there, we don't have ground to make up. We can't be too disappointed, everybody knows to play here is not easy and both teams had opportunities. It was a really tough game."

After taking his first Premier League point off Chelsea, Tony Pulis was in equally magnanimous mood. "We could have won it at the end, but we shouldn't get blase," the Stoke manager said. "Chelsea deserve a lot of credit. They have a massive Champions League game coming up in a few days and their attitude was first class."

Stoke got off to an ideal start with a goal after just eight minutes. An impressive opener it was too, with Jonathan Walters beating David Luiz with surprising ease on halfway then running into the space vacated by José Bosingwa straying too far upfield on a Chelsea attack. Michael Essien made a valiant attempt to track back, only for Walters to calmly check round him then rifle a confident right-foot shot beyond Petr Cech.

The damage could have been worse for Chelsea when Kenwyne Jones got past John Terry with similar ease on the right, though the striker was unable to summon the same composure and decisiveness as Walters. Chelsea should have levelled when a long shot from Frank Lampard was only picked up late by Asmir Begovic, Nicolas Anelka being unable to react quite quickly enough when the goalkeeper dropped the ball at his feet.

No matter, Chelsea's equaliser soon arrived. Didier Drogba was still being jeered for being useless after putting a volley high into the Boothen End when suddenly he struck with elegant athleticism, getting across Danny Higginbotham to reach Anelka's cross and flick a header past Begovic. Fernando Torres, still awaiting his first Chelsea goal and unable to open his account from the bench, applauded in acknowledgement of Drogba's finish.

Chelsea stepped up the pace at the start of the second half, with Drogba hitting a post and another longe-range Lampard effort being beaten out by Begovic, though they were indebted to their own goalkeeper for preventing Jermaine Pennant scoring at the other end. Cech produced a good save with his feet, though with more time than he possibly realised Pennant might have gone for placement.

Torres came on for the last half-hour and almost scored with his first touch after one of his trademark turns to find space in the box, then he took a knock and spent the next 10 minutes a spectator as Stoke twice rattled Cech's bar on consecutive attacks. First it was Marc Wilson with a rising drive from a tapped free-kick, then Robert Huth with a header from a corner.

Jones, Walters and Pennant all had chances for the home side before Chelsea came back and Drogba hit the woodwork for the second time, striking Begovic's bar with a shot on the turn. No one could fault the entertainment, though time was running out on Stoke's hopes of reaching 40 points and Chelsea's desire to stay in touch with the leaders. There was one heavy-legged breakaway by Torres when he tried in vain to play in Lampard, and Ricardo Fuller missed the best chance of all with a point-blank header in stoppage time, yet there was little to argue about at the end. A draw was fair.

"Both teams could have won, so the result was right for the game," Ancelotti said. "We just aren't so happy about it."


THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT


RICHARD MURPHY, Author: Stoke City On This Day It was a fantastic game of football, and one of our best performances since we've been in the Premier League. By the end I was disappointed that we didn't win it. For the last quarter of the game we were all over Chelsea, Cech rescuing them with a series of terrific saves – particularly from a header by Robert Huth that I thought was in. Early on, Walters scored a cracking goal but then I felt we sat back, and that's when Chelsea started getting on top of us. Huth and Shawcross played very well in defence while up front Jones is in form despite needing some goals.

The fan's player ratings Begovic 7; Wilson 7, Shawcross 8, Huth 9, Higginbotham 8 (Collins n/a); Pennant 8 (Fuller n/a), Whelan 7, Delap 7, Etherington 7; Walters 9, Jones 9


TRIZIA FIORELLINO, ChelseaSupportersGroup.net Chelsea started so slowly, virtually allowing Stoke to score first. David Luiz was responsible for the goal. We rallied after that but never looked like winning even after Drogba made it level. Cech was brilliant, pulling off two world-class saves, but perhaps the team as a whole have their eyes on the Champions League. Stoke always seemed to be first to the loose balls. They deserved their point. It was a big mistake on our part to take off Ramires, who is our central cog. It was a silly substitution. And Chelsea also began trying the long ball, which is pretty pointless against the kind of defenders Stoke have.

The fan's player ratings Cech 9; Bosingwa 5 (Ivanovic 6), David Luiz 7, Terry 8, Cole 8; Ramires 8 (Kalou 7), Essien 5, Lampard 6; Anelka 7 (Torres 7), Drogba 8, Malouda 6





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Telegraph:


Stoke City 1 Chelsea 1:


By Rory Smith, Britannia Stadium



The broadcast Chelsea were forced to endure beforehand will have made their hearts sink. The video they will be forced to watch after this turgid display will make their bodies ache. The bruises that come with a typically pulsating visit to Stoke City will fade, though. It is the mental anguish of an afternoon which confirmed that their status as champions will soon pass which will be rather harder to dismiss.

It would be overly cynical, overly conspiratorial to suggest that every agonising second of Manchester United’s comeback at Upton Park was beamed on to the Britannia Stadium’s big screen simply to drain Carlo Ancelotti’s players of hope as they warmed up in its shadow.

That it will have made uncomfortable, dispiriting viewing, regardless of intent, is undeniable. Within eight minutes of kick-off, Chelsea were behind to Jon Walters’s strike; they fought back admirably to earn a frenetic point, but it will not be enough. Their chances of silverware now rest solely on the Champions League. The spectre of United haunts them there, too. Against Sir Alex Ferguson’s champions-elect, they have 180 minutes to save their season.

“We have a gap to close in the title race, whereas in the Champions League we are on the same level as all the other teams,” admitted Ancelotti.

“We were not thinking [about the title] and we are not thinking about it now. The gap is bigger than before, but we have to play our games, not think about United. We have to reach fourth place, first of all.”

After eight minutes here, even that seemed beyond them. Vignettes of Wayne Rooney rampaging through West Ham’s defence, the Premier League trophy fleeing Chelsea’s grasp, Ancelotti’s team were not simply devoid of hope. They were hopeless, lacklustre in possession, non-committal in the tackle. At the Britannia, at its baying best, such traits are tantamount to a suicide note.

Tony Pulis’s side might have gone ahead when Robert Huth headed over from a Jermaine Pennant corner; they did so a moment later as Walters, all menace and muscle, robbed David Luiz, marauded into the box, cut inside Michael Essien and blasted home.

The Brazilian, so feted for his early displays since his £23 million switch from Benfica, trotted back languidly as Walters raced away from him. He evidently knew he was in for a tough afternoon.

“I though Jon and Kenwyne Jones were fantastic,” said Pulis. Luiz is unlikely to remember either player’s display quite so fondly. The Trinidadian, at times, treated the Brazilian like a rag doll. The proverbial tricky afternoon in Stoke, the yardstick by which all imports are judged, was all too real for the darling of Chelsea’s fans.

His team-mates, though, are not so easily bullied. They battled their way back into the game - going close through Ashley Cole and Nicolas Anelka - before the Frenchman picked out Didier Drogba and the Ivorian, at full stretch, arrowed a header past Begovic.

That it should be that pair who combined for the equaliser will trouble Ancelotti; the Italian dropped Fernando Torres here, but will surely reinstate him on Wednesday night. Yet, for all that the Chelsea manager insisted the 30-minute substitute appearance made by Britain’s most expensive player brimmed with promise, he and Drogba continue to look like strangers.

Though the latter clipped the post early in the second half, both men spent much of the second period as observers, rather than participants. “We had the chances to win the game,” said Pulis. Always bashful, the Stoke manager was not exaggerating.

Pennant was denied by Petr Cech immediately after the break, before the Czech goalkeeper produced stunning saves to deflect efforts from Marc Wilson and then Huth on to the bar. Jones turned Luiz and fired wide, then headed past the post from a trademark Rory Delap throw.

Drogba, by far the most dangerous element of Chelsea’s expensive front line, still found time to hit the bar and Michael Essien saw an effort tipped over. Chelsea, though, did not deserve a winner; Stoke, who did, did not require one for the Britannia to erupt in delight at the final whistle.

Nor did they require one to confirm what Chelsea have, deep down, known for some time. There is a chant which the club’s travelling support are fond of, celebrating their status as champions. They have another six weeks to enjoy it. After that, it will transfer elsewhere.

After what they saw on the screen and then on the pitch in Stoke, even they will know that all hope has gone.




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Mail:


Stoke 1 Chelsea 1: Potters dent wobbling Blues' fading title hopes

By Malcolm Folley



Chelsea's defence of the championship effectively came to an end on a balmy spring afternoon 35 miles south of Old Trafford yesterday.

No official surrender was signalled by Carlo Ancelotti but, as a manager who declared Chelsea had to win all nine of their remaining games, this was an untimely moment for the club to concede their first-ever Premier League points to Stoke.

Yet with West Ham's lunchtime capitulation, Sir Alex Ferguson's banishment to the directors' box at Upton Park looked to be the best seat in English football as Manchester United placed themselves over the hill and out of sight of Chelsea.

Eleven points separated the clubs last night and only a performance of outstanding athleticism from goalkeeper Petr Cech enabled Chelsea to earn even a point.

Ancelotti's mission for the remainder of the season has been simplified.

He has a two-match duel against Ferguson, beginning at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, to offer Chelsea's Russian proprietor Roman Abramovich the right to dream that he could yet lay his hands on the Champions League trophy at Wembley next month.

Nothing less can save Chelsea's season.

Not that Chelsea warranted criticism for their contribution yesterday.

No one had told the men in blue that, following United's comfortable victory, they were chasing a lost cause on a ground where Stoke are unbeaten in this calendar year.

No one had told them to preserve their energy or protect themselves from injury for the importance of their midweek appointment with United.

'Obviously, we are not so happy for the result, but it is right for this game,' said Ancelotti. 'We have to be objective. We have no injuries, we played for much of the game at our best against a team that is difficult to play against and we are in the best position to prepare for our first match with Manchester United on Wednesday.

'The gap between us is more open now, but we still have to play our games. But if in the title race we have to close a gap, in the Champions League we are at the same level as the other clubs left, so we have a chance to win it. I have to be happy my team were motivated today. Now we have to show our skills and best ability against United and we have 180 minutes to be successful.'

Ancelotti opted to play with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, assigning Fernando Torres a seat close to him on the touchline.

Even though he cost £50million, the Spaniard has learned the economics of the English game are still subservient to the pragmatic demands a manager places on performances and results.

After a run of 10 games without a goal, for club or country, Torres is a striker treading water.

In comparison, Drogba showed himself to be at his combative best. His physical presence required Stoke's central defenders, Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross, to be on constant alert.

But the shape of the game was determined as early as the eighth minute when Jonathan Walters outwitted David Luiz.

Walters squeezed past the Brazilian on the left touchline, then travelled almost half of the field before checking inside Michael Essien to beat Cech with a stinging shot.

But Anelka and Drogba combined to lethal effect to create a 33rdminute equaliser rich in imagination and clinical in execution.

Anelka's tantalising cross was read superbly by Drogba, who stole half a yard on Danny Higginbotham and met the ball with a header that left goalkeeper Asmir Begovic a spectator.

Drogba's overall contribution will have made it hard for Ancelotti to consider meeting United without him.

'It's a good period for Drogba,' admitted the Italian.

Torres was introduced in the 61st minute, but showed no real inclination that he might end his goal drought.

Drogba hit the bar late on, but only after Cech had made three fine saves.

But for all the keeper's defiance, there was a sense that Chelsea's pursuit of United had run its course.




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Mirror:


Stoke 1-1 Chelsea:

By Simon Mullock


Carlo Ancelotti wore the look of a man who knew that it was all over.

Sure, the Chelsea manager said the right things as he contemplated the state of the title race, but there was a distinct lack of defiance in his broken English sound bites as the reality of falling 11 points behind Manchester United seemed to sink in.

The very fact that Ancelotti admitted that his team now has a better chance of winning the Champions League confirmed has accepted the inevitable.

After all, Chelseaface United in the first leg of a European Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.

Then there could be Inter Milan, Barcelonaor Real Madrid to contend with.

But Ancelotti conceded: “I think we now have a better chance of winning the Champions League now.

“I say this because in the title race we now have a big gap to close, while in Europewe are on the same level as the other teams.

“We cannot think about the lead United have. We couldn’t think about them before this game and we still can’t think about them.

“But we have an important game in the Champions League now and we must be happy to be involved in a game like this.”

Didier Drogba scored for the first time since open play since January to cancel out Jonathan Walters’ early opener for Stoke.

But in truth, it was Chelsea who were hanging on at the end as Tony Pulis did his big mate Sir Alex Ferguson a big favour.

As Chelsea’s players warmed up they were able to watch United produce a performance dripping with character, commitment and class on the Britannia Stadium’s big screen.

It would not have made pleasant viewing.

To be fair to Ancelotti’s men they also had to dredge up the same qualities the leaders had shown at Upton Park as the home side at times threatened to overwhelm them.

The way Walters created Stoke’s goal in the eighth minute was right from the first page of Pulis’ coaching manual.

David Luiz discovered the hard way that Premier League forwards are bred to chase lost causes when Walters took full advantage of a moment of hesitation by the Brazilian when Glen Glenn Whelan sent a hopeful pass down the left flank.

But Walters then illustrated he has guile as well as guts, cutting inside Michael Essien with a dip of the shoulder before bludgeoning a low shot past Petr Cech.

“We only score from a throw-in,” mocked the Stoke fans.

But their confidence was soon displaced by concern.

Almost immediately, Ashley Cole forced Asmir Begovic into a smart save when he was allowed to threaten with a downward header despite being a yard offside.

Then, when Frank Lampard connected sweetly with a textbook volley from 20 yards that was blocked by Begovic, it needed Danny Higginbotham to hack the loose ball clear before Nicolas Anelka could prosper.

The equaliser, when it came in the 33rd minute, justified Anceotti’s decision to pair Drogba with Anelka and leave £50million Fernando Torres on the bench.

Anelka detected that Drogba had pulled out wide onto the shoulder of Higginbotham as he collected possession with time and space 30 yards out.

And when the Frenchman clipped his cross towards the penalty spot, Drogba’s speed of mind and body saw him edge in front of his marker to score with the kind of header that strikers dream of.

Chelsea were beginning to look like the side that had threatened to turn the title race into a procession in the early months of the season.

They were lucky that referee Peter Walton didn’t punish Essien’s spiteful two-footed lunge on Jermaine Pennant with nothing more than an admonishing arm around the shoulder.

But when Anelka curled a shot just wide at the start of the second half, it seemed only a matter of time before the Londoners’ superiority was reflected in the score.

Stoke showed that they wouldn’t be taking any more backward steps with a flowing move that ended with Pennant shooting against the legs of Cech after both Walters and Jones had cleverly stepped over Matthew Etherington’s low cross.

But moments later, Essien and Anelka combined to send Drogba clear to bobble and angled shot against the outside of Begovic’s right-hand post.

Torres replaced Anelka just after the hour and immediately saw a shot blocked by Marc Wilson.

But the Spaniard never got another chance to bring an end to a scoring drought that has now stretched to eight games in a Chelseashirt.

Stoke, urged on by fans who thrive in times of adversity, somehow turned the blue tide.

Twice in the space of 30 seconds the home side shuddered Cech’s crossbar, although both times the Chelsea keeper excelled.

First, Cech went full length to divert Wilson’s thunderous long-range drive against the woodwork after the defender had marched onto Whelan’s short free-kick.

And the Czech intervened again by flinging out a hand to tip Robert Huth’s far-post header onto the bar from Etherington’s corner.

Luiz struggled throughout with the pace and power of Walters and Jones - and Terry didn’t fare much better alongside him.

Jones brushed aside both of Chelsea’s central defenders with contempt only to shoot to too high.

Then Cech did well to nudge away Etherington’s header despite having Walters stood in his eyeline in an offside position.

Jones header one of Rory Delap’s trademark long throws wide before Chelseaseemed to realise that the clock was beginning to count down on their title challenge.

Drogba shivered Begovic’s crossbar with a thunderous shot on the turn.

And then Essien had a rising drive turned over by the Stoke keeper.

But it was the home side that could have won it deep into six minutes of injury time when Ricardo Fuller’s header drifted just wide.




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People:


Stoke 1-1 Chelsea: Brave Potters dent Blues title hopes

by Steve Bates



FORGET the popular slur that Stoke are a one-trick pony, with long-throw expert Rory Delap their only ­weapon.

And forget the jibe that you need boxing gloves as well as shinpads at the Britannia Stadium.

Above all, though, forget the ­far-fetched notion that Cheslea can win the title this season.

Because on a day of high drama in the Premier League, Stoke delivered the fatal blow to Chelsea’s over-blown hopes of catching Manchester United, who dramatically won at West Ham earlier in the day.

And the Potters did it with a display that shattered every stereotype chucked at them since they ­bustled their way back into the big time.

Sure, boss Tony Pulis makes certain they maximise their strengths at set- pieces but Stoke matched the Blues for football yesterday, no question. And they should have won.

A point was no good to Carlo Ancelotti, who declared before the game that his stars have to be perfect if they are to run down United’s title lead.

But today that lead stands at a ­whopping 11 points and Ancelotti conceded that even a game in hand will not do Chelsea any good. The main concern now for the Italian is to lift his players for Wednesday’s titanic collision with Sir Alex Ferguson’s stars in their Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.

Because, make no mistake, this was the day Chelsea’s title dream died.

“We have no fear!” screamed the front-page headline on Stoke’s ­programme – and, boy, were they right. This was an heroic display by Pulis’ stars and clear evidence why the Premier League is more competitive than ever.

Stoke’s pulsating second-half ­performance was as good as you will see from a so-called small club against a top-four side like Chelsea. But for the brilliance of Petr Cech, Ancelotti’s men would have lost.

Four times after the break, as Stoke boldly pressed for a winner, Cech made fabulous saves. He pushed the ball on to the bar from Marc Wilson’s free-kick and a Robert Huth header, and used his feet to deny Jermaine Pennant and Matthew Etherington.

In the end, honours were even but the moral victory was Stoke’s.

Chelsea must have felt deflated after watching United storm back at Upton Park as they went through their ­pre-match warm-up routine. The big screen showing United’s remarkable revival was just a few yards away as they did their stretching and drills,

Just in case they had not grasped the magnitude of losing a golden ­opportunity to close the gap further on United, the stadium announcer made sure in a bid to give Stoke’s stars an added lift.

It proved a morale-sapping blow for Chelsea, who knew there was no margin for error in the title battle.

But Stoke delivered another kick in the teeth with just seven minutes gone.

Huth had already served notice of a tricky afternoon ahead with a first-minute header that went narrowly over when he played a decisive role in the opening goal.

The German defender played the ball forward, Jonathan Walters beat David Luiz to the punch and sped into the space vacated by missing right-back Jose Bosingwa.

Walters raced towards the box, cut inside Michael Essien in the area and cracked a low drive inside Cech’s right-hand post for his eighth goal of the season.

But, as United showed at Upton Park, top teams do not buckle, however damaging the blow. Chelsea responded instantly and only a flying one-handed stop by Asmir Begovic stopped Ashley Cole’s header from an Essien cross sneaking in.

Stoke braced themselves as they knew their ­ability to hold on would be tested – and they were right. The Blues ­powered forward and the pressure told after 32 minutes.

Nicolas Anelka caressed a floated ball into the box and Didier Drogba stole a yard on Danny Higginbotham, attacked the space and sent a diving header soaring past Begovic.

After the break, Drogba clipped a post with a smart effort and his ­impressive display means he looks a cert to start against United ahead of Fernando Torres, who arrived as a 61st-minute sub but did nothing.

Stoke looked likelier to grab a ­winner and, deep into injury time, City sub Fuller almost squeezed home a last-gasp header from Etherington’s cross but the ball drifted wide.

A delighted Pulis said: “We had the chances to win it but you have to hand it to Chelsea.

“They have a massive Champions League game against United but their attitude was first-class.”