Friday, November 27, 2009

Winning ways continue..

It's good to see that winning ways continue. 4 goals against Wolves, in a game that saw Essien rise to his best. 2 goals for him was not enough due to all chances he had, but there is no reason to dwell upon that. Win is a win! 3 more points in the bag, so far we sit pretty on top of the table.
Porto game was a bit of a bore. This is probably due to fact that both teams have already qualified for next stage and we were playing almost for the bragging rights (and hopefully weaker opponent). Once again, Anelka has proven to be the nemesis of the Portuguese team.
ManYoo managed to loose to Besiktas at the Old Trafford aka "Theater or wet dreams" but they have picked up whole 3 points last Saturday in the league play.
Liverpool has been eliminated from the CL.. good riddance. Surely 'pooh' fans will go on about lack of Chelsea history and about how many CL titles they have won, in the past. Let them gloat about that, there is no denial past glory. I'll concentrate on our current situation and remind them that they are in second tier "Europa League" now.
I was also surprised by the Arsenal's defeat to Sunderland on Saturday, it must be November. We have fantastic chance to give them second league defeat in 2 weeks this Sunday, should be cracker of a game!

Friday, November 20, 2009

2 weeks of bliss

It's been 2 weeks since we've beaten whiners United. Once again they have proved what sore losers they are. Everyone whined about "controversial" free kick from which we've scored only goal of the game. They forgot to whine about Ninja Evan's karate kick that broke Drogba's rib.
Lamps got away with a potential penalty against us when ball stroke his arm, ref nor linesmen missed it.
I watched game twice on Manure TV, its' amazing how biased commentators are. Especially that old geezer "commentator" who keeps on whining about everything and keeps on saying "dear me". Example? Carvalho gets chopped after the whistle by one of the lumberjacks that play for United... Ol' geezer goes on not about the fault but about how many times Riccy rolled on the ground.. Soviet propaganda machine would be jealous of Manure TV... second time on (week later) they chopped game to pieces.. gone was ninjas kick, and so many other chops by the lumberjacks.
No wonder so many United fans are as whiny as their manager and players, by far worst team from this regard in EPL.
All this said, it's nice to know that for whole 2 weeks they can't do anything about it and surely will have a extra pint or two if Everton can manage to snatch a point from them.
Liverpool and Rafa hosting Citeh this weekend, not even sure whom to place a bet on. So many injuries for reds to deal with.. At times I feel sorry for them, then again, at times I love it ;)
International break brought in more controversy than ever. Henry's hand ball and calls for a replay, once again highlighted need for some sort of video replay. Surely Blatter will not bend to the pressure and maintain that it's just part of the game. Yup, all we can see now is that if you cheat you win.. "fairplay" my a$$. Feel Irish pain today, it's a horrible way to loose.
Russia's dream of playing in South Africa next year was smashed to smithereens when 2 players got red carded. On for being kicked, other for pushing out of the way opposing player that was "warming up"... It must have been Ovrebo in disguise, surely there can't be yet another inept referee!
Tomorrow we're going against Wolves, with Drogs, Lampard, Ballack and Deco missing, we might see some young blood in action. Even Kakuta made it to the bench.. could it be his debut?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Double, double

Nope, it's not related to Pizza chain. Folks it GTA (Greater Toronto Area) will be familiar with it. We've had 2 fantastic doubles in the game vs Athletico.
Whole game was a bit of a bore to me. First half was frustrating to watch. all but one header, Kalou looked out of place. Joe Cole was completely invisible, but then again, it would be very hard to repeat his performance from previous game. There was no space given to run around the field and perform tricks, nor we could shoot from distance. Drogba did came close to scoring first from a well struck free kick. Did you notice his technique? He likes to side-foot the ball now, I did read somewhere that he is trying to imitate Ronaldo and at times it is working. Keeper did well to save dipping shot.
Petr Cech once again had a brain cramp and decided to go for a ball which would have been cleared by the Chelsea defender. He tends to make bonehead decision once in 3 games, hopefully he has gotten it out of his system as ManU is visiting Bridge this Sunday.
It must have been a stroke of genius by the new Athletico coach to not start Aguero. Once he came on, game has changed in favor of Spanish team. I must admit that this time he did look much better, a player that might be worth all of them millions of pounds we were willing to pay for him this past summer. In any case, his first goal was nothing but pure class. Beautiful volley from an attempted clearance header. Petr had no chance. Deco had similar chance later on and failed miserably...
We were very close to our first defeat in Champions League this season, Aguero's goal came in late. All Athletico had to do is hold on for 10 minutes! Then there was Drogba. He turned game on it's head, scoring twice in 7 minutes. Power, speed, control were displayed by him in both instances, certainly a delightful double.
To Athletico credit, they didn't give up and continued to press for the equalizer. Aguero was as industrious as ever. He does seem to have tendency to go down fast when confronted by opposing defenders, but it worked for him in this game. Once again he won a free kick in teh dangerous position. What came next was another example of his quality. Well placed shot over the wall curled into the corner of the goal. Petr had no chance once again. Yet another delightful double, even tough this one came from the opposing player.
Game ended shortly, single point was enough to ensure Chelsea progress to the last 16 of the Champions League. Well done.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

8 past Bolton and Madrid road trip

October ended on a fantastic note, we've dismantled Bolton twice in one week with the combined score of 8 to 0. Midweek clash was a Carling Cup game. We've completely dominated Bolton, with Joe Cole having complete freedom on the pitch, tormenting Bolton's defense.
Kalou started the proceedings with well placed header but was substituted during the half time, apparently due to injury.
Bolton sat deep and allowed Chelsea players time and space for long shots. If not for Bolton's keeper, it would have been 8 - 0 after first game. Daniel Sturridge was unlucky not to score and seemed quite eager to do so in front of the sold out crowd. It was his first appearance. Perhaps he is lacking a little bit of confidence and he is trying way too hard. He should relax a bit more and try to enjoy his chances, his career is just beginning and he seems to be quite promising understudy. Malouda whom is not a subject of constant complaining about his performances, Deco who is loving his life in London and Drogba who came on late in the game, all anded up scoring. If not for Hillario's injury, night in the goal was uneventful. Btw, he is recovering well and afaik he is with the in Madrid tonight.
Saturday's game was more tense affair, well until Drogba ha been brought down in the penalty area. Harsh red card to Bolton's Jlloyd Samuel changed game completely. Frank Lampard has not missed penalty in three years, we were up by one going into the half time break.
Second half was once again dominated by Chelsea. Deco scored his second in as many games. I felt Ivanovic was unlucky not to get on the score-sheet, after all, he did score earlier in the game but goal was not allowed due to Chelsea player blocking keepers vision, you see player was in an offside position when Branislav hit the ball. His second effort was deemed to be an own goal by Knight. Ivanovic has been doing superb job to fill in for injured Bosingwa.
Drogba, once again, completed the rout. This goal takes his tally to 9 goals this year, once back from Liverpool's El Nino. Race for golden boot is on and Drogs has great chance to win it this season.

November starts with important game in Madrid. If we do take care of Athletico tonight we will clinch spot in last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Surely this would be a boost going forward, especially with the game against United coming up this Sunday. But first we have to win, and this will not be easy as we're going against very good offensive team (even though they are having very hard time scoring right now). Forlan and certain Aguero are potential match winners in any game. Canadian fans will remember Aguero from 2007 U-20 World Cup Argentinian squad. this said, Aguero didn't look good in previous game against us, then again, not many players do ;)