The commentators along with the Skysports presenters dubbed this the match of the weekend, and in the end, it surely lived up to that. An open game for 90 minutes, one would argue that the scoreline could easily have been 6-0, 7-1, 5-2, 8-4, 6-3, or even 10-0 for that matter. I haven't seen a match in a long time where both teams hit the woodwork so often. Which if it didn't happen it could have easily been a goalfest.
Chelsea came into this match with manager Andre Villas-Boas knowing that a win was an absolute must. Kudos must go to him for picking a rather strong side, whilst dropping Torres to the bench, which in the end managed to pay off. Drogba got to start up front with Sturridge and Mata on his right and left respectively. The surprise of the team line-up was that former Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu got the nod to start ahead of john Obi Mikel and Raul Mereiles. In the end Romeu had a solid game. One can argue that he has only been impressing so far everytime he's been on the pitch, and thus one can understand why this lad was highly rated by the Barcelona academy. Romeu managed to play a full 90 minutes, not putting a foot wrong.
From the first minute, both teams pushed forward, this leading to a very open game. Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul had up till Chelsea's second goal an immense game. At one stage one of the commentators went as far as saying that Krul could possibly be the best goalkeeper in the league at this stage. In a way I would agree. He played amazing against Man United last weekend, making some magic saves, and even today he gave it his all. His best save arguably was when Ramires broke loose, getting ready to bury it into the back of the net. Krul literally threw his whole body on the line, and made a spectacular save. I remember when he started becoming the regular first choice man in goal, he sort of started a bit shaky, but he has magnificently improved over the past couple of months. You can say he was Newcastle's man of the match today. Remember the name, Tim Krul.
Up until Chelsea opened the scoring, the team had several chances of getting on the scoresheet. Daniel Sturridge was amazing going forward, however he had quite a lot of chances to score. He hit the goalpost as well, plus the amazing saves from Krul frustrated him in some sort of way. He also earned a penalty, which Frank Lampard eventually missed after some fantastic work form Tim Krul. Then came the 37th minute, Branislav Ivanovic tried to give a cross from the right that went a bit too far to go out on the other side of the pitch. Most spectators assumed that it was a Newcastle throw-in, however it deflected off a Toon player, which meant Chelsea had throw-in. Ashley Cole took a quick throw-in to Juan Mata, who gave a cherry of a cross to set up Didier Drogba for the header. The mighty Ivorian beating Tim Krul. 1-0 to Chelsea. At last the deadlock broken. The Blues went into half-time with the lead.
Coming back from half-time, Chelsea didn't make any changes at that stage. The second half started where Newcastle pushed the Blues' defence for the first 10-15 minutes, creating opportunities to score, but not taking all of those chances. One must say that Chelsea's defence held up pretty well, especially the likes of John Terry, who put up a sterling performance. Didier Drogba should have buried the game in the 52nd minute, after hitting the sidenetting, which almost looked like he scored. As for the rest of the 2nd half, Chelsea kept on pushing, however Newcastle had their chances, with Drogba almost scoring an own-goal, after hitting his own cross-bar from a header when Newcastle took a corner. Luck was on Chelsea side. 2nd half substitute Shola Ameobi nearly equalised for the home side when his shot hit the crossbar as well, forcing Petr Cech to make a fantastic save on a follow-up shot.
So, then Villas-Boas decided to introduce the substitutes. Off came Juan Mata, who had a fantastic game, in his place came Salomon Kalou, who made his 100th appearance form the bench, which is now a Chelsea record itself. Drogba came off, and Torres was introduced for the last 15 minutes of the game. At this stage it was still locked at 1-0 for the visitors.
All eyes were on the Spanish number 9, him being under the telescope since joining the club in January. Then late in the second half, Torres did his part, by setting up a fantastic opportunity inside the penalty box for Kalou, and in the process, the Ivorian buried into the back of the net. Kalou scores, Torres having an amazing assist. This means Torres has now more assists than goals for Chelsea, which isn't a bad statistic at all.
Then came the 2nd half injury time. By then Chelsea had pretty much buried the game, however there was still one thing missing. Sturridge had a good game by pushing forward the whole, however he needed a goal for his efforts. This is exactly what happened when he eventually beat Krul, and scored a classy goal. The cherry was on the cake. Sturridge can feel he had a fantastic game, and in the end his efforts paid off. It was full-time at the Sports Direct Arena a.k.a. St James Park, Chelsea picking up the magic three points.
In the end, this match was a great test of character for a Chelsea side that desperately needed a win like today. It was the first time this season that they beaten a club who's currently in the Top 5, plus along with Man City, Chelsea are the only club to have beaten Newcastle so far this season. Before today, Newcastle were lying 4th. A great win one must say.
So, next up, the do-or-die clash at Stamford Bridge vs Juan Mata's former side, Valencia. Chelsea need to win this match to ensure a spot in the knockout stages of the competition, or else it's having to settle for the Europa League. The win at Newcastle comes at a perfect time, and should Villas-Boas start with the same side that played today, there's no reason why they can't progress to the next round.
Keep The Blue Flag Flying High.
No comments:
Post a Comment