Month: November 2013

The good news – the only good news according to Blues boss Jose Mourinho – is that Chelsea have qualified for the Round of 16 of the Champions League. The bad news is that they were beaten 1-0 in Switzerland by Basel and qualified for the knockout stages as a result of Schalke’s inability to get a win when they visited Steaua Bucharest (with whom they played out a 0-0 bore draw).

Basel’s victory over Chelsea means they have beaten them home and away in Group E, much to Mourinho’s chagrin. And – despite there being just a single goal in it – Basel were worthy victors: they had the majority of the possession and created far more chances than the visitors. In fact Mourinho’s men failed to get a single shot on target, something that will be a major concern to the manager and fans alike.

Mohamed Salah – who scored the first in Basel’s 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in September – was the sole scorer on Tuesday. The Egyptian got free of Branislav Ivanovic before latching on to a ball from Fabian Schar and beating Petr Cech. A point against Schalke in their final group match will now be enough to see Basel through to the knockout stages.

To make matters worse for the Blues, Samuel Eto’o was carried off with a groin injury late in the first half, and though he was replaced by Fernando Torres – himself returning from injury – the Spaniard looked devoid of energy and lacked any bite or creativity. Why Mourinho let the free-scoring Romelu Lukaku go to Everton for the season is still anyone’s guess!

Despite losing to Basel twice in the group stage, Chelsea are still top of Group E on nine points, one ahead of their conquerors, and two ahead of Schalke. As such a draw in their final match against Steaua Bucharest will be enough to see Chelsea finish as group winners if Basel fail to beat Schalke, but we would expect the Blues to hammer the Romanians at the Bridge given they won over there by an emphatic 4-0 scoreline.

Prior to that though Chelsea have some key games back in the Premier League, starting with a tough-looking home match against a Southampton side who have confounded pundits with their fantastic form this term. Following that there are two eminently winnable away matches against Sunderland (who the Blues will also meet in the League Cup quarter-final on 17th December) and Stoke, but either of those could be potential banana skins too if Chelsea don’t raise their game from the level of performance they showed in Basel.

Intriguingly – and frustratingly for many Blues fans – Juan Mata was left on the bench as an unused substitute on Tuesday, and given the side lacked spark, invention and guile, surely now is the time to bring the Spaniard back into the fold? But then who are we to make such a suggestion to the Special One?

Chelsea put in a solid display when they took the short hop across the capital to visit West Ham on Saturday, with Frank Lampard grabbing a brace against his former club on the way to a 3-0 victory.

Jose Mourinho’s men never looked in any serious danger of conceding, as much an indication of the Hammers’ lack of attacking options as Chelsea’s solidity. And after a confident start the Blues got the breakthrough after Oscar was brought down by West Ham keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen in the area after a poor back-pass from Guy Demel. Lampard duly converted from the spot against the club at which he made his name but whose fans never really appreciated his talents (fools!).

Oscar and Eden Hazard, with decent support from Lampard, were pulling the strings in the centre of the park and it was Oscar himself who made it 2-0 after 34 minutes when his drilled strike went into the bottom corner.

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce obviously gave his side something of a rollicking in the dressing room at half time as they emerged after the break showing more fight and desire. But they still fell way short of their visitors in the quality stakes and managed to muster only a single shot on target in the whole match.

The Blues, meanwhile, played with an assurance that will have pleased Mourinho, and after they created a number of goal-scoring opportunities it was left to Lampard – already Chelsea’s all-time highest scorer – to put the icing on the cake in the 82nd minute when an initial shot from Hazard was blocked and fell to Lamps who made no mistake from the edge of the box.

Another West Ham old boy, Demba Ba, who came on for a cameo minutes before his side’s third goal, had a goal disallowed for offside late in the game, but on another day the marginal decision could have gone the way of the Blues. But overall it was a dominant display, and while Chelsea were expected to win they still had to do the business on the pitch, and they did it without needing to overexert themselves.

The win moves the Blues up to third in the table, level on 24 points with Liverpool (who drew 3-3 at Everton) and four points behind leaders Arsenal, who themselves put in a solid performance as they beat in-form Southampton 2-0 at the Emirates.

Chelsea’s next Premier League match will be played on Sunday 1st December when the Saints will visit Stamford Bridge looking to bounce back from that defeat to the Gunners. Prior to that, though, is a Champions League trip to Basel, where Mourinho will hope his side can seal progression to the knockout stage of the competition. If they play like they did on Saturday we think they’ll certainly have a very good chance.

The World Cup qualifying has ended and we now know which 32 sides will be playing in the World Cup in Brazil next year. Several Chelsea players will feature and many were in action over the double-header of global international friendly games and World Cup play-offs. Here we take a look at how some of Chelsea’s finest got on.

Starting with England and Ashley Cole did his hopes of being first choice left back in Brazil no harm with a solid showing against Germany. Cole was left out against Chile but played the first 53 minutes against the number two side in the world. Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill were unused substitutes. Andre Schurrle played just eight minutes and will need to get more time on the pitch for the Pensioners if he is to force his way into the German squad, such is the quality at their disposal.

It was a good night for the Blue Brazilians though, as Oscar, Ramires, Willian and David Luiz (the only one of the quartet to play 90 minutes) all featured in a 2-1 win over Chile in Toronto.

Spain and Belgium suffered major shocks in losing to South Africa and Japan. Eden Hazard started for Belgium, with Kevin De Bruyne playing for the final half hour, but neither could prevent a 3-2 loss, whilst Thibaut Courtois remained on the bench. Things were no better for Juan Mata who played the final half hour for or so for Spain but could not forge an equaliser, the World and European Champions losing 1-0.

Elsewhere Patrick van Aanholt made his full Dutch debut from the bench in a 0-0 draw against Colombia. Michael Essien was in competitive action as Ghana completed a 7-3 aggregate win over Egypt to book their place in Brazil. Essien played 90 minutes as Ghana went down 2-1 on the night. On Monday both Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel played as Nigeria almost beat Italy at Craven Cottage, the match ending 2-2.

Those Chelsea fans disillusioned with the Three Lions may find supporting Mata and Fernando Torres for Spain, Oscar and co for the hosts Brazil or even Hazard’s dark horses Belgium a more rewarding occupation. One thing is for sure, the World Cup in Brazil is going to be brilliant, and it is going to be Blue!

Jose Mourinho maintained his unbeaten Premier League home record when West Brom were the visitors on Saturday, but only just. His side relied on a controversial late, late penalty (which was imperiously converted by Eden Hazard) to earn a point against a spirited and powerful Baggies side who battled bravely and almost got the rewards for a solid and well-organised display.

The Blues went in to the break 1-0 after a close range effort from Samuel Eto’o, but the visitors came out fighting in the second half with goals from Shane Long and Stephane Sessgnon in the 60th and 68th minutes. Although the Baggies’ goals represented two thirds of the total number of their shots on target, their performance was all about containment, which they did exceptionally well, with two lines of four which the home side appeared to find impenetrable at times.

Mourinho was getting increasingly frustrated on the touchline as his players failed to find the inventiveness required to weave their way through West Brom’s rearguard action, and the points looked to be going back to the West Midlands before referee Andre Mariner awarded a penalty in the fourth minute of injury time.

Clearly the Portuguese boss agreed with the decision and his former protégé Steve Clarke took the opposing view, but there was clearly contact between defender Steven Reid and Ramires. Whether that contact was sufficient to send the Brazilian sprawling, or indeed whether it even constituted a foul, is open to debate; but it was given, duly converted, and Chelsea’s blushes were saved.

The Baggies won at the Bridge exactly 30 years before this match (a 1-0 triumph in the League Cup), and they last won in the league there in 1978, but it wasn’t to be this time as the visiting players and manager felt robbed of what would have been a famous victory.

For Chelsea, an improvement is certainly called for if they are to challenge for the title. After just one point earned from their last two matches (after their 2-0 defeat at Newcastle prior to this one) there is the sense that Jose still doesn’t quite know his most effective side. The international break will give the Special One time to take stock and then it’s West Ham away on 23rd November – eminently winnable, but then so too looked Newcastle away and West Brom at home.

Chelsea took another large step towards the Champions League knockout phase with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Schalke last night.

Given the Blues had won in Germany by that same score two weeks earlier, the victory was hardly a surprise, although the fact that all three goals came from strikers may have had many in the stands rubbing their eyes with disbelief.

Having been recently rocked by the news that first choice forward Fernando Torres will be out for a while due to a leg injury, Jose Mourinho started with Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o up front and the striker repaid his faith with two goals.

The home side didn’t have things all their own way though and in fact Schalke started the better of the two sides, with wunderkind Julian Draxler and Adam Szalai both having decent chances in the opening stages.

Chelsea’s goal came just after the half hour and Schalke keeper Timo Hildebrand will not want to see it ever again. He dallied on the ball and Eto’o was able to close down quickly as Hildebrand went to clear, the ball deflecting into the goal.

Schalke again continued to press and had further opportunities either side of the break, Petr Cech denying Draxler on 52 minutes. The game could have turned on that moment and two minutes later it did, as Eto’o finished smartly after decent work by Willian to really finish the visitors off.

The victory was complete after 83 minutes when Demba Ba, on for the goalscorer, collected a pass from Frank Lampard before applying a nice finish with a volley on the turn as the ball looped over the defence.

3-0 slightly flattered Mourinho’s side but they dominated the game statistically and certainly deserved the win, a result that leaves them three points clear of Schalke at the top of Group A and in pole position to qualify.