It was another abysmal performance by Chelsea as we were brushed aside by the champions of England. Un-characteristically Lampard missed a penalty on the 52nd minute, and oh boy we were made to pay.Goals from Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez ensured their victory and heaped the pressure on Rafa.
It was a difficult opening twenty minutes for the blues with city dominating , piling the pressure on our defence. On many occasions we had to rely heavily on Cahill as players were left completely out of position, with wave after wave of City attacks.
It was clear to see that Thursday night games were taking its toll on the fitness and the stamina of the team as passes were going astray. There was no impetus in the team and we lacked a real leader who could ignite something unique into our sluggish performance
On the 39th minute when City orchestrated a clever attack. The ball dropped to Zabaleta on the edge of the box he fired a volley goal wards, it look destined to hit the back of the net but Cahill yet again was on hand to clear. City managed to threaten once again before Half-Time as Rodwell unleashed a bullet at goal. HT
There were no changes at the start of the second half for either side and it was clear our performance was only going to get better. Luiz hit a sensational ball up to Ba on the 52nd minute. The Senegal international managed to pip Joe Hart to the ball but he went down under a challenge from Joe Hart. Andre Marriner had no choice but to point to the spot. It was the moment that Chelsea fans dreamt of Super Frankie Lampard stepping up to net his 200th CFC goal. However looking at Frankie’s expression you could see he was nervous and as Hart leaped to deny Lampard it was obvious that it really wasn’t our day.Hart’s heroics inspired City to strive forwards and seal the three points.
Without a doubt the introduction of Tevez had a huge effect on the game and on the 62nd minute we were made to pay for our penalty miss. City strung a couple of passes together in a tight area. Eventually the ball fell to Yaya Toure who opened up his body and cleverly tucked the ball home in the bottom right hand side of the net.1-0 City.
From that moment onwards City continued to press and we had to change something. The introduction of Oscar and Moses had little effect on the game. Every Chelsea fan had their heads in their hand as Tevez struck an exquisite shot past Cech which dampened our prospects of finishing second.
It was another game to forget for us fans as we lacked a spark of genius, that crucial piece if magic. Without question playing on Thursday nights has had a drastic effect on the team. We were very sluggish and never managed to really threaten City.
With the pressure mounting on Rafa what can Chelsea do next?? Let me know your thoughts. KTBFFH!
@carbislli
I just don’t understand Benitez at all.. What was the point of resting Hazard and Lampard if they were both made to leave the field after 65 minutes.. Mata had a game to forget (sorry its true), Ramires was abysmal and Ba hardly touched the ball.
We aren’t getting nowhere with Benitez and Tottenham will justifiably finish in front of us.
Frank Lampard sold the game. Had it been it was Torres It could have been a STORY for week. We did not play well as a team. Most of the players we out of the game. Sad!!
And he thinks 4-3-3 was gonna win him the
match!?….and the best place to try that was
against man city ohh geez subs ,he goes on to
replace hazard with moses instead of taking off
ramires….and uhm coming to the
players ,ramires played nothing ,too weak and
not precise enough and luiz ohh my
word…..good game from cahill,cole and
cech…..miss or no miss…..the milestone is
coming lamps….KTBFFH!!!!
See, that happens to any strikers at Chelsea like today BA hardly touched the ball. Thank god! It was not Torres who started in starting line. If he had played, my goodness, it would have been a hell of a ride for Torres and every fan would boo at the top of their lungs.
Irokotola michael
chelsea players are young, they cant content the heat of man city, chelsea will be like arsenal, maturity is like in foot, man city was playing physical game which chelsea cant with stand with those young players.
Irokotola michael
Poor starting line-up. Poor formation. Poor sub decisions. Azpilicueua should have started at right back,Ivanovic centre back,Cahill centre back and Cole left. We should also have stuck with the 4-2-3-1. Luiz and Lampard in midfield with Moses,Mata and Hazard behind Ba.
Ramires and Lampard are both box to box players so obviously Mikel were left for dead against the likes of Touré and Garcia. One again,poor decisions.
Physical game, I guess if we had signed Hulk, he would hav started from the bench. I do not blame any player for this one, only the Manager for the first time. When he found out that the formation was not working, he should hav reverted. Maybe he did because Ramires started running down the right but this was not his day. Ramires should hav been replaced wit Moses early enough. Lampard should hav been replaced with Azpilicueta and Mikel and Luiz should hav been entrusted to the Midfield. Oscar should hav entered for Mata later if he still did not pick up. Terrible day for the manager.
Not to mention that Hazard was the only payer pulling the strings for Chelsea and he was unplugged. Crazy game. Moses n Hazard must play together constantly so that they can find space. Their direct approach is a must for stretching out defences and playing just one of them makes it too easy for the opposition. Don’t know why we play more than one No 10 and think they won’t influence Hazard to become 3 No 10s yet the ball never gets forward. We must learn to go direct with the wings and put less pressure on the middle.
The subs were a big suprise for me.. ok so we did not start well and conceded a goal.. but taking off hazard and lamps???!! Shocking… Ramires shud have gone.. Torres and Ba should have played up front a lot earlier.. The blame goes solely to the manager.. no doubt abt it..