Month Review: October

So far, this has been the best month for Chelsea this season, playing 6 matches and having won 6 with 18 goals scored and only 3 goals conceded, it is time to look back at the how the Blues performed in October.

Steaua Bucharest vs Chelsea
October 1
Stadionul National Arena

Chelsea looked at this match as an important step to kick off the Champions League campaign in a good start after suffering the shock home defeat to Basel. Last time when we faced this side, was in Europa League last season courtesy of Chelsea losing the match due to a penalty. The match started well and also ended well for the blues as we dominated possesion for most of the match. There was a bad moment when Torres went down in the 11th minute, looked like he had picked up a injury on his knee and was later substituted off for Eto’o. It didn’t take long for the first goal as counter attack by Chelsea led by Schurrle passed to Eto’o, who under pressure, passed it to Ramires to score the first goal. Two minutes before half time, Chelsea doubled the lead with a helping foot from Steaua full-back Georgievski. Mata released Eto’o down the inside left channel and although the keeper saved, the defender haring back towards his own goal couldn’t help but divert the rebound in. The third goal just 5 minutes after the second half began, Schurrle making the run and passed to Oscar, the Brazilian had the vision to pick out Ramires’s overlapping run for a thumping finish. And then the last goal came of a vintage goal from Lampard, Eto’o finding a beautiful pass to substitute Willian who picked out Lampard and he fired a trademark shot which hit the bar and went in. Full time: Steaua 0-4 Chelsea, we moved to 2nd place in the group, thus champions league was finally off to a good start.

Norwich vs Chelsea
7 October
Carrow Road

Our last 4th consecutive away match sees Chelsea face Norwich, who have had trouble scoring goals this season and so far only Aston Villa have managed to win at Carrow. The match started well for the Blues with the first goal coming from Oscar, Lampard put a long lob ball to Ba(who was picked ahead of Eto’o and Torres) who manged to curl it around and put a through ball for Oscar to score the 1st goal. Then it was a bit of a mixed action in the first half, both Norwich and Chelsea came close to scoring but it was 1-0 at half time. Second half begin, Norwich started to attack more and had more possesion which led them to scoring the equalizer at the 68th minute from Pilkington who manged to score a header goal and it looked like the match would end as a draw. Jose made 2 substitutions, Cole off for Hazard and Mata off for Willian. Norwich got a corner in the 83th minute which was wide, Willian began the counter attack with a headed pass to Oscar who found Hazard on the attack but the ball came to Tettey who made a bad clearance by giving the ball away to Hazard, managing to capitalize the mistake and score what could be the winning goal. Then less than a minute gone, Eto’o gets tackled at the edge of the box and ball comes towards the path of Willian, who hits first time and scores a beauty goal, making it 3-1 and Chelsea picked up the 3 points.

Chelsea vs Cardiff City
19 October
Stamford Bridge

Our first home game after the international break of October, it was time to see how the blues performed here. The match didn’t start well for the blues as Cardiff took the lead at the 9th minute courtesy of a Ramires back pass which Luiz thought was intended for Cech, letting go off the ball but Mutch of Cardiff capitalised on the mistake and score a chip to give Cardiff a surprise lead over the Blues. Then in the 32nd minute, it looked as if the Cardiff goalkeeper bounced the ball from his hand but Eto’o kicked it away, the referee didn’t give a foul, it was Eto’o and Hazard, Hazard passed the ball to Eto’o to score an open goal which failed but Hazard managed to hit it in to give us the equalizer. Half time 1-1, Second half begin and in the 66th minute, Hazard provided a through ball to Eto’o who beats a defender and scores his first goal for Chelsea(Celebration above) and then after 12 minutes, Oscar hit a shot which looked like a chip and went over the keeper making the scoreline 3-1, Oscar managed to reach his last season best of 4 goals in premier league. And then in the 82nd minute, Hazard dribbled past a defender and hit a shot which went under the hands of the keeper, giving us a 3 goal lead and much needed 3 points.

Schalke vs Chelsea
22 October
Veltins Arena
Our third champions league match, Chelsea looked to grab the 3 points at the Veltins Arena and go top of the group, hoping Steaua would either draw or lose. It didn’t take long to take the lead as a corner from Lampard, played by Ivanovic to Torres who managed to score an open header goal in the 5th minute. After the opening goal, not much happened in the first half, both teams had opportunities to score but at half time the score was 1-0. Second half, 52nd minute, Lampard with a free kick and Torres heads it but it just hit the crossbar. But that didn’t stop him from scoring his 2nd goal, Hazard goes and beats 2 defenders and passes to Oscar, who come under pressure from the defender but finds Torres, who rounds off the keeper and scores to give us a 2 goal lead. The 3rd and final goal came from Hazard in the 86th minute, when Ramires cleared the corner finding Hazard alone with only 2 defenders at the back and Hazard kept moving, Torres went to his right to support him but Hazard went for the shot himself, scoring his first goal in the champions league in the process. A 3-0 win and we went top of the group as Steaua drew with Basel.

Chelsea vs Manchester City
27 October
Stamford Bridge
Some called it the match of the season, others “El Cashico”. It was Chelsea vs Man city at the bridge, Chelsea knowing a win would sent them second in the table. The first half at mixed actions as Chelsea could have taken an early 2 goal lead but Cahill’s shot went wide and Torres missed a chance to score easily. But the breakthrough came in the 32nd minute, as Torres dribbled passed Clichy and put a pass to Schurrle, who managed to score his first goal for the Club, Torres recovered from his miss. Half time 1-0. Second half begin, and less than 3 minutes, Nasri found Aguero, who manged to beat Cech with a shot from his weaker foot, equalizing for City. There was a moment in the 56th minute where Hazard made a plenty of dribbling to make Zabaleta fall. The last and the winning goal came in the 90th minute, when a long ball from Willian was intended for Torres, Nastasic managed to get it and head it to Hart who came off his line and Torres quickly capitalised on the mistake scoring an open goal and giving Chelsea the 3 points they deserved for their performance.

Arsenal vs Chelsea
29 October
Emirates Stadium

1st place vs 2nd place in the premier league match, it was Arsenal vs Chelsea in the Carling cup 4th round. Arsenal literally dominated the match till every point until at the 24th minute when Essien misplaced pass went to Jenkinson who headed the ball to Fabianski but Azpilicueta got to the ball first and managed to score his 1st goal for Chelsea, giving Chelsea the lead over Arsenal. After that, Arsenal had only one chance to equalize from Monreal’s shot but it was just wide. Half time 1-0, Second half begin, Eto’o came close to scoring but his shot was wide. Arsenal showed signs of fading off in the match as throw in from Bertrand went to Eto’o who passed to Willian, who manged to head the ball to Mata to score the 2nd goal of the match. Ramires came pretty close at the 90th minute for a 3rd goal but it went over the bar. Chealsea won 2-0 and it will be either Sunderland or Southampton in the quarter finals of the competition.

Which was your favorite moment during this month? Let me know your feedback.
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