A dark week

Two games this week - PSG away in the champions league and Burnley at home, both sadly over shadowed by events off the pitch prior to the PSG game and a horror tackle in the Burnley game.

Firstly, champions league football returned and Chelsea faced another trip to Paris to face Zlatan and co. Cahill surprisingly was recalled in place of Zouma, with Costa also returning, Fabregas was pushed further forward in place of the erratic Oscar so Ramires partnered in central midfield with Matic. Courtois was also recalled to the first team and being dropped against Everton - and repaid Mourinho's faith with a superb performance. Early in the first half, Courtois made two efficient saves from Matuidi and Ibrahimavic and then a superb one handed stop to deny Cavani's near post header. His performance in the first leg of the league cup semi final against Liverpool was excellent and judging by his early showing here, it seems he is shaping up to be a big match player for sure. Chelsea took the lead though, as three defenders all combined. First Terry on the left wing, sent in a right footed in-swinging cross that was brilliantly flicked on by the boot of Cahill to the head of another big game player, Ivanovic, who headed home. PSG started strongly in the second half though and equalised when Matuidi crossed from the left and found an unmarked Cavani who headed in for PSG. Poor marking by Cahill, I did think it was a strange decision to recall him. I personally, given Cahills indifferent form of late, think we should try out a defence with Ivanovic in the centre of defence with Terry, with Azpilecueta at his natural right back position and Filipe Luis at left back. I don't really get how we can pay 17 million for Filipe Luis and hardly play him. Anyway, from then on Chelsea were on the back foot and almost fell behind when Courois again made a great stop from Ibrahimovic before Azpilecueta blocked the follow up from Lavezzi. With ten minutes to go, Cavani toe poked PSG's best chance wide of the goal to let Chelsea off, and then in stoppage time Courtois made another important stop from an Ibrahimovic header. So 1-1 away from home was a good result, but sadly the main focus from Paris took place on the Metro in an incident that occurred away from the match.

A group of idiotic Chelsea fans (most likely hooligans) were filmed on a camera phone pushing a black man off a tube and singing racist songs. First of all, as soon as I saw this, I knew that everyone would tarnish Chelsea fans with the same brush and think we are all like that. Lots of narrow minded and thick people out there, and the issue with social media is that it gives these stupid people a voice. So that disappointed me, but didn't surprise me. Secondly, I was embarrassed to be associated with these 'fans' and while yes it can be argued that if they have paid to go to France to watch Chelsea then they must be fans of the club - but look at it this way. I don't believe for a second that those 'fans' were going to France to watch the football, they were going to cause trouble. That's hooligan mentality, which those people clearly were in my eyes. So I can't call them true fans, to me they are just a group of people stuck in the 1980's. While Chelsea do have a poor history with hooliganism, I believe it is a society issue rather than a club issue. Unfortunately at various points in my life, I have encountered quite a few groups of racist QPR fans (not pointing the finger at them as a club, just stating a fact), and I have also been to a Man Utd match and witnessed racist abuse from a Man Utd fan directed at a black Chelsea footballer. So I think it is an issue for society rather than a specific club issue. The way Chelsea have handed this though - fantastic. I think they have done all they could. I did see a stupid tweet from Jason Roberts though ' I hope every black Chelsea player watches that clip'. Why? Every black Chelsea will know those idiots are not a representative of all Chelsea fans, given the extensive work Chelsea do in the community. The clubs community work hardly ever gets talked about and Chelsea do a lot of it, so I think Chelsea have handled the situation brilliantly.

Onto the Burnley match now and another Bane of my (and probably Mourinho's) life - the FA. Zouma, Filipe Luis, Oscar and new boy Cuadrado all returned for Azpilecueta, Ramires, Cahill and Willian. Cuadrado also opened his account with a looping header that was tipped over the bar by Heaton. The opening game came courtesy of good work by Cuadrado, with Hazard taking control, weaving and dribbling his way to the by line and setting up - who else? - but Ivanovic to side foot home from close range. Chelsea then had two clear penalty appeals turned down - a handball from an Ivanovic shot and a foul on Costa by Shackell. Poor refereeing, and worst was to come. A terrible foul by Ashley Barnes on Ivanovic was overlooked by the ref just before half time for some inexplicable reason (won't be the last time I say that). The second half started and with Barnes going close with a deflected shot that was tipped away by Courtois, the need for a  second goal was clear. Unfortunately, and it's not the first time I've said this this season, Chelsea were poor and erratic in the final third, too much tikka-taka football. Costa almost got on the end of an Ivanovic cross but I struggle to remember any positive flash points from the second half. What happened at the end of the game should not overshadow what I thought was a poor performance attacking wise, but it did so lets move onto that anyway. About 20 minutes to go, one of the most disgraceful tackles I've ever seen from Barnes on Matic somehow was not seen by the referee. It was one of those potential career ending tackles that could easily have broken a leg. Understandably, Matic was fuming and reacted by pushing over Barnes, earning him a red card. Although all he did was push over Barnes which I don't think is a red, it's only a red if you raise hands above the neck, which Matic did not do. No punishment for Barnes though. the referee was having a nightmare to say the least. Barnes himself almost equalised with a long range shot that was saved by Courtois, but with nine minutes remaining, it was a header from Ben Mee at a corner that did rescue a point for Burnley. Chelsea's lead cut to five points.

Mourinho made a surprise appearance on Goals on Sunday the next day, and used it to make a well justified rant on the extremely poor standard of referring, but also interestingly, against Sky and their biased reporting - which was about time. His point was that Sky went overboard in their damnation of Diego Costa with their 'Costa crimes' segment, pointing out they don't leave any space for the player to be judged and clearly don't do this with every club or player. They didn't do it when Yaya Toure made a poor challenge against Norwich last season or when Van Persie made another terrible challenge against West Ham the other week. They also overlooked the Barnes tackle on Matic, which Mourinho called a 'criminal tackle', which it is if you compare it to Costa's stamp on Can against Liverpool which Sky highlighted, earning Costa a three match ban. All valid points I thought. So in the days that followed, what happened? Did Barnes get banned? No. The referee had apparently seen it so therefore no action was possible to be taken. Did Matic get his ban overturned due to the fact he pushed Barnes in the chest which is not a red card? No. Just reduced by one game. So Matic can't play against Spurs in the league cup final, despite the fact that Vertonghen did the same thing against West ham and yet is free to play for them in the final. Another point Mourinho made, and has made before is thoughts of a campaign. Well, I never bought it before but recent events have made me change my mind. Especially given a conspiracy theory I heard this week. The theory is that with Chelsea running away with the league, the league becomes boring and less people watch which generates less in revenue and media exposure, so if referees are instructed to make life difficult to peg them back, it makes the league interesting again and generates more exposure and revenue for the FA. It's happened before, with the dodgy ref we had against Barcelona in the champions league semi in 2009, at a time when Fifa were clearly against English sides dominating the champions league. So it wouldn't surprise, but one thing I am certain is the FA are the most incompetent organisation I have ever seen and are nothing more than a joke.

Speaking of Fifa, side tracking away from Chelsea for a second, the 2022/23 season will now have a winter world cup in the middle despite countless proof of corruption with the Qatar bid. Ridiculous. Football will be ruined that season. The sooner that clown Sepp Blatter is ousted, and they hire someone who embraces video technology, the better.

Back to Chelsea, Spurs in the league cup final at Wembley on Sunday, ten years after Chelsea defeated Liverpool in the league cup final to win Mourinho's first piece of silverware in his first spell. Will history repeat itself? Or will Spurs beat us in another final, which would be the third time if they do? Either way I am not as confident as I was a week ago. I think it will be extremely tight.

Anyways - come on the Chels!

Reaching Wembley, Keeping City at bay, beating Villa and Everton

Following on from our FA cup humiliation against Bradford was the small matter of playing Liverpool in the league cup semi final second leg at home. The league cup was Mourinho's first trophy for Chelsea and he had the chance to reach the final again in his second spell. As I expected following the Bradford disaster, Cahill was dropped in place of Zouma. Courtois returned and Filipe Luis earned a start, with the midfield and attack as expected. I attended this game, albeit with a severe throat virus which meant I couldn't talk to my brother, couldn't sing (or cheer if there was a goal) and due to being on antibiotics, couldn't drink either! Just my luck as well, as it turned out to be a great , tense game and atmosphere. One thing that annoyed me about Chelsea though was the over-reliance in this game on the 'tikka-taka' football, too many times players would try to thread the eye of the needle so to speak and thread the ball through, and it hardly ever came off. In fairness though, Liverpool defended superbly and made it incredibly hard for Chelsea to break them down. They were denied a penalty when Costa was fouled by Skrtel and Zouma did brilliantly to dispossess Sterling as he threatened to race away. The game started to heat up as Courtois denied Moreno and Courtinho with a couple of good saves and Oscar saw a free kick sail wide towards the end of the half. The second half was not much better as both teams continued to lock each other out, Costa and Hazard going close but no real clear cut chances. One fan sitting behind - just to go off on a side note here - did nothing but mouth off and scream abuse at Chelsea and was critical of every single mistake and every single decision he did not agree with through the entire 120 minutes, one of those fans that just moans non stop and can't be pleased. So - if you were sitting west stand lower towards the Matthew Harding lower and happened to have skin head, it was probably you and you were annoying as hell! Anyway, back to the game and it was pretty on a knife edge - and looked like it was take one moment to make the difference. Que extra time. Four minutes in and Willian sent a free kick in on the right and Ivanovic rose high to thunder home a header, which turned out to be the winning goal. He does get important goals Ivanovic, such an influential player. So Chelsea v Spurs in the league cup final, as Spurs came through their semi against Sheffield United. After the game, it was reported unfortunately that the referee had reported Costa for a step on Can, which had actually happened after 15 minutes. He was banned for three games and it prompted Mourinho to re-ignite his conspiracy theories of a campaign against Chelsea. Or maybe he didn't really believe it - he just wanted to take the attention off his team ahead of the next huge game ....

Chelsea v Man City. Five points ahead. The return of Lampard, what sort of reception would he get? No Costa (banned) and no Fabregas after he suffered a knock against Liverpool. Mourinho did not talk to the media ahead of this game following Costa's ban. The only good news was Yaya toure was still on African cup of nations duty. But given the set backs ahead of this game, I'd have taken a draw. Plus it seemed all set for a Lampard winner, and this was probably a serious worry for a lot of Chelsea fans. Ramires and Remy replaced Costa and Fabregas, otherwise it was the same team. The game felt pretty lacklustre, presumably as both teams were determined not to lose. Courtois saved from Navas and Ageuro while Hart saved from Oscar, then the best chance of the game fell to Aguero who shot wide with roughly half an hour gone. Against the run of the play, Chelsea took the lead 4 minutes before half time. A chipped ball over the top from Ivanovic found Hazard unmarked on the left inside of the penalty area, he deftly touched the ball left footed across the face of goal into the path of Remy who side footed home from close range. Had we gone in 1-0 at half time, it would have been a fantastic scoreline but we did not as City pegged us back right on half time. A cross from the right was touched but not gathered by the advancing Courtois, he may have been put off by Milner right in front of him, and the ball fell to Aguero whose shot was bundled into the empty net by Silva. A rare by Courtois and a costly one. The second half was all City as it looked like Chelsea were settling for a draw to keep City at bay. Lampard was introduced with 14 minutes left, to a good reception (although some boos) but overall a great reception and applause from all four stands and rightly so. The closest there came to a second half goal was Milner who shot wide late on. So the game finished 1-1 which was not a great performance but definitely a good result for Chelsea who may have been tired from extra time earlier in the week. Plus Lampard got to say goodbye properly to his former home. Mourinho still did not talk to the media afterwards as his Ferguson - esque mind games continued ....

Villa next, Cahill replaced Zouma, arguably given the fact Villa had not scored for something like 659 minutes, he was not likely to get tested. Drogba was preferred to Remy this time and our new signing from Fiorentina, Cuadrado, was on the bench (Chelsea's business at the end of the January transfer window had seen Schurrle finally offloaded for over £20 million to Wolfsberg - another great deal - with Cuadrado coming to Chelsea and Salah going out on loan to Fiorentina). Fabregas was still injured. Mourinho's press conference before the match made the headlines again, with a less-than-enthusiastic show in which he comedically stated 'I'm only here because I have to be here'. Classic Jose. In the match itself, we took the lead on 8 minutes, with Willian slipping in Hazard with a low pass, and the Belgian slotted home. Agbonlahor headed over in what was Villa's best chance of the first half, and Hazard and fed Ramires but Villa scrambled the ball clear before he had a shot on goal. Villa started the second half much brighter and were dutifully rewarded for their efforts. Weimann fired over and minutes later, a cross from the right was headed home by Akora unmarked at the back post. Chelsea responded to this setback though and Ramires, Matic and Willian all went close, with only Matic testing the keeper. Chelsea eventually did re-take the lead on 66 minutes as Azpilecueta (Dave) got forward and found himself on the by-line in the penalty area. He teed up Ivanovic and the Serbian unleashed a sweet left foot volley that soared into the top corner. A sublime goal, and it turned out to be the winner - another important Ivanovic strike. Cuadrado came on late and showed flashes of brilliance. Mourinho didn't bother shaking Lamberts hand at the end, after Lambert refused his offer of a handshake in the league game earlier in the season, but Mourinho did celebrate wildly at the end with the Chelsea fans. After the game, Mourinho stated Villa were a big club with good players, good training facilities and a good stadium. In other words - a rubbish manager. Lambert was relieved of his duties 4 days later. Also elsewhere that day, City were shocking held 1-1 at home to Hull, which meant our lead was now 7 points ...

Everton next and Cuadrado was given a start in place of Oscar who was dropped, Willian playing in the hole behind the strikers. Zouma returned in place of Cahill and Cech was given a rare start - Courtois had seemed surprisingly suspect when dealing with crosses against Villa after being so reliant throughout the season. His error against City may have affected him. Fabregas still not deemed fully fit was on the bench. This game I have to say was rather drab, aside from a Remy header early on that Howard finger tipped away, for all our attacking once we reached the final third, the attack often fizzled out due to a poor final ball or poor finish. The two best chances of the game arguably fell to Lukaku, the first in the first half as his right foot shot when through on goal was deflected over the bar by Cechs outstretched foot, and the second one in the second half when Cech made a point blank save from him inside the six yard box. I'd like to think Courtois would have made those saves as well though, but still stunning saves none the less. The former Chelsea number one has been patient all season, never moaned or complained and takes his chance dutifully when called upon. All the action for Chelsea in attack though came in the last 5 minutes. Firstly Matic thought he had won it for Chelsea with a deflected effort, but the goal was ruled out as it nicked off an offside Ivanovic on its way in. Minutes later, Barry was sent off for Everton for a second bookable offence, and then with a minute remaining, all four stands erupted as Willians low shot found its way through a packed penalty area, evading everyone including Howard and neatly into the bottom corner. Chelsea won the corresponding fixture last season with a 93rd minute goal and had won it this time with a 89th minute goal - so an improvement then!

They say the sign of a good team is a team that wins without playing well and this was certainly one of those games - could well be crucial at the end of the season ....