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 ....
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