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- PSG set to trigger record Neymar Fee!
- Mourinho thrives with a Prag-Matic approach!
- The Loan Ranger: Game of Loans!
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- Man United, Arsenal, and Huddersfield are all in a dash to splash the cash!
MOTD: West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea
It was anything but a promising day for Chelsea: greeted in a hostile London derby, West Ham United maybe put a little more into every tackle than necessary. Certainly, Sam Allardyce’s men gave Chelsea a run for their money with all their known strength and will, and at times dominated the league leaders; but sometimes, in the worst of situations, the best virtues shine through, and that adage held true tonight.
Chelsea were resolute, and got the result. It is easy to imagine a team like Manchester United or Arsenal — even Manchester City of late — faltering under late pressure, but not so Chelsea. It even came down to Thibaut Courtois in a few moments, but nothing West Ham did could break down Chelsea. Jose Mourinho’s teams have always had strong defenses, and their qualities at the back shone through the rain today, even without Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel. When Kurt Zouma went down in the first half, Mourinho lacked a realistic backup and could be found relieved his already makeshift defensive midfielder was able to continue. This was Chelsea stretched, and yet one could hardly notice, such was the depth of their squad.
So while it was a tighter game than most that Chelsea play, the result was a resounding success. With the hangover from a League Cup victory at the weekend included, if there was any week Chelsea may have let their grasp on the title slip a bit, they ultimately proved to tighten it. Now a potential eight-point gap (adding Chelsea’s game-in-hand) stands between Chelsea and closest rivals Manchester City at the top of the table, approaching on the horizon the point where it becomes unbridgeable.
Up front the storyline remained much the same for Chelsea: Eden Hazard terrorized West Ham’s back-line all day and Cesc Fabregas and Ramires plucked Allardyce’s men apart, though Diego Costa was surprisingly ineffective. Nonetheless, The Blues were lightning quick on the break. Twenty-two minutes in, it took just seconds for Chelsea to score after clearing a West Ham corner. With Hazard bringing the ball up the pitch, as he found to be his biggest role today, it eventually found its way to Cesc Fabregas, who played it wide to Ramires. In turn, Ramires dinked a lovely cross into Hazard, who buried a header from close range after continuing his run.
The match may have been a classic Mourinho win, though, considering West Ham proceeded to pressure Chelsea. Right before the opening goal The Hammers had bombarded Chelsea’s goal, forcing Courtois to be quick off his line multiple times. Thirty-six minutes in, Diafra Sakho rose up completely unmarked to meet Carl Jenkinson’s exquisite cross, only to put a header close enough towards the center of goal for Courtois somehow to find a way to jab it away.
On the other side of the half, John Terry did just enough to put Cheikhou Kouyaté off on the turn, before Courtois was forced into a sprawling save to deny Sakho’s poked effort after Jenkinson’s cross was deflected down into the mixer. Soon afterward, Cahill was at full stretch to block Sakho’s tap-in after Courtois spilled Enner Valencia’s dipping and bouncing effort, and Sakho headed over late on. Yet if there is one thing Chelsea excels at — though there are many — it would be holding onto a lead. If anything, they could have doubled their tally only for Jenkinson’s vital intervention as Costa found himself in on goal in stoppage time.
Man of the Match: Carl Jenkinson
Homepage photo credit: @cfcunofficial on Flickr