Chelsea make the most of generous defending Chelsea took advantage of their main title rivals cup commitments and beat Tottenham 4-0 to establish a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League. While the scoreline might signify an emphatic win, in truth such a result looked like pure fantasy at half-time. The Blues had been lacking in invention and sloppy in their general play having been deployed in a surprisingly defensive set-up. Choosing to play 4-3-3 at home against Spurs was a curious decision from Jose Mourinho considering that he normally uses that system away against a dangerous attacking side. By choosing caution over their natural game the initiative was ceded to the visitors though with Tim Sherwood also electing to flood the midfield, the game devolved into a war of attrition. Neither side created much in front of goal save for Eden Hazards early miss after rounding Hugo Lloris. The great thing about Mourinho is that he is always willing to admit his mistakes during the game. Having seen his side meander blindly through the first half he promptly brought off a below-par Frank Lampard and brought on Oscar, dropping Ramires deeper into midfield as the more familiar 4-2-3-1 shape was restored. Immediately, Chelsea looked more of a threat with Oscar shrugging off his his recent indifferent form to breathe fresh life into the attack. The added movement supplied by the Brazilian ensured that Tottenham could no longer keep playing on the front foot, the home side keeping the ball far better than they had in the opening 45 minutes. Even so it still took a moment of good fortune to break the deadlock. The pitch looked in pristine condition though several players found themselves losing their footing throughout the match. Crucially it was Jan Vertonghen who slipped at just the wrong moment under good pressure from Andre Schurrle with his scrambled attempted back pass finding only Samuel Etoo, who slipped the ball through two sets of legs to open the scoring. It proved to be a pivotal moment with the momentum swinging decisively behind the hosts. Chelsea had applied pressure to force the mistake and they never looked back. Any hope that Spurs had was extinguished with the scoring of the second goal and the sending off of Younes Kaboul for a clumsy challenge on Etoo in the penalty area. From then on it was a. question of how many Chelsea were going to score. Pleasingly, it was one of Chelseas forgotten players who netted a brace to complete the rout. Demba Ba has been starved of opportunities to impress and whenever he has been given chance he has generally tried that little bit too too hard to get on the scoresheet. Today, however, he benefitted from two more cataclysmic errors by the Tottenham defence, pouncing on Sandros slip before nutmegging Lloris and then mugging the goalkeeper after a comically misguided header from Kyle Walker. It was just reward for the Sengalese hitman, who had proved a handful since his introduction and it means that Chelsea have now seen all three of their strikers find the net in the last 10 days. With both Schurrle and Hazard having struck hat-tricks in recent weeks, the Blues seem to be discovering their golden touch in front of goal just at the right time. The win and the thumping nature of it means that there is no denying that Chelsea now have a glorious chance to win their first title for four years, regardless of what Mourinho might say. There is certainly sense in his approach as he tries to take the pressure off his players though the noisy crowd at Stamford Bridge -- fuelled by some extra time spent in the pub before the game thanks to the late kick-off -- were left in no doubt about the potential for success. If they are to realise that goal, then Chelsea will need to start putting in full 90-minute performances. For the second week running the Blues have begun slowly before accelerating in the second half. They might never have looked like conceding though it only takes a silly mistake to turn a slow start into a dreadful one. Still, another clean sheet and another three points leaves the Blues in pole position, a place which a Mourinho team rarely yields. Nine more results like this and the dream might just become a reality.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 06:25:32 +0000
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