Sunday 14 August 2011

Match coverage - Stoke vs. Chelsea

Overview

The Andres Villas-Boas reign begins at Chelsea as the young Portuguese manager takes his team to the Britannia to face one of the Premier League’s toughest physical threats, Stoke.

Already putting a mark on the starting line-up, AVB has omitted Didier Drogba, giving Torres the lead role in the 4-3-3 system Chelsea are famous for. Some may argue that Jose Mourinho’s tactics still heavily influences this Chelsea side as the majority of the Chosen One's players are still present in this squad. It seems certain that AVB will reinforce his team before the end of the transfer window as he suggested this morning during a press briefing that he wants a central midfielder and a winger to compliment an already impressive squad.

Stoke begin this season knowing that in the last three years they have comfortably become a staple team in the Premier League. It is time however, for Tony Pulis to push his squad for a top half of the table finish. Some argue that Stoke’s style of play epitomizes British football with a tough work etiquette and incredible physical power that can simply dominate unprepared teams. The trademark Delap throw will surely cause problems once again this season for every team coming to the Britannia.

Team Line-ups

GK: Begovic
RB: Huth CB: Shawcross CB: Woodgate LB: Wilson
RM: Pennant CM: Whelan CM: Delap LM: Etherington
ST: Walters ST: Jones

GK: Cech
RB: Bosingwa CB: Alex CB: Terry LB: Cole
CM: Ramires CM: Mikel CM: Lampard
RW: Kalou ST: Torres LW: Malouda

Key Moments

1st half

01.20 opportunity: Delap throws in the first of many of his trademark throws – Cech commits and punches the ball clear.

08.02 opportunity: Torres stretches his legs beating 2 players and after a cleared cross Bosingwa latches onto the end of a loose ball fiercely forcing Begovic to clear off the post for a Chelsea corner.

9.40 yellow card: Shawcross hacks Torres down and picks up the first yellow card, horrible challenge but the Spaniard is up.

10.20 opportunity: Torres turns on the edge of the box and dispatches a low drive that goes a yard wide of the left post.

12.20 penalty shout: Kalou goes down softly and appeals for a penalty – referee waves him up and the game continues with a goal kick.

13.30 opportunity: Delap launches another rocket throw into the box and Huth connects with his head but floats it over Cech’s bar.

20.00 opportunity: Etherington whips in a free kick across goal but Cech gets fists to it. A second ball comes back in but Cech smothers.

21.50 opportunity: Jones brings down a long ball and a cross from the left wing allows Walters to challenge Cech who collects the floating ball.

23.00 opportunity: Lampard delivers a great ball across goal and Torres almost gets his head to it – Ashley Cole attempts to bicycle kick it back into the danger area but Stoke clear.

24.02 opportunity: Ashley Cole switches off allowing Walters to run unopposed on the right wing crossing low and forcing Cech to palm the ball away.

31.03 opportunity: Ramires wriggles his way through the box and drills the ball across the face of goal – the lack of blue shirts in the six-yard box suggested no one expected it.

32.10 opportunity: Chelsea free kick from Lampard from the left side is met by Delap’s head as he clears it to touch.

38.00 penalty appeal: Pennant’s cross is met by Walters who flicks the ball off the top of Terry’s arm but from a different angle it looks like it could have been the chest – 50-50 call.

38.50 penalty appeal: Shawcross gets tangled with Terry and falls claiming he was tugged to the ground – referee waves the second claim away.

46.00 opportunity: Torres beats 3 players in the box but is incredibly unlucky when a random deflection forces the ball off his shin for a goal kick and the end of the half.

Half-time score: Stoke 0 – 0 Chelsea

1st half synopsis

A goalless first half has seen few chances to bother Begovic with Cech having to pluck the ball out of the air multiple times from Stoke’s dangerous dead-ball plays. Stoke have certainly pressured Chelsea and caused problems but nothing dangerous has really forced Cech into action. Chelsea’s lack in height and no Ivanovic and Drogba has made contending with Stoke’s bulky back line an issue, resulting in no clear chances for the Blues. Torres has looked lively however, linking other players into the game very well while holding the ball up when required.

2nd half

50.00 opportunity: Both teams have started the second half with a point to prove but Chelsea have the first few opportunities with Ramires skewering a shot wide past the left post.

51.00 penalty appeal: Torres turns his defender on the edge of the box and is tripped inside – the referee waves away Torres’s claims but it did look like he was tripped.

53.05 penalty appeal: Malouda whips in a corner that lands at Torres’s feat – the Spaniard swings a leg and hits the floor claiming his feet were taken from under him. A difficult decision for the referee to make considering the amount of activity in the six-yard box.

54.00 penalty appeal: Lampard goes down in the box but the referee waves away another appeal! Replay shows slight contact but Lampard was through and in control of the ball.

54.30 opportunity: Mikel meets an exceptional volley with his right boot and forces a fantastic save from Begovic.

61.00 injury substitute: Dean Whitehead comes on to take Etherington’s place, as the winger has seemed to dislocate his shoulder. With rib problems during pre-season there’s no doubt Etherington is fragile.

63.50 opportunity: Malouda lines up a belter from 30 yards but it ends up right in front of Begovic, easy save.

64.40 substitute: Malouda makes way for his fellow countryman Nicolas Anelka – while seemingly out of favour at Stamford Bridge, this substitution certainly suggests otherwise.

65.23 yellow card: Ashley Cole takes Pennant down to stop a potential counter attack – replay shows he gets the ball first but the follow-through was dangerous.

66.50 opportunity: Delap launches another throw into the box and the referee refuses to protect Cech in a challenge – the ball bobbles on the edge of the six-yard box but no Stoke player gets to it – Chelsea clear.

69.22 injury concern: Delap has gone down with a potential hamstring tweak, bad news for Stoke.

69.45 substitute: Rory Delap comes off for Danny Pugh, Stoke lose their catapult throw and Chelsea must be delighted.

71.10 opportunity: Anelka curls a ball from his left side and forces a fantastic save from Begovic who tips the ball onto the bar.

71.50 opportunity: Torres supplies Kalou with a fantastic cross who meets the ball with power forcing another great save by Begovic who holds onto the ball – a decent height for the keeper.

75.00 substitute: Kalou leaves the pitch and on comes Didier Drogba. Some would argue he should have been playing right from the beginning but there’s no doubt that a fresh Drogba will cause the tired Stoke players serious problems.

76.11 opportunity: Whelan finally gives Cech a handle on the ball as his shot goes down the centre comfortably into the keeper’s hands.

78.10 opportunity: Torres goes on another one of his fantastic runs winning Chelsea a corner. Jones clears Lampard’s whipped cross.

78.54 yellow card: Wilson body checks Bosingwa and earns himself a yellow card.

80.37 opportunity: Chelsea free kick is smashed by Didier Drogba into the hands of Begovic, great accuracy but not enough to challenge the keeper.

83.00 opportunity: Lovely ball in by Huth forces Cech to climb high and grab the ball before Shawcross got his head to it.

85.05 opportunity: The ball fumbles to Alex who lines up one of his trademark rocket shots but it goes well over the bar.

85.40 substitute: Kenwyne Jones makes way for Ryan Shotton, another tall player joins the fight to try and keep Chelsea at bay who have been so dominant this half.

86.53 yellow card: Lampard is booked for throwing the ball away, silly booking to pick up.

87.55 opportunity: Shotton mimics Delap and launches a huge throw into the box that beats Cech but fortunately the keeper is fouled.

88.18 substitute: Chelsea’s best player today Torres leaves the pitch and makes way for the creative playmaker Benayoun, can he unlock this game in the remaining minutes?

93.00 opportunity: Drogba goes down just outside the box and earns himself a free kick. Alex steps forward but will Drogba give the Brazilian this opportunity? Drogba hits it against the wall and Ramires fires in the rebound well wide.

Final Score: Stoke 0 – 0 Chelsea

2nd half synopsis

The second half began with plenty of electricity and excitement. Numerous penalty decisions waved away by the referee and end-to-end stuff had the fans on their feet for an engulfing opening 15 minutes. At least one penalty should have been awarded for the Blues but nevertheless Stoke did very well to keep Chelsea at bay while they continued to press right up until the final whistle.

A goalless draw is certainly a fair and good result for both teams as going to the Britannia is never an easy fixture and holding Chelsea anywhere is always a good result. Villas-Boas probably feels like he deserved all three points but this result is far from a disaster in the opening of the campaign.

Star player: Fernando Torres was certainly Chelsea’s best player showing a creative spark and a determination to score and link with his teammates. He deserved to win a penalty and was unfortunate for not doing so.

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