Matchday #14
Tottenham vs Chelsea 29/11/15
A Sunday lunchtime kick off witnessed Chelsea claim a well-earned point with a goalless draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane . The Blues came into the game as underdogs, with their indifferent form suggesting that coming up against a confident Spurs team would have an unsurprising result. However, Chelsea put in a defensively sound performance to keep a high flying Harry Kane (and his teammates) very quiet. In fact, Chelsea had opportunities to get on the scoresheet ahead of their London rivals which would have given them a fair reward for an assured performance.
Sunday lunchtime’s kick off between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur had Jose Mourinho send his team out in an unusual style. Despite scoring the match winner in the last Premier League game against Norwich, Diego Costa was kept on the bench, with Mourinho opting to set up his team without a recognised striker. Hazard was chosen to play as a false number 9, whilst in the absence of the injured John Terry, Gary Cahill returned to the starting lineup. What may have seemed like a strange omission up front, it proved to be effective, as the Chelsea forward line were dangerous on the counter whilst the back four and midfield pair of Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas did well to protect the clean sheet.
Chances for Eden Hazard and Pedro in the first half saw the ball fly just above the bar on both occasions, as the two diminutive players were Chelsea’s best threat going forward. Eden Hazard hasn’t scored in 24 games for Chelsea and with chances falling his way, he continued the struggle to break his duck and open the scoresheet. At the other end of the field, Asmir Begovic was called upon to keep the scoresheet level with chances saved from Harry Kane and Spur’s player Heung-Min Son. The half came to a close with little to shout about, but with Chelsea much happier of the two sides.
The second half saw much of the same between the two London clubs. Chelsea continued to frustrate Spurs while chances on target were few and far between for the Blues side. A Hazard volley was the closest Chelsea came in the first half of snatching a win in North London. Ivanovic crossed the ball in from the right hand side towards the edge of the Spurs’ penalty area. The ball fell beautifully for the Belgian on the left hand side of the field and he caught it brilliantly well, only for it to be saved by the Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris’. It was Chelsea’s best chance of the half and possibly the entire game, as without Lloris’ agile save, it could have easily been one nil.
With the game fading away for both sides and as they fought each other for possession, Diego Costa, on the bench following Mourinho’s omission, decided he was going steal the headlines from a cohesive and solid Chelsea performance. After coming back from his warm-up routine, only for it to become apparent that he was to see no action in the game, the fiery Spanish striker, in act of frustration, threw his bib off in a pathetically petulant manner with it almost landing on the head of manager Jose Mourinho. God help Costa had it hit the Portuguese man. Mourinho’s pride alone would see Costa punished for weeks with that stunt. However the wind swept bib missed the Special One with Mourinho non-fussed about the matter, “If he (Diego Costa) wants to hurt me, it would not be with a bib.” A smart response from Mourinho, though he will not be impressed with yet another damning act as Diego Costa seems adamant in seeing his name on the back pages every week, and for whatever reason.
Diego Costa’s petulance will steal the attention away from what was a improved Chelsea performance. The team seemed much more cohesive in defence, though clearly missed the presence of a striker in order to threat the Spur’s goal. However it was a game plan that paid off. Having Pedro on the flank, rather than Hazard, the team defensively works better, as Hazard’s defensive positioning never troubled the team’s organisation. Matic and Fabregas played well together in protecting the back four despite the ex Barcelona man having the most inaccurate passes than any other player on the pitch. Nevertheless defensively he was sound and helped his Chelsea side leave The Lane with a point and an improved mentality to approach the upcoming festive period.
Next up is a game against struggling Bournemouth side, where you would expect Chelsea to ease to a win, even in our current form. A win and big performance from the sulky Diego Costa is necessary to see us progress up the table and towards the top half of the table.The draw earned at Spurs will help our belief that the bad times have passed. Now to find our shooting boots. #COYB
The Blue Daze 