Posts Tagged ‘ Southampton ’

Match Report: Chelsea 2-2 Southampton

Swansea scored two second half goals to snatch a point at Stamford Bridge, and continue Chelsea’s poor home form.

Goals from substitute Ricky Lambert and Jason Puncheon rescued Saints from a two goal half-time deficit as Chelsea surrendered points from that position for only the third time in the Premier League.

With Pep Guardiola committing to a summer move to Bayern Munich earlier in the day, this seemed like an excellent opportunity for Benitez to stake his claim for the Stamford Bridge job next season. Well taken goals by Demba Ba, athletically turning in a Cesar Azpilicueta cross and then Eden Hazard’s controlled left foot volley just before half time suggested that Chelsea would pick up their second domestic home win under Benitez.

Much like with other matches at the Bridge though, while it was controlled the performance was not overly convincing, and the introduction of Lambert not long after half time changed the complexion of the game.

A powerful header less than three minutes after his introduction got the visitors back into contention, and though Ba volleyed over and Lampard fired a free kick just wide of goal, there was little attacking execution from Chelsea for much of the second half.

The complacency and lack of precision was to cost Chelsea as teenage left back, and admitted Chelsea fan, Luke Shaw made an excellent run down the wing and crossed the ball to Puncheon, whose control and volleyed finish drew the visitors level.

If throwing away a two goal lead at home against a team recently beaten 5-1 was bad enough for the home support, the manager’s decision to take off Frank Lampard with ten minutes to go and replace him with Fernando Torres did little to improve the atmosphere.

The ineffectiveness of this change, and the lack of any threat to win the game in as time ran down meant that at the final whistle boos rang out from what remained of the 38,484 in attendance. The solitary home domestic win under Benitez remains the 8-0 destruction of Aston Villa, and this result is added to draws against Man City and Fulham, along with defeats to Swansea and Queens Park Rangers. There will need to be a dramatic improvement in the results and performances at Stamford Bridge if Benitez hopes to keep the job past this summer.

2013
01/17
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Match Report: Southampton 1-5 Chelsea

Demba Ba scored twice on his debut as FA Cup holders Chelsea moved into the fourth round with a crushing victory over Southampton.

The Senegalese striker made his first start for his new club, along with the recalled Juan Mata and Eden Hazard leaving £50m man Fernando Torres on the bench. Despite the strengthened line up, it was the hosts who opened the scoring. An excellent through ball from Jason Puncheon was well finished by Jay Rodriguez, slotting past Ross Turnbull, continuing in goal for the injured Petr Cech.

The work rate and physicality of Ba, along with the movement of Mata and Hazard soon strained the Saints defence, and they got the breakthrough after being behind for less than 15 minutes. Good interplay by the two forwards worked a shooting opportunity for Mata, and he pushed the ball past keeper Artur Boruc and it was helped into the net by Ba for his first Chelsea goal, and his first career goal in the FA Cup.

Chelsea, four time winners in the last six years, took the lead just before half time, when Victor Moses showed excellent close control to take the ball down in the area and fire through a crowd into the bottom corner. Following the cliche that just before half time is an excellent time to score, the second half became one way traffic, with the holders looking to guarantee their place in the next round.

Branislav Ivanovic added the third with a strong header with seven minutes gone of the second half, again assisted by Mata, showing much of the invention and guile that had been missing in the defeat against QPR. Hazard was also adding his own touches of class to the game, and it was his pass that Ba converted for his second goal, getting to the ball just ahead of his marker to flick past Boruc.

When Steven Davis was adjudged to have handled just inside the area Frank Lampard stepped up to convert for Chelsea’s fifth of the game, and his 193rd goal for the club, taking him equal with Kerry Dixon as Chelsea’s second highest all time goalscorer. The chants of “Sign him up” from the 4,500 away fans show that there is still a support among the fans to keep Lampard at the club beyond the end of this season. His goal wrapped up a convincing win for the holders, and was the third time they scored five in an FA Cup tie in the last four games, with the victory over Liverpool in the final being the only exception. They will travel to either Southend or Brentford in the next round, once those teams have completed a replay.

2013
01/05
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