Posts Tagged ‘ Stoke ’

Match Report: Stoke 0-4 Chelsea

Chelsea ended Stoke City’s 17 game unbeaten home run in the Premier League, with added help from Jon Walters, who scored two own goals. The Republic of Ireland international, making his 100th Premier League appearance, had a day to forget as he also missed a penalty for the Potters.

To look at the score alone this would seem a comfortable away win for Chelsea, and a continuation of their excellent form away from Stamford Bridge. However, until Walters’ first own goal in the final minute of the first half, it was a much more even contest. Kenwyne Jones fired wide of goal and there was more work put in by the recalled Demba Ba in his own area than in Stokes.

Despite the home fans chants of “boring” whenever Chelsea retained the ball, there were opportunities as the half went on and the Blues found their rhythm. Frank Lampard and Ba were both denied by the legs of Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal.

There was nothing the Stoke keeper could do about Chelsea’s opener though. Eden Hazard and Cesar Azpilicueta combined down the right, and Walters powerfully headed the Spaniard’s cross into his own net as he attempted to prevent it reaching Juan Mata.

The second own goal came just after the hour, and just after Stoke thought they had been awarded a penalty. Referee Andre Marriner had pointed to the penalty spot for a foul by Azpilicueta on Matthew Etherington, but assistant referee Sian Massey had already flagged the winger as offside before the foul. Not long after a Mata corner was diverted off the head of Walters and into his own net as he challenged Lampard for the ball.

Lampard was not to be denied though and moved to second in the all time Chelsea goal scorers list when he converted a penalty a couple of minutes later to make it 3-0. Mata’s run into the box was halted by a push from former Chelsea defender Robert Huth, and Lampard powered the spot kick into the net.

The goal of the game was still to come though, as Hazard turned over 30 yards from goal and made the most of the time and space afforded to him by crashing an unstoppable drive into the top corner of Begovic’s net.

There was also still time for some late drama, and the return of John Terry after two months out injured. The Chelsea captain’s return might not have been a totally happy one, however, as he was adjudged to have fouled Walters in the area, but any chance at redemption was spurned by Walters as his spot kick clipped the bar on its way into the stand.

2013
01/12
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Inaccurate Flair vs Organised Dullness: Pick Your Style and Stick To It

Chelsea 1:0 Stoke (Saturday, 22nd September)

I think I am starting to understand how the Arsenal fans feel. Not on the failing to win anything for years front, but on the constant frustration at players who seem unwilling to shoot. Todays match against Stoke was an excellent demonstration of how Chelsea are trying to change their way of playing, but it also showed how far the team still has to come in order to really have arrived at a fully functioning post-Drogba system.
The starting line up of Mikel and Ramires deep, with Oscar, Hazard and Mata just behind Torres certainly hinted at attacking speed, movement and also more mobile support from midfield – I don’t think it is a big shock to anyone that Ramires covers ground faster than Frank Lampard, and also that he was wasted out on the right wing. Coming up against a typically organised and solid Stoke team, it seemed that the plan was to try and move both ball and players faster than their defence would be able to track. When faced with a team as defensive and solid as this Stoke team (for whom this was their first  league defeat of the season), this tactic didn’t seem to work.
I think this is down to the narrowness of the attack. Chelsea do not play with real wingers in their attacking midfield 3. They switch positions with comfort and regularity, but are not wingers in the truest sense – compared to Victor Moses, for instance, who added wing play when he came off the bench. This means that the width needs to be provided by Cole and Ivanovic overlapping, and drawing the Stoke fullbacks out of the side of the penalty areas, and then either laying the ball back inside to a forward in greater space, or attacking the byline. Here, however, both fullbacks either cut inside with the ball, or hung back, allowing Stoke to at times outnumber the Chelsea forward quartet 2-to-1, and crowd out any hope of the slick interplay we had been expecting to see. This also meant that for almost the entirety of the game, the Stoke defenders could hold on the edge of the penalty area, facing away from their own goal, since there was no chance of them being turned. For the goal, there is finally some width added, and a ball played through that forced the centre-backs to face their own goal, and while helped by another excellent little touch from Mata, I think it was the width of Moses and Ivanovic down the right that finally unlocked the Stoke defence.
This isn’t to say that Stoke didn’t have chances – they had almost as many chances on target (6 to Chelsea’s 9), and hit the woodwork. They might not be the most attractive side to watch, but they are effective in what they do – get the ball forward towards Crouch, look for either the knock down or draw the foul, then send forward the height and take on your opponents from set pieces. This is why Charlie Adam won’t have to do too much adapting to fit into the Stoke style of play: get the ball forward and then support is his main game already, along with a fine line in niggling fouls (Sorry, ‘robust challenges’). They are a more expansive team than they were when they entered the Premier League, but there is still a solidity and toughness to Stoke that won’t be going away any time soon, and while it is frustrating to play against, it does take a lot of work to get past, especially if your team is not playing precise, controlled and high tempo football, which for swathes of todays match, Chelsea aspired to rather than actually achieving.
That being said, there is the root of something entertaining growing at Stamford Bridge. For a first outing of this attacking group together, there were positives and plenty of connections. The next step is to bring Torres into the game more, as well as find a way of adding more variety to the ways in which they can attack you – and this is an area where I believe Sturridge, Moses and Marin will be able to contribute with more direct running at defenders, as well as adding pace and width. Then all we need to do is worry about the goals.
2012
09/22
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