Showing posts with label Carlo Ancelotti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlo Ancelotti. Show all posts
Fulham passed up a glorious opportunity to beat Chelsea in the Premier League as a missed penalty in stoppage time resulted in a goalless draw at Craven Cottage.
When the otherwise impeccable debutant David Luiz brought down Clint Dempsey in the third minute of time added on, it appeared Fulham would snatch an unlikely victory against their rivals from down the road.
But the American's spot kick was saved by Petr Cech and both sides had to settle for a point in a match that Chelsea bossed in terms of possession but, with Fernando Torres again toiling up front, they struggled to find a way through a resolute Fulham back line.
The result sees Chelsea stay in fifth, now two points behind Tottenham, who occupy the fourth Champions League spot. Fulham remain 12th.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti opted to drop Didier Drogba to the bench to accommodate £50 million man Torres, who was supported from wide areas by Nicolas Anelka and the recalled Florent Malouda.
The long-term ramifications of that decision are not as yet known, but the Ivorian is not one to settle for a bit part role and a summer transfer saga could now be on the horizon.
On the day, Ancelotti's choice backfired and Torres, clearly bereft of confidence, looked a long distance away from justifying that hefty price tag.
Playing up front on his own until he was withdrawn with just under 20 minutes remaining, he was well marshalled by the Fulham duo of Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland and often cut an isolated figure.
Just twice in the first half did he have a sniff of goal, both late on; at the first attempt indecision let him down and for the second his touch deserted him at the crucial moment.
Otherwise, Chelsea had little to write home about during an opening period that failed to produce much noteworthy action at either end.
Just a Damien Duff shot that Petr Cech found too hot to handle on 24 minutes and a mis-hit Branislav Ivanovic cross that tested Mark Schwarzer at the other end were worthy of pricking the neutral's interest.
Chelsea started the second half in much more attacking mood - although Torres was unable to benefit from the improved service. The Spain international fired off target before heading over the bar soon after the restart.
With Fulham happy to sit in their own half after the break, Chelsea enjoyed far more possession but they were unable to convert that into anything more meaningful.
Malouda fired wide while Michael Essien should perhaps have done better with a header that glanced off his forehead and wide of the far post as chances came, but were not taken.
The introduction of Drogba in place of Torres on 71 minutes should have given Chelsea more of a cutting edge, but even the Ivorian could not find a way through. A run to the by-line and a dangerous cross that failed to find a team-mate was the best he could muster.
As time ran out, Fulham became ever more dangerous on the break, with Dempsey in particular finally beginning to cause a few problems. The American had already forced Cech to beat away a fierce drive with seven minutes left before he was handed a golden opportunity to extend Fulham's impressive winning streak at home.
But his penalty was poor, Cech made a crucial save and Fulham's fourth straight home win in the Premier League failed to materialise.
Fernando Torres had a Chelsea debut to forget as his new club were beaten 1-0 by former employers Liverpool in the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
After a week of expectation surrounding the Spain striker's British record move to west London, it was Raul Meireles who was the hero thanks to his 69th-minute strike which sealed fourth-straight win for Kenny Dalglish's side and a league double for the Reds over their rivals from the capital.
The fact that Liverpool managed the victory without either of their own big-money signings in action will make victory all the sweeter. Andy Carroll is still missing through injury, while Luis Suarez was an unused substitute. Chelsea's other major January addition, David Luiz, was introduced after his new team were already behind.
The win moves Liverpool up to sixth in the table, while Chelsea remain fourth and 10 points behind leaders Manchester United following their defeat at Wolves on Saturday.
With all the attention focused on Torres's debut against his former club, and following an extraordinary set of results from Saturday's fixtures, it was perhaps no surprise that much of this clash was something of an anti-climax.
The recent history between these two clubs has served up its fair share of thrilling encounters, but equally there have been several damp squibs, and this match largely fell into the latter category.
However, Liverpool fans will not care about that after Torres had his inauspicious first appearance ended when he was substituted on 66 minutes, having had just 29 touches of the ball.
Even when freed from the restraints of trying to accommodate their new acquisition, Chelsea's attack continued to lack potency and invention as they struggled to find ways through Liverpool's five-man defence.
It looked as though Torres's Chelsea career was set to get off to a dream start when, in the second minute, Maxi Rodriguez played the ball right to the feet of his former team-mate. Torres headed for goal but, with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel in front of him, he could bend his shot off target.
The returning Carragher, making his first appearance since November, was the bookies' favourite to foul Torres first, but it was Daniel Agger who took that dubious honour when he barged the Spaniard over midway through the half. The resulting free-kick led to a corner from which Branislav Ivanovic glanced wide.
Soon afterwards Didier Drogba played Torres through and the £50 million man got in behind Skrtel to shoot on the turn, but his strike was blocked by the diving Carragher.
Maxi's day went from bad to worse when Steven Gerrard's dangerous low ball across the six-yard box was turned on to the bar by the Argentine midfielder from point-blank range with the goal at his mercy.
The second half again failed to ignite, with clear chances few and far between. Glen Johnson fired a shot from range wide before Drogba had an effort inside the box blocked by Martin Kelly and Anelka fired wide from distance.
Torres's poor afternoon was ended on 66 minutes when he was replaced by Salomon Kalou, and he had barely got settled on his new team's bench when Liverpool went in front.
Petr Cech and Ivanovic had been at each other's throats in the first half when they got in each other's way trying to clear the ball, and their poor communication cost them a goal and ultimately the match. Both players left it to the other to deal with Gerrard's cross and the ball run between them and through to Meireles who finished to score his fourth goal in his last five games. It was the first league goal scored by a Liverpool player at Stamford Bridge since Bruno Cheyrou's strike in 2004.
The visiting fans, who had brought banners bearing slogans such as "He Who Betrays Will Always Walk Alone" and "Torres: a pawn on our chess board but the King remains", goaded their former idol with chants of "Torres, what's the score?", and Chelsea were unable to stem the abuse aimed at the bench by finding an equaliser.
The closest they came was when Anelka played through substitute Florent Malouda, whose shot at the near post was parried by Reina, and their desperate claims for a late penalty when Ivanovic was barged over by Johnson were ignored by the referee.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti vented his frustration at the fourth official, but he has now been left in no doubt about the task on his hands in fitting his new marquee signing into his team.
Chelsea won only their second Premier League game in 10 as second-half set-pieces helped them to a 2-0 victory at home to Blackburn Rovers.
Florent Malouda was the architect with his pin-point corners, the first resulting in a goal for Branislav Ivanovic and the second helping Nicolas Anelka break a nine-game goalless streak that ran concurrently with Chelsea’s slump.
The victory moves Chelsea into the top four, although Tottenham Hotspur would leapfrog them if they beat leaders Manchester United on Sunday.
Chelsea’s worst run of league form for a decade saw them lose to Wolves last time out, but they were coming off the back of a 7-0 Cup win over Ipswich so - for the most part - were the controlling force.
Still, in the first half it was not saying much, Ramires’s rising drive off the bar on two minutes the only action of note as Rovers parked the bus in front of their goal for the first half hour.
Afterwards it opened up a touch as, with Rovers midfielder David Dunn off injured, the hosts were able to find more killer passes in midfield.
Didier Drogba was denied a free run at goal by a wonderful Gael Givet tackle, Anelka fired just wide after cutting in from the right flank and Frank Lampard headed over after Jose Bosingwa’s excellent cross capped off a slick passing move.
For their part Rovers - who had left under-fire forward El-Hadji Diouf as an unused substitute - managed one effort that truly tested Petr Cech when the Chelsea defence inexplicably parted for David Hoilett, whose low drive was well-saved by the Czech goalkeeper.
The best chance fell three minutes before the break and it fell to Chelsea as Anelka, meeting a low Bosingwa cross on the run, flicked an inventive finish over Paul Robinson but off the angle of post and bar.
Chelsea continued to apply the pressure in the second half, Anelka again shooting just wide, this time beyond the far post from a tight angle on the right.
Rovers occasionally threatened, with Mame Biram Diouf off target after Ryan Nelsen and Ivanovic collided at a corner, but the hosts took a deserved if unstylish lead just before the hour mark.
Malouda’s left-wing corner was flicked on by John Terry and Morten Gamst Pedersen’s failed attempt to clear allowed Ivanovic to pick the ball up on the right: with Nelsen, Michel Salgado and Robinson in his way, the Serbia defender squeezed out a low finish that trickled past the defenders and in off the keeper’s hand.
Despite the presence of new re-signing Roque Santa Cruz, Rovers were barely able to cross halfway as Chelsea went close through Anelka, Terry and Lampard.
Santa Cruz, on as a half-time sub for Nikola Kalinic, looked well short of match-sharpness and barely got a touch as Blackburn struggled to leave their own half.
Any nerves Chelsea were softened with a quarter of an hour left as, after Robinson spared Chris Samba’s blushes following a dreadful backpass into Drogba’s path, the corner that followed was met by a powerful Ivanovic header that Anelka flicked over the line.
Blackburn had all-but given up the ghost as Chelsea went through the motions, tentatively seeking a third but content with the win.
Chelsea went five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Florent Malouda joined Carlos Tevez at the top of the scoring charts after he netted his seventh league goal of the season midway through the first half, before Salomon Kalou came off the bench to make sure of the win.
With second-placed Manchester City playing Arsenal on Sunday, the Blues know they will at least retain the two-point advantage they went into the weekend once the rest of this round of fixtures is completed.
The champions seemed content for Wolves to keep the ball and hit them on the break. Although it was a tactic that paid off, they could have gone behind on six minutes when Matt Jarvis's cross was diverted goalwards, but John Terry was on hand to block it.
Jose Bosingwa completed his return from a long-term injury lay-off by making his first start for Chelsea in a year, and he made his presence felt.
The Portuguese full-back played a neat one-two with Didier Drogba - also returning after missing Chelsea's last two matches through an illness - and he fired in a low strike that Marcus Hahnemann blocked well with his feet.
Terry headed wide from a Drogba free-kick delivery, but the offside flag was already up, before David Edwards could only head a tame effort at Petr Cech from Jarvis's cross.
Jelle van Damme rose to meet another good Jarvis ball but could not get sufficient power on it, and Chelsea raced right up the other end and scored.
Nicolas Anelka charged up the left wing before feeding Yuri Zhirkov, who pulled his pass back from the by-line to tee up Malouda for a simple finish.
The home crowd made it a debut to remember for Stephen Hunt. The Ireland winger collided with Cech while playing for Reading four years ago, with the scrum cap the Czech keeper still wears today a reminder of the skull injury he received in that notorious incident.
Hunt is well used to the abuse from the Blues faithful, having scored at the Bridge on his debut for Hull City last season, and he almost repeated the trick just moments after replacing Van Damme for the second half.
Richard Stearman flicked on a corner at the near post and Hunt dived in to meet the ball with a header that was blocked on the line by Michael Essien.
Not long afterwards, Kevin Doyle forced a good low save at the near post from Cech as Wolves continued to press in the knowledge that, as long as Chelsea's lead was still just the odd goal, they had a chance of levelling.
However, for all the chances they created, they were not able to test Cech sufficiently, with Nenad Milijas firing a pair of strikes too close to the keeper, and Doyle glancing a header from a corner right at him.
In the midst of all this, the threat of a killer second from Carlo Ancelotti's side was ever-present. Malouda fired an effort wide while Hahnemann had to come out of his area to block at the feet of Drogba.
Kalou finally put the result beyond doubt when he capped off a flowing move which saw Drogba find Essien with his back to goal. Essien played a first-time pass into Kalou's path, and the Ivorian swept the ball through the legs of Hahnemann.
I think we demonstrated on Saturday that you can play well and lose the match.
The Chelsea game should have been over within a minute - we had the first two chances and we missed that header from six yards. I think Koscielny was too much turned towards the corner instead of turning his body and facing the goal. He did not adjust to the ball.
I think we were a bit unfortunate as well because there was a foul on Song from Ramieres in the build-up to Chelsea's first goal. After that we made a mistake that should not happen at the near post and Drogba took advantage of it.
For much of the second half it was one-way traffic and in the last 10 to 15 minutes Chelsea were counter-attacking. But we missed too many chances at that level and in the final third you need to be more clinical offensively and defensively.
We had a great team performance and great energy. But we have to be more clinical to win titles - we can't lose a game like that.
We are a team that wants to have the ball and doesn't hide away from home. Any side who goes to Stamford Bridge and sits back gets punished. If you allow them to play in your half they have the quality with their strikers and take advantage of mistakes.
So I decided to play in their half and overall I think we did it very well. You want to be rewarded when you produce a game of that quality and when you go home with no points we have to analyse why and be more clinical. The basis is there, the collective team quality is there but we have to transform that into points.
I wasn't angry with my team. I felt sorry for them because they had an outstanding attitude and an outstanding display. You can only congratulate them for that attitude. I feel sorry for the fact that they have not been rewarded but we live in a realistic world and when you don't score and don't take your chances then you don't win big games.
Jack Wilshere showed once again that he is a big-game player. He finished a bit tired because he gave everything but he's 18 years of age. You can only say 'Congratulations Jack' and keep going.
Abou Diaby also played well in midfield but he has a bad ankle and looks to be a doubt for the French national team.
Braces from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda helped Chelsea thrash Portsmouth 5-0 at Fratton Park as the Blues move to within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Torrential rain on the South Coast provided conditions not conducive to good football: Pompey goalkeeper David James was the first victim as he swished his foot wildly at a ball outside his box, only to see it bounce beyond his air-shot and leave Drogba with a simple tap-in after 32 minutes.
That calamitous mistake from the England hopeful was followed by a more conventional goal in the 50th minute as Malouda lashed home an emphatic finish from a tight angle, and a third swiftly followed as the Frenchman followed up Frank Lampard's rasping strike on the hour mark.
Drogba drilled the fourth past James with a clinical finish in the 77th minute, and the instrumental Lampard deservedly capped off the emphatic victory with a close-range header in stoppage time.
Carlo Ancelotti inevitably welcomed back goalkeeper Petr Cech, while Daniel Sturridge was handed a starting berth alongside Drogba as the impotent of late Nicolas Anelka was confined to the bench.
Chelsea dictated the play in the early stages, Drogba muscling his way through on goal in belligerent fashion only to drag his shot wide of James's far post in the sixth minute.
Yuri Zhirkov was an enterprising presence down the left, and the full-back burst into the Portsmouth penalty area at pace five minutes later, but could not steady himself to pick out a clinical finish.
It looked like Chelsea were bracing themselves for a frustrating evening before James hurtled off his line and took a wild swipe at Deco's through ball - then had to look back in horror as Drogba jogged in to tap the ball into an empty net just after the half-hour mark.
The beleaguered Pompey keeper made a stunning reflex save to deny Lampard in the 36th minute and make partial atonement for his aberration after the Chelsea midfielder drove a low shot towards the near post, only to see it tipped wide at the last second.
The Portsmouth supporters were irate in the 40th minute as Malouda was only shown a booking for unceremoniously flooring Ricardo Rocha with a high elbow. The defender was stretchered off, and Avram Grant made an enforced reshuffle.
The second half continued where the first left off with Portsmouth forced to chase shadows for long periods, and both sides made early changes with Joe Cole replacing Sturridge for the visitors.
Within five minutes of the restart Malouda latched on to a pinpoint pass from Lampard down the left, and the Frenchman proceeded to unleash a fierce shot which comprehensively beat James at his near post.
Lampard slipped in Cole who was unable to make an impact as James made a smart stop down low to his left, but a rasping shot from the midfielder provided an inadvertent assist for Malouda's second as the winger slammed the follow-up into the top corner.
Another fizzing shot from Lampard was somehow tipped over for a corner before Drogba netted his second with a crisp finish from substitute Patrick van Aanholt's raking diagonal pass.
Richard Hughes and Drogba both contrived to trade off inexplicable misses from close range at either end of the field, but the second half had already begun to peter out slowly with the hosts in damage-limitation mode.
Five goals proved to be the extent of the damage inflicted by Ancelotti's side, as Lampard stole in to round off a slick move in stoppage time to move the Blues to within one point of leaders United, with an identical goal difference.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is fit to return for Wednesday's Premier League game at bottom club Portsmouth but defender Branislav Ivanovic will be sidelined for a month.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti also said Ashley Cole was back in light training after breaking his left ankle at Everton at the start of February and he expected the England defender to return to the first team before the end of the season.
Czech Republic keeper Cech has been out since he was carried off on a stretcher with a calf injury in the Champions League last-16 first leg match at Internazionale on February 24.
Third-choice keeper Ross Turnbull, who has played the last three games, will drop to the bench against Portsmouth. Ancelotti also said he expected second-choice Henrique Hilario to be fit again for Saturday's home game against Aston Villa.
Serbia defender Ivanovic, who has played at full-back for most of the season, limped off with knee ligament damage midway through Sunday's 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers.
"Ivanovic is an important player for us," Ancelotti said.
"He is out for one month but we hope to recover him before this period.
"Fortunately we have Yuri Zhirkov recovered so we can put Paulo Ferreira at right-back and Zhirkov at left-back."
Chelsea, who have 65 points from 30 matches, have a game in hand on Manchester United and can move within one point of the Premier League leaders by winning on Wednesday.
"The mood was not good after the Blackburn game because when we don't win we are disappointed," said Ancelotti, who believes a points tally of 86 will win the title.
"But we have a possibility to come back (strong) tomorrow."
