Showing posts with label Terry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terry. Show all posts
Premier League, Loftus Road - Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 0.
QPR and Chelsea played out a 0-0 stalemate at Loftus Road after Anton Ferdinand snubbed John Terry and Ashley Cole pre-match.
Chelsea's 100 per cent league record came to an end at the home of their West London rivals, where Ferdinand, Terry and Cole took centre-stage following last season's race allegations which culminated in a not guilty verdict for Terry in July.
QPR debutant Julio Cesar impressed in goal with a string of solid saves while Bobby Zamora had an effort cleared off the line in the second half after a horror back pass attempt by John Obi Mikel.
But a heated affair did not ultimately produce any goals and Roberto Di Matteo's side remain top of the league on 10 points despite victories for Manchester United and Arsenal elsewhere.
The Hoops, meanwhile, remain near the foot of the table, still without their first league win.
Before a ball had been kicked, the match was making headlines when Ferdinand opted not to shake the hands of either Terry or Cole during the pre-match ritual, which had been abandoned altogether the previous season when the clubs last met.
Words were had between centre-backs Terry and Ferdinand before the hostilities transitioned into the alleged centrepiece of the afternoon – the actual football match – in a tense and scrappy opening period.
Ramires and Ryan Bertrand both picked up first-half bookings as Rangers – managed by ex-Chelsea man Mark Hughes, settled into the game the quickest.
The lion’s share of the decent chances came the way of the European champions, however, with Cesar forced to make a pair of excellent blocks to deny first Eden Hazard and then Fernando Torres.
Fabio had a penalty claim waved away by referee Andre Marriner when he collided with David Luiz on the left-hand edge of the Chelsea box, before Hazard went down in the opposite area under pressure from Shaun Wright-Phillips, only to receive the same response.
The hosts lost two players early on to injury as Fabio and Andrew Johnson each pulled up with little over half an hour played, restricting their control of the tempo with the departure of two of their most creative players in the early stages.
A hotly-contested opening 10 minutes of the second half had little in the way of serious chances until home captain Park Ji-sung headed a delicious cross from Esteban Granero into the arms of Petr Cech.
Minutes later, a mistake from substitute Nedum Onuoha let Hazard in but his deft flick to put Torres in with a chance at goal was poorly controlled by the Spaniard.
With 13 minutes to go, that error was topped in a big way by Mikel when his back pass was underscored and Zamora pounced, only to blink first in the stand-off in front of goal with Cech, allowing the Czech to do enough to delay the striker.
By the time he pulled off a chance at goal, black shirts were back to block its path and a subsequent breakaway led to Victor Moses forcing another decent parry from Cesar in the former Wigan man’s cameo from the bench.
Four minutes from time, Hazard should have won the game for his side only to blast a point-blank opportunity over after Branislav Ivanovic cut inside from the right to find Moses, whose low cross found the Belgian 10 yards from goal with precision.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Julio Cesar (Queens Park Rangers) – Rob Green's autumn went from bad to worse as the former Inter Milan stopper made an impressive home debut for his new employers with a string of saves.
England profited from a goalkeeping howler and a goal-line controversy as they beat Ukraine 1-0 in Donetsk to top Euro 2012 Group D.
Wayne Rooney headed the only goal early in the second half after an error by Andriy Pyatov, but there was huge controversy when John Terry cleared a Marko Devic shot that had crossed the line.
None of the officials, including the additional assistant referee standing just metres from the ball, appeared to see the incident, and an incensed Ukraine side exited the tournament.
England may feel it is payback for the 2010 World Cup, when a Frank Lampard goal against Germany was ruled out, but this latest embarrassment will surely accelerate the introduction of goalline technology.
The result sets up a last-eight encounter against Group C runners-up Italy, while France will face defending champions Spain after losing 2-0 to Sweden.
However, there should be no ignoring a sub-standard England display. Roy Hodgson's men began the match full of optimism, buoyed by a 3-2 win against Sweden, and welcoming the apparently talismanic Rooney back to the fold.
Superb as Rooney may be for Manchester United, he has not made a positive major tournament contribution for England since 2004 - so expectations that he would transform England into free-flowing world-beaters always seemed a touch optimistic.
So it proved, as they produced a first half as stilted and insipid as anything they produced in their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign.
Despite missing Andriy Shevchenko and Andriy Voronin from the starting XI, Ukraine dominated, showing England up with their movement and ball retention.
Early on, England's centre-backs went walkabout, allowing the excellent Andriy Yarmolenko space inside the box - but the Ukrainian dallied on the ball and his eventual shot was charged down.
Scott Parker then produced a block to deny Devic, who was first to an Artem Milevskiy lay-off.
Next it was John Terry's job to get in the way of a shot as he stopped a Yevhen Konoplyanka, and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk volleyed the follow-up over the bar.
Despite their seemingly chronic inability to locate a team-mate with a simple pass, England did have their moments, with Rooney guilty of a glaring miss.
Terry found Ashley Young on the left, whose inswinging cross found an unmarked Rooney at the back post, but somehow the striker glanced his header wide.
Back came Ukraine with Yarmolenko testing Joe Hart with a low shot that the goalkeeper did well to hold. And Yarmolenko threatened again with a mazy dribble inside the box that left three defenders in his wake, but led away from goal and he was eventually crowded out.
England cannot play like Spain, nor should they try, but their passing statistics were simply embarrassing. Xavi routinely averages 50 passes per half. In the first half, Danny Welbeck completed five, James Milner seven, Young nine and Glen Johnson 10.
Even when they did hold the ball, they showed no likelihood of going anywhere - a succession of square passes brought a few ironic 'Ole's from the crowd, but the absolute lack of movement off the ball meant Ukraine were perfectly safe.
The goal came early in the second half from a right-sided cross by Steven Gerrard. As the ball came through, a defender got a slight touch and Pyatov missed the ball completely, gifting Rooney the simplest header.
Just after the hour mark, Ukraine equalised. Or at least they thought they had. Artem Milevskiy teed up Devic, whose shot was half-saved by Hart.
Terry ran back to clear, but the ball had already crossed the line - however, referee Viktor Kassai waved play on and received help from his assistants.
Lucky as England were, they may point out that Milevskiy was offside in the build-up.
As news came through that France were losing to Sweden, the pressure eased - England could have conceded an equaliser and still topped the group.
However, there was still a hairy moment as Hart parried a swerving Konoplyanka shot and Joleon Lescott showed good awareness to hook the ball away.
It was deeply unpretty stuff, but somehow Hodgson's men continue to deliver. They may need more luck if they are to see off the Italians.
A match full to the brim of incident at St James' Park ended in a 3-0 victory for Chelsea over Newcastle in the Premier League, but goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge told only a fraction of the story.
Chelsea, looking to ease the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas after a run of three defeats in four games in all competitions, should have been reduced to ten men after only five minutes when David Luiz somehow escaped with only a booking after fouling Demba Ba when through on goal.
Frank Lampard then saw a penalty saved by Tim Krul, who was magnificent throughout in the Newcastle goal, but Didier Drogba headed Chelsea in front after 38 minutes when exploiting some slack defending.
In a match that saw the woodwork rattled on five separate occasions, three times by Newcastle, Chelsea had to wait until the 89th minute to finally condemn the Magpies to their first home defeat of the season when Salomon Kalou, on as a substitute, slotted the ball home.
There was still time for Daniel Sturridge to score deep into injury time as he finally beat Krul after being denied time and again by the Dutchman, and the upshot of a wonderfully entertaining contest is that Chelsea go two points ahead of Newcastle and into fourth place.
After an emotional tribute was paid to former Wales manager Gary Speed that left his great friend and Newcastle's assistant boss John Carver in floods of tears, those present at St James' Park, or Sports Direct Arena as Mike Ashley has renamed it, were treated to an absorbing contest.
Indeed, a moment of huge controversy ensued after only five minutes. Yohan Cabaye played in Ba with an expert through-ball and the striker was bundled to ground by the error-prone Luiz. It appeared a certain case of denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, but having given the free-kick, referee Mike Dean mystifyingly only produced a yellow card.
Luiz was incredibly fortunate not to be dismissed but proved an ongoing liability just minutes later when attempting to nutmeg Ba 25 yards from his own goal and being muscled off the ball. Luckily for the Brazilian, John Terry produced a block to deny Cabaye. The blunders were particularly poorly-timed, coming on the day Chelsea put centre-back Alex on the transfer list.
Having survived two difficult moments courtesy of Luiz, Chelsea soon reversed the momentum of the tie by exploiting a glaring vulnerability in the Newcastle side: namely the left side of Peter Lovenkrands and Ryan Taylor.
Sturridge tormented Newcastle, and Taylor in particular, every time he took possession and on 13 minutes won a penalty when cutting in from the right and drawing a foul from Cabaye. Lampard, making his 500th career start for Chelsea, saw his poorly-taken effort tipped onto the post by Krul.
The Dutchman was excelling in the Newcastle goal, as he has done all season, and on 16 minutes got a touch to a rasping effort from Sturridge to turn the ball onto the post as Chelsea were denied once again.
Sturridge was in electric form, shooting just wide from 20 yards before collecting a sumptuous through-ball from Juan Mata after 22 minutes and being denied once again by a save by Krul. The forward then produced a series of stopovers to dazzle Fabricio Coloccini before driving an effort wide, and later produced yet another stunning stop from Krul as he collected a pass from Lampard and fired in a low shot.
Ba was Newcastle's most evident threat and on 24 minutes he produced an unconventional backheeled flick from a Cabaye cross to force Petr Cech into a fine reaction stop. When Ba did beat Cech with a header from another delivery from Cabaye, this time the post denied the Newcastle striker before Terry almost hammered the ball off Luiz and into his own net.
In a breathless, frantic encounter, Newcastle were given pause for thought just before the half-hour mark when Coloccini was forced off due to a thigh problem. Newcastle have used the same back five for all 13 of their league games this season and the introduction of James Perch proved critical as he was culpable for Chelsea's opening goal.
Newcastle were angered that Chelsea were awarded a throw high up the pitch and after Ashley Cole chucked the ball to Mata, who spun and flicked a nice cross into the box, Drogba lost Perch to direct a header into the top corner and out of the reach even of Krul.
Though Newcastle started the second half brightly, they almost conceded a second after 53 minutes when Drogba again proved a menace. This time the Ivorian peeled off Simpson at the far post to chest down a cross from Branislav Ivanovic but thumped his subsequent volley wide of the post when he should have scored.
Still the chances flowed in a fantastic encounter. And on 53 minutes both sides could have scored in a 15-second spell that encapsulated the match as a whole.
First Drogba got a clearing header all wrong from a Cabaye corner and thumped the ball against his own bar. Then Mata sprung a quick-counter attack with a ball out to Sturridge, who hared forwards before playing in Ramires. The Brazilian found himself clear on goal but was denied by a fine save from Krul as the Dutchman got just enough to the low shot to turn it behind.
Though Sturridge was no longer the force of nature he was in the first half, he still picked a glorious pass through the legs of Perch on 72 minutes to release Mata, who stabbed his shot wide of the post from ten yards out. Newcastle responded by going up the other end and seeing substitute Sammy Ameobi have a shot cleared off the line by Terry after brother Shola had put Cech under pressure in the air.
The two Ameobis were in the hunt again on 81 minutes. Shola pulled down a ball over the top and with Luiz standing off, the striker unleashed a fearsome effort that struck the bar from 20 yards. Sammy followed up with a low effort that Cech saved.
Krul made yet another fantastic save to deny Sturridge but on 89 minutes he was beaten for a second time. Torres raced through on goal, only to be caught by Perch, and after sliding a pass to substitute Kalou saw his team-mate slot the ball home.
Having made three substitutions, Newcastle were reduced to ten men when Taylor joined centre-back partner Coloccini in the treatment room in injury time. The home side's numerical inferiority was exploited in injury time when Sturridge converted his eight chance of the match, checking inside Sammy Ameobi before placing his effort into the far corner.
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.
Coach
* Fabio Capello
Goalkeepers
* Robert Green
* Joe Hart
* David James
Defenders
* Jamie Carragher
* Ashley Cole
* Michael Dawson
* Glen Johnson
* Ledley King
* John Terry
* Matthew Upson
* Stephen Warnock
Midfielders
* Gareth Barry
* Michael Carrick
* Joe Cole
* Steven Gerrard
* Frank Lampard
* Aaron Lennon
* James Milner
* Shaun Wright-Phillips
Strikers
* Peter Crouch
* Jermain Defoe
* Emile Heskey
* Wayne Rooney
