Chelsea 1 – 0 Stoke

Sunday 26^th January from Stamford Bridge:

Chelsea 1 – 0 Stoke

Farewell to Juan Mata

I have to start this post with a farewell to Juan Mata. You could tell the little Spaniard loved the club. His passion on the pitch, his social media interactions and his personal blog were all blue. Not to mention the extremely sincere letter he posted to the fans upon his departure from the bridge. I myself, like most Chelsea fans, will have no animosity toward him when he comes back to Stamford Bridge– even in a Man Utd shirt. I imagine he’ll be respectively greeted when he returns, much the same as Joe Cole was when he returned with West Ham, although probably not as much as Drogba will be in March. It was hideous watching Juan resigned to the bench, the only thing worse than seeing him sign for a rival was seeing him sitting there without getting a minute of action. In his two years at the club he had won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup as well as being crowned player of the season both years. What an achievement. We wont be calling Juan a traitor or burning our number 10 shirts. Good luck for the future Juan Mata (until you face Chelsea of course).

We had made the FA Cup our own, but in recent years it has been Man city that have dominated cup proceedings. They’re through and we HAD to follow them, but first the Stoke rugby team stood in our way. It was a fairly uneventful first half until we were awarded a dangerous free kick. Luiz stepped up and the whole stadium was expecting another Drogba-esque strike. Yet Luiz ran over it and left it to another Brazilian, Oscar, who found the top corner with a delightful curler.

Oscar and Hazard were sublime the entire match and I stick my neck out once again when I say that at least one of them will win one day the Ballon d’Or. After the deadlock was broken it was sadly the same old story that has haunted us for the last few months; we couldn’t score and kill the game. There was a cheering opportunity though, as old Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola stood up right behind us in the commentary box. I remember thinking Juan Mata could be the next Zola.

I don’t think the Chelsea fan sat directly behind me has a future career in commentating with Zola. In the first half he called Eto’o Willian. In the second half he called Eto’o Ba until Ba came on for Eto’o. He called Schurrle Torres before making a comment about his longer hair. Finally, he called Matic Meireles, a player who doesn’t even play in the league anymore. What an effort, in fact, his effort was nearly as bad as Stoke’s final rally. Never have I seen a team not want to score. They didn’t want the replay and watching them play along the back four whilst 1-0 down with 2 minutes to go was unreal. The match ended 1-0 and attention turned to the next round’s draw. Bring on Man City away.  

Chelsea 3 – 1 Man Utd

Sunday 19^th January from Stamford Bridge:

Chelsea 3 – 1 Man Utd

My first live game in 2014 and in Moyes we trust. Although I’m beginning to feel sorry for old David Moyes, he has inherited the worst Man Utd team I have ever seen. It’s the first time in my life that I have watched a Man United squad face Chelsea and would not pick a single red player in a best XI.  Not a single one. Granted there are injuries, but I can see why Fergie finally called it a day. It’s going to take more than a season to clean up the mess and rebuild the foundations at Old Trafford.

Like normal, team news filtered through the pub and I was happy until I saw the striker. Sammy Eto’o is past it in my eyes and on recent form you had to go with Torres. But, Mourinho knows best and the veteran from Cameroon would shut me up no less than 3 times. Mourinho’s statement that David Luiz is a defender and he would not play in midfield seems to have been a bluff. The Brazilian quartet of Luiz, Ramires, Willian and Oscar were crucial in the centre of the park – the area where these top 4 battles are typically won or lost. 3 points were needed after both Man City and Arsenal had won.

The first 15 saw United on top and should have gone 1-0 up. In fact, they were much the better team throughout the first half. Then on 17 mins, play opened up and Eto’o’s shot deflected over De Gea and into the top corner. Sammy loves a celebration and off he went to the Shed. United continued to look a bigger threat than Chelsea as the half drew to a close. Then came a corner for the blues right on the stroke of half time and what a time to get a second (exhausting an old footballing cliché once more). It was taken short before the ball was slipped through to Cahill and he squared it toward Sammy Eto’o. Six united players in the box and not one went with Eto’o as he scuffed home his and Chelsea’s second. Half time and we were 2-0 up without getting out of first gear.

Only 4 minutes into the second half and we had ourselves another corner. Gary Cahill, who assisted the second goal and didn’t put a foot wrong all game defensively, leaped up only for De Gea to unknowingly block with his body. Who’s there to tap in? Samuel Eto’o. The first Chelsea player to score a hattrick against Man United since 1954, and before the game I was annoyed he was starting. Under any of our last 5 or 6 managers you would think that a 5 or 6 nil drubbing was on the cards, but this is Mourinho, and a clean sheet is top priority. We brought the game to a controlled halt – boring, boring Chelsea.

Eden Hazard was my man of the match. The pacey Belgian is currently hitting the form of his life and all United could do was foul him – if they got near enough. I think Cech became inspired by Hazards trickery, so much so that he Cruyff’d an on rushing Hernandez after a nervy back pass. All of the uneasy memories of Ed De Goey came flooding back in an instant, but Petr sold the dummy and cleared the danger.

Hernandez got his customary goal versus Chelsea with 12 minutes to go, but the game was already won. I know he’s a great impact players but I often wonder why Hernandez doesn’t start against Chelsea, given his record against us. United, now 12 points behind us, lost their heads late on and we saw Vidic given a straight red for kicking out at Hazard. Then Rafael went in with both feet and I’m certain that it would have been more than a yellow had Phil Dowd not sent their captain 3 minutes earlier. A great win puts us back within 2 of the Gooners. As for Man United, stick a fork in them - they’re done.