Chelsea
Chelsea have had one of their most eventful seasons in a long time thanks to a series of on field and off field activities which were brewing at the Cobham training ground or in the boardrooms of Chelsea. Be it the ambiguous departing of Ray Wilkins or the surreal transfers of Torres and David Luiz on the deadline day of the transfer window, much has happened at Stamford Bridge. Coupled with the fears of the season being one of their worst in many years, palpitation and gloom had descended upon the Blues. However the beautiful game of football surely doesn’t fail to surprise us. With Manchester United losing its last two matches and Chelsea within 9 points of the league leaders with a game in hand, the Premier League is abuzz with a renowned hope of witnessing an ultimate last gasp showdown between the clubs.
A morale boosting win at Stamford Bridge nevertheless, Chelsea were determined to put their past worries behind them as they took the field at Bloomfield Road to face a Blackpool side engrossed in a relegation dogfight. Ian Holloway was without their inspirational captain Charlie Adam but with a vociferous crowd backing the team, he was quite confident of unsettling Chelsea who have shown their weakness to maintain form this season. Blackpool started as the better team trying to control possession even though Chelsea were looking far more threatening.
The strike pair of Torres-Drogba looked below par right from the word go and even though Torres is working hard, he desperately needs to shrug off his dismal scoring run, not scoring in the last five outings for Chelsea. Drogba given a new lifeline in place of the inform Anelka had a similar dismal match and the fact that he limped off midway through the second half clearly suggests that lady luck is just not shining upon him.
Chelsea opened the account when a 20th minute corner from Lampard found and unmarked terry in the penalty area and he lashed upon the ball like a prowling tiger to head Chelsea into the lead. The Seasiders came close to leveling the score later but Petr Cech was up to the task as he parried away Puncheon’s strike off the post. Second half resumed and the introduction of Salomon Kalou brought fresh life into the Chelsea attack. Inspiet of being far from their best, they soon doubled their lead when Kalou was fouled in the penalty area leaving Blackpool boss fuming. Lampard stepped up and blasted home the penalty. Lampard added a third when a lovely through ball from Kalou found Lampard who slotted home past the Blackpool custodian. Blackpool added a consolation goal but the graves had already been dug up and Blackpool now face a tough road ahead after promising much early in the season.
Chelsea are now within shouting distance of the league leaders Manchester United. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea can maintain this form until the rest of the season. But with tricky ties ahead for the league leaders, fans can expect and anti climax come May.
Tags: Blackpool, Chelsea, English Premier League, EPL, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Stamford Bridge
