Chelsea stoke Premier League title fires
It didn’t look like it was going to be Florent Malouda’s day.
A strong contender for miss of the season was followed by an effort that drew a world-class save from Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic, but the French winger stuck to his task, and his late, close-range finish from a Joe Cole cross was his reward.
It was Chelsea’s seventh goal of a sunny west London afternoon, the third time they have achieved such a feat this season and their 93rd Premier League goal of the campaign. To put that into context, Liverpool were the top scorers last season with 77, while Manchester United won the league with 68 goals, the same as the third-placed Blues and Arsenal in fourth.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have scored 60 goals in their 18 home games this season. The free-scoring, free-flowing Blues can appear to be unstoppable at times, and – unlike United – their goals can come from anywhere. They scored seven yesterday yet Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka didn’t get one. Salomon Kalou grabbed a hat-trick, increasing his number of league goals this season by 300% in the process. Malouda – one of four Chelsea players in the top 20 Premier League goalscorers this season – made it 15 in all competitions for 2009/10. Frank Lampard has 25.
Yet it could all be in vain.
Chelsea’s league season effectively comes down to their trip to Liverpool on Sunday. They’ll have to assume that Manchester United will beat Sunderland and Stoke City in their remaining two games – the former are firmly in mid-table, while the latter, judging by yesterday’s evidence at least, already have their minds on a beach somewhere. Similarly, the Blues will surely beat Wigan at home in their last game, meaning that all of the attention is on Anfield.
Much has been made of whether or not Liverpool will be at full throttle for the visit of Chelsea, knowing that a win would all but hand a 19th league title to United, who would thereby surpass the Reds and become the most successful league team in English history.
Chelsea can’t afford to think like that though, and Ancelotti will be preparing for the game like it is any other, and the thought that the Reds would intentionally play within themselves is a fanciful one anyway. They still have an outside chance of a top-four finish, but a more important factor probably comes with the fact that Liverpool face a potentially energy-sapping Europa League semi-final with Atlético Madrid less than 72 hours earlier. If they are below-par, than that will be the reason.
Chelsea are more than good enough to beat a fully-fit, full-strength, fully-committed Liverpool anyway, and motivation will not be in short supply. Win on Merseyside, and they’ll be able to smell the title.
After a goal-filled campaign, few would be able to say that they wouldn’t deserve it.
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