Chelsea stutter in title defense
Chelsea's title defense took a turn for the worse this weekend as they suffered a hugely shocking 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Yes you read it right; 3-0 at home. For Chelsea to concede at all at home is something of a shocker let alone conceding 3 without reply. Chelsea hadn't had a single goal scored against them in their last nine premier league games, and now suddenly they shipped three.
What could've caused this ruthless annihilation of a team who prides itself on the impressively minuscule number of goals it concedes? Well some part of it could be pinned down to the absence of captain and chief centre back, John Terry. His absence really did leave a gaping hole in the center of defense, one which couldn't be plugged by the energetic and aggressive Ivanovic and his pedestrian partner on the night, Paolo Ferrera. And it wasn't just John Terry that they missed in the center of defense- they really missed the John Terry and Alex partnership, one that was forged as an impregnable force as any other by Carlo Ancelotti.
Chelsea really could've lost this one 4 or 5 nil as they struggled to match the creative talents of Sunderlands Danny Welback, of Manchester United, and Zenden, who's passing had pin point precision. The Ghanian, Asomoah Gyan, gave Fererra and Ivanovic a torrid time with his running, on and off the ball.
Chelsea should have seen red in the early stages when Ivanovic pegged back Welback as he was clear on goal, but the referee decided to just show him the yellow card. Replays confirmed that Ivanovic had indeed prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity. If Ivanovic had been given the red card, who knows how worse Chelsea could have ended up.
Petr Cech pulled off some brilliant saves before Onouha latched onto the ball and jinxed his way through the center of defense like a hot knife through butter and finished with immaculate control to give Sunderland the lead.
One would think that Chelsea must have replied straight away, but nothing of the sort happened. Lee Catermole was an incessant nuisance to the Chelsea midfield players, constantly breaking up play and hacking away at whoever had the ball. It was a tireless performance from Cattermole, a captains contribution, one that wouldn't have gone unnoticed by Steve Bruce or the fans, and probably should be considered by England Manager Fabio Capello.
Gyan scored to give his team a comfortable lead of two points and even the hardcore Chelsea fans lost hope, along with the players themselves. The team manager sent in Saloman Kalou, Gael Kakuta and Josh McEphran, but neither of the players could influence the game even in the slightest.
The game was up when right at the end the ever so reliable leftback, Ashley Cole, passed the ball straight into the path of Welback. Welback took advantage of the opportunity and scored, leaving Chelsea in the dust.
Sunderland played an unbelievably good game, but Chelsea's performance was pathetic; they looked lost without John Terry, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard. They better hope they get these players back soon for if this is a sign of things to come then Chelsea might very well raise the white flag right now and get it over with, because with a performance like that, the Premier League trophy isn't heading back to West London anytime soon.
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