EPL News: Carlo Ancelotti Defends Goal Scoring Michael Essien
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti insisted that he would watch Michael Essien’s two-footed lunge which earned the midfielder a straight red card, in the match against Fulham Essien committed an illegal foul on Clint Dempsey, which may yet be
appealed by Ancelotti.
The Blues increased their lead at top of the English Premier League to four points after Essien scored the winner in the 30thminute. Chelsea won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and it was because of Essien’s superb header which earned
them the win over Fulham.
Essien was brilliant throughout the match; however the sending off in 93rd minute disappointed Ancelotti but the Italian manager was resolute that his star midfielder’s tackle was not dangerous, he said that Essien
was far too experienced to be throwing away such challenges.
Ancelotti told reporters, “I don't like to judge the decision. But I can say that maybe it was not a red card because Essien made a strong tackle, but on the ball.” The Blues manager was
confident that his midfielder went for the ball and not the opponent.
He added: “There was not a risk on the opponent. I think he went for the ball, the last ball of the game, an important ball. I don't think he did a silly foul. He tried to do a tackle, he won the tackle. And I'm
not sure it was a sending-off.”
He said, “I'd like to see it again but directly, on the pitch, I didn't think it was a dangerous tackle. I hope we won't lose him for three games. That would be a problem if we lose him for three games. We have to
wait, I think. I want to watch the replay before doing anything.”
Ancelotti said he was pleased with his side’s performance; the Blues bounced back from their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on over the weekend. The Italian said, “It was a good performance. We started well from the beginning
with a high tempo during the game.”
He continued, “The first half was very good and we had good control in the second half. We had a little problem at the end, but this is normal. When you are just 1-0 up it's more difficult to control the game. We
played well continuously over the course of the game, so it was a good performance.”
Ancelotti was pleased with the other results in the Premier League as well; Manchester United drew 0-0 with Manchester City, he said, “The Manchester result was good for us, though, to be four points clear. That's
a good gap. Nothing is decided, but that's a good gap. We'd like to stay there in that position.”
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