EPL News: Sunderland Stuns Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, 3 – 0
Nedum Onuoha, Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck were on target, to give the visiting Sunderland side a much deserved victory over Chelsea. The English Champions and current leaders were stunned by the Sunderland’s side, as they had the worst
game of their season.
Before the match had begun Chelsea were being hailed as the favourites and therefore it was expected that they would thrash Sunderland at home despite their impressive defending strategies. Chelsea had not lost a match at their home ground
since March of this year. Also, Sunderland had a very poor record against the London side, as they won their last match in 2001. Last time when Steve Bruce’s side visited Stamford Bridge they were beaten by 7-2. Even in this season, Chelsea had a perfect record
at Stamford Bridge, while Sunderland showed a poor form away from home. However, everything changed as the match started, and the end result turned out to be one of the most unexpected in the history of English Premier League.
Carlo Ancelotti had to make some tough decisions ahead of this match. He already had major setbacks looming to disturb him and one more came when one of his trusted men and his assistant, Ray Wilkins, would have to leave the club, after
his failure to get contract extension. Also, Ancelotti was missing a lot of players, especially in his defence. John Terry and Alex were missing from the team, so the manager had to turn towards other players who were not accustomed to playing in this position.
The job was entrusted to Branislav Ivanovic and Paulo Ferreira. Also, Michael Essien was missing from the midfield because of suspension.
Chelsea took time to settle in the match as the first real opportunity came after almost eighteen minutes. Nicholas Anelka was played by John Obi Mikel, but the French striker failed to control the ball. After a few minutes, a second opportunity
was created for Yuri Zhirkov, but the Russian’s shot went wide of the target. Then, Ramires got a save out of Sunderland’s goalkeeper, Craig Gordon, as his header was destined for goal.
Didier Drogba had a few chances, but he never looked threatening enough. He had a couple of chances that were squandered away by either firing away from target or straight towards the goalkeeper. Petr Cech, however, was the busiest of
the goalkeepers of the two, as Sunderland started looking more threatening towards the end of first half. First, Cech saved a header by Welbeck on a cross fed by Onuoha. Sunderland could have scored from the corner but Kieran Richardson missed his chance.
Towards the end of first half, Cech saved some of other shots as he kept on denying Sunderland the lead.
However, towards the end of first half, Onuoha made his way into Chelsea’s penalty area and scored a goal. It was the first goal, since March, which was conceded by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Gyan added the second goal after the few minutes
of second half. The pass was fed to him by Jordan Henderson and the Ghanaian international no mistake as he placed the ball between the sticks.
It was an extremely poor effort by Chelsea, as they created no chances to come back into the game. The home side had were without inspiration, and they were limited to a few long distance shots. On the other hand, Sunderland had a couple
of chances to extend their lead but they were denied by Chelsea. However, in the 87thminute, Ashley Cole made a big mistake as he tried to give a back pass to Cech. However, the pass was in the wrong direction and was intercepted by Welbeck who
put the ball into an open goal, as Cech had left his ground in order to collect the pass. The match ended with a 3-0 victory for Sunderland, and a crushing defeat for Chelsea.
However, Chelsea remains on top with a difference of only two points from Arsenal. Nevertheless, the English Premier League is open once again, as the five point lead of Chelsea has been narrowed down by the trailing sides.
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