Football Special Report: Birmingham City vs. Chelsea- Review and Player Ratings (Part 2)
Continued…
The English shot stopper was at it again just moments later to deny Ivanovic as the centre half arrowed in from an impossible angle.
Moments later, the English Champions should have been level as Ashley Cole rose uncovered to bump into a Drogba corner only to head it wildly wide before Kalou was yet again denied by the former Manchester United goalkeeper, this time as his blazing long
range effort was piped round the post.
Flourent Malouda, who is the current top scorer of Premier League, was then denied by the woodwork with another headed effort, while Mikel smashed the rebound wide as Chelsea continually ploughed men forward in wave after wave of attacks.
The Birmingham City goalie, Ben Foster, who was having a time of his life, was then sold short by a sloppy back pass and did just enough to deny Kalou from pinching an easy equaliser minutes before brought a halt to the onslaught by calling for half-time.
No changes were made by both managers during the half time, and rightly so, as Birmingham had held on staunchly in the first while the visitors looked like creating with every forward foray.
Second half continued the pattern of attack versus defence as Chelsea continued to mount men forward, with Ramires getting involved in the action with a dribbling surging run down the left that drew a foul.
But the Brazilian midfielder was then fortunate not to go into the book for what looked like a forearm smash to the head of Sebastien Larson, an offence that referee deemed not even worthy of a foul.
The English champions were then screaming for a decision to go in their favour as Kalou was downed in the box after racing onto a through ball, but referee again refused to blow, and correctly as Scot Dann made a terrific recovery tackle that nipped ball
before player.
That frustration urged Chelsea manager into making a change, Paulo Ferreira was called off and Bosingwa was introduced by Carlo Ancelotti.
Chelsea continued to fling men forward with Malouda again being denied by the in-form Birmingham keeper from a set-piece before Ramires diving header from Drogba cross flew wide of the far post.
In the 70th minute, both managers decided to make a change; Alex McLeish brought in his on-loan Barcelona player Alexander Hleb and called off Nikola Zigic. Chelsea introduced Daniel Sturridge in place of Ramires.
The Birmingham City keeper continued to steal the show with a fine tackle and brave fist on the ground as Drogba broke clear before pawing away a powerful Alex header.
While on the other side, Petr Cech spent most of the second half playing as a spare defender with the English champions simply dominating possession. It was after a lengthy spell of control and a jinking Anelka run that Ashley Cole was set-up for a chance
on the edge of the six-yard area, only for the Englishman to spoon his effort well clear of the bar.
Chelsea failed to prise open a team that went into the game in the bottom three of the table in the final minutes, leaving the home side with a victory to remember and Chelsea with a fortnight to forget.
To be continued in part 3
Tags: