Chelsea takes on Manchester City and I’ll be keeping a running blog post while I’m watching the game. If you look at my Top 5 Hated Soccer Teams list from my previous post you’ll see that these two teams. Man City is higher on that list so I have (slightly) more venom for them. I usually would have no use for this game but the whole Wayne Bridge/John Terry drama is too much for me to pass up. If they weren’t playing each other I’d probably be watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal movie on Super Action, a replay of Korea winning baseball gold at the 2006 Beijing Olympics (for the 1,000th time) or South Korea’s exploits in the 2002 World Cup (for the 100,000th time). As you can see, my Saturday night TV viewing is very limited in the ROK.
Besides the Bridge/Terry thing there are other important storylines with this game. Man City manager, Roberto Mancini, may be on the hot seat since his teams poor run of form assures them that they will not win any hardware this season. That’s not what the multi-billionaire Dubai owner wants to hear from a team he’s spent so much money on. A loss here might seal his fate. Adebayor is out of this game because of the red card he picked up against Stoke City.
Chelsea leads Manchester United by only one point after Man U’s win earlier in the week. A loss here makes the title chase even more interesting. Man City beat Chelsea at the Eastlands 2-1 on December 5th so the Blues will be looking for revenge.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Bridge and Terry are the main draw here. Earlier this week, Wayne Bridge turned his back on England and doesn’t want to be in the squad going to South Africa. Fabio Capello probably has mixed feelings about his decision but, at the same time, it might make his job easier. There certainly will be less tension in the locker room and England has no shortage of left-backs. England are my pick to lift the trophy but it’s still too early to be sure. Bridge said he would refuse to shake Terry’s hand in the pre-game ritual. Some of Bridge’s Man City teammates said they would do the same. We’ll see what happens. Either way, there will be plenty of boo’s and whistles whenever Bridge touches the ball. I think Bridge and Terry shake hands, they’re professionals
Lineups:
Chelsea – Hilario (GK), Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry (C), Lampard, J. Cole, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka
Manchester City – Given (GK) (C), Richards, Bridge, Zabaleta, Lescott, Kompany, A. Johnson, Barry, De Jong, Tevez, Bellamy
Substitutes:
Chelsea – Turnbull (GK), Ferreira, Alex, Belletti, Matic, Kalou, Sturridge
Manchester City – Taylor (GK), Onuoha, Sylvinho, Toure, Wright-Philips, Santa Cruz, Ibrahim
Referee: Mike Dean
The Game:
Players in the tunnel waiting to come out. Mike Dean has words with Shay Given. I wonder if he’s telling him not to refuse to shake Terry’s hand like some players had threatened to do.
Teams making their way out on the pitch and line up for the pre-game ritual. Chelsea in all blue. Man City wearing white with a red and black diagonal stripe on their shirts. The look like River except with the added black stripe and the fact that River Plate’s uniform looks a million times cooler.
Pre-game handshake time. Things going smoothly so far. Terry extended his hand, Bridge looked at him but refused to shake his hand. Crowd erupts in boos. I’m sure this won’t be the last time. I was wrong about Bridge being professional about this.
I guess John Terry is the bigger man
Mancini and Ancelotti have a hug and a smile. Will this be it for Mancini?
1st Half:
Chelsea kick off. We’re off.
Hilario handles a slow roller well. It’s not a sure thing with him, given the way he looked against Inter in the Champions league in mid-week.
Boos for Bridge as he takes the throw in.
What’s with Jolene Lescott’s hair?
I wonder how long the crowd can keep up booing Wayne Bridge?
Cheers every time John Terry touches the ball. Can they keep that up too?
Quick shot by Lampard. Save Given.
Gareth Barry is not happy for some reason. Ref has a talk with him. I think a yellow card for Barry will happen today.
If John Terry scores, Stamford Bridge will explode.
Tevez’ first touch is a hand ball.
Nice move on the right side by Ivanovic. Quick shot and Given saves.
Fabio Capello in the house.
What’s with all the (bad) tattoo sleeves?
Adam Johnson with a free kick from the right of goal. Too strong for Kompany to get on the end of it.
Malouda thinks about taking a shot from 30 yards. Not a good choice.
Mancini knows this isn’t Italy right. Managers in England aren’t fashion plates. Take off that stupid scarf!
Drogba hauled down by Richards right outside the box to the left of goal. Where’s the yellow? Free-kick. Drogba over the ball. Short pass to Lampard. Quick shot. Blocked. Poor choice on the play.
Ballack finally makes an appearance at the 15 minute mark. Nice shiner.
Drogba makes a nice pass across goal to no one. Where’s Cole or Lampard?
Rough entry by Malouda on Johnson. Free kick for Man City to the right of goal about 20 yards out. Johnson takes the kick. Straight to Hilario. Save. Another poor free-kick choice.
Nice quick shot by Joe Cole. Given punches. Possession favoring Chelsea.
20 minutes in and Tevez has yet to touch the ball with his feet.
Crowd giving Hilario sarcastic cheers every time he kicks the ball. That won’t help his confidence.
Bellamy a mile offsides. He doesn’t think so. Of course he doesn’t.
Drogba heads an Ivanovic pass right over the goal. Close
Chelsea leads in shots 6-1 at the 25 minute mark.
Tevez receives the ball at the center line. I’m sure Chelsea don’t mind him getting the ball there. Quick back pass.
Nice run by Joe Cole. Passes to Ivanovic. Return pass to Cole too strong.
Anelka has a go from 20 yards. Right to Given.
Malouda OWNING A. Johnson so far, 30 minutes in.
Drogba shows up on the right makes a cross on goal. Kompany almost put it into his own net. Corner. Ball comes out, to Ivanovic. Cross. Drogba, Richards, and Zabaleta go down in a heap. Drogba and Zabaleta knocked heads. Drogba gets up but Zabaleta on the ground and looks dazed. He walks off the pitch slowly.
Joe Cole and Bridge having a chat at 32 minutes.
Richards steps in on Anelka. Free-kick Chelsea. Malouda takes the kick from the left of goal. The kick crosses the field and out. Poor.
Crowd can’t keep up with booing Bridge. They’re losing interest.
Lampard’s errant shot goes to Drogba who puts it right over the goal. Another close one.
Zabaleta returns at 35 minutes.
Nice run by Anelka. Diagonal for Drogba in the box. Too long.
Tevez is pretty much just taking up space. A non-factor.
I forgot Gareth Barry was still in the game (36 minutes).
Is Craig Bellamy supposed to be somebody?
Anelka pretty much doing whatever he wants.
GOAL Lampard at 42 minutes. Nice pass from Joe Cole. Lampard was alone in front of goal. What were Richards and Kompany doing on the play? Chelsea lead 1-0.
I hope Mancini is just renting.
Surprisingly clean game so far. Not many whistles.
Man City looks shaky. Two shots by Cole and Lampard stopped by Given.
GOAL Man City. Tevez scores (45+2). Game tied 1-1. Tevez goes 1 v 2 on the break. Hilario pretty much just watching as Tevez zigzags and can’t get his hands on Tevez’ weak, rolling shot. Did I mention Hilario is terrible?
Lescott almost heads in a free-kick. Hilario overplayed it. Lucky it was wide.
Mike Dean blows the whistle for half time.
Half:
Terry giving it to the linesman as he walks off.
Lucky goal by City. Otherwise, they have been awful. Chelsea in charge of the play.
Can a coach get fired during the game?
2nd Half:
Manchester City kicks off and goes backwards.
Richards makes a hot run up the right but hen he remembers he plays defense and promptly gets confused and loses the ball.
Step in by Terry. Free-kick Man City right outside the area. Tevez, bridge and A. Johnson standing over the ball. Wall set. Bridge puts it right into the wall. Malouda makes a run but it fizzles.
Nice effort by Carvalho to keep play alive. Ivanovic loses the ball in the box.
GOAL Man City (51 min). Bellamy makes a run on the left side and what looks like a pass turns into a goal. Right under Hilario’s left hand. He overplayed it again.
Man City up 2-1 on two goals against the run of play.
Drogba pushed off by Lescott in the box. Referee says no. Dean was wrong. Lescott even extended his arm to push-off.
Ballack taken down to the left of the box. Drogba will take the free-kick. Wall set. Blocked. Corner. Lampard takes. Shot goes through the box. Cross by Terry. Save by Given.
Joe Cole is doing a lot of work.
Crowd is a bit dead except for the Bridge boos, which have picked up again.
Zabaleta shown a yellow card (57 min) by Dean for constantly asking for a yellow card. Karma.
Ivanovic picks up a yellow (58 minutes) for a body on Barry.
Substitutions coming.
Man City: Wright-Philips for A. Johnson (60 mins)
Chelsea: Belletti for Mikel (60 mins)
Chelsea: Sturridge for Joe Cole (61 minus)
I can see the Mikel substitution because he was never really part of the game.
Why did Joe Cole come off? He was running the midfield and controlling play. Mistake.
Mike Dean giving Tevez and Terry a taking to after the players had words. Tevez should’ve been shown a yellow for the push (63 mins).
Sturridge has had two touches and looked terrible. Fans booing the move.
Long pass by Ballack out-of-bounds.
Ivanovic bails out Hilario by stopping Bellamy on the break. Corner. Barry takes and Hilario alertly punches.
Man City has a bit of momentum. Chelsea has stalled.
Anelka fights his way into the box and takes a quick shot. Blocked by Given.
Ballack given a yellow (68 mins) for wasting time and tells the linesman to go fuck himself.
Substitution:
Chelsea: Kalou for Carvalho (70 mins)
Bellamy takes a long-range shot which Hilario surprisingly stops.
Kalou should make a difference. He looked good against Inter in the Champions League.
Given charges out to anticipate Drogba (71 mins).
Sturridge looks terrible. Why Ancelotti?
Nice long shot by Ballack. Given there.
Belletti takes Barry down in the box from behind. Penalty for Man City and red card for Balletti. Chelsea reduced to 10 men. Tevez takes. GOAL (76 mins). 3-1 Man City. GAME OVER!!!
Mancini saves his job I think. Wasn’t Mark Hughes fired after a victory?
Manchester United will stay one point behind Chelsea in the standings.
Substitution:
Manchester City: Santa Cruz for Bridge (78 mins)
Looks like Mancini wants to score more goals.
Weak shot by Lampard (79 mins). Save Given.
Wright-Philips with a screamer (80 mins). Wide right.
Ballack shown yellow/red for tackle on Tevez. Chelsea down to 9 men.
Fans are starting to stream out as Tevez pretends to limp off.
Shot by Drogba easily saved by Given.
GOAL Bellamy (87 mins). Wright-Philips makes a nice run on a break from the right and crosses to Bellamy for the tap in. Where’s Hilario? 4-1 Man City.
Manchester City has three goals against the run of play.
Garbage time.
Substitution:
Manchester City: Sylvinho for Tevez (90+1)
Anelka is taken down by Barry in the box. Penalty. Lampard to take. GOAL (90+1). Man City lead 4-2. Too late to help.
Abramovich looks bored.
Mike Dean blows the whistle to end the game.
Game Thoughts:
Mancini lives to see another day.
The Joe Cole substitution is puzzling because he was a huge part of the game. Chelsea started going downhill with the introduction of Sturridge.
Sturridge looked out-of-place and tight.
Cech will be out a least a month with the leg injury he picked up mid-week against Inter. If they can’t hold on to the lead at the top of the table, this will be a major reason why. Hilario is terrible. He doesn’t seem to know what to do. He overplayed all three Manchester City non-penalty goals. How did Chelsea get stuck with him as their back-up? With all the money they spend they can’t get a decent back-up?
Chelsea was the better team up until Balletti’s red card. Manchester City made the most of their breaks.
I don’t think I saw De Jong or heard his name during the whole broadcast.
Lampard looked second best to Joe Cole in the game.
Ivanovic got caught out on many City breaks because of his always going forward.
Referee Mike Dean had a good game. Not many whistles until the 1st red card.
Manchester United are now one point back and Arsenal is theoretically three points back.
It’s weird watching the game in Korea because I don’t know what the announcers were saying but I could hear their excitement. Would have liked to have heard the English broadcasters call this game.
Crowd was not as angry with the score as I thought they would be. They kind of just accepted it. After Bridge was replaced at 78 minutes, the crowd kind of went dead.
Did I mention how bad Hilario and Sturridge were?
Not City's best decision but they're used to making poor choices. Mancini lives another week.
Reverse Oreo Sports 