Worst month of the season for Chelsea

The month February has been the worst month in terms of results for Chelsea this season.A draw against Swansea,Manchester United and Birmingham and defeat to Everton and Napoli.

Chelsea have been playing poor football and the news of the rift between the coach and the players is also not helping.Chelsea fans are running out of patient and expecting this worst period to evaporate rather soon.

This results certaintly put an end to our premier league title hopes and our chances in the FA Cup and Champions League are hanging by a thread.The match against Napoli highlighted our defensive errors.Even the team picked up for the match by Andre was criticized as the veterans Lampard,Essien and Ashley Cole were on the bench.

We lost the match 3-1 because of some poor defending which could have been avoided and it could have been worse if Cech and Cole had not made those crucial saves.Its not that we were bad in attacking but we were unable to score.While leading 1-0 we got two really good chances to go 3-0 up.

First when Sturridge had the ball and Mata was free but Sturridge decided to go for the goal and the second one was when David Luiz got a free header.

At 1-1 also Ramires got a great chance to make it 2-1 but his shot was way above.If Chelsea would have taken those chances the result would have different.

The next match is against Bolton and the coach Andre Villa Boas would like to end February on a winning note and lead this Chelsea team to fight for the Champions league spot.

I hope Chelsea will win against Bolton and will carry the momentum to the further matches.

Full Goal Highlights of Chelsea vs Napoli Game : -

Chelsea into the last 16 of FA Cup

Chelsea reached last 16 of the FA Cup defeating their rivals QPR by a single goal.It was a match which Chelsea dominated throughout and were the deserved winners.Chelsea were dissapointed with their draw against Norwich.Andre Villa Boas started John Terry despite the racist abuse allegations that put a darker than usual cloud over this fixture, and instead of Gary Cahill it was David Luiz who partnered the captain in the centre of defence.The first half was dominated by Chelsea and Juan Mata shot on the break was saved by Paddy Kenny.

The second half started on a similar note with Chelsea dominating.Mata should have scored as he was played in behind the defence by a QPR tackle,but Mata thought he was offside.Then came the decisive moment of the match. Daniel Sturridge, made an amazing dive in the box when Clint Hall brushed up against him and Mata scored from the resulting spot kick.

                                    

Then Chelsea were hit by the storm as Ramires while blocking Hill shot at the edge of the box fall awkardly and hurt himself in the process and there was huge tension created around the Chelsea camp and later it was announced that Ramires suffered a medial knee ligament problem.  

                                 

      

QPR never threatened but came close when Luke Young's blistering shot was saved by Petr Cech in the dying minutes.Chelsea with this win enters in to the fifth round of the FA Cup.The next match is against Swansea and Chelsea will look to continue this winning momentum which will help them in their big match against Manchester United on Sunday.

Video of Mata's Penalty against QPR:-

Good Start to the New Year

Its been a good new year for Chelsea.Three wins and most importantly no goals conceded in the last two matches.Although the scoreline against Portsmouth gives the impression that the team had an easy outing but that was not the case.Portsmouth would have been two nil up in the first half.But great effort by Chelsea to hold on and they were rewarded with goals from Mata,Ramires and Lampard.

The important thing was the team showed patience and that ultimately paid off.The next match against Sunderland was not an easy one.Sunderland was in great form and knew that they can get a result here.Although Sunderland started brightly Chelsea took the lead through Lampard and it was setup by Torres.

Torres was denied a penalty which the referee got wrong and Sunderland also should have got a penalty.Either side missed the chance to score goals and at the end Sunderland would have got the equalizer.

Sunderland would feel devastated by the result but Chelsea would be relieved to get the three points.The exciting part is that now we have three new players.Michael Essien coming through injury,the new signing Gary Cahill and most importantly the ever refreshing Fernando Torres.

The next match is against Norwich City who are coming in to this match with a streak of wins and would like to cause an upset.Chelsea would like to get a win and would eagerly be waiting for Sunday's result between ManCity and Tottenham and ManUnited and Arsenal.I believe that Chelsea would get the three points and continue their good run in the New Year.

Two Precious Points Dropped

The draw against Fulham saw Chelsea collect one point from a possible three.That means they have collected three points from a possible nine points from their last three matches.The first half was not that entertaining with either side failed to create clear cut chances.But the best opportunity fell to Torres whose shot gone straight to the Goalkeeper. 

                                                       
The second half started on a brighter note as Chelsea scored within two minutes of the restart and that was an ideal start.Ashley Cole chips a pass into the feet of Torres just inside the box and the striker holds it up and Mata scored from 18 yards.It was a great start and a superb goal from Mata.

                                                          
But as everyone thought that Chelsea will score again,they were proved wrong as Fulham got the equaliser through Clint Dempsey and again it was due to bad defending from Ashley Cole. As the second half progressed Chelsea started to press and were looking for that second elusive goal.But they were denied first by some good defending from Fulham and and then by Goalkeeper Stockdale who was superb and denied Chelsea the winning goal.                                                           

At the end Chelsea had to settle for a draw.It was a precious point for Fulham after their midweek result.It would have been good if Chelsea had got the three points.They lie fourth in the table after Arsenal and Liverpool also drawn their match and Chelsea would like to end the year with a win against AstonVilla and close the gap between them and the Manchester clubs.

What an Entertaining Game!

The Chelsea vs Tottenham game was an entertaining  one and it had all the qualities of a great match. After drawing with Wigan , Chelsea needed  to get some result from this match otherwise they would have been  twelve points behind ManCity and five points behind Tottenham.

                                                           

The match started on a bright note where Tottenham dominated the early exchanges and went ahead in the 8^th minute through Adebayor  which was beautifully setup by Gareth Bale. The first twenty minutes were all Tottenham and then Chelsea started to get into rhythm and their first chance fell to Sturridge who somehow missed a great chance after Freidel blocked Mata’s long range shot.  Then came the equalizer nicely setup by Ashley Cole and Sturridge did the rest.Then it was all Chelsea dominating the match.

                                                                  

Drogba nearly would have put Chelsea in front when his shot hit the side post. The second half was truly entertaining where both the sides were going for the kill and both had the chance to win the game. First it was Ramires who missed a simple chance by heading wide and then it was Adebayor late in the match missed the chance to win it for Tottenham when his shot was deflected by John Terry .The captain was at the right place at the right time. That shows his commitment and the reason why Chelsea fans still adore him.

                                                                       

Chelsea would have won the match but draw is not a bad result. The next match is against Fulham at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea would look to collect all three points and close the gap between them and ManCity.Hope Chelsea get all the three points.

The BLUES Are Back

The month December has been a blessing in disguise for Chelsea.Three wins, all against top oppositions and Chelsea truly are back in the title race.Few weeks earlier everybody was saying that they will be out of the Champions League and Man City will crush them and with that their ambition for big trophies will certainly be over.But boy!!! What a comeback made by Chelsea and their dream is still alive.

                                                                       

The last match against Man City truly showed that the belief is there and there is unity in this Chelsea team.This season Chelsea have conceded many goals and this has been because of their high defensive line.When Balotelli scored within two minutes,I was biting my nail and thought it would be a long night for Chelsea.Although the penalty decision did gone against Man City but Chelsea needed that luck.When Meireles equalised ,the whole scenario changed and what a great performance given by Sturridge,he was just toying with Clichy.    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
The second half was all Chelsea and the red card for Clichy opened the flood gates for them and the red card decision was understandable.Although they were unable to break Man City defence ,there was a strong belief that we will get that all important second goal and it was due to the excellent play between super substitute Frank Lampard and Sturridge.The penalty was coolly converted by Lampard giving Chelsea the lead and the atmosphere in Stamford Bridge was just incredible.The hurdle celebration after the match send a strong message that the team is united and Coach Andre Villa Boas has the full support of the team.

                                                                      

The last 16 Champions league draw is out and Chelsea has been drawn against Napoli,a tough opponent and it would be a great last 16 encounter.And in the Premiership, our next opponent is Wigan and I hope with this new sense of energy and belief Chelsea will continue their dream run.