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Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2 - Full-Time Match Report
By Andy Morgan
October 20 2007
Gareth Southgate welcomed Egyptian striker Mido back into the side after three weeks out with a groin injury. He was to be the lone striker with Fabio Rochemback playing behind him. This meant Dong-Gook Lee was relegated to the bench. Boro's now traditional defensive partnership of Jonathan Woodgate and Chris Riggott started once more.

This meant that David Wheater was on the bench. Luke Young and Andrew Taylor were the usual right and left-backs respectively.

In midfield George Boateng and Gary O'Neil partnered each other in the centre with Stewart Downing and Tuncay Sanli, who also returned from injury.

Chelsea were to be without John Terry and Ashley Cole but unsettled striker Didier Drogba started. They were hoping to avoid three defeats in three seasons at the Riverside.

Schwarzer, Young, Woodgate, Riggott, Taylor, O'Neil, Boateng (Cattermole 67), Rochemback, Downing, Sanli (Craddock 84), Mido
Turnbull, Lee, Wheater

THE FIRST HALF

Chelsea had a fair share of possession in the opening exchanges but couldn't manage to do much with it. They were keeping the ball well and hoping to drag Boro players out of position but at the moment their efforts were to no avail.

On four Gary O'Neil tried to set Tuncay on the run but Petr Cech was alert to it. Gareth Southgate's plan was to force Chelsea into making mistakes by harrying them into errors. This wasn't quite working at this stage though as Chelsea were keeping possession comfortably.

And then they struck. Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba exchanged a one-two, cutting through Boro's midfield all too easily. Drogba received the ball and fooled Mark Schwarzer into diving the wrong way, stroking the ball into the opposite corner of the net. It was a nightmare start for the Boro and the unsettled striker settled the visitors.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0 CHELSEA 1 (Drogba, 8)

On ten Florent Malouda dropped deep and dragged Luke Young with him. This allowed him to cross the ball into the box for Drogba. With Lampard screaming for the pass - a pass that would have almost certainly resulted in a second Chelsea goal - Woodgate slid in and saved Boro's blushes.

Considering the Boro were playing Chelsea, the atmosphere was flatter than a whoopee cushion at a Geordie stag party. Chelsea had knocked the stuffing out of the Boro - rather like a suicidal sadomasochistic chicken who just wanted to be basted.

Drogba was causing problems for Woodgate and Riggott testing their partnership by standing between them. He was then peeling away from them leaving the home side's backline in disarray. This was the reason why he was getting so much freedom.

On sixteen Gary O'Neil flicked the ball around Paulo Ferrera and whipped a powerful ball into the box with his right foot. Mido was brave in getting between the two Chelsea full-backs and forced an excellent save out of Cech with a strong header. It was Boro's first positive play of the game.

That effort woke the Boro up and now they were starting to believe. On eighteen the Boro had a corner but it was headed away by Michael Essien. Chelsea had had a corner a minute earlier from which nothing came.

On twenty Rochemback and Mido shared a one-two before Mido had a shot from twenty-two yards. Ricardo Carvalho blocked but perhaps the Egyptian should have fed O'Neil who was on the left?

Gary O'Neil's workrate was second-to-none as he was forcing Chelsea into making mistakes by harrying their superstars. On twenty-three this almost paid dividends as he fed Luke Young. The left-back tried to set Tuncay up for the overhead kick but his cross was blocked.

Mido's putting Cech under pressure forced the illustrious keeper into making a mistake, much to the cheers of the Boro faithful. The game plan was now clear - if Boro pressured the former Champions then rewards may be reaped. If they played in a more direct fashion then Chelsea's defence didn't like it. The way forward was clear.

On twenty-seven a Boateng ball from a difficult area brought a defensive header from Juliano Belletti. Nothing came from the Downing corner.

On thirty-one Joe Cole got in front of Woodgate, toe-poking the ball away from the central defender. Woodgate slid in and conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area. Malouda stepped over it, Drogba took it and the ball crashed into the side netting.

Two minutes later Luke Young took Ferrera away on the overlap, allowing Downing a delivery from deep. He was aiming for Tuncay but the ball never reached him, with Chelsea managing to clear.

A minute further on Rochemback planted a ball into the box with which Riggott connected. His header blazed over the bar but it was encouraging play from the Boro.

A three minute break then followed after Belletti was squashed by a rampant Mido. The Boro meanwhile were increasing their workrate yet further and it was a shame that they had not started the game in this vein.

The next few minutes were end-to-end but the moves from either side were being broken down before they reached the penalty area. On forty-two Chelsea won a very dubious corner but Joe Cole clattering into Mark Schwarzer ensured that things were evened out and Boro had a free kick. And Schwarzer a rather sore head.

On forty-three Tuncay's cross was aiming for three Boro players in the box (Mido, Rochemback and Downing) but due to them being static Chelsea could easily defend it. A couple of minutes later Taylor delivered a ball across the near-post but Cech easily gathered due to him being under little pressure.

The half-time whistle blew a few moments later. It had been a spirited performance from the Boro and perhaps they were unlucky to be a goal down. But then in the opening moments of the game the Boro had showed them too much respect and this is why they were 1-0 down.

Boro's key to success was to be more direct as Chelsea weren't looking particularly strong defensively. Things however were looking positive for the Reds.

THE SECOND HALF

Neither side made any changes at halftime. Boro didn't really need to as Schwarzer had not yet had a save to make whilst they had been increasing the pressure on Chelsea in the latter stages of the first half.

In the second minute of the half Ferrera threw the ball to Drogba who promptly headed it out for an unnecessary corner. Nothing came from it but it was evidence of how unstable the Blues were.

On forty-eight Drogba squared the ball to Lampard who tried a shot from range. Boateng blocked the effort. The Chelsea midfielder was to have another long range (and rather hopeful) shot two minutes later.

At the other end Downing pillaged down the left and dinked the ball into Mido who attempted a header at goal. The position was difficult and as the ball had little pace on it the effort was never going to trouble Cech, who caught comfortably.

On fifty-one Downing did the Viking and another pillaging session was in order. The crowd screamed themselves Norse as his cross appeared to hit a Chelsea hand but replays suggested that it was the chest that was struck.

This was a good run of play for Middlesbrough as Downing and Mido linked to win a corner. Chelsea's headers weren't particularly strong and they were getting little distance on them. This was allowing the Boro to come back at the Blues time and time again.

On fifty-five Chelsea had a dangerous free-kick on the left-hand side but Lampard's effort was blocked by Downing.

A minute later Essien went to ground far too easily and won another free-kick. Frank Lampard moved the ball two yards into the path of Alex. He struck the ball perfectly and it swerved from left to right before nestling into the back of the net. Schwarzer was beaten with a wonder-strike from thirty-five yards and Boro had conceded a goal against the run of play.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0 CHELSEA 2 (Alex, 56)

On fifty-nine Drogba launched a great ball into the box which allowed Joe Cole a header. Schwarzer made a superb save but the offside flag was (admittedly incorrectly) raised.

Two minutes later Malouda connected to a Chelsea corner but his shot was blocked. From this the Boro broke but Mido was flagged offside in his determination to claw a goal back.

Boro were now playing 4-4-2 instead of the 4-5-1 formation of earlier. It wasn't paying many dividends however but on sixty-six a ball from Rochemback found O'Neil and Boro's strikers were queuing up in the box for the cross. The ball was whipped in but Mido missed it and Chelsea managed to clear.

After this George Boateng saw himself substituted yet again as Lee Cattermole came on to replace him.

On sixty-eight Malouda took a shot from seven yards out after some excellent movement allowed him to drift in from the left wing. Schwarzer conceded the corner but Boro won a free-kick from this.

Middlesbrough were failing to pressurise Chelsea's defence and it was this that was their undoing. The Blues meanwhile were getting bodies back, happy to sit on their lead. They were also playing one-touch football, passing rings around the Boro, not allowing them possession.

On seventy-four Malouda had another shot which Luke Young managed to block. The ball fell to Lampard but he did nothing with it except force a comfortable save from Schwarzer from distance. This was to be Malouda's last contribution of the game as he was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The Boro were starting to fragment with Rochemback and Tuncay arguing about who was going to buy the post-match parmos. On seventy-eight O'Neil crossed the ball into the Cheslea box and the away side conceded the corner. For the sixth time today not much resulted from it.

On eighty-one Chelsea had a corner but it was poorly taken. Boro were forced into conceding a free-kick but Lampard's shot was always going wide and the Reds escaped.

After the free-kick Tom Craddock came on for Tuncay, signifying Southgate's attacking intent. 2-0 down and with six minutes to go however that would be the least the fans expected.

On eighty-five Downing tried an effort from distance but he slipped as he struck the ball so it went high and wide. It was something that Jonny Wilkinson would hopefully be replicating later this evening. If Rochemback was English no doubt he would be in this evening's starting fifteen.

Chelsea's clearances were dodgy and the question that must be asked is how many times do you want the opposition to present you with an opportunity. O'Neil crossed the ball in and Alex headed the ball straight back to him. He tried a shot but it went high and wide when he really should have hit the target.

On eighty-eight Joe Cole fouled Rochemback on the edge of the Chelsea area. Rochemback and Downing stood over it and the latter hit it, but only into the wall. The ball dropped to Craddock who tried a cross when he should have lashed at it. It was another opportunity that went begging. This was the last of the action.

It wasn't that the Boro played badly, they just didn't play well enough. Again we created chances we should have taken and we didn't take full advantage of a fragile Chelsea defence.

The concession of early goals is concerning as had we kept it at 0-0 for longer it would have been a different game.

For forty-five minutes we matched Chelsea and were looking strong. Under different circumstances we could have got something from the game but gifting a team of Chelsea's calibre with an early goal gave Boro a mountain to climb.

The second goal was a wonderstrike and although the free-kick that led to it was incorrectly awarded, had this been the only goal of the game then Boro would have still been in with a chance. As it was, the Boro surrendered meekly after this and ultimately got what they deserved.

Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil. His tenacity and determination rattled Chelsea and had the rest of the team played in the same vein the result may have been completely different.

FAN REACTION

"Same s**t, different day"
Datsun

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Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2 - Full-Time Match Report
Posted by: ComeOnBoro (IP Logged)
Date: 20/10/2007 16:18

Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2 - Full-Time Match Report

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Re: Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2 - Full-Time Match Report
Posted by: dixon9 (IP Logged)
Date: 22/10/2007 19:23

Very comprehensive and fair report.

Liked the "suicidal chicken waiting to be blasted" !!!






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