By dixon9
January 9 2008

A truly pulsating semi-final. The pace of the game was frenetic and reminiscent of pin-ball and no doubt left many observers breathless - perhaps giving them a new found faith that English Cup final can still be as exciting as ever. Both sides demonstrated that the league cup, traditionally considered as “Mickey Mouse” by many, is a trophy that they want to win.

Grant and his team have a chance of beginning to match Mourinho´s first season – the League Cup was the first silverware he brought back to SW6 and this also represented an 18^th semi-final in recent history for the Londoners.  For Everton, they had a chance to take a step forward in winning their first silverware since 1995. 

Unfortunately, there had to be a fly in the ointment and this came in the shape of referee Walton.

Mikel appears to be a marked man and probably should show more judgement before making the more complicated tackles – especially so when there is no immediate danger to his sides defence.  Nevertheless, the red card decision for a 2^nd half 1 footed challenge on Neville was very harsh and particularly frustrating when one looks at the inconsistencies in refereeing in this match and many others that we seen in the past so far this season.

Walton bottled various red card decisions and like many referees this season, regularly appear to summon up courage to reach into his pocket when the offender concerned wears the blue shirt of Chelsea.

Carsely had a blatant 2^nd yellow though perhaps Walton reflected on the harshness of the first awarded to the Merseyside midfielder.  Neville showed all his experience by immediately springing up from the turf and scuttling off to help form the wall for the impending free-kick after committing his 2^nd yellow – he made it easy for Walton to pretend nothing had happened.  Later, Lescott swung out an arm to block Wright-Phillips, an offence which had caused Arteta to see red just a few weeks earlier when playing Arsenal (Surprise surprise!).

I have nothing against Everton – they are generally a sporting side  that usually are fighting against the odds – it’s the consistency of the refereeing this season which is at its most atrocious and dumfounding level ever.  The courage of referees who seem to adopt an “All teams are equal, but some teams are more equal than others” posture – particularly when it comes to the likes of Arsenal and Man Utd - is also another sticky point.

This unhappy situation is distorting the panorama of the Premier League – but then again, it certainly keeps the fans of certain teams happy – an important consideration when taking into account Sky viewers and the anti-Chelsea agenda – and therein lies the nub.

As one fan put it:  “Add to that his elbow on Belletti which the ref and his assistant failed to spot. Will the FA examine the video evidence? Of course not, as it would mean punishing someone other than Chelsea. If Mikel's sliding (one foot only) challenge was worthy of a red card, will we see more reds for similar challenges in the next few weeks? I sincerely doubt it, unless the team play in blue at SW6.”

Onto happier things….. 

Ballack was outstanding as is now officially, in my humble opinion, far and away our most influential player.  His awareness, control and passing are a joy to behold.  The man is class.

Wright-Phillips continues to confound with runs of form which are either illuminating or disappointing.  Just when you think he’s not going to make it, he then produces a match like this. 

He’s a pocket dynamo that has got physically stronger and dare I say it, even faster. The diminutive winger seems to strangely revel in the inside midfield role given to him on occasion. 

Malouda, despite just coming back from injury had a very competent game and did enough to demonstrate that he will be key in cementing any chances of success on both domestic and European fronts for us this season. 

The pressure was intense on the Everton side, who did well to hold us off and settle for the odd foray into our half. 

The inevitable Chelsea goal came after good work by Malouda and Wright-Phillips, who negotiated himself the space to before curling a well thought out finish into the far side of goal.

Once the 2nd half continued there was no let up but once the Mikel Obi red was produced Everton drew second wind and countered well.

Yakubu received an intelligent knock back from McFadden and swept his shot through a packed defence to equalise.

Chelsea seemed indignant that the red card had allowed Everton a grasp on the match that they previously looked never been able to attain and the blue shirts began swarming forward once more. 

The pressure was relentless but it wasn’t until during the 4 mins of injury time that Lescott headed into his own net under pressure from Wright-Phillips – Stamford Bridge erupted.

There had been other chances for both sides;  Cole scuffed his shot after crafting a one to one with the keeper, Ballack whistled in a free-kick which must have taken the paint off the outside of the post, McFadden hit the post from a very narrow angle after excellent work, Pizarro clean through fluffed his chance and at the death, Lescott had a chance to equalise but saw his shot smothered by Hilario. 

Grant even managed a semi-Mourinho effort by running down the touchline and performing a jig capping off what had been a surprising and exhilirating evening of football. 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

http://www.footytube.com/2008/01/08/chelsea-2-1-everton/

Chelsea: Hilario, Belletti, Alex, Carvalho, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Obi, Ballack, Malouda (Ben-Haim 90), Joe Cole (Sidwell 61), Pizarro (Ferreira 83).
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Sahar.

Sent Off: Obi (55).

Booked: Joe Cole, Belletti.

Goals: Wright-Phillips 26, Lescott 90 og.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Cahill, Neville, Carsley, McFadden, Johnson, Yakubu (Anichebe 89).
Subs Not Used: Wessels, Gravesen, Vaughan, Nuno Valente.  

Booked: Carsley, Hibbert, Neville, Johnson.

Goals: Yakubu 64.

Att: 41,178

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).

Pin-Ball Chelsea: Chelsea 2 Everton 1

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 09/01/2008 16:06

50 Years Over 100 Years
09/01/2008 16:06

Pin-Ball Chelsea: Chelsea 2 Everton 1

Reply Quote Report

Captain Scarlet
09/01/2008 23:11

Agreed, Mikel's tackle wasn't a red card offence.
Thats what I was talking about though in the other thread about refs gettig it wrong if they start to clamp down on "leaving the floor" challenges.

Soon a diving header will be deemed as the player out of control.

I did notice though, no mention of Carvalho's two footed tackle, which was very similar to Crouch's.
The player in red had the early bath whilst the blue shirt, who should know better after the Villa game stayed on.

Reply Quote Report

dixon9
10/01/2008 13:30

It´s the consistancy of referees that is my gripe and the fact that certain teams definitely get favoured - "All teams are equal, but some are more equal than others" seems to be the case.

Sky want to keep their viewers happy and they know how many of their viewers support which teams (this also explains the embarrassingly biased commentary and pundits at times).

TV companies are the principle source of income for our football and I don´t doubt the PL (and also therefore the refs) are under pressure to mantain the "product" the way they want it.





.



"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

Reply Quote Report

Message List Search Log In

Your Name:
Subject:

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net