By dixon9
January 31 2008

Mission accomplished again. Chelsea equalled a club record of 9 consecutive wins in all competitions last night but most importantly keep the pressure right on the top 2. The 1-0 result caps a superb January - credit must be given to Grant, Ten Cate and Clarke and a depleted squad of players who have really underlined the strength in-depth at Chelsea and the winning mentality instilled in them.

The first half was a carnival of chances and patches of quick, one-touch, penetrating football when the match should have been put completely out of doubt.   

Chances fell to Wright-Phillips (twice – including a 1 on 1 with the keeper), Joe Cole and Anelka with a downward header.  We are talking good chances here and you would have expected at least 2 of these to have ended up with the ball nestling in the net but it was left to Ballack to provide what turned out to be the winning goal.

 

The German captain’s influence has been missed during the last 2 games with his class being key to an excellent string of results.  Good work from Joe Cole and a looping cross from Ferreira after beating Shorey was met with a towering, thumping header. 

  

The first half Chelsea zing wasn’t present in the second and I couldn’t help feeling that a gruelling January with diminished resources is finally showing signs of taking its toll on the players. 

Reading rarely threatened and the closest they got to threatening was from set pieces with the exception of one chance where Lita powered down the left to cross for Harper who muffed his volley. 

An equaliser would have been a travesty of justice but after so much dominance it does hint at just how tired some of our players must be.   

For this reason, I do feel a bit concerned about facing Portsmouth away on Saturday although they themselves have important absences. 

What fresh legs do we have?  Well Ballack wasn’t 100% fit still but he should be near that against Portsmouth, Lampard is certainly a no no but Ballack covers that position admirably, Sheva must be getting near now (Anelka and Sheva would be interesting) but what about Carvalho´s suspension?  There it’s a toss up between Tal Haim or……Ivanovic, who has been training hard to get fit after signing for us in the Russian pre-season. 

(Stop press!  As I’m writing this there is a rumour that we have signed a forward from Italy…..) 

We couldn’t really complain if we got a draw away to Pompey after the way our squad has performed but it would be a shame if we couldn’t turn the screw further at a time when the other two have difficult fixtures away to Man City and Spurs.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

http://www.trungso.com/2008/01/chelsea-vs-reading-1-0-goal-highlights-30-01-2008.html

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Alex, Carvalho, Bridge, Wright-Phillips (Sidwell 85), Makelele, Ballack, Joe Cole, Anelka, Malouda (Pizarro 76).
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Sinclair, Ben-Haim.

Goals: Ballack 32.

Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Cisse, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Oster (Matejovsky 81), Harper, Hunt, Convey (Rosenior 85), Lita, Doyle.
Subs Not Used: Federici, De la Cruz, Bennett.

Att: 41,171

Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).  

Another 3 points: Chelsea 1 Reading 0

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 31/01/2008 17:00

50 Years Over 100 Years
31/01/2008 17:00

Another 3 points: Chelsea 1 Reading 0

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dixon9
31/01/2008 17:34

(apologies for the shhhiiit quality video highlights - best I could find unfortunately)





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"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.

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Since 66
31/01/2008 19:28

The first half just wizzed past. Not only cos of Chelsea's dominance but the fact that Hunt got all the abuse the MHL could offer.

For me the second half was in the 'tale of two halves' mode, although we created chances the fluency of the first half just wasn't there and Reading although they pressed forward more didn't create a serious chance but they still remained a threat.

Have too say it was colder last nite than it was at Wigan on Saturday.

Don't Gamble, Bet Risk Free

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