Chelsea
Dastardly Old Spurs
Dangerous Eriksen
By Gary Watton
January 4 2017
Oh well. All good things come to an end. They will be organising an open top bus parade for the mighty Tottenham team. Maybe the Prime Minister might invite them to 10 Downing Street for an honorary dinner reception. The goalscoring hero Delle Alli will probably receive a knighthood and be shortlisted for [spoil]Sports Personality Of The Year. Twas a good night for all the haters, as fourteen weeks of suffering in silence for them was ended when the Spurs scored either side of half time, courtesy of two Delle Alli close range headers from Eriksen crosses. The leaders and Premiership favourites huffed and puffed thereafter, but alas they couldn't blow White Hart Lane down this time.
Here is my analysis of the starting eleven's efforts on that fateful night when the title race was apparently 'blown wide open', laugh out loud!
Courtois: not to blame for either goal, although someone suggested he should have spread himself like Schmeichel for their second.
Azpilicueta: did little wrong, but did little right. Not his fault we lost.
Cahill: silly booking. We all know he is keeping the seat warm until a better replacement is found.
Luiz: tried a few long passes which is what we were in desperate need of. Only other person capable of accurate long passes was dropped to the bench! He also needs to work goalies from his free kicks.
Kante: Is he Ramires in disguise? The Frenchman is sloppy in possession once too often, but can run all day, just like a certain Brazilian used to do!
Matic: I thought that he did quite well in a losing cause. He rarely, if ever, loses the ball. He plays with composure, which is mistaken for lethargy.
Alonso: Both the goals came from his flank. He did at least knock over an excellent second half ball into their six yard box that nobody got on the end of.
Moses: Danny Rose got the better of him once too often and he was lucky not to incur an early booking. The Nigerian remains outstanding going forward, but a bit ropey at defending.
Pedro: Like Ozil, he is good against weak teams, but weak against 'good' teams. This was one of those occasions when he would have struggled to dribble the ball past a window shop dummy. Conte's decision to play him ahead of Willian was not one of the manager's better ideas.
Hazard: Worked his socks off and twisted them one way and another. However, he did miss a great early chance when he chose to prod a hopeful punt with his weaker foot. He could have moved the ball on to his right and probably opened the scoring. C'est la vie.
Costa: Played quite well in defeat. He was very wasteful with one first half shot, but in the second half he produced a smart save when he fired a low shot that would have sneaked in. He did get into an on-field 'debate' with Pedro. He probably told him to try passing the ball to someone in a blue shirt.
Tottenham Hotspur 2 CHELSEA 0; half time: 1-0
CHELSEA team: Courtois; Azpilicueta; Luiz; Matic; Kante; Cahill; Alonso; Moses; Pedro; Hazard; Costa. Used substitutes: Willian; Fabregas; Batshuayi
CHELSEA leading scorers:
Costa fourteen goals
Hazard nine goals (including two penalties)
Moses four goals
Pedro four goals
Willian four goals
Batshuayi three goals
Cahill three goals
Fabregas three goals
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04/01/2017 19:56
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