8.[D]. Chelsea v/s Fulham[PREM]

Date : 30/09/2007
Time : 19:30 hrs IST

Chelsea Starting Line up
Cech; Belletti, Ben-Haim, Terry (c) (Alex h-t) A Cole (Malouda 76); Maka, Sidwell; J Cole, Shevchenko (Pizarro 53), Kalou; Drogba.

Manager: Avram Grant

Fulham Starting Line up
Fulham (4-4-2): Keller; Baird, Hughes, Bocanegra, Konchesky; Davies, Smertin (Murphy 81), Davis, Seol (Bouazza 72); Healy (Kamara 67), Dempsey.

Manager: Lawrie Sanchez

Refree : Martin Atkinson.

Crowd : 41,837.



After a very good performance against a decent Hull City team , a lot was expected from this new look Chelsea side . It was not just the win but the way Chelsea played against Hull that excited me, they were always on the attack . True, it will be difficult to do the same against a very disciplined Fulham defence.

66 games on a trot without defeat at Stanford bridge.We being the only team to do that in the EPL history, I just wish Chelsea can do it for another 100 matches :) .

I desperately wanted to watch this match , but for some strange reason STAR Sports was telecasting the Kingfisher open and ESPN coming up with the boring Wigan v/s Liverpool match ( maybe more than the match they wanted to see whether Torres would start :P ) . Leave that even the India - Australia match at Banglore was washed out . well lucky Aussies :P (Australia had scored 307 from 50 overs and India were 9/1 from 2.3 overs ) .

So I can only comment on whatever I read from the Chelsea FC official site .Good thing for Chelsea was the return of Drogba , with no goals from the last 3 premiership match this was a morale boast to the team ,But we were missing Essien and the in form Wright Phillips coz of injuries .

Chelsea attacked from the start , but with the misfiring Sheva in front we missed some very good chances . I feel Sheva should play deeper into the opponents defence , with his quick turns and great instincts to get into scoring positions ,he will be more successful .

Well it looks like Chelsea failed to score again , though they created some good chances , add to that the injury to Terry (He may not play against Valencia ) and the Red card to Drogba , Chelsea have fallen way back from the lead .

Chelsea failing to score from 4 premiership match looks shocking.With no goals coming from Lampard from the midfield , the pressure is on our Strikers . Sheva booed by the Chelsea supporters on his 31st Birthday may have been a little hard for him to take , considering the God like status he enjoyed at Milan . I still feel that he can be a success with Chelsea , he just needs to be playing a little deeper .

Chelsea have scored just 50% of the available 24 points . and currently are placed 7th.

I dont know how Grant will cope with the tough Champions league encounter against Valencia at the Mestalla . I want to see what the starting 11 would be ?

I just hope that the Chelsea supporters keep supporting the team,the Manager and Roman during these tough times .




Chelsea Goal scorers in the Premiership

Pizarro - 1
Maluoda - 1
Essien - 1
Lampard - 3
Drogba - 1