LFL: CHELSEA
This is exactly what we needed and the performance levels were much better than of late, without Xhaka as it turned out. Le Bris in!
BEFORE
Great gloom has descended over us and will that be added to this afternoon as we face a team currently in fourth position in the league and in good form? It certainly looks like that could be the case but, as we know, anything can happen in football. There's been great speculation over what our side will be, especially about whether Xhaka should be dropped/rested against the side that wanted him in the summer. Will Regis play Ta Bi and/or Talbi to provide some impetus in attack? I'd certainly like to see that as our attacking play against Zagreb was usually very weak, as were the other aspects of our play of course particularly our passing. Mukiele is likely to be back and that's good news but I'd rather Alderete and Danso weren't involved. I know he's prone to an error but I'd like to see O'Nien start too as if ever we needed a result, it's this afternoon and he's a proven fighter. I'm in London and will be watching the game with some other members of the London Branch. I've a feeling there won't be a great turnout. Match prediction: (with a deep inhalation of breath) 1-1.
I got to the bar about 1.30 and there were five or so of the Faithful present. On checking the team-news, I saw that there were only three surviving players from Thursday’s starting-eleven, these being Roefs, Meunier and Xhaka. Mukiele and O’Nien were in there and so were Hume, Reinildo, Le Fee, Sadiki, Talbi and Brobbey. Ta Bi was nowhere to be seen, which disappointed me. Jordan Henderson was starting for them. The general reaction on the SAFC messageboards was that we were going to get well-beaten and that Regis should pack his bags. There was a very nice poppy display in the stand at the SoL and a well-respected minute’s silence. There were ten of our lot in the bar as the game started.
THE GAME
The first incident of note was after two minutes when Xhaka went down injured and he had to go off, to be replaced by Ahoka. Well, that was the Xhaka issue sorted. Our fans were in good voice as we pressed forward. Palestra went down easily in our box but referee Jarred Gillett wasn’t having it. In the twelfth Talbi went on a strong run down the left and put in a low cross that Hume connected with but it rebounded away. That warmed the cockles at any rate. Shortly afterwards a long punt from Roefs was met by Talbi and this time his cross was hit by Brobbey but it went just wide of the left post. We were closing Chelsea down well and not giving them much space while our passing was much better than last time out. (Not that that would’ve taken much doing, it has to be said.) Ahoka was the first player to be given a yellow card for a foul in the twentieth and then O’Nien and Palmer had a coming-together, as they say, in our box that looked like it could’ve been a penalty. VAR said no and who am I to argue with that? It had been a decent opening quarter for us.
Next thing, though, Rogers got on the end of a cross from our left and headed strongly but his effort was well wide. Chelsea were starting to press forward more and were passing it around accurately from wing to wing but suddenly Brobbey got the ball on the half-way line and burst goalwards. The defender forced him out too far to the left and when his shot came it was too high. Still, as the thirty-minute mark passed we’d had more chances on goal and hope was rearing its ugly head. In the thirty-third we were awarded a penalty after Brobbey stormed into their box and ended up on the deck. There was a VAR check and I feared the worst but the kick was awarded. Le Fee took it and cooly put it away into the bottom-left corner as Penders dived the wrong way. We’d defended well so far and even if we were relying a fair bit on the big boot upfield it was certainly giving the Chelsea defence a lot to think about as Brobbey bore down on them. Pedro Neto had a strong shot on target in the final minute but Roefs was there to hold it securely. There were five minutes of added-time and four minutes into that Chelsea won a corner, maybe the first of the match. We survived that and a free-kick that Roefs again got on the end of without fuss before the half-time whistle went. So far, so very good. Our fans had been in great voice throughout and finally we all had something to shout about…for a while at least.
As we kicked off again there was a change for Chelsea with Estevao replacing Colwill, who’d been booked earlier. I hoped we wouldn’t sit back and try to hold out as our tactics so far had seen Cheslea looking ruffled at times when we came forward at pace. A couple of minutes in, there was a spot of handbags in the centre-circle but Jordan H. was in the thick of things and helped to calm everyone down. In the fiftieth Meunier was booked and I wasn’t surprised. A couple of minutes later Brobbey joined him in the book and we’d have to be careful not to end up with ten men again. Just to balance things up a bit Pedro Neto got a booking too. We won a corner in the fifty-sixth but Penders punched it clear, though we were soon back up there having another good chance, which ended up being ruled offside. As we approached the hour-mark things were going ominously well. I wondered how long Brobbey would last and whether we’d replace him with Isidor. Wilson is certainly good at getting on the end of an upfield punt. Chelsea made a double switch, bringing on Welbeck and Gusto for Neto and Palestra. I wish we’d signed Danny. We brought on Isidor for Brobbey in the sixty-seventh.
As we entered the final quarter Chelsea were doing most of the pressing but we’d defended well so far. Our fans were still giving great support. A stat came onscreen that we hadn’t had a shot for thirty-five minutes so I thought it was about time we did. Roefs was displaying a safe pair of hands today thankfully. Fifteen minutes to go and my eyes kept straying to the clock while my foot was tapping nervously. I thought we’d scored in the seventy-eighth but Penders saved well from Isidor’s close range shot and it went for a corner. We had a penalty-shout for handball but this time the gods weren’t smiling upon us. In the eighty-first a deflected Quenda shot wasn’t far wide of our left post and we survived the resultant corner. We’d only made two changes and I wondered if we’d make one or two more but those on the pitch were doing well. The Chelsea pressure was almost relentless but we were defending in double-depth. Five minutes on the clock and could we hold out for a point or even a win? Next thing Talbi managed to get on the end of a hopeful punt down the left and his shot wasn’t far wide. Angulo and Rigg replaced Talbi and Le Fee in the eighty-eighth. O’Nien was booked for a foul and then we were into five minutes of added-time. The free-kick was in a very dodgy position but Welbeck’s header was just over the bar. Reinildo was pushed in our box and we were awarded a free-kick in the ninety-third as those minutes ticked blissfully away. Angulo joined the others in the book and then there was about a minute to go. We conceded another free-kick in a dangerous spot when Hume fouled. We blocked that and as the fans in the stadium were whistling like hell and we in the bar were shouting for the ref to blow for time we survived Roefs not grasping a cross/shot and very soon the game was over.
