EPL Week 1: Scolari Era Starts With A Bang As Chelsea Crushes Portsmouth 4-0
August 18th 2008 02:39
Today's match was a message to all of Chelsea's rivals - “you better watch out, punks, because we're coming.” They taught a lesson to Portsmouth who were reduced to spectators of The Blues' beautiful play. From front to back, Chelsea were vastly superior to Pompey and kept the ball to themselves like some precious treasure too satisfying to waste away. With both Ballack and Deco on the field, they were able to strike from anywhere at anytime, giving no chance to Portsmouth who struggled to get out of their own half for most of the game.
Scolari's troops struck early in the game with Joe Cole receiving a superb pass by Ballack. The English winger finished the job by putting the ball in the back of the net at the 11th minute of play. Nearly fifteen minutes later, Anelka gave his team a two-goal lead by heading in Deco's cross. The goal was pure determination on the French striker's part as he continued his run despite the fact that the play looked dead when both Ballack and Deco went for the same ball. Ballack's sliding effort didn't work but Deco managed to cross the ball back into the six-yard box for Anelka's header. Most of Chelsea's great play in the first half came from Joe Cole and Anelka's movements off the ball. The two players were constantly making runs, whether it was to stretch the defense by going wide on the wings or just make space for each other with diagonals runs, Portsmouth's defense simply didn't know how to deal with them. Furthermore, Mikel, Lampard, Deco, and Ballack had complete control of the midfield, rarely making unnecessary passes, and always pressuring Pompey's midfielders to give the ball away when the visitors had possession. At the back, Cech took care of most crosses sent to Crouch while Terry and Carvalho often cut the Crouch-Defoe connection. Portsmouth had one meaningful attack in the fist half and were down 3-0 at half-time since a penalty was awarded to Chelsea after a hand-ball during extra-time (Lampard converted the kick).
Chelsea resumed their domination in the opening stages of the second half. Then, the game suddenly blew open at the hour-mark. The pace became much quicker, spaces opened up everywhere, there were more individual runs, and more tackles. This type of play seemed to suit Portsmouth since that's when they finally showed some sign of life. But the silver lining didn't last long for Pompey. By the 75th minute, they were back to watching Chelsea make some passes in similar fashion as the Spaniards in the Euro 2008. Chelsea were so comfortable on the ball that even captain John Terry made runs on the left wing to deliver some crosses (and they were nice crosses too). When it looked like Chelsea was just content to let the game end at 3-0, summer-signing Deco scored his first goal in the EPL, a terrific strike badly played by David James. Portsmouth had one last attack in extra-time but Cech denied the consolation goal by standing tall.
So, Chelsea grabbed a satisfying win today. Deco and Bosingwa seem to be comfortable but there's still a long way to go, of course.
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa (Paulo Ferreira, 83rd), Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Deco, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack (Florent Malouda, 37th), Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 77th); Nicolas Anelka.
Scolari's troops struck early in the game with Joe Cole receiving a superb pass by Ballack. The English winger finished the job by putting the ball in the back of the net at the 11th minute of play. Nearly fifteen minutes later, Anelka gave his team a two-goal lead by heading in Deco's cross. The goal was pure determination on the French striker's part as he continued his run despite the fact that the play looked dead when both Ballack and Deco went for the same ball. Ballack's sliding effort didn't work but Deco managed to cross the ball back into the six-yard box for Anelka's header. Most of Chelsea's great play in the first half came from Joe Cole and Anelka's movements off the ball. The two players were constantly making runs, whether it was to stretch the defense by going wide on the wings or just make space for each other with diagonals runs, Portsmouth's defense simply didn't know how to deal with them. Furthermore, Mikel, Lampard, Deco, and Ballack had complete control of the midfield, rarely making unnecessary passes, and always pressuring Pompey's midfielders to give the ball away when the visitors had possession. At the back, Cech took care of most crosses sent to Crouch while Terry and Carvalho often cut the Crouch-Defoe connection. Portsmouth had one meaningful attack in the fist half and were down 3-0 at half-time since a penalty was awarded to Chelsea after a hand-ball during extra-time (Lampard converted the kick).
Chelsea resumed their domination in the opening stages of the second half. Then, the game suddenly blew open at the hour-mark. The pace became much quicker, spaces opened up everywhere, there were more individual runs, and more tackles. This type of play seemed to suit Portsmouth since that's when they finally showed some sign of life. But the silver lining didn't last long for Pompey. By the 75th minute, they were back to watching Chelsea make some passes in similar fashion as the Spaniards in the Euro 2008. Chelsea were so comfortable on the ball that even captain John Terry made runs on the left wing to deliver some crosses (and they were nice crosses too). When it looked like Chelsea was just content to let the game end at 3-0, summer-signing Deco scored his first goal in the EPL, a terrific strike badly played by David James. Portsmouth had one last attack in extra-time but Cech denied the consolation goal by standing tall.
So, Chelsea grabbed a satisfying win today. Deco and Bosingwa seem to be comfortable but there's still a long way to go, of course.
Chelsea's Goals
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa (Paulo Ferreira, 83rd), Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Deco, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack (Florent Malouda, 37th), Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 77th); Nicolas Anelka.
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