EPL Week 4: Robinho Scores In City Debut But Chelsea Easily Win 3-1
September 15th 2008 16:11
When Robinho scored the opening goal of the match at the 12th minute of play, one could easily feel the slap in the face Manchester City's new owners gave to Chelsea. The stadium erupted in joy while Cech and Terry were left screaming at each other, clearly frustrated by the events surrounding them. Three minutes later, Ricardo Carvalho equalized the mark after a Chelsea corner, bursting City's bubble in the process. By half-time, it was clear that the Brazilian's arrival wasn't going to change things at City. As it were, they were lucky to end the first period at 1-1 since Chelsea had threatened the home side's goal several times. Luckily for City, most of these scoring opportunities were off-target, but they didn't miss by much.
A bit over five minutes into the second half, Chelsea took the lead when Lampard concluded a counterattack with a superb shot to the far post. At this point, the match was over because if City decided to open up in order to get a goal, Chelsea could easily strike again to put the game beyond reach. At the 69th minute, Joe Cole sent a superb pass right in the path of Anelka who one-timed the ball past City's goalkeeper. At 3-1, Chelsea had effectively crashed the Citizens' party who should realize that it takes more than one player to make a winning team. The local fans had a bit of consolation though, because at the 76th minute John Terry was shown a straight red card for fouling City's striker on a break. The decision was controversial. Terry was far from being the last defender since there were two players covering him. Furthermore, the same thing had happened earlier in the day in the Liverpool-Manchester United match where Vidic received a yellow card even though he was in a worse position than Terry. JT deserved a yellow card, nothing more, nothing less. The red card was just too severe.
As for the Manchester City team, there was a lot of hype about Robinho's arrival, and no one seemed the notice the phenomenal work of ex-Chelsea player Shaun Wright-Phillips who was a monster on the right wing, effectively canceling Ashley Cole's offensive rushes. Robinho may be the marquee player, but Shaun Wright-Phillips was Manchester City's unsung hero on Saturday. Despite the winger's great work, my man of the match vote goes to Ricardo Carvalho who also had an excellent game. He scored the equalizer and prevented City from tying the game at 2-2 by blocking Ireland's shot. Terry always seems to get the credit for Chelsea's strength in center defense. I think it's time Carvalho get the credit due to him.
Chelsea's line-up: Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Deco, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard; Joe Cole (Juliano Belletti, 70th), Nicolas Anelka (Alex, 78th), Florent Malouda (Didier Drogba, 70th).
A bit over five minutes into the second half, Chelsea took the lead when Lampard concluded a counterattack with a superb shot to the far post. At this point, the match was over because if City decided to open up in order to get a goal, Chelsea could easily strike again to put the game beyond reach. At the 69th minute, Joe Cole sent a superb pass right in the path of Anelka who one-timed the ball past City's goalkeeper. At 3-1, Chelsea had effectively crashed the Citizens' party who should realize that it takes more than one player to make a winning team. The local fans had a bit of consolation though, because at the 76th minute John Terry was shown a straight red card for fouling City's striker on a break. The decision was controversial. Terry was far from being the last defender since there were two players covering him. Furthermore, the same thing had happened earlier in the day in the Liverpool-Manchester United match where Vidic received a yellow card even though he was in a worse position than Terry. JT deserved a yellow card, nothing more, nothing less. The red card was just too severe.
As for the Manchester City team, there was a lot of hype about Robinho's arrival, and no one seemed the notice the phenomenal work of ex-Chelsea player Shaun Wright-Phillips who was a monster on the right wing, effectively canceling Ashley Cole's offensive rushes. Robinho may be the marquee player, but Shaun Wright-Phillips was Manchester City's unsung hero on Saturday. Despite the winger's great work, my man of the match vote goes to Ricardo Carvalho who also had an excellent game. He scored the equalizer and prevented City from tying the game at 2-2 by blocking Ireland's shot. Terry always seems to get the credit for Chelsea's strength in center defense. I think it's time Carvalho get the credit due to him.
Match Highlights
Chelsea's line-up: Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Deco, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard; Joe Cole (Juliano Belletti, 70th), Nicolas Anelka (Alex, 78th), Florent Malouda (Didier Drogba, 70th).
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