Chelsea Demolishes Chengdu Blades 7-0
July 27th 2008 05:05
Two words: Total annihilation.
After dominating Chinese club Guangzhou Pharmaceutical three days ago, Chelsea completely ran over the Chengdu Blades with a thumping victory – seven goals nicely spread throughout the 90 minutes while goalkeeper Peter Cech didn't break a sweat at his end. Realizing that the 4-4-2 formation used against Guangzhou was a bit too conservative, Scolari went straight away with the 4-3-3 that gave him three goals during the second half of their first pre-season game. Cech was back between the pipes. There were two changes in defense, Paulo Ferreira replaced the injured Bosingwa, and Alex replaced Ricardo Carvalho alongside John Terry and Ashley Cole. In midfield, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, and Deco took care of things while Shaun Wright-Phillips got his first start in attack alongside Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka.
The Blues quickly found the back of the net at the 15th minute when Anelka beat the Blades' offside trap, ran around the goalkeeper, and calmly slotted the ball in the empty goal. Fifteen minutes later, he once again evaded his markers, and calmly passed the ball to Kalou who didn't miss his chance since they were two-on-one against the goalkeeper. The winger would then play a role in his team's third goal at the 38th minute when he passed the ball to Lampard who, him too, fired into a practically deserted net. It was, thus, 3-0 at half-time and Chengdu's offside trap clearly wasn't working as it was giving more problems to their goalkeeper than solutions.
Once again, the Brazilian manager made five substitutions at half-time, replacing Ferreira, Alex, A. Cole, Kalou and Lampard by Branislav Ivanovic, Ricardo Carvalho, Wayne Bridge, Florent Malouda, and John Obi Mikel. With so many changes made at once, the tempo was a little slow in the opening minutes of the second half. Joe Cole's entrance in John Terry's place at the 53rd minute immediately injected some speed into the play and the winger found himself on the scoresheet two minutes after stepping onto the field, on his first touch of the ball. Chengdu's defenders apparently hadn't learned their lesson as they once again tried the offside trap, only to fail miserably as J. Cole sped past them to score in the same fashion as Anelka. Scolari made his final changes at the hour-mark, substituting Anelka and Cech for Franco Di Santo and Henrique Hilario. Six minutes after his entrance, the young Argentine striker scored the fifth goal of his team after a defensive mistake by the Blades. It was the kind of opportunity that Arsenal's Carlos Vela couldn't put away last week. By that point, the score was 5-0, and it was clear that Chelsea were simply enjoying themselves out there as missed scoring chances only drew smiles and laughs instead of the usual hands-to-the-head/how-could-I -miss-that reaction. At the 82nd minute, Joe Cole brought some style to his team's finish as he scored his second of the game with a clever backheel from Essien's cross. Two minutes later, Shaun Wright-Phillips also got on the scoresheet after deflecting a cross from Malouda. The Blues would have two more scoring opportunities before the final whistle but seven goals seemed to be enough.
After dominating Chinese club Guangzhou Pharmaceutical three days ago, Chelsea completely ran over the Chengdu Blades with a thumping victory – seven goals nicely spread throughout the 90 minutes while goalkeeper Peter Cech didn't break a sweat at his end. Realizing that the 4-4-2 formation used against Guangzhou was a bit too conservative, Scolari went straight away with the 4-3-3 that gave him three goals during the second half of their first pre-season game. Cech was back between the pipes. There were two changes in defense, Paulo Ferreira replaced the injured Bosingwa, and Alex replaced Ricardo Carvalho alongside John Terry and Ashley Cole. In midfield, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, and Deco took care of things while Shaun Wright-Phillips got his first start in attack alongside Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka.
The Blues quickly found the back of the net at the 15th minute when Anelka beat the Blades' offside trap, ran around the goalkeeper, and calmly slotted the ball in the empty goal. Fifteen minutes later, he once again evaded his markers, and calmly passed the ball to Kalou who didn't miss his chance since they were two-on-one against the goalkeeper. The winger would then play a role in his team's third goal at the 38th minute when he passed the ball to Lampard who, him too, fired into a practically deserted net. It was, thus, 3-0 at half-time and Chengdu's offside trap clearly wasn't working as it was giving more problems to their goalkeeper than solutions.
Once again, the Brazilian manager made five substitutions at half-time, replacing Ferreira, Alex, A. Cole, Kalou and Lampard by Branislav Ivanovic, Ricardo Carvalho, Wayne Bridge, Florent Malouda, and John Obi Mikel. With so many changes made at once, the tempo was a little slow in the opening minutes of the second half. Joe Cole's entrance in John Terry's place at the 53rd minute immediately injected some speed into the play and the winger found himself on the scoresheet two minutes after stepping onto the field, on his first touch of the ball. Chengdu's defenders apparently hadn't learned their lesson as they once again tried the offside trap, only to fail miserably as J. Cole sped past them to score in the same fashion as Anelka. Scolari made his final changes at the hour-mark, substituting Anelka and Cech for Franco Di Santo and Henrique Hilario. Six minutes after his entrance, the young Argentine striker scored the fifth goal of his team after a defensive mistake by the Blades. It was the kind of opportunity that Arsenal's Carlos Vela couldn't put away last week. By that point, the score was 5-0, and it was clear that Chelsea were simply enjoying themselves out there as missed scoring chances only drew smiles and laughs instead of the usual hands-to-the-head/how-could-I -miss-that reaction. At the 82nd minute, Joe Cole brought some style to his team's finish as he scored his second of the game with a clever backheel from Essien's cross. Two minutes later, Shaun Wright-Phillips also got on the scoresheet after deflecting a cross from Malouda. The Blues would have two more scoring opportunities before the final whistle but seven goals seemed to be enough.
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