Mikel scores as Chelsea see off Fulham 2-0

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Posted on: Sat 21 Sep 2013

Summary Oscar's third goal of the season and John Mikel Obi's third of his Chelsea career put the team back on the winning path in Saturday's tea-time game.
The Blues had to wait until the second half for the breakthrough after a first period in which the performance improved towards the interval.
The Brazilian found the net from close range shortly after the restart but the biggest cheer of the day came late in the game when the identity of the second scorer became clear, Mikel netting for the first time since January 2007 and for the first time in the Premier League.
Chelsea had a couple of worthy penalty claims turned down and although Petr Cech denied Darren Bent twice early in the game, overall our visitors from down the road cannot complain about the result.

Team NewsThe defence was the one that started the first three games of the season with John Terry returning in place of David Luiz.
Ramires was available again after his European suspension and came back in with John Mikel Obi the other central midfielder. Andre Schurrle replaced Willian on the right and Samuel Eto'o started up front for the third game running.
Fulham had two strikers racing to be fit in time. Bent made it but Dimitar Berbatov didn't. Damien Duff came in on the right of their attack for injured Bryan Ruiz and Fernando Amorebieta replaced Philippe Senderos as Brede Hangeland's partner in central defence.
First halfAfter two defeats, an early goal would have done wonders for the team and the crowd's confidence but Fulham proved a tough nut to crack. Going forward themselves in the first half, they did enough to warn that Chelsea would need to defend with care if a repeat of the midweek shock against Basel was not to become a possibility.
Steve Sidwell, one of three ex-Chelsea players in the Fulham line-up headed the first chance over when he beat Mikel to a ball chipped over inside five minutes, but then Branislav Ivanovic whipped a ball in at the other end which Eto'o darted in front of the keeper to meet first. He couldn't turn it goalwards.
It was Mikel's loose pass forward that allowed a quick ball forward for Bent to chase having run behind Terry and Cahill, but Cech did the job required with his feet outside his area.
The Chelsea keeper then did excellently with his hands 12 minutes in when Ramires this time gave Fulham the chance for a quick break. Bent was the man again denied having beaten the offside, this time by a save when he shot too close to Cech. There were Chelsea shouts for a penalty soon after when Hazard appeared to be barged in the back by Sascha Riether. Nothing given.
Schurrle was taking free-kicks from both sides of the pitch and one from the right was helped on its way by the head of Ramires but it was comfortable for Stockdale to save. The Fulham keeper was less convincing in dealing with an in-swinging corner from the German midway through the half but he survived when he missed his punch.

PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V FULHAM - PART TWO

With the west London derby to bring the curtain down on today's Barclays Premier League bill, club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton put the full stop on their Fulham preview…

WE HAVE HISTORYChelsea are looking to extend our unbeaten run against Fulham to 16 games. Our last defeat came in March 2006 after Luis Boa Morte's lone goal.
This is the biggest west London derby but for many years local supporters of each club were friendly rivals, frequently watching the other team play when theirs was away that weekend.
Although Fulham is the oldest London team in the Premier League, they were originally in the Southern League, and this is only the 24th season that Chelsea and Fulham have been in the top flight together. Half of those have come in a straight run since the Whites were promoted in 2001.
Fulham have won two of our 34 previous league meetings at Stamford Bridge. They were 1963/64 (1-2) in the old First Division and 1979/80 (0-2) in the old Division Two.
Former Blues boss Bobby Campbell was the visitors' manager the last occasion Fulham came away from Stamford Bridge with maximum points, in October 1979 in the old Second Division.
Malcolm 'Super Mac' MacDonald was the manager 30 years ago towards the end of the 1983/84 season when John Neal's Chelsea were chasing promotion from Division Two.
Colin Pates had been delighted when Neal installed him as captain for the run-in in the absence of Tony McAndrew. 'It was a total surprise but I thrive on responsibility and this is just what I need,' enthused the cultured centre-back. 'I've always wanted to be skipper. It means you have to be totally involved throughout the match.'

PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V FULHAM - PART ONE

Posted on: Fri 20 Sep 2013

For the second Saturday running Chelsea are in tea-time action, and on this occasion it's a local affair. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton size up the SW6 derby…

TALKING POINTSIt is kind when the neighbours know you are having a bit of a rough time and pop straight round to see how you are. Unfortunately Fulham will not be knocking on the door on Saturday evening with a bottle of red, chocolate and compassion. At the same time, the Whites should prepare themselves just in case the greeting they receive is a bit brisk.
Chelsea's home group stage defeat by a tenacious Basel, our first in the Champions League since the opening match of the 2003/4 campaign proper (an even more surprising 0-2 to Besiktas), follows the narrow league loss at Everton.
The squandered chances of Goodison were not so abundant against the Swiss, which will concern Jose Mourinho. Chelsea may not have a mountain to climb but the Swiss made the route to the knockout stage a little steeper and the Blues need a lift.

MOURINHO: BOUNCING BACK

Posted on: Fri 20 Sep 2013

Jose Mourinho is confident the philosophy he is seeking to implement long-term will bring about an improvement in results sooner rather than later.
Speaking at his weekly Friday pre-match press conference, which took place at the Cobham media room, the Portuguese, somewhat unsurprisingly, was asked for his thoughts on a difficult week which has seen us lose away at Everton in the Premier League as well as at home to Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mourinho certainly isn't shocked by the reaction to the results, but feels it's far too early in the season to make any judgements, and insisted the evolution of his young squad will take a little bit of time.
'I think scrutiny is normal, I've been in football long enough to not be surprised by scrutiny, opinions and critics,' he said. 'I'm not surprised, I'm not worried.
'I have a job to do, I know where I want to go and I know the steps I have to take. I also know that when you want to build something different and the players are comfortable with a philosophy they've had for years, it's more difficult.

GILES SMITH'S THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Columnist and Chelsea season ticket holder Giles Smith was tuned-up and ready for the new European campaign before last night's game, and he is settled too for the long game…


The headlines this morning inevitably suggest doom and despair, as if what we witnessed at the Bridge last night was the arrival of at least two, and possibly three, of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The tone on the radio phone-in I had on in the car on the way home was pretty similar.
Whereas you could say that what we witnessed was a match featuring, it must be said, a fair bit of bluntness up front, but nevertheless also a match lit up for an hour or so by the brilliance of Willian, and in which Oscar smacked the bar for what would have been 2-0 in the second half, only for our defence to concede a well-constructed equaliser and then accidentally let someone get away at the near post on a late corner.
Do the Apocalyptic horses really ride in for a slip-up against a rather classy Swiss side (the strongest other team in our group, I would suggest) in September, in the opening match of the Champions League group stage? At this point of the season, those horses are still firmly enclosed in the paddock, surely, with their heads stuffed in bags of oats.
But that's the unhelpful nature of the heat that's currently under football, of course, when, no matter how early it is in the year, nor how early it is in the lifetime of your freshly assembled squad, you are only ever one poorly defended set-piece away from a crisis - and two consecutive iffy results from a full-blown, pants-on-fire, rip-it-up-and-start-again panic.

IVANOVIC: STAND UP

Posted on: Thu 19 Sep 2013

Branislav Ivanovic believes defeat to Basel on matchday one of the Champions League leaves us plenty of time to correct our poor start.
We surrendered a half-time lead to fall to our first home defeat in the group stage since October 2003, but now have five games to recover and ensure we are in the pot for the last 16.
'It was a very tough game, an open game,' Ivanovic said. 'We had a lot of runs in the first half, and scored in a very good moment.
'We tried to kill the game in the second half and unfortunately the opposite happened. We conceded the first one, which was difficult for us, and after that we started to do different things. We weren't ready for that moment and we then conceded the second one to lose the game.
'We have to stand up and show the character for the other games because we can't go back and have to look forward.'
We next travel to Romania to face Steaua Bucharest before a showdown with Schalke, hosting the Germans at Stamford Bridge a fortnight later, and meeting Basel again on November 26 before rounding off Group E when we host Steaua on December 11. Maximum points would see us safely through into the knockout rounds.
'It's a bad start in the Champions League but it's just the first game,' Ivanovic said. 'We have to stand up, show the character in other games and this situation has to be a good example for the future.'
Immediate attention now switches back to the Premier League, where last weekend's defeat at Everton must be forgotten when we entertain Fulham in our first London derby of the season. Ivanovic and his team-mates will want to give nothing away.

CAHILL: WE WERE IN CONTROL

Posted on: Thu 19 Sep 2013

Gary Cahill admitted we were shocked by Basel at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, but accepted we only had ourselves to blame after failing to raise our game in the second half.
A drab first half had ended with Oscar putting us a goal ahead, but further chances went begging after the break before Mohamed Salah and then Marco Streller struck to give the Swiss side an away victory.
'It's a big shock really,' Cahill said afterwards. 'We gave them a bit too much room all over the pitch but first half, we looked like we were in control of the game. In the second half we didn't quite step it up that level and we paid the price for it.
'We played against them twice last year and they're a very good side. The onus was on us to step it up and we didn't quite do that. At this sort of level we get punished and we're obviously disappointed. We were in control at 1-0 up, we knew we could go up a level. I'm repeating myself but we didn't do that and that's what cost us the game.

Chelsea 1-2 Basel: Shell shocker for Mourinho as his 'beautiful young eggs' crack in Champions League

The look on Roman Abramovich’s face told the story, even more than the jeers that cascaded around Stamford Bridge.
A short, rueful grin, but eyes as hard as stone. Unimpressed. Deeply unimpressed.
Six years ago, the Russian peered down on a side that could not beat Rosenborg and decided enough was enough.
At least - you would think - Abramovich will not be calling Jose Mourinho to demand a summit meeting on Thursday, will not be signing another mutual non-disclosure severance pact.
Both Abramovich and Mourinho have grown up since then. Mended the broken bridges. Agreed on the path forward.
But when Chelsea fail to win four on the spin, it represents an issue, if not a crisis.
When they lose two on the bounce, managers start to develop an anxiety rash.
The actions of the past, especially from a man as impulsive as Abramovich, condition the way you anticipate the future.

Mourinho to make amends for Chelsea’s elimination stage

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho vowed to make amends for Chelsea’s Champions League group stage elimination last season by keeping his “eggs” in their “natural habit” this term.

Six years to the day since Mourinho last took charge of the Blues in the Champions League, Chelsea host Swiss champions Basel on Wednesday in their opening Group E fixture.

After leaving Real Madrid this summer, Mourinho returned to Chelsea in June charged with the task of nurturing a developing squad full of potential, and he appears keen to play down expectations.

UEFA Champions League – RESULTS

Man United 4 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Galatasaray 1 - 6 Real Madrid
Bayern Munich 3 - 0 CSKA Moscow
Victoria Plzen 0 - 3 Man City
Olympiakos 1-4 PSG
Copenhagen 1-1 Juventus
Benfica 2-0 Anderlecht
Sociedad 0-2 Shakhtar

Transfer news: Demba Ba reveals he was ready to switch to Arsenal on deadline day

Demba Ba has admitted he was ready to move to Arsenal but is now fully committed to Chelsea.

The Senegal striker joined the Blues in January as another strike option alongside Fernando Torres, but believes he has not played as well as he did while at Newcastle and West Ham.
The 28-year-old could make his Champions League debut when Chelsea play Basle in Group E on Wednesday night after vowing to fight for his place under Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho preferred to allow Romelu Lukaku to move on loan, for a second season, to Everton than to send Ba to the Emirates Stadium on transfer deadline day, having added a fourth striker in Samuel Eto'o to his playing pool.

BA: TIME TO SHINE

If selected for tomorrow's match against Basel, Demba Ba will play Champions League football for the first time in his career, and the Blues striker is relishing the opportunity to test himself against a strong European side.
Jose Mourinho's side mark our return to the competition with a game against a team we need no introduction to having played them over two legs in last season's Europa League, coming out on top on both occasions, winning 2-1 away and 3-1 in the return.
Ba, having represented Newcastle United prior to moving to Stamford Bridge, was unable to play any part in that particular competition, but he, along with the rest of our players, is aware of the quality our opponents possess.

MOURINHO: BEAUTIFUL EGGS NEED EXPERIENCE

Posted on: Tue 17 Sep 2013

Oscar and Frank Lampard will both start in Wednesday's Champions League group game against Basel, with Jose Mourinho set to name four youngsters in his starting line-up.
Mourinho confirmed his latest team news before a packed Cobham press room as he prepares to take charge of his first European game as Chelsea manager in six years, explaining he believes the more inexperienced players of his squad need such outings to continue their development.
'No injuries at all. Everybody is fit,' the manager reported, before explaining he had not yet told all the players of his team selection. 'They don't know. Sometimes they know. This time they don't know,' he said.

THE DATA DAY: EVERTON V CHELSEA

n the wake of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Everton, Jose Mourinho highlighted our failure to make the most of a number of goalscoring opportunities, with his thoughts backed up by the statistics from the game.
The Blues had 22 attempts on goal, double the amount of Everton, six of which were on target compared to the home side's five.
Of our 22 attempts, 16 came from inside the penalty area with six coming from outside the box.
Debutant Samuel Eto'o had six efforts on goal, three of which were on target, while Ramires was our second most threatening player with three strikes on goal, one of which forced an excellent save from Tim Howard.

HAZARD: WE MUST BOUNCE BACK

Reflecting on our 1-0 defeat against Everton, Eden Hazard joined his manager in believing the result would have been different had chances been taken in the first half at Goodison Park.
Steven Naismith scored the only goal of the game right on the stroke of half-time, heading past Petr Cech from close range, and though Chelsea continued to press after the break, we were unable to breach a resolute Everton defence.
Samuel Eto'o, Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic all had opportunities to break the deadlock prior to Naismith's strike, but once we fell behind, as Hazard explained, it became tough.

UEFA Champions League Preview: Chelsea v Basel

Chelsea's bid to win a third major European trophy in successive seasons begins when they host Basel in the UEFA Champions League.

The Premier League won the UEFA Europa League last season, while they lifted the Champions League in the 2011-12 campaign, and they will be determined to claim the main prize again.
Wednesday's Group E clash at Stamford Bridge will be vital for the London club, with returning manager Jose Mourinho sure to demand a fast start from his men.

Breaking news-African World Cup play-offs draw - LIVE

So here are the drawn games:
Ivory Coast v Senegal
Ethiopia v Nigeria
Tunisia v Cameroon
Ghana v Egypt
Burkina Faso v Algeria

Chelsea morning news: Mourinho on title hopes, Sevilla fans plan to keep Marin in Spain

A round up of the key news stories linked to Chelsea this morning.

Jose Mourinho has played down Chelsea’s title hopes this season claiming his side will not become unbeatable.
The Blues went down 1-0 away at Everton and Mourinho has warned it’s a sign that a title push this season will be very difficult.

“No, it is not 2004 all over again. Then we lost against Manchester City in October – our only defeat. But that is not the point. We are not unbeatable. This is a different team,” said Mourinho.
Midfielder John Obi Mikel has tipped Samuel Eto’o to prove why he’s one of the best strikers in the world.
The former Barcelona and Inter Milan forward had a disappointing debut against Everton over the weekend and will be looking to get off the mark for the club in the Champions League against Basel.
“I think he looked a bit sharp so it won’t take him long to get back into his fitness. He is a world-class player, a fantastic guy. We just have to keep playing with him and helping him to adapt to the Premier League,” said Mikel.
Fans of Spanish side Sevilla are reportedly hatching a plan which will make it difficult for Marko Marin to go back to Chelsea.
The midfielder is currently on loan with the La Liga club and several fans are reportedly keen on trying to find him a wife in Spain.
The theory is that if Marin falls in love while he’s playing for the club, it will be more difficult for him to return to West London when his loan deal expires.

MIKEL: IT WONT TAKE LONG

John mikel obi discussed Samuel Eto'o after our new signing made his debut at Everton, and believes a player of his calibre will adapt to the demands of the English game quickly.
Eto'o was chosen to lead the line at Goodison Park and played the full 90 minutes, with Fernando Torres coming on to offer support as we pressed for an equaliser.
Eto'o a chance early on, a header which went wide from a Ramires cross, but Mikel saw enough in his performance to suggest he will be a major asset in the months ahead.
'He's a great player, a fantastic player, and you could see that by the way he played against Everton,' said the Nigerian. 'That's why the manager brought him here, he has a lot of trust in him so let's wait and see.
'The English league is a very difficult league to adapt to and it was the first game for him. He did pretty well so let's see how it goes for him.
'It took me around six months to a year to adapt, but someone like Eto'o, who has a lot of experience and has played in so many leagues, it won't take him that long to adapt.
'He looked sharp, it won't take him long to get back to full fitness. He's a world-class player and we just need to keep helping him to adapt to the Premier League.'

Manchester United, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea make today’s transfer headlines

THE transfer window may be closed, but the rumours over players’ futures still remains – with the Premier League’s big boys keeping their eyes on talent.
The summer window saw a lot of big-money moves, but the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham remain in the hunt for players.
The Sunday Mirror reports today that Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea are among a host of clubs monitoring Juventus striker Fernando Llorente, 28.
The Spain international has struggled since joining the Serie A side on a free transfer this summer.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have kept Cristiano Ronaldo out of his former club Manchester United’s clutches by offering the 28-year-old forward a new deal worth £75m. Full story: Mail on Sunday
Other transfer stories today:
Striker Emmanuel Adebayor, 29, wants a £1m pay-off to leave Tottenham after being banished to the reserves. Full story: Metro
Manchester United manager David Moyes has defended his decision to start forward Wayne Rooney, 27, against Crystal Palace on Saturday, less than four days after he was deemed unfit for international duty with England because of a head injury. Full story: Sunday Telegraph
Meanwhile, Arsenal will test United’s determination to keep Rooney by offering the Old Trafford club £30m for him in the January transfer window. Full story: Mail on Sunday
Mathieu Flamini has warned Arsenal that he wants to finish his career with the “club of his heart” Marseille. The 29-year-old midfielder started his career with the Ligue 1 side before moving to the Gunners in 2004, rejoining Arsenal this summer after five years at AC Milan. Full story: Metro
And Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s concerns over his lack of cover up front was the reason he blocked 25-year-old striker Nicklas Bendtner’s move to Crystal Palace. Full story: Sunday Express
Manchester United and Chelsea are ready to fight it out in an attempt to land Everton’s £20m-rated midfielder Ross Barkley. The 19-year-old featured against Chelsea in Everton’s 1-0 win at Goodison Park on Saturday. Full story: Sunday Express
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is set to spend more of the world record transfer fee they received for Gareth Bale, and will target AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy, 20, in the January transfer window. Full story: the People
Championship side Wigan may make a loan move for Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes, 23, before signing him permanently in a deal worth £9m in the January transfer window. Full story: Sunday Express

FINAL WHISTLE VERDICT: CHANCES PASSED BY

It was a simple and time-honoured football shortcoming that Jose Mourinho spoke about after his team finished empty-handed for the first time in the league this season. An Everton goal nodded in from close-range by Steve Naismith with only seconds to go before half-time was the Blues undoing at Goodison Park, and although the Chelsea manager reflected on mistakes by players he pointed out were senior ones in the build-up to that goal, he took responsibility for those errors and pointed to play at the other end as more responsible for the defeat…
'We didn't score goals,' Mourinho lamented.