Chelsea's April Fool Manages To Put United Out of Another Cup

May As Well Have Been In Qatar for this One too

In true holiday spirit, Rafa Benitez tried to resurrect the possibility of anyone considering him a viable option at their club next season by putting all his eggs into one giant Budweiser sponsored FA Cup shaped basket. He made this abundantly clear in the lineup selected for Chelsea’s league match against Southampton. He wants a trophy to attempt to continue the mystique of his insightful tactics. But maybe even more than advancing further in the Cup, Benitez was trying to get one over on his favourite frenemy ‘the manager of Manchester United.’ Chelsea managed to put United out of one cup this season - will it be two? And is that more important to Benitez than winning any himself?

At this point, we all know the result. And if you don’t, then why are you reading this? ** I digress of course. Benitez did get one over on Mr. Ferguson, just. He certainly opted for a stronger lineup than he had done not 48 hours before this one, but was it really the best that he could have done, or has he still not got the hang of this choosing a team business after a quarter of a century in the business? For the most part, the squad looked to be right-ish. Dodgy right knee or not, Terry should have been the one to take charge of the back line while Ivanovic might want to have a sit and think about what’s going on with his own season. Thankfully, David Luiz filled Terry’s boots and did what he could to lead the back line. But with Cole limping off, Luiz was forced to think beyond himself and the big Serbian ensuring Ryan Bertrand was where he was meant to be.

Onto another missing face - Frank Lampard. Yes, he had one of *those* matches against Southampton, but more than likely would have ensured it did not happen against a formidable midfield - and by formidable I really just mean Michael Carrick. Of course, it still worked out for the Interim One ... just. With Carrick having a bright start but fading over the 90 minutes, Benitez was able to escape with a Lampard free midfield.

Of course, the missing figures of Lampard and Terry were balanced with the inclusion of not only Mikel - but Mata, Hazard, and Oscar. In never before seen scenes from Benitez, he acknowledged they are stronger together than apart and unleashed them against a flailing Manchester United. Oscar was a bit of a weak link and was replaced at a point that I could have come on and it wouldn’t have changed the course of events, but Chelsea supporters can only count on so many wins from Benitez. So we’ll give him the triumvirate and Mikel, but late substitutions to disrupt Fergie time while he stood along the touchline with his fingers crossed. Not to ruin anything for him, but if he sent out a team structured to score more goals he wouldn’t have to play the late substitute game to wear down the clock.

Since Monday, there’s been a lot of talk about *that* goal ... and if you want to watch it again and again here you go: Mata to Ba's toe. But Cech was the real man of the match. He finally managed to stop Hernandez from scoring. SAF was wiley enough to start a player that scores against Chelsea every time he bats his eyelashes near the ball. An embarrassment for any club to let someone with their nickname on their shirt score against them and so prodigiously. But Cech managed a few fantastic saves from the de-gendered Hernandez and stop Manchester United from scoring for the first time in 23 successive matches. It also means that Cech ensured Chelsea's run of 29 matches unbeaten in the FA Cup continues.

Feeling somewhat generous, Alex Ferguson did offer up a giant egg to Chelsea supporters in the form of Rio Ferdinand. Any England fan watching Monday's match may need to consider their position on him. He didn't so much turn his back on his country, but rescued their defence by not being a part of it himself. Of course, it may have been Chelsea supporters fault there too. With every touch of the ball he received a resounding boo. So, just like England he decided to take himself out of the match, by no longer contributing to the defence. He did do an excellent job of looking aggrieved though.

Of course Rafa Benitez and Chelsea were not the only ones getting in on the holiday spirit. Not only was it Easter weekend, but it was also April Fool’s Day. And arguably the best April Fool’s joke of the weekend was Nani’s performance.

Onto Thursday Night Cup for Chelsea, and watching Thursday Night cup for Manchester United.*

jb x

*  Safe to assume if they faced each other in Thursday night cup, Benitez would put everything he had into beating them only to go out with as much of a whimper in the next round.

** the timeliness of this article is fuelled by our good friends Captain Morgan and a Mister Jager.