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Defending his man |
Is there anything that could have made Saturday’s lunch time fixture more fun? Goals, tackles flying in, dodgy calls, indignation and outrage, a little bust up at the end. I mean, I wouldn’t have said no to an animal pitch invader having a little scamper around the pitch. But for all intents and purposes this game had it all. The task here is basically futile. Words just aren’t as fun - go watch it if you somehow missed it. And not just the highlights!
Over the last two months, Antonio Conte has made this Premier League lark look pretty easy. But Chelsea haven’t faced a serious threat to their system until this weekend. It was definitely set to be a clash for the FM lovers out there. While its typical that the hype surrounding these fixtures is better than the game itself, Saturday turned out to be the opposite. Sure those ‘systems’ were dispatched, but frustration won in the end - which really was a victory for us all.
As its been ages since the actual game - or may just feel like ages since watching the game on a loop for the last four days - I thought it prudent to just break down the best moments …
You might know this better as Gary Cahill’s Own Goal. Manchester City created a lot of chances in the first half. And Sergio Agüero nearly died after being brushed by David Luiz’s curls. He miraculously recovered, but still wasn’t able to find the back of the net himself - at least from an onside position. So Gary Cahill stepped up and helped them out.
The Power of Pedro’s ‘tache
A blatant excuse to acknowledge his naughty bit of facial hair really. But the diminutive Spaniard was chopped down early in first half with something that had a little more vigour that Luiz’s coif. The medical staff were dispatched to tend to both leg and moustache. Only one of those managed to survive the challenge. However, Pedro soldiered on not only throughout the torrent of attacks in the opening 45 minutes, but through to the 50th minute to give Willian a chance to warm up so he could come on goalscoring ready.
Nathaniel Chalobah putting Agüero in his place
I think some people might need to re-think the ‘he’s not that kind of player’ mentality when it comes to Sergio Agüero. Because, well, he is. He elbowed Winston Reid in the face just a few weeks ago which has been by and large excused by most ‘because he’s not etc and so on’.
I’m all for a big challenge. Who doesn’t love to see a tackle flying in?! But there’s tackles and there’s trying to break someone’s leg in three places because they have better hair than you. Agüero has previous with Luiz when he two foot tackled his bottom - which there was no retrospective action taken. Saturday’s efforts were unsavoury - he’s lucky to have got away with nothing more than a 4 match ban. However, that challenge led to the injury time handbags which were brilliant.
Chalobah running across the entire pitch just to shove Agüero over was brilliant. It’s great to see players willing to fight for each other - even if it does mean literally sometimes. And the brazenness for him to do it right in front of Anthony Taylor was brilliant. Even Gary Neville praised him for it both at the time and in his post-match assessment on Sky.
Eden Hazard
As if I’m going to have a favourite moments and not include Hazard. I’ve also forgiven him for failing to put Chelsea ahead in the first half when his little legs ran out of room to run in front of a completely empty net. Wrong foot or not, next time just shoot Eden!
The little rascal got his goal in the end. Fantastic finish - so much so that Claudio Bravo couldn’t believe his own eyes and just lay down in his box to watch it go in. Phenomenal stuff from the little Belgian who rightly ran to the brilliant away support to celebrate with the fans and have a little cheeky badge kiss. Note: if the kit man is reading this - could you just go ahead and put my face on Hazard’s badge for future celebrations? Ta
Diego Costa: Zen Master
For the first time in his career, Diego Costa has gone 9 consecutive domestic matches without picking up a single booking. Diego Costa! The player that ‘is that kind of player’. Maybe Sergio Agüero should look to Costa for a little inspiration on how to chill the f•ck out.
Costa was rightly named Saturday’s man of the match. Now that he’s learned his mere existence seems to annoy people he doesn’t have to work at it and can concentrate solely on his football. It’s paying off in dividends. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but this is arguably the best he’s ever played.
As good as his play was throughout the game, it was his foray into the fracas that stood out. He was on the bench through injury as the trouble started. He managed to jog over to get in the mix - but to act as a peacemaker. While his efforts were admirable, they lacked anything resembling effectiveness. Believe it or not, Diego Costa apparently does not have a calming presence.
Let’s not mince words here, I love Cesc Fàbregas. He’s a bastard. But he’s our gloriously skilful bastard. If there’s trouble - you know he’s going to be at the centre of it. He’s been out of action since September - this was basically a dream come true. It was his first start since the game that shall not be named. He doesn’t offer the defensive coverage that Nemanja Matic does - but we’ve got Kanté, so its ok. For anyone who questions what Fàbregas can bring to a game - I order you to replay that pass for Diego Costa’s goal 1000 times. And then watch it again. A defence splitting pin perfect pass lobbed perfectly onto Cotsa’s foot. It doesn’t get much better than that. His vision is incredible.
That vision of course extends to his eye for trouble. As soon as things kicked off he was in the mix. When Fernandinho rudely tried to interrupt his fun he offered a little tap on the cheek. It’s safe to say Fernandinho does not like anyone touching his face. He proceeded to grab Fàbregas around the throat in plain view of the referee — vision. Our little scamp was acutely aware of where the referee was and let Fernandinho do what he wanted backing into the crowd. Eventually landing in the protective embrace of Carlo Cudicini. I’d fall over advertising hoardings for that. Either way, Fàbregas gets away with a yellow while Fernandinho’s fate is yet to be decided. It was a straight red but could be a lengthy ban if Joey Barton’s similar outburst has officially set the precedent.
As it was his first game back, you know he wasn’t done there - a glorious assist and getting another player sent off. He also manage to flair up handshakegate version 29076.9. At the end of the game, those still allowed to be there looked for conciliatory handshakes. Cesc tried to offer his to Pep, his former manager, but Pep wasn’t having it. Fabregas hovered around him trying a few times to get that all important handshake - but was blanked time and time again. Guardiola claimed he ‘didn’t see’ Fàbregas, despite him being inches away. Sounds an awful lot like another one of Fàbregas’ former managers …
Never change Cesc!
jb xx
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