It all started in the usual Chelsea Europa league performance mode. Poor, pinned-in, passes going astray, it seemed like there is some curse to the blues, that curse in my opinion is proper high tempo pressing, which was deployed by Steaua in Romania and was again on at the Bridge.
Steaua having a real golden opportunity early on to cause severe grief and anxiety, possibly sparking the toxic mood around Stamford Bridge again, but they failed to capitialize as Cech did what Cech is supposed to do and that is to save; rather than go wandering out of his box to catch Hernandez.
Mata and Ramires then produced the first bit of magic on the night as a lambasting run from Ramires and equally cute run behind Torres from Mata got Chelsea the opening goal. Torres stood as the ball rolled out to Mata who cleverly put it in between the defender and the goal keeper. It sneaked past inside the post and Chelsea who posed very little threat up until that time were level on aggregate.
It looked like Chelsea will kick on from there, but was'nt to be. In the dying seconds of the first half, Bucharest got a corner, and set-pieces were going to be their most potent resource to draw mayhem in the Chelsea box, and it did happen. Torres got the first block in as the ball was sneaking into the near-post. No chelsea player was close enough to win the second ball, or even the third ball, and wallop! Romania was in ecstacy. An Away goal against European Champions was some feat for them and they sensed something happening. How did Chelsea got undone on a set-piece again. Analysis Time!
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| Torres blocks it, He should clear or Ramires should! Look at the rest of defenders positions |
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| How the forward gets in front of John Obi Mikel? Please Answer Mikel! |
The ball is played low in to the near-corner, as Torres blocks it, half-blocks it, he should have kicked it out of play behind the goal or some where outside to get a throw-in, even then, he blocks it, the ball falls but there is no one covering the near-post. The ball bounces before kindly setting up for Chiriches to smack past Cech and get the goal. Mikel was in front of the forward, but when the ball ricochets off the laid Torres the forward gets in front of him. He is the defensive midfielder is'nt he? Where are the defenders that were strong or defensive headers that used to be so strong? or kicks that would put the ball in the second-tier of the ground. Who knows where the rough old days of defending have gone! (SIGH)
The same applies to Bucharest who were even more lethargic in their defending of a free-kick which saw John Terry score with acres of space to run in and move into an uncontested unmarked position to head it to give Chelsea the lead. Why you do not run with your man defender? Basic Defending Guys! BASICS!
And then came the third goal, Fernando Torres shows why he at a time in his life was termed as the best striker in the world. Calmly slotting it into the corner reminded us yet again of what he can do. Why cant you do it on a regular basis NANDO?
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| DO IT REGULARLY FOR GOD SAKE! |
He then should have had a penalty for a reckless challenge was made on him soon after that. He fell down, not only did he not get a penalty, he was booted in the face and left a bloody mess lying on the pitch.
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| TAKE THAT FOR SCORING! |
AND THEN TO SUM IT ALL UP HE DID THIS! WHAT AN ENIGMA HE IS , ISNT HE?
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| TO REALITY , WE RETURN! |
AND AFTER THAT, HE NUTMEG THREE DEFENDERS , PLAYED IT HIS OLD PAL BENAYOUN AND HE MISSED FROM 2 FEET OUT.............MY GOD WHAT A GAME!
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