FA Cup review: Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 2 Chelsea
Tuesday, 20 March 07, 08:11 AM · Comments (43)
Match reports
The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: "If the first meeting had been enthrallingly spectacular, the replay of this FA Cup quarter-final intrigued with its element of surprise. No one could have anticipated the finish with which Andriy Shevchenko opened the scoring or the volley from Shaun Wright-Phillips that doubled Chelsea's lead."
The Times, Matt Dickinson: "Even the misfits are firing now. And, as Chelsea step up their chase for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies, that is an ominous sign for all who hope to stop José Mourinho’s blue machine."
Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: "Two thunderbolts from the Blue swept Chelsea past Tottenham Hotspur, moving them to within 90 minutes of the FA Cup final to be staged along the North Circular Road at the rebuilt Wembley. Last night's goals from Andrei Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips were good enough to have graced any final."
The Independent, Sam Wallace: "They left the pitch like a gang of bare-knuckle fighters, stripped down to the waist and ready for a scrap  and when the final whistle went Chelsea got one. But the Tottenham fan who tried to attack Frank Lampard encountered the same fate as so many who take on Jose Mourinho's team: overwhelming odds and swift retribution."
The goals/highlights
(Alternative highlights video)
The good
- John Terry. What a player. You wouldn't think he'd been through so much in the way of serious injuries recently. You can't put a price on what he brings to the team, both as a player and captain. The hug he gave Andriy Shevchenko at the end said it all. Regardless of what's going on off the pitch, the team spirit appears to be as good as ever on it. And it's all down to Jose Mourinho.
- Shevchenko and Didier Drogba. A great centre-forward pairing when both are in form. Drogba's been brilliant all season but it's taken a while for Shevchenko to find his feet. It was worth the wait. He was superb. A breathtaking goal against Spurs is worth £30m any day of the week. And where do you start with Drogba? The guy is a machine, in attack, midfield and defence he was awesome. Not only is he one of the world's best strikers, but also an extra man at the back.
- John Obi Mikel. What a future this player has. He didn't put a foot wrong, disciplined, great passing, brilliant in defence... he's got the lot. He makes Michael Ballack look ordinary.
- Lassana Diarra. Mourinho didn't play Paulo Ferreira at right-back as I feared he might. Instead he opted for Diarra and he wasn't let down. I think it's become clear that the diminutive Frenchman is our best right-back at this present time. His appearances in the Claude Makelele role in recent games haven't always gone well, but at right-back he's a revelation. He was wrongly yellow-carded early on but that didn't stop him effectively marshalling Aaron Lennon out of the remainder of the game. In with a shout for Man of the Match.
- And a special mention for Shaun Wright-Phillips. A great goal topped what was a composed if occasionally erratic performance. He seems to be coming of age in a Chelsea shirt. At last.
- The travelling Chelsea fans. All 4,500 of them. It was good to see the players, manager and staff celebrate with them at the end. It would have been fantastic to have been there. The celebrations were only slightly marred by a moronic Spurs fan who couldn't stomach witnessing Chelsea re-establish their superiority. Hopefully it will be another 20 years before Spurs beat us at White Hart Lane again.
The bad
- The Frank Lampard/Michael Ballack pairing still hasn't clicked. Neither player was bad, in fact after a poor first half Ballack looked pretty good, although Lampard just about shaded it for me, but as a duo something is not quite right. Things are bound to improve eventually, I don't see this becoming another Steven Gerrard/Frank Lampard conundrum simply because Ballack and Lampard will have a great deal more opportunities to adapt to one another's play.
- It's a shame we found ourselves hanging on a bit at the end. It probably looked worse than it actually was, Spurs offered very little in the way of penetration and goal threat after Robbie Keane had scored from the penalty spot (Ricardo Carvalho's tackle on Dimitar Berbatov was inches from being perfect). For the sake of my health, it would have been much better if we'd managed to keep a clean sheet.
Man of the Match
I'm going to give it to Andriy Shevchenko, not just for his outstanding goal, but for his all round performance. As most of us suspected, it was just a matter of time before we saw the AC Milan era Shevchenko. Next season promises a great deal.
Final thoughts
Only Blackburn Rovers and Watford stand in the way of the 'dream' final between Chelsea and Manchester United the FA so desperately wants at the new Wembley stadium. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that we could fight United for three trophies this season - the Premiership, FA Cup final, and Champions League final. There's a long way to go, but I wouldn't bet against it.
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Just wht doctor ordered for all the chelsea supporters. Perfect from all the angle. I was searching for player ratings..i guess this time all gets 10. :-)
Shevchenko ...just WOW...i guess tht sums up all....only shevchenko could have scored tht. goal....brilliant...awesome..terrific..
Wright philips....please make TSP's team selection difficult...u can be one of his untouchables...just keep this tempo..u are bound to return for england team too
The defensive pair of Terry and Carvalho .....I wont swap for pair of even rooney and ronaldo...our pair can make any ronaldo look like a street footballer.
Cech..the best.....just his presence makes me feel comfortable.
Drogba...a complete footballer....he looks like henry of 04/05 season...defending, passing, ...assists...goals....what a player
Mikel is a good bargain at 16m....man u must have had initial laugh to bag 12m for him but his class exceeds tht sum of money paid for manure.
If Diarra is happy converting himself to right back..i dont see why he cant make that position his own in chelsea team.
I am waiting on lampard/ballack pair to complete the jigsaw puzzle of chelsea's supremacy .....they are brilliant in their as individuals..just need to make slight adjustments. Lampard still scored 20 goals till date this season..beyond explanation what a class act he is.
Fantastic win. Shevy and SWP both followed up their impressive performances against Sheffield Utd. Mikel looked particularly classy and Diarra has the tenacity of my Westie terrier.
Only disappointment was Ballack who kept giving the ball away and putting pressure back on our defence.
I'm always happy to be proved wrong about a player. Last night SWPs performance was enough to suggest that, just maybe, he will be the first player since Lampard who I have written off and has gone on to prove that I don't know what I'm talking about.
Apart from the 2 fantastic finishes, the most impressive part of this performance was the controll aspect of the game. At no point did we ever seem in trouble. This is IMHO was due in no small part to Terry and Mikel.
The 12 million we spent bringing an untried and unproven player seemed outrageous at the time but is starting to look like a very good piece of business.
A very satisfying night though I'm starting to bitterly regret the fact I'm going to be away for the cup final....
Nick,
Excellent review as always, completely agree with everything you said.
I thought Obi-Wan Mikel was fantastic, so much composure for someone so young. He almost made the holding role his own based on last night - the only problem being what happens a) when Essien returns or b) if we buy a new RB and move Diarra there. Still, not a bad problem to have.
I think Ashley Cole deserves a mention. Whilst I dont think he was special enough to be MOTM, he was often playing down the left side on his own. We lacked support for him, because of Lampard and Ballack's understandable tendencies to move into the centre.
So, we're still on course to partake in the not-at-all suspiciously planned cup final against ManUSA. Not that beating Blackburn is a given, of course. Not much chance of the Hornets doing us a favour is there, certainly based on Ronaldo's ponchant for eating grass at every opportunity.
Finally, I want to mention the two things that made me ridiculously angry. The first one being the incessant garbage being spouted by Mark Bright on BBC. It was almost painful to hear him ramble on about how Sheva and Ballack hadn't 'performed' since signing. Based on what Mark, how amazingly world-class you were in your playing days for...........Crystal Palace and Charlton.
And the idiot Spurs fan. I dont know why, but had it been a Chelsea fan (unlikely I know) it would be the sort of news to bring the country to a halt.
Forgive me Almighty Father of the Great game, for I have sinned. I have doubted Andrey Shevchencko, and said that he might not succeed in English Premier League.
Good summary Nick. I agree with the comments and your choice of MOTM. Shevchenko certainly seems to be getting to grips with English football and true class will always come through. That goal is one that I will NEVER tire of seeing simply because it was so...sudden. The man never even looked up because, as Shearer said, he knows that goals don't move.
For once I find myself thinking that Ballack and Lampard may be able to play alongside each other and last night Frankie and Mickey controlled the midfield for long periods. At times our passing was Arsenal-esque (just don't expect the pundits to admit that) and it was good to see us winning the second ball a lot for once.
It was an entirely different performance from the one at SB, professional and controlled and played at an even pace. Even when we were under the cosh a bit we never panicked or changed the pace of our game. Relentless but effective. For those saddened that they didn't see another 6 goal thriller, well all I can say is they are living in dreamland if they thought JM would countenance a similar performance.
I've done my player ratings/comments so here goes.
Cech - 8/10 - solid and commanding
Diarra - 8/10 - snuffed out Lennon and Berbatov and Keane
JT - 9/10 - commanding and inspiring
Carvalho - 7/10 loses a point for the tackle for the penalty but still solid
Cole - 8/10 - simply superb
Mikel - 9/10 - sheer
composed class - the Maka successor?
Lamps - 8/10 - quality showing
Ballack - 8/10 - another good performance indicating his adjustment to our game
SWP - 8/10 - best yet in a Chelsea shirt and a fab goal that would be the talk of the game if it wasn't for........
Sheva - 9.5/10 - superb ball control, intelligent runs off the ball, truly magnificent goal
Drogba - 9/10 - is there anything that Drogba wouldn't do for the team?
Kalou (sub) - 7/10 - did just about what he was asked to do
Robben (sub) - 7/10 - always looks dangerous but needs a better ball from corners
Ferreira - 7/10 - not on for long but deserves a 7 just for not making any cock ups.
This was as sweet as sweet can be and it just underlines how the injuries affected us earlier in the season. 1 defeat in 28 in all comps shows the true nature of the phenomenon that is Chelsea.
43 Comments · Add yours
Bloody marvellous! Sheva seems to perform better under colder weather! :-)
I've seen maybe a quarter of Chelsea's games this year, but this was the best performance. They controlled the first half against a good, but seldom penetrating Spurs, and though under the cosh early in the second half, won the game with two outstanding goals against the run of play. I gasped when Sheva's went in. A truly great goal. SWP had his best game in blue. Allowing him to play in the centre seems to suit him better. If he continues like this, maybe we should not get rid of him after all. Mikel is a revelation. This boy has to be one of the best players I have seen at his age. JM says he plays like a 30 year old. Drogs was everywhere especially when under pressure in defense. His lay off of the chest to SWP for the second goal was superb. I just wish we could give him a rest, he starts to look a little tired. And words fail for JT and Carvalho. Is there a better pair of central defenders anywhere in the world?
Cole had a relatively poor game. JM laid into him in the first half but he did not improve much. There was one move from Jenas that made him look positively amateurish. Though relatively anonymous, both Ballack and Frank did not play that badly, and Ballack does seem to get better with each game. I wish I could say the same for Frank who has seemed out of sorts all season, and in spite of his 20 goals. Diarra, though occasionally out of position, had another good game. Another great young talent.
Though it's maybe a little late for the championship, Chelsea do appear to be coming into form at the right time in the season. The Cup and the CL are distinct possibilities, something I thought unlikely only a month ago. It bodes well for next season too. A few tweaks and we will be a very strong and deep side indeed.
Oh yes, only a confirmed Chelsea debunker would fail to be moved by JM's obvious pleasure in extolling SWP's goal. It is moments like this that show the spirit in the team.