After a heartbreaking loss to Man Utd at Champions League in the midweek, the Blue Giants made sure there were going to be no more reverses at the weekend as they sealed the points by edging bottom club Wigan Athletic 1-0. A solitary goal from French winger Florent Malouda was enough for the Blues to put the match to bed against the Latics and climb into third place in the Premier League table. This was how the match panned out.
What the Blues could’ve achieved, but didn’t
Didier Drogba proved to be a thorn in Wigan's feet all day and ultimately played a part in the winning goal
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The Blues had the perfect opportunity to score during the very first minute as Drogba powered down the right flank, cut the ball towards the edge of the box where Lampard arrived unexpectedly. Lampard tried taking a shot on goal but failed yet Ramires tried to keep it alive, but couldn’t get it under control. After a while, Drogba collected the ball facing the goal post, made an exceptionally good pass to Malouda, who progressed into the penalty area, but as he tried to shoot across Ali Al-Habsi, his strike was sent straight at the Wigan goalkeeper who made an excellent save. It was a wonderful start to the match for Chelsea, probably a sign that goals were going to flow. But that was not how the match transpired.
The only goal for the day
Florent Malouda celebrates the Scrappy Winning Goal for Chelsea
Chelsea opened the scoring for the day in the 66th minute when David Luiz powered a header towards goal from a Drogba corner, followed by Ivanovic’s quick reaction of leading the ball towards the goalpost. Under pressure from Torres, El-Habsi spilled the ball which then fell to Malouda and the French winger squirmed the ball into the back of the net. The winning goal certainly wasn’t top-notch, but the Blues would’ve settled for anything and this gave the Latics a sinking feeling after labouring for so long against bottom Wigan.
No cookie for the Latics
In a match where Chelsea struggled to find their groove, the Latics had chances themselves to cause an upset. Wigan nearly drove the ball into the box when Cole blocked the finish as the visitors packed the penalty area, but Watson’s poor delivery sent the ball beyond the men lining up at the back post and straight out for a Chelsea goal kick. Despite this disaster, Wigan grew in confidence as the game went on and enjoyed a good spell of possession in the Chelsea half with 23 minutes played. As the ball was passed to Rodallega, Luiz took a risk and tried to intercept the pass, but Rodallega shielded the ball well and got goalside of the Brazilian defender, unfortunately the Columbian’s strike was blocked by Luiz and the ball ballooned over the crossbar.
The multiple swaps
When there were only 30 minutes left to play both managers decided to spice up the game, Roberto Martinez opted to make a double substitution, withdrawing Charles N’Zogbia and the unhappy Rodallega in favour of Franco Di Santo and Conor Sammon. Carlo Ancelotti took off Nicolas Anelka and replaced him with Fernando Torres and Mikel Obi came off for the returning Yossi Benayoun. Torres would eventually play a part in the winning goal, despite not breaking his duck himself.
Wake up, Torres
How long before Torres begins to Justify his Big-Money Transfer?
It was a sad day at the office yet again for the big-money signing from Spain as Torres failed to fancy his chances against the bottom most club of the Premier League, break his goal scoring duck and silence his critics. With the Blues 1-0 up, Drogba saw the Spaniard free at the back post and slid the ball across the box for Torres, but Fernando Torres disdainfully rejected yet another opportunity to open his account for Chelsea. However since he has shown tremendous improvement at Stamford Bridge and made a commendable effort to save a goal today, his opening his account is only a matter of time.
Losing nearly every game this season, a win for Wigan would have been a real collector’s item. From thrashing the Latics 8-0 at the end of last season, the Blues have deteriorated immensely and could have dropped points on this day. Ancelotti’s men need better co-ordination if they plan to win the title. However, after another expected win for Chelsea, it looks like Man City’s attempts to gatecrash the automatic Champions League qualifying spots has taken another blow.
