How Chelsea’s Samuel Eto'o terrorised Manchester United

Samuel Eto’o

Talk of the title being out of Manchester United’s reach had been doing the rounds before, but manager David Moyes as well as his players refused to throw in the towel. A 3-1 away defeat at the hands of a convincing Chelsea side, however, has proved to be the final nail in the coffin and the sledge hammer that has finally shattered the hopes of everyone at the club beyond any sort of repair.

Even captain Nemanja Vidic, sent off late on and likely suspended for the next three games as a result, admitted that the challenge was over. And it’s all thanks toSamuel Eto’o, who scored a hat-trick on the day.

The Cameroon international striker capitalised on what Moyes very rightly described as “terrible” defending to take his league tally to six goals and his strike rate to exactly one goal every other game.

Each of the 32-year-old’s goals was as a result of laughable defending. For his first, for example, Phil Jones bought his drop of the shoulder at the edge of the box in the build-up more eagerly than a little kid buying the ice-cream man’s very last lolly. It was naive on the Englishman’s part, and frustrating when one considers that he was started in midfield in order to shield his defence.

For Eto’o’s second goal, perhaps United’s defenders could explain to their bemused manager why Gary Cahill had the freedom of Stamford Bridge to make his header on the corner prior to Eto’o’s finish.

As for the third, it was all about Antonio Valencia. The Ecuadorian started off goal-side of Eto’o near the goal line, but was somehow turned around, allowing the striker to power home and complete his hat-trick. That was just minutes after the second half started- four to be exact. Four also happens to be the amount of shots he had on the day.

Samuel Eto’o Passes vs Man United (79% Pass Success)

However, Eto’o’s passing was effective yesterday too, he completed 15 of his 19 passes as he looked to pass and move his way around the Man United defence. This caused Moyes’ men a number of problems, as it meant that he was hard to track, while he was also opening up space for other Chelsea attackers, such as Eden Hazard to run into.

In the end, he earned a game-high Performance Score of 97 points and a deserved round of applause from the club’s fans when he was subbed by Jose Mourinho on 79 minutes. The Portuguese manager was no doubt well pleased and will surely be hoping for more of the same in the coming weeks now that Fernando Torres is injured.