BlueLion.

Thibaut has been magnificent for us this season virtually 98% of the time, but I think we could well be looking back on that save as potentially title-deciding. That reaction save is literally the difference between us having a seven point lead and a five point lead.

Agreed. He's much maligned for his attacking prowess but I think he is a lot better than people give him credit for. Luis is undoubtedly the best crosser but what's the point of chucking crosses into the box when Drogba or Diego aren't playing? Just doing my job

Really? I thought we looked more threatening the instant Drogba came on.

And yet he put in the cross for Ivan's winner on Saturday and would have set up the opener had Hazard not tried to be too clever with his little flicked finish which he totally fucked up.

He's the next Desailly.

Welcome back bearded one.

Okay we all got excited with the result but FFS Azpi...

Biblical performance.

How can you not love this guy? Chelsea hero already.

He had no right in being able to have the reaction time to even instinctively stick a foot out for Lukaku's second shot. Pure brilliance. Give credit where it is due. There would have been 10 pages of discussion and endless vines had Courtois done the same! But I think that's because we take Cech for granted. He's also gone nearly 1000 minutes without conceding at home in the league.

Thanks for reading mate

Brazilian winger Willian scored a superb late winner as Chelsea beat Everton to maintain their seven-point lead over Manchester City - but his side were indebted to a stunning Petr Cech save. With Manuel Pellegrini's side quite comfortable disposing of Stoke City this evening, there was a growing degree of anxiety inside Stamford Bridge as the Blues haplessly tried to break down a resolute defensive performance from the Toffees. But with mere minutes to go, Branislav Ivanovic had a goal correctly ruled out for offside before Gareth Barry was shown a second yellow card for cynically bringing Willian down. Amidst the resultant mêlée Chelsea were able to compose themselves, and scored the goal their dominance of the match deserved when Willian himself hit a looping ball on the half-volley and into the bottom corner of Tim Howard's goal - sending the Stamford Bridge crowd into raptures. It is tough on Everton who defended extremely well throughout, limiting the Blues to predominantly long-range efforts that Howard was able to match with a commanding goalkeeping performance on his return to Roberto Martinez's starting eleven. But it was his opposite number, Petr Cech, who deserves all the plaudits for a quite miraculous save when he denied former Blues forward Romelu Lukaku a certain goal. After both Nemanja Matic and Willian had fired efforts from distance just over the frame of the bar inside a very strong opening five minutes for the Blues, it was Cech who made the first crucial intervention of the match when he managed to divert a Lukaku drive over the bar with an outstretched foot. Howard was in fine form himself and produced a good save to push away Loic Remy's powerful header, but in a cagey, cat-and-mouse first half that settled down into a rhythm of constant Chelsea pressure played out to a relatively staid conclusion. Juan Cuadrado, making his first start for the club, was pulling out all the party pieces with a number of audacious drag-backs and flicks - but despite a number of neat interchanges between the Colombian and his fellow attackers, the Blues struggled to impose themselves throughout an increasingly frustrating encounter. The best chance they managed to muster came about when a wonderful cross by Cesar Azpilicueta was misjudged by Hazard, who would surely have diverted the ball home with even the slightest touch from close quarters. Whilst the reverse fixture ended up being such an open game it turned into an all-time Premier League classic, this clash was promising to result in a tense conclusion, and with Everton a combination of defensively impenetrable and threatening on the counter-attack, José Mourinho was looking an increasingly worried figure on the touchline. Matic - hugely impressive throughout - then forced a good save out of Howard from a free-kick, but even the additions of Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas failed to bring about an immediate change in Chelsea's attacking fortunes. Everton were visibly growing in confidence and but for a frankly outrageous save from Cech they would have taken a lead that their effort and endeavour would certainly have merited. Brian Oviedo fired in an excellent cross from the left wing that Lukaku did well to steer towards goal, but the Czech goalkeeper, rotated back into the starting line-up, instinctively stuck out a long leg to turn the ball away from danger. Lukaku looked on in disbelief, and it was upon that moment that the outcome of this match was ultimately decided. Howard continued to frustrate with an inspired performance of his own as this time he did well to hold onto a relatively tame Willian effort, but he looked to have been beaten by a deflected Matic drive which the linesman - correctly - adjudged to have flicked off the shoulder of the offside Ivanovic. 86 minutes were on the clock. Moments later, with Chelsea clearly frustrated in having been denied a late breakthrough, tempers were frayed when Barry - already on a yellow card - unceremoniously dumped the marauding Willian to the ground with a trip. In the subsequent brawl that followed Ramires, Fabregas, and Everton's James McCarthy were all yellow-carded, but the man advantage now offered Chelsea a final chance to find the breakthrough. And they duly did, in the style of true champions-elect. Howard punched clear a Fabregas corner, but Willian, on the volley, sent the looping ball into the bottom corner from fully 25 yards with aplomb to spark mad scenes of celebration as the Blues maintained their crucial seven point lead at the top of the Premier League table. Click here to view the article

Michu v.2

That's what I'm trying to point out. I think you've said it better than me - Oscar, forget his position in the Sky infographic in the team line-up. He's effectively a B2B midfielder, as you say. Absolutely agree. I just think people get caught out by the fact he is "supposed" to be a CAM. So was Mikel, but José converted him into a defensive player. He's converting Oscar - a player he clearly loves from the fact he sold Mata and made Oscar his chosen third midfielder - into the sort of role Lampard operated in in his earlier years. Agreed. As Manpe said, we could let Oscar/Willian "off the leash". Sometimes we do, against weaker sides, and we end up winning 5-0 or something along those lines (think how good WIllian was at Schalke away, for instance). But if we opened up against PSG, we'd concede a shitload. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a strength to cover up a weakness and that is what Mourinho does with his "defensive" duo of Oscar and Willian.

Give him 70-75 minutes. Let's get him ready to rip PSG apart.

Is it now fashionable to slag off Oscar, then? I suppose so. Mikel is injured and Cahill actually had a good game on Saturday. Ivanovic scored so that spares him for criticism. No Filipe Luis so we can't mock him for being too offensively minded. Can't slag off Drogba too much because he's a legend. No penalty decisions or refereeing debacles to complain about, either. Leaves poor Ossie to feel the brunt of it. We're not satisfied unless we have someone or something to moan about. I've said it before - you don't measure his productivity in terms of goals and assists, because he'll never be your Frank Lampard or Cesc Fabregas in those regards. He might be operating in the number ten position, but he plays so deep that effectively when we line up he might as well be operating next to Matic and Cesc might as well just stay between Eden and Willian. Oscar is a combative, tenacious little bastard who has one of the highest work rates I've ever seen in a young player. If you want him to be more like Phil Coutinho, then he can, quite easily. Coutinho is by far the better dribbler but his decision making makes Willian or even Theo Walcott look like Iniesta in comparison. But that would mean us losing a massive degree of our defensive stability, and when we're playing with such a higher defensive block like we are this season we need every player to pull his weight defensively. Look at Liverpool - their front five do next to nothing in a defensive sense. They're entirely reliant on the three centre-backs and the two defensive midfielders to do all the dirty work. If you want us to do the same then that is more than possible. We only open up against the shit sides in the league. In every game where we've scored 3+ goals, Oscar has been outstanding in an attacking sense, with Swansea away being the best and most recent example. When we play with a tighter midfield, he knows he has to do a massive defensive job so you don't see that flair, spark and creative output you might otherwise see. Face it, people. Under José he's never going to be the next Kaka. But under José he, and Chelsea, will win a fuckload of trophies. We could let him off the leash like we did in his first season under RDM/Rafa, and we'd get picked off by the big clubs and have to settle for third and another Europa League. I know what I'd choose. Every big side needs "mechanical" players who do their job and they do it well. Barcelona have Busquets; Bayern have Alonso; Real have Khedira (when he's fit); City have Fernandinho; United have Blind; Liverpool have Lucas. They are by no means the best players in their sides, but they do a job that allows the players around them more creative licence.

He says "money isn't everything" but he's still probably on a minimum of €100,000 a week at Dortmund But the point of his message is that he doesn't give a shit what Bayern throw at him. He won't play for another German club, so respect to him for that.

Hi mate, it'll appear "locked" whilst on moderator preview

Descending or ascending

The one club immune to all transfer sanctions.

Yeah I read that haha, I'm hoping she became your ex as of 10.31pm?

After the 6-3 at Goodison this is a certified 1-0er.

Mate seriously if that was my girlfriend (hahahaha me having a girlfriend LOOOL, I couldn't pull a door) she'd be living on the streets.

Since leaving school in 2011, I've rotated absolutely everything around football. Not knowing the score winds me up. I've ensured that my football coaching across the country, that my jobs, etc. would all come second to Chelsea games. I can't focus at work when Chelsea are playing, so I just choose not to work on match days. I used to get my phone confiscated from my bar job from being sat behind the bar watching games on Sky Go. Then when I became the gaffer I made sure I was always working an AM shift if Chelsea were on in the afternoon/evening. I refuse to coach when Chelsea are playing. I re-arrange my teams' fixtures if they clash with Chelsea. If I have to go somewhere, I'll follow the game on my phone through Twitter and other various apps but I'll always do my best to make sure I can catch the game. I don't think I've missed a competitive Chelsea game in my entire life. EVERYTHING is dropped when Chelsea are on because that's my wind-down time when I can follow one of my biggest passions. For instance on the 3rd of March when we play Wet Spam, I'm going to watch a concert with friends. That won't stop me from checking the score on my phone every 60 seconds. You might think that sounds sad. If you do, then fuck you. Football is a chance for me to escape from the everyday mundaneness that is life. University deadlines and juggling three jobs is a fucking bitch for me. I look forward to being at home watching the game, or being sat in front of my PC listening to the commentary and watching a shitty stream that is lagging about five minutes behind real time. It kind of makes up for not going to the Bridge that much anymore, as I just can't afford it. What about if a loved one passes away, or something upsets me? Then football becomes even more important. It gives me 90 minutes to focus on something else.

True, but he went down like a sack of spuds. Ah well. Just frustrating. Although a draw is arguably the fairest reflection of the game.