Jump to content

Chelsea 4 - 0 Norwich


BlueLion.
 Share

Recommended Posts

Chelsea 4 - 0 NorwichPremier League champions Chelsea eased their way past Championship side Norwich City, with a more-than-convincing 4-0 scoreline at Stamford Bridge.The result did indeed flatter the Champions, who were very much on the back foot for the opening twenty minutes, but Shaun Wright-Phillips opened the floodgates with his third Chelsea goal with a deflected effort.José Mourinho shuffled his pack, bearing in mind that his squad face a difficult away trip to Porto in the Champion's League in midweek. Bringing in John Obi Mikel, Arjen Robben, Khalid Boulahrouz and Gérémi into the team which beat Middlesbrough 3-0, Michael Essien and Andrei Shevchenko were amongst those resigned to the bench.

_42583933_roman_pa.jpgRoman Abramovich was an interested on-looker after he returned to watch his team after a 6-game absence.

Peter Grant brought to London a fiery Norwich team, and named an unchanged side from the team that won in midweek in a fourth round replay to determine who would take on the superstar-laden outfit.The game was very much Norwich City's, with Dickson Etuhu hitting the post with Petr Cech beaten. Former Manchester City midfielder Lee Croft was first to the rebound, but his shot was smashed away by the boot of Boulahrouz. Chelsea also went close, with Didier Drogba's close range header blocked by Norwich captain Adam Drury, and Lampard's freekick was well saved by substitute 'keeper Gallacher, after David Marshall was carried off with a twisted ankle. Gallacher superbly denied Robben, before Wright-Phillip's deflected half-volley seven minutes before the close of play for the first half gave the Blues the lead after Lampard had had three venomous strikes saved by the Norwich 'keeper. The first half ended badly for the Champions however, with defender Boulahrouz taken off with a suspected dislocated shoulder. Replaced by Michael Essien, the half time break came with the Londoners far from their best, but in control. Minutes into the second half, and the tie looked to be all but over when Didier Drogba continued his rich vein of scoring form when he slotted home his 26th goal of the season - albeit a relatively simple turn and tap-in. The Blues were granted a corner and the out-swinger had deflected off Chris Brown before Drogba finished clinically.

_42584237_drogba_pa.jpgDidier Drogba socres his 26th goal of the 06/07 campaign Robben was hugely impressive, but wasted several openings, instead selfishly shooting low and hard, but each strike was met by the Norwich shot stopper. Lampard had a final say before he was taken off for a deserved rest, with a curling freekick mere inches over the crossbar.Both Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou came on for the Champions, with Lampard and Drogba were both rested for the upcoming Porto tie.A great spell of possession for Norwich saw them almost claw a goal out of absolutely nothing. Lee Croft, a man who had not scored a competitive goal since last August, saw his shot knocked onto the post by Cech, before Jason Shackle and Dion Dublin both had close range efforts caught by the Czech Republic 'keeper. He also clutched excellently onto a swinging freekick by Norwich substitute Mark Fotheringham.An additional three minutes of extra time were added onto the end of a thrilling 90 minutes, and José Mourinho proved he still has the brilliance of a true tactical genius, when two of his substitutes scored. First of all, Essien tapped in from close range, after being set up by Shevchenko, and the Ukrainian headed home to secure his tenth Chelsea goal. _42584355_shev_getty.jpgShevchenko puts Chelsea 4-0 to the good.Normal service is resumed at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea winning their last six games on the bounce, and going an astonishing 623 minutes without conceding a goal, and scoring 18 goals in the process.How They RatedChelseaPetr Cech - 8 - Confident. Three fine saves.Gérémi - 6 - Off-pace. Average performanceBoulahrouz - 7 - Injured. Looked assured.Terry - 7 - Strong. Prolific in defence.Ferreira - 7 - Average. Nothing spectacular.Lampard - 7 - Influential. Key figure in midfield.Diarra - 7 - Good. Involved in defensive work.Mikel - 6 - Quiet. Linked well with attack.Wright-Phillips - 9 - Outstanding. Involved in everything.Drogba - 7 - Decent. Quiet day by good finish.Robben - 8 - Involved. Norwich couldn't cope.Essien - 7 - Calm. Replaced Boulahrouz.Kalou - 7 - Sharp. Replaced Lampard.Shevchenko - 7 - Clinical. Replaced Drogba.Overall team rating - 7NorwichOverall team rating - 7. The Canaries tried their best, but class prevailed. No upset, and Norwich fail to make it past the 5th round for the fifteenth consecutive season.Referee - Rob Styles - 7. Fair game, only issued 3 yellow cards and kept the game flowing. Several dodgy decisions, which were more down to his assistants than anyone else.The Line-upsChelsea (4-3-3): Cech: Gérémi, Boulahrouz (Essien 44), Terry ©, Ferreira; Mikel, Diarra, Lampard (Shevchenko 68); Wright-Phillips, Drogba (Kalou 55), Robben.Scorers: Wright-Phillips 38, Drogba 50, Essien 89, Shevchenko 90+3.Booked: Diarra. Norwich (4-4-2): Marshall (Gallacher 12); Hughes, Dublin, Shackell, Drury ©; Croft, Safri, Etuhu (Fotheringham 58), Lappin (Martin 78); Brown, Huckerby.Booked: Hughes, Fotheringham.StatsAttendence: 41,537Possession: Chelsea 48% - 52% NorwichShots - On: Chelsea 15 - 4 NorwichShots - Off: Chelsea 3 - 4 NorwichCorners: Chelsea 9 - 4 NorwichFouls: Chelsea 11 - 8 Norwich

Man of the Match

wright_phillips_shaun_cfc_profile_2006.jpgShaun Wright-Phillips

Report written by BlueLion of CFC-Fans.co.uk . All pictures used without permission, and courtesy of BBC.co.uk/sport and Getty Images.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 0
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • 0 members are here!

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

talk chelse forums

We get it, advertisements are annoying!
Talk Chelsea relies on revenue to pay for hosting and upgrades. While we try to keep adverts as unobtrusive as possible, we need to run ad's to make sure we can stay online because over the years costs have become very high.

Could you please allow adverts on this website and help us by switching your ad blocker off.

KTBFFH
Thank You