Sunderland 2-3 Chelsea

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Sunderland 2 - 3 Chelsea F.C.

Sunday 24th May 2009, Premier League, Stadium of Light, Sunderland


Salomon Kalou celebrates his superb finish at the Stadium of Light.

Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole all found the net as Chelsea finished their Premier League campaign with an entertaining victory over Sunderland.

With the second half barely having been kicked off, Nicolas Anelka found himself in space inside the Chelsea half, and ten seconds later, the Frenchman had secured the Barclay's Premier League Golden Boot with a fantastic finish into the top corner. Kieran Richardson equalised for Sunderland soon after, following an error in judgement by the usually-reliable Petr Cech, but goals from Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole ensured Chelsea returned to Stamford Bridge with another three points. A late Kenwyne Jones header late on did narrow the margin of victory, but Guus Hiddink's men head to Wembley in a rich vein of form.

Sunderland went into the game knowing they needed a result against the Blues to secure their Premier League status, but a 1-0 victory for Aston Villa over Newcastle at Villa Park, coupled with Middlesbrough's 2-1 defeat away to West Ham meant that the Black Cats were safe from relegation, with Phil Brown's Hull City joining them despite losing 1-0 at the KC Stadium to Manchester United. Although with much less to play for than their Northern rivals, Chelsea still fielded a strong line up at the Stadium of Light, with nine of the starting eleven also beginning the game against Blackburn the previous weekend. Alex da Costa and Frank Lampard were both rested, with Juliano Belletti and Branislav Ivanovic deputising.

Kenwyne Jones played as the line striker for the hosts against an in-form Chelsea side, but it was Blues talisman Didier Drogba who was the most-involved player in the opening exchanges; audaciously chipping an effort onto the roof of the net moments after unleashing a stinging volley that Hungarian goalkeeper Martin Fulop did well to save.

Drogba then tamely headed wide after a busy period of play that saw Branislav Ivanovic excel at the other end of the pitch. The Serbian reacted well to volley clear a loose ball in the Chelsea penalty area after Cech had fumbled a cross, and then brilliantly headed away a devilish cross from former Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley. During the fracas, Juliano Belletti hobbled off to be replaced by Michael Ballack, and the Brazilian is now a doubt for next Saturday's FA Cup final with Everton, who triumphed 2-0 over Fulham.

News then filtered through of an Aston Villa goal against Newcastle, which sent the home fans into uproar. The Chelsea players did their level best to dampen the celebrations, with Malouda having a shot saved by Fulop before rattling the crossbar with another drive, before Fulop denied Drogba with some assured goalkeeping.

But with the chase for the Golden Boot at the forefront of the minds of many Chelsea fans, it was appropriate that Nicolas Anelka both opened the scoring and secured that particular personal triumph with a rasping effort from 24 yards out. Gaining possession inside his own half, the Frenchman strode forward with the ball, beat two defenders and then unleashed the truest of shots from outside the penalty area that rose line an arrow into the top corner. It was a goal more than deserving of securing the Golden Boot, and Anelka acknowledged the Chelsea celebrations with his trademark butterfly celebration.

Petr Cech then went from villain to hero during a good period of play for the hosts. The Czech missed a Leadbitter cross from the wing, allowing Richardson to lash home the equaliser just six minutes after the Blues had taken the lead. The Blues goalkeeper redeemed himself with a terrific save from Steed Malbranque after the French winger had played a one-two and then fired a low shot towards goal, only for a combination of Cech and Ballack to clear the ball away.

Salomon Kalou then entered the fray and was instantly involved; first setting up Malouda, who saw his well-struck effort deflected over from the edge of the area, before the Ivorian himself smashed Chelsea into the lead with a blockbuster effort. The ball fell to the young Chelsea winger on the edge of the area, and after earning himself a yard of space after an intelligent, athletic touch, the Chelsea number 21 launched the ball into the top corner from 18 yards for his eleventh goal of the campaign. Cech then denied Bardsley with another decent stop, before Anelka forced Fulop into action after a brisk counter-attack from Chelsea.

Ashley Cole then scored his second goal for the Blues with an astute right-footed finish. Malouda's shot was saved by Fulop who did well to block the influential winger's shot, but was hopeless to deny Cole, who picked up the loose ball and lashed it beyond two players on the line for Sunderland. Kenwyne Jones halved the deficit with a thumping header in stoppage time, but Chelsea hung on to claim a deserved victory, and both sets of supporters were cheering at the final whistle - Sunderland had avoided the drop. Just.

With the FA Cup Final just around the corner, Chelsea can take great confidence from their performance, and with both the Blues and Everton in good form, this final has all the makings of a classic Wembley encounter.

___________________________________________________________________

The TalkChelsea.net Star Man award goes to...



Nicolas Anelka, Chelsea F.C.

Involved in everything, Anelka secured the Golden Boot with an emphatic strike to open the scoring.

Match Fact - Petr Cech made his 150th Premier League appearance for Chelsea at the Stadium of Light, and remains unbeaten against the Black Cats.

Sunderland: Fulop; Bardsley, Davenport, Ferdinand, Collins; Malbranque (Healy), Whitehead ©, Tainio (Reid), Richardson (Murphy), Leadbitter; Jones

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry ©, A Cole; Belletti (Ballack), Mikel (Mancienne), Essien (Kalou); Anelka, Drogba, Malouda

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[Blue Feverr 0]

Look how happy Drogba is, true team mate.

[Term-X 7,891]

btw.. why did we play in our old kit?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It's not our old kit, its our current shirt. Premier League laws state new kits can only be worn during the last home game of the season.

Thanks for reading btw.

[Term-X 7,891]

well it is our old kit lmao so dont get smart

and thats interesting, makes no sence seems as you can wear new kits in the champions league final

thanks for the info anywayz

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I'm not being smart, mate ... its our first choice kit for the 2008/09 season, which it still currently is

[Laylabelle 9,539]

And imo our new kit and bloody horrible so lets wear it while we can!!

Happy for Analka and for Ash and just for ending the prem on a high.Great performance all round...few dodgy defending but meh they were playing for their lives and us not so much

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Spot on, we shouldn't worry about the fact we conceded two goals, we just wanted to make it interesting

[Term-X 7,891]

why delete my posts

its members like you who stop people getting really involved in this forum because you dominate everything and so theirs no space for new members etc getting to start threads and give their opinions or even suggest ideas

anotha.com has much better admins, super mods

how old are you? .. 16 lmao

and i've seen you spam on here but that dosent get deleted infact my post wasent even a spam.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Terminator X

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I deleted your post. If you've got a problem with that, feel free to leave, I'm fed up of your continual posting of provocative material and your constant degrading of this forum. If you feel so strongly that other forums are more professional, have better staff, or whatever, why the hell do you come on here and slag off this forum?

I might only be sixteen, but at least I act my age - which is more than can be said of you.

[Term-X 7,891]

what is that supposed to mean?

this is an internet forum, you dont know me.

and considering your position on this forum telling me to 'f' off is hardley a professional attitude to have seems as i've done nothing wrong, i asked you a question and you gave me a patronising response.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

If you can quote me on where I told you to fuck off, I'd be most appreciative.

And you say you've done nothing wrong. To the contrary, after I removed your post in order to move it to another forum to potentially create another discussion, you have simply attacked myself and my fellow Administrators and Moderators, accused me of insulting you and then have called me unprofessional and patronising.

I think you have made a mountain out of a molehill here, and you are exaccerbating the situation when the sensible thing to do would be to retire and concede that neither party is in the wrong here. I can understand you being upset that I removed your post, although you will find that particular post in the Football Banter forum where I had edited it in order to create a new discussion. Not once did I tell you to fuck off. I told you that you are free to leave if you don't like this forum or the way that it is run.

Now, I'd be grateful if we could drop this childish debate and instead reflect on today's game, which is the purpose of this topic.

[Term-X 7,891]

why couldent you have gave me that reply in a private message instead of posting it in here then?

and yes i do have a problem with how you phrased that reply because yes it was patronising for an administrator who should be promoting the forum instead of telling quality new members to leave the forum.

and i have no problem with any other admin/mods on here other than you.