An early season top of the table clash saw Chelsea FC
hosting Swansea. Both sides came into this match having won all 3 of their
opening matches, the only two sides in the league with such a record. Chelsea
having seen off Burnley, Leicester and Everton while the Swans surprised
everyone with an opening day win at Old Trafford followed by wins against
Burnley and West Brom. They also beat Rotherham in the League Cup and had
conceded only 1 goal in the process, against Manchester United. There were concerns
upfront for both teams. Bony returned late from international duty for Swans
while for Chelsea Diego Costa had to withdraw from the Spain squad prior to
their Euro qualifier against Macedonia with a hamstring injury. But the smart
money would have been on Chelsea getting the job done at home especially since
they have a more than able back-up striker in Loic Remy who incidentally scored
against Spain in a friendly last week where Costa drew a blank.
For the second game in a row Costa cleared a late fitness test
and was named in the starting XI. However, it was the Welshmen who looked
hungrier for the win at the outset and their pressing style forced Chelsea on
the backfoot. They looked to attack with pace when in possession and harried
the Chelsea players when they didn’t have the ball. Chelsea like to build their
attacks from the back with Cesc Fabregas the initiator. His distribution has
been the key behind their dashing start to the season. By constantly attacking
the ball the Swans achieved two things, starved of possession Fabregas was not
as big a threat while up front Costa was isolated and didn’t see much of the
ball. He did have one shot which, after taking a heavy deflection off a
defender, was easily collected by Lucas Fabianski. Swansea were enjoying a
lion’s share of possession and the pressure eventually bore fruit. Nemanja
Matic broke forward following a failed Swans attack but was chased down by
Wayne Routledge who eventually dispossessed him at the halfway line and Ki
Sung-Yeung then opened up the Blues defense with a pass to left back Neil
Taylor who played a low cross into the box. John Terry had no option but to try
and hook it back but as close as it was to goal he could only manage to put it
into his own net. The goal added to the Swans self belief, if at all they
lacked any. More attacking play followed Bafetimbi Gomis blasted wide on two
occasions while Routledge’s curling shot from the edge of the box was narrowly
wide.
It took Chelsea a little over half an hour to weather the
tide and gain a stronger foothold into the match. The remainder of the half was
played mostly in the Swansea half. Hazard, Fabregas, Costa and Ivanovic were at
the heart of most of the attacks. Hazard in particular was causing a lot of
problems with his jinking runs often cutting in from the right with good
effect. It was only a matter of time before the defense would yield. With
Terry, Matic, Cahill, Ivanovic and Costa in the lineup Chelsea are a big unit
and a threat from set pieces but freekick delivery has been a cause for low
conversion rate. After Schurrle and Hazard had wasted three corner kicks
Fabregas stepped up to take one at the stroke of half time and with pin point
accuracy found Costa on the six yard line. There was no stopping his header.
After the break it was pretty much the same story wave after
wave of Chelsea attack. Ramires replaced Schurrle and Chelsea changed to a
4-3-3, it was more like a 3-4-3 with Ivanovic playing quite high up mostly in
the Swansea half, Oscar and Hazard flanking Costa. Farbregas moved to take up
the no 10 position where Oscar had been a peripheral figure. The changes had
the desired effect. Hazard and Fabregas played some neat passes on the left and
the latter played it to Costa who stood still at the six yard line while his
marker rushed on and calmly side footed it in. Swansea missed a golden
opportunity to equalize as Chelsea waited for them to kick the ball out to get
treatment for Amat who had stayed down in his own box following an Ivanovic
thunderbolt that struck his groin. The Swans played on and the defense was
caught out, Gomis received a pass behind Azpilicueta but his dink over Courtois
lacked legs and direction and was cleared by Azpilicueta. Costa soon had his
hat-trick at the other end. Intercepting Ramires’ scuffed shot as the defense
waited for Fabianski to claim it and slotting in at the near post.
He was substituted to a thunderous applause from the home
crowd soon after, Loic Remy coming on to make his Blues debut. While it took
Costa 19 minutes to score his first, Remy got his on 9 minutes of coming on,
Hazard creating chaos in the box down the right before cutting it back to Oscar
who squared it to Remy. Remy found the far corner to make it a perfect day for
the new look strike force. I cannot recall the last time Chelsea strikers
scored four goals in a game. The defense was caught napping once again when
Bony found Shelvy in acres of space. His pace left Terry and Cahill behind and
he calmly finished past Courtois. Salah was brought on for Fabregas for the last
ten minutes and he was intent on proving a point, his pace and quick feet
causing the Swans defense problems. The score ended 4-2 and the blues are now
the only team in the BPL with a 100% win record.
With City, Arsenal and Liverpool all dropping points it was
a good week for the Blues but Jose Mourinho will not be happy with the
defensive lapses that have conceded six goals in the last two matches and will
want to fix things quickly before the midweek Champions’ League game against
Schalke and next week’s big game, away to Man City.
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