On Pitch
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (lost 1-4 on penalties), Community Shield, 06/08/2017
After a decent pre-season that started a bit late, Chelsea's first 'proper' game came in the Community Shield against Arsenal.
A glorified friendly in truth, it is never the less the first silverware of the season.
Victor Moses gave Chelsea a scarcely deserved lead early in the second half, attempting to make up perhaps for his red card in the FA Cup final a few months earlier.
Chelsea looked comfortable enough until the 80th minute when Pedro was sent off for a reckless tackle on Mohamed Elneny. Arsenal equalised from the subsequent free-kick with their new signing Sead Kolisinac left unmarked at the back post.
No extra-time, it went straight to penalties and Chelsea kept up their legendarily poor record. Still, at least we got to see the new ABBA system in action. Though it may help players (not Chelsea ones obviously), it does rob a lot of the drama out of it.
Chelsea 2-3 Burnley, Premier League, 12/08/2017
The first game in the title defence couldn't have gotten off to a worse start.
Captain Gary Cahill was sent off on 16 minutes and by half-time Burnley were leading 0-3.
Chelsea did recover somewhat in the second half with goals from summer signing Alvaro Morata and David Luiz but still had to contend with another red card, this time for Cesc Fabregas.
A miserable day all round.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Chelsea, Premier League, 20/08/2017
With memories of that 2015-16 season still fresh in the memory, Chelsea fans could be forgiven for fearing the worst.
There was no need to worry. First, Marcos Alonso gave Chelsea the lead with a sub-lime free-kick. Tottenham did equalise thanks to an own goal from Michy Batshuayi but Alonso stepped up two minutes from time for his second goal to win the game for Chelsea.
A fabulous Welcome to Wembley for Tottenham.
Chelsea 2-0 Everton, Premier League, 27/08/2017
What looked a tricky game on paper proved a comfortable afternoon stroll for Chelsea.
The returning Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring in the 25th minute and Alvaro Morata made the game safe 5 minutes before half-time. Morata made a little history as the first player in Premier League history to score and assist in both his first home games.
So, it was six points from the first nine. Burnley game was disappointing but Chelsea are only a point behind where they would have realistically hoped to be at the start of the season.
Off Pitch
When the transfer window closed at the end of August, Chelsea were left to rue missed opportunities.
Though Transfer Deadline Day did bring the signings of Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater, Chelsea also missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ross Barkeley, both of whom were alleged to have ended their interest mid-negotiation. This will need to be improved. Transfer policy is a big deal for Antonio Conte, he left Juventus over it.
The big question mark still hangs over the head of Diego Costa. Is there any hope for him to reconcile his relationship with Conte or will he be left to rot in the reserves?
Some good news, Eden Hazard has now recovered from his injury picked up in June while on international duty with Belgium and will be back in action shortly.
The Champions League draw saw Chelsea put in a tough group with Atletico Madrid and Roma while Azerbaijani champions Qarabag are expected to make up the numbers.
September Preview
All months are big at Chelsea but September brings the visits of both Arsenal and Manchester City to Stamford Bridge, with tricky away game at Stoke City to contend with as well.
The Champions League campaign opens away at Qarabag before the visit of Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea also have their first game in the League Cup with the visit of Nottingham Forest.
No comments:
Post a Comment