The Classic Match: Chelsea 5-0 Manchester United, 03/10/1999

Manchester United visit Stamford Bridge this weekend, so its that time again to look back at one of their previous games against Chelsea.

It's 1999, Manchester United are the treble winners. They haven't lost a league game in ten months. They look unstoppable. All except one thing and his name is Massimo Taibi. To be fair, it was a big ask for any keeper to fill the gloves of United's legendary keeper Peter Schmeichel. Taibi's time in Manchester was short but the stuff of legends.

Chelsea took the lead after just 27 seconds. Dan Petrescu played the ball forward for Gus Poyet to head past a stranded Taibi.
Chris Sutton, who didn't score many in his time at Stamford Bridge, made it 2-0 with a looping header from Albert Ferrer's cross.
It got worse for United when Nicky Butt was red carded for lashing out at Chelsea skipper Dennis Wise.

United survived conceding anymore until the second half when Gus Poyet got his second goal, scoring on the rebound after Taibi had saved Frank Leboeuf's low effort.
The fourth goal, despite Sutton's best efforts to claim it for himself, was an own goal from Henning Berg, sliding in to turn in Gianfranco Zola's low cross.
The final goal came from Jody Morris, completing Taibi's miserable day by shooting between his legs.

The Treble winners were well and truly humbled.

Chelsea FC Monthly Report: October 2017

October is not a month Chelsea fans will look back on too fondly but there was some good news.

On-Field

Following on from an international break, Chelsea's first game of the month was away at bottom of the table Crystal Palace. Palace had no wins and no goals in their first eight matches, so no Chelsea fan was surprised when they took the lead after just four minutes. Tiemoue Bakayoko did get an equaliser but Wilfred Zaha restored Palace's lead just before half-time and Palace held on for the shock victory.

Next up was the first of a double header with AS Roma in the Champions League. Chelsea started well with goals from David Luiz and Eden Hazard but Roma turned it around in the second-half to lead 2-3. Chelsea seemed to be heading for defeat until Eden Hazard popped up to head in the equaliser.

The return to the Premier League saw a return to winning ways with a 4-2 home victory against Watford. Chelsea did not play well for the most part and though Watford lost the game by a two goal margin, the general feeling was they should have won. Chelsea goals came from Pedro, Cesar Azpilicueta and two for Michi Batshuayi.

League Cup action now as Chelsea took on managerless Everton at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Antonio Rudiger and Willian were decisive but again not a great performance, albeit with a much changed side. 17 year old Ethan Ampadu played the full 90 minutes and summer signing Danny Drinkwater made his debut.

An away trip to Bournemouth saw Chelsea 1-0 victors thanks to a goal from Eden Hazard. It was the best Chelsea had played in a while and they really should have had more.

The last game of the month was away to Roma in the Champions League and it was a real Halloween horror show. It took Roma just 40 seconds to take the lead and ran rings round Chelsea afterwards, eventually winning 3-0. Chelsea's Italian woes continued, it was their fourth straight defeat in Italy.


Off-Field

The main story dominating off field were stories surrounding the position of manager Antonio Conte.

As Chelsea struggled on field, Conte laid the blame on injuries but behind the scenes was said to be unhappy with the clubs transfer policy.

When press suggested there was problems with the players, Conte diplomatically described it as 'bullshit.'


Youth

It was also a difficult month for the Development squad.

In Premier League 2, they drew with West Ham United and Arsenal but suffered defeat to Swansea City. They currently sit 10th in the table.
They were also defeated in a penalty shoot-out by Yeovil Town in the Check-a-Trade Trophy.

The Under-19's had mixed results in the UEFA Youth League. They lost their home tie to Roma 0-2 but won the return fixture 1-2 to stay top of their group.

The Under-18's only had two fixtures in October, a 3-2 win against Leicester and their first defeat of the season, 4-0 to Southampton. They still sit 5 points clear at the top of their League.

Their struggles may likely be explained by not having key players available. Marc Guehi, Jonathan Panzo, Conor Gallagher, George McEachran and Callum Hudson-Odoi were all part of the England squad that won the Under-17 World Cup in India.


Ladies

The Chelsea Ladies side continued their impressive start to the season.

In the WSL they picked up wins against Liverpool and Yeovil to maintain their 100% record. They are also yet to concede a goal in the league.

They also progressed to the Round of 16 in the Womens Champions League, eliminating Bayern Munich. They lost 2-1 in the second leg in Germany but won the tie on away goals.


November Preview

Chelsea need to get themselves back on track this month in a big way.

In the Premier League their first game is against former manager Jose Mourinho's Manchester United side. Then away visits to West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool before finishing up with a home game against Swansea City.

Sandwiched between this is a long trip to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag in the Champions League. If Roma are able to get at least a draw with Atletico Madrid in the nights other game in the group, Chelsea should be able to qualify with just a draw but really its a game they should be looking to win.

A big month in which Chelsea really need to step their game up.