Match Report: Chelsea 4 - 4 Manchester City

What. A. Game.

Chelsea and Manchester City played out an all time Premier League classic with a pulsating 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge. And it was former Man City players Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer who played crucial roles in breaking City hearts.

Chelsea started the game well but it was City who struck the first blow. Referee Anthony Taylor continued his one man quest to become the least popular person in Fulham when he awarded a controversial 25th minute penalty. Marc Cucurella was adjudged to have held back City striker Erling Haaland, who duly dispatched his spot kick.

It took Chelsea just three minutes to respond. Thiago Silva glanced in Conor Gallagher's corner at the near post to bring the Blues level.

The 37th minute and Chelsea completed the turn around. Reece James squared the ball across the box from the right for Raheem Sterling to tap in at the back post.

The euphoria of leading the European Champions couldn't last though. Manuel Akanji found himself unmarked in the penalty area to head in City's equaliser from a corner.

The second half started at the same breakneck speed and it took City just two minutes to get themselves ahead. A goal similar to Chelsea's second, this time it was Haaland rolling the ball in at the back post.

Chelsea weren't done though and got their second equaliser on 67 minutes. City keeper Ederson could only palm Gallagher's effort into the path of Nicolas Jackson who scored from the rebound, his fourth goal in a week.

In the final few minutes, the game seemed to be just petering out for the first time until Rodri's effort from outside the box took a massive deflection off Thiago Silva to put the Manchester club 4-3 ahead.

A loss would have been harsh on Chelsea, who had put so much into the game and were determined not to let it happen. So in injury time, substitute Armando Broja collected the ball in the box but was brought down with a reckless challenge by Ruben Diaz to give Chelsea a penalty of their own.

So it was that Cole Palmer (a City player just a few short months ago and could have already scored in the game but for a great save from Ederson), stepped up to score his fourth penalty for Chelsea and rescue the point. How Pep Guardiola must regret letting him go now.

It was a game neither side deserved to lose so a draw was probably a fair result. Chelsea hadn't scored against City since Kai Havertz goal in the 2021 Champions League final so four in one game was quite unexpected.

With eight goals in their last two games, is it too early to hope Chelsea's goal scoring troubles are over? Chelsea seem to prefer playing the big teams, its the smaller sides who sit deep that seem to be Chelsea's real problem to break down.

But that's a problem for another day, for now we can enjoy having been treated to an absolute classic.

Line-up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 64'), Disasi, Silva, Cucurella, Caicedo (Broja 90'), Fernandez (Mudryk 64'), Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling, Jackson (Ugochukwu 96')

Unused Subs: Badiashile, Madueke, Petrovic, Maatsen, Matos

Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 4 Chelsea

 

Five goals scored, four disallowed, three for Nicolas Jackson and two red cards all added up to one hell of a London derby.

The craziness started in just the 6th minute when Dejan Kulusevski's deflected effort put Spurs ahead. And that was as good as it got for Tottenham on the night.

A few minutes later, Brennan Johnson thought he had put Spurs 2-0 up but he was ruled just offside by VAR. A few minutes later, Raheem Sterling thought he had equalised for Chelsea but VAR again intervened and disallowed for handball.

30 minutes in and Chelsea again thought they had equalised when Moises Caicedo put the ball in from the edge of the box but this time it was Nicolas Jackson who was adjudged to have been offside. However, Chelsea did gain a penalty for a foul by Christian Romero in the build-up on Enzo Fernandez. Romero was red carded for the challenge but there can be no sympathy as he could have been sent off a few minutes earlier for a kick-out on Levi Colwill and his challenge on Fernandez was high.

Cole Palmer eventually stepped up to equalise for Chelsea from the spot.

Second half started much as the first had ended with Chelsea dominating the play and Spurs insisting on keeping a high defensive line. Then on 55 minutes more bad news for Tottenham when Destiny Udogie was sent off for a second yellow offence and Spurs would have to play the rest of the game with just nine men.

Credit to Tottenham then who held out until the 75th minute. Sterling eventually beating their offside trap and playing the ball across the box to Jackson to finally give Chelsea the lead.

That wasn't quite it though, Tottenham nearly got back in to the game. Erik Dier had an effort disallowed for offside, Rodrigo Bentancur had a good chance he should probably have equalised from.

In stoppage time, Son Heung-min had an effort from the edge of the box that brought a fine save from Robert Sanchez. The miss would prove crucial as just 30 seconds later, Conor Gallagher took on the Sterling role to square the ball for Jackson for a carbon copy of Chelsea's second goal and the three points were safe for the Blues.

Finally, the pulsating action of the night was finished two minutes later when Jackson found himself clear of Spurs high-line and rounded Tottenham keeper Vicario (who it must be said had been excellent) to complete his hat-trick.

Another classic entry to the Chelsea-Tottenham rivalry. Spurs fans will claim it was the red cards that changed the game though in truth, after Johnson's disallowed goal Chelsea were dominating the play.

A big boost ahead of Chelsea's fixture with Manchester City at the weekend and a chance to see if this is a result Chelsea will build on.

Line-Up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 77'), Disasi, Silva, Colwill (Cucurella 45'), Caicedo, Fernandez (Mudryk 57'), Gallagher, Sterling (Ugochukwu 90'), Palmer, Jackson

Subs: Badiashile, Madueke, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington

Match Report: Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

Routine would be the word to describe this game.

Chelsea took the lead early on, Blackburn failing to clear their lines from a corner and Benoit Badiashile stroked the ball into the net on his return from injury.

In the second half, Rovers made a mess of getting the ball away from their penalty area and Raheem Sterling took advantage to curl in from near the edge of the box.

Blackburn rarely threatened the Chelsea goal though Robert Sanchez made a truly excellent save, stopping an effort from the edge of the 6-yard box to maintain Chelsea's clean sheet.

Next up in the League Cup is a Quarter Final at home to Newcastle United. A tough draw but with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and the two Manchester clubs having already fallen by the way side it could be a good opportunity for Chelsea to win some silverware.

Line-Up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 61'), Disasi, Badiashile (Colwill 61'), Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Fernandez (Matos 87'), Palmer (Madueke 87'), Gallagher, Sterling, Jackson (Caicedo 75')

Subs: Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington, Castledine

Match Report: Chelsea 0-2 Brentford

Right back to square one for Chelsea.

All the recent optimism that Chelsea had finally turned a corner was crushed by a terrible Chelsea performance as Brentford scored their third consecutive victory at Stamford Bridge.

The first half was all too familiar for Chelsea fans. Brentford set up a deep defensive block, Chelsea were completely incapable of getting through. Though in fairness, Noni Madueke did come close to scoring when he curled an effort on to the bar.

Whatever Mauricio Pochettino said to his players at half-time clearly went in one ear and out the other: Chelsea were abysmal in the second half.

When Ethan Pinnock headed Brentford ahead in the 58th minute, Chelsea fans knew they might as well go home then and there. This is not a team that has any guts to come back when they go behind.

Chelsea never looked like scoring and it was easy for Brentford in the second half. Chelsea have nobody they can rely on to make a difference in a game so the defeat became inevitable.

Brentford added a second in injury time, Mbuemo rolling into an open goal after Robert Sanchez had gone forward for a corner but it made no real difference, Chelsea had already been beaten 30 minutes earlier.

Starting Line-Up: Sanchez, Cucurella (Ugochukwu 80'), Disasi (James 66'), Silva, Colwill, Gallagher, Caicedo (Washington 80'), Sterling, Palmer, Jackson, Madueke (Maatsen 66')

Subs: Badiashjle, Petrovic, Gusto, Beach, Matos

Match Report: Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal

A definite case of two points lost for Chelsea in the London derby.

On the face of it, a draw with high-flying Arsenal isn't too bad a result but the Blues fans know it could and should have been more.

Chelsea started the better side and got their reward in the 14th minute. Mykhailo Mudrk's header struck the arm of William Saliba and Chelsea were awarded a penalty following a VAR check. Cole Palmer stepped up to calmly score his spot kick, sending Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya the wrong way. 

The second half started and was it a shot? Was it a cross? Who cares, Mudryk hit the ball in from the left and it went over Raya into the Arsenal goal to make it 2-0 to Chelsea.

Calamity struck in the 77th minute, Robert Sanchez played the ball straight to Declan Rice who had the whole goal to stroke the ball into.

Sanchez is yet to convince the Stamford Bridge faithful he is good enough to be their number one and this latest blunder will not have helped.

Then a few minutes later, Leandro Trossard arrived unmarked at the back post to equalise for Arsenal from Bukayo Saka's cross.

The really disappointing thing for Chelsea is that right up until the Rice goal, Chelsea had controlled the game and looked relatively comfortable. There had been no real indication of Arsenal being capable of getting themselves back into the match. Indeed, until that point, Arsenal had not managed a single effort on target.

So, a slight disappointment for Chelsea but having outplayed the Gunners for so long in the game, they should take heart from that.

Still a need to cut out the stupid errors but overall Chelsea are on an upward trajectory.

Line-Up: Sanchez, Gusto, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella, Gallagher, Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer (James 85'), Sterling (Madueke 85'), Mudryk (Jackson 64')

Subs: Disasi, Badiashile, Madueke, Ugochukwu, James, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington

Match Report: Burnley 1 - 4 Chelsea

Say it quietly but Mauricio Pocchettino's plan might just be starting to come together.

Three wins in a row in all competitions and most importantly, a team starting to actually score some goals.

It wasn't all plain sailing forthe Blues and Chelsea fans may have had that all too familiar feeling when Wilson Odobert shot across the goal following a Burnley break to give the Clarets the lead on 15 minutes.

But Chelsea slowly pulled themselves back in to the game but still needed a bit of luck when Ameen Al Dikhal deflected Raheem Sterling's cross into his own goal for the Blues equaliser.

In the second half, Chelsea put on the afterburners.

Firstly, just a few minutes into the new half Sterling ran at the Burnley defence and was brought down just inside the penalty area. Cole Palmer stepped up to score the penalty, sending Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford the wrong way for his first Chelsea goal.

On 65 minutes, man of the match Sterling burst into the Burnley box and drilled home his effort. A well deserved goal for the man now finding himself on the outside of Gareth Southgate's England plans.

Sterling was involved yet again in Chelsea's fourth, his cross from the left went all the way across the box to Cole Palmer who laid the ball off to Nicolas Jackson and the big striker produced a cool, calm finish to extinguish Burnley's hopes.

Blues supporters will be hoping its not a false dawn and there will certainly be tougher tests to come but for the first time in a long time, it felt like Chelsea were finally getting the reward their dominant performances deserved.

Line-Up: Sanchez, Cucurella, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Gallagher, Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer (Maatsen 85'), Broja (Jackson 45'), Sterling (Mudryk 83')

Subs: Madueke, Ugochukwu, Chukwuemeka, Petrovic, Gilchrist, Matos

Match Report: Fulham 0 - 2 Chelsea

Chelsea finally get to celebrate a win in the Premier League and it felt well deserved too.

Two goals in two minutes gave Chelsea the lead they deserved early in the first half.

Firstly, Mykhailo Mudryk chested down Levi Colwill's cross before putting the ball in the Fulham net for his first Chelsea goal in the 18th minute. 

A minute later and Chelsea fans must have thought they were hallucinating, Chelsea got a second. A slice of luck as Tim Ream attempted to cut out Cole Palmer's through ball but it deflected in off Blues striker Armando Broja and into the goal.

The second half was great game management as Fulham rarely looked like scoring bar one effort from Sasa Lukic that was well saved by Robert Sanchez.

Chelsea could have extended their lead on the hour mark but Ian Maatsen's effort from the edge of the box hit the post.

A nice moment for Alex Matos, who made his debut (albeit for 30 seconds) coming on as a sub for Enzo Fernandez in the 95th minute.

The only dark spot for Chelsea was possible addition of Mudryk and Moises Caicedo to Chelsea's already lengthy injury list.

But that is for tomorrow, for tonight Chelsea finally get to enjoy that winning feeling in the league again.

Line-Up: Sanchez, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo (Madueke 90+5'), Gallagher, Palmer (Ugochukwu 77'), Enzo (Matos 90+5'), Mudryk (Maatsen 45'), Broja (Sterling 65')

Subs: Petrovic, Brooking, Gilchrist, Washington

Chelsea in Magazines - Soccer Stars, September 1993

Back to 1993 and we're looking at Soccer Stars magazine. Soccer Stars was primarily a magazzine aimed at younger readers with not much content but lots of posters. For this particular issue, the first bit of Chelsea content we have is the retelling of Dave Beasant's infamous salad cream incident:

A shame in a way that 'Lurch's Chelsea career would end with him being injured by a condiment bottle. Then we have two posters, one of long time servant David 'Rodders' Lee and Andy Townsend, who I believe would have already left the club by the time this issue was published.

Match Report: Chelsea 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion, Carabao Cup

 

Nicolas Jackson ends Chelsea's goal drought

Finally! A goal and a win for Chelsea!

The irony perhaps in Chelsea's win against a strong Brighton side is that it probably came when the Blues were least deserving. In contrast to recent performances, Brighton dominated possession and made the most chances in the game.

Chelsea had several former Seagulls in their line-up and the first half played out fairly evenly. Brighton had the best opportunities but they were made by Chelsea's former Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez gifting the ball to their forwards but they failed to make the most of their opportunities.

Then on 50 minutes the magical moment: Cole Plamer collected the ball on the edge of the box and played it inside for the incoming Nicolas Jackson to sweep home. The joy in the Stamford Bridge crowd, so starved of goals in 2023, at finally seeing Chelsea actually score a goal was obvious to all.

Chelsea thought they had two when Jackson stroked in a few minutes later but the goal was ruled out for offside. Luckily for Brighton there was no VAR in effect but Chelsea would have been furious if the Seagull's counter-attack had gone in, Sanchez making an excellent save from a March header.

There were a few more scares for Chelsea but they held on to book their place in the next round where they will play Blackburn Rovers.

Nobody is likely to be saying this will be turning point in Chelsea's season but it is the little boost in confidence they need ahead of a tough trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham this weekend.

Line-Up: Sanchez, Cucurella, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell, Ugochukwu, Caicedo, Maatsen (Gallagher 75'), Palmer (Fernandez 75'), Mudryk (Sterling 68'), Jackson (Broja 87')

Unused Subs: Petrovic, Washington, Gilchrist, Brooking, Matos

Match Report: Chelsea 0 - 1 Aston Villa

 

Another disappointing afternoon for Chelsea, as a red card and the continual failure to take chances cost them yet again.

A decent enough first half, Chelsea had a few good chances. Emilio Martinez in the Villa goal produced a good save from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez also had a decent effort from the edge of the box but was just off target.

Axel Disasi did manage to head the ball in the Villa net shortly before half-time but was (correctly) adjudged offside.

Chelsea didn't have it all their own way though as Robert Sanchez made a couple of fine saves from Lucas Digne and Nicolo Zaniolo.

There was a bizarre incident at the end of the first half when the referee Jared Gillett (who will not be welcome back at Stamford Bridge any time soon) blew for half time on 47 minutes, when three minutes had been held up on the board.

Chelsea started the second half brightly and were the team in control but the game changed on 57 minutes. Malang Gusto went in for a tackle on Digne and after a lengthy VAR check, referee Gillett decided was worthy of a red card.

Villa had to wait til 72 minutes to take the lead, an effort by Ollie Watkins from a tight angle squeezing through Sanchez's legs.

Frustratingly, it wasn't even the case that with the man advantage Aston Villa dominated the play. Chelsea continued to make chances, most notably from substitutes Ben Chilwell and Cole Palmer but predictably failed to take any of them.

Tempting though it is to blame everything on the red card, really its Chelsea's inability to score that is catching them out.

In the calendar year of 2023, Chelsea have managed just 37 goals in all competitions. That record is simply not good enough at any level of the game. Especially not at Chelsea.

Line-Up: Sanchez, Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Caicedo (Broja 79'), Gallagher, Sterling, Fernandez (Ugochukwu 67'), Mudryk (Chilwell 61'), Jackson (Palmer 67')

Unused Subs: Cucurella, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington, Bergstrom

Match Report: Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea

Tell me if you've heard this before - Chelsea dominate possession but don't take their chances and fail to win.

Admittedly, it was a somewhat makeshift team with Chelsea having a long injury list but the lack of goals is a continued source of frustration.

In a largely dull first half, Chelsea dominated the possession as has been the trend but arguably didn't do enough with it.

Nicolas Jackson did hit the post and Conor Gallagher had a shot in the box well saved by Neto in the Bournemouth goal but it was arguably the Cherries that had the best chance. The Chelsea defence switched off at a free-kick and a low-cross to Ouattaro coming in at the back post brought an excellent save from Robert Sanchez.

In the second half, Raheem Sterling saw his free-kick come off the bar and bounce down on the line. Levi Colwill swept in the follow up but was judged offside.

Neto made some good saves from a Jackson header (though thats being generous, it more hit his face) and Cole Palmer.

Bournemouth looked to play smash and grab throughout and had chances of their own they may be feeling they should have done better with.

There were several times in the game where Chelsea players got themselves in good shooting positions but would try and pass it to a team-mate rather than take it on themselves. This cowardice is one factor that really harms the Chelsea team. Everyone wants the assist, nobody wants the responsibility of actually scoring.

Chelsea Line-Up: Sanchez, Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill (Chilwell 80'), Gallagher, Ugochukwu, Sterling, Fernandez (Maatsen 80'), Mudryk (Palmer 62'), Jackson

Unused Subs: Petrovic, Washington, Gilchrist, Bergstrom, Matos, Stutter

Chelsea in Magazines - Shoot, 05-11-1983

 

In an interview with Shoot Magazine, new Chelsea striker speaks about his early experiences with Spurs, playing as an amateur and how many he hoped to score for Chelsea.

Dixon would score 34 in total as Chelsea marched to promotion and the Division Two Championship.

Chelsea in Magazines - Football Star 24-11-1973

 Football Star was a short lived football magazine from the 1970's that only ran for 15 issues but long enough to produce some Chelsea related content.

First up was a preview of the upcoming Arsenal-Chelsea match, Peter Storey and Alan Hudson are highlighted as potential key players:

 

The writer needn't have got so hyped, the match ended as a 0-0 draw.

As well as this, there was praise for young defender Gary Locke, who was being tipped for a big future by David Wagstaffe of Wolves:

Locke would make 319 appearances for Chelsea between 1972-83 but never got the international recognition he perhaps deserved.

Chelsea in Magazines - Soccer Star 07-10-1961

 1961 and Chelsea feature in the pages of Soccer Star magazine (not to be confused with the SoccerStars magazine of the 90's which was a poster magazine for younger readers).

Chelsea's second highest scorer Bobby Tambling scores at Villa Park but its not enough to stop Chelsea losing 3-1 to Aston Villa.

As well as this Chelsea had also taken a big defeat to Blackpool:

This bad form would eventually see Chelsea relegated at the end of the season but the blooding in of young talents Tambling, Peter Bonetti, Ron Harris, Terry Venables and Barry Bridges would pay off in the long term.

Match Report: Chelsea 0 - 1 Nottingham Forest

 

A story that is all too familiar Chelsea. All of the ball but completely toothless in attack.

It almost feels like Chelsea have to play a perfect game every time if they are going to get anything from a match.

A totally unremarkable first half though Nottingham Forest possibly had the better chances to go ahead.

The second half couldn't have started worse for Chelsea, when Anthony Elanga found himself clear of the Chelsea defence and slotted the ball beyond Robert Sanchez's reach from the edge of the box.

From that point on, Forest dug in deep defensively. Chelsea had all of the possession but never looked like breaching the Nottingham team's goal. Forest keeper Matt Turner would have been delighted with just how little he had to do.

The only bright spot for Chelsea is new signing Cole Palmer looked bright when he came on.

Chelsea need to be more ruthless in attack and quickly, or this will be a long season for the Blues supporters.

Team: Sanchez 4, Disasi 5, Silva 5, Colwill 6, Gusto 5 (Mudryk 77'), Caicedo 6 (Maatsen 77'), Gallagher 5 (Palmer 61'), Fernandez 6, Chilwell 4 (Madueke 61'), Sterling 4, Jackson 3

Unused Subs: Petrovic, Bergstrom, Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Washington

Chelsea in Magazines - Tiger, 11-09-1954

 We go back to the 1950's and Tiger comic for our latest installment.

Tiger was a comic aimed at boys but whereas other similar titles were more about war and sci-fi stories, Tiger had more of a focus on sporting titles. It was after all the birthplace of Roy of the Rovers.

It lasted for 30 years between 1954 and 1984 but we are going right back to issue one for this.

Chelsea defender John Harris reveals he had a premonition that saved the Blues from relegation:

Of course, Harris's dream not only saved Chelsea from relegation in 1954: it mean't Chelsea could go on and win the League Championship in 1955.

Match Report: Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon, Carabao Cup 2nd Round

 

Always tough to assess a match like this.

No, it wasn't Chelsea's strongest line-up but it should have been more than enough for League Two side Wimbledon.

But it doesn't seem to matter what team Chelsea put out or who they are playing, the same problem always remains: Chelsea do not score enough goals.

Wimbledon did give Chelsea a scare when they took a first half lead. Robert Sanchez continued to fail to convince in the Blues goal when he gave away a penalty in the 16th minute that was converted by James Tilley.

Chelsea's half-time blushes were spared when Noni Madueke scored with a penalty of his own but Mauricio Pochettino's team were making hard work of it.

Chelsea's winner owed more to luck than judgement when a mix-up in the Wimbledon defence left substitute Enzo Fernandez with the simple task of placing the ball into the open goal.

Chelsea dominated possession and created more chances to go further ahead but not for the first time were wasteful. Fortunately, Wimbledon never looked like taking advantage of this profligacy. 

The important thing for Chelsea was the win and some players such as Bashir Humphreys, Lesley Ugochukwu and Mason Burstow were making their first starts for the Blues but they still need be more ruthless with their chances.

Brighton in the next round will be a bigger test and Chelsea will need to be a lot sharper.

Team: Sanchez, Humphreys, Disasi, Colwill (Gusto 65'), Cucurella, Gallagher, Ugochukwu, Madueke (Caicedo 81'), Maatsen, Moreira (Jackson 45'), Burstow (Fernandez 65')

Unused Subs: Silva, Chilwell, Petrovic, Bergstrom, Samuels-Smith

Chelsea in Magazines - 90 Minutes, 02-08-1990

 The start of the 90's and 90 Minutes magazine.

90 Minutes was a weekly football magazine that ran for seven years between 1990 and 1997. It was aimed at a more grown up audience than its contemporaries Match and Shoot.

This article is about the rise of satellite TV, illustrated with Chelsea's Zenith Data System Cup win, one of Sky's football offerings.

For many, satellite TV was the beginning of the end for 'real' football, a process that would be accelerated in 1992 with the creation of the Premier League.

New Chelsea Goals Video: Jimmy Greaves

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A video on legendary striker Jimmy Greaves. Not just a legend for Chelsea, but English football in general.

Greaves amassed a fantastic record of 132 goals in 169 games for the Blues between 1957-61.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJRx724E0I

Match Report: Chelsea 3-0 Luton Town

 

A massive confidence builder for Chelsea.

Three Goals for Chelsea, two for Raheem Sterling, one for Nicolas Jackson and zero conceded.

Chelsea dominated from the start and it was just a matter of time before the Blues took the lead.

The breakthrough came on 17 minutes when Raheem Sterling (who has arguably been Chelsea's best player so far this season) danced his way through the Luton defence before placing the ball in the bottom left corner.

Chelsea had to wait until deep into the second half to double their advantage. Chelsea missed several good chances (most notably Ben Chilwell when he tried to square the ball to Sterling despite being through on goal and in a better position) and the old doubts were starting to set in the crowd, who were all too familiar with Chelsea failing to kill opposition only for it to come back and bite them.

Then on 68 minutes, a Malo Gusto low cross from the right was swept into the goal by Sterling.

In the 77th minute, the moment a lot of Chelsea fans had been waiting for: Sterling turned provider and from his low cross, Nicolas Jackson got ahead of the Luton defence to poke home his first Chelsea goal. It was a goal his performances for Chelsea so far have richly merited.

Luton never really looked like getting back into the game though a mix-up between Levi Colwill and Robert Sanchez did nearly gift the Hatters a consolation goal. Sanchez was probably the only real question mark for Chelsea on the night as his performances thus far have not been entirely convincing.

It was a good win for Chelsea who needed to bounce back after the disappointment against West Ham. Sterling was superb with his running, Enzo Fernandez's passing reminiscent of peak Fabregas at times and now with his first goal under his belt, Jackson has something he can build on now.

Luton aren't likely to be the toughest opposition Chelsea face this season but when you haven't won at home for eight months and been struggling for goals, its a good base for Chelsea to build from.

Team: Sanchez 6, Colwill 6, Silva 6, Disasi 5, Chilwell 6 (Maatsen 86'), Gusto 6, Fernandez 8, Caicedo 6, Gallagher 7, Jackson 9 (Ugochukwu 83'), Sterling 9 (Burstow 90+2')

Unused Subs: Cucurella, Madueke, Moreira, Bergstrom, Humphreys, Beach

Chelsea in Magazines - Shoot, 27-06-1981

 

Back to the 80's and newly appointed manager John Neal talks in Shoot magazine about the massive challenge ahead of him as Chelsea manager.

Back then Chelsea were in Divison Two, so obviously the ultimate goal was promotion. What;s interesting is how its juxtaposed with Howard Kendall at Everton and there are some similarities between their two reigns. Both had their early struggles, came close to losing their jobs but were ultimately successful. 

Neal won promotion as Chelsea manager in 1984 while Kendall won multiple trophies for Everton.

Match Report: West Ham United 3-1 Chelsea

 

New season, same old Chelsea.

Chelsea had a lot of the ball but rarely looked like scoring against a West Ham United side that played a lot of the second half with 10 men.

The game did not start well for Chelsea, when West Ham nearly took a third minute lead from a James Ward-Prowse corner. Chelsea did not learn their lesson and the Hammers took the lead from a near identical corner on 7 minutes, Nayef Aguerd heading home at the back post.

Chelsea did come back into it and Carney Chukwuemeka equalised in 28th minute, cutting in from the left before curling the ball in at the far-post.

Chelsea dominated the play in the first half from then on but failed to capitalise on their superiority. Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson were particularly threatening.

Then two key incidents that perhaps shaped what was to come in the second half. First, Chelsea got a penalty in the 43rd minute for a foul on Sterling. Enzo Fernandez stepped up to take but it was saved by Alphonse Areola.

And in first-half stoppage time, the ever dangerous Chukwuemeka pulled up with an injury.

That set-up what would prove a torrid second half for Chelsea. Sloppy play in the midfield allowed the ball to break to Michail Antonio, who's low drive into the bottom left corner gave West Ham a 53rd minute lead.

Chelsea continued to dominate the play but West Ham were now sitting deeper to counteract Jackson and Sterling's runs. Chelsea hardly troubled the West Ham goal.

Chelsea were given hope in the 67th minute when Aguerd got a second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Jackson but truthfully, Chelsea looked no more likely to score against 10 men then they did against 11.

Chelsea's record signing Moises Caicedo came on for a frankly underwhelming debut. If you had never seen him before, you would struggle to believe this is the guy Chelsea went to so much trouble to sign. His poor display was topped off when he conceded an injury-time penalty, duely converted by Lucas Paqueta.

It's difficult to look for positives when it looks all so familiar. The Liverpool game perhaps gave false hope things had changed. Liverpool play a more attacking style than most so there is always space that can be exploited. So against a more defensive side like West Ham, the old problems surface. Lots of the ball in attacking areas but no bite to it.

Next up for Chelsea is Luton Town at Stamford Bridge on Friday night. Mauricio Pochettino will be looking for far more from his players then they showed today.

Team: Sanchez 5, Disasi 4, Silva 6, Colwill 6, Gusto 5 (Burstow 83'), Fernandez 4, Gallagher 5 (Madueke 75'), Chillwell 5 (Caicedo 61', 3), Chukwuemeka 8 (Mudryk 45', 3), Jackson 6, Sterling 7

Unused subs: Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Maatsen, Bergstrom, Humphreys 

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Chelsea Goals vs Arsenal 90's

 

Every goal Chelsea scored against Arsenal in the 1990's, featuring classic strikes from Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo, Gianluca Vialli and more...

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qePNC9H50fU

Match Report and Ratings: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

 

A point for Chelsea in their opening game. It could have been all three but equally, it could have been none.

Confusing? Well, that was the game.

At times, Chelsea looked really good and dominated a strong Liverpool side but other times they looked like what they were: a team that had never really played together.

Liverpool came out of the blocks stronger and took a deserved 18th minute lead when Mohamed Salah played a superb defence splitting pass to Luis Diaz to slide in.

It could have been either better for Liverpool when on the half hour mark, Salah put the ball in the net but VAR ruled he was just offside.

This seemed to galvanise the Chelsea team, who had been very much second best to that point. In the 37th minute they got their reward, when chaos from a corner eventually ended with the ball falling to debutante Axel Disasi on the edge of the six yard box. It wasn't the cleanest connection but Chelsea fans won't care about that.

Two minutes later, Chelsea thought they had taken the lead when Ben Chilwell went round Alisson to slot home but this time VAR came to Liverpool's rescue, ruling Chilwell was offside.

In the second half, Liverpool thought they could have had a penalty when the ball appeared to strike Nicolas Jackson's arm but nothing given.

From that point, Chelsea dominated the possession but apart from a couple of efforts from Chilwell and Jackson, probably didn't do enough to really work Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Darwin Nunez nearly stole it for Liverpool at the end but his deflected effort went just wide.

Overall, a draw was a fair result. It was a nervy start for the Blues but they grew into the game.

Enzo Fernandez put in the display you would expect from a player with his price tag. Nicolas Jackson is already drawing the Didier Drogba comparisons. There is potential but we will see how he develops within this team.

Thiago Silva put in another of those performances that make it hard to believe he turns 39 in less than a month.

Most concerning for Chelsea was the withdrawal of Reece James seemingly with injury. Chelsea noticeably lost a lot of momentum when he came off the pitch. A fantastic player but injury prone.

Another tough game next up with a trip to West Ham United but plenty for Chelsea fans to be optimistic about.

Chelsea Line-Up: Sanchez 5, Disasi 6, Silva 8, Colwill 6, James 8 (Gusto 76'), Fernandez 9, Gallagher 5, Chukwuemeka 5 (Maatsen 81'), Chilwell 7 (Ugochukwu 90'), Sterling 4 (Mudryk 81'), Jackson 7

Unused Subs: Cucurella, Madueke, Santos, Bergstrom, Burstow

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Drew Spence

 

My newest goal video is celebrating former Chelsea women midfielder, Drew Spence.

In a career with the Blues spanning 13 years, Spence scored 50 goals in 238 appearances winning multiple honours along the way.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVIrvqWdTgc

Chelsea 2023-24 Season Preview

 

I think it's fair to say, 2022-23 was not a season many Chelsea fans will look back on with any great fondness.

It started mediocrely, then got worse with sacking of popular manager Thomas Tuchel out of nowhere.

Graham Potter arrived from Brighton and after some initial success, Chelsea went on a run of form that was amongst the worst Stamford Bridge has seen for many a year.

Frank Lampard came back for a second spell as manager and picked up where he'd left off at Everton, i.e. losing every other game.

In the end, Chelsea limped to a poor 12th place finish, behind Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace. It was the first time Chelsea had finished outside the top 10 since 1996.

Chelsea losing at home to a poor Southampton side 18/02/2023

There is an argument to be made it was the worst Chelsea team ever.

Consider the Chelsea team of 1982-83, almost relegated to the third tier of English football. But they were a rag-tag side and Chelsea didn't have a lot of money at the time to improve them. Not so last season. Chelsea had a squad bursting with talent, Champions League and World Cup winners. Yeah, they were unlucky with injuries but there was no excuse for them to be as bad as they were.

So how are Chelsea likely to do this season?

Who can say? Rate of change has been so rapid at Chelsea. For an indicator of this, consider that of the 23 players in Chelsea's 2021 Champions League Final squad (only a little over two years ago), just five remain at the club (and it doesn't look like Callum Hudson-Odoi will be a part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans).

Goals were obviously a massive concern for Chelsea last season, managing a paltry 50 in all competitions (for comparison, Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored 52).

Is anyone likely to score many this season? Nicolas Jackson and Christophe Nkunku have both looked good in pre-season so there is at least some hope.

Nicolas Jackson in pre-season action

In defence, where do you start? Our best centre back turns 39 in a month (Thiago Silva). Wesley Fofana appears to be a little injury prone. Trevoh Chalobah is ok but always seems to have the big error in him. Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill both look like good prospects though. Axel Disasi we'll see how he settles in.

Of more concern is the full back position. Reece James and Ben Chillwell are fantastic. When they're fit, which is unfortunately not too often these days. Marc Cucarella needs to seriously up his game this season. Ian Maartsen and Malo Gusto along with Lewis Hall look like they could all be decent back-up.

Rumours are Chelsea are not done in the transfer market just yet with Moises Caicedo and Neymar both seeming like strong possibilities. As well as that, Chelsea fans are hoping Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk use this season to step up and justify their large transfer fees.

And finally, the gaffer: Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea fans would have to begrudgingly admit, he did a good job at Tottenham. The only thing his term lacked was silverware. At PSG, he did finally get to taste what that was like so maybe that has given him the winning mentality required.

Mauricio Pochettino

We won't really know anything until the games start and we've given a real tough one to start: Liverpool, who are going through a bit of a transition themselves.

There is cause for optimism though, there is a lot of talent in the squad and possibly more to come so fingers crossed for a great season.

Chelsea in Magazines - Scorcher, issue 2, 17th January 1970

 

January 1970 and a new football comic has hit the scene, Scorcher.

It lasted four years and was probably most notable for introducing Billy's Boots to the world.

But in among the fiction was real football stuff. And one such item was this piece on Chelsea striker Ian Hutchinson:

A brief description of how Hutchinson became a pro, from being released by Nottingham Forest to ending up at Chelsea via Cambridge United.

Classic Chelsea Goals Video: Frank Sinclair

 

My newest Chelsea goals video is now available on my Youtube Channel and it's all about defender Frank Sinclair:

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXkdwEVh7jA

Chelsea in Magazines - Goal, Issue 1, 10th August 1968

 

This is the first in a series where I find old magazine articles about Chelsea and/or Chelsea players.

Like most print media, football magazines are struggling but were a part of every football fans journey growing up.

First up, we have the very first issue of Goal magazine from August 1968.

A popular magazine for its time, Goal ran for 6 years before being absorbed into Shoot.

The first item up, is about play-makers and for Chelsea that meant John Hollins:

To summarise, Kev here thinks the game is too dominated by the big, physical players with little room for flair. Hollins is highlighted as an example of the more skillful player he has high hopes for.

Doing less well however, is Alan Birchenall:

As if to show that Chelsea big money signings (Birchenall cost Chelsea £100,000, big money at the time) not working out isn't a recent phenomenom, Birchenall wasn't assured of a starting place in Dave Sexton's team.

Now, this little bit:

I haven't checked but I've got a feeling Cambridge got their bonus.

And finally:

If there is a criticism that could be made of Charlie Cooke it would be that he didn't score as many goals as a player of his ability perhaps should have.

So in this article, Charlie is promising to score more goals for the Blues. Did he succeed?

Erm, not really, no. In 1967/68 season, Cooke scored five goals in total. In 1968/69 he scored two.

That's all for this first issue Readers but there will be more exciting things to come in future!