Posted April 8, 200916 yr Don't you lust love those special European Anfield nights? We played them off the f**king park. Cech - 8 The big man has rediscovered his mojo for sure. I can't remember him coming off his line so brilliantly for a long time. Cole - 8 Excellent all night long. Terry - 7 Oh captain, my captain. It won't matter now that he will miss the completely dead and buried second leg. Alex - 7 Dodgy start - very dodgy, but improved from 15 minutes on. Ivanovic - 10 MOM and would have been even without the goals. Essien - 9 Sorry Mikel fans but that is a midfield performance, that is how to impose yourself on a game. Exactly what we have been missing against the top sides this season. Lampard - 8 We are so privileged as Chelsea fans to have the finest English midfield player of his generation play for us every week. I love you Lamps. Ballack - First half 5 Second half 7 Mixed bag from our teutonic tosser. Malouda/Kalou - 8 Two severely limited players but worked their socks off. I'll give them both credit, limited as they are they took a lot of responsibilty tonight. Drogba - 9 Frightening physicality, absolutely frightening. A major pain in the ass for opposition defences. There is no other player in world football who does what Drogba does so effectively. Hiddink - 9 Has remotivated the players brilliantly and got us playing the beautiful game for the first time in years. He's going to find it difficult to leave. Referee - 9 Excellent all night. Contributed hugely to allowing the game turn out so brilliantly. It really was a fantastic football match.
April 8, 200916 yr Has Liam been drinking? - this report is close to rational! and correct Edited April 8, 200916 yr by yorkleyblue
April 9, 200916 yr Has Liam been drinking? - this report is close to rational! and correct youre really on the war path tonight, yorkley If Drogba is gonna play like that every night, he can stay till he is 40. I will happily eat crow until the universe implodes for all I have said about him in the past. If he wants to move on, let him. But if he is going to show hunger and desire every game then keep him at all costs. Hiddink is really brilliant. I dont just say this on the back of one win (even though he clearly outwitted the bearded guru of this competition) but to win so big when the stakes are so high shows this is a completely different set of players from a few months ago. And that is down solely to the Golden Guus
April 9, 200916 yr Some mighty bad misses by our big center forward though. Should have had a hat trick; I mean, they were sitters. Still, he was up for it and for that we must be thankful. I still think Essien was MoM. Cheers, Butch
April 9, 200916 yr Lampard was 7 at best. Lets not all get carried away by the result. Essien is a monster.
April 9, 200916 yr Thank you for mentioning the referee, Liam! Finally a referee who didn't give the scum the usual cheap free kicks and penalties, I was pleasantly surprised.
April 9, 200916 yr Lamps was a 4. Horrible free kicks, and the caught-in-possession by Torres that almost led to a Scousers goal have to be factored in. The Danish ref deserves full credit as well. Edited April 9, 200916 yr by Phillip
April 9, 200916 yr Lampard was 7 at best. Lets not all get carried away by the result.Essien is a monster. Personally, I knock the ref down to a 7. Excellent game apart from the Terry booking. That was a loose ball he was completely entitled to challenge for.
April 9, 200916 yr can you appeal against a yellow? One of the straws that the rat-munchers are clinging to is that JT will be out next week - I think we should appeal anyway on the basis that there was no actual foul Edited April 9, 200916 yr by yorkleyblue
April 9, 200916 yr u can't appeal a yellow ref might be able to overturn it himself but i think i read that he is sticking by it edit: i did http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5165929,00.html Edited April 9, 200916 yr by sexelk
April 9, 200916 yr Lampard was poor. Got robbed by Torres in our own half which almost ended in goal, wayward pass back from the center of the pitch that resulted in a corner and lost possession on quite a few occasions. I thought the team's outstanding performance belied the fact that Frank was distinctly poor by his standards. Edited April 9, 200916 yr by abramovich
April 9, 200916 yr Author Personally, I knock the ref down to a 7. Excellent game apart from the Terry booking. That was a loose ball he was completely entitled to challenge for. I agree it wasn't a booking Just and it did occur to me when rating the ref. However I had it in my mind that JT was extremely lucky to escape a yellow for an incident about 5 minutes earlier. It might have been in the ref's mind too. (I can't for the life of me remember the particular incident however - perhaps someone can help). As for Lamps I always view his performances through blue coloured specs as I love him so much.
April 9, 200916 yr can you appeal against a yellow? One of the straws that the rat-munchers are clinging to is that JT will be out next week - I think we should appeal anyway on the basis that there was no actual foul Why would you want it repealed ? Surely, of all the 4 possible games that remain for us in the CL (IF we progress), this is the one where you would want to give Terry a rest and let him clear his tab. If I were the manager, I would have told him to pick up a yellow at the 90th min yesterday. Edited April 9, 200916 yr by Virosh
April 9, 200916 yr Don't yellow cards get wiped at the semi final stage? I have a feeling they do in which case it is no advantage to JT to miss the Liverpool second leg.
April 9, 200916 yr Don't yellow cards get wiped at the semi final stage? I have a feeling they do in which case it is no advantage to JT to miss the Liverpool second leg. Not so sure, Loz. I googled it a bit and found this old news: By Clare LovellLONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Chelsea reached their fourth Champions League semi-final in five seasons on Tuesday when goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard gave them a nervy 2-0 win over Fenerbahce. The LOndon side's 3-2 aggregate win set them up for a third semi-final clash in four years with Liverpool, who beat Arsenal in the other quarter-final played on Tuesday. Liverpool won both their previous encounters. Avram Grant's side had suffered a surprise 2-1 first-leg defeat in Istanbul a week ago against the first Turkish team to reach the quarter-finals. They attacked early to put things right and when Ballack rose at the near post to head home a free kick from Lampard in the fourth minute, victory looked straightforward. Joe Cole hit the post in the eighth minute and Didier Drogba also came close early on but the game then descended into frantic but rather messy midfield action. Chelsea had to rely for most of the match on third-string goalkeeper Henrique Hilario after Carlo Cudicini appeared to pull a hamstring and was substituted in the 25th minute. First choice keeper Petr Cech could not play after suffering a face injury that required stitches and plastic surgery in a freak training accident. Fenerbahce's best chance of the first half came in the 31st minute when Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano rose unmarked in the Chelsea area to meet a free kick but he headed wide. DROGBA CHANCE Drogba should have put Chelsea further in front two minutes into the second half but his shot from a neat pass by Michael Essien was scooped up by Volkan Demirel in the Fenerbahce goal. Chelsea remained jittery and Fenerbahce coach Zico upped the pressure 15 minutes into the second half, sending on former Chelsea forward Mateja Kezman for midfielder Claudio Maldonado to try to force an equaliser. The Turks pressed forward, causing nervous moments in the Chelsea defence. In a frenzied last 10 minutes, Hilario tipped a shot from Ugur Boral round the post and then saved from Kazim Kazim. But Lampard finished it off for the London side with three minutes to go when, on the break, Essien rounded two defenders on the right of the area and laid the ball through to the England midfielder who scored from point blank range. Essien will miss the first leg against Liverpool through suspension after picking up a yellow card.. They might have changed the rules since then, but if not then Terry would have missed the first semi final if he got the yellow in our next game against Liverpool. I guess the cards are only wiped after the group stage. If this is correct then I don't mind him missing the 2nd leg against Liverpool (well I would mind it if Liverpool make it through) instead of the first game against Barcelona (I doubt Bayern Munich can turn that one around and go through).
April 9, 200916 yr u can't appeal a yellowref might be able to overturn it himself but i think i read that he is sticking by it edit: i did http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5165929,00.html I think you can appeal a yellow. Atleast that's what Barcelona has done today. They appeal against Messis yellow card he got för diving (apparently it wasn't a dive) against Bayern Munich.
