http://carefree-chelseafc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/everton-vs-chelsea-match-report-and.html

 

 

Everton Vs Chelsea Match Report and Analysis

 

Venue: Goodison Park
Attendance: 39,485
Referee: Howard Webb
Goalscorers: Pienaar (2) - Lampard (42, 72)

Match Report

Goodison Park has historically been a tough place for us to go and our last win at Everton in the Premier League came in April 2008. We arrived at Goodison off the back of good form with 3 straight Premier League wins and a 5-1 thrashing of Leeds in the Capital One cup.

As soon as the game kicked off we looked unsteady and failed to take a grip of the game. Everton had a dream start 63 seconds in when Pienaar tapped in a rebound from a Cech save to put the Toffees 1-0 up. Chelsea already had a mountain to climb and in a ground like Goodison Park a comeback is never easy, especially as they were looking to continue their unbeaten home record of 13 games. Shortly after, Everton were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Jelavic's shot struck the post and the rebound was quickly cleared away by the Chelsea defence. Chelsea struggled to find a foothold in the game for 20 minutes or so but we were slowly improving and making some good openings.

Chelsea started to take control and continued to push for an equaliser, and on the 42nd minute the breakthrough came with Frank Lampard converting a Ramires cross to bring the score to 1-1. Howard Webb blew the half time whistle with Chelsea on the upper hand but it was still anyone's game. Cech had to be substituted at the interval with an ankle injury which was a big blow as he had made some spectacular saves to keep us in the game during the first half. Ross Turnbull was brought on in his place. The second half started and Everton pushed for another goal. They almost got it when a fine Leighton Baines cross was headed onto the bar by Jelavic but the rebound was quickly cleared by the Chelsea defence. Soon after Chelsea counter attacked and some wonderful play by Mata, Hazard and Torres was unfortunately stopped due to an offside. Everton continued to press.

On the 72nd minute Chelsea counter-attacked again. Mata's shot forced Tim Howard to make a save and Frank Lampard was there to tap the rebound into the roof of the net to give Chelsea the lead. 2-1. Hazard was then substituted for Moses. Everton sought for a late equaliser. Mata was then substituted for Oscar with 6 minutes of normal time left to play to get some fresh legs on the pitch. Everton's equaliser almost came in stoppage time when a low cross from Leighton Baines was put in towards Jelavic but he scuffed his shot and in the end it was a comfortable save for Turnbull. Chelsea continued to defend and eventually the final whistle blew after 4 minutes of stoppage time. Chelsea took a deserved 3 points and fought back into the game with great team spirit.

Match Analysis

Once again David Luiz proved his effectiveness in midfield, and despite conceeding a lot of fouls he was very solid and put in some good passes. Everton have a very strong midfield and both him and Lampard showed strength and power. Torres had a couple of good opportunities and he was unlucky not to score a goal but he was tackled just as he was about to shoot whilst one-on-one with Tim Howard. Defensively we played very well (apart from the first 20 minutes) and as usual Azpilicueta was great. All in all many positives and if you removed the first 20 minutes from the game we played well under pressure and in a hostile ground.

 

 

Man of the Match

Man of the Match deservedly goes to Frank Lampard for his goals and for also showing fantastic leadership and strength all through the match. The club would be crazy to let him go as his contribution on and off the field is too valuable to put a price on and he's a massively influential player. His 2 goals today means he is now just 1 goal off of Kerry Dixon's record of 193 and becoming our second highest scoring player ever behind Bobby Tambling. One of the Premier League's greatest ever without a doubt.

 

Did this really need it's own thread?

Did this really need it's own thread?

 

Does it really harm you? 

Does it really harm you?

Not at all but I don't see the point when there's already a match thread

Did this really need it's own thread?

 

Christmas spirit didn't last long.

Not at all but I don't see the point when there's already a match thread

 

To be honest 90% of posts in the match threads don't get read.  An analysis thread is nice although this one could have gone into some more depth, good read though!

I thought this was an excellent account of the match, well-written and clearly expressed.

 

I like the idea of having the match report and analysis in a separate thread, because it doesn't then get bogged down in the middle of one word posts which quickly take you on to a new page.

 

I hope you are intending to make this a  regular feature, Omnidroid.

 

P.S. ...and not a single spelling mistake or punctuation mistake! The cockles of my heart are warm!   

To be honest 90% of posts in the match threads don't get read.  An analysis thread is nice although this one could have gone into some more depth, good read though!

 

I'll keep that in mind next time, thanks for your feedback!

 

I thought this was an excellent account of the match, well-written and clearly expressed.

 

I like the idea of having the match report and analysis in a separate thread, because it doesn't then get bogged down in the middle of one word posts which quickly take you on to a new page.

 

I hope you are intending to make this a  regular feature, Omnidroid.

 

P.S. ...and not a single spelling mistake or punctuation mistake! The cockles of my heart are warm!   

 

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll keep doing them as long as people are enjoying them.

 

I'm happy to hear that, reading it 4 times over to double check is proving to be worth the hassle