A Dramatic Equaliser From Lampard Prevents Win

A Lethal Party Pooper
By Gary Watton
September 21 2014

On a bizarre afternoon, even by the English Premiership's standards, it was almost to be expected that Frank Lampard would have the final say and strike a crucial blow against his former club. Of course Jose Mourinho has expressed his satisfaction at what he considered to be a fair result, but Chelsea were denied five minutes from the end of normal time from opening a considerable eight point gap over Manchester Mercenaries. How important Lanpard's goal will prove to be remains to be seen.

 The sheer comedy of it all is that although Blues fans curse the fact that their new bitter rival got out of jail, there appears no ill will towards the goalscorer, Super Frank, who on this one-off occasion broke our hearts. Judging by Lampard's reaction to his own goal, he looked as bemused by thwarting Chelsea as his supporters are. However, that is the nature of the beast. When a player moves on to a new employer, he should no longer feel obligated towards his former club. Lampard is the ultimate professional, and nobody could fail to respect him for trying to do his utmost for his new team, even if it was at the expense of his former teammates. Many supporters will be having a right good chuckle about Lampard's ironic goal, but given the calamitous results incurred by Liverpoo, ManUre, Evercrap, and Tottensham over the weekend, few rival fans can raise too much of a smile at Chelsea's momentary comeuppance.

 In truth, the away team did not deserve all three points. Mourinho, in his questionable wisdom, will insist on treating teams like Shitty with too much respect and put lots of players behind the ball, even if it means stifling our own attacking instincts. Of course, the west Londoners excelled at defying and conquering other big clubs last year (and previously), but such football is painful to watch, and I suspect that JM will yet again come up just short in Europe because he wishes to re-enact the cautious football of FC Porto and Inter Milan. If Chelsea repeat the same strategies in the Champions League of packing their defence against the Spanish elite, the same tearful outcome probably awaits. Playing limited soccer will produce limited results.

Mind you, Manchester Wannabes have problems of their own, as Jose once more outfoxed Pellegrini and left the Mancs a frustrated bunch. It looked like the Londoners were en route to a smash and grab raid akin to their successful foray at Ann's field back in April. However, one of the heroes of that afternoon, a certain Frank Lampard, proved to be the party pooper this time. As one observer noted, Lamps even forgot to look up to Heaven after his goal. He was so disorientated by the moment that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As for his new manager, he is clearly a class act, ludicrously lampooning Chelsea as "a small team". What a load of laughable gibberish. Once again we are being treated to an outpouring of condescending tosh from a bad loser who obviously undervalues the need to defend well away from home against a team that is after all the league champions. Chelsea and Stoke City have every right to defend effectively in Manchester. If Pellegrini feels so snooty about the art of defending, he should field eleven attackers and forego a defence and goalkeeper. Instead this hypocritical buffoon was quite happy to play for a no score draw at Bayern Munich. The man is fast becoming a sour grapes exponent.

Meanwhile Mark Lawrenson has astutely observed that the team that finishes above Chelsea will win the Premiership. However, given the misfiring farce that is ManUre and the one season wonders of Liverpoor, I am not sure that any such team is on the horizon. Instead Chelsea remain firmly in pole position because they have a decent twin track approach of overpowering lesser teams and of stifling their rivals, even if the latter policy is not easy on the eye.

Final score: Manchester City 1 CHELSEA 1; half time: 0-0. Sunday 21st September 2014.

CHELSEA goal scorer: Schurrle

CHELSEA team: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Ramires, Willian, Costa. Used substitutes: Schurrle, Drogba, Mikel.