Sunday 10 November 2013

Review: Chelsea 2 West Bromwich Albion 2


A very debatable penalty awarded in stoppage team resulted in a draw between these two teams. The referee, Andre Marriner awarded the late penalty to Chelsea in the 93rd minute when Ramires was allegedly fouled by Steven Reid. Replays suggest that Ramires leaned into Reid and the Baggies will feel very hard done by at the end of an exciting match.

After the defeat to Newcastle last week we were expecting to see a more Gung Ho Chelsea performance, however the first half was fairly uneventful with West Brom well organised and cutting out any threats from Jose Mourinho's men. 

The breakthrough came just before half time when the impressive looking Eden Hazard took a shot from just outside the area which was parried by Boaz Myhill, Samuel Eto'o was then on hand to poke home his 4th goal this season by beating a very hesitant Liam Ridgewell to the ball. All of Albion's hard work had come undone in a matter of seconds.

Half time 1-0

Chelsea came out to the second half playing with much more confidence and drive. Eden Hazard had a great opportunity to make the scoreline 2-0 but was unable to control a long ball from Oscar. West Brom were soaking up the pressure and finally got a chance to counter when Morgan Amalfitano crossed to Shane Long who saw his header bounce off the base of the post, with Petr Cech scrambling to keep it out.

Albion then stepped it up a gear and a goal came on the 60th minute from a corner. Gareth McAuley had a powerful header parried by Cech into the air and Shane Long jumped highest to head the ball into the Chelsea net.

Not wanting to rest with a point, West Brom then saw Chelsea's weakness and attacked again. Ridgewell and Sessegnon linked up well before Sessegnon side-stepped John Terry and fired a shot under Cech. Which left the Chelsea keeper shaking his head in disbelief.

Mourinho's men pressed and pressed for the remainder of the game but West Brom showed great character by holding off all that Chelsea had to throw at them. They could even of snatched a third goal on the 90th minute when Chris Brunt picked up a loose ball and ran towards the Chelsea box, he had a team mate either side of him but decided to go alone and sent the ball sailing over.

The controversial equaliser finally came deep into injury time. Ramires ran into the box and seemed to lean into Reid before falling over. It was an extremely dubious decision and the West Brom players were rightfully angry with Marriner. Hazard eventually took the spot kick and rolled the ball into the corner of the net to give Chelsea a share of the spoils.

Full time 2-2

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