The build up
2009 – December 16 – Wednesday evening – Cold – Wet – London – Stamford Bridge – Penniless Pompey – Bottom – No Premiership points at Chelsea – ever – In white – Seven team changes – No Kaboul – Silly Boy – Mullins – Mokoena – Diop in midfield – No Yebda – No Brown – Strange! – But Boateng back – No David James – Money Rich Chelski – Top – In blue – No Drogba – Will it matter ? – Probably not – Bookies say Pompey 14/1 to win – Worth a tenner – history – Played 6 – Lost 6 – score 1 – ermm probably not ! – Never happen – Avram returns – Good reception? – I wonder
The Game – First Half
7:45 -Referee – Mark Clattenberg – Starts game – Kick-off – Here we go – Play up Pompey
2 minutes – First action -Ballack shots wide – Shape of things to come – Probably – Lampard shots – well over
5 minutes played – Chelsea have started positively – No surprise – First corner to Chelsea – Comes to nothing but another corner – Taken by Deco – Flicked on by Ballack – Kalou heads over from three yards – Phew ! – Pompey are left off !
8 minutes – Third corner – Boateng clears – but not for long – Another corner – One every two minutes – will they get 45 ?- Who knows – Mokeona clears – Just.
10 minutes – Macca on the Quay – Bemoans Boateng not staying wide – With three central midfielders – he`s probably right !
12 minutes – Still 0-0 – I wonder if I should have had that tenner on a win – Wife tells Chix to stop drinking !
14 minutes – Pompey in Chelsea half – Wow – Finnan gets fouled by Lampard – Free kick – Can O`Hara pick out a man in the box – No!
17 minutes – The game has settled – Still mostly Chelsea – but early pressure has relented a little – or has it – Lampard shoots – Begovic takes easily
20 minutes – The Full Backs – Ivanovic and Cole create all their width – They must be shackled – But how ? – Stay wide Boateng!
22 minutes – A quarter way through – Alex comes forward – Wilson commits – oh dear – Alex finds Anelka – Anelka is unmarked – Goal – Pompey concede their 200th away goal in the premiership – Chelsea 1 Pompey 0 – Now glad I kept my tenner in my pocket !
25 minutes – Appeals for handball by Ben Haim inside the box – Ref says no! – Macca spruts incorrect rules about deliberate handball – As a ex-pro he should know better – Still – No penalty – Luckily
30 minutes – Chelsea in possession in Pompey half – Surprise!
32 minutes – Midfield assessment so far – O`Hara`s distribution is poor – Mokoena looks lost – Boateng is playing out of position – and doesn`t want to – Diop looks strong in the tackle and look composed – Mullins is working hard but with no end product.
35 minutes – From nowhere Piquionne shoots – Cech parries – Herman nearly follows up – Pompey have a corner – Come on ! – O`Hara takes it left footed – Cech punches clear – Back in by Boateng – Comes to nothing – Shows that Chelsea make sleep – Will they make us pay for that ?
37 minutes – Chelsea have a free kick – 10 yards outside Pompey`s penalty area – Alex or Ballack to take – It`s Alex – A decent strike but flies wide – Begovic had it covered anyway
40 minutes – Pompey at last use Herman for the out ball – Pompey come forward – O`Hara shoots weakly – but at least it is a shot on target
42 minutes – Pompey come forward again – O`Hara slings in a high cross – Tal Ben Haim is unmarked in their area – He strains but heads over – Pompey need to commit more forward – Chelsea ARE dodgy at the back
43 minutes – Deco finds Lampard – Lampard shoots low – No danger
44 minutes – Chelsea come down the left again – Cole shoots – shaves Begovic post – Phew – We must secure our right side
Stoppage time – Deco finds Kalou – Diop collides with Ben Haim – Ball goes out for a corner – Stretcher on – Is he dead? – Corner taken cleared
Half time Chelsea 1 Pompey 0 – Could be worse – Could be better – Need to get forward more – Get more width – Put more men into their box – Should we take the game to them? – We might just create something – I wonder what Avram will say and do ?
The Game – Second Half
45 minutes – We are underway – No changes – Is it just a matter of time ?
47 minutes – Pompey start positively and confidently – Can we do what we have only done once before at Stamford Bridge in the premiership – Score
50 minutes – Hermann is being better utilised – O`Hara seems to have woken up – Boateng is fouled – Free kick to Pompey – 11 yards outside the Chelsea box – O`Hara to take – It comes off the wall – Falls to Piquionne – Shoots – Right footed – Roof of the net – GOOOOAL
Chelsea 1 Pompey 1 – Enjoy the moment – Prepare for the onslaught !
53 minutes – Chelsea seek to strike right back – Ballack heads over the top of the bar – Deco shoots over
55 minutes – Pompey have belief and show urgency – Much better
57 minutes – Ivanovic shoots on goal -Good save by Begovic – Ben Haim clears
59 minutes – Joe Cole on for Deco – Lesser of two evils – Cole immediately links with Kalou – Looks dangerous
60 minutes – Pompey bring on another central midfielder – Richard Hughes for Papa Diop – Hughes to man mark Cole I think so – Wise move Avram
61 minutes – Pompey counter attack O`Hara gets the ball in the box – Boateng is on his own – Ashley Cole closes him down and clears – Corner to Pompey – Boateng takes the corner – Alex heads it away – Ping pong ensues – Boateng collects – He dummys the defender – He could score – He shapes to shoot – He slips – Oh no ! – That could have been a match winner
62 minutes – Mikel throws an arm into Hermanns face – What will the ref do – Hermann`s shirt is ripped – Shirt is changed – Hermann has no number or name on his shirt – Ancelloti replaces Mikel with Malouda
64 minutes – Kalou on his own in the area Begovic looks stranded – Kalou puts it wide – should have done better – Thank God he didn`t –
Malouda whips it in the Pompey box – Ben Haim misses it – Begovic saves the day
68 minutes – Chelsea 1 Pompey 1 – This is not going to script – Well not yet anyway – Pompey have far more shape in the second half
70 minutes – Piquionne is down – Looks like a calf problem – Could be serious – Dindane replaces Piq – Chelsea take off Kalou and bring on Italian whiz kid Borini
72 minutes – Chelsea have a corner – Lampard takes – eventually cleared by Wilson for Dindane to chase
75 minutes – Fifteen to go – Can Pompey hang on for a point – Is Avram Grant the lucky manager we have been looking for – Will the XFactor be No1 at Xmas – We just don`t know
77 minutes – Hear comes the pressure – Borini looks lively – Chelsea have another corner – How many is that? – 10 ?
78 minutes – Chelsea attack – Wilson slides in – Brings down Ivanovic – Penalty – Nooooo – Will Lampard to beat Begovic – He missed against Man City – But scores against Pompey – Chelsea 2 Pompey 1 – All the hard work undone
80 minutes – Chelsea have their confidence back
83 minutes – Richard Hughes handles in the box – The Referee has a temporary bout of blindness – Corner given – Comes to nothing
85 minutes – Can Pompey find another equaliser – Dindane is not the same player as Piq – We need to hold that ball up to allow us to get forward – Mokeona off Utaka on – A bit of pace – A bit of magic – perhaps – perhaps not.
87 minutes – Time ticks away – Chelsea are back in charge but Pompey are still in the game – Albeit struggling to get out their own half
89 minutes – Chelsea 2 Pompey 1 – Will we see another injury time equaliser
90 minutes – 4 minutes of added time – Tal Ben Haim plays a short ball back to Begovic – Borini intercept it – He goes passed Wilson – He shoots wide – He should have scored – Goal kick – Chelsea continue to attack – They take their tenth corner – Joe Coe shoots wide – The Londoners run down time – The ref blows the final whistle.
Summary – After an awful first half Pompey went in at the break just one goal down – The second half started far more positively after 50 minutes O`Haras free kick bounces down to Piquionne to hit the roof of the net and equalise – Pompey with tails up showed a lot more confidence but Boateng missed two gilt edge chances to win the match before Wilson brought down Ivanovic and provide Lampard with the opportunity to remind Avram Grant that he can score from the spot.
So Pompey leave the Bridge pointless yet again. Next up is Liverpool on Saturday, can Pompey take their second half performance ito that game and take something off Liverpool? Maybe, just maybe
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