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| photo courtesy: Tom Jenkins (the Guardian) |
On a rainy day in West London, Chelsea beat league-leading Manchester City 2-1 to move within 7 points of the top of the table.
On February 27, 2010, Chelsea went into the locker rooms after a disastrous 4-2 loss to Manchester City, their first at home all season. Wayne Bridge refused to shake John Terry's hand after the loss, following the sex scandal involving the two and just about every Chelsea player was fuming, as the team went down to nine men and never recovered.
Flash forward to this evening's contest at the Bridge and you find yourself a party. The infamous Mario Balotelli put one into an open net inside 2 minutes stunning the newly arrived crowd. However, Chelsea made it very clear that relenting was not an option. After a quality back and forth of which the Blues dominated possession, they found their breakthrough. The wunderkind of sorts, Daniel Sturridge dangled his way through city's defense before swinging a beautiful ball into the box. Raul Meireles took care of the rest, leaping into the air and powering home an equalizing goal, bringing to mind some of the world's best martial artists.
From then on, my own blue scarf was raised high as were thousands around the stadium and the borough. The game belonged to Chelsea. Such a feeling became even clearer when Gael Clichy's second yellow card brought the visitors down to ten men. It was a beautiful antithesis to the events twenty months before, when the Blues found themselves minus two.
A handball from Joleon Lescott led to the man who didn't start and came off early in Chelsea's last league game. A man, however, already solidified as a Chelsea great, Frank Lampard. He stepped up to the spot and nailed home a powerful strike in the dead center of the goal. Juan Mata said a few words to Lampard before the shot was taken, seemingly trying to dissuade him from taking it. The fact that he did, though should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Chelsea football the past decade.
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| photo courtesy: Tom Jenkins (the Guardian) |
To an observer, which I certainly am, the past few weeks have displayed a sort of vintage Chelsea. Imaginative football is back with energetic playmakers like Raul Meireles and Juan Mata becoming the new faces of the blue and white.
Meanwhile, in Manchester, hearts might be sinking despite the inhabitants of their city acting as the leaders of England respectively. This loss comes just days after City were knocked out of European competition. However, their eyes and minds must only fall upon the game this Sunday that stands out to so many fans and players, when they take on Arsenal at home. A loss in that game could open up the title race to a five man band, creating some very appealing storylines leading in to the holiday season.
One thing is for certain: Chelsea have got to be feeling carefree!
video courtesy: jamtart1972 (youtube)
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