We needed to win to stay in touching distance of the League leaders, and we did just that thanks to a stellar performance by the entire team, especially Eden Hazard, who shone as brightly as any star in the Christmas sky! Congratulations to John Terry for making his 600th appearance for the Blues and heading up a masterful defence. It was a blinding game from start to finish and I was surprised to find myself agreeing with Gary Neville, of all people, when he described the intensity of the Super Sunday fixture:"Sometimes up in the commentary box you do games and you don't have time to breathe and it just felt like one of those days. It was exhilarating to watch first minute to 90 minutes, it absolutely felt frantic and blood and thunder all the way through, incidents all the time that kept the crowd involved."
(It somehow sounded better listening to him saying it with his distinctive Mancunian accent on TV but hopefully you get the gist!)
I was pleased to see David Luiz make a début appearance in midfield under Mourinho. His pace and quick thinking added a much needed tempo to our game on Sunday. I like to watch him licensed to shoot in midfield - when he plays as centre half he reminds me of a chained animal pulling at his shackles in order to escape up the pitch (more often than not he manages to break free and compromise the team defensively). I know Jose was pushed into the decision as a result of injuries and Ramires serving a ban, but hope he may rethink his plans for Luiz as a result.
There were numerous contentious decisions during the match as well as a handful of injuries on both sides. Branislav Ivanovic, who has been a constant force in the Chelsea side this season, left the pitch, injured, some thirty minutes into the game, which had seen him reunited with Luis Suarez and his teeth. (I may be taking the Panto theme too far, but Panto horse comes to mind!) Frank Lampard was also substituted at half time and Liverpool lost Sakho, Glen Johnson and Joe Allen to injury during the game.
There were penalty shouts on both sides, and a few skirmishes but the referee, Howard Webb, did not award either side a spot kick, or resort to pulling out a red card. I am hoping in the after math of 'Sorry Gate' that neither manager will receive, or should I say make public that they received, a call from Mike Riley, apologising for Webb's possible 'mistake/s'. (I wonder if Steve Clarke's indiscretion had anything to do with his subsequent and untimely dismissal.)
The experienced referee had a good game... (probably most Chelsea fans would agree!)
OH NO HE DIDN'T!
The experienced referee had a shocker of a game.... (borrowing the words of Alan Shearer in MOTD)
OH YES HE DID!
Sorry the panto theme seems to be taking over but I am also practising my lines as we are going on our annual pantomime outing this evening to see Aladdin! You are lucky I'm not writing this tomorrow - it would be even more annoying to read!
In the post-match interview it was good to see ‘The Happy One’
really happy for a change. Jose Mourinho was in a very festive and jolly mood
as he hailed the Premier League and the ‘monsters’ (he explained he used the
term in the 'good' sense of the word!) who play in it! He also applauded the
tradition of playing throughout the festive season which he said he loved…. As do
I – who could imagine a Christmas not sandwiched between fascinating
football fixtures.
I can't end without paying tribute to Malky Mackay, the last of the six Premiership managers to lose his job this season. It seems more than appropriate to discuss the unfair treatment of the enigmatic and revered Cardiff City manager in this particular post - the new controlling and comical owner of Cardiff City, Vincent Tan is a perfect Pantomime villain....
The Blue birds shall be Red dragons.....
The goal keeper shall begin to score goals....
I shall manage the club even though I'm still familiarising myself with the offside rule....
It's my Cardiff and I'll Boo if I want to....
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
