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Sunday afternoon’s top-four London derby was the tight affair many would have predicted between two in-form teams, but without the goals expected from sides who are, with Liverpool, the Premier League’s top scorers.
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Chances were at a premium during a tightly-contested London derby but the best ones fell our way, notably in injury time when Olivier Giroud underhit a lobbed effort.
At the other end we were rock solid in defence, with Tottenham limited to a solitary on-target effort, and that from range. So it was largely satisfied Lampard who spoke afterwards, and started with his overall assessment of the game…
‘We dominated big parts,’ he said.
‘We played a really good game. Everything we talked about before the game in terms of nullifying their counter-attacking threat we did really well. That part of the game was fantastic. They didn’t have a chance until we almost gifted them one at the end.
‘We created enough. It’s difficult to play against Tottenham when they defend in a low, central block. You have to try and go round them, and it’s not easy whilst making sure you don’t allow counter-attacking transition. We were great at that.
‘We did enough to win the game without getting that last little bit that would win it for us. Sometimes you rely on a bit of magic or something to drop for you when you have that much dominance, and it didn’t quite come. There was only one team searching for that for the majority, and that was us.
‘So I have a balanced feeling after the game. Big parts were great, hence the clean sheet, but it was a game we could and probably should have won.’
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Earlier this week it was announced the Blues will begin our 2020/21 Champions League campaign against Portuguese side Benfica. We will travel to Lisbon for the first leg which will take place on Wednesday 9 December at Caixa Futebol Campus, Seixal. The match in the Portuguese capital kicks off at 3pm UK time.
The return match will be a week later on Wednesday 16 December at Kingsmeadow with a 7pm kick-off.
Chelsea FC Women manager Emma Hayes commented on the draw and said: ‘We know it’s an unknown and they’ve a big history in the men’s game, so there’s a lot of excitement about that.
‘But, as much as anything, it’s excitement at just being back in the tournament. Opening up with a trip to Portugal, hopefully a day of warm weather, is great.
‘From what we’ve seen so far they’re a well-organised team and good on the counter. They’ve got highly technical players, a combination of Portuguese- and Brazilian-style football, so they keep the ball very well and I think it will be a different style to what we’re used to facing every week.
‘But as I’ve always stated, it’s about what we do. We make no secret of the fact we want to make progress in the competition this season, but we also know we have to be at our absolute best, and another level, if we’re going to dislodge some of the heavyweights.’
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The nationwide Covid-19 restrictions are set to be eased after midnight on Wednesday, but for the next few days people are still stuck at home. On the plus side, that’s just about enough time to squeeze in one more boxset.
We asked the Spaniard for his recommendations for top viewing on Netflix to fill the gap…
A popular choice among the Chelsea squad, this crime drama – which is set in Azpi’s native tongue but dubbed in English – is the second most popular foreign-language series on Netflix, and you’ve got three seasons to get stuck into.
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Vale’s two-assist afternoon was perfectly complimented by a wonder strike in the final two minutes. Having won the ball back in midfield, the attacking midfielder tried his luck from distance and watched as the ball flew into the top corner, taking over from Elliot’s earlier strike for goal of the game, that was only until the skipper joined in on the scoring act moments later.
Just seconds remained on the clock but there was still time for one more, Bate rounding off a captain’s performance with a strike worthy of an award. His arrowed hit from 25 yards nestled nicely into the top corner from substitute Joe Haigh’s assist to round off a brilliant day’s work for his team.
The last time we scored eight in the Youth Cup was 23 years ago in a 9-0 win over Chipstead and, given the time at Kingsmeadow, there’s every chance the boys would have equalled that record. Instead, they had to settle for eight and a comfortable passage through to round four.
Brand takes his team to Fulham in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday 12 December, kick-off 10:30am.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Sami Tlemcani; Josh Brooking, Charlie Wiggett, Levi Colwill; Tino Livramento, Charlie Webster (Ben Elliott 65), Lewis Bate, Harvey Vale; Dion Rankine, Myles Peart-Harris (Joe Haigh 66); Jude Soonsup-Bell (Bryan Fiabema 75)
Unused subs Bashir Humphreys, Silko Thomas, Josh Tobin, Luke Badley-Morgan
Scorers Soonsup-Bell 2, 17, 44, 74; Livramento 65; Elliott 71; Vale 88; Bate 90
Barnsley Archie Brown, Kareem Hassan-Smith, Hayden Pickard (Ben Hall 79), Connor Hodgson, Sam Nicholson, Jack Birks, Joe Ackroyd (c), Jack Sherlock (Lloyd Smith 83), Harrison Nejman (Theo Chapman 88), Bayley Hassell
Unused subs Blake Goucher, Alex Joof, Josiah Dyer, Kieran Flavell
Booked Nejman 21
Scorer Sherlock 59
Referee Harrison Blair
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In his first spell as Blues boss from 2004 to 2008, the Portuguese turned the Bridge into a fortress as we did not suffer a home defeat in his first 60 games in charge, winning 46 and drawing 14.
Indeed, his good record on our ground continued after he returned in 2013 for his second tenure as manager and it was not until our penultimate home match of the 2013/14 season that he finally tasted defeat in SW6 as a 2-1 loss to Sunderland ended his unbeaten streak at 77 games.
Normal service resumed in 2014/15 as we went unbeaten on our own patch, winning 15 and drawing four en route to lifting the title and a 2-2 draw with Swansea in our opening match of 2015/16 made it 76 wins, 22 draws and one defeat in Jose’s first 99 league games at the Bridge.
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London derbies between these two sides are always big occasions, with plenty of rivalry, but even more so this time around with both teams in great form near the top of the Premier League table.
Frank Lampard will also be hoping to continue his excellent record as a manager against Spurs, when his former manager at Chelsea Jose Mourinho returns to the Bridge. But do you know everything you need to going into Sunday’s big match? You can find out in the quiz below. Good luck!
If you fancy using that Chelsea knowledge to try to win some fantastic prizes while competing against your fellow Blues fans, don’t forget to enter the Play Predictor for Sunday’s match. As this is the last fixture of November, whoever tops the monthly leaderboard at the final whistle will receive this month’s bundle of signed goodies and a £500 Megastore voucher.
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The Blues have a better than 60 per cent win percentage since Abramovich became owner in the summer of 2003, and we have accumulated an astonishing 16 major trophies in that period. Here’s to many more!
For now, try our quiz which consists of 10 questions for 1000 games, ranging in difficulty and subject. Good luck!
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However, the head coach started by looking ahead to third against first in the Premier League on Sunday.
‘Chelsea against Tottenham is extra special anyway because of the rivalry between the two teams but the fact we’re both in good form and towards to the top of the table definitely adds spice,’ he said.
‘We’re all fighting for those kind of positions so all eyes will be drawn to it. I certainly don’t put anything on the fact we beat them twice last season. Every new year brings something else and Tottenham invested heavily in the break to bring in some very good players to strengthen what was already a really strong squad. I’m expecting a tough match – their start to the season has shown that.’
‘I understand Jose’s answer and that’s the position we should be in because the marker has been set by Liverpool and Manchester City in the last few seasons.
‘We’re early on in the season really in terms of games so we shouldn’t get carried away with our teams. It’s good that we’re competing high up but there’s such a long way to go.’
‘It’s difficult but I’m happy with the level of competition at the moment. If it’s a problem for me to pick the team then we’ll turn that into a positive to try to make our squad one of our strengths.
‘One of the best things I’ve seen from us recently is the balance in our team. I’d like to think we’re not an overly attacking team that will leave ourselves vulnerable but we’ll have to be aware, particularly of players like Harry Kane.’
‘Diego Maradona was my idol growing up. I was born into a football family but he was the player on the world stage that made me fall in love with the game.
‘I vividly remember vividly World Cups in the early 1980s and I wasn’t even that put out by the Hand of God because his individual brilliance overcame that as I grew up. I was fortunate enough to meet him very briefly, he’s a footballing god and it’s very sad he’s no longer with us.’
‘I’m delighted for that. It’s a great first small step towards where we want to get to and hopefully, if things are done well and we see that the safety is very comfortable for everybody, then we’ll move quickly up and get more fans because everybody is desperate to get back in the right way.’
‘The message from me and the players is to try and win the football match. I’m sure that will be the best way to mark a very special landmark. As manager and as a player who was involved in a lot of those games, I can give him a huge thank you because nothing that we have achieved in the Roman Abramovich era could have happened without him and his support.
‘It’s not just the financial input but also the development of the training ground, the love and time put into the Academy and the trophies we’ve been able to win have obviously all been made possible by him. We’re very thankful, I certainly am, but our end of the bargain now is to try to work to remain successful on the pitch.’
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London’s tier 2 status means up to 2,000 supporters will be permitted to attend the home Premier League match against Leeds United on Saturday 5 December, subject to approval from the relevant local authorities. We are delighted some fans can return and look forward to a full stadium when the time is right.
In addition, home supporters will also be permitted at Chelsea Women’s WSL match against West Ham at Kingsmeadow on Sunday 6 December.
There is no need to contact the club for the details at this point. More information will be available soon and we will communicate this to our fans at the earliest opportunity.
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