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Wednesday 9th
January 2002, 8.05pm |
League Cup Semi Final,
First Leg, Stamford Bridge |
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CHELSEA 2 Hasselbaink 2 (10,
77)
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Cudicini, Melchiot, Babayaro, Terry, Desailly, Lampard, Morris,
Dalla Bona, Zola, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Subs: de Goey, Jokanovic,
Ferrer, Forssell, Keenan |
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Ferdinand (Rebrov 88) |
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Poyet
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Davies
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Ziege |
Anderton
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Freund (Sherwood 29) |
Taricco |
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Gardner |
Perry |
King
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Keller |
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Subs not
used: Sullivan,
Etherington, Thelwell |
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (Ferdinand 65) |
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Referee: - A Wiley
(Burntwood) |
Attendance: - |
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A goal from Ferdinand was not enough to see Spurs get a deserved draw in a thrilling cup tie at Stamford Bridge, but gives us a good chance of progressing to the final after an excellent semi final first leg. Although we are down 2-1 at half time in the tie, we can look forward to the second leg with plenty of optimism as we dominated for long periods of the match, and have the prospect of Sheringham (and possibly Carr) back along with home advantage to see us through to the final and end the awful Chelsea Jinx.
A visit to Chelsea is never a nice experience – an ugly atmosphere and a crap ground. One of the first things you notice as you walk along Fulham Road to the ground is the lack of colours worn by the home fans – everyone seemingly a potential hooligan. As we came down from Earls Court the Old Bill were marching a couple hundred Spurs down a road in a scene reminicient of the dark days of the 1980’s. When the £97m debt finally catches up with Papa Smurf, I for one will not shed a tear as they are closed down.
The horribleness of Chelsea extends to the players, as arriving 15 minutes before kick off, the Chelsea mascot was deserted on the edge of the penalty area as not one of the players interacted with him and he looked lost and scared – not the sort of evening he dreamed about and the players should be ashamed of themselves for this (even if they were focussing on the match, one of the subs should have been looking after him).
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Stamford Bridge is a great optical illusion. When you see the ground on the TV – it looks a fine stadium, but it is a real Khazi and makes you appreciate White Hart Lane for the proper ground that it is. The programme illustrates Chelsea’s bad sportsmanship with snide digs at all the Spurs players in the pen pics section, but did provide a laugh as Desailly’s signiture has the handwriting of a 5 year old |
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Spurs entered the match without two of Hoddle’s most important players – the suspended Sheringham and the cup tied Richards. This led me to think that we would go for a tight 4-4-2, but Hoddle chose his favoured 3-6-1/3-4-2-1 formation with a packed midfield and Les as the lone striker. Much to everyone’s surprise, Rebrov was again on the bench – a move which all but confirms that he will be on his way as soon as an offer comes in that matches our valuation of him (hopefully a situation that is sorted out sooner rather than later for everyones sake).
Chelsea had a full strength team apart form Le Saux, and both Jody Morris and John Terry started just hours after pleading not guilty in court and being bailed on charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and affray following an incident at a nightclub.
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The ground has changed beyond recognition since I saw my first match here in 1978, but I’m pretty sure Spurs kicked off attacking what was the old Shed end, with the 3000 Spurs fans gathered on the lower East stand, stretched along the length of the pitch. The opening exchanges were fairly even with neither side giving too much away. Les managed to snake a shot out of nowhere that Cudicini blocked with his legs, but just as we were getting into a rhythm, disaster struck. |
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Ferdinand lost the ball on the halfwayline and Chelsea moved the ball down the right, before Hasawank fed the ball inside to Gujohnson, before belting off after the return which he duly received (as his Spurs marker just stood where he passed the ball from) And as you would expect from a striker ofhis undoubted quality, he slipped the ball beyond the advancing Keller to give them the lead. When seeing the replay, you have to conclude it was an excellently worked goal by two pacy and dangerous strikers, and while I’d have rather seen Keller keep his eye on the ball a bit longer when coming out, there was not much we could really do about the goal.
Over the next 15 minutes, Spurs controlled the play without creating a chance and my confidence began to grow. Chelsea never stopped looking dangerous when they got the ball to their forwards, but Gardner, King and Mr Ed all did their bit at the back. Some of my confidence was shaken when Freund went to ground and immediately called for a stretcher after a nothing incident with Lampard (no blame attached).
Freund going off left the way open for Sherwood but rather than go thro his usual routine of pointing, hospital balls and backwards passing, Sherwood was excellent right from the word go and Spurs continued to run the match. Ziege and Davies were finding lots of space down the flanks, and from.
It was disappointing to have so many negative voices around me at the game – “Hoddle you gotta change it” was all one bloke could utter from the first to the last minute – when it was clear that we were doing ok in the match. Of our attacks – Ferdinand shot over from a Poyet cross, while Davies shot through the inside right channel with the Chelsea defence trailing but his cross/shot was cleared by Chelsea. Taricco had shot from a cleared corner, which he dispatched in his usual fashion high and wide.
Just about our best chance of the half fell to Ziege, who broke up the left and was impeded in the box. Ziege did not play to the whistle (which never came) and the chance was gone. Just before halftime it was Ziege again causing Chelsea problems, winning the ball with his head on the halfwayline, chasing after it and delivering a low cross which Ferdinand flicked wide of the post.
At halftime, although a goal down I was fairly content with the way the game was going and was hopeful of an equaliser in the second period. Many of the usual faces were spotted in the crowd – Osama, Cyril Smith and “Dean Richards” to name three.
Spurs good play in the second period of the half forced Ranieri to change to a 5-3-2 system, losing Morris from the midfield and replacing him with a wide defensive cover (Ferrer). Maybe he is not as daft as he looks and sounds.
The change had a positive effect on Chelsea and it took Spurs 10 minutes into the new half to recover the forward momentum they had at the end of the first period. Hoddle was on the touchline giving his orders, along with Gorman, while Hughton ruffled his pieces of paper and shouted appropriate instructions. Great to see those three there compared to the evil Goonersaurus and Coneman.
The first Spurs chance of the second period fell to Treacle, who hit an awkward 25 yarder with the outside of his right boot after good work by Davies down the right, but although the shot looked like it was going in to us low down level with the penalty area, it flew a few feet wide. Hasselbaink had a shot that curled over after the ball broke to him on the edge of the box from a tackle, and he jumped up and down like a spoilt kid when it sailed comfortably over the bar.
Just on the hour, Spurs should have been level. Poyet Released Les through the middle and he was clear of the Chelsea defence with a clear run on goal. My heart thumped, but as he went to take the ball round Cudicini, the keeper went in bravely at Sir Les’s feet and grabbed the ball. I was so so so disappointed after we’d failed to score from this chance – and it reflected the difference in the teams –Hasawank scored, Sir Les was saved.
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Our heads were still down in disappointment when Gardner robbed Terry on the edge of the box, and the ball fell to Sherwood on the D. He slipped a simple ball thro to Les on his left, and this time, despite going left made no mistake. The Spurs end erupted – fans going mad jumping on seats and taunting the Chelsea above us. While all this was going on, Chelsea fans threw a full beer bottle on to the pitch which just missed Les celebrating his goal. Sherwood tried to make light of this by pretending to swig from the bottle, but the FA are sure to look into this and other missile throwing objects (Treacle gave the ref something thrown at him at a corner, and Hasawank had a couple of coins thrown at him when he was being treated for a non existent injury). With our record this season, this is something we could have done without |
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For about 10 minutes Chelsea were in disarray, and this was refelected off the pitch. An idiot ran on the pitch and after a brief runaround tried to make his way back up the stands and to disappear, but he was held by fellow Chelsea fans who tried to restrain him. A fight broke out and there was disturbances carrying on in the stand for around 15 minutes as Stewards and old Bill sorted it out. My heart goes out to the fan who tried to stop the pitch invader and hope that he did not get hurt in the incident.
As the time ticked on a creditiable draw looked on the cards, but it was not to be. Not for the first time Les was fouled by a member of the Chelsea defence, but the ref did not give it and the play went down our end. The ball struck a hand as King and a Chelsea player went for it and the ref gave a freekick to them.
As the wall lined up with Chelsea on one end it did not take Einstein to work out what was coming next, and as Hasawank ran up, the Chelsea continegent in the wall peeled away, Keller for some reason took a step the wrong way behind the rest of his wall, and Hasselbaink hit a fierce free kick into the corner for a spectacular goal. While it was a good free kick, Keller should have done better imvho as no shot from that distance should be allowed it without the keerer getting something on it.
Bouyed by their goal, in the last 10 minutes it was pretty much all Chelsea. After getting a ridiculous penalty at the Lane earlier in the season, this time it was our turn to ride our luck a little as Keller seemed to blatantly bring down Forsell (on for Gudjohnson, who Perry gave 4 stitches in a clash of heads), but the ref waved play on, just as he did in the first half when Ziege had similar claims in almost the exact same spot.
Ziege also seemed lucky to escape when his tackle seemed to take Hasawank and not the ball on the edge of the box, but we escaped and managed to hold on for the rest of the match and the usual 4 minutes of added.
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As we left the ground, opinion seemed divided on the merits of the result. I was fairly optimistic and happy that we’d played better than expected. As we filed out slowly, I noticed fellow Shelfsider and number one Celebrity Spurs fan, Neil Pearson, complete with his trademark black puffer ajcket, a couple of people in front of me Another defeat on the day, but it is only half time in the tie and with a bit of luck and a bit of magic, we will be off to Cardiff at the end of February. COME ON YOU SPURS! |
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The
Word of Hod
"That
free-kick was a decision that really hurt us. It was a key decision.
For me it's a simple decision they should get right but I've got to say I
thought there was a possibility there could have been a penalty against us as
well. That was a tougher decision.
"But the free-kick
was a simple decision that most people in the stadium would have seen.
Unfortunately the referee didn't and it went against us.
"I felt we
were in control for lots of spells in the first half, got ourselves back in the
game and there is everything to play for. If we'd have come here and got a draw
it wouldn't have been much different. We still have to win 1-0. We've got to
get a goal and if it ends up 1-0 after extra time we'll go through."
Keller (6/10) – Did ok – but!…….Possibly might have done a bit better with the first and definitely should have got a lot closer to the freekick. Flapped at one shot in the first half which he should have gathered comfortably. Nothing against Keller, but although he was n’t in the best of form before he was dropped – I’d much much much rather have Sully in goal, as he gives me much more confidence and is capable of brilliant saves.
Ziege (7/10)
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Gardner (8/10) – I was very nervous about Gardner but he was excellent and only just shaded out of man of the match by Sherwood. Great tackles, good pace and awareness and in the last few matches has shown some ability at the other end of the pitch and at 21 remains a fine prospect.
Perry (7/10) – A strong match for Mr Ed, gets a lot of stick from many of the fans as he does not always use the ball well, but he is defensively sound and did his bit at the back.
King (8/10) – Another excellent match at the back for Ledley, great saving tackles and good use of the ball
Taricco (7/10) – Thankfully had his best match for a while and was unlucky not to register his first goal with a second half shot
Freund (6/10) – Unfortunately injured midway thro the first half and things do not look good for the rest of the season for the great man.
Anderton (6/10) – A disappointing match for Anderton who again was not strong enough in the ball winning/tackling role in midfield (his attempts to head the ball are pathetic, and worse than Armo on his left foot) and he gave the ball away far too often. In saying that, even though things were not going for him kept on and put 100% in, for which he should be commended.
Poyet (6/10) – Captain for the day as he returned to his old ground. Had some good moments, but is not fit enough for this sort of match and was too often walking off the ball when the other outfield players were all running. As we all have come to realise, his performances are not always commensurate with his impact on matches, and maybe his moment will come in the second leg.
Davies (7/10) – Digger had a lively match, notably in the first half and gave Chelsea all sorts of problems which resulted in their tactical re-jig at halftime. Also did his bit at the back and gets better and better.
Ferdinand (7/10) – Missed one and scored one! Les played like a lion up front, always outnumbered by Terry and Desailly he won his share and gave our attacks a good focus. Should have scored when put through with the keeper, but made amends a minute later to score us a vital away goal.
Subs:
Sherwood
(8/10) –
Rebrov (6/10) – Given his usual 4 minutes at the end, and the sooner we cash in on him and stop this farce the better for him and the better for us.
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