Match Report: Cardiff City 1-2 Chelsea

Match Summary:

Fernando Torres 5th premier league goal saw Chelsea making another late comeback victory. Jose Mourinho’s side fell behind to a Craig Bellamy goal in Wales but fought back, with the Germany international and the Spain striker both bagging a goal for the Blues.

John swift made a debut in this season and we saw Nathan Ake who made his first match appearance since last season. Kalas who made his 2nd second appearance this season saw the blues ending this season with an positive attitude.

 

 

Torres winning goal.
Torres winning goal.

 

First Half:

A balloon-laden pitch – Cardiff fans littered the playing area with blue in the hope owner Vincent Tan will revert to the club’s original colors – could not halt early Chelsea pressure, Oscar firing a warning shot when curling just over.

Their early verve did not yield too many more openings, though, and Cardiff took advantage in the 15th minute.

Bellamy picked up the ball, moved to the edge of the area and unleashed an ambitious pot-shot that deflected off Cesar Azpilicueta to wrong-foot Mark Schwarzer.

It was an undeserved lead for the hosts, and we looked to hit back instantly. A nice, intricate move on the edge of the box allowed Hazard the space to feed Salah but the Egyptian, who failed to find a proper connection, could only steer his effort over the bar.
It was Chelsea dominating possession, and just before the half-hour mark approached another great chance went begging. Mikel picked the ball up just inside the Cardiff half, looked up and picked out the run of Oscar with a simple ball over the top of the static home defenders. The Brazilian was on to it quickly but as he fired towards goal the faintest of touches from Turner deflected it behind.

Clear-cut chances continued to elude Chelsea and their opponents almost capitalised once more, Fraizer Campbell wriggling into the box and firing over.  

Determined to get back into it, Mourinho’s side pressed further forward after the break with Torres curling wide from just outside the area.

1Bellars-1-Copy

 

Second Half:

Yet, as was the case in the opening period, possession did not initially lead to goals – although the visitors came agonisingly close when Eden Hazard stuck the side-netting.

There was more urgency in our attacking play, with Hazard, Oscar and Salah making the type of runs which defenders find difficult to track but, in truth, Marshall wasn’t being seriously tested often enough.

Andre Schurrle was introduced at the expense of Mikel shortly after Hazard had fired into the side-netting, a switch which saw Oscar  revert into a deeper midfield role.

The Chelsea number 11 tested Marshall from outside the box as we looked to find a way back into the game and it soon came.
Chelsea did finally draw level in the 73rd minute. After Azpilicueta – having somehow found himself in the area – had forced a fine reaction save from David Marshall and hit the crossbar with the follow-up, Schurrle showed fine poise to power a volley into the net.

As is often the case, one goal immediately brought a second as Torres, who was just onside, chested down Branislav Ivanovic’s header into the area and finished coolly.

Schurrle almost added further gloss when his effort was tipped over by Marshall, yet it mattered little as Chelsea signed off with a win.

Chelsea's Andre Schurrle celebrates after scoring his team's opening goal
Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle celebrates after scoring his team’s opening goal

 

Match Statistic:

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Schwarzer; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Kalas, Cole (c); Mikel (Schurrle 64), Matic; Salah (Ake 78), Oscar, Hazard (Swift 88) Torres.
Unused substitutes Hilario, Cahill, David Luiz, Ba.
Scorers Schurrle 72, Torres 75
Booked Mikel 32, Matic 87

Cardiff City (4-4-1-1): Marshall; Fabio, Caulker (c), Turner, John; Gunnarsson, Mutch, Whittingham, Daehli (Cowie 66) Bellamy; Campbell (James 88)
Unused substitutes Lewis; Eikrem, McNaughton, Berget, James, Healey.
Scorer Bellamy 14
Booked Whittingham 50

Referee Michael Oliver

 

32 Comments
  1. khaan says

    hopefully our team for next season

    ——————–Cavani————————
    -Hazard———–Oscar—————-Willian-
    ————–Matic——–Vidal——————
    -Coentrao——————————-Azpilicueta-
    ——————–Terry–Cahill———————
    ————————Courtois———————-

    transfers out
    mikel 10m
    Bertrand 10m
    Moses 10m
    Marin 10m
    Ba 10m
    Eto’o contract finishes
    Ivanovic 10m

    Transfers in
    Cavani 50m
    Vidal 40m
    Coentrao 15m
    Lukaku back from loan
    Courtois back from loan
    Zouma back from loan

    1. Anonymous says

      I don’t know why you guys don’t want Torres out. He is getting 200k a week with 5goals a season and you want him to stay? Better put Patrick Bamford in his place. He sucks, doesn’t deserve to be a Chelsea player unless he takes a pay-cut to 40k a week lol.

      1. Anonymous says

        do you have to pay him? and you clearly didnt watch today’s match! otherwise you will be not posting this comment!

      2. mesgr says

        its 11 goals a season! and he didnot start many of the premier league matches due to injuries!!

  2. GABBY says

    JOSE MOURINHO Lets get something
    clear about the self proclaimed “Happy
    One”. When he went to FC Porto, he said

    that he would win the UCL in his 2nd
    season there, he did win it. He came to
    Chelsea in 2004 and said that the team
    was ready to win the EPL in his first
    season, the team won it. Went to Inter
    Milan and won Serie A in his first
    season, promised to lift the UCL in his
    2nd season, he did. Went to Real
    Madrid, promised to end Barca’s
    dominance in his 2nd season by
    winning the La Liga, he did win it. He’s
    back at Chelsea. He said that he wants
    to build a team, he said this Chelsea
    team is not strong enough to win the
    title but he wants to install his winning
    mentality into the team. Mourinho didn’t
    set any target of winning the EPL title
    this season, did he? So how come
    some people are calling him a failure?
    He said that this Chelsea team will be
    UNSTOPPABLE next season, that’s
    what everyone should be on the lookout

  3. GABBY says

    we do not celebrate the victory as BPL champions, but the pride and loyalty to you will never be replaced with anything .. I love you, Bravo the BLUES CHELSEA

  4. Benedict says

    Great play from the boys. you guys give your very best to mark this season with plenty success, but so unfortunately it ended empty. The very reason why it ended empty was bcos chelsea fc got the wrong manager at the right time. Mourinho is to be blame, if possible he should be shone the exit door, I fear dat it may ended same come next season if mr mourinho shud remain the manager.

  5. Zyte says

    @ gabby spot on.jose never promised us epl title.finishing just 4 points off the winners is a great improvement.hopfuly wit the addition of an atm that can find through pass & a top finisher in the mould of costa,den we can win the epl titl next season.may not be a great season trophy wise,but lots of positiv bcos we hav not fought 4 the epl title 4 some yrs which we did this yr.it takes more of luck 2 win cup games,but it takes more of consistency & team balanc 2 fight 4 the title & win it.this team was so close,but there was no balanc in the strikn dept.i hope 4 a better season wit the right transfer deals this summer.up cfc.cant wait 4 the kickstart of the mundial !!!.

  6. ush says

    Andre schurrle has been chelsea’s most clinical finisher and he is always overlooked,,torres is a disgrace to chelsea,,if we need d title next season torres should b shipped out to italy,he’s d one to be loaned out sef not players like lukaku and bamford..5 goals in a complete epl season what are we fighting for relegation battle or what?

  7. Anonymous says

    I have pardoned Mourinho this season though he failed in my eyes considering the chunk of monies he spent on players but next season, the cfc board and some cfc faithful won’t be taking any excuses should he go trophyless

  8. Mason Cole says

    Every year people say a club like Chelsea needs to win the league, which is true…to an extent. This season must be put into context: this is a squad that has underperformed under a series of managers and this seasons’ showing in both the League and Champions League have been a marked improvement on the last. Second, this is a team in transition. We are still weak in a number of areas (particularly DM and ST). To finish just 4 points off the top, when Man City had a far better squad is a great achievement. True, it can be argued that our performance in the FA and CO Cups was not up-to-scratch, but no one can complain about being knocked out by Man City and Sunderland was just one of those things. Be satisfied with this season, but aspire for better next KTBFFH

  9. Benedict says

    Come on guy, Torres lacklustered in front of goal should be blame solely on mr conservative mourinho who wud always want his strikers to track back to defend, instead of letting dem do their job as a striker. Remembered dat this same Torres score a total of 24 goals under Rafael d Benitez.
    please, let criticize Torres wella.

  10. Vicky Moyes says

    Hey guys, make any personal judgement is not fair.

    For Torres, his under performance these seasons are truth. Our world is cruel. If one day, CR7 or Messi get only 10 goals a season, even his fans will spit on him. We salute to the contributions he made to the team. But if we want to earn more trophy, our frontline has been sharpened. Right?

    For Mou, is this year a failure? I don’t think it’s failure as his first come back year is far better than that of Moyes in MU. But is anything we can celebrate? Absolutely NO! I think this is not fair to judge he is success or failure on his come back by using this year performance only. See one more year please.

    And after the world cup and the summer transfers, we can see how Mou changes our squad and see how he use his magic to win at least one of EPL or UEFA Cham for us.

    1. GABBY says

      tanx true fans

  11. Adam says

    ” a switch which saw Oscar revert into a deeper midfield role.”: This is why we score 2 goals just after schrulle came in. Every one has say it: Oscar has to play alongside matic. It is same position in the Brazil team. Oscar for me is effective when he plays in double pivot and yet Mou continues to put him as number 10. Let hope that he will change this next year.

  12. Benedict says

    I hope so too.

  13. Neri Abayomi says

    Hate me or Love me
    This is what Jose succeeded in doing during his second coming.
    – He derailed Ashley’s world cup chances, abruptly brought an halt to his international career without the bliss of a bow out in Brazil.
    – Mata, lost his confidence, almost lost his world cup spot, and he was eventually shipped off to a rival that refuses to sell their talisman to us, y we sold ours to them.
    – KdB was nt given a fair chance to fight for his spot in the team- n he was sold.
    – Oscar is running on empty- void of any form of form for long spells of the season.
    -He loses Hazard’s confidence in the team’s ability to play attacking football that can break defences.
    -Under him Luiz has nt been able to hit trademark freekicks n volleys
    -Under him Ramires lost his attacking verve.
    -Under him the hope of a nation was tampered with by his refusal to play Mikel more often which he deserve.
    -Under him Torres regressed from a 20 goals plus to little above 10 goals.
    – Cesar wasted much of the season in the LB role when he cud b ruling the Right flank all season.
    – Cahill and Terry improved under him no doubt.

    He ended up doing d same tin we v bin doing without a major trophy tho
    3rd place

    1. Cfc_obsessed says

      Everyone keep ignoring u. U knw notin about football. Tell us ur best coach so abramovic can hire him. Ur hatred toward mou is just ridiculous. The only thing i knw is dat, u cant effect anytin. U can mourn, hate,to eternity, doesnt make any difference even among fans here.

      1. benco says

        ur comment really shows how low ur iQ is about dis game of football. A man of who claim to be a master of dis game & end up below an ordinary man lyk Brenda Rodger, & u are there claiming dat is still da best. what kind of person are u?

      2. GABBY says

        I knw wer he is from, and all this hate is bcoz mikel didn’t play more games, they spoted that even b4 the second coming of the best coach, bcoz it takes a very good coach to see the real problem of a team, u didn’t even made a point boy com again.

        1. Buchi Nwa says

          I just think dat one day, u blind mourinho fans ll find out dat d so called special one is d wrongest of manager chelsea wud hd ever hire. obies

      3. GABBY says

        tell that guy @abayomi to com again, nd other one who also lowest iQ, but telling som1 to be in his show, Lyk I said take him to enugu rangers so u can enjoy him more okay

    2. benco says

      thumbs up, guy. you said it all. mourinho spoilt everything. He is a big disgrace to Chelsea fc. Rafa Benitez wud hd done a lot better, if he hd been given a second chance

      1. Cfc_obsessed says

        @Benco, neri abayomi and other haters. I ll shit upon ur faces when mou wins and has success in coming seasons.

        1. Buchi Nwa says

          Until then!!! obies

  14. Cfc_obsessed says

    Cant belief some deluded fans here re calling jose a disgrace to chelsea fc. Hahaha. He s blue fan ffs. He has proved it so many time that he is the best tactician out there. I hope u ll cover ur face with shame next season. The guy who called me low i/q must be new here btw? Am a very intelligent guy. U should act like normal human being. Stop being a cunt, glory hunter, and stop hating on a man who has this club in his heart. Mou has been cursed, hated, fined, persecuted,critisized and still defend us. What else do u want? I didnt see ur benitez do d same even when we were robbed by liverpool. I always defend what am certain of and d thing is jose mou is a winner. He ll never rest until he acheived that. Why re u in haste? Am going to enjoy having fun on u haters when our success comes with mou. Honestly i knw u by name, my time ll come and i ll make fun of u

    1. Buchi Nwa says

      Wat I know for sure is dat all of you dat queue behind dis odd tactician(mourinho) ll ended up been disappointed again. obies

      1. Cfc_obsessed says

        Very well then. We shall see

  15. Cfc_obsessed says

    @benco. Bredan rodger didnt play in cl. They re right to be above us for just 2points in our so called trasistion period. I can see ur level of knowledge in football

    1. Buchi Nwa says

      Come on guy, d ucl participation shud nt be an excuse for ending d season empty handed wat abt man city successes? Didn’t they played In d ucl. But finished d season wyt 2 trophies. obies

      1. Cfc_obsessed says

        Cant u see epl doesnt help with d schedule of fixtures? It should be an excuse when u realise man city didnt qualify from quarter finals

        1. Buchi Nwa says

          Well then, let hope dat next season ends well obies

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