The Blues Brief

Article by e-Chelsea Correspondent Robert Wake

e-Chelsea Weekly News Round Up

On The Pitch

12 April – Newcastle United Youth 3-2 Chelsea Youth. A very young Chelsea team featuring 11 schoolboys went down to a narrow, late defeat at Newcastle on Saturday morning. Chelsea’s goals came from Isaac Christie-Davies and the in-form Kasey Palmer, who also missed a first-half penalty.

13 April – Chelsea Ladies 2-1 Bristol Academy. Chelsea Ladies opened their season with a hard fought victory over Bristol Academy in the sixth round of the FA Women’s Cup. South Korea international Ji So-Yun gave Chelsea the lead in the first minute, but the goal was cancelled out before the break through a penalty. After a goalless second period, Rachel Williams won the tie for The Blues in extra time.

13 April – Swansea City 0-1 Chelsea. After the drama of the midweek victory over Paris Saint-Germain, this was always going to be a tricky game for Chelsea against a team battling against relegation. The visitors cause was helped by two ill-advised challenges by Chico Flores within the space of a couple of minutes, which left Phil Dowd little alternative than to send Flores off for two yellow cards after just 16 minutes. Not surprisingly, Chelsea dominated possession in the first-half, but the build-up play was often too laboured allowing Swansea to defend deep in numbers. Jose Mourinho was again quick to make changes, replacing the ineffective Ramires and Andre Schurrle with Oscar and Samuel Eto’o at the break. The changes improved the tempo and urgency of the performance, and the title chasing visitors finally broke through midway through the second-half. Nemanja Matic was the architect, receiving a throw-in, before releasing Demba Ba with a quick ball forward. Ba still had plenty to do, but took his chance well, powering his shot past Michel Vorm in the Swansea goal. This was not a particularly convincing performance from Chelsea, but the important statistic at this stage of the season is three points as the race for the title enters the final straight.

14 April – Aston Villa U21’s 2-4 Chelsea U21’s. Chelsea emerged victorious in a thoroughly entertaining game at Villa Park on Monday evening. John Swift and the blossoming Lewis Baker bagged a brace apiece for The Blues, with Villa replying through Daniel Johnson and Calum Robinson.

Off The Pitch

14 April – Chelsea Ladies have been drawn to play away to Manchester City Ladies in the quarter final of the FA Women’s Cup. The tie is scheduled to take place on Sunday 27 April 2014.

14 April – Chelsea Football Club has announced that they are subsidising the cost of match tickets for the Champions League Semi-Final 1st leg away to Atletico Madrid by £20 per ticket.

Looking Ahead

19 April – Chelsea v Sunderland. Premier League, Stamford Bridge, Kick-off 17:30hrs (BST). The game is being shown live on Sky Sports.

22 April – Atletico Madrid v Chelsea. Champions League Semi-Final, 1st Leg, Vicente Calderon, Kick-off 19:45hrs (BST). The game is being shown live on ITV1.

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