Chelsea FC: The Blues Brief
Article by Robert Wake
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e-Chelsea Weekly News Round Up
02 February – Juan Cuadrado Signs – Chelsea have signed winger Juan Cuadrado from Serie A side Fiorentina. The Colombian will wear the number 23 shirt vacated by Mark Schwarzer.
02 February – Andre Schurrle departs for Wolfsburg – German World Cup Winner, Andre Schurrle has joined Bundesliga outfit VFB Wolfsburg for a reported fee of £24 million. Schurrle made 65 appearances for The Blues, scoring 14 times.
02 February – Ryan Bertrand makes permanent switch to Saints – Ryan Bertrand has joined Southampton on a permanent deal. The 25-year-old made 57 appearances for Chelsea, including a Champions League debut in the Munich final of 2012.
02 February – Chelsea U21’s 5-3 Southampton U21’s – Our Under-21s went to the top of their league after an eventful evening at Stamford Bridge. The young Blues stormed into a 5-0 lead after 35 minutes as Kasey Palmer, Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke netted while debutant at this level, Tammy Abraham, bagged a brace. Southampton staged a second-half fight back, scoring three goals.
07 February– Chelsea Youth 2-1 Brighton Youth - Chelsea's Under-18s ensured their place in the elite round when the regional leagues split into three next month after a battling victory. Hubert Adamczyk and Isaac Christie-Davies netted in the first half to give the Blues a two-goal lead at the break, before the visitors rallied in the second period.
07 February – Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea – Jose Mourinho broke his Villa Park hoodoo as Chelsea recorded an important victory to move seven points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City who were surprisingly held at home by Hull City. The Blues started on the front foot at Villa Park, and took the lead after just 8 minutes when Eden Hazard guided the ball past Brad Guzan from Willian’s perfectly weighted pass. Villa finally ended their goal drought after 48 minutes when some slack marking by Chelsea allowed Jores Okore to head home unchallenged. The visitors pushed for the victory, and went back in front on 66 minutes. Cesar Azpilicueta surged into the Villa area, and pulled the ball back for opposite full-back, Branislav Ivanovic to volley an exquisite winner beyond Guzan. Juan Cuadrado made his Chelsea debut when he replaced Willian after 79 minutes.
09 February – Manchester United U21’s 2-1 Chelsea U21’s – Our Under-21s took a second-half lead but were left with nothing to show from an impressive display as Manchester United came from behind to win the game. Dominic Solanke scored his 26th goal of the season shortly after the restart, but a United team including Victor Valdes and Ashley Young rallied and overturned the score through a deflected free-kick and a header late on.
11 February – Chelsea 1-0 Everton – Chelsea showed their title winning credentials with a late Willian winner to deny Everton a hard-earned point. Chelsea dominated the match, but without Fabregas and Costa lacked their usual fluidity in the final third. Indeed, though Tim Howard was far the busier ‘keeper, it took a point-blank save from Petr Cech to deny Romelu Lukaku midway through the second half to keep the scores level. Chelsea thought their pressure had paid dividends 4 minutes from time when a shot from the impressive Nemanja Matic took a slight deflection off Ivanovic and was ruled out for offside. A minute later, Gareth Barry, who had been fortunate to escape a second yellow card much earlier, finally committed one foul too many and was sent off. There did not seem enough time remaining for Chelsea to take advantage of their numerical superiority, but when the resulting free-kick wasn’t fully cleared, Willian struck a fizzing half-volley beyond Howard and into the back of the net. With City winning at Stoke, it was a priceless goal that kept Chelsea seven points clear.
12 February – Eden Hazard signs new deal – Eden Hazard has signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea. The club’s Player of the Year has continued his excellent form this season, scoring 13 times in 36 appearances and helping us to the top of the Barclays Premier League. ‘I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea,' Hazard said. 'Since I came here in 2012 I have always felt good and the club has been very supportive to me. ‘The manager has helped me improve a lot, the fans have been fantastic and I have an amazing understanding with my team-mates. ‘I always try to give pleasure to the supporters with my style of play and it is nice to know they appreciate my work. ‘I hope we can repay that support by winning lots of trophies, beginning with the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and after that, we can push hard towards the end of the season.'
13 February - Fulham Youth 1-2 Chelsea Youth - Our Under-18s came from behind to win and guaranteed they will finish top of the Under-18 Premier League south section with two games to spare. Aaron Redford put the hosts in front midway through the opening period but Ali Suljic’s powerful header restored parity within three minutes. Fulham started the second half brightly but, after surviving the pressure in the opening quarter of an hour after the restart, the Blues grew stronger and finished the dominant side as Mukhtar Ali converted from close range in the 88th minute to hand them all three points.
16 February – Newcastle Youth 0-3 Chelsea Youth – Chelsea progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup with a hard-earned, extra time victory in the north-east. The visitors had been the better team throughout the 90 minutes, and eventually made their superiority tell with three goals during extra-time from Izzy Brown, Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham.
Looking Ahead
Tuesday 17 February, 19:45hrs, Paris Saint Germain v Chelsea, Champions League Round of 16 1st leg, Parc Des Prince. Live on ITV
Saturday 21 February, 15:00hrs, Chelsea v Burnley, Premier League, Stamford Bridge.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
Subscribe to the e-Football Podcast for free on iTunes! (Click Here)
e-Chelsea Weekly News Round Up
02 February – Juan Cuadrado Signs – Chelsea have signed winger Juan Cuadrado from Serie A side Fiorentina. The Colombian will wear the number 23 shirt vacated by Mark Schwarzer.
02 February – Andre Schurrle departs for Wolfsburg – German World Cup Winner, Andre Schurrle has joined Bundesliga outfit VFB Wolfsburg for a reported fee of £24 million. Schurrle made 65 appearances for The Blues, scoring 14 times.
02 February – Ryan Bertrand makes permanent switch to Saints – Ryan Bertrand has joined Southampton on a permanent deal. The 25-year-old made 57 appearances for Chelsea, including a Champions League debut in the Munich final of 2012.
02 February – Chelsea U21’s 5-3 Southampton U21’s – Our Under-21s went to the top of their league after an eventful evening at Stamford Bridge. The young Blues stormed into a 5-0 lead after 35 minutes as Kasey Palmer, Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke netted while debutant at this level, Tammy Abraham, bagged a brace. Southampton staged a second-half fight back, scoring three goals.
07 February– Chelsea Youth 2-1 Brighton Youth - Chelsea's Under-18s ensured their place in the elite round when the regional leagues split into three next month after a battling victory. Hubert Adamczyk and Isaac Christie-Davies netted in the first half to give the Blues a two-goal lead at the break, before the visitors rallied in the second period.
07 February – Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea – Jose Mourinho broke his Villa Park hoodoo as Chelsea recorded an important victory to move seven points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City who were surprisingly held at home by Hull City. The Blues started on the front foot at Villa Park, and took the lead after just 8 minutes when Eden Hazard guided the ball past Brad Guzan from Willian’s perfectly weighted pass. Villa finally ended their goal drought after 48 minutes when some slack marking by Chelsea allowed Jores Okore to head home unchallenged. The visitors pushed for the victory, and went back in front on 66 minutes. Cesar Azpilicueta surged into the Villa area, and pulled the ball back for opposite full-back, Branislav Ivanovic to volley an exquisite winner beyond Guzan. Juan Cuadrado made his Chelsea debut when he replaced Willian after 79 minutes.
09 February – Manchester United U21’s 2-1 Chelsea U21’s – Our Under-21s took a second-half lead but were left with nothing to show from an impressive display as Manchester United came from behind to win the game. Dominic Solanke scored his 26th goal of the season shortly after the restart, but a United team including Victor Valdes and Ashley Young rallied and overturned the score through a deflected free-kick and a header late on.
11 February – Chelsea 1-0 Everton – Chelsea showed their title winning credentials with a late Willian winner to deny Everton a hard-earned point. Chelsea dominated the match, but without Fabregas and Costa lacked their usual fluidity in the final third. Indeed, though Tim Howard was far the busier ‘keeper, it took a point-blank save from Petr Cech to deny Romelu Lukaku midway through the second half to keep the scores level. Chelsea thought their pressure had paid dividends 4 minutes from time when a shot from the impressive Nemanja Matic took a slight deflection off Ivanovic and was ruled out for offside. A minute later, Gareth Barry, who had been fortunate to escape a second yellow card much earlier, finally committed one foul too many and was sent off. There did not seem enough time remaining for Chelsea to take advantage of their numerical superiority, but when the resulting free-kick wasn’t fully cleared, Willian struck a fizzing half-volley beyond Howard and into the back of the net. With City winning at Stoke, it was a priceless goal that kept Chelsea seven points clear.
12 February – Eden Hazard signs new deal – Eden Hazard has signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea. The club’s Player of the Year has continued his excellent form this season, scoring 13 times in 36 appearances and helping us to the top of the Barclays Premier League. ‘I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea,' Hazard said. 'Since I came here in 2012 I have always felt good and the club has been very supportive to me. ‘The manager has helped me improve a lot, the fans have been fantastic and I have an amazing understanding with my team-mates. ‘I always try to give pleasure to the supporters with my style of play and it is nice to know they appreciate my work. ‘I hope we can repay that support by winning lots of trophies, beginning with the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and after that, we can push hard towards the end of the season.'
13 February - Fulham Youth 1-2 Chelsea Youth - Our Under-18s came from behind to win and guaranteed they will finish top of the Under-18 Premier League south section with two games to spare. Aaron Redford put the hosts in front midway through the opening period but Ali Suljic’s powerful header restored parity within three minutes. Fulham started the second half brightly but, after surviving the pressure in the opening quarter of an hour after the restart, the Blues grew stronger and finished the dominant side as Mukhtar Ali converted from close range in the 88th minute to hand them all three points.
16 February – Newcastle Youth 0-3 Chelsea Youth – Chelsea progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup with a hard-earned, extra time victory in the north-east. The visitors had been the better team throughout the 90 minutes, and eventually made their superiority tell with three goals during extra-time from Izzy Brown, Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham.
Looking Ahead
Tuesday 17 February, 19:45hrs, Paris Saint Germain v Chelsea, Champions League Round of 16 1st leg, Parc Des Prince. Live on ITV
Saturday 21 February, 15:00hrs, Chelsea v Burnley, Premier League, Stamford Bridge.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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