Chelsea 0 Blackburn Rovers 0 - 15/9/2007
MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 0 BLACKBURN ROVERS 0
Chelsea missed an opportunity to gain three points today in a game that we controlled.
Although Blackburn worked hard for their point it was the away side's back four that had to work the hardest. Shevchenko failed to score on his return but still had a good performance beside Kalou.
Blackburn made us work for every ball and eventually went away with the draw, Chelsea were unlucky against a strong team.
Before the kick-off there was a minute's applause in dedication to Ian Porterfield, who died on Tuesday. The Chelsea players wore black armbands throughout the match as a sign of respect for the former Chelsea manager.
Today saw Mourinho select Andriy Shevchenko and Joe Cole in the starting eleven, and also give another start to Steve Sidwell, who hadn't played since Reading near the beginning of the current title attempt.
Mark Hughes fronted his usual Blackburn side with Tugay missing the game due to a suspension for his dismissal when a sub against Manchester City.
Mourinho moved back to his 4-4-2 formation, with Shevchenko leading the attack alongside Kalou.
The Blues fans showed Blackburn how to support their side by erupting into a chorus of chanting at the end of the Ian Porterfield's minute applause.
Bentley tripped Joe Cole just past half way in the first minutes of the game; Cole causing problems for Bentley and Blackburn from the kick-off, obviously still riding the momentum of two faultless performances for England in the week.
Joe Cole's opposite man, David Bentley, was the most exciting Blackburn representative on the pitch during the first half, although it all proved to be nothing Ashley Cole couldn't handle.
Sidwell didn't seem to adapt to his role in centre midfield to begin with but he soon settled into the role, partnered by Michael Essien who was his usual attacking self from the start whilst not neglecting his defensive duties.
After ten minutes, Shaun Wright-Phillips managed to launch a shot across the face of the goal after a Chelsea attack down the left. Blackburn were putting in the infamous strong tackles but this didn't phase Chelsea who returned the sentiment, with Sidwell, Essien and Alex breaking down any Blackburn attacks with equal vigour.
For the first 20 minutes Chelsea were controlling the game, with most of the possession coming down the right side thanks to Belletti.
The full-back released a perfectly timed ball into the box soon after. Shevchenko managed to reach it in the air but the contact sent the ball over the bar.
Belletti continued to show exuberance on the right and fed Kalou plenty of long balls.
On the 26th minute, Joe Cole managed to swerve through three Blackburn players on the half way line to knock the ball up to Essien who launched a screaming shot, which Friedel just tipped over, testing the keeper's skills to the maximum.
Dead on the half hour mark, Joe Cole set up a through ball which Kalou received. He then placed the ball at Shevchenko's feet who took it a step too far in front of himself to get a shot off in time, allowing Friedel to collect on the ground.
Wright-Phillips led an attack shortly after to shoot across the face of the goal once more, although Friedel wasn't much bothered by the attempt, which went comfortably wide.
An Ashley Cole run down the left allowed Chelsea to control the ball around the Blackburn area which permitted Essien a shot that was displaced for a corner, leading to a Joe Cole shot on target which Friedel took to his chest.
Joe Cole continued to create problems for Blackburn by launching a lob that landed just short of Ashley Cole right in front the goal.
When the two teams left the field, for half time, there was nothing separating them on the scoreboard. However had Chelsea controlled the first half without allowing any chances for Blackburn.
Sidwell was substituted alongside Wright-Phillips during the 55th minute. John Mikel Obi replaced Sidwell alongside Essien while Florent Malouda replaced Wright Phillips.
Mourinho then changed to a 4-3-3 formation that allowed the game to open up even more with most of the possession staying in the Blackburn half. Not long after the substitutions, Kalou was disallowed a goal after the linesman controversially judged him offside, despite being behind the ball when Belletti passed across the face of the goal for Kalou to tap in.
Jason Roberts came on to replace Benni McCarthy before the 70 minute mark for Blackburn.
On the 73rd minute, Belletti was shown a yellow card after a questionable foul 40 yards out. Joe Cole had been booked a minute earlier. John Terry's back line stayed focused when the ball arrived in the box to win Cech his goal kick.
By the 80th minute the game had levelled out with Blackburn keeping more possession in the Chelsea half, leading to Robbie Savage releasing a shot that Cech tipped over the line for a corner.
A Blackburn delivery then left Chelsea fans witnessing a dicey few seconds in their own box before a shot hit the side netting.
From Cech's kick, Chelsea had another good chance after a counter-attack left Kalou open on the edge of the box to send a shot inches wide.
In the 84th minute, Shevchenko had his best chance of the game from a Malouda cross which Friedel saved but Christopher Samba's head got on the end of a Shevchenko kick, placing him behind the goal to be attended by medical staff.
Andre Oooijer came on to replace the injured Samba who was carried off the pitch in a neck brace to applause from the crowd.
Ashley Cole was replaced by Tal Ben-Haim in the 87th minute.
The crowd began to chant 'Come on Shevchenko' during the 90th minute to which Shevchenko showed his appreciation for the support by applauding the crowd.
With seven minutes of injury time added, Chelsea only had a few more opportunities to take the lead; Terry took one of those chances on the head, in front of the goal, which went over the bar.
Chelsea deserved to take three points from this fixture after controlling the game and keeping most of the possession in the Blackburn half.
Injury time saw the most frantic minutes of the game with three corners and constant attacking play from Chelsea, but Blackburn managed to hold off Shevchenko and Kalou to take a well earned point from this fixture.
Chelsea (4-4-2) Cech: Belletti, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole (Ben-Haim 87): Wright-Phillips (Malouda 55), Sidwell (Mikel 55), Essien, J Cole, Kalou, Shevchenko
Booked J Cole, Belletti.
Blackburn (4-4-2) Friedel: Emerton, Samba (Ooijer 90), Nelsen (c), Warnock: Bentley, Savage, Dunn, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, McCarthy (Roberts 67).
Booked Savage.
REACTION: ONLY GOOD THINGS TO SAYAlthough Blackburn worked hard for their point it was the away side's back four that had to work the hardest. Shevchenko failed to score on his return but still had a good performance beside Kalou.
Blackburn made us work for every ball and eventually went away with the draw, Chelsea were unlucky against a strong team.
Before the kick-off there was a minute's applause in dedication to Ian Porterfield, who died on Tuesday. The Chelsea players wore black armbands throughout the match as a sign of respect for the former Chelsea manager.
Today saw Mourinho select Andriy Shevchenko and Joe Cole in the starting eleven, and also give another start to Steve Sidwell, who hadn't played since Reading near the beginning of the current title attempt.
Mark Hughes fronted his usual Blackburn side with Tugay missing the game due to a suspension for his dismissal when a sub against Manchester City.
Mourinho moved back to his 4-4-2 formation, with Shevchenko leading the attack alongside Kalou.
The Blues fans showed Blackburn how to support their side by erupting into a chorus of chanting at the end of the Ian Porterfield's minute applause.
Bentley tripped Joe Cole just past half way in the first minutes of the game; Cole causing problems for Bentley and Blackburn from the kick-off, obviously still riding the momentum of two faultless performances for England in the week.
Joe Cole's opposite man, David Bentley, was the most exciting Blackburn representative on the pitch during the first half, although it all proved to be nothing Ashley Cole couldn't handle.
Sidwell didn't seem to adapt to his role in centre midfield to begin with but he soon settled into the role, partnered by Michael Essien who was his usual attacking self from the start whilst not neglecting his defensive duties.
After ten minutes, Shaun Wright-Phillips managed to launch a shot across the face of the goal after a Chelsea attack down the left. Blackburn were putting in the infamous strong tackles but this didn't phase Chelsea who returned the sentiment, with Sidwell, Essien and Alex breaking down any Blackburn attacks with equal vigour.
For the first 20 minutes Chelsea were controlling the game, with most of the possession coming down the right side thanks to Belletti.
The full-back released a perfectly timed ball into the box soon after. Shevchenko managed to reach it in the air but the contact sent the ball over the bar.
Belletti continued to show exuberance on the right and fed Kalou plenty of long balls.
On the 26th minute, Joe Cole managed to swerve through three Blackburn players on the half way line to knock the ball up to Essien who launched a screaming shot, which Friedel just tipped over, testing the keeper's skills to the maximum.
Dead on the half hour mark, Joe Cole set up a through ball which Kalou received. He then placed the ball at Shevchenko's feet who took it a step too far in front of himself to get a shot off in time, allowing Friedel to collect on the ground.
Wright-Phillips led an attack shortly after to shoot across the face of the goal once more, although Friedel wasn't much bothered by the attempt, which went comfortably wide.
An Ashley Cole run down the left allowed Chelsea to control the ball around the Blackburn area which permitted Essien a shot that was displaced for a corner, leading to a Joe Cole shot on target which Friedel took to his chest.
Joe Cole continued to create problems for Blackburn by launching a lob that landed just short of Ashley Cole right in front the goal.
When the two teams left the field, for half time, there was nothing separating them on the scoreboard. However had Chelsea controlled the first half without allowing any chances for Blackburn.
Sidwell was substituted alongside Wright-Phillips during the 55th minute. John Mikel Obi replaced Sidwell alongside Essien while Florent Malouda replaced Wright Phillips.
Mourinho then changed to a 4-3-3 formation that allowed the game to open up even more with most of the possession staying in the Blackburn half. Not long after the substitutions, Kalou was disallowed a goal after the linesman controversially judged him offside, despite being behind the ball when Belletti passed across the face of the goal for Kalou to tap in.
Jason Roberts came on to replace Benni McCarthy before the 70 minute mark for Blackburn.
On the 73rd minute, Belletti was shown a yellow card after a questionable foul 40 yards out. Joe Cole had been booked a minute earlier. John Terry's back line stayed focused when the ball arrived in the box to win Cech his goal kick.
By the 80th minute the game had levelled out with Blackburn keeping more possession in the Chelsea half, leading to Robbie Savage releasing a shot that Cech tipped over the line for a corner.
A Blackburn delivery then left Chelsea fans witnessing a dicey few seconds in their own box before a shot hit the side netting.
From Cech's kick, Chelsea had another good chance after a counter-attack left Kalou open on the edge of the box to send a shot inches wide.
In the 84th minute, Shevchenko had his best chance of the game from a Malouda cross which Friedel saved but Christopher Samba's head got on the end of a Shevchenko kick, placing him behind the goal to be attended by medical staff.
Andre Oooijer came on to replace the injured Samba who was carried off the pitch in a neck brace to applause from the crowd.
Ashley Cole was replaced by Tal Ben-Haim in the 87th minute.
The crowd began to chant 'Come on Shevchenko' during the 90th minute to which Shevchenko showed his appreciation for the support by applauding the crowd.
With seven minutes of injury time added, Chelsea only had a few more opportunities to take the lead; Terry took one of those chances on the head, in front of the goal, which went over the bar.
Chelsea deserved to take three points from this fixture after controlling the game and keeping most of the possession in the Blackburn half.
Injury time saw the most frantic minutes of the game with three corners and constant attacking play from Chelsea, but Blackburn managed to hold off Shevchenko and Kalou to take a well earned point from this fixture.
Chelsea (4-4-2) Cech: Belletti, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole (Ben-Haim 87): Wright-Phillips (Malouda 55), Sidwell (Mikel 55), Essien, J Cole, Kalou, Shevchenko
Booked J Cole, Belletti.
Blackburn (4-4-2) Friedel: Emerton, Samba (Ooijer 90), Nelsen (c), Warnock: Bentley, Savage, Dunn, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, McCarthy (Roberts 67).
Booked Savage.
Despite dropping two points, José Mourinho was satisfied with his team's performance against Blackburn, and insists we deserved all three.
'We lost two points in a performance where I have only good things to say about my players,' Mourinho said. 'A team without big ammunition, without the two target strikers, Didier, Pizarro and without a top scorer like Lampard.
'The team played well against a good team that fought a lot to keep the clean sheet and go home with a point.'
The main talking point of the game will be the disallowance of Salomon Kalou's goal for offside, when replays suggested the Ivorian forward was onside when the ball was played. Naturally, Mourinho was unimpressed with the decision, and believes the linesman's error cost Chelsea all three points, something he was trying to put across to the fourth official.
'Only the linesman can tell why it is not a goal, only him, nobody else,' said the manager. 'The fourth official has no responsibilities in the game with these kind of decisions.
'This is a sport where technology cannot help. It was so obvious that I think you should try to ask the linesman why, because I cannot understand.'
Despite the disappointment of a second consecutive failure to score, Mourinho is sympathetic to his side's attacking options, given the absence of the likes of Drogba, Pizarro and Lampard.
'For such a dominant team, it's not enough, but again I think Aston villa and Blackburn have some responsibility on that because they defended tremendously well with committed teams to keep a clean sheet,' he said, before cheekily adding: 'Villa were successful and Blackburn only conceded one goal, which is not bad for the attacking Chelsea did.
'To be fair Brad Friedel made two fantastic saves at least. We did what we could, not one striker on the bench, but played well enough with a great spirit and great attitude. Goals will arrive, but today we scored a goal that gives three points but we finish only with one point.'
Although clearly unhappy with the officials' decision to rule Kalou's effort out, Mourinho was full of praise for the opposition, who he said 'came here with a very good attitude to play'.
'They started the game very well, but I think Chelsea pushed them back. If the bus was there it was not because they want, it was because Chelsea press and press and press. They defended because Chelsea pushed them, I respect their performance. I have not one single negative thing to say about Blackburn,' Mourinho added.
Rovers manager Mark Hughes also had kind words for his team, who are unbeaten since defeat to us in the FA Cup semi final back in April.
'I thought we stuck at it today, I think in the first half we were a bit guilty of playing too much in our own half and allowed ourselves to be pegged back,' Hughes said.
The former Chelsea star added: 'I've sensed a different mentality in the dressing room, and the qualities the group is showing at the moment enable you to come to places like Stamford Bridge and get something out of the game people wouldn't expect.'
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