Season: 2009/2010   Match Date: 12/Sep/2009

by Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk

IF football matches were transfer windows – an issue close to Chelsea’s heart right now – then you might say the Londoners sneaked in a £30m striker right on the midnight deadline.

And they did so for the second time in two meetings between the two sides after Frank Lampard’s 94th-minute winner at Stamford Bridge in January was followed this weekend by Florent Malouda’s 94th-minute winner at the Britannia.

Stoke, like FIFA, made a pretty good job of trying to freeze Chelsea’s assets on Saturday by nullifying just about every line of fire at their considerable disposal.

While the game’s governing body has made a grab for Chelsea’s purse strings, Stoke made a grab for those pulling their strings.

It so nearly worked as Chelsea’s relentless toil towards their winning goal was matched only by Stoke’s bloody-minded determination to prevent it.

But there’s something in the Gods, isn’t there, about this fixture having to end 2-1 in some kind of homage to events in 1972?

That the 2-1 scoreline should be weighted in Chelsea’s favour once again was more than warranted by the balance of a game being tilted increasingly their way.

But even Chelsea, with their blood-thirsty mentality for winning – something you have to reluctantly admire despite their determination to referee the game – must surely find some compassion for Stoke’s consistently unrewarded defiance.

Tony Pulis sanctioned a gameplan which didn’t so much park the bus in front of his own goal, but wheeled in Leon’s entire fleet of coaches, mini buses and stretch limos.

Understandable, perhaps, when you have players as tall as Ryan Shawcross and as wide as Abdoulaye Faye.

Pulis deployed three centre-halves, three central midfielders and even two goalkeepers – OK, so the two keepers didn’t quite play simultaneously – to try to starve Chelsea of time, space and chances.

While Chelsea played with full-backs who looked more like wing-backs, Stoke’s wing-backs were playing more like full-backs.

The Londoners enjoyed a high count on goal attempts, but at least a third of those were blocked at close quarters by a Whitehead shin, a Huth chest, a Shawcross knee or the captain’s cold stare.

It was a truly gallant rearguard and one that came mightily close to capturing the point which, in all honesty, was the realistic extent of Stoke’s ambition.

Not that it was always so, however, as the Britannia erupted once more into a cavalcade of noise and colour to greet an opening goal that triggered thoughts of a much richer bounty than a mere draw.

Having already seen some ropey defending gift James Beattie the early long-range shooting chance that was to end with a wayward effort and his injured ankle, Stoke profited from further uncertainty as Petr Cech’s
skullcap appeared to have momentarily dropped over his eyes and his ears.

Glenn Whelan’s cross came via his weaker left foot and hung so long in the air as to represent about £250 of John Terry’s weekly wage.

But that cheque was furthest from his mind once he saw another Czech leave his line, check his advance, then stand in no man’s land as Faye headed over the embarrassed Cech.

The departure of Thomas Sorensen, rubbing a rear area that left you wondering whether a Friday night curry had sought untimely revenge, further disrupted the pre-match Pulis plan for stifling Chelsea deep into the afternoon before unleashing his quicker players for the final half-hour.

Steve Simonsen quickly acclimatised, to his credit, but was helpless in the third minute of first-half stoppage time when Lampard’s cute little through-ball allowed Didier Drogba to turn Faye left of goal and lash unstoppably across the goalkeeper.

Chelsea dominated thereafter, notwithstanding early second-half headers from Huth and Dave Kitson, but Simonsen’s reactions were pretty much limited to a low save to prevent Drogba netting from a 25 yard free-kick.

Instead, bodies were flung in the way of all and sundry as Chelsea pressure and desperation intensified towards the agonising conclusion awaiting their courageously obstinate hosts.

And so there we were, in the fourth of five minutes of allotted injury time, when Malouda shot from inside a crowded area and Simonsen, presumably unsighted, reacted fractionally late and could only help the ball into the his own net.

A moral victory was now heartbreaking defeat. At least there is the consolation of believing that Saturday’s late trading of league points will have a greater long-term bearing on Chelsea’s pretensions at the top of the Premier League than Stoke’s concerns at the bottom.

Stoke certainly possess a squad that might now be the envy of several clubs destined for the lower-half of the table – and one so bountiful that not even a first international goal and a man-of-the-match performance earlier in the week could guarantee Liam Lawrence a role from the bench, never mind from the start.

The temptation now will be to accommodate Huth by deploying three centre-halves, especially away from home, though that surely requires more naturally attacking full-backs than is currently at the manager’s disposal.

Then again, you can imagine at least one Irish international offering his services as a right wing-back.