Chelsea F.C. 2-1 WBA

match text commentary


this is the kind of match that makes me want to declare and testify to the worst and most egregious of blasphemies: sometimes, i hate the premier league and wish that...

don't get me wrong. i mean, i was perfectly thrilled when we beat arsenal at the emirates. i jumped out of my seat singing psalm 23 at the top of my lungs when simon cox equalized at white-hart lane, putting the baggies on 40 points and all but beyond any fears of relegation.

i travelled three-thousand miles and was witness to the most important goal of the season at the hawthorns, when carlos vela equalized in injury time against wolves to set the albion on an eight game unbeaten run that ultimately lead to their survival, and a respectable mid-table finish in the all mighty, bloody barclay's premier league.

for the baggies this was the best league finish in nearly 30 years and certainly gives us a reason to start dreaming a little of european nights returning to the hawthorns with all the glamour and glory that that entails.

not to mention, i get to see my beloved baggies every week on TV - if not live, then at least in repeat at sometime over the course of the following week.

however, the financial gap at the top of the league is just too much of a weight to bear in order to be competitive, and the re-structuring of a successful team in the football league to one that can survive for more than five years in the premiership is often an out and out gamble - sometimes with the very existence of the club.





this was the second week in a row that the albion have had to play champions league opposition, the second week in a row that they have lost a close game late on by a score of 2-1, and the second week in a row where they did not get some calls from the referee that they really should have... frustrating stuff. especially when you consider that the margin of skill between a team like west bromwich albion and the big clubs is marginal, while the cost of maintaining that margin is so exorbitant as to be preposterous. fernando torres cost more than 3 times as much as the entire albion starting eleven. that's 20 times what peter odemwingie cost the baggies when he signed initially.

will a modest or large community based club ever win the league again? never in your life. in the mid-1970s, clubs like derby county, norwich city, west brom, nottingham forest and QPR were all variously competitive top 5 clubs, and english football still produced surprises and miracles. nowadays, the premier league has pretty much outlawed miracles. it's just not good business.





last week was a disappointment at home, this week it was away.

the baggies took the lead against chelsea in the 4th minute on shane long's second goal in as many games, and while chelsea had the bulk of possession, it was the albion who were dictating the pace of the game and making good use of the break. long worked tirelessly up front, along with colourful striker, somen tchoyi, and the baggies could well have been another goal ahead at the break.

roy hodgson went with the same starting eleven, and the same tactical set-up as he had played against manchester united at the hawthorns. the gaffer seems very much committed to a two striker system - and it looks that he intends to use this system both home and away.

while the home side had the better of the possession - and especially for large chunks of the second half - the baggies were the better and more organized side throughout the first 45-minutes.

chris brunt has adapted to hodgson's style of football, and is no longer distracted by having taken the captaincy. with two defensive midfielders, in the pairing of paul scharner and youssouf mulumbu - and with brunt and james morrison covering the wings - the gaffer has instituted a form of 4-4-2 that is able to maintain a good defensive shape and compete successfully with teams playing 4-5-1, who would tend to have the advantage in midfield.





the baggies were creating all the early chances and it was brunt moving into a central attacking position that was making it happen. paul scharner got on the end of a brilliant through ball from brunt, forcing chelsea goalie, hilario, into making a sharp save at the near post. brunt then played in a ball that put shane long and somen tchoyi in behind the chelsea back four, and it would have been 2-0 save for long's poor final ball.

while they won't have been the first team to come to stamford bridge and spend long periods of defending in the second-half, the baggies were unlucky - just as they had been against manchester united - not to have hung on for the point. they did create several opportunities to equalize, as well, the best chance falling to peter odemwingie. however, his well struck volley on a ball played to the far post was solidly dealt with by hilario.

while there were questions to be asked about the two chelsea goals as far as the baggies defenders were concerned, these were isolated passages of football in what was otherwise a really good defensive performance overall.

early on after the restart, nickey shorey got caught out and and lost the ball to ramires inside the baggies half. carrying the play into the west brom penalty area, and with the baggies defenders now on the back foot, the brazilian midfielder played a ball which eventually fell for nicolas anelka, who squeezed in an effort at the far post after taking an unfortunate deflection off jonas olsson and leaving ben foster no chance to make the save.

the winning goal came late on and just when it looked as though the baggies had weathered the worst of it and ridden out a full-on chelsea onslaught for a solid fifteen-twenty minutes, and were looking good to hang on for the draw.

however, a momentary lapse and some indecisive defending allowed jose bosingwa to carry the ball into a dangerous area down the right flank and put a low, hard cross in to the box. florent malouda met the ball at the far post to knock it home and put the blues in the lead for the first time in the match.





peter odemwingie, last year's top-scorer at the hawthorns, came on with 15 minutes left in the game. the nigerian striker not only came close to scoring, but also had a shout for what looked a stonewall penalty, when he was flagrantly hauled over in front of the londoners' goal with just seconds of injury time left to play.

the baggies have now put in two quality performances against champions league opposition, and deserve better than to be left with no points. however, a rough start like this might be the tonic needed to inspire more competitive performances against their mid-table contemporaries. last season, the baggies beat arsenal at the emirates, liverpool at home and were the only team in the league to take any points from old trafford. however, they lost twice to blackburn rovers, and were unable to take more than a single point each from bolton, wigan, stoke and wolves. while sets of home and away draws was all they could manage against the likes of west ham and tottenham.

while there is little doubt that striker, shane long, and goalie, ben foster, have brought added quality to the team, the pundits will be forgiving of the baggies this year in the name of "second-season-syndrome". however, they have managed to keep the core squad together once again and there has been much to take heart from in these two opening performances. the albion faithful, no doubt, will be hoping for a little bit more than just survival in the top-flight.

as these first two matches have been good performances with poor results, it's essential that the baggies shrug it off and get at least a point next week against stoke city. the premier league can be an unforgiving environment. there are no easy games and it's all too quick and easy to fall into a rut, not get results and just get stuck. at this point, the quicker the baggies get their first point (or points), the better.