23 09 2006 Fulham 0 Chelsea 2
Fulham is always a great day out. A fantastic location, great pubs and it's close to home.
I walked from my flat along the river - it was a beautiful, sunny day.
Arriving at the Eight Bells the Chelsea fans were in fine voice. After last year's disappointing loss and fans' anger at the
behaviour of Fulham's fans after the match this was going to be a grudge game for the supporters. There was certainly
a lot of tension in the air and there were more police outside the pub than usual.
In the end, any off the pitch aggro was non existent.
Arriving at the ground we heard Terry was not starting due to a back injury. Geremi was to play instead along with
Ferreira at centre back and they both did very well.
The first half was fairly even. Robben and Shevchenko were disappointing apart from one thunderous drive from the
Dutchman that hit the bar. What was more disappointing was the level of Fulham's support. That's what happens when
you get JCL's jumping on the football bandwagon - the club averaged 4,000 at home in the mid 90s - so where did the
extra 15,000 fans come from? In any case, Chelsea fans were magnificent and sang throughout and I was very proud
indeed.
After half time Shevchenko was forced to play in a deeper role. Drogba was magnificent as he has been this season.
Perhaps the opposition fears Sheva more and marks him out of the game giving Drogba more space. However, I am a
bit worried that if the Russian does not score again soon he may lose confidence. But while Chelsea are winning, it
shouldn't matter.
Chelsea earned a deserved penalty just when it seemed we were heading for a 0-0. Lampard struck it sweetly and then
added another finely worked goal soon after. It may boost his confidence after a fairly average run.
Kalou finally looked promising when he came on. Perhaps he needed some match practise in the Premiership.
Towards the end of the match Michael Brown came in with a dreadful two-footed challenge on Cole and got away without
a red card... will it be replayed on Sky 30 times a day? I doubt it.
So Chelsea is six points better off than last season... and to think we were being written off after one defeat.
We celebrated in Putney into the small hours.
The only disappointment was being drawn away to Blackburn in the League Cup. I would have preferred to be drawn
against a lower league side than have to face yet another tedious trip to the North West.
So on to Wednesday... I cannot wait for the Sofia match. 30p a pint ... and the rest.
I walked from my flat along the river - it was a beautiful, sunny day.
Arriving at the Eight Bells the Chelsea fans were in fine voice. After last year's disappointing loss and fans' anger at the
behaviour of Fulham's fans after the match this was going to be a grudge game for the supporters. There was certainly
a lot of tension in the air and there were more police outside the pub than usual.
In the end, any off the pitch aggro was non existent.
Arriving at the ground we heard Terry was not starting due to a back injury. Geremi was to play instead along with
Ferreira at centre back and they both did very well.
The first half was fairly even. Robben and Shevchenko were disappointing apart from one thunderous drive from the
Dutchman that hit the bar. What was more disappointing was the level of Fulham's support. That's what happens when
you get JCL's jumping on the football bandwagon - the club averaged 4,000 at home in the mid 90s - so where did the
extra 15,000 fans come from? In any case, Chelsea fans were magnificent and sang throughout and I was very proud
indeed.
After half time Shevchenko was forced to play in a deeper role. Drogba was magnificent as he has been this season.
Perhaps the opposition fears Sheva more and marks him out of the game giving Drogba more space. However, I am a
bit worried that if the Russian does not score again soon he may lose confidence. But while Chelsea are winning, it
shouldn't matter.
Chelsea earned a deserved penalty just when it seemed we were heading for a 0-0. Lampard struck it sweetly and then
added another finely worked goal soon after. It may boost his confidence after a fairly average run.
Kalou finally looked promising when he came on. Perhaps he needed some match practise in the Premiership.
Towards the end of the match Michael Brown came in with a dreadful two-footed challenge on Cole and got away without
a red card... will it be replayed on Sky 30 times a day? I doubt it.
So Chelsea is six points better off than last season... and to think we were being written off after one defeat.
We celebrated in Putney into the small hours.
The only disappointment was being drawn away to Blackburn in the League Cup. I would have preferred to be drawn
against a lower league side than have to face yet another tedious trip to the North West.
So on to Wednesday... I cannot wait for the Sofia match. 30p a pint ... and the rest.
