What the papers say: Chelsea

[Far Canal]

sportinglife.com

Chelsea 2 Reading 2
By Duncan Bech, PA Sport

http://tinyurl.com/ydh32x

A bizarre own goal from Michael Essien prevented Chelsea from going top of the Barclays Premiership as
brave Reading left Stamford Bridge with an unlikely share of the spoils.

The Blues looked on course for victory with Didier Drogba's double sandwiching Leroy Lita's equaliser
but a blunder from Ashley Cole in the 85th minute handed Reading a point.

Kevin Doyle crossed but Cole, who had come on as a second-half substitute and was under no
pressure, rushed his clearance, hitting it at Essien who unwittingly deflected the ball into the net.

It was a remarkable ending to a match that Chelsea seemed destined to win give the emphatic response
to Lita's header, with Shaun Wright-Phillips setting up Drogba's 19th goal of the season.

The build up to the match had centred around what treatment Stephen Hunt and Ibrahima Sonko would
receive after last October's controversial encounter at the Madejski Stadium in which Petr Cech sustained
a depressed fracture of the skull and Carlo Cudicini was left with concussion after clashes with the two
Reading players.

Both players received death threats as a result, however, Hunt was named on the bench while Sonko
approached his task of keeping Chelsea quiet with impressive calm.

Blues manager Jose Mourinho had opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Salomon Kalou, Andriy Shevchenko
and Drogba forming a three-pronged attack that enjoyed enough chances to put Chelsea out of sight by
half-time.

Drogba was the most wasteful - although he made amends with his double - while Reading, having lost
three of their last four matches, hung on bravely despite being on the back foot for most of the match.

Chelsea created their first chance with just over a minute gone; Geremi and Drogba combining to set up
Frank Lampard who fended off Sonko before dragging his shot just wide of the left post.

Shevchenko chased Wayne Bridge's long ball and squared, but when Michael Ballack let the ball roll to
Drogba, Ivar Ingimarsson intercepted in the nick of time.

The Ukraine striker then burst into the box before feeding Drogba who tested goalkeeper Marcus
Hahnemann from close range.

Kalou then blazed a fine chance high after beating Nicky Shorey and Ingimarsson.

Hunt's decision to warm-up on the sideline brought a chorus of boos and a team of stewards were
deployed to the edge of the pitch as a precautionary measure.

Glen Little and James Harper created space down the right with some neat interplay but Steve Sidwell
could not latch on to the ball as it was threaded through Chelsea's penalty area

A long free-kick from Lampard was met by Drogba but the Ivory Coast striker directed his header straight
at Hahnemann when anywhere else on target would have been a goal.

Essien tried his luck from long range but blasted well wide and moments later Hahnemann was forced off
his line with Drogba racing to meet Geremi's pass.

Referee Alan Wiley had a discussion with Ingimarsson after the Iceland defender reacted outrageously to
an irritated jab in the stomach from Drogba.

The Chelsea striker nearly had his revenge in the 37th minute when he struck the left post after evading
Sonko and Little but he could not be denied moments later.

He jumped high to meet Lampard's corner and headed so hard that Shorey, who was stood on the line,
was knocked over from the force of the effort with the ball falling into the net.

Early in the second half Ballack and Lampard combined neatly down the right but Sidwell was on hand to
clear the threat as the England midfielder looked to pull the trigger.

Reading then enjoyed a purple patch with Carvalho nearly deflecting a Brynjar Gunnarsson cross into
his own net.

Leroy Lita, who started ahead of Seol Ki-Hyeon, then blazed high and Sidwell forced a fine save from
Hilario as Chelsea's goal came under pressure.

Shevchenko was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 58th minute but disaster struck eight minutes
later when Reading produced the equaliser, Little escaping Essien down the right after Lampard had lost
the ball before picking out Lita who nodded home with a diving header.

Chelsea were stung into action and replied in incisive fashion with Drogba heading the Blues back into
the lead.

Wright-Phillips did the initial damage with a surging run and cross for Drogba at the far post and he
made no mistake.

Doyle should have equalised from close range but skied his effort and then Gunnarsson went close.

Reading sensed a chink in Chelsea's armour and their second equaliser came in bizarre circumstances
in the 85th minute.

Doyle crossed into the area and Cole, under no pressure, hit the ball straight at Essien and it deflected
off the Ghana midfielder and into the net.

STAT ATTACK
Chelsea.....Reading
5 Shots On Target 1
11 Shots Off Target 5
14 Fouls (Conceded) 9
6 Corners 7
1 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 0

[Row Z Royal]

1 shot on target and 2 goals.

[purleyroyal]

sportinglife.com

...disaster struck eight minutes later when Reading produced the equaliser...

Is this unbiased reporting?

[Deadlock]

Referee Alan Wiley had a discussion with Ingimarsson after the Iceland defender reacted outrageously to an irritated jab in the stomach from Drogba.

So punching someone in the stomach is not outrageous behaviour in itself, or am I missing something?

Does seem a rather biased report.

[Jerry St Clair]

Did David Mellor write that report?

[RoyalBlue]

sportinglife.com

Chelsea 2 Reading 2
By Duncan Bech, PA Sport and employee of the Russian mafia.

http://tinyurl.com/ydh32x

Referee Alan Wiley had a discussion with Ingimarsson after the Iceland defender reacted outrageously to
an irritated jab in the stomach from Drogba.

Outrageously? The only thing outrageous is the level of Chelski bias in this report! Wiley had a good game but he should have had the discussion with Drogba not Ivar.

[mydak]

sportinglife.com

Chelsea 2 Reading 2
By Duncan Bech, PA Sport and employee of the Russian mafia.

http://tinyurl.com/ydh32x

Referee Alan Wiley had a discussion with Ingimarsson after the Iceland defender reacted outrageously to
an irritated jab in the stomach from Drogba.

Outrageously? The only thing outrageous is the level of Chelski bias in this report! Wiley had a good game but he should have had the discussion with Drogba not Ivar.

whats more outrageous is they dwell on the stomach when to me it looked more like he got plummed

[Platypuss]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?

Chelsea 2 Reading 2

Losing two goalkeepers remains more serious than losing two points but Chelsea will not reflect fondly on their Premiership encounters with Reading this season.

Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

But Chelsea suffered serious damage of a different kind, a bizarre own goal from Michael Essien presenting Manchester United with the opportunity to extend their lead at the summit of the table.

Hunt will no doubt have to shoulder much of the blame for the outcome of both matches, given that it was the young Irishman who left Petr Cech with a head injury from which he is not expected to return until next month.

With Cech and John Terry absent from a defence that prides itself on solidity, Chelsea have conceded goals with alarming regularity. Two at Everton and two at Wigan were followed by two here, and on this occasion it proved too much even for the formidable Didier Drogba.

As a magnanimous Jose Mourinho rightly pointed out, two goals for the opposition means ‘you need three to win’ and that was always going to be difficult against a determined, well-organised Reading.

Drogba twice secured the lead, scoring after 37 minutes before responding to a Leroy Lita equaliser with another beautifully executed header. But when Ashley Cole met a Kevin Doyle cross with a clearance that rebounded off Essien and bounced beyond the reach of Henrique Hilario, the five minutes that remained of this contest was not long enough for Drogba to muster up another match winner.

Mourinho blamed injuries and a shortage of centre halves for the difficulties his side are experiencing, and the sight of Essien alongside Ricardo Carvalho for the last 20 minutes underlined how much his expensive squad is being stretched.

Yet sympathy from his fellow managers could be hard to find. The fact is, this result has been coming for a while for Chelsea.

Drogba came to their rescue in spectacular fashion at Everton and Arjen Robben followed that with another late strike at Wigan last weekend, but Frank Lampard said they would get caught out eventually if they continued to adopt such a high-risk strategy and so it proved. ‘It was a fair result,’ admitted Mourinho, and indeed it was.

Coppell chose to omit Hunt from his starting line-up — because this game ‘had been hanging over Hunty in recent weeks and he has not played well’ — and it turned out to be the right decision. Booed during the warm-up, when his name was read out and then when he jogged up and down the touchline, it would have been a torturous afternoon had he actually been on the pitch.

With Doyle instead deployed on the left and a lively Lita up front, Reading were able to relax and work on exploiting the weaknesses that had been exposed in Chelsea’s previous two Premiership games.

They had to accept that possession would be limited, just as they had to keep their heads after Drogba had used his to secure the lead for Chelsea in the 38th minute.

After sending a deflected shot against Marcus Hahnemann’s lefthand post, the Premiership’s leading goalscorer rose above Reading’s goalkeeper to guide a Lampard corner across the goal-line. Reading’s fans had branded him a ‘donkey’ in the wake of a miscued shot earlier in the game but now the joke was on them, Drogba using his hands to create two donkey ears.

The early stages of the second half were memorable only for the premature exit of Andriy Shevchenko, replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips for what turned out to be an astute tactical change by Mourinho.

Before Wright-Phillips made his most crucial contribution, though, there was a goal for Lita, who met a cross from the excellent Glen Little with a header that dropped between Hilario and his right-hand post. Once rejected by Chelsea, Lita celebrated over-zealously with a leap into the stands and was booked for his trouble.

Three minutes after Lita’ s equaliser and Mourinho made another bold change, replacing Wayne Bridge with Ashley Cole and Geremi with John Obi Mikel and switching to a 3-5-2 formation that forced the remarkably versatile Essien to drop into defence again.

It had the desired effect, a surging run from Wright-Phillips that left Nicky Shorey looking rather foolish ending with a fine cross Drogba was only too happy to head home.

Chelsea seemed far from comfortable, however, Michael Ballack picking up a booking that leaves him suspended for the match at Aston Villa on January 2, while Reading attacked with conviction.

There were chances for Steve Sidwell, Doyle and Brynjar Gunnarsson, who perhaps should have done better with a header that drifted wide of the target.

But when Doyle escaped the clutches of Paulo Ferreira, who had been switched from centre half to right back, he delivered a teasing cross that Cole must have thought he had dealt with satisfactorily before suddenly seeing the ball strike Essien and fly past his goalkeeper.

Drogba did all he could to perform another rescue act, having already saved Hilario with a fine defensive clearance, but the one header he unleashed from another Lampard corner flew straight at Hahnemann.

[Far Canal]

the grauniad

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Re ... e_continue

Mourinho at a loss as Reading expose Chelsea's fragility

Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge
Wednesday December 27, 2006
The Guardian

The rivalry with Manchester United may be no more than runner-up to the Premiership's most gripping
struggle of all. Chelsea's battle with themselves could exercise a greater fascination still and yesterday
they were unable to overcome the skittishness that has become so glaring. This time there was
no winner at the very end, as there had been against Everton and Wigan, and the club are now four
points adrift of United.

In view of the respective values of the squads the injury list that torments Jose Mourinho cannot excuse
the draw. While Reading set about the reigning champions at every opportunity in the second half,
the own-goal that squared the game at 2-2 symbolised the self-destructiveness that no one
has ever anticipated from a line-up managed by the man from Portugual.
After the substitute Shaun
Wright-Phillips had lost the ball in the 85th minute Kevin Doyle beat Paulo Ferreira, and another substitute,
Ashley Cole, then thumped a clearance off the hip of Michael Essien and into the net. The visitors had
their second equaliser of the afternoon and Chelsea, for once, were at a loss for a response.

Mourinho has been unfortunate that some of his best footballers are unavailable but he also chose
to have this comparatively tight squad in order that no one would languish after feeling themselves
marginalised. In the weeks ahead we will learn whether the heightened motivation that the manager
has sought can come to the fore.

The Chelsea philosophy can function only when the level of reliability never wavers but now an
opening goal for them is merely a tentative step in the right direction rather than a long stride
towards the finishing line. The side has developed a dependence on Didier Drogba to turn the course
of a fixture in their favour.

It was the Ivorian alone who made it look as if Reading could be dismissed without any
complications. From a corner that he himself had earned with a deflected effort Drogba rose to meet
Frank Lampard's delivery and head home seven minutes before half-time. The goalkeeper Marcus
Hahnemann complained that the scorer had manhandled him but he and his centre-half Ibrahima Sonko
had each failed to make any challenge.

With Reading seemingly supine, the Chelsea support could understandably have believed
that the contest was over. Perhaps they foresaw more opportunities to boo Stephen Hunt, whenever the
substitute popped out to jog along the track. The midfielder's impact on Petr Cech had, of course,
fractured the goalkeeper's skull in October.

The second half of this match, though, made a hitherto complacent audience conscious of the
danger. As energy drained out of Chelsea, Steve Coppell's players realised that there was scope
to be enterprising. Doyle went into the attack and had defenders faltering, particularly when advancing
on the wing. Mourinho's back four became exposed and the equaliser, in the 67th minute, was not a
freakish event.

Glen Little crossed and Leroy Lita, stealing into space behind the makeshift centre-half Paulo Ferreira,
headed home comfortably. We are now well acquainted with the Mourinho reaction in such situations and,
with Cole on, he switched to a back three and hurled men at Reading. The significant figure was Drogba.

Wright-Phillips also did well at Chelsea's second goal, cutting inside Nicky Shorey to direct the deep cross
that Drogba headed in at the far post. That fact did not cause the visitors much disquiet and their actions
bore out the claim Coppell made later that there had been "a real determination in the dressing
room at half-time".

Just before the own-goal Doyle had fired high after the ball broke to him off Michael Ballack, and Brynjar
Gunnarsson should not have missed the target when he met a Shorey free-kick. Reading had not
been deterred or distracted by Chelsea's reputation. The result, which Mourinho thought fair, appeared
to justify Coppell's judgment as well.

Reading's manager denied leaving Hunt on the bench because he feared the crowd's reaction. "This game
has been hanging over him," Coppell said, "and I don't think he has been playing well." Reading themselves
have been wavering in the Premiership but this result will be heartening even if the team must next go
to Old Trafford.

Chelsea's general direction is less certain. Mourinho's troubles do not concern injuries alone and
Andriy Shevchenko's situation at the club is more worrying than ever. The blandness and his inability to
escape a defence were marked against Reading and his withdrawal from a game is often an inevitability,
as it was here yesterday.

With Salomon Kalou not quite prepared for a leading role, everything depends on Drogba in the middle
of the attack. For months now he has been able to bear all the demands placed upon him but a loss in
form or a muscle strain would be devastating. Who could have supposed Chelsea would ever look so fragile?

Man of the match Didier Drogba

Chelsea
Henrique Hilario, Wayne Bridge (Ashley Cole), Ricardo Carvalho, Renato Paulo Ferreira, Michael Ballack,
Michael Essien, Ndjitap Geremi (John Obi Mikel), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou,
Andriy Shevchenko (Shaun Wright-Phillips)

Reading
Marcus Hahnemann, Ivar Ingimarsson, Graeme Murty, Nicky Shorey, Ibrahima Sonko, Brynjar Gunnarsson,
James Harper, Glen Little, Steven Sidwell, Kevin Doyle, Leroy Lita

Referee: Wiley, A

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Attendance: 41,885

Corners:
Chelsea 6
Reading 7

Goal Attempts:
Chelsea 16
Reading 6

On Target:
Chelsea 5
Reading 1

[Fat Leather Jacket]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?



Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

Thats because all Stephen Hunt wants to do is kill players isnt it.

Daily Mail sports editor, you are a miserable disgusting oxf*rd oxf*rd.

[M4 Junction 11]

The Daily Scum
JOSE'S THIN BLUE LINE
BARCLAYS PREMIERSHIP CHELSEA 2 READING 2
TITLE CHOKER FROM FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Without the twin towers of Cech and Terry, Mourinho may have to dip into Roman's deep pockets to win third title
Martin Lipton Chieffootball Writer

YOU can only get away with it for so long. Yesterday Chelsea finally ran out of luck. At Everton then Wigan, the sheer desire of Jose Mourinho's team to keep both hands on the title enabled them to dig deep and steal all three points to ensure Manchester United felt the heat of their championship breath on their necks.

Yet when a defence keeps on caving in, continues to buckle under the pressure of having to rely on second-stringers , the price will inevitably be paid at some stage. And even with Didier Drogba's one-man campaign to win the crown single-handed seeing the Ivory Coast hitman taking his tally to 19, Mourinho faces bigger problems now than at any stage in his Chelsea reign.

For the past two seasons Mourinho has known, with a certainty shared by his side's opponents, that the Blue line was so secure that one goal was more than normally enough. If anything got past the rugged tower of strength that is John Terry, then Petr Cech would clean up, the solidity providing the firmest of foundations for back-to-back crowns. But from the instant Cech was pole-axed by Stephen Hunt's knee at the Madejski Stadium in October, one of those props has been missing.

Now, with Terry's back and calf meaning the England captain is absent too, the other essential element has disappeared - and, unless the French surgeons perform wonders this week, Mourinho will surely have to raid Roman Abromovich's piggy-bank once again or risk seeing his team wave goodbye to their most prized piece of silverware. Nobody, not Cech or Terry, could have done anything to prevent the ridiculous own goal, debited to the unfortunate Michael Essien as Ashley Cole's panicky clearance rebounded off the African and past Hilario, which cost Chelsea the win Drogba's eye for goal should have provided.

But had the pair been there, there would not have been the uncertainty that forced Cole's act, while a defence led by such dominant characters would not have allowed Leroy Lita the freedom of the six-yard box to head home from Glen Little's cross just after the hour. Mourinho's glum mood showed for the world to see the Blues boss knew that at some stage his high-wire act would end in a fall, and he is lucky that the gap has been closed to give him some sort of safety net to plunge into.

"It's not a drama but normally we would have had three consecutive clean sheets from these three games," said Mourinho. "Instead we have conceded six goals. We are surviving. It is only four points and the distance isn't massive. The fact is I cannot rotate and do not have any other solutions."

It is a problem and yesterday, with Hunt playing the role of pantomime villain, jeered mercilessly by the home fans as he paraded up and down the touchline, even Chelsea's Principal Boy Drogba could not do it on his own this time. Not that Drogba could have done any more and in the first half, as Andriy Shevchenko again struggled and with Arjen Robben injured, he led the line superbly.

Three times Drogba was denied by Marcus Hahnemann, reaching high to paw away his first shot, scrambling to his left to turn a smart header from Frank Lampard's freekick behind and then picking off the striker's toes. The momentum was building, though, and seven minutes from the interval, the Royals' dam broke.

Hahnemann was lucky to see Drogba's deflected effort thud behind off the foot of the keeper's right-hand post but when Lampard arced the resulting corner into the sixyard box, the African was too purposeful and powerful for both the keeper and Ibrahima Sonko, keeping his eye on the ball before steering home.

It was no more than the striker, his team, nor Reading deserved and it was only when Coppell asked Kevin Doyle to join Lita the balance began to change, forcing Mourinho to cut short Shevchenko's misery before the hour. By that stage, Doyle had been inches away from converting Brynjar Gunnarsson low cross and then set up Steve Sidwell for a shot into the side-netting. But when Little eased away from Salomon Kalou and delivered into the danger area, former Blues trainee Lita, dumped by the club at 16, found a huge space between Paulo Ferreira and Geremi to head home.

Mourinho responded, playing substitutes Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips as wing-backs and when the former Manchester City man scampered down the right to pick out the head of Drogba within five minutes, normal service appeared to have been resumed. Yet still the centre of the Blues was soft and while Doyle's cross from the left was nowhere near Lita, Cole and Essien inadvertently conspired to hand Manchester United an unexpected gift.

[shadesrwrf]

oxf*rd oxf*rd.

Totally agree with that. I know I shouldn't be suprised having unfortunately grown up with the Daily Mail but it really is the lowest possible form of journalism.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?



Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

Thats because all Stephen Hunt wants to do is kill players isnt it.

Daily Mail sports editor, you are a miserable disgusting oxf*rd oxf*rd.

Dodd if appropriate, but I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else Fat Frank's article yesterday when he slated Hunt for not going to see Cech in hospital, even though, everyone knows and has been reported evrywhere (including the Mail) that Hunt's made numerous efforts to vist Cech in and out of hospital and Cech refused everytime.

I can understand why people at the club don't want to make an issue out of it, but if calling AJ a diver is slander, what the hell does make all the things said about Hunt. Wood-Smith's lawyer, let's get those oxf*rd!!

[topfuller]

Telegraph

Chelsea fret over absent friends

By Henry Winter
Last Updated: 11:44pm GMT 26/12/2006

Match details

Chelsea (1) 2 Reading (0) 2

In the festive season of a thousand toasts, the poignant salute at Stamford Bridge yesterday was to absent friends. Chelsea would never have dropped two points had their commanding centre-half, John Terry, been present and the captain's imminent operation to shave a disc in his back cannot come soon enough.

The champions' spine will be strengthened only when Terry's is. Terry flies out to see a specialist in Bordeaux tomorrow to establish whether surgery really is required, or whether rest and manipulation will suffice. The England captain, who wished for "a new back and calf" in his Christmas programme notes, believes that if he does go under the knife, he will be missing for three weeks.

Also prominent in the thoughts of the Chelsea faithful was Petr Cech, and his continued spell on the sidelines felt particularly frustrating yesterday as it was against Reading that he sustained that horrific head damage. Carlo Cudicini's subsequent injuries meant that Jose Mourinho has been forced to turn to Henrique Hilario as his stand-in No 1.

"Losing Petr and John is very difficult for us," said Mourinho. "We are conceding too many goals. I have no idea when John will be back. No one tells me whether he needs surgery or it can get better with rest.

"The medical department has to make a decision soon. The work they are doing with Petr is amazing. We hoped to have him back for February; now it looks like January. At the moment we are surviving, but we can do it. We have Fulham and Aston Villa, two difficult matches, and then we play in the Carling Cup semi, and the FA Cup. We have 15 days to breathe."

Few will weep for Chelsea in their struggles with injury. "They can lose one £20 m player and bring in a £15 m player," shrugged Steve Coppell, who understandably took real pride in the way Reading kept fighting back to equalise Didier Drogba's brace.

Coppell kept Cech's nemesis, Stephen Hunt, on the bench for "100 per cent tactical reasons," and flooded midfield with the centre-forward Kevin Doyle on the left, the excellent Glen Little on the right and Leroy Lita as the lively sole front-runner. Lita spent four years with Chelsea before being released at 16. "Leroy had a point to prove," observed Coppell, whose quiet but firm stewardship of Reading continues to impress.

Before showing their attacking edge, Coppell's side had to endure a buffeting in the first period. For 45 minutes, and into the break, Chelsea celebrated their title credentials. During the interval, Roy Bentley, the captain of the 1955 side, was presented with a photograph of himself and Ted Drake, Chelsea's then manager.

The Bentleys are in the car-park nowadays, rather than in the Chelsea team, but the champions initially paraded their own driving forces in Drogba, and Michael Essien. Drogba could have scored four in the first half, and was derided with "ee-aw" donkey chants before gaining revenge after 37 minutes.

From a corner Frank Lampard swept the ball into the box and Ibrahima Sonko failed to respond to the muscular threat of Drogba, who headed firmly down past Marcus Hahnemann. Drogba revelled in the moment, sprinting past Reading fans and holding up his hands to make donkey ears.

The Ivory Coast international was everywhere, also making some important headers defensively. Essien was almost as important, with his box-to-box dynamism.

Reading refused to yield, and they emerged for the new half in a new mood. "There was a real determination in the dressing-room at half-time," said Coppell. With Andrei Shevchenko and Michael Ballack again looking far from their vaunted selves, Reading seized control, snapping into tackles with extra relish and pouring forward.

Just after the hour mark, the unmarked Lita stooped to head home Little's excellent cross after Wayne Bridge was exposeded out wide. Chelsea hit back, racing through the gears to regain the lead. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Shevchenko's replacement, delivered a brief glimpse of his talent, with a magnificent cross that cleared Sonko and was headed in firmly by Drogba at the far post.

Most at the Bridge expected the visitors to fold. Not Steve Sidwell, nor Little, nor Doyle, who kept taking the game to Chelsea. Their determination was rewarded with five minutes remaining when Doyle crossed from the left and Ashley Cole's attempted clearance rebounded in off the unfortunate Essien.

Reading celebrated, and doubtless Manchester United raised a grateful toast from afar. Mourinho remained defiant. "Four points is no drama," said the Chelsea coach. To prevent the drama deepening, Chelsea need Terry in a theatre of the operating variety.

Match details

Chelsea (4-1-2-3): Hilario; Geremi (Mikel 69), Ferreira, Carvalho, Bridge (A Cole 69); Essien; Ballack, Lampard; Kalou, Drogba, Shevchenko (Wright-Phillips 57).
Subs: Hedman (g), Diarra.
Booked: Ballack.
Reading (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Murty, Ingimarsson, Sonko, Shorey; Little, Sidwell, Harper, Gunnarsson, Doyle; Lita.
Subs: Federici (g), Hunt, Oster, Sodje, Ki-Hyeon.
Booked: Lita.
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
Man of the match: Didier Drogba (Chelsea).
Att: 41,885

[Northern Git]

oxf*rd oxf*rd.

Totally agree with that. I know I shouldn't be suprised having unfortunately grown up with the Daily Mail but it really is the lowest possible form of journalism.

Matt Lawton who wrote the article always has his Chelsea hat on whenever reports on a match.

The article that runs along side it today on inside back cover by Richard Copeman is much better. 'Jose feels heat from Coppell the king of cool'

[Woodcote Royal]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?



Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

Thats because all Stephen Hunt wants to do is kill players isnt it.

Daily Mail sports editor, you are a miserable disgusting oxf*rd oxf*rd.

As a long time Mail reader, I am equally disgusted

Having sent 2 responses to the utter bollox that they continue print on this matter (neither of which has been place on their website) my new years resolution will be,

FCUK THE DAILY MAIL!!!!

[Adrian's Fool]

As a long time Mail reader, I am equally disgusted

Having sent 2 responses to the utter bollox that they continue print on this matter (neither of which has been place on their website) my news resolution will be

FCUK THE DAILY MAIL!!!!

My goodness, it's taken you this long??????!!

[Woodcote Royal]

Usually enjoy the content apart from the editorial slant but their take on this matter has beggared belief.

[mathematically_safe]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?



Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

Thats because all Stephen Hunt wants to do is kill players isnt it.

Daily Mail sports editor, you are a miserable disgusting oxf*rd oxf*rd.

As a long time Mail reader, I am equally disgusted

Having sent 2 responses to the utter bollox that they continue print on this matter (neither of which has been place on their website) my new years resolution will be,

FCUK THE DAILY MAIL!!!!

you don't think that perhaps they were inferring that with Hunty off the pitch none of the bloated chelski underachievers would be able try and scythe him down? if he had played i would have expected some nasty off the ball afters from drogba or 'Hip' Essien...

[North stander]

Does seem a rather biased report.

Enjoy the Daily Mail one then!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=424825&in_page_id=1779

How can people buy that rag?



Nobody was hurt yesterday, Steve Coppell’s decision to leave Stephen Hunt on the bench removing any real possibility of another life threatening collision.

Thats because all Stephen Hunt wants to do is kill players isnt it.

Daily Mail sports editor, you are a miserable disgusting oxf*rd oxf*rd.

As a long time Mail reader, I am equally disgusted

Having sent 2 responses to the utter bollox that they continue print on this matter (neither of which has been place on their website) my new years resolution will be,

FCUK THE DAILY MAIL!!!!

you don't think that perhaps they were inferring that with Hunty off the pitch none of the bloated chelski underachievers would be able try and scythe him down? if he had played i would have expected some nasty off the ball afters from drogba or 'Hip' Essien...

no i dont. Its the bloody daily mail fo oxf*rd sake! have alot of time for the big clubs with lots of money and have oxf*rd all time for the small clubs! Thats their philosaphy.