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ROVERS continued their excellent start to the season with an impressive point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Before the game all talk was of Chelsea's unbeaten home record and Rovers' unbeaten start to the season, and after a fantastic rearguard performance from Mark Hughes' side, both records remain. The home side had the lion share of the chances on a sweltering afternoon in West London, Salomon Kalou saw an effort chalked off, whilst Shevchenko and Essien forced into making fine saves, but Rovers fought for everything and deserved their precious point. The only down side to the afternoon was the sickening injury to Christopher Samba, the Congolese defender was stretchered off the pitch unconscious after accidentally receiving a kick to the back of the head from Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko on 85 minutes. It was a delay that lead to an additional nine minutes being played, but the side in red and black ensured their was no way through for Chelsea's richly assembled side. Manager Mark Hughes later revealed that the giant defender had regained consciousness and was up and talking and was expected to travel home with the rest of the team. |
With all of Rovers' well-travelled internationals reporting back unscathed, it was no surprise that Mark Hughes named the same starting eleven as the one that had defeated Manchester City 1-0 a fortnight ago. Robbie Savage having recovered from the knock that saw him substituted early in the win over Sven Goran Eriksson's side. In contrast, Jose Mourinho's side saw many changes, without the likes of Lampard and Drogba, it saw a first start of the season for Andriy Shevchenko, whilst Steve Sidwell joined defenders Belletti and Alex in making their home Barclays Premier League debuts. But after a closely contested opening it was one of the stalwarts of the Chelsea side that went closest to opening the scoring on 27 minutes. Joe Cole, also returning to the starting line-up for a league game for the first time, teed up the fleet of foot Michael Essien, taking the ball in his stride the Ghanaian let fly from 25 yards, the ball seemingly destined for the top corner of the goal until pulled off a sensational fingertip save. That chance set the tone for the remainder of the half, Essien again looking dangerous running from deep, but this time he fed the ball through to Andriy Shevchenko, but Friedel was out quickly to make a smart save. Shaun Wright-Phillips shooting tamely wide when he had options either side. Former Barcelona defender Juliano Belletti looked particularly impressive overlapping Wright-Phillips down the right flank, firing over cross after cross that troubled Rovers. But it was from the other flank that the home side created their final chance of the first half. A Joe Cole corner kick was initially cleared, but as the ball came back to the England winger he curled an effort goalwards through a host of bodies - except one - the man in green Brad Friedel who gleefully clutched the ball in his arms. Rovers, whilst enjoying their fair share of possession, created only one clear-cut chance in the first half, Stephen Warnock's crossfield pass caught the Chelsea defence flat-footed, shifted the ball to his left to beat Joe Cole and cross to the back post for Pedersen, but his well-timed volley flashed the wrong side of the post and into the side-netting of Petr Cech's goal. The second half saw the game played out in a similar fashion, but it was the visitors who had the first effort at goal after the restart, a Nelsen free-kick to the edge of the area was cleared only to David Dunn, the midfielder firing the ball back towards goal with interested, beating Cech at full stretch but also the crossbar by mere inches. That stung Jose Mourinho into bringing on Mikel and Malouda for the ineffective Sidwell and Wright-Phillips, the Frenchman's inclusion providing the impetus his manager required. But just before the hour mark the Chelsea boss was remonstrating with the linesman Peter Kirkup after his flag stopped the home side from taking the lead. Juliano Belletti, who was proving to be a real thorn in the Rovers' side, got to the ball on the overlap, delivering a low cross that Kalou tucked away. The Ivorean raced away to the far corner flag only to be alerted to the fact that his strike had been ruled out for offside. A fortunate decision for Mark Hughes' men as TV replays suggested that the Chelsea striker was behind the ball when it was played. Rovers then enjoyed a spell of pressure themselves, did brilliantly to rob Mikel on the edge of his own area, the Welshman shooting as soon as the opportunity arose, but Petr Cech is a hard man to beat and the Chelsea number one diverted the effort over the bar. From the resulting cleared corner, Rovers then had claims for a penalty waved away, when Pedersen was tripped by Mikel, Howard Webb showing know interest in the Norwegian's claims. Brad Friedel had spent most of the second half watching Chelsea's wayward efforts flash away from his goal, but on 85 minutes he was called right back into action. Florent Malouda swung over a cross from the right which Shevchenko met with a downward header only to see Friedel make the point-blank stop with his legs. But in the ensuing scramble to win the ball back, the Ukrainian accidentally kicked in the head. The giant defender went down immediately, his team-mates rushing to his aid. Five minutes Samba remained motionless on the pitch, before eventually being stretchered off. His replacement stepped into Samba's giant shoes with ease, the Dutchman immediately thrust into action, making a last ditch challenge to rob Essien of the ball as he raced into the penalty area. Nine additional minutes were eventually played, and despite Chelsea's late pressure, Rovers deservedly held to claim another pressure point to continue their impressive start to the 2007/08 Barclays Premier League season. Subs not used: Cudicini (GK), Ferreira. ROVERS: Friedel, Emerton, Samba (sub Ooijer 90 mins), Nelsen (c), Warnock, Bentley, Dunn (sub Mokoena 81 mins), Savage, Pedersen, McCarthy (sub Roberts 68 mins), Santa Cruz. Subs not used: Brown (GK), Derbyshire. Booked: J. Cole, Belletti (Chelsea), Warnock, Savage (Rovers) |
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