Lineups:
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Ivanovic, Ramires, Matic, Salah, Willian, Oscar, Eto'o
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone, Alonso, Brown, O'Shea, Vergini, Cattermole, Borini, Colback, Larsson, Johnson, Wickham
This game had enormous implications for both the top and bottom, and as a result, both sides put out strong sides. Despite Chelsea in action in mid-week against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League sem-finals, Jose Mourinho went with as positive a team as was available to him. With Eden Hazard still unavailable due to injury, Chelsea would be relying primarily on Oscar for creativity, with Salah and Willian applying pace out wide and on the break. The only other big omission was the lack of Petr Cech due to an unexplained illness. Thankfully for Chelsea, he is not expected to be out for the big European tie.
Sunderland, on the other hand, knew what their task was, having performed it so admirably at the Etihad Stadium just a few days ago. Holding Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in an absorbing encounter, similar tactics would need to be employed for Sunderland to get anything. And they needed something. With just a handful of games remaining, Sunderland's only chance to avoid the drop is in taking points from games they have no right to earn them in, and Wednesday's draw illustrated this. As a result, Gus Poyet began with the same team that started that tie, hoping for a similar response.
As you may have seen on Twitter, I am adding a new portion into these posts. As I tried, and failed to look at how FIFA would predict the Premier League, I will be using Twitter to provide commentary, and where possible, video footage, of FIFA simulations of games my Tactic Talk posts cover. For those of you that did not see the live feed before the match, Chelsea began the game strongly, hitting the post from their first attack. They dominated possession for the entirety of the first half, but found it hard to break down a stubborn Sunderland back line, with Mohamed Salah among those to go close. Just as it seemed as though Sunderland would make it to the break unscathed, Chelsea struck. On 37 minutes, a snapshot from Willian on the edge of the area was only parried by Mannone into the path of Nemanja Matic, who slid the rebound into the back of the net. More Chelsea pressure before the half time whistle led to nothing, and Sunderland went off having had a single shot and just 39% of possession.
The second half started in similar fashion, with Chelsea dominating the possession. Despite this, some excellent Sunderland defending prevented the Blues adding to their lead. With Chelsea's best chance coming from a set piece, with John Terry nodding wide from 6 yards, it seemed only a matter of time before they would strike. However, despite their dominance, Chelsea were hit with a sucker punch on 78 minutes. Having had very little in the way of presentable opportunities, a flowing move saw Borini slide a ball back from the edge of the penalty area for Marcos Alonso to rifle home the equaliser. Despite mounting Chelsea pressure in the final ten, Sunderland refused to cave, gaining them what would be a valuable point should it happen in reality.
In all honesty, I expected the FIFA simulation to be way off reality, with Chelsea seemingly able to walk over teams at Stamford Bridge. FIFA doesn't take into account the momentum that Chelsea have at home versus other teams, nor does it think about Mourinho's incredible 76-game unbeaten run at the Bridge. However, the opening ten minutes went down similarly to the simulation, with Chelsea having almost 70% possession as they pushed Sunderland back to the edge of their own area in the early going. Like the simulation, they struggled to break down the Black Cats' resilient defence. That was until they whipped a corner into the Sunderland box. The Black Cats have conceded 16 of their 56 goals from set pieces, and amidst the chaotic marking, Samuel Eto'o reacted quickly to volley the opener beyond Mannone. With the dominance of the Blues, I was confident that they would go on and win the game comfortably from here.
However, the reaction from Sunderland was almost instant, and like Chelsea, they took advantage of a set piece. Despite the ball being initially cleared, a shot from Marcos Alonso was only parried into the path of Connor Wickham. With the youngster in the form of his life, having scored two against Manchester City in midweek, he had no trouble lifting the ball gently over Mark Schwarzer and into the back of Chelsea's net to stun the home faithful. With the Wearsiders now with momentum, the game turned into an open and entertaining affair. This seemingly would suit Chelsea, but both sides were creating chances, with all wingers wanting to get forward at every opportunities. However, though Chelsea used Willian and Salah in equal measure to put Sunderland to the sword, Adam Johnson on Sunderland's right wing was cutting an anonymous figure, as the Black Cats favoured the creativity of Fabio Borini on the left.
First half hour: For all of Chelsea's possession, they were wasting chances and being kept at arms length by Sunderland. The strugglers had held onto everything the title chasers had to offer, and deservedly levelled.
As time ticked towards half time, Chelsea still could not find a way through, with their most dangerous moments coming off the back of set pieces. Try as they may, Sunderland just could not cope with marking from corners and free kicks, leading to an Eto'o header hitting Mannone and then the bar before dropping into the grateful keeper's gloves. The Cameroon striker was looking an increasingly frustrated figure, with Oscar in particular wasting a bagful of good positions to put the striker in. With Sunderland occasionally threatening, with Adam Johnson spurning the best chance, the game meandered to half time with the scores level, and neither really looking like changing this.
The one moment that could have changed the complexion came five minutes before the break, and epitomised the frustration coursing through the veins of the Chelsea players. Midfielder Ramires, who had been denied by a last ditch Sebastien Larsson header moments before, inexplicably thrust his forearm into the face of the Swedish midfielder. Fortunately for the Brazilian, he avoided a red card, however I would not be surprised to find that he is retrospectively banned for that incident.
The second half began as the first ended, with Chelsea dominating possession but lacking the cutting edge to find the second goal. Sunderland remained dangerous on the counter, with Borini continuing to pull the strings and Wickham putting in a strong centre forward's performance, but their attacks were becoming fewer and their midfield was beginning to slip back towards the defence. But their defence remained strong, with little in the way of chances conceded.
Second half hour: Still nothing to choose between the two sides, and it may take a bit of Jose Mourinho mastery or a horrendous mistake to choose between them. Neither could afford to lose, but a draw would not help either.
By the hour mark, Mourinho had seen enough, bringing in-form Demba Ba on for the ineffective and wasteful Oscar and Andre Schurrle on for Mohamed Salah in a like-for-like swap. Sunderland did made like-for-like swaps of their own, with Jozy Altidore and Emmanuele Giaccherini brought on for Wickham and the anonymous Johnson. With these changes, Chelsea upped the tempo. As a result, they began carving out chances as Sunderland's defence strained to cope. Demba Ba was the most wasteful, slipping at the critical moment after a cut-back. How critical that miss would prove to be.
With just ten minutes to go, a mistake from Cesar Azpilicueta proved critical. With Jozy Altidore bearing down on goal, the Spaniard slid in to try and get the ball out for a corner. Unfortunately for Chelsea, his clumsy challenge, whether contact or not, led the referee's assistant to put his flag across his chest and signalled a penalty. It was then left to Fabio Borini, the on loan Liverpool striker, to slide the ball past Schwarzer to give Sunderland the most unlikely of leads, especially given what happened in Manchester just a few days earlier.
And after the goal, the bombardment began. Cross after cross flew into the Sunderland box, with Chelsea desperately seeking an equaliser. But nothing would work, and the Black Cats would hold on for a historic victory, ending the 76-game winning streak of Mourinho in the process. An incredible feat, and one that may have great ramifications at both ends of the Premier League. Sunderland will go into their next game at home to Cardiff having taken four points from two of the best teams in the country on their own patch, while Chelsea slip further away from Liverpool at the top. I think this result kills their title ambitions, as even a win against the Reds will not suffice any more. In one of the most topsy-turvy seasons in history, this was another incredible twist, and one that will live long in the memory of Sunderland fans. Is the great escape on?
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Ivanovic, Ramires, Matic, Salah, Willian, Oscar, Eto'o
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone, Alonso, Brown, O'Shea, Vergini, Cattermole, Borini, Colback, Larsson, Johnson, Wickham
This game had enormous implications for both the top and bottom, and as a result, both sides put out strong sides. Despite Chelsea in action in mid-week against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League sem-finals, Jose Mourinho went with as positive a team as was available to him. With Eden Hazard still unavailable due to injury, Chelsea would be relying primarily on Oscar for creativity, with Salah and Willian applying pace out wide and on the break. The only other big omission was the lack of Petr Cech due to an unexplained illness. Thankfully for Chelsea, he is not expected to be out for the big European tie.
Sunderland, on the other hand, knew what their task was, having performed it so admirably at the Etihad Stadium just a few days ago. Holding Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in an absorbing encounter, similar tactics would need to be employed for Sunderland to get anything. And they needed something. With just a handful of games remaining, Sunderland's only chance to avoid the drop is in taking points from games they have no right to earn them in, and Wednesday's draw illustrated this. As a result, Gus Poyet began with the same team that started that tie, hoping for a similar response.
As you may have seen on Twitter, I am adding a new portion into these posts. As I tried, and failed to look at how FIFA would predict the Premier League, I will be using Twitter to provide commentary, and where possible, video footage, of FIFA simulations of games my Tactic Talk posts cover. For those of you that did not see the live feed before the match, Chelsea began the game strongly, hitting the post from their first attack. They dominated possession for the entirety of the first half, but found it hard to break down a stubborn Sunderland back line, with Mohamed Salah among those to go close. Just as it seemed as though Sunderland would make it to the break unscathed, Chelsea struck. On 37 minutes, a snapshot from Willian on the edge of the area was only parried by Mannone into the path of Nemanja Matic, who slid the rebound into the back of the net. More Chelsea pressure before the half time whistle led to nothing, and Sunderland went off having had a single shot and just 39% of possession.
The second half started in similar fashion, with Chelsea dominating the possession. Despite this, some excellent Sunderland defending prevented the Blues adding to their lead. With Chelsea's best chance coming from a set piece, with John Terry nodding wide from 6 yards, it seemed only a matter of time before they would strike. However, despite their dominance, Chelsea were hit with a sucker punch on 78 minutes. Having had very little in the way of presentable opportunities, a flowing move saw Borini slide a ball back from the edge of the penalty area for Marcos Alonso to rifle home the equaliser. Despite mounting Chelsea pressure in the final ten, Sunderland refused to cave, gaining them what would be a valuable point should it happen in reality.
In all honesty, I expected the FIFA simulation to be way off reality, with Chelsea seemingly able to walk over teams at Stamford Bridge. FIFA doesn't take into account the momentum that Chelsea have at home versus other teams, nor does it think about Mourinho's incredible 76-game unbeaten run at the Bridge. However, the opening ten minutes went down similarly to the simulation, with Chelsea having almost 70% possession as they pushed Sunderland back to the edge of their own area in the early going. Like the simulation, they struggled to break down the Black Cats' resilient defence. That was until they whipped a corner into the Sunderland box. The Black Cats have conceded 16 of their 56 goals from set pieces, and amidst the chaotic marking, Samuel Eto'o reacted quickly to volley the opener beyond Mannone. With the dominance of the Blues, I was confident that they would go on and win the game comfortably from here.
However, the reaction from Sunderland was almost instant, and like Chelsea, they took advantage of a set piece. Despite the ball being initially cleared, a shot from Marcos Alonso was only parried into the path of Connor Wickham. With the youngster in the form of his life, having scored two against Manchester City in midweek, he had no trouble lifting the ball gently over Mark Schwarzer and into the back of Chelsea's net to stun the home faithful. With the Wearsiders now with momentum, the game turned into an open and entertaining affair. This seemingly would suit Chelsea, but both sides were creating chances, with all wingers wanting to get forward at every opportunities. However, though Chelsea used Willian and Salah in equal measure to put Sunderland to the sword, Adam Johnson on Sunderland's right wing was cutting an anonymous figure, as the Black Cats favoured the creativity of Fabio Borini on the left.
First half hour: For all of Chelsea's possession, they were wasting chances and being kept at arms length by Sunderland. The strugglers had held onto everything the title chasers had to offer, and deservedly levelled.
As time ticked towards half time, Chelsea still could not find a way through, with their most dangerous moments coming off the back of set pieces. Try as they may, Sunderland just could not cope with marking from corners and free kicks, leading to an Eto'o header hitting Mannone and then the bar before dropping into the grateful keeper's gloves. The Cameroon striker was looking an increasingly frustrated figure, with Oscar in particular wasting a bagful of good positions to put the striker in. With Sunderland occasionally threatening, with Adam Johnson spurning the best chance, the game meandered to half time with the scores level, and neither really looking like changing this.
The one moment that could have changed the complexion came five minutes before the break, and epitomised the frustration coursing through the veins of the Chelsea players. Midfielder Ramires, who had been denied by a last ditch Sebastien Larsson header moments before, inexplicably thrust his forearm into the face of the Swedish midfielder. Fortunately for the Brazilian, he avoided a red card, however I would not be surprised to find that he is retrospectively banned for that incident.
The second half began as the first ended, with Chelsea dominating possession but lacking the cutting edge to find the second goal. Sunderland remained dangerous on the counter, with Borini continuing to pull the strings and Wickham putting in a strong centre forward's performance, but their attacks were becoming fewer and their midfield was beginning to slip back towards the defence. But their defence remained strong, with little in the way of chances conceded.
Second half hour: Still nothing to choose between the two sides, and it may take a bit of Jose Mourinho mastery or a horrendous mistake to choose between them. Neither could afford to lose, but a draw would not help either.
By the hour mark, Mourinho had seen enough, bringing in-form Demba Ba on for the ineffective and wasteful Oscar and Andre Schurrle on for Mohamed Salah in a like-for-like swap. Sunderland did made like-for-like swaps of their own, with Jozy Altidore and Emmanuele Giaccherini brought on for Wickham and the anonymous Johnson. With these changes, Chelsea upped the tempo. As a result, they began carving out chances as Sunderland's defence strained to cope. Demba Ba was the most wasteful, slipping at the critical moment after a cut-back. How critical that miss would prove to be.
With just ten minutes to go, a mistake from Cesar Azpilicueta proved critical. With Jozy Altidore bearing down on goal, the Spaniard slid in to try and get the ball out for a corner. Unfortunately for Chelsea, his clumsy challenge, whether contact or not, led the referee's assistant to put his flag across his chest and signalled a penalty. It was then left to Fabio Borini, the on loan Liverpool striker, to slide the ball past Schwarzer to give Sunderland the most unlikely of leads, especially given what happened in Manchester just a few days earlier.
And after the goal, the bombardment began. Cross after cross flew into the Sunderland box, with Chelsea desperately seeking an equaliser. But nothing would work, and the Black Cats would hold on for a historic victory, ending the 76-game winning streak of Mourinho in the process. An incredible feat, and one that may have great ramifications at both ends of the Premier League. Sunderland will go into their next game at home to Cardiff having taken four points from two of the best teams in the country on their own patch, while Chelsea slip further away from Liverpool at the top. I think this result kills their title ambitions, as even a win against the Reds will not suffice any more. In one of the most topsy-turvy seasons in history, this was another incredible twist, and one that will live long in the memory of Sunderland fans. Is the great escape on?
