Wembley Way was filled with football fans for the first of two annual cup finals, but this time it was a local affair. Spurs and Chelsea fans made the short trip across London to Wembley for the Capital One Cup final. Chelsea overcame an incredible semi-final tie with Liverpool in two hotly contested legs whilst Spurs overcame a battling Sheffield United. Jose Mourinho had not won a trophy in England since his return in the summer of 2013, was this the first of many? Spurs haven’t been in a cup final since penalty heartache against Manchester United in this competition a year after they beat their 2015 opponents Chelsea, did lightning strike twice?
Capital One Cup Final
It was, for the majority, a very even cup final with both sides putting their all into the game to win the first major honour of the season. For Spurs, it was always going to be a tough ask to topple Chelsea who seem an unstoppable force this season and are now on course for a domestic double. Goals from John Terry and Diego Costa won Mourinho his first title in his second spell in charge in South London. Spurs put in a fighting display to make sure Chelsea didn’t run away with it and on a different day, it could’ve been their day.
Christian Eriksen was the main man in Spurs’ Capital One Cup run and so nearly made his mark in the final, but his free-kick radar was unusually off as he struck the bar. Spurs had Chelsea on the ropes with their aggressive, high pressing style but Chelsea always looked threatening in attack. Chelsea proved to bite Spurs for not making their pressure tell as their inspirational leader broke the deadlock. A Chelsea set piece caused panic as John Terry’s volley deflected past Hugo Lloris. The unfortunate Eric Dier was the body the ball flicked off to beat the regularly exceptional Lloris. Lloris has often been a reliable last line of defence for Pocchetino and capable of bailing his side out. But as Diego Costa engineered a chance for himself, Lloris was again beaten by a deflection. The game was in Chelsea’s hands and Spurs were desperate now. It just wasn’t falling for Harry Kane and co. as Chelsea’s defence was committed, solid and faultless. As Kane weaved his way past Blue shirts, John Terry threw himself in the way of a certain goal and hope of a Spurs comeback. Terry shone at Wembley, a ground where he used to be a regular captain for his country but retired after the racial scandal with Anton Ferdinand. On this occasion, he was proud captain for Chelsea in their 2-0 cup final victory, one half of what should be a superb domestic double for Chelsea.
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| Credit: skysports.com |
Premier League
In a hectic double game-week, the fight for survival, race for Europe and the title race developed and intensified further. Last weekend, Chelsea seemingly pulled away in the title race, without even playing! Manchester City may have just blown their last opportunity to catch Chelsea in a crucial defeat at Anfield. Liverpool had all the momentum going into the crunch game against City and City just weren’t up for the fight. A belter from Jordan Henderson signalled Liverpool’s intentions early on that they were in the mood. City did react in the first half as first Sergio Aguero hit the post and then turned provider for Edin Dzeko who proved more clinical. But, in the second half City were shaky and unconvincing as David Silva, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany were having off-days. Kompany was back at the scene where he teed up the winner for Phillipe Coutinho last year, this year, the same Brazilian punished a below-par City. Coutinho has been the cream of the crop at Anfield in their turn-around of form and was the magic man for Brendan Rodgers again. His exquisite curling shot beat Joe Hart and City as the title race is almost over. Arsenal and Manchester United capitalised on a slip-up from Southampton in the race for Champions League football and stay ahead of the rejuvenated reds from Merseyside. Chelsea watched on with their Capital One Cup as their title rivals crumbled under pressure, is the Premier League title won already?
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| Credit: thesportspace.org |
The top seven were all successful in midweek which means there is still nothing to separate the five teams in the chase for Champions League football. Spurs recovered from that Wembley woe edging a five-goal game at White Hart Lane. The game was overshadowed with the worrying collapse of Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis. The striker was rushed to hospital, still conscious and thankfully is in a stable condition and recovering, apparently Gomis has a fainting condition as he once fainted three times in a season at Lyon. Aside from that, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal drove the newly promoted sides further into trouble at the bottom with wins. Liverpool were comfortable and controlled in a 2-0 win over Burnley, as were Arsenal in a convincing second half performance after a tough first half at Loftus Road with Alexis Sanchez back among the goals. City were unconvincing and got a bit of luck over Leicester who once again cursed decisions against them and chances not taken. City continue to chase Chelsea who once again grinded out a result, this time at Upton Park in a tough London Derby as Chelsea once again proved their defensive prowess. Eden Hazard got the goal in another dazzling display. City may get drawn into the scrap for Europe if they slip up again, as Arsenal are only four points behind the champions who may have to focus on guaranteeing Champions League football and accept defeat in the title race.
At the bottom, Aston Villa got a huge win over rivals West Brom. Tim Sherwood finally got his first 3 points in charge with a 94th minute penalty winner from Christian Benteke who has been short of goals this season. With a place at Wembley up for grabs this coming weekend, could this be the kick-start to Villa’s survival push? QPR, Burnley and Leicester are all in grave danger of the drop with all three in dreadful form and short on goals or confidence. Another team in very realistic trouble is, Everton! Just five points clear of the bottom three, incapable of defending reassuringly and desperately lacking goals, Roberto Martinez’s nearly men last year are quickly becoming a sinking ship with no obvious captain to steer them out of trouble. Hull and Sunderland drew in a stalemate at the KC Stadium as the tensions at the bottom were clear in a heated confrontation between Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce, who will be the ones who suffer from the heat come May and fall from the trap-door?
The highlight of the mid-week games though was at St James’ Park. No it wasn’t the mess that was Ashley Young’s winner for United and definitely not the spitting-gate involving Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse. But, the heroic return of Jonas Gutierrez from his battle with testicular cancer. Gutierrez who hadn’t played for 17 months came off the bench during their 1-0 defeat on Wednesday to a rapturous response from the home faithful. This is a great achievement and inspiration for anyone battling long-term illness and proof that you can overcome it, so credit to Gutierrez for returning to football and inspiring many others who are in their battle with cancer.
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| Credit: thesportspace.org |
Sam Tonks
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