Since returning to a 4-3-3 formation three gameweeks ago, the goals had been flowing for Chelsea. The last trio of fixtures had brought three goals in each game for the defending champions, with the first-choice frontline of Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou bagging six goals between them. The points came thick and fast for Fantasy owners as Carlo Ancelotti‘s side revisited their early-season Fantasy Premier League (FPL) hauls all over again.
Regardless of this recent consistency and re-found form up front, all it took was a Fernando Torres goal at a rain-soaked Stamford Bridge last weekend to change Ancelotti’s thinking. The Chelsea boss clearly reckoned the Spaniard would be brimming with confidence after finally breaking his scoring duck for the Blues, and resultantly chose to re-organise his side for this evening’s visit of Tottenham, with Torres through the middle and Drogba stationed to his right.
Before today, Drogba and Torres had started two league matches together, and both had failed to score; their relationship is clearly a work in progress. After today’s game-to no-one’s real surprise- that tally has risen three.
It was only when Torres was hauled off after the hour mark that Chelsea’s fluency returned. As indication of this increased threat was the home side’s shooting stats: 11 shots in 63 minutes with Torres on the pitch, 9 shots in 27 minutes without him, practically double.
With Drogba re-installed through the middle, the hosts looked far more comfortable and it was no real surprise to see a winner arrive late on. Even more damning for Torres, it was Kalou- his replacement- who notched the winner to move his side to just three points behind Man United.
Granted, both Chelsea’s goals came with more than a slice of good fortune; Frank Lampard’s leveller was a combination of dodgy goalkeeping and a debatable linesman’s decision, and Kalou looked offside as he slotted him the winner from a Drogba pass. Nevertheless, there’s every chance that if Ancelotti had stuck to his recent starting XI, this match would not be remembered as what it ultimately was; nothing more than a somewhat fortuitous victory. With a trip to Old Trafford next gameweek, Carlo can’t rely on luck to bail him out again.
