Chapter 118 No Victory

Chelsea's coach is now not the Portuguese Mourinho, who is known as a madman, but the firefighter Grant. In September 2007, Grant took over the Chelsea coach from Mourinho. At first, Grant was greatly resisted by Chelsea fans, but he led the team to get 16 unbeaten games, the most Finally, he obtained a four-year long-term contract in December 2007.

The League Cup semi-final is his first test after winning a long contract. Of course, he attaches great importance to the first round of the home game.

Carvalho, who was released from this game, and Maluda, who recovered from injury, both made a comeback. Beletti, Carvalho, Bridge, Barak and Joe Cole took turns, and Kudinege recovered from injury and entered the bench.

After the baptism of the Christmas Devil's schedule, Chelsea unfortunately has a large list of injuries. Ashley Cole, Terry, Lampard, Macklele, Cech, Shepchenko, almost all the players in the midfield and backfield. Coupled with the two attackers who left the team in the African Cup, Chelsea can make a complete attack. The lineup seems to be a little overstretched.

His Chelsea lineup is 4-4-1-1: No. 40 goalkeeper Hilaryo; No. 35 Beletti, No. 6 Carvalho, No. 33 Alex, No. 3 Bridge; No. 12 Meeker, No. 13 Barak, No. 24 Wright. Phillips, No. 15 Maluda; No. 10 Joe. Cole; No. 14 Pizarro.

Chelsea, which is almost available on the front line, can only put the hope of scoring on the midfielders. Little Wright, Maluda and Joe Cole. The first two are good players on the side. They can be converted into a 4-3-3 attack formation at any time. Joe Cole sits in the middle of the town, followed by Barak and Mickel's. Auxiliary, Grant sacrificed Mourinho's double-back tactic when no one was available, but in the case of untidy personnel, rotation was used in many positions.

Everton's Moyes lineup is 4-3-1-2: No. 24 goalkeeper Howard; No. 2 Hibbert, No. 4 Yabo, No. 16 Yagilka, No. 5 Lescott; No. 26 Casley, No. 18 Phil. Neville, No. 11 McFadden; No. 17 Cahill; No. 8 Andy. Johnson, No. 22 Albert.

The visiting team's lineup has not changed a lot. Captain Neville returned to the midfield, and Wanjin Yagilka was put on the guard line. The most surprising thing is that Moyes sent all the forward players in the team in the game, but McFadden appeared in the midfield position, and there was no way for Arteta to be banned. Unable to play, Pinal's physical problems did not come to London at all. In today's game, Everton only sat four players on the bench. Unlike Chelsea's situation, Everton doesn't have many people to do this.

The game started on time at 19:45 local time. Only one minute after the opening, McFadden passed the ball directly to Andy Johnson, but Hilaryo attacked early and confiscated the ball. As soon as Everton came up, he made a good attack at Stamford Bridge.

In the second minute, it was Chelsea's turn to attack. Defender Yabo made a mistake in making a header. Wright-Phillips did not adjust the direct volley on the edge of the middle of the penalty area, but little Wright's shooting was not as sharp as his speed, and the ball deflected out of the goal.

The two teams did not play conservatively at the first time, and the players were quite familiar with each other. Without testing, the two teams directly launched an offensive and defensive battle.

In the 8th minute, Beletti cleverly passed the ball back, but Joe Cole's shot on the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Casley. Casley was very dissatisfied after tackling the ball. He pointed to the referee and seemed to be complaining about something. Yellow card warning. It's better not to offend the referee on the court. The consequences must be Unfavorable.

Then came the direct dialogue between the two captains on the court today. Chelsea's captain Barack's tackle today was still fierce. He put down Neville, and the referee just gave a verbal warning and did not mean to play.

Chelsea's attack still likes to work on the sidelines. This time, they launched an attack on the right side. Joe Cole and Barak passed the ball continuously. The latter pushed to the front court and knocked horizontally. Pizarro tried to pass to the middle and was blocked. Belletti caught up with a long shot in time and missed the post.

Everton has done a good job so far. The defense is tight enough, and Chelsea's multiple shots have been blocked by the defender.

Finally, it was Everton's turn to attack. Lescott inserted into the opponent's hinterland and kicked a strange pass on the left side of the penalty area and went straight to the goal. The ball was very fast and hit the net behind the goal. The game lasted for nearly 20 minutes. Chelsea did not have a great advantage on the court. After all, Everton is one of the Premier League. In a strong team, Chelsea did not dare to rush to the whole line. The entanglement between the two sides of the game was almost in the midfield.

After a struggle, it was the home team that took the lead in scoring goals.

In the 26th minute, Maluda took the ball from the left side of the front court and gave it straight to Wright Jr. in the penalty area. Jr. Wright bypassed Howard with a right-footed arc ball on the edge of the penalty area and hit the far post and bounced into the goal. 1:0, Chelsea took the lead at Stamford Bridge.

Little Wright rarely makes a world wave!

Everton began to prepare for attack, but Chelsea began to retreat, ready to threaten the opponent with defensive counterattack tactics. This is also the most accustomed way Chelsea play in the Mourinho era. This is often the way to play after taking the lead.

The attack of the visiting team did not come out, but the home team Chelsea became more and more brave in the cheering of the home fans, and they got good opportunities in a row.

Chelsea quickly counterattacked, and Wright-Phillips quickly counterattacked and made a direct pass. Joe Cole forcibly broke through Gagilka and stumbled into the 14 yards in the middle of the penalty area. The single shot was saved by Howard. The referee Walton made up for Gagilka's foul and had to pursue the foul after completing the shot. This penalty caused Outside the court, Moyes was so dissatisfied that the referee could only verbally warn the hot-tempered Scotman.

Barack came to take the penalty. His free kick was of extremely high quality. He crossed the human wall and the ball was slightly deflected from the post. Howard didn't react at all. He came to his senses and roared loudly. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with the team's wall.

In the 31st minute, Maluda moved to the right, Joe Cole made a direct pass for the first time, and Wright-Phillips' shot from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Yagilka.

Everton's attack is too chaotic, which makes Chelsea, who was originally ready to defend and counterattack, form a continuous attack. So far, Everton's possession rate is only 37.7%.

Lescott's performance in this game is not bad. Everton's players on the field are only normal from the current point of view. As a defender, he once again inserted into the Chelsea penalty area. With a shot with his left foot, Hilaryo flew to the ball.

Defenders came forward frequently. In today's game, Everton's attack was too chaotic.

In stoppage time, Everton's attack improved and finally got the first corner of the game. McFadden made a left corner. The unguarded Andy Johnson hit the front point at 11 yards, and the ball was confiscated by Hilalio.

At the end of the first half, relying on Wright's goal, Chelsea temporarily led 1-0.

At the beginning of the second half, both sides of the game significantly strengthened their defense. At the beginning, yellow cards were frequently issued.

Neville fouled Malouda on the right in front of his penalty area, got a yellow card and gave Chelsea a free kick.

Then Joe Cole shoveled down Lescott behind him in a senseless retreat. He not only injured himself, but also received a yellow card, which was not worth the loss.

The red card finally appeared. In the 50th minute, Mikkel had a flying shovel, which was so fierce that he was directly sent off by the red card, which would be suspended for three games. However, Mikkel will participate in the African Cup. In any case, he will be absent from the game. Now Mikkel can play in the African Cup at ease. He specially reported to the national team late in exchange for a no Concerns are not bad.

Chelsea leads by one goal, but there is one less person to fight. As long as Everton scored a goal on the road, he will have a chance to turn around at home. The game is still very suspenseful.

In the game, the best little Wright took off the ball in the midfield again, quickly counterattacked and gave it directly to Pizarro, who immediately formed a single knife. Pizarro actually kicked the single ball directly to the goalkeeper Howard. Pizarro's state was really not very good. The cheers of the home fans stopped hoarsely, and there was another A little boo.

In the 61st minute, Sidwell replaced some injured Joe Cole.

Everton, with one more person, finally began to attack and equalized the score.

McFadden made a free kick on the left side of the front court and passed it to the back point. Hilaryo made a mistake. Yabo passed the ball back to the goal. Chelsea defender Alex was not far away. Johnson turned around in the penalty area and hit the goal. The ball went straight to the dead corner. 1:1, Everton equalized the score. Everton finally caught this. A rare opportunity.

In the 69th minute, Johnson made a wonderful pass from the heel of the side. McFadden flashed Carvalho's tackle and broke into the left side of the penalty area and shot at a small angle. The ball hit the middle and far corner post popped out.

In the 72nd minute, Beletti broke into the right side of the penalty area, Lescott elbowed the opponent, and referee Walton refused to award a penalty.

In the 78th minute, Beletti, who had a retaliatory foul, was warned by a yellow card for a foul against Lescott in the backcourt. Yagilka made a free kick from the left side, Cahill headed the ball far away, and Andy Johnson missed 4 yards.

In the 83rd minute, Ferreira replaced the underperforming Pizarro.

In the 89th minute, Beletti made a right corner kick, and Carvalho headed the ball and missed the goal.

Chelsea locked the victory in the 94th minute. Bridge's left pass was blocked and deflected. Ballack's left side of the penalty area hooked. Lescott was not ready to jump. Wright-Phillips competed for the top from behind 6 yards, and the ball hit Lescott's face and deflected into the net.

At the last moment, Everton's bad luck came again. Lescott, who had an eye-catching performance in this game, sent a rare own goal and fell behind again on the road.

The most helpless thing is that the little Phillips beats the tall Lescott, which is not a level opponent at all. Such a situation has to be said. Without the lack of lucky star Li Yu, Everton is generally not the lucky side in the game.

The following few minutes of the game proved this. In the 95th minute, McFadden made a direct pass, and the unguarded Lescott's single shot from 8 yards was saved by Hilaryo. In the end, Chelsea struggled to win.

In the game where Li Yu was absent, Everton faced the top four other teams in the league table, all of which ended in defeat.