The Sunday Times

September 16, 2007

Chelsea in goal row

Chelsea 0 Blackburn 0

Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge

Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's ever-voluble not to say explosive manager,
had no doubt about it. Chelsea were denied a legitimate goal. They
scored, he insisted, an undeniably good goal after 58 minutes which
was scandalously given offside. When asked about its validity, he
answered: "That's the kind of question you don't need to ask. I think
that's the question you can ask to the linesman if you have the
chance, not to me. Only the linesman can tell you why he disallowed
the goal. It's no question, because everybody has the answer. It was
so obvious that I think you should try to ask the linesman, because I
can't understand . . . I tell him, tomorrow I'm waiting for his phone
call and his apology."

What happened was that Joe Cole found the adventurous Brazilian
right-back Juliano Belletti on the right, and his cross, seemingly
pulled back, was knocked in by Salomon Kalou. The linesman flagged and
referee Howard Webb endorsed his decision.

Chelsea's assistant manager, Steve Clarke, surged fuming from the
dugout, followed by an incensed, gesticulating Mourinho. Right or
wrong, he was arguably lucky that Webb restricted himself to a few
placatory words, rather than sending him as many a referee might have
done to the stand.

As for Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, he replied to questions
with tongue probably in cheek: "He was only about half a yard, but
from our point of view, we were happy that it was offside. He
immediately put his flag up and it means the right decision."

Mourinho lamented the absence of such key players as Didier Drogba and
Frank Lampard. He had no extra strikers on the bench, he complained.
Andriy Shevchenko, the £30m Ukrainian centre-forward who scored
unavailingly for his country against Italy last Wednesday, made his
first appearance of the season and was clearly well short of match
practice. Only at the very end of a previously anonymous performance
did he swoop on a right-wing cross from Florent Malouda with a
far-post header which brought a glorious save, his second of the
match, from big Brad Friedel in the Blackburn goal.

The veteran American had already saved his team with supreme agility,
belying his giant frame when, after 27 minutes, a dash by Joe Cole
ended with the ball breaking to Michael Essien.

The Ghanaian let fly a tremendous right-footed shot, but Friedel flew
across his goal, got his left hand to the ball, and turned it round
the left-hand post. Chelsea also accorded a rare start to Steve
Sidwell, the central midfielder from Reading, but he looked seriously
off the pace and was substituted early in the second half.

Both managers somewhat excessively praised their teams. Mourinho said:
"We played well enough with a great spirit and great attitude." For
his part, Mark Hughes believed that though his team had started slowly
"we were a little bit guilty of playing in our own half" – in the
second half, things much improved. I've sensed a different mentality
in the dressing room." But apart from a sudden ferocious right-footed
drive from a hitherto ineffective Robbie Savage after 76 minutes –
Petr Cech leapt to turn it over – Blackburn's attack carried little
threat.

The game was slow to ignite, and only after 27 minutes did it truly
come to life with Chelsea, in a three-minute burst, thrice threatening
to score. First came Essien's bullet, and Freidel's save. Next, after
a long run by the adventurous Belletti, his low shot was comfortably
fielded by Friedel. Then, on the half hour, Joe Cole and Essien
engineered a chance for Shevchenko. But clean through on goal, and
seemingly a safe bet to score, he failed to keep control, and Friedel
pounced on the ball. He subsequently easily dealt with Joe Cole's
curling right-footer, but was perhaps fortunate that when Joe Cole
flighted a clever pass through to his namesake Ashley, the full-back
just failed to make contact.

We were 42 minutes into the game when Blackburn at last attacked with
any real threat. David Bentley, gratuitously booed by the crowd
whenever he had the ball, guilty of the sin of pulling out of the
England under21 scene, went round Ashley Cole with surprising ease to
deliver a cross which Morten Gamst Pedersen, coming in at the far
post, could do no better than fend into the side netting. In the
opening minutes of the second half, David Dunn in Blackburn's midfield
sent a powerful drive from outside the box not far over, but we had to
wait until that 76th minute and Savage's drive before Blackburn struck
again with any menace.

Christopher Samba alas tooka kick on the head and collapsed in the
closing minutes. He was taken to hospital but was later discharged.
Chelsea Blackburn 6 Shots on target (incl goals) 1 9 Shots off target
4 4 Blocked shots 1 9 Corners won 2 21 Total fouls conceded 13 6
Offsides 0 2 Yellow cards 2 0 Red cards 0 58% Possession 42%

Star man: Brad Friedel (Blackburn)

Player ratings. Chelsea: Cech 7, A Cole 7 (Ben-Haim 88min), Essien 7,
Shevchenko 6, Sidwell 5 (Obi 57min, 6), J Cole 6, Kalou 6,
Wright-Phillips 6 (Malouda 57min, 6), Terry 7, Alex 6, Belletti 6

Blackburn: Friedel 9, Emerton 6, Nelsen 6, Samba 6, Warnock 6, Bentley
6, Savage 6, Dunn 6, Pedersen 6, McCarthy 6 (Roberts 67min, 6), Santa
Cruz 6 (Mokoena 79min)
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Sunday Telegraph

Mourinho left seething as Chelsea draw blank
By Duncan White

Chelsea (0) 0 Blackburn Rovers (0) 0

This was supposed to be Andrei Shevchenko's redemption and the
realignment of Chelsea's title surge. Instead Stamford Bridge was left
seething with frustration and a sense of injustice as Chelsea
stuttered for the second game in succession.

Jose Mourinho's histrionics on the touchline were a testament to
Blackburn's resolution - this was the 15th game unbeaten for Mark
Hughes's team - but they also belied his anger at Chelsea's
inadequacies.

With the talismanic Didier Drogba nursing a knee injury and Claudio
Pizarro exhausted from a transatlantic flight, Shevchenko was given
his first game of the season. His performance made it easier to
understand why he is a £30 million fourth-choice striker. He worked
hard but played like he had too much to prove. The nerveless assassin
of Serie A looked anxious and impotent: twice he missed free headers
from close range and in the first half, with his head down and a heavy
touch, he wasted a one-on-one with the outstanding Brad Friedel.

Even so, Chelsea should have won and were denied a goal by a a wrong
decision by a linesman. After just under an hour, Jole Cole slipped in
Juliano Belletti on the right and the full-back squared the ball
across goal to the unmarked Salomon Kalou. The Ivorian tapped into the
net and it was only after almost a minute of ecstatic celebration that
he realised the linesman had flagged him offside.

Mourinho was apoplectic. He brandished a video screen at the fourth
official, giving it a petulant slap for emphasis. This was Mourinho
theatrics at work and referee Howard Webb had to calm the Chelsea
manager down. However, crucially, Mourinho was right and Chelsea had
been wrongly denied a goal.

"Why the goal was not given is a question for the linesman," Mourinho
said. "It is not a question for me, or the fans, or Mark Hughes. To me
it was an obvious goal.

"The fourth official has no other responsibility in the game, and this
is a sport where technology could instantly tell you whether it was a
goal. I do not know why the linesmen or assistant referees are not
required to explain their decisions after the game."

Still, the short-term injustice cannot obscure long-term problems in
the attacking options available to Mourinho. The Chelsea manager
admitted the absence of Drogba and Frank Lampard through injury left
his side "without ammunition", hardly a compliment to Shevchenko.

Where is the man the Chelsea manager can turn to if he needs that
moment of technical daring? Who can puncture even the doughtiest
defence with improvised guile? Arjen Robben, shipped off to Real
Madrid, may have lacked the macho attitude of the Chelsea dressing
room, but they miss a player of his subtlety.

While they lack flair, they have plenty of force. Mourinho was in no
mood to watch his team bullied by this robust Rovers side. Alex, the
Brazilian centre-back with the build of a heavyweight boxer, was
preferred to Tal Ben Haim as defensive partner for John Terry,
presumably to negate the visitors' aerial threat.

That tactic was a resounding success. David Dunn and Robbie Savage
were remarkably industrious in the centre of midfield and were
certainly not cowed by Michael Essien and Steve Sidwell. Still,
Blackburn struggled to open up their hosts: Petr Cech's only real test
came in tipping over Savage's looping shot late in the second half.

With Shevchenko misfiring, Essien was Chelsea's most potent attacking
threat and only an outstanding full-stretch save from Friedel denied
the Ghanaian when he connected crisply with a half-volley from 25
yards.

Mourinho realised his team needed shaking up with just over 10 minutes
gone in the second half: off came Shaun Wright-Phillips and Sidwell
and on came Florent Malouda and John Obi Mikel. Seconds later Kalou
scored the goal that wasn't.

Shevchenko had faded almost entirely in the second half, only to crop
up with five minutes to go at the far post, found by Malouda's
inswinging cross. Inevitably, his header was straight at Friedel.

Unfortunately, in clearing the ball Chris Samba slipped and was forced
to head away from close to the turf. Shevchenko went for the ball at
the same time and kicked Samba, without a hint of malice, in the back
of the head. The Blackburn defender received extensive medical
treatment on the pitch from both medical teams and was carried off
strapped carefully to a stretcher.

"That was the one negative from our point of view," Hughes said "We
hope it is not going to be too serious. I don't think he had come
around when he was in the dressing room so there is a bit of concern."
The good news emerging from hospital last night was that Samba had
regained consciousness and was talking.
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The Observer:

Mourinho moans while Samba feels force of Shevchenko

Stuart Barnes

Jose Mourinho has enjoyed the luxury of free-scoring performances in
three home league games against Blackburn during his stewardship at
Stamford Bridge. Not so this time. The Chelsea manager was left
frustrated by his side's failure to win a game they dominated for long
spells and angry that what he felt was a perfectly good goal by
Salomon Kalou was ruled out by a linesman.
Peter Kirkup's ruling that Kalou's conversion of Juliano Belletti's
cross as Chelsea's second-half pressure reached a peak looked, on TV
replays, a borderline one. Mourinho had no doubt he had erred - and
went in with both barrels afterwards.

'You don't need to ask me whether it was a goal,' he said. 'Nor my
players, Mark Hughes, the crowd, or the people watching at home.
Everyone knows it was a great goal and should have stood - it was so
obvious. You should ask the linesman. I told him I am waiting for his
apology tomorrow.
'I have no complaints about Blackburn - only good things to say. They
came with a good attitude. But we played with a great spirit and
deserved to win the game. Even though we were without several players
and did not have a single striker on the bench, we applied massive
pressure.'

Hughes, predictably, took a different view. 'It was half a yard
offside,' said the Blackburn manager. 'The assistant referee put his
flag up straight away and that usually means he is certain about his
decision. When everyone calms down they will see it was the right one.

'We showed some great qualities. I have sensed a different atmosphere
in our dressing room which is enabling us to come to places like this
and get something out of the game.'

Blackburn's performance was overshadowed to some extent when Chris
Samba was kicked unconscious by an accidental boot from Andriy
Shevchenko and carried off to hospital - an incident that contributed
to nearly nine minutes of stoppage-time. Later, a club spokesman said
Samba was talking and could be flying home with the Blackburn squad.

Mourinho brought Shevchenko in from the cold to replace the injured
Didier Drogba, impressed enough with the underachieving £30m striker's
performances for Ukraine in European qualifying matches to give him
his first club appearance of the season.

With a sharper touch, and against a lesser goalkeeper than Brad
Friedel, he could have marked his first appearance of the season with
a couple of goals, starting with a header steered over from a good
position. After gathering an awkward low cross fired into the six-yard
box by Belletti, Friedel made a flying save from Michael Essien's
sweetly struck 25-yarder aimed for the top corner, then saved low from
Shevchenko when Essien played the ball through.

Rovers responded through David Bentley, who crossed to the far post
for the unmarked Morten Gamst Pedersen to volley into the side
netting. They reinforced their own threat when David Dunn's instant
volley from distance was too high. Mourinho was soon berating match
officials when Kalou's effort was disallowed. Hughes sent on Jason
Roberts for Benni McCarthy, who had rarely threatened - or been given
the opportunity to threaten by indifferent service. In a frantic
finish, Robbie Savage had a shot touched over by Petr Cech. Friedel
again denied Shevchenko, this time from Malouda's cross. In the melee
that followed, Samba took the full force of Shevchenko's boot in the
head.
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Mail:

Chelsea fury as Kalou goal is ruled out

Chelsea 0 Blackburn 0

By DANIEL KING

Jose Mourinho claimed he would be sitting by the telephone waiting for
an apology after a controversial offside decision denied his team
joint leadership of the Premier League.

A sickening injury to Christopher Samba,who was taken to hospital
unconscious after being kicked accidentally in the head by Andriy
Shevchenko,put into perspective the furore over Salomon Kalou's
disallowed 'goal' in the 58th minute.

But Mourinho was in no mood to count his blessings. In a title race
which promises to be the tightest for years, these two dropped points
could prove crucial, and whatever happens, the Chelsea manager will
remember Peter Kirkup, the assistant referee whose surname hints at
his error.

After Mourinho somehow avoided being sent to the stands for his
animated protests, which included demanding that fourth official Peter
Walton watch the incident again on his monitor, a mental consultation
of the rulebook suggested that since Kalou was behind the ball when
Juliano Belletti crossed, it did not matter that he was ahead of the
last Blackburn defender and the goal should have stood.

When referee Rob Styles gave Chelsea a penalty which should never have
been and earned them a point at Liverpool earlier in the season,
referees' chief Keith Hackett rang Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez to
apologise and demoted Styles from the Premier League. Mourinho, it
seems, will accept nothing less himself.

The Chelsea boss, who continued his complaints when referee Howard
Webb ended a dramatic match with 98 minutes and 53 seconds on the
clock, said: "I told him (Kirkup) that of course I will be waiting for
his phone call tomorrow for an apology.

"It was so obvious. You don't need to ask me, my players, the
Blackburn players, the crowd or all the people watching at home. You
should ask the linesman why he disallowed it. I can't understand it.

"He should have to explain."

It is not often you feel sorry for Chelsea and Mourinho, but his team
thoroughly deserved to win and leap to second in the table, behind
Arsenal only on goal difference.

As it is they have now dropped five points in their last two games,
following their defeat at Aston Villa and now lie fourth.

Mourinho's injury-hit team were unfortunate to find Brad Friedel in
his usual sparkling form, but were also guilty of wasting chances to
make Kirkup's decision irrelevant.

Mourinho was defiant and it seems Kalou's strike will assume the
status of being the flipside to Luis Garcia's 'phantom goal' in the
2005 Champions League semi-final which Chelsea lost to Liverpool.

"I agree that one goal for such a dominant team is not enough," said
Mourinho. "But we scored a goal, a good goal, a winning goal, but we
finished with just one point."

If Shevchenko, making his first appearance of the season in the
Chelsea squad, let alone team, had maintained the form which so
impressed Mourinho in the Ukraine's midweek 2-1 defeat by Italy, the
arguments would have been forgotten.

But in what was billed as a last chance for the £30 million striker,
in the absence of the injured Didier Drogba and jet-lagged Claudio
Pizarro, he failed to impress again.

After Michael Essien had forced Friedel into his first brilliant save
in the 22nd minute, the Ghana midfielder played Shevchenko in, but his
first touch was poor and his second sent the ball far enough ahead to
allowed Friedel to smother.

In the closing minutes, after Shevchenko's header was blocked by
Friedel, Samba stooped to head the loose ball clear. Shevchenko was
also following up and unwittingly struck the defender on the back of
the head, which knocked him unconscious. In the stoppage time which
resulted, the lively Joe Cole's shot was deflected over.

Blackburn had gone close to snatching the lead themselves shortly
after the Kalou incident but Petr Cech's only save of the match, from
Robbie Savage, was excellent.

With the exception of Samba's injury, Blackburn manager Mark Hughes
was happy.But what about the 'goal'? "It wasn't a goal, it was
offside," he said Hughes. "The assistant referee immediately put his
flag up and that usually means he's pretty certain it's the right
decision."

But that will not stop Mourinho waiting for that call.

CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cech; Belletti, Alex, Terry, A Cole (Ben-Haim 87min);
Wright-Phillips (Malouda 57), Sidwell (Mikel 57), Essien, J Cole;
Kalou, Shevchenko. Subs: Cudicini, Ferreira. Booked: Belletti, J Cole.

BLACKBURN (4-4-2): Friedel; Emerton, Samba (Ooijer 90), Nelsen,
Warnock; Bentley, Savage, Dunn (Mokoena 81), Pedersen; McCarthy
(Roberts 68), Santa Cruz. Subs: Brown, Derbyshire. Booked: Warnock,
Savage.

Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).
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