Ordinarily, the Blues’ victory against Swansea would’ve been a typical feather in Mourinho’s cap. A hard fought, nose-to-the-ground, wear down the opponent kind of victory that resulted from a solitary fortuitous goal.
And yet, it was mostly relief that emerged from the Blues’ camp. The subdued reaction had all to do with Liverpool’s earlier emphatic 3-2 win over Manchester City at Anfield: something that confirmed what every neutral fan must surely be suspecting by now, that this is well and truly finally Liverpool’s season.
Terry soon obliged with the obligatory soundbite, confirming that talk of Liverpool’s win dominated the locker room atmosphere. Jose Mourinho himself, that doyen of misdirection engaged in precious little of it when he asked Chelsea’s stars to turn their attention away from Liverpool’s massive win. For most of the game against Swansea though, it didn’t look like it had worked. Chelsea played like a side that had just been told its rivals had won the title. It played like a team going through the motions.
It also didn’t help that Chelsea’s team was far from top-class, in a must-win game. The striking department being the shambles that it always is, surprised nobody. The midfield looked strangely bereft even when bossing around a 10-man Swansea outfit, with Lampard and Oscar and Hazard all on the sidelines. It was a frightening look at a Blues Side without their big names in the middle of the pitch. Ramires has gotten painfully worse since his red card, and has now converted his USP: those lung-busting runs – into an exercise in pointlessness. Easily dispossessed and wayward in passing, the Brazilian hasn’t done himself any favors in the national team selections for the World Cup.
Gifted with an open and inviting goal Mohammed Salah duly obliged by sending the ball out wide. If that was hard to pardon, the much more experienced Eto’o did not do any better with his second-half chance. As Swansea grew in confidence and looked like they would walk away with a draw against the title contenders, Chelsea dug in real deep and for the second time in less than a week, Demba Ba rewarded the remnants of Mourinho’s faith in him with a fortunate goal.
On another day Vorm would have stopped it comfortably, but a fortuitous tiny deflection on the way left him leaping well over the ball as it snuck right under him and into the goal. As far as title winning battle cries go, this was a whimper. The squeak of a mouse that managed to avoid getting ensnared in a mousetrap and patting itself on the back at having to go hungry again. When the game called for a desperate gamble, Mourinho turned meek – chastened perhaps by Liverpool’s dominant performance earlier in the day, which must have reminded him of how his teams once played.
When the going got tough, Steven Gerrard rallied his men for a massively rousing performance, while Vincent Kompany – the talisman of so many a spectacular Manchester City performance – lets his side down with not one, but two costly errors. City showed incredible resilience in coming back up from a two-goal deficit, but Liverpool showed the hunger of a side that has waited long enough in the wilderness without a Premier League title. In Steven Gerrard’s tears they saw the belief of a side that the times were changing, and destiny was around the corner.
Chelsea, despite facing much lesser opposition, nearly bungled it by walking away from Swansea’s Liberty Stadium – the smallest in the Premier League – with what looked well set to be a draw. Fortunately for Mourinho, a goal was conjured up against the odds (or so it seemed) and Chelsea live to fight another day, wheezing and sputtering but still alive.
For City the season just took a turn for the worse, as Yaya Toure limped out ensuring the Sky Blue brigade have their work cut out for them in the remaining games. Chelsea, on the other hand have the Champions League to contend with, which Liverpool are comfortably sitting out. The Reds have momentum on their side and lie in wait for the Blues to come stumbling by. The Reds want it more while Chelsea are confused on where to put their focus on.
If today’s result is anything to go by, Steven Gerrard’s tears conveyed more resolve than all of Chelsea’s perspiring put together.
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