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Chelsea, of course, have had as busy a time of it in March as at any other time.
3 League games, an FA cup quarter final, followed by a replay and a Champions League encounter with Jose’s former
club Porto have been squeezed in. Whilst other managers have complained about a lack of matches, Chelsea might argue to the
contrary.
Of the 6 games played Chelsea won 5 and drew one, the first FA Cup tie with Tottenham. That game showed,
once again, the powers of recovery of Jose’s Chelsea, coming from 3-1 down to draw 3 apiece before completing the job
at White Hart Lane. The league games were all won with scores of 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 against City, Pompey and Sheffield United
respectively.
In the Champions League a 1-1 draw away should have seen Chelsea firmly in the driving seat. However,
an early wobble lead to Porto taking a 1-0 lead, leaving the tie on a knife edge. As we have seen since his arrival in England
though, this is where Mourinho thrives. Arjen Robben levelled after Porto ‘keeper Helton let a tame effort through his
hands before Ballack got the late winner.
That winner came after a neat move saw Ashley Cole’s cross headed on
to Shevchenko by Didier Drogba. The Ukrainian then cushioned a header perfectly into the German’s path for him to unleash
a first time volley into the back of the net. Not for the first time since his apparent bust up with his manager, Shevchenko
has been involved in the build up to goals.
For such an experienced player, with such talents to have improved his
all round game says a lot for Mourinho, but also for the players own desire to continue learning the game. In the same match
he laid on chances for Lampard and Robben and was cheered off the pitch when replaced by Kalou after 84 minutes.
Not
so long ago the sight of his number on the subs board would have lead to him trudging dejectedly off the pitch amid rumours
of fall outs between himself and Mourinho and Mourinho and Abramovich. Now he appears to have bought into Mourinho’s
collective he looks a far more dangerous player than he did only weeks ago.
His goal against Tottenham broke the deadlock
in style at White Hart Lane. He also scored the first in the 3-0 demolition of Sheffield United. He may not be quite the ruthless
accumulator of goals he was at AC Milan, but if he continues his current form, he’ll walk off with a bag of medals from
his first season in the English game.
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