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MATCH REPORT: SWANSEA CITY 1 CHELSEA 1
Posted on: Tue 31 Jan 2012
Summary
In the end a draw was probably a fair result, with the Blues dominating possession in the second half. Scott Sinclair's impressive strike had given the home side a half-time lead, but as the game appeared to be out of reach following Ashley Cole's 85th minute red card, Jose Bosingwa proved the unlikely hero, firing in a shot with almost the last kick of the game that was deflected in to send the travelling hordes into a frenzy behind the goal.
Best moment
Ultimately, an obvious choice, but Bosingwa's late strike not only salvaged a much needed point, but also maintained our unbeaten start to 2012.
Team news
With John Terry missing through injury, Jose Bosingwa returned to the side, with Branislav Ivanovic moving into central defence. Oriol Romeu came in for the injured Ramires in midfield, while the front three remained unchanged. Young Brazilian Lucas Piazon was named among the substitutes for the first time in his Blues career, while both Essien and Gary Cahill also had to be content with places on the bench. Petr Cech captained the side in Terry's absence.
Scott Sinclair started for Swansea against his former club, while Josh McEachran, currently on loan at the Liberty Stadium from Chelsea, was ineligible to play against his parent club.
First half
The home side began the game on the front foot, confidently stroking the ball around with the Blues happy to sit back, looking to break quickly.
Ashley Williams almost found Danny Graham with a ball from deep in the fourth minute but Ivanovic was on hand to head away under pressure from the striker.
A minute later Graham almost gave the hosts the lead, but after a Steven Caulker free kick was only half cleared he fired wide from only yards out.
Brendan Rodgers' side certainly looked the more lively in the opening exchanges with the Blues struggling to retain possession when we did have the ball.
Daniel Sturridge came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute, however, when David Luiz's cross broke to him on the edge of the penalty area, but the youngster screwed his shot inches past Vorm's left-hand post.
Swansea almost went in front minutes later only for some astonishing and resolute Chelsea defending to keep the scores level. As Graham challenged Cech the ball fell to Gylfi Sigurdsson who skipped past the goalkeeper before firing goalwards, only to see Ivanovic clear his effort off the line, and as the rebound ran to Graham it looked as though he had to score, but this time it was David Luiz on hand to clear off the line.
Nathan Dyer, in particular, was causing us problems early on as Swansea looked to utilise the winger's pace and movement down the right.
We began to get a foot hold in the game as the half progressed, and after a tame Bosingwa effort from distance failed to test Vorm, Raul Meireles should have done better when he worked his way into the box following a neat exchange of passes with Sturridge.
Sturridge then forced a corner in the 30th minute when his shot was deflected behind, and as the home side failed to clear the resulting kick away properly, Bosingwa crossed for Juan Mata, who saw his volley sail wide of the post.
The Spaniard then linked up cleverly with Ashley Cole down the left, but as he attempted to pick out Sturridge at the back post his cross drifted over the bar.
A succession of Blues corners failed to cause the home side any problems as we pressed for the opening goal, but while we were beginning to look more dangerous, clear-cut opportunities were proving hard to come by.
In the 39th minute Swansea took the lead and, somewhat typically, it was the former Chelsea player Scott Sinclair who broke the deadlock with his seventh league goal of the season.
Graham's free kick was only cleared to the edge of the penalty area by Bosingwa, and as it fell to Sinclair he sent a left-footed looping effort beyond the dive of Cech into the top corner, while to his credit, refusing to celebrate against his old club.
As the clock ticked down towards the break, the frustration of the Blues players began to tell, with both Cole and Florent Malouda being shown yellow cards.
Second half
Andre Villas-Boas chose not to make any changes at the interval, no doubt looking for a reaction from those players who had failed to perform in the opening 45 minutes.
We began the second half well, but on more than one occasion our final delivery into the box let us down with Meireles, in particular, twice wasting free kicks in dangerous positions.
Cole then fizzed a fantastic ball across the face of the Swansea goal in the 57th minute, but both Sturridge and Fernando Torres failed to read his intentions and held their runs as it rolled harmlessly away.
Cole's commitment to hauling us back into the game couldn't be called into question, and the left-back's duel with Dyer was turning into quite a contest.
A change in formation saw Mata adopt a more central position in the second half, with Sturridge on his right and Malouda to his left looking to support Torres.
Michael Essien then entered the action in the 64th minute, replacing Romeu to slot in alongside Meireles in front of the back four, and almost scored with his first touch, sending a rasping effort inches over the bar with Vorm beaten.
As has often been the case of late, we were enjoying plenty of possession but lacking that all-important cutting edge in the final third as we searched for the equaliser.
A teasing Bosingwa cross almost paid dividends, but Malouda failed to connect, while shortly after Sturridge poked his shot wide with Mata and Torres in acres of space. David Luiz then set off on a jinking run only to see his effort blocked by Taylor.
With just over ten minutres remaining, Villas-Boas introduced Romelu Lukaku to the action at the expense of Malouda, hoping to utilise the youngster's power in the closing stages.
The game was almost put to bed a few minutes later when a Swansea counter attack culminated with Dyer firing narr:-) wide, while at the other end Bosingwa went close for the Blues.
With five minutes left on the clock Cole's night was brought to a premature end when he was dismissed for a late tackle on Dyer. It was the correct decision, although the tackle was more borne out of frustration than malice.
With the Blues down to ten men, it was Swansea who looked more threatening in the closing stages but amazingly we stole an equaliser in stoppage time.
Bosingwa, who had been a threat down the right throughout the second half, cut inside his marker and his shot deflected off Taylor and past Vorm into the Swansea goal to seal a dramatic finish to the match.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech (c); Bosingwa, Luiz, Ivanovic, Cole; Meireles, Romeu (Essien 64), Malouda (Lukaku 79); Sturridge, Torres, Mata.
Unused subs: Turnbull, Ferreira, Cahill, Bertrand, Piazon, Lukaku.
Scorer: Bosingwa 90+2
Booked: Cole 44, Malouda 45
Swansea (4-3-3): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams ©, Taylor; Britton, Allen, Sigurdsson; Dyer, Graham, Sinclair (Moore 77).
Unused subs: Tremmel, Richards, Monk, Augustien, Routledge, Lita.
Scorer: Sinclair
Booked: Taylor 14, Rangel 47
Referee: Andre Marriner
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2595730,00.html
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s_manavvan   
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