Occasionally frustrating, often stressful and invariably unpredictable, we approached this game with cautious optimism. Fresh from two consecutive wins – our longest unbeaten top-flight run since Kajagoogoo were in the charts – after the arrival of a manager who appears to have shored us up defensively, instilling new hope in Albion’s survival push to the extent that we approached the game looking reasonably comfortable in tenth position, happily glancing down at a whole host of other teams scrapping it out in the bottom half.
Arriving at the ground in glorious sunshine that we have normally come to associate with tense, nail-biting end-of-season finales at The Hawthorns, it made a pleasant change to be able to genuinely look forward to our resurgent side locking horns with one of Europe’s finest.
Chelsea emerged from the tunnel boasting plenty of their heavy artillery, not least Drogba, one of a union of centre-forwards who have, over the years, made a habit of religiously scoring goals against Albion. Nonetheless, the excitement at the sight of the splendid stripes – in opposition to a Chelsea kit that Jackson Pollock would probably have referred to as a bit of a mess – was soon vindicated by one of the season’s star men.
First Half
Quick thinking on the parts of Jerome Thomas and the returning James Morrison – for whom Simon Cox dropped to the bench – set Peter Odemwingie one-on-one with the considerable frame of Petr Cech. It often strikes me, as an Albion fan of 12 years, that we all suffer from a certain psychological complex such that, after a string of good results, we instinctively expect a kick in the teeth or day of disappointment. But no matter what thoughts scaled my mind in the period of time between Odemwingie making his run and taking his shot, the quality of the Nigerian’s finish confirmed in my mind what I have been thinking for some time now: this is Albion’s best attacking outfit since the days when Canon, not Barclays, were the top flight’s sponsors, and kick-off times scattered like confetti were unheard of.
Indeed, Albion’s dream start soon evaporated into bitter disappointment and ultimately frustration at the rearing of the heads of old defensive demons. Florent Malouda – much maligned by sections of the Chelsea support, but a livewire on the day nonetheless – sent in a problematic ball. Scott Carson couldn’t intercept and Nicky Shorey was, uncharacteristically, left ruing a mistake as he stabbed the ball back across goal and in the general direction of the potent Drogba who was left with a finish that was so simple some of Albion’s reserve strikers in the early 1990s could probably have buried with aplomb! The Ivorian celebrated after collecting his customary goal against the Baggies.
There was barely time for me to rack my brains to console myself, contemplating a vast sum of defensive rickets over the years, before Drogba’s striking – positionally, not aesthetically, you understand – partner was the beneficiary of the sort of mistake that, for many Albion fans, Scott Carson, for all of his shot-stopping ability, has made far too often over the course of his three years at the club to date. Drogba’s well-struck effort appeared to be heading wide of the goal, but the former Liverpool goalkeeper palmed the ball back into what Alan Hansen would describe as either the “danger area” or the “corridor of uncertainty”, whereupon Soloman Kalou tapped the ball home to turn the game on its head – perhaps a scoreline that some Albion fans would have expected after 26 minutes, but one that was disappointing given the start we had made.
Albion toiled, trying to find a foothold in a game that was fast slipping away from them, but Chelsea appeared to be the proverbial ‘cut above’ on the day. Playing with three men up front had given Meite and Olsson’s relatively solid partnership a run for its money, but it was the reliable central midfielder Frank Lampard who more or less put the game beyond Albion on the stroke of half-time, sweeping home after Malouda had pulled the ball back after beating the offside trap.
After the break
Half-time disappointment was mixed with pragmatism; the terrific recent run of form was destined to end at some point, and there seemed little disgrace in this happening against one of the top sides in the division. If truth be told however, we found it difficult to truly put Chelsea under any serious pressure after the break.
Jerome Thomas had a promising foray that resulted in a decent strike that Ivanovic deflected away from danger, and Chris Brunt’s fearsome left-footed drive fizzed just wide of Cech’s goal. But nonetheless, the Blues remained a threat, Kalou coming closest to adding a fourth with a looping effort that hit Carson’s crossbar. There was still time, as Torres emerged from the bench in the closing stages, for one of our saviours of recent games, Brunt, to head straight at Cech, when he should really have been left celebrating another Hawthorns goal after his match-winning display against Liverpool two weeks ago. But after Torres had seen his elusive goal, which so many Baggies fans could only fearfully anticipate, chalked off for offside – and a later chance missed too – it could not be said that Chelsea didn’t deserve the three points that they collected from Albion.
On reflection
It is always easy to respond in a knee-jerk fashion and blame individuals – often, hastily and inaccurately – but it must be said that Albion’s capitulation after taking such an impressive lead was a collapse entirely of their own doing. Nevertheless, the recent run of results under Hodgson has inspired a great deal of confidence, and the odds of us surviving in this division remain heavily weighted in our favour, and ultimately, after we were beaten 6-0 in our last meeting with Chelsea on the season’s opening day, Albion fans would have been delighted at the prospect of survival.
Despite this setback, with the season reaching its climax, Albion fans can, by comparison to previous seasons, relax to a degree, and rest assured that our football club is making progress under a wise head and a group of players that, although not without their faults, have produced to date a most entertaining campaign.