Chelsea's Top 5 Moments of 2014
A new year is upon us.
In a few short hours, we'll be celebrating the dawn of 2015, so what better moment is there to look back on the successes of the past 12 months?
With Jose Mourinho back at Stamford Bridge, it has proved to be an exciting time for everyone associated with Chelsea.
The team is looking strong once more, the fans have the manager they have long craved and success appears to be on the brink.
Chelsea came close to reaching a third Champions League final this year, while they also signed Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas to make them even more formidable.
And how can we forget Didier Drogba's two homecomings—first as a Galatasaray player, then later re-signing for the Blues in the summer.
Those moments haven't made our top five, but join us as we count down some memorable events from the past year.
5. Goal-Line Technology Awards Chelsea a Goal in Front of the Kop
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It's a strange one, as this hasn't been discussed in too much depth, but Gary Cahill's equalizer against Liverpool at Anfield this season gives Chelsea fans an element of closure against Liverpool.
The defender's goal was awarded courtesy of goal-line technology when Hawk Eye—the Premier League's goal decision system—alerted referee Anthony Taylor that Cahill's scrambled effort had crossed the line.
In previous years, the goal may not have been awarded. Indeed, whether or not it was a goal may well have been debated for some time after, had it not been for technology.
Who knows—the debate could go on for, say, a decade.
To understand the significance of Cahill's strike, we have to go back to April 2005 when Luis Garcia's "ghost goal" was enough to put Liverpool in the Champions League final at Chelsea's expense.
Ever since, the events of that night have been debated, and we've never had a conclusive outcome. Liverpool fans will say it was over, Chelsea fans will say William Gallas cleared the ball before it crossed the line.
Of course, it matters very little. History tells us Liverpool won the game 1-0, and the controversy is nothing more than another incident in football.
With Cahill's goal, however—which was incidentally in front of the Kop, the very end where Garcia scored his "goal"—Chelsea fans have some form of retribution.
The stakes were much lower, as it was only a league game, but when a debatable goal was scored at Anfield, technology was on hand to work in Chelsea's favour.
It was a satisfying moment.
4. THAT Win over Manchester City
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Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team may have disappointed in the way they let the Premier League title slip from their grasp last season, but they made up for it with some excellent performances that reminded us of the mettle he brings to a club.
One of the finest examples was the tactical masterclass against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in February.
Manuel Pellegrini's side had been sweeping aside all before them at home until Chelsea arrived on a cold Monday night.
With Nemanja Matic marshaling Yaya Toure in midfield, Chelsea were phenomenal.
Indeed, the scoreline may have only been 1-0, courtesy of Branislav Ivanovic's strike, but it was arguably Chelsea's best performance of the year. They bossed City and gave them very little joy, showing they couldn't be intimidated at the home of the eventual champions.
It was almost coming-of-age stuff, a moment that showed us Chelsea were on the right path under Mourinho.
3. Demba Ba's Last-Ditch Winner Against Paris Saint-Germain
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He wasn't given much playing time under Jose Mourinho, but Demba Ba certainly made up for lost time whenever he slipped into a Chelsea shirt.
One of his best moments came in the dramatic 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge.
The French champions had a comfortable 3-1 lead going into the second leg after Chelsea had seemingly thrown away their Champions League campaign with a poor performance in the Parc des Princes.
Andre Schurrle had clawed one goal back in the first half, yet as the clock ticked down, it appeared PSG were going to hold on for a famous victory.
That was until Ba popped up in the 87th minute to score a late goal to make it 2-0 on the night.
The scores were level at 3-3 on aggregate and, given Chelsea's away goal in Paris, the London club advanced to face Atletico Madrid in the semis. It was Champions League drama at its finest.
Cue the wild celebrations.
2. Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal
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The headline says it all.
Chelsea fans may have to wait a long time to witness their team thrash a rival in this fashion again, but we get the feeling they will be content enough when reflecting on how they humiliated Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in March.
It was clear something special was happening for Chelsea after Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring with just five minutes on the clock.
Andre Schurrle doubled the lead two minutes later. After 17 minutes, the Gunners were down to 10 men when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handled the ball on the line.
Eden Hazard converted the penalty following a melee in the box when the referee dismissed the wrong player for the handling offence, giving Kieran Gibbs his marching orders instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
By half-time, Oscar had made it 4-0. The Brazilian also added a fifth not long after the hour.
Mohamed Salah came from the bench to compound Arsenal's misery with a sixth.
It was a game that had everything. From Chelsea's perspective, the win was made all the sweeter by the fact that it was Arsene Wenger's 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal.
Jose Mourinho's side proved to be the ultimate party poopers.
1. Ending Liverpool's Premier League Title Dream
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It was the game that was supposed to all but end their 24-year wait to be crowned England's finest, but Liverpool's 2-0 defeat against Chelsea in April did the opposite—it extended it by another year (at least).
Chelsea had a Champions League semi-final to contend with a few days after the match, so the expectation was that Brendan Rodgers' side would walk it against their old foe.
In the process, the three points gained would mean the Premier League title would be a formality with just two more games left to play.
With a weakened team, Chelsea outplayed their rivals, though. And the much-maligned Demba Ba was on hand to capitalise on a Steven Gerrard slip to put the Blues 1-0 up on the stroke of half-time.
Liverpool never recovered, and Willian made sure of the win with a tap-in at the death.
The result knocked Liverpool's confidence severely and let Manchester City back into the title race.
Given all that has passed between Chelsea and Liverpool this past decade, Blues fans will not be in a hurry to forget how their team ruined that title parade.
Chelsea didn't win a trophy in 2013-14, but they did a fine job of preventing Liverpool from claiming one themselves. They did it in their own backyard, too.
"We [were not] going to be the clowns, they [wanted] us to be the clowns in the circus," Mourinho later reflected in an interview with Gary Neville in the Daily Telegraph while discussing the game.
Well, clowns are known for laughing, and by that definition, maybe Chelsea were indeed the clowns. After all, it's they who have been left to laugh longest.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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