Stoke City 1-2 Chelsea | Let's go with the Flo!

Traditionally, we don’t have it easy after the international breaks. The reason is, this is Chelsea. A squad full of internationals, most of them first team players for their respective nations.

Consider this: some of our key players had to play two matches in the break including some very crucial World Cup qualifiers. That certainly made today’s away affair at Stoke a tricky one.

Anyway, it was a Chelsea classic wasn’t it? Though we were only minutes away from a disappointing draw, it couldn’t have ended that way. It looked like we had stolen the whistle from the referee and were not going to hand it back until we got the winner. We were really very good and we certainly deserved to win. I got to see only the replay as the match was not telecast live here in India.

Much has been said about that Stoke goal. That was a blunder from Cech. He did an Almunia there. No one knows what he was trying to do there. I guess even he would not be able to say that. All that he had to do was to trust his defence and stay put.

Of course, it was a bad defensive error and Terry and co didn’t even jump as they saw two Stoke players fighting for the header. Anyway, if Cech had stayed back, it must have been a comfortable catch for him.

What he did was a bad mistake. I think he will come out of that. He’s human and he’s intelligent. So he’ll make mistakes but he’ll learn from them.

Our equaliser was ace. The equaliser was a classic Didier Drogba goal. What would be talked about would be the power and strength but the key things were the confidence and precision of the finish. When he touched the ball, it was like he knew he’d score. Is this going to be his season?

When Drogba scores such a goal, it’s sometimes possible to forget about the build-up that led to his goal. If it’s Drogba finding the net, the assist has to be from none other than Frank Lampard. That goal was a dream one for my fantasy premier league. I’ve got them both in my team and Didier is my captain!

In the second half, as you’d expect Stoke City did pack their defence. Chelsea were the only team playing to win and that’s understandable. Why would Stoke City try to play for a win against a rampant Chelsea? I was checking the status from the live updates in BBC and our own BC Shout. Even when it was on the 90th minute, I still thought we would just about make it.

I want to describe the goal, allright? Let me please. First up, the throw-in from Belletti. Isn’t that Stoke City who had this Delap guy who throws the ball like it’s a cricket ball? What irony that Chelsea had to give a dose of Stoke’s own medicine to them! So, Belletti throw the ball almost into the six-yard box that was headed away by the Stoke players and ball falls at the feet of Michael Essien who was at the D.

You’d expect Essien to blast that into the net but surprisingly he passes it to Anelka. There, Nicolas Anelka, with his back to the goal, very very smartly and quickly lays it to oncoming Florent Malouda. Even then, Malouda took a couple of touches to beat his man and then slotted the ball with power. Fantastic team effort for a stoppage time goal.

This was a near perfect weekend. Chelsea winning with a stoppage time goal, Man City murdering Arsenal, Adebayor scoring against the goners and showing his middle finger and we gathering loads of fantasy premier league points in the process. The only stains were the wins by sun bears and thugreds.

I’ve always rated Benayoun. He is a dangerous player. He almost always does play well for Liverpool. May be that’s why the "big fat liar" doesn’t play him as much as he should. Rooney’s goal was class. I hope this does not turn out to be his season.

Not one post will end without me talking about BC Huddle. So here it is. I’m trying to be humble but still even the facts might sound like boasting. In just a week’s time, we have about 70 members, about 100 threads and a whopping 1000 posts. Be warned, it could be very addictive!

Finally, sit back, relax and rejoice. Five wins in five, top of the table, best goal difference in the league and very soon, we’ll see Joe Cole and Zhirkov back. Great times, eh?