Chelsea - Better away than at home?
Chelsea certainly have been surprising under Rafael Benitez since he took over. They thumped Aston Villa 8-0 to give Rafa his first home Premier League win, and suddenly they lose at home 0-1 and 0-2 to rock bottom Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City respectively. On the contrast, they are scoring goals at an incredible rate away from home.
Under Rafa, Chelsea started with 2 goalless stalemates against defending champions Manchester City and neighbours Fulham. In those 2 games, Chelsea had good enough chances to break the deadlock but couldn’t take any of them. That was compounded by a 3-1 hammering by West Ham United. Chelsea took the lead, the first goal under Rafa’s era at Stamford Bridge, and eventually let it slip. Chelsea got their first home win under Rafa with a 6-1 thumping of FC Nordsjaelland. Then came a 3-1 victory against Sunderland, the same scoreline against Monterrey and then a shock 1-0 loss to the Corinthians.
Following that was 3 successive away wins, starting with a 5-1 thumping of Leeds United at Elland Road. On Boxing Day, Aston Villa were thumped 8-0 to mark Rafael Benitez’s first & last home Premier League win till date. The Norwich and Everton victories, 0-1 and 1-2 respectively, were dominated by the home sides, but Chelsea took their chances. Chelsea went into the new year in third place, 4 points clear of Tottenham Hotspur.
The New Year began with a shock 0-1 home defeat to bottom side Queens Park Rangers, a game where Chelsea had 75% possession and had most of the chances, but not even one converted. The deciding goal of that game was scored by Chelsea old boy Shaun Wright-Phillips after Chelsea could not clear a corner. That was one of the shocks of the season, and it was Queens Park Rangers’ first win at Stamford Bridge for 38 years. That was followed by a trip to Southampton for the third round tie of the FA Cup. Chelsea went behind to Jay Rodriguez’s goal, but came back to win 5-1, including a debut brace for Senegalese striker Demba Ba. The following mid-week was the League Cup semifinal first leg against Swansea at Stamford Bridge. It was pretty much similar to the game against QPR, as Chelsea created many clear-cut chances, but took none of them. A brace of Branislav Ivanovic errors helped Michu and Danny Graham score and win the game 2-0. Torres was booed off when he was substituted in the 83rd minute and Demba Ba scored, only to be denied by the offside flag.
Chelsea started Ba ahead of Torres against Stoke, but they were lazy and lethargic in the first half, the first goal coming just before the half-time interval. It was an own goal from Jonathan Walters, as he headed an Azpilicueta cross past his own keeper, Asmir Begovic. Chelsea went on to win the game 4-0 with another own goal from Walters, a penalty from Frank Lampard and a screamer from Eden Hazard. Frank Lampard went on to become Chelsea’s all time second top scorer.
The night was aggravated for Walters when he missed a penalty after being brought down by substitute defender John Terry. Petr Cech and John Terry made returns to the Chelsea side after suffering injuries. Chelsea’s next 2 games are home games. They face Southampton on Wednesday, and rivals Arsenal on Sunday before they go to Wales for the second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal. Chelsea have to do a lot of work to reach Wembley, although their recent form suggests that it is a certain possibility.