Oh god. We are in trouble. An underwhelming performance from Chelsea, gets an underwhelming result, as we blow a 2-0 half time lead to the newly promoted Sheffield United. Two well-taken goals from Tammy Abraham were cancelled out in the 2nd half, with Kurt Zouma putting it into his own net in the last minute to level the game for the visitors. Only one win in the opening four matches. Not the start we had hoped for….*huge sigh*…. Let’s do a recap.
1st Half – Chelsea ‘do enough’ to Take Control
Fikayo Tomori was handed his first start this season in the centre of defence, with Andreas Christensen taking a place on the bench. Kante and Pedro were not in the starting line-up, with Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham keeping their place in the team, with Pulisic selected ahead of Willian. Chelsea started brightly as they have done in every game this season, and it only took Tammy Abraham less than 20 minutes to cause a nuisance for the opposition defence and goalkeeper as he opened up the scoring.
Kovacic, who was arguably our best player, came close to a 2nd with some great build-up play, but as he drove into the box, his shot was angled just wide. Two Sheffield United defenders went up for a header together, messing up completely, allowing Tammy Abraham to bear down on goal and get his 2nd – another cool finish who has now scored four goals in his two recent Premier League games. The half time whistle went, and Chelsea played decently, without mesmerising the opposition, and looked as if the three points were already assured.
2nd Half – Chelsea Blow Lead
Well, the 2nd half mirrored what we see against Leicester just a few weeks ago. Another poor performance, and Lampard once again described us of lacking ‘personality’. Sheffield United scored straight from the restart, as Azpilicueta and Jorginho combined couldn’t sniff out their opposing player, who brought it back for Callum Robinson to smash it in. Hopefully, that goal would wake us up, and tell us to go up another gear, but it had the opposite effect. Sheffield United smelt blood, the fans went quiet, and the fear creeped into our players. Substitutions such as Willian, Batshuayi and youngster Gilmor coming on did not help at all, and in fact, perhaps even impeded us.
Our only real chance in the 2nd half came when Tammy Abraham’s close volley was saved brilliantly, as he was denied a hat-trick. Still at 2-1 in the closing stages, the unthinkable had happened. A dangerous cross was swept it, asking for one of their players to finish it, but Kurt Zouma kindly obliged, as it came off his foot and went into the top corner. I can’t be too harsh on him, as the whole team were culpable for letting Sheffield United get back into it. It’s been a tough August, with two home draws, a battering at Old Trafford, and just the one victory against Norwich away. We are 9th in the table, below all of our rivals, and also behind today’s opponents…Sheffield United.
What Next?
Well, let’s hope Chelsea can return an improved side after the international break which commences now. When we come back, we have Wolves away on the Saturday which promises to be a gruelling match. We had lost their last season, and we really can’t afford to lose there again. Following that, we welcome back the Champions League to the Bridge, by entertaining Valencia.