March 28, 2014

Three points a must from trip to relegation threatened neigbour Crystal Palace

March comes to an end with a first competitive visit to London SE25 for nearly a decade. It gets tighter and tighter at the top and Chelsea have a chance this weekend to set down a marker in the title run-in when we kick off before Manchester City and Liverpool. 

Attention switches focus across town later on Saturday as City travel to Arsenal. Liverpool host unpredictable Spurs on Sunday. But before that Chelsea return to a happy hunting ground in south London where three points are a must. It would be a good result to get again the 2-1 victory held at The Bridge on December 2013 with Torres’ strike opening the score sheet. 

At Crystal Palace they can muster a lusty din at their 26,000-capacity stadium, especially in a local derby against a club whose hopes they can dash. Less impressive is their pre-match eagle. Unlike its counterpart at Benfica, which majestically soars around the Stadium of Light to oohs and aahs, Kayla the bald eagle flies a more prosaic A to B for the inducement of raw meat.

Cheerleaders and relentless drummers among the self-styled Ultras of the Holmesdale Road end add to the spiritual invocation of the age of Malcolm Allison, of fur coat, Fedora and three fingers infamy (he held them up to Chelsea fans to indicate goals at a cup tie).

Amid a blaze of publicity, Palace's telegenic 1970s manager once hired a celebrity psychic called Romark to lift the legendary 'gypsy curse' on Selhurst Park. Job done, the pair fell out over remuneration and Romark promptly applied a hex of his own. Sure enough, within a few years they were cursed with having to ground-share with Charlton, then Wimbledon.

This is Chelsea's last London derby of the season and the goal difference from the previous nine has been +18. The Glaziers have suffered plenty of capital punishment at Selhurst: 0-2 to Arsenal, 0-1 Tottenham and, most alarmingly, 1-4 Fulham. Their only points return was at home to West Ham.

Chelsea's demolition derby last weekend indicated once again that since their move from Highbury to Emirates Arsenal lack the marble halls to bring home the league title. Off the back of the second 45 against Spurs, Stamford Bridge had witnessed eight goals in two halves against our biggest capital rivals. The opening four against the Gunners came after four straight half-time blanks in the top flight.

The 6-0 exploding of Arsenal was the biggest victory at the Bridge since the 8-0 against Aston Villa and the 13th time we have scored half a dozen or more in a Premier League game.

However, the media have been far happier dwelling on the frailties of Arsenal than Chelsea's qualities. Thomas Rosicky even suggested the first two strikes, wonderful finishes from Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schurrle, were 'almost like own goals.'

Much of the other analysis has suggested the Blues had little real impact on the outcome - as incidental as the time of day or a change in the weather. That is how Jose will like it, of course: the little horse that is quietly becoming a force of nature.

'Tornado Approaching' was how L'Équipe chose to report Chelsea's hammering of France's favourite English side, and the impact in the banlieues of Paris ahead of Tuesday will have been considerable.

Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, were sneaking a 1-0 win at Lorient, in the first weekend of action since the pairing of the league leaders in France and England in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel offer fantastic support to their member clubs, regularly scheduling Ligue 1 matches involving Champions League participants to allow longer recovery and preparation for the midweek games.

PSG's next two will take place on Friday evenings at 7.30pm, giving the French league leaders a clearer run than the Blues. This extra day could be more crucial in the second leg in London, which comes on Tuesday 8 April - just 72 hours after the close of Stoke's visit to the Bridge.

The Parisiens' key man Thiago Silva fractured a cheek bone in match at Lorient, but this is not expected to affect his participation in our meeting, the club's official website reported. 


- Match preview by chelseafc.com