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West
Bromwich Albion v Chelsea
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 16th March 2003, 4.05pm. |
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Albion fans can point to two key incidents when Albion were playing
well that had a huge effect on this game, but the truth was that
once more, the Albion were just not good enough. Injuries to Moore
and McInnes causing them to be substituted after 13 minutes and
the second Chelsea goal when Albion were on top were perhaps defining
moments, but Chelsea were never forced to break sweat and were ultimately
in a different class.
Megson fielded a much changed side with Roberts returning from suspension
to partner Hughes up front, Balis returning for the injured Adam
Chambers and a back three of Clement, Moore and Sigurdsson. Gregan,
McInnes and Koumas were in midfield with Udeze at left wing back
have made up with Megson following the throw-in incident at St.
Mary's.
Albion started brightly with Roberts going close inside the first
minute after Balis had broke down the right. Referee Andy D'Urso
failed to endear himself to the home fans after he failed to wait
a few seconds when Roberts was fouled in the centre circle - JR
retained possession to put Hughes clear, but the whistle was gone.
It started to go wrong when Moore clashed with Hasselbaink and was
stretchered off. He was substituted at the same time as McInnes
who'd taken a knock early on and the shape of the side was disrupted.
Gregan had to drop into the back three with Wallwork and James Chambers
completing the midfield.
For the rest of the first half, Albion worked hard but to little
effect. Hughes was tireless up front and harried the Chelsea defence
in possession, but he was supported by neither Roberts nor the midfield
in his efforts which made them fairly pointless, as the Blues always
had spare men to pass the ball around. The game descended into a
drab affair, punctuated only by a fine save by Hoult when Hasselbaink
seized onto a Gregan error for Chelsea's first attempt on goal.
Big Dave's absence was all too apparent on 38 minutes when a Le
Saux corner was met by the unmarked STANIC to beat Hoult with ease,
and the game seemed effectively over. The game petered out to half
time with Albion failing to threaten once.
Megson went for it at half time using his last remaining substitution
to bring Dichio on for Udeze, changing the team to 4-3-3. It appeared
to have the desired effect as Albion looked dangerous early on.
Unfortunately, only a few half chances were created and Chelsea
started to catch Albion on the break.
Hasselbaink was through on goal only to be denied by the excellent
Hoult but on 55 minutes, it was two-nil. After a couple of side
steps and a one-two with Hasselbaink, ZOLA beat Hoult with a fine
shot into the corner from 20 yards. Definitely game over.
The atmosphere died as did the game, although one can argue that
it was never really alive. Chelsea had a few chances to extend the
lead, but they weren't really trying. And, it seemed, neither were
Albion. Until the last fifteen minutes when Koumas woke up and produced
a few moments of skill including a fine shot from the corner of
the box that was turned around by Cudicini. But it was the Chelsea
defence that came closest to beating Cudicini when both Desailly
and Melchiot took swings at Koumas's free kick sending the ball
goalwards, but Cudicini was on hand to save.
It was not the battling, but unsuccessful, performance that we have
come to expect at the Hawthorns, it was just poor. The guys almost
looked as if they'd already given up. The fans did wake up late
on, but it's the quietest they've been all season after the second
goal went in. I think the inevitability of First Division football
is finally dawning on us all.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 CHELSEA
2
Marks
Hoult - 8 - MOM. Kept the score respectable.
Balis - 7 - An impressive return from Igor.
Udeze - 5 - Had a bit of a mare defensively.
Clement - 6 - Average.
Moore - 6 - Not on long enough, will be sorely missed if out for
a time.
Sigurdsson - 7 - Not bad, but a bizarre MOM choice from the sponsors.
Koumas - 7 - Always our only creative spark, but relatively quiet
in illustrious company.
McInnes - 6 - Again not on long enough.
Gregan - 6 - Mixed; shame he couldn't have continued in the middle.
Roberts - 5 - A couple of moments, but he rarely looked interested.
Hughes - 7 - Worked tirelessly but didn't get any service or support.
J Chambers - 6 - A rare appearance, and it's easy to see why.
Wallwork - 6 - Did OK, but too often his decision making is poor.
Dichio - 5 - Won a few high balls but overall he was poor.
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West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Clement, Moore (J Chambers 13), Sigurdsson; Balis, Koumas,
Gregan, McInnes (Wallwork 13), Udeze (Dichio 45); Hughes, Roberts.
Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Dobie.
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Chelsea
(3-4-1-2):
Cudicini; Melchiot, Terry, Gallas; Stanic (De Lucas 73), Lampard,
Morris, Le Saux (Desailly 83); Zola; Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen (Gronkjaer
55). Subs not used: de Goey (GK), Cole. |
Scoring: Stanic (38)
0-1, Zola (55) 0-2.
Bookings: None.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex)
Attendance: 27,024 |
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