Suffering: Carlo Ancelotti feels the pain as Chelsea
crash out of another competition
As the triumphant anthems of the Mersey erupted
around The Shed, the blue shirts of Chelsea slunk away to confront
their crisis.
A season which started with a stylish swagger is ending in
a protracted train crash. The Premier League has disappeared over
the hills. The FA Cup is merely a memory. All that remains is the
distant prospect of the Champions League. And Stamford Bridge is
not holding its breath.
Everton deserved their celebrations, for their collective
character as much as their performance. After toiling through 90
tepid minutes of normal time, they fell behind to a Frank Lampard
goal in the 14th minute of extra-time, but found equality with
Leighton Baines’s beautifully flighted free-kick with 70 seconds
remaining.
They were behind once more after the first penalties, but
their heads were up, their ambition was fierce and Phil Neville’s
thumpingly emphatic final kick saw them through.
But while Everton attacked their task with spirited
optimism, Chelsea could not make a similar claim. The manager,
Carlo Ancelotti, made all the approved noises yesterday. He thought
his team deserved to win, that they had created ‘lots of chances’
and that penalties are ‘a lottery’. He thought this could still be
‘a very good season for us’.
But, significantly, he conceded: ‘Every time the team
doesn’t make the result, the manager is under pressure.’
This is the way of things at Chelsea, where the manager’s
head is usually the first to roll while the players are encouraged
to draw a line under their own incompetence. Certainly students of
body language would have detected few signs of loyal support for
Ancelotti yesterday, especially when the penalty drama
unfolded.
Yet this time, the executioners might search elsewhere for
their victims. In truth, they would not have far to look. John
Terry looks more vulnerable than at any time in his career, an
accident in waiting. We can only imagine how much injury has taken
out of him, but the player who remains seems unequal to his
task.
Lampard, despite the opening goal, was almost wholly
irrelevant; his finishing insipid, his distribution mundane. Didier
Drogba was at his self-indulgent worst, posturing and preening in a
manner which mocks his talent.
He's done it! Everton players celebrate after Phil
Neville scores the winning penalty
You've blown it: Ashley Cole reacts after missing his
penalty
Saviour: Leighton Baines (right) celebrates his
fabulous free-kick
Bend it like Baines: Everton's defender curls in his
brilliant strike
And Nicolas Anelka, arriving as substitute, once
again missed a crucial penalty with a flaccid swish. Pity the
manager who finds himself at the mercy of their collective whims
and fancies. Where Chelsea lacked serious intent, Everton exceeded
their own limitations.
‘The way they set about the game was great,’ said Eveton
manager David Moyes, and indeed their application was
faultless.
Chelsea missed two or three acceptable chances in the
first half then, on half-time, they demanded both a penalty and a
red card when Tim Howard’s sprawling body was flung across the path
of Ramires. Phil Dowd dismissed the protests and booked the Chelsea
player for diving. Replays indicated that it was a correct
decision, as well as a brave one.
Chelsea lacked both width and inspiration, and for the
second half they brought on Michael Essien for the hapless John Obi
Mikel. The match did not improve.
Pick that out: Lampard volleys home in a crowded
penalty area
Deadlock broken: Frank Lampard celebrates scoring
the opening goal during extra-time
The classic which Arsenal and Barcelona played out
in the same city the other evening had taught them nothing, such
was the lack of respect for possession. Lampard should have won it
with eight minutes remaining, but he chipped over from a dozen
yards.
Then, in the final minute, Marouane Fellaini’s effort was
dubiously disallowed for offside. Anelka instigated the Chelsea
goal with a moment of skill out on the right touchline, producing a
cross which Drogba touched on for Lampard to score. It seemed
sufficient until Everton won a free-kick 20 yards out, and Baines
contributed the finest touch of the entire match as he chipped the
kick into the top corner.
And so to penalties, taken in front of the visiting fans.
Lampard scored the first, Baines missed the second, and it seemed
Chelsea might put an uncomfortable afternoon behind them. Then
Anelka made a slovenly hash of the third Chelsea penalty, while the
Everton takers kept their heads. The last Chelsea kick fell to
Ashley Cole, who struck the kick so high and so wide that it might
be travelling still.
Penalty? Ramires (right) takes a tumble after going
round Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard
Get up: Dowd refuses to award the spot kick and books
Ramires for a dive
The denouement fell to Neville, and there could
have been no better choice. The old pro drove it high into the
Chelsea net, far beyond Petr Cech’s right hand, and the music of
the Mersey began.
There were no songs for Chelsea, merely the sound of
people preparing evidence for the inquest. The easy option would be
a guilty verdict on Carlo Ancelotti. But justice demands that this
time the real culprits should face the consequences.
