Premier League
Blues Held At Bay
New year and new beginnings. Chelsea storm into the 2019 with a firm grip of the Premier League’s headlines. Additionally, the blues announced today that they would be signing American wonder kid Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund. Pulisic will be joining the West London natives this summer after finishing his four-year stint at Dortmund. Also, with much attention coming off field, the blues would need to focus on the task at hand, which was Southampton today.
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Chelsea seemed to be gifted the injury bug during this holiday break. With that being said, the blues were forced to make changes to their attacking prowess. Alvaro Morata, who has recently come back from injury, saw his resurgence back into the starting lineup. However, the loss of Pedro rescinds Chelsea’s creative ability to field the false nine formation Maurizio Sarri is infatuated with playing. Chelsea’s first half would look like many for the blues, possession heavy and very inspired runs. Chelsea’s best chance would come in the 34th minute when Antonio Rüdiger would loft a ball into the box. Eden Hazard would gracefully get a touch and smash home a shot with his left only to see a point blank save by Angus Gunn off his face. Chelsea’s injury woes would continue when Willian has to be replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek from what looks to be an ankle injury.
Sustained Stubbornness
With much bluster in the first half Chelsea would have nothing to hang their hats on. Therefore, Chelsea would enjoy 73% possession, but with no end result, it would prove to mean very little. The blues would introduce Cesc Fábregas hoping the Spaniard would be able to unlock the defense. Additionally, on the 70th minute, Morata would find the back of the net after a beautiful pass from Fábregas only to see the line judge’s flag go up for offside. However, Southampton’s defense showed to be a proven safeguard against Chelsea’s constant attack. The blues would have two separate penalty appeals with N’Golo Kanté and Morata going down from challenges by Maya Yoshida. However, it would prove not to be Chelsea’s day being held to a 0-0 draw.
Next Up
Southampton’s Gunn proved a promising prospect getting a clean sheet on his first Premier League appearance. Chelsea remain fourth on the Premier League table with a three point gap on fifth place Arsenal. Much eyes will be on the Manchester City Liverpool match which will modify the shape of the title race. A break in league play may just need what the blues need to get back to their winning ways. Chelsea will be hosting Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup this weekend.
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