TheLeftBack

@ChelseaValky

Wednesday 30 September 2015

Porto 2 Chelsea 1

In Polish, Bolhao would mean "it hurt". This is the part of Porto where Chelsea fans had to pick up their match tickets from. A place nowhere near where the game was taking place. Another away match where despite new collection measures in place to combat the minority of idiots who taint our club's image - we were still treated like utter shit. A net obscuring the pitch (here's an idea... get fans to sit in their proper seats and then you can identify coin throwers!) Having spoken to local police though, it is Manchester Utd fans who they have the biggest gripe with.
Even more frustrating is to lose a match against such mediocre opposition. Mourinho did the right thing to drop Hazard and Matic - but why not Ivanovic too who was at fault for both the goals conceded? I would rather risk Kenedy in that position. 
We controlled the game completely and their goal was against the run of play. Fans were in good voice for all of the first half and Willian's brilliant goal was perfectly timed. But as a result of our errors, Jose was forced to make changes that he probably didn't want to after their second goal thus leaving our defence vulnerable in search of an equaliser.
For the second week in a row, Pedro squandered a one on one opportunity for us to take the lead. On the positive side, Costa looked back to his best and even a late spat that could have escalated was dealt with in a mature manner. Mikel again had a good game. It is Begovic I feel most sorry for who has done nothing wrong. Most frustrating was to have a blatant penalty turned down; Hazard deciding to shoot from an acute angle rather than win a penalty and then another one on one squandered with the last kick of the game.
After being kept in for the usual half an hour following the final whistle, fans had to leave the stadium by a certain exit towards the Metro. This did not suit as my hotel was a stone's throw away from the ground in a completely different direction. When I asked if they could let me through, the police said only Portuguese people could leave via a shortcut. That did it for me and I snapped. "Have you asked these fans if they are Portuguese?" He replied in the negative. But fans who were English and had been in corporate hospitality had no issues getting through. My argument won, they were forced to let me through. That small victory resulted in the biggest applause of the day... Even more than hearing Arsenal had lost against a tier IV side (which I am sure Wenger will successfully overturn when appealing to UEFA).



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