<% Dim oCs, oRs, strSQL set oCs = server.createobject("ADODB.Connection") oCs.Open "Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)}; DBQ=" & Server.MapPath("/season/02-03/data") & "/premtable.xls;" strSQL = "SELECT * FROM [OldSum$] ORDER BY Pos ;" Set oRs = oCs.Execute(strSQL) %> ToffeeWeb: Chelsea v Everton, Premiership Season 2002-03
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 FA Premiership (35); Stamford Bridge, London; Monday 21 April 2003; 3:00pm
  Gudjohnsen (25')
Hasselbaink (48')
Gronkjear (61')
Zola (90+4')
 
Attendance: 40,875
Halftime: 1-0

Facts
Reports
Carsley (77')


Referee: Mike Riley
 

Match Summary

David Moyes was apparently as disgusted with Gravesen's 'performance' on Saturday; the Mad Dog dropped in favour of Li Tie, with Gemmill starting in place of the injured Watson.  Rooney and Campbell started again upfront.  Still no sign of Radzinski, but Tony Hibbert was on the bench.  

Everton earned a free-kick early in the game and worked it well from distance but then Stubbs blazed over.  Worryingly, Yobo again seemed to lose his confidence on occasions, twice ceding possession to Chelsea in threatening positions.  

Hasselbaink then set up Gudjohnsen in acres of space, Weir slipping to allow the Chelsea player to fire home and open the scoring after 25 mins.  Everton tried to respond in kind, with Rooney getting the ball on a couple of occasions but he was unable to make much of it.

Everton then created a glorious chance, Gemmill doing all the work to get a great ball in but Cudicini made a critical save.  Everton tried to play some football and get in shooting range, but 

But it was not long after the break that another fearsome attack that was finished by Hasselbaink with a looping header.  Gronkjaer got the other side of Yobo, and put in a great cross that seemed to bounce off the Chelsea player's head as he was diving forward, and into the net as Wright crumpled into the post. 

Moyes responded with a couple of substitutions, Hibbert coming on for Yobo, who was being run ragged by Gronkjaer, and Gravesen (!)  coming on for Unsworth.

Then it was Route One from Chelsea, a long hopeful ball from a Terry free-kick that found Gronkjaer who had evaded two Everton defenders and had no trouble firing home past Wright.  A stroll in the park for Chelsea.

Gravesen then picked up his fourth card in as many games, with another characteristic foul, as Everton failed to really give any meaningful response, with Hibbert having the first serious shot on goal.

Then, a nice piece of football by Everton saw Carsley score a consolation goal, thanks to a beautiful set-up from Gemmill.  Carsley very nearly scored a second with a nice little move from Gravesen and an acrobatic overhead kick.

Ranieri rolled over his three strikers in the last to minutes, and Zola finished things off in predictable style for Chelsea with a cheeky chip over Wright as the last kick of a dreadful defeat for Everton.

Who said you can't lose to the same team three times in a season?

Live Real Audio Commentary from Radio Everton


Li Tie: Back in the
team after Gravesen was 
dropped

Chelsea v Everton:
Prior League Games
 Overall  
 Chelsea 31
 Everton 12
 Draws 20
 Premiership  
 Chelsea 5
 Everton 1
 Draws 4
 Last Season:

Chelsea 3-0 Everton 



Premiership Scores
Easter Monday 21 Apr
Birmingham 3-2 Sotton 
Blackburn 0-0 Bolton 
Chelsea  3-1 Everton 
Liverpool  2-1 Charlton 
Man City 3-0 Sunderland
Newcastle  1-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 2-3 Tottenham
West Ham 1-0 Middlesbro
Tuesday 22 Apr
Leeds  --- Fulham 
 


Match Facts
 Chelsea  (4-4-2)
 Blue shirts, shorts, and socks
Everton   (4-4-2; 77': 4-3-3)
 Black shirts, shorts, and socks
  Cudicini
Melchiot
Gallas
Terry
Desailly (c)
De Lucas
Petit
Lampard
Gronkjaer (87' Le Saux)
Gudjohnsen (84' Cole)
Hasselbaink (80' Zola)

Subs not used:  De Goey, 
Stanic, Le Saux, 

Yellow Cards: De Lucas (6')

Red Cards: —
Wright
Yobo (50' Hibbert)
Weir (c)
Stubbs
Unsworth (51' Gravesen)
Carsley
Li Tie (77' Ferguson)
Gemmill
Naysmith
Rooney
Campbell

Subs not used: Gerrard,
Alexandersson

Yellow Cards: Gravesen (60')

Red Cards: —


Unavailable:

(Injured:) Linderoth, Pistone;
(Recovering:) Radzinski, Rodrigo;
(On Loan:) Clarke, McLeod, Nyarko.
 
Match Reports

Everton Web Sites
ToffeeWeb Match Summary
EvertonFC.com Match Report
When Skies Are Grey Match Report
Blue Kipper Match Report
Everton Fans' Reports
Lyndon Lloyd A yawning gulf in class
Links to Other Media Reports
Electronic Telegraph Match Report
BBC Sport Match Report
4 the Game Match Report
Sky Sports Match Report
Sporting Life Match Report
SoccerNet Match Report
The Guardian Match Report
The Independent Match Report
The Times Match Report
Liverpool Echo Match Report
Daily Post Match Report
Premiership Table
Pos Team Pts
1 Man Utd 74
2 Arsenal 71
3 Chelsea 63
4 Newcastle 62
5 Liverpool 61
6 Everton 56
7 Blackburn 53
8 Tottenham 50
9 Southampton 48
10 Man City 48
11 Middlesbrough 46
12 Charlton 46
13 Birmingham 44
14 Aston Villa 42
15 Leeds 41
16 Fulham 41
17 Bolton 39
18 West Ham 35
19 West Brom 24
20 Sunderland 19
After 22 Apr 2003


Match Preview

Chelsea have already battered us at Stamford Bridge this season.  And yes they did batter us.  4-1 — and we were lucky to get the one — a football lesson from that little maestro that is Zola.  

Once again, though, Moyes showed his tactical acumen by rejigging the team just days later to cause Ranieri's men no end of difficulties at Goodison.  Whilst the final score-line of 3-1 suggests a similar game to the first, it wasn't.  A very late third from a break that appeared to be started when the referee ignored strong penalty claims glossed over a second half in which we carried the game brilliantly to them and completely shut Zola out of the game.

To get anything out of this one, we will again need to close Zola down.  In an attacking threat Zola is by far their main weapon.  While Gudjohnsen and Hasslebaink have failed to live up to their stunning season of last year, Zola has reawakened memories of his brilliant arrival on the Premiership scene.

It is, however, Chelsea's backline that has driven them to a Champions League spot this season.  Desailly and Gallas are both world-class.  Cudicini is an outstanding shot-stopper and Terry one of England's best young players.  Add to that Babayaro and the annoying Le Saux and you have a excellent backline.  Patrolling in front of them is the industrious duo of Lampard and Petit.  

Extreme pace on the flanks can be provided by Gronkjaer and Zenden.  Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri will check on the fitness of Jody Morris (thigh), Jesper Gronkjaer (groin) and Mario Stanic (Achilles) before finalising his side to face Everton.

The disastrous and debilitating derby will definitely have taken it out of some Evertonian's legs.  It would be very surprising to see the same 11 start this game; surely Moyes must do something to bring life to the midfield.  Li Tie will probably start and Rooney may well be benched with Radzinski getting the nod, if he is fit.

An industrious display will be needed.  Coming on the heels of the Derby loss, this is a very tough call for the lads and probably our hardest game of the season.  Weir, Stubbsy and Yobo will have to be at their best.

With Rooney, Radz and Dunc we now always carry a threat but I'm worried about this to be honest so will plump for a flat 0-0 but that's only because I don't like predicting defeats!!

BlueForEver

Lee Doyle


Text



A yawning gulf in class

Two games; six crucial points. Given the state of the club's finances and the calibre of players we have, we had absolutely no right to hope to overhaul Liverpool and Chelsea in the space of two days and put ourselves in the driving seat for an unlikely Champions League place. But, on the basis of what has hitherto been a fantastic season, the chance to jump into the money pot at the expense of these two teams was there for the taking so why not go hell for leather for it?

Why not, indeed.

Instead, the players we have been lauding for so much for their performances for most of this campaign lost the plot at the crucial juncture and having lost to that lot across the park on Saturday they were well and truly spanked by Chelsea in London today. Conceding their 11th goal to Claudio Ranieri's men this season and watching the Champions League dream get blown away by a stiff dose of reality, David Moyes's men might have been wondering where it all went wrong.

Having let the Goodison faithful down so badly in Saturday's derby, Everton's players had plenty of incentive outside of the obvious league and European aspect and they certainly began the game with confidence and purpose. David Moyes had sensibly dropped Thomas Gravesen and the case against his continuing presence in the Everton squad was, you'd have thought, amply illustrated by tidy performances by Scot Gemmill and Li Tie — curiously, the mad Dane was introduced into the midfield at Unsworth's expense seven minutes into the second half.

The Toffees, chasing a third successive win in the all black third strip, even had the first shot of the game when Alan Stubbs finished off a nicely-worked free kick with a shot that appeared to have been deflected high and over but the referee awarded Chelsea a goal kick. The home side's intent was signalled by Eidar Gudjohsnen when he stormed into the area in the fifth minute but Unsworth made a well-timed challenge and the danger was cleared. De Lucas' tackle on Wayne Rooney three minutes later was less accurate and he was booked for his trouble.

Portents of disaster to come arrived in the form of a couple of players losing their footing around the Everton area and Yobo making two badly-placed clearances that placed unnecessary pressure on the back line. And in the 25th minute, Chelsea took the lead. Weir slipped at the absolute worst moment and Gudjohnsen collected a cross unhindered before taking one touch and slamming the ball past the helpless Richard Wright.

At this stage it was rough justice on Everton. While the Londoners clearly possessed more class, Everton were at least matching their opponents in spirit and competition. Having said that, Moyes's side never really looked like scoring. When the likes of Unsworth, Weir and particularly Yobo weren't resorting to the long, fruitless hoof up the pitch, Rooney was well shackled by the home defence and Campbell, often playing too deep, was totally ineffective.

Chelsea, by comparison, were fluid in midfield and attack and they were almost two goals up 10 minutes before half time when Hasselbaink latched onto a cross on the right side of the area but fired into the side netting. At the other end, a half chance for Everton made possible by a good move by Gemmill resulted in Rooney heading back Lee Carsley's cross but the danger was snuffed out by Chelsea.

Having gone into the interval 1-0 down to a highly fortuitous goal, Everton might have fancied their chances of grinding out a point in the second half, but such hopes were in tatters within two minutes of the restart. Yobo was badly caught out on the left by Jesper Gronkjaer and his cross found Hasselbaink whose unorthodox looping heading arced over Wright and into the far corner to make it 2-0.

Moyes, probably through desperation and fear at the sight of his side's Champions League challenge coming off the rails, threw on Tony Hibbert for Yobo and Gravesen for Unsworth. However, his team was 3-0 down within minutes.

On the hour mark, Everton were exposed for the sloppy, inattentive, frustrating side that they so often are. John Terry floated a free kick from midway inside his own half that everybody in black stood and watched while Gronkjaer raced through to collect the ball and beat the advancing Wright with ease to make it 3-0. The pretentions of Moyes's side of Champions League football were made a mockery by that single moment and it would have been laughable had it not represented so emphatically the death knell for our Champions League aspirations.

Well cushioned by a 3-0 lead, Chelsea eased off the accelerator considerably and invited Everton to take the initiative, but the visitors were embarrassing in their complete inability to cause Carlo Cudicini any trouble in the Chelsea goal. Rooney, by far the most industrious and creative player in black, was resorting to dropping deep in order to see the ball while Campbell, as the possessor of the height, was letting the side down by inexplicably pulling out of aerial challenges for crosses.

Then, with 13 minutes left, it all came together for one small moment that reminded the travelling supporters how on earth Everton are in the top six at this stage of the season in the first place. Gemmill picked up the ball 10 yards from the area, picked out Carsley's run across the Chelsea defence with a slide-rule pass and the Irishman tucked his shot into the far corner off the post to make it 3-1. Which begged the question: if they could unlock the home defence so tidily with the ball on the deck, why had they resorted to 75 minutes of route one tedium?

Duncan Ferguson entered the game straight afterwards, with Li Tie making way, but the former Goodison icon was a spectator for the most part and it was Carsley who almost found the net again, connecting with Gravesen's chip into the area but the Everton number 26's shot flew just wide. It was almost the last word but the day would not have been complete without another stark illustration of the gulf in class between the two sides as well as Everton's leaden-footed defence. With the last attack of the game, substitute Gianfranco Zola chased a long raking ball down the left channel that he really had no right to expect to catch, but catch it he did, and with a masterful lob with the outside of his boot he beat Wright to make it 4-1.

As it was in December when Everton stumbled their way through a comprehensive defeat by the same scoreline to exit the Worthington Cup, this was the embodiment of Chelsea's financial and footballing superiority and the glaring deficiencies that Everton possess in both regards. Moyes has to be congratulated for his cognizance of the need for change in the midfield and making that change by removing Gravesen from the equation. [Introduced later in the proceedings, the Dane didn't do too badly and he was almost rewarded for that deft chip that Carsley came within a couple of feet of converting.] However, the manager must now take action on the defence where Yobo has shown he can't play right back, the central pairing of Weir and Stubbs is possibly the slowest in the division, and that David Unsworth's distribution is reaching embarrassing levels. He also has some hard decisions to make up front, where Campbell's usefulness appears to have all but dried up.

With two defeats on the bounce, Everton's challenge for a place in Europe is in grave danger if they don't take maximum points from Aston Villa and Fulham. They certainly won't want to go into another potential men-against-boys lesson in top class football at the hands of Manchester United needinng points to stay above Blackburn and preserve the last remaining goal for this season: UEFA Cup football come August.

Lyndon Lloyd



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