Offside Torres saves the blues for Chelsea
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2012, Friday
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FERNANDO Torres helped spare Chelsea from an early Premier League setback on Wednesday, scoring the decisive goal as the European champion rallied to beat newcomer Reading 4-2.
The unmarked Torres tapped the ball into the net from Ashley Cole's cross from what appeared to be an offside position in the 81st minute to make it 3-2.
"It was clearly offside which was really disappointing," said Reading manager Brian McDermott, who protested to the referee's assistant. "It's just a shame he has made a mistake for such a crucial goal."
But there was no disputing the fourth in the fifth minute of stoppage time. As Reading piled forward in search of an equalizer, Eden Hazard broke free on a counterattack and set up Branislav Ivanovic to score.
Chelsea had led through Frank Lampard's 18th-minute penalty kick, but Pavel Pogrebnyak's header and Danny Guthrie's freekick put Reading into a surprise lead at half time.
Defender Gary Cahill sparked the comeback in the 69th when his long-range strike was fumbled into his own net by Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Torres' goal made it two wins out of two for Roberto di Matteo's side in its first home match since winning the Champions League for the first time.
Freshening up the squad over the offseason has seen Chelsea burst into life at the start of the new campaign.
And it is Hazard at the heart of its newfound vigor, helping to set up two goals on Wednesday just as the former Lille player did in the 2-0 victory at Wigan on Sunday in the opening match of the season.
"He certainly has an impact on our team, and he and Juan Mata linked up very well," di Matteo said.
"He's finding his feet very quickly which is pleasing for us ... everyone wants to see a lot of flair players but to win the game you have to have balance."
In a speedy start, Juan Mata released Hazard, but the Belgium midfielder struck wide, while Raul Ramires' effort was turned wide by Federici. Torres also did well to work his way into the six-yard box but he was closed down before finding space to shoot.
Hazard won a penalty for the second successive game when he was brought down by Chris Gunter, and Lampard tucked the spot kick into the bottom left of the net.
The unmarked Torres tapped the ball into the net from Ashley Cole's cross from what appeared to be an offside position in the 81st minute to make it 3-2.
"It was clearly offside which was really disappointing," said Reading manager Brian McDermott, who protested to the referee's assistant. "It's just a shame he has made a mistake for such a crucial goal."
But there was no disputing the fourth in the fifth minute of stoppage time. As Reading piled forward in search of an equalizer, Eden Hazard broke free on a counterattack and set up Branislav Ivanovic to score.
Chelsea had led through Frank Lampard's 18th-minute penalty kick, but Pavel Pogrebnyak's header and Danny Guthrie's freekick put Reading into a surprise lead at half time.
Defender Gary Cahill sparked the comeback in the 69th when his long-range strike was fumbled into his own net by Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Torres' goal made it two wins out of two for Roberto di Matteo's side in its first home match since winning the Champions League for the first time.
Freshening up the squad over the offseason has seen Chelsea burst into life at the start of the new campaign.
And it is Hazard at the heart of its newfound vigor, helping to set up two goals on Wednesday just as the former Lille player did in the 2-0 victory at Wigan on Sunday in the opening match of the season.
"He certainly has an impact on our team, and he and Juan Mata linked up very well," di Matteo said.
"He's finding his feet very quickly which is pleasing for us ... everyone wants to see a lot of flair players but to win the game you have to have balance."
In a speedy start, Juan Mata released Hazard, but the Belgium midfielder struck wide, while Raul Ramires' effort was turned wide by Federici. Torres also did well to work his way into the six-yard box but he was closed down before finding space to shoot.
Hazard won a penalty for the second successive game when he was brought down by Chris Gunter, and Lampard tucked the spot kick into the bottom left of the net.
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