Reportedly unsettled Demba Ba scored a brace today, as he returns to form just in time for Chelsea, with Manchester City next on the calender.
Chelsea played well, dominating possession as they so often do at home, and playing rings around the Blackburn defence.
Ba scored in the 20th minute for his first goal. Joe Cole made space on the wing before playing in a wonderful cross and the big striker got a powerful head on it to score his 17th of the season.
And his second came in the last minutes of the game, as he pounced on a Vince Grella mistake to slide home and give Chelsea a nice cushioned win.
Chelsea are now 5 points clear of Liverpool and there are just 3 games to go in the season. It's looking good for the blues as they could win the Premier League against Manchester City next week.
A win at Stamford Bridge tommorow could seal Chelsea's fourth top flight title, and with Manchester City on a bad run of form, it seems quite likely that Chelsea could finish a glorious season with at least 1 title in the trophy cabinet.
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Chelsea vs. Manchester City Stamford Bridge, London
FA Premier League, KO 17:30
Live Text Commentary
17:06: Chelsea are potentially hours away from clinching the Premier League title. With Arsenal playing Liverpool today, a loss or draw for Liverpool followed by a win here at the Bridge will seal it. 17:16: Chelsea aren't holding back with their team today, and why would they?
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, A. Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Mikel, Essien, Rodwell, Lampard, Drogba, Ba
Ba is in great form, but as for Drogba, he is struggling for form at the moment. Will he shine today? 17:30: And we're off at the Bridge. What a game we could have in store for us. 17:34: Chelsea start brightly. Essien hits a free kick at the wall, and it flies into the air, onto the head of Ricardo Carvalho but he hits the bar. It's eventually cleared by Moretti. 17:43: Ba does well for Chelsea to win a corner, which causes havoc in the Man City defence, but Richards eventually manages to hoof it clear for City. 17:46: Ohhhh fine work from Demba Ba again. He brings the ball down with his chest, before spinning his man and playing a ball into Lampard who is in acres of space in the box, but Given saves his shot. 17:50: City pressure for the first time in this game, and Ireland gets a shot away, but Cech saves well. 17:55: Chelsea carve open City again. They pass it well around the midfield, before Mikel spots a Drogba run, and his touch is exquisite, but his finish - less so. 18:02: Man City win a corner and Modric plays it in, but Richards' header goes over. 18:16: HALF TIME Chelsea 0 - 0 Manchester City Chelsea have been the better team but as yet, they haven't been able to take their chances. 18:30: Chelsea get us underway again here. Liverpool are currently drawing 1-1 with Arsenal. 18:37: De Jong breaks free from a counter-attack and lays Robinho in who should score, but he fluffs his shot, and Cech can save. 18:43: GOAL Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester City IT'S THEREEE!!!! CHELSEA ARE AHEAD WITH HALF AN HOUR TO GO! Essien picks up the ball in his half after a Manchester City attack, plays a wonderful ball up top, where Demba Ba picks up the ball with a wonderful touch, before sliding past the oncoming Shay Given. Get in! 18:45: Demba Ba is through again, but can't find the finish this time. He's having a wonderful game. Liverpool have taken the lead against Arsenal, so if results stay the same, Chelsea will still need one more win out of their last two games. 18:48: Kalou replaces Didier Drogba. 18:58: Liverpool have taken a 3-1 lead now, and Chelsea will desperately need to hold on, so as to maintain their 4 point lead at the top. 19:06: GOAL Chelsea 1 - 1 Manchester City I spoke too soon. De Jong plays a free kick into the box, and Micah Richards climbs high to head home the equaliser. 19:12: Ooohhh Ballack goes mighty close there. Essien drags it out wide on the left, and ***** a wonderful ball into the centre but Ballack heads just over. Just. 19:16: FULL TIME Chelsea 1 - 1 Manchester City And that is it. With Liverpool winning and Chelsea drawing here, the title race is wide open again. Chelsea fans will be frustrated that they weren't able to hold on after looking so bright throughout the game. Chelsea must now beat Bolton and Birmingham to clinch the Premier League.
INTER MILAN WILL FACE BARCELONA IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Barcelona and Inter Milan both cruised through the Champions League to book their places in May's final, and there can be no doubts that the two deserved to be there, after comfortably beating teams such as Fiorentina (who knocked out Real Madrid), Chelsea and Arsenal with relative ease.
The result of this game will be posted following it's culmination at the end of May.
The Chelsea players surround Ricardo Carvalho as he scores the goal that clinches Chelsea the title.
Chelsea have done it today, beating Bolton to secure the FA Premier League for the fourth time in the club's history. It has been a long and hard season, with plenty of twists and turns, but they won it in spectacular fashion this afternoon, ending a barren run in the Premier League that lasted 4 years. Ironically, this is exactly the same result, and at exactly the same venue, and against exactly the same team that Mourinho won his first Premier League title in 2005.
Chelsea controlled throughout the first half, but were unable to find a goal, until Demba Ba broke free in the box in the second half, and crossed unselfishly for Frank Lampard of all people to tuck home.
And minutes later, a Ballack free-kick was parried and turned in by Ricardo Carvalho, to ensure that Chelsea would win the Premier League today, with Liverpool having lost to Portsmouth by a Nadir Belhadj goal.
The team will collect their trophy in the final game of the season at Birmingham and there will be a lap of honour to celebrate this fantastic achievement.
And if that's not enough for the Chelsea fans, there is a final against Manchester United at Wembley in 2 weeks which should be a cracker, and would be the icing on the cake.
jhopper89 - thanks mate I'm delighted with it. I know we were rubbish in the champions league and got knocked out of the league cup by west brom, but I was always going to be happy with winning the Premiership but wait the season's not over yet! got the fa cup final to go.
but yeah then I've got the world cup with cameroon before pre-season, which may now be in a couple of weeks as I have exams coming up. wanted to get a start going and then see how it went, and it's gone much better than i expected! camel - though? what's that to mean ha. but no thanks a lot mate glad you enjoyed it, and still got the fa cup final to go which I'll do either tonight or tommorow so stay tuned.
okay I'm going to be playing the FA Cup final at 10:00 tonight.
make sure you are at this thread, because I'm gonna be doing live feeds.
then I Can finally leave this game for a while. because I've got so hooked on it lol
be there or be square.
and thanks oakesy it really was one **** of a season.
Chelsea finished the season in style, fielding a second-string team consisting of Belletti, Makelele, Kakuta, di Santo, Rodwell, Zhirkov and Sturridge, and still managing to give Birmingham a good trouncing.
And Makelele was the player who gave Chelsea the lead early on, finding space and prodding home from close range. He is not a player who normally gets amongst the goals and he was clearly delighted to have bagged one.
Demba Ba then pulled away thanks to a wonderful pass by Rodwell before tapping in for his 20th goal in his first season of English football.
And Jack Rodwell, who came second in young player of the season, finished things off with a very tidy finish, following a wonderful pass from Franco di Santo as Chelsea were cruising into half time.
Matic came on in the second half for only his second Chelsea performance following a series of injuries, and will be hoping he can tie down a more regular starting place next season, after impressing today.
O'Connor pulled one back for Birmingham, but it meant very little, and the Chelsea fans were already beside themselves having won the League, and watched the team lift the trophy for 4th time.
Chelsea vs. Manchester United
FA Cup Final Preview
Chelsea and Manchester United have met 3 times this season, Chelsea have won once, and the two others have been draws.
Manchester United's top goalscorers in this competition are Michael Owen (7), Federico Macheda (6) and Dimitar Berbatov (4)
Chelsea's top goalscorers in this competition are John Terry (2), Franco di Santo (1) and Juliano Belletti (1)
Chelsea will win their 6th FA Cup if they can win here today, their most recent coming last year against Everton.
Manchester United will win their 11th FA Cup if they can win here today, their most recent coming in 2004 against Millwall
Live commentary coming up soon so stay with us.
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Chelsea vs. Manchester United Live from Wembley Stadium, London
FA Cup Final 2010, KO 15:00
14:17: Hello and welcome to the climax of this year's domestic football. We've got a great game in store this afternoon, but there's also plenty to enjoy over the coming months as the World Cup 2010 in South Africa gets underway. 14:19: But back to the game in hand, as I'm sure you're all aware, Chelsea are now the new Premier League champions, and Manchester United finished a dissapointing 7th, and so will be wanting to at least credit their season with an FA Cup victory today, meaning we will hopefully be in for a more interesting game than the last time these two met in an FA Cup final. 14:27: And Chelsea's team sheet is in, and it's about as strong as you can get:
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, A. Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Mikel, Essien, Rodwell, Lampard, Drogba, Ba
Substitutions: Hilario, Ferreira, Aquino, Ballack, Ivanovic, Kalou, Zhirkov 14:36: Manchester United on the other hand are without Vidic and that could be their main weakness today:
Manchester United: van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Evans, O'Shea, Giggs, Park, Fletcher, Scholes, Rooney, Berbatov.
Despite Manchester United's poor form this season, that's a strong team by anyone's standards. 14:45: The players are out on the pitch, and after all the official stuff, we'll be off and running here at Wembley Stadium. 15:00: The 2010 FA Cup Final is underway, and Manchester United are getting the ball rolling, playing left to right in this first half. 15:05: Chelsea are pushing the most now after early possession from Man United. Frank Lampard hits a long range shot, but van der Sar parries it out for a corner.. 15:07: Chelsea don't capitalise, and Ferdinand is able to clear. Manchester United counter and Giggs does very well to bring Rooney in, but Carvalho dives in with a very well timed tackle. 15:14: Drogba turns his man well and gets off his first shot of the day, but it's saved well by van der Sar at his near post. Drogba has scored in both FA Cup finals that he has played in don't forget. 15:20: Ooh and Ferdinand nearly caused United problems there. A seemingly innocuous ball forward from Chelsea is headed back to van der Sar by Ferdinand, but instead goes out for a corner. Chelsea can't capitalise. 15:24: Drogba's everywhere at the moment. Chelsea play a lovely move around United's box, and Bosingwa slips in Drogba who ***** a wonderful ball into the six yard box, but Ba comes in and heads just over. 15:28: Lampard's played in wonderfully by Essien, but his shot just goes over. 15:34: Ohhh and somehow Drogba fails to score. Bosingwa plays a wonderful ball through to him and he doesn't seem to believe his luck. Van der Sar is quick off his line and tackles him, before O'Shea clears. 15:45: We've got 1 minute of added time here at Wembley. Really need a goal to get this game going. Fletcher earns himself a yellow card. 15:46: HALF TIME Chelsea 0 - 0 Manchester United A dull game thus far, but Chelsea have looked the more likely to make something happen. If Drogba was just a bit more clinical there would be life in this, but we've got another 45 minutes yet to go. 16:00: The second half has begun, and Chelsea are to kick us off. 16:05: United look livelier already this half, and Giggs is almost gifted an opportunity by Carvalho, going one on one with Cech, but Mikel slides in fantastically to deny him. 16:06: Scholes picks up the second yellow card of the game for a push on Essien. 16:10: Essien picks up a yellow card as Ba is replaced by Kalou. Anderson also comes on for Paul Scholes. 16:12: Berbatov gets off a fine shot from a tight angle but Cech is equal to it. United really starting to pile the pressure on. 16:16: Lampard gets put through brilliantly by Essien, and hits a smart low shot which almost fools van der Sar, but he recovers very well to punch wide. Chelsea corner.. 16:19: Ohh horrendous error from van der Sar. He throws it straight to Kalou, who squares it to Drogba, but Ferdinand comes back to tackle and save van der Sar his blushes. 16:24: GOAL Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester United Chelsea are finally ahead and could it be anyone else? Rodwell does fantastically well to track Anderson and tackle him, before playing the ball to Kalou who shoots. Van der Sar parries his shot but Didier Drogba is there to pick up the pieces and put Chelsea ahead. 16:26: So we've finally got a goal here at Wembley, but now we'll see how Manchester United can react. Brown heads over a Giggs free-kick. 16:32: United look very blunt up front, and Chelsea are dealing with Rooney and Berbatov easily at the moment. This could turn out to be a brilliant first season for Sam Illyroy at this rate. On comes Michael Ballack for Essien, who picked up a yellow card earlier in the match. 16:38: GOAL Chelsea 1 - 1 Manchester United Commentator's jinx? Have some of that, Giggs counters for United and plays a wonderful cross into the box where Rooney is making a run and heads home to pull United level. Game on with 5 minutes to go. 16:45: There will be 3 minutes of added time. 16:48: FULL TIME Chelsea 1 - 1 Manchester United So it will go into extra-time. Half an hour to play. Will it go to penalties as it did in the Charity Shield? We'll see. 17:00: They're off again. 17:02: Berbatov gets his shot in from an angle, but it just skims past the post, to the jeers of the Chelsea fans. 17:11: GOAL Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United That has to be one of the best goals I've seen all season. Fantastic improvisation. Lampard plays in Drogba near the edge of the box, and van der Sar comes out to close him down, with defenders around him, and he just chips him beautifully and watches the ball roll over the line. Better late than never from Didier Drogba. United feel it's offside though. (Goal screenshot attached) 17:12: RED CARD Fletcher continues his arguments with the officials that the goal was offside and he's seen red. This season could end very sourly for United. 17:16: HALF TIME IN EXTRA TIME Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United Well it looks as good as over for Manchester United now with Fletcher gone, but stranger things have happened. Paulo Ferreira is coming on for Bosingwa for this final quarter of an hour. Chelsea are this close to retaining the FA Cup. 17:20: Underway once more. 17:23: John Terry earns himself a yellow card for a foul on Anderson. 17:28: Nice stuff from United. Rooney chips a wonderful ball over to O'Shea and he hits it first time, but Cech makes a good save. 17:30: Ferreira makes a hash of that, passing it out for a corner, when not much danger is on. United with a chance now.. 17:33: FULL TIME AFTER EXTRA TIME Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United That's it! Two stunning Drogba goals have won Chelsea the FA Cup. That's 4 goals in 3 FA Cup final appearances for him, and he's returned to goalscoring form in the nick of time for Chelsea. What looked like it was going to be a boring match really turned into a thriller after Drogba's goal and Chelsea will be delighted on doing the double. 17:34: Rooney earns himself a yellow card for hacking down John Terry. 2 minutes of injury time to go until Chelsea can lift that trophy.
thanks mate for the formations
also great story cant wait for season 2 ,
ohh and thanks for sticking it to united you gave them what they deserve ! XD
well done
Great victory ! Nice double in your first season. Will miss reading this story but good luck with your exams, I have my first one 2moro afternoon but have been playing too much football manager and not enough revision !
Great end to the season! My internet went down just before the end of the Inter game -_- sorry to see that you lost that. Fantastic Domestic double! Hopefully you can continue this run, my Fiorentina team are suffering a bit of 2nd season syndrome
With recommendations from a few other users, I have decided to continue this story here, rather than on a different thread.
To keep you up to date with pre-season:
After a wonderful first season as manager of Chelsea, Illyroy won the FA Premier League by a long stretch, and the FA Cup after a thrilling final against strugglers Manchester United.
This season could prove to be much tougher. With expectations raised after a great season, progress will no doubt be expected on the Champions League front after they were knocked out early on by Inter Milan.
Many fans of Chelsea expected to see a number of high-profile signings after such a successful season, but the transfer budget was tight:
Transfers: 6m
Wages: -30k p/w
This has led to an exodus of fringe players at the Chelsea squad in order to allow new players in:
Ross Turnbull to Manchester City for 4.6m
Not really a surprise after being third choice last season, and having spent the last 6 months of the season on loan at the City of Manchester Stadium. An expensive acquisition, but not even the tip of the iceberg for a team with as much financial muscle as Man City.
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Slobodan Rajkovic to Reginna for 2.5m Never made an appearance for Chelsea after spending 3 seasons on loan at PSV and at FC Twente in Holland. Was tipped for a very bright future but failed to get the first team assurances that he wished for.
Paulo Ferreira to Birmingham City for 3m After 6 seasons at Stamford Bridge, Paulo Ferreira finally decided it was time to move on, as he only made 2 appearances last year, one of which ended in disaster. Should settle well at Birmingham, who performed very well in the Premiership last year.
Franco di Santo to Napoli for 4m Franco looked set for a bright future but has decided he wanted to move on to pastures green, with so much competition up front at Stamford Bridge. Only scored one goal for Chelsea, but it was a goal that helped Chelsea win the FA Cup, knocking Newcastle United out in a very tough encounter.
Deco to Birmingham for 4.7m Deco started last season in brilliant form, but dipped after the first couple of months, and ended up spending most games either on the bench, or at home after a couple of dismal performances. Birmingham have seen fit to shift nearly 5 million pounds to bring him in, and there is no doubting he is still a class act.
Alex to Fiorentina for 15m Arguably the most surprising of transfers, Fiorentina offered Chelsea 15m for the big Brazillian defender, who's heart was set on a move to Italy. Had a great few seasons at Chelsea, and may be sorely missed.
Gael Kakuta on loan to Napoli for 575k Had a great debut season at Chelsea, scoring two great goals, not least his winner against Manchester United. Should get some first team opportunities out at Napoli next season before returning back to Stamford Bridge.
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Daniel Sturridge on loan to Newcastle United for 1.1m, with a view to a permanent move (6m) Daniel Sturridge only managed a few games last season, and with the amount of competition up front this season, decided to move to newcomers Newcastle. If they wish, they can complete a full transfer for 6m at any time during the season, but Chelsea fans will be looking forward to seeing him return to the club in July.
Miroslav Stoch to Everton for 3.2m Was on loan to Twente last season, and has a bright future that will now be in the hands of David Moyes.
A lot of money was shifted about for Chelsea, but only two new players were added to the ranks, with Illyroy adding that a lot of youth players were making the step up, including Michael Mancienne, Ryan Bertrand, Mario Gotze and Nemanja Matic.
YOANN GOURCUFF SIGNS FOR CHELSEA FOR 23m
French prodigy Yoann Gourcuff of Girondins Bordeaux has signed a 4 year contract at Stamford Bridge.
He comes at a price, but after his showing in this years World Cup, for the winners France, Chelsea felt it was a deal that could not be missed out upon.
Formerly of AC Milan, Gourcuff is tipped to be one of the worlds leading stars, and with Deco leaving this summer, he may be the man to lead Chelsea's infamous diamond.
"It's fantastic to be at such a brilliant club, and I want to make sure that this season we can surpass the achievements of the last season."
CHELSEA SIGN CESAR AZPILICUETA FOR 4.7m
Chelsea completed the signing of Under-21 Spanish international Cesar Azpilicueta of Osasuna.
Tipped for a bright future, the Spanish full back is lightning quick, and not far off the kind of player that Jose Bosingwa is.
"I am overjoyed to have signed for Chelsea and I fully believe I can handle the pressure that is now on me. I am looking to emulate the success that Jose has had here in the past couple of seasons, and make sure I can one day make the position my own"
PRE-SEASON Chelsea's pre-season kicked off with an American Tour, playing the likes of Seattle and LA Galaxy. With a number of players still in South Africa for the World Cup, it was a chance for some of the fringe players to show what they've got.
Seattle Sounders 0 - 0 Chelsea
Chelsea's pre-season warm-up made a slow start after a draw against American side Seattle. Demba Ba had the best opportunity of the match, going one on one, but Kasey Keller made a wonderful save to deny him.
Chivas 1 - 2 Chelsea The Blues then got a win under their belt with a good performance against Chivas USA. Drogba's brilliant double won them the game, despite a late scare.
LA Galaxy 0 - 4 Chelsea Chelsea could and should have scored more, but ended up 4-0 winners in a very impressive performance in Los Angeles. Drogba, Essien and Rodwell all got on the scoresheet with some well taken goals, and it was rounded up by an own goal, after good work from Alexis Sanchez.
Chelsea 5 - 0 Rotherham Back in England, the Blues thrashed a below-par Rotherham side, with Rodwell scoring the pick of the goals with a long-range screamer, right into the top corner of the goal.
Charlton 0 - 3 Chelsea Chelsea's affiliate club Charlton took a hammering at the Valley, with Joe Cole scoring a wonderful volley from outside the box to give Chelsea the lead. This was a warm up game for the Barcelona friendly at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona 0 - 2 Chelsea Chelsea's unbeaten pre-season contionued at the Nou Camp in emphatic style, with new signing Yoann Gourcuff returning from the World Cup in style to score to beautiful finishes. Barcelona offered little going forward thanks to brilliant defending from Azpilicueta and Carvalho on a number of occasions, and some brilliant saves from Petr Cech
The Abramovich Exhibition Semi-Final
Chelsea 1 - 1 Liverpool (Chelsea win 5-4 on penalties) In the new Abramovich Exhibition tournament, Chelsea showed Liverpool up with some brilliant football, and were unlucky not to win in normal time. Goals from Skyrtel and Terry took the game to penalties, where Carragher missed the critical spot kick.
The Abramovich Exhibition Final Chelsea 0 - 1 Galatasaray Coming off the back of the Liverpool game, Chelsea were expected to take the Abramovich Exhibition Trophy home today, but were held off by a wonderful goalkeeping display by Leo Franco. Milan Baros' early goal sealed the game, despite the best efforts of Chelsea's front line.
The pre-season games were all played in Chelsea's new adidas kits, available via the megastore or online (pictures provided below)
It's been a very entertaining pre-season, no doubt the highlight being the 2-0 victory over European Champions Barcelona. We look forward now to next weekends game over Tottenham in the Charity Shield. Attached Thumbnails
RAMON ABRAMOVICH OPENS UP HIS POCKET After being given a very modest amount of transfer money for the summer months, Sam Illyroy has been given an extra 25 million pounds to spend in the market. Whether he wants to sign anymore players is yet to be seen, with Gourcuff and Azpilicueta having already joined the ranks.
Chelsea play Tottenham this weekend in the Charity Shield, in the live game at Wembley.
Chelsea vs. Tottenham
Charity Shield 2010
Wembley Stadium, London
Live Text Commentary
14:23: It's that time of year again already, and doesn't it just feel like this years going to be a cracker? Chelsea's new signings will no doubt be making an appearance today, including World Cup Winner and France star Yoann Gourcuff, the most well known of the two. 14:32: Chelsea will be looking to pick up where they left off last season, with Didier Drogba sealing a 2-1 win here in May. It looks like they'll be going with a diamond formation, much akin to the one they have sported in pre-season. 14:37: And the first squad of the season is through for Chelsea, and the main talking point is the absence of Ashley Cole, rumoured to be the subject of Manchester City's interests this summer. More on that story to follow later...
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Zhirkov, Terry, Carvalho, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Gourcuff, Sanchez, Drogba
No room in the first line-up for either Ba or Anelka, as Sanchez makes the team. His impressive performances in the World Cup were key to Chile's label as the Underdog of the Tournament, reaching the semi-final, before being knocked out by eventual winners France. 14:52: Tottenham will be sizing up their opponents today, and have gone with two powerful strikers up front, in the shape of Peter Crouch and Ramon Pavlyuchenko. No room in the starting line-up for summer signing D'Allesandro. 15:00: We're off, and with it kicks off the 2010/2011 season. Let's hope it's an interesting campaign! 15:19: Not a good start from either side to be fair, and they're both throwing caution to the wind. Gourcuff gets in a diving header from Mikel's cross, but Gomes saves comfortably. Pavlyuchenko looked to have taken a knock in the build up there, and he's been stretchered off. 15:24: Fine effort! Chelsea make a nice break away from a Tottenham corner, and Gourcuff takes it past two defenders before hitting a beautiful strike, but Gomes gets a finger to it. 15:28: PENALTY TO TOTTENHAM Unbelievable stuff. Lennon takes it down the right wing before cutting it back to Keane, who is tugged down by Gourcuff on his debut. That's unlucky. 15:29: GOAL Chelsea 0 - 1 Tottenham And Keane steps up casually to tuck it past Petr Cech, and this game has just kicked off. 15:34: Tottenham are now in the ascendency after that boost of confidence, and Kranjcar is played into heaps of space down the left, but his shot is well parried by Cech. 15:45: Chelsea look like they're running out of ideas here, worryingly so. Lampards poor first time shot just rounds up that first half for the Blues. 15:47: HALF TIME Chelsea 0 - 1 Tottenham A mistake by the new signing Gourcuff and Tottenham are ahead. Hopefully it will be a more interesting second half. 16:00: We kick off again here then at Wembley with the score at 1-0. 16:05: Fine work from Drogba. Azpilicueta's throw in is played to Drogba, who holds it up before playing in a fine ball to Gourcuff but Gomes does well to save. 16:06: Incredible! How did that not go in? Lampard's corner comes in and Carvalho is on the far post to header it, but it seems to roll all the way across the bar before dipping, hitting the post and going out. Bizarre. 16:15: Fine stuff from Chelsea, but again a lack of end product. Gourcuff links with Drogba, who gets a first time shot away, but it just goes over. 16:17: Ashley Cole comes on for Alexis Sanchez. He was dissapointing today. 16:29: Running out of time, and Anelka and Demba Ba are coming on for the last quarter of an hour. 16:45: FULL TIME Chelsea 0 - 1 Tottenham And that is it. A very dissapointing start to the season for Chelsea. They looked out of orders from the off, and it's turned out to be a fairly easy victory for Tottenham, as they win the Charity Shield 2010.
"Well I'm naturally dissapointed, we started with some intent, but it wore off through the first half, and that penalty decision seemed to kill them. But that's poor from my lads point of view, because they are professional players, and they should be performing better than they did today. We'll look to pick up the pieces for the new season next Saturday, and hopefully we'll see something better than what we saw today." Sam Illyroy.