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Tuesday March 3, 2009 Finished Fratton Park

  1. Drogba keeps Chelsea hopes up

    Drogba keeps Chelsea hopes up

    Didier Drogba kept alive Chelsea's Premier League title hopes with the only goal in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Portsmouth
    • Chelsea
    • - Thanks for joining us tonight... plenty more Premier League action to come on Wednesday so be sure to return then!
    • 90'+3 There it is! All over at Fratton Park and Chelsea win all three points, but only just!
    • 90'+2 Pompey are pushing for an equaliser - James is up for a corner now - but it's going to be too little too late...
    • 90'+1 On comes Mancienne for Ballack as Chelsea look to sit on their lead.
    • 89' Time running out for Pompey... and in truth they don't really look like breaching Chelsea's backline now.
    • 86' Johnson turns his man and delivers a great ball into the box! But Kranjcar's header is poor and Chelsea can breathe again!
    • 81' But that could be Drogba's final act as he hobbles off the pitch moments later following a collision... no, he's back on within a minute and is apparently fine to carry on!
    • 79' GOAL! Drogba gives Chelsea the lead! Campbell fails to deal with Bosingwa's cross and it falls kindly to the Ivorian at the far post... he doesn't need a second invitation and he fires low into the bottom right hand corner to break Pompey's resistance!
    • 74' Chelsea are beginning to look a little frustrated... Pompey are doing their job at the moment - a point against Chelsea will be seen as a triumph under their current circumstances!
    • 71' Crouch lets off a speculative drive and for his efforts wins a corner for Pompey!
    • 70' Pompey make their first change of the game now as Utaka comes on for Pennant.
    • 69' Oooh! Crouch runs onto a long clearance... he's all alone! He takes the ball forward before spotting the run of Kranjcar in the middle... he centres it, but Kranjcar can't control it and his shot goes wide! What a chance!
    • 66' Oooh! Quaresma makes an impact for the first time with a strong run down the Chelsea right... his cross is met by Drogba, but the Ivorian's header is over the bar!
    • 64' Belletti shows what he can do with a crisp strike from 25 yards that James is forced to deal with!
    • 61' Cole slides in on Pennant... it looks bad, but in fact he got the ball... but the ref doesn't agree and it'll be a free-kick to Pompey!
    • 60' Here comes another Chelsea change... Quaresma for Kalou.
    • 58' Ooh! Nugent's through here as he runs onto Crouch's flick-on and nicks the ball past Terry.. but Cech stands firm and makes the save from the Pompey striker's firm strike!
    • 58' That change will just give Chelsea something extra in the final third as they seek a breakthrough.
    • 57' A first change now... off goes Mikel to be replaced by Belletti.
    • 54' Here come Pompey now... but again Davis can't create anything in the centre of the park and the move breaks down.
    • 50' Davis looks despondent after his cross flies out of play... Pompey are yet to create anything so far this half.
    • 48' The rain is still falling at Fratton Park... Peter Crouch's shirt in particular looks soaked through!
    • 46' No changes to tell you about at the break... it's as you were.
    • 46' Back underway at Fratton Park!
    • 45'+3 There won't be time for the corner to be taken as the referee's whistle toots and the players head into the dressing rooms to warm up... 0-0 at the break!
    • 45'+2 Oooh! James comes to Pompey's rescue to tip Alex's well-hit free-kick round the post!
    • 45' Oooh! Ballack meets a corner with a powerful header that brushes the crossbar on it's way over!
    • 44' Wahey! Bosingwa lets fly from 30 yards out but he slices his effort terribly and the ball ends up going out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch!
    • 43' The rain's still pelting down in Portsmouth and the pitch is really beginning to cut up...
    • 42' Oooh! Johnson wins a header from the corner and a almighty goalmouth scramble ensues! But eventually Cech falls on the ball and the chance goes begging!
    • 41' Kranjcar wins a corner for Pompey with a well-struck free-kick that balloons up off the wall and behind!
    • 40' Lampard now runs at the Pompey defence... he's allowed to continue so he thinks he'll have a pop at goal! But this time James hangs on to the shot without too many problems!
    • 38' Drogba! He tries to hit Ballack's cross first time on the volley, but he only succeeds in giving the bloke on row Z something to warm his hands on...
    • 37' Chelsea are enjoying a good spell of possession at the moment...
    • 34' Brilliant stuff from Lampard... he turns his man Davis before letting fly from the edge of the box! James spills it, but again his defence are on hand to clear the ball!
    • 32' Pennant's over it, but Johnson takes it! Straight against the wall...
    • 31' Danger here as Terry gives away a free-kick right on the edge of the Chelsea box...
    • 29' Kranjcar skips past the sliding challenge of Mikel on the Pompey left before dashing off towards the Chelsea goal... but he's called back after the linesman signals the ball went out of play.
    • 28' Oooh! What a strike by Davis from the edge of the area! Only an equally stunning save by Cech, low down to his right, keeps the score goalless!
    • 27' Oooh, lovely stuff from Drogba as he dances into the heart of the Pompey defence... but his final ball through, looking for Kalou, is shepherded back to James!
    • 26' Handball shout as Kranjcar stumbles into Alex in the Chelsea box... but the ref's never going to give that one.
    • 23' Nugent fancies his chances from distance here... but it's a poor effort from the former Preston man... high, wide and about as handsome as he is.
    • 21' Oooh! James fumbles a Malouda cross... but there's no one there to capitalise and Pompey are able to clear to safety!
    • 20' Here come Chelsea on a marauding break which ends with Malouda firing just wide!
    • 17' Lampard plays in Drogba with a lovely through ball... James comes off his line! And it's a good decision in the end from the Pompey keeper as he makes a block at the feet of Drogba!
    • 16' Oooh! Best chance of the game so far! Malouda does well to hook the ball over Campbell to play in Cole on the overlap... the England international fires a low ball across the face of goal, but Drogba's inches away from getting a toe on it!
    • 13' Drogba looks like he's away here... but the flag's up and play is called back for a Pompey free-kick.
    • 12' Nice work from Ballack, 25 yards from goal... but the German's shot is well blocked by Davis... it falls to Lampard who tries his luck... but again it bounces wide of the mark.
    • 8' Malouda sends over a deep cross which finds Kalou at the far post! Oh dear, the Ivorian makes a hash of his own first-time effort and Pompey are able to clear their lines.
    • 6' Nugent now for Pompey cuts the ball back from the by-line for Kranjcar on the edge of the area! But he fluffs his first-time effort and Cech isn't troubled in the slightest.
    • 4' Here's Kalou with a strong and direct run down the Chelsea right... he's forced a bit wide and his cross from the by-line is well taken by David James!
    • 3' The rain is lashing down at Fratton Park... should make for some interesting conditions if it persists.
    • 2' And then Davis fires wide from the the edge of the area! Cracking start by Pompey!
    • 2' Early pressure from Pompey... Hreidarsson does well to pull a long free-kick into area down... he works it so he can stab a shot at goal! But it's wide of the mark!
    • 2' Chelsea are in all yellow tonight... Pompey in all blue.
    • 1' Here we go! Underway on the south coast!
    • - Chelsea can move within four points of Manchester United with victory tonight... but the points are just as precious to Pompey, who are in real danger of getting involved in a relegation dogfight come the end of the season.
    • - For Chelsea, Nicolas Anelka is ruled out with a bruised toe, so a rejuvenated Didier Drogba plays up front on his own, supported by Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda on the flanks. Jose Bonsingwa returns from suspension in place of Michael Mancienne.
    • - No surprises in the Pompey line-up really, just Hayden Mullins starting instead of Angelos Basinas. So, Peter Crouch leads the line alongside David Nugent while Glen Johnson plays against his former club.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of tonight's big game at Fratton Park!
  • Team Stats

    Portsmouth Stats Chelsea
    42% Possession 58%
    15 Shots 20
    2 Shots on target 7
    2 Saves 1
    6 Corners 6
    16 Fouls 7
    0 Offsides 1
    0 Yellow cards 0
    0 Red cards 0
    24 Tackles 16
    241 Accurate passes 394
    48 Bad passes 92
  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0
      5 Glen Johnson 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 14 3 4
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 19 14 1
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 15 4 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 1 2
      28 Sean Davis 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 37 4 2
      14 Jermaine Pennant 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 21 3 4
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 31 6 6
      6 Hayden Mullins 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 31 3 1
      9 Peter Crouch 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 31 1 1
      10 David Nugent 0 5 1 0 3 0 0 20 8 2
      33 Angelos Basinas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      3 Younes Kaboul 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Asmir Begovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Nwankwo Kanu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 John Utaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1
      39 Nadir Belhadj 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Noe Pamarot 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Chelsea
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Petr Cech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 0
      3 Ashley Cole 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 48 19 2
      17 José Bosingwa 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 37 1 2
      26 John Terry 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 54 18 1
      33 Alex da Dias Costa 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 34 1 4
      8 Frank Lampard 0 5 2 1 2 0 0 50 16 3
      13 Michael Ballack 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 44 5 0
      15 Florent Malouda 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 39 14 1
      12 John Obi Mikel 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 40 6 2
      21 Salomon Kalou 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 12 0 1
      11 Didier Drogba 1 4 2 3 1 1 0 11 5 0
      40 Henrique Hilário 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      2 Branislav Ivanovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      35 Juliano Belletti 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 11 3 0
      19 Paulo Ferreira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Ricardo Quaresma 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 8 2 0
      42 Michael Mancienne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Franco Di Santo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  • Summary

    • 79' GOAL! Drogba gives Chelsea the lead! Campbell fails to deal with Bosingwa's cross and it falls kindly to the Ivorian at the far post... he doesn't need a second invitation and he fires low into the bottom right hand corner to break Pompey's resistance!
    • 69' Oooh! Crouch runs onto a long clearance... he's all alone! He takes the ball forward before spotting the run of Kranjcar in the middle... he centres it, but Kranjcar can't control it and his shot goes wide! What a chance!
    • 66' Oooh! Quaresma makes an impact for the first time with a strong run down the Chelsea right... his cross is met by Drogba, but the Ivorian's header is over the bar!
    • 64' Belletti shows what he can do with a crisp strike from 25 yards that James is forced to deal with!
    • 58' Ooh! Nugent's through here as he runs onto Crouch's flick-on and nicks the ball past Terry.. but Cech stands firm and makes the save from the Pompey striker's firm strike!
    • 45'+2 Oooh! James comes to Pompey's rescue to tip Alex's well-hit free-kick round the post!
    • 45' Oooh! Ballack meets a corner with a powerful header that brushes the crossbar on it's way over!
    • 42' Oooh! Johnson wins a header from the corner and a almighty goalmouth scramble ensues! But eventually Cech falls on the ball and the chance goes begging!
    • 40' Lampard now runs at the Pompey defence... he's allowed to continue so he thinks he'll have a pop at goal! But this time James hangs on to the shot without too many problems!
    • 34' Brilliant stuff from Lampard... he turns his man Davis before letting fly from the edge of the box! James spills it, but again his defence are on hand to clear the ball!
    • 28' Oooh! What a strike by Davis from the edge of the area! Only an equally stunning save by Cech, low down to his right, keeps the score goalless!
    • 21' Oooh! James fumbles a Malouda cross... but there's no one there to capitalise and Pompey are able to clear to safety!
    • 20' Here come Chelsea on a marauding break which ends with Malouda firing just wide!
    • 17' Lampard plays in Drogba with a lovely through ball... James comes off his line! And it's a good decision in the end from the Pompey keeper as he makes a block at the feet of Drogba!
    • 16' Oooh! Best chance of the game so far! Malouda does well to hook the ball over Campbell to play in Cole on the overlap... the England international fires a low ball across the face of goal, but Drogba's inches away from getting a toe on it!
    • 2' Early pressure from Pompey... Hreidarsson does well to pull a long free-kick into area down... he works it so he can stab a shot at goal! But it's wide of the mark!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Phil Dowd
  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Paul Hart

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    Starting line-up

    • D. James
    • G. Johnson
    • S. Distin
    • S. Campbell
    • H. Hreidarsson
    • J. Pennant Substitution Out (70′)
    • S. Davis
    • H. Mullins
    • N. Kranjcar
    • D. Nugent
    • P. Crouch

    Subs

    • N. Pamarot
    • N. Kanu
    • A. Basinas
    • J. Utaka Substitution In70′
    • N. Belhadj
    • Y. Kaboul
    • A. Begovic

    Injured

    • R. Hughes
    • P. Bouba Diop
    • J. Thomas

    Suspended

    None

  • Chelsea

    Manager: Guus Hiddink

    Captain: John Terry

    Starting line-up

    • P. Cech
    • J. Bosingwa
    • .. Alex
    • J. Terry
    • A. Cole
    • J. Mikel Substitution Out (57′)
    • M. Ballack Substitution Out (90′)
    • F. Lampard
    • S. Kalou Substitution Out (60′)
    • F. Malouda
    • D. Drogba Goal

    Subs

    • R. Quaresma Substitution In60′
    • P. Ferreira
    • J. Belletti Substitution In57′
    • B. Ivanovic
    • M. Mancienne Substitution In90′
    • H. Hilario
    • F. Di Santo

    Injured

    • N. Anelka
    • J. Cole
    • M. Essien
    • .. Deco

    Suspended

    None

Comment 386 - 405 of 405

Sort comments by: Most recent
  1. Go on Chelsea you can do it. !

    From Free bet www.freebets.co.za, on Tue 2 Jun 4:16PM
  2. man u supporters are born braggers. from life long­ liverpool supporter.

    From AsianFootie, on Fri 6 Mar 3:54PM
  3. chelse is the best team, and i think we can still win­ the premier league. thanks Guus Hiddink to help us turn­ it round

    From musjallo, on Fri 6 Mar 3:27PM
  4. ye ye ye ye chelsea the winner chelsea the winner

    From Ryan Farhan, on Fri 6 Mar 12:53PM
  5. hey,, DROGBA is always the BEST­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!beter than c.ronaldo
    he's­ back to the old drogba

    From elvern_209, on Thu 5 Mar 8:57AM
  6. 400TH COMMENT :) GOO CHELSEA WOOOOP!!!

    From Steven, on Wed 4 Mar 5:15PM
  7. come on portsmouth!

    From dmservice, on Wed 4 Mar 3:10PM
  8. well, thank Gopd for winning the three point but the­ game was some how after the half time becouse chelsea­ has many chanses in the first half but did not take any­ and subtituting mikel was not wrong but ballak has to­ fill the gab. but no body even belleti was just a waste­ includin malouda.

    From musa, on Wed 4 Mar 12:13PM
  9. I belief Chelsea can take the crown

    From ovation_iwo, on Wed 4 Mar 10:55AM
  10. thanks for the win chelsea

    From jc, on Wed 4 Mar 10:32AM
  11. go go go go go go chelsea
    you can win

    From KEVIN, on Wed 4 Mar 8:20AM
  12. after all who said Drogba was bad

    From Zeal Murapa, on Wed 4 Mar 6:49AM
  13. come on chelseaaa and do this on Premiership.

    From Afton, on Wed 4 Mar 6:43AM
  14. underachievers are back in it

    From Zeal Murapa, on Wed 4 Mar 6:42AM
  15. chelsea = winner

    From the.blues15, on Wed 4 Mar 5:29AM
  16. We're comn for you man u. just do use a favor, lose­ four more games please. Chelsea forever!!!

    From Simon, on Wed 4 Mar 5:21AM
  17. hoho yg ngerti tunjuk tangan

    From yeln19, on Wed 4 Mar 4:08AM
  18. chelsea the greatest

    From dogs, on Wed 4 Mar 1:52AM
  19. Still a lot of ManU looking into this blog.. Worried or­ What! If not why bother looking into this Blog. Pompey­ were a handfull tonight . Expect them to win their next­ game and also stay up.

    From pickthat1outoftheonionbag, on Tue 3 Mar 10:36PM
  20. Chelsea to win the Premiership!!!!!! lololololololol ­ No chance scum

    From Mike S, on Tue 3 Mar 10:07PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

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