FULL TIME: Chelsea 2-2 Swansea City
And that’s that. Terry is right up in referee Michael Oliver’s grille, presumably wondering whether Gomis was onside ahead of the Big Incident. Or perhaps he’s asking whether Gomis was in the area when fouled. Or perhaps whether Courtois was the last man, with Cahill racing back to cover. But it won’t make any difference. Chelsea didn’t bother coming out for the second half until they’d conceded an equaliser and found themselves a man down, and as a result have dropped the first two points of their title defence. An uncharacteristically flat-footed home display from the champions, and a slow start to the season. Swansea were magnificent for the first hour or so, however, with Gomis, Shelvey and especially Montero extremely impressive. A draw’s a fair result.
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90 min +4: Chelsea load the box - and Matic can’t clear the first man, loitering on the edge of the D! That is beyond dreadful.
90 min +3: Shelvey takes, but Chelsea clear upfield. Hazard zips down the right wing, and Swansea are light at the back. Williams steps across the Chelsea playmaker, a flagrant foul. He’s booked. A chance for Chelsea to load the box and grab a dramatic late winner!
90 min +2: Sigurdsson slips a pass down the left and nearly releases Routledge, but Cahill steps across to save the day. But there’s another phase of Swansea attack, and Matic is forced to bundle the ball out of play for a corner on the left.
90 min +1: The first of four bonus minutes passes without incident.
90 min: Costa looks to break clear down the inside-left channel, chasing after a clever Hazard pass. Williams brushes him from behind. Costa goes down, looking for a free kick, just to the left of the D. He should have got it, but the referee gives him nothing.
87 min: Hazard is not of a mind to let this lie. He busies himself down the left, then cuts inside. Nobody shows for him, so he eventually has a shot himself, falling backwards, to the left of the D. It’s a decent effort, towards the bottom left, but gathered without fuss by Fabianski.
86 min: Cahill picks the ball up deep, and Beckenbauers at speed down the middle. He then sends Hazard scampering towards the Swansea box. But the move slows down quickly, Swansea holding their line, and as Ivanovic shapes to take a shot to the right of the D, his leg cocked, he’s robbed by the backtracking Eder.
85 min: Hazard dribbles in from the right. Sigurdsson puts a stop to his gallop with a fairly blatant obstruction. Hazard gets up and loops a free kick into the area, but Fabianski claims well.
84 min: Willian is swapped for Falcao.
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83 min: Chelsea tap it this way and that, back and forth across the front of Swansea’s box. But they can’t work an opening. The home crowd are getting agitated.
81 min: Shelvey, bossing it in the middle of the park, steers a pass wide right for Ayew, who cuts inside and larrups a shot towards the top left. Begovic comes off his line and masterfully claims.
80 min: Eder comes on for Gomis.
79 min: Ivanovic goes on a baroque walk down the right wing. He makes it into the area, and is shoved lightly in the back by Taylor. A more cynical fellow would go down looking for a lame penalty, but Ivanovic stays on his feet. The move fizzles out. Taylor was taking a chance there.
77 min: Shelvey once again finds a huge gap down the left of Chelsea’s defence. He rolls the ball through it to send Gomis away. Gomis is flagged offside, even though he’s level with Cahill, just. But seeing he’s pretended not to hear the whistle, then smacked his effort straight at Begovic, Swansea probably can’t complain too much about that, seeing we now know the outcome.
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76 min: Zouma comes on for the very under-par Fabregas.
75 min: Hazard has been quiet today, but suddenly he turns on the jets and scoots down the right. He’s got the beating of the backpedalling Taylor, but is faced with a tight angle and can only batter his shot straight at Fabianski. That’s a fine run, though.
73 min: Routledge is immediately into the action, slipped into space the left by the excellent Shelvey’s sliderule pass. He makes it into the box, uses Cahill as a shield, and attempts a curler into the bottom right. But Begovic is wise to his tricks, and smothers a slightly underhit shot.
71 min: Nope, Montero has cramp and can’t continue. He’s replaced by Routledge.
70 min: Montero is down receiving attention, having landed awkwardly. He’s back up eventually. Willian sashays down the right, nearly opening Swansea up. Again, his final ball is lacking, but he’s making the runs, and looks Chelsea’s best bet right now.
68 min: The ball’s in the Chelsea net for a third time, but it won’t count. Shelvey plays a clever reverse pass down the left to release Sigurdsson into the box. Sigurdsson whips a low cross into the middle, and Gomis opens his body to batter a sidefoot into the bottom right. But Gomis is a good yard offside, and the flag goes up accordingly.
66 min: This is a little better from Chelsea, as Willian reaches the byline down the right, but can’t find a team-mate with his cross. Then Shelvey bundles Hazard over, 30 yards from goal on the left. A chance for Chelsea to load the box. And load it they do. Hazard whips the free kick towards Ivanovic, who heads over from the penalty spot.
64 min: Swansea are enjoying the lion’s share of possession right now. They’ve also had twice as many attempts on goal as their hosts. “I‘m so well trained by now that I am already outraged by what Mourinho is going to say about this game even though he hasn’t said it yet,” writes JR in Illinois.
61 min: Sigurdsson spins on a sixpence and slips down the middle of the field, before finding Montero on the left-hand area of the box. Montero cuts inside and lashes high and hard towards the top left. Begovic is forced to palm over for a corner - and again when Shelvey very nearly curls the corner straight in! Chelsea clear the second set piece, but they’re on the ropes here right now.
59 min: And now the busy Shelvey wins a corner down the right. Chelsea deal with the set piece easily enough, but they’re rocking a little here. Costa has tried his best to maintain a presence up the other end since the equaliser, but nothing’s quite coming off for him right now.
58 min: Montero has been the star man today, no question. He swerves, at pace, inside from the left, and unleashes a low shot towards the bottom right. Begovic, at full stretch, turns the effort away brilliantly.
57 min: Mourinho is prowling the touchline, with a face on. It’s fair to say he didn’t agree with the penalty decision.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Swansea City (Gomis 55 pen)
The striker slots the ball into the bottom right, Begovic diving the wrong way. This is no more than Swansea deserve. And all of a sudden, the champions are in a little trouble!
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54 min: A wee wait for Gomis, who has plonked the ball on the spot, as Begovic comes on for Oscar, and Terry is booked for moaning.
Penalty for Swansea! And Courtois is sent off!
52 min: Shelvey loops a gorgeous pass down the inside-left channel to release Gomis, who has sprung the offside trap. He rounds Courtois on the outside, and with his foot on the line of the area, is upended by the keeper. The referee points to the spot, and sends the keeper off. Chelsea can have no complaints here.
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50 min: Chelsea are learning nothing. Montero zips down the wing yet again. And yet again, wins a corner on the left. Shelvey’s curly delivery flies towards the near post - and balloons off the woodwork! Chelsea clear. They’re as near to all over the shop as a Mourinho team has ever been. Did Shelvey try to score direct? Courtois was well off his line. Yes, he probably did! A mighty fine effort.
48 min: But the irrepressible Montero is almost immediately coming straight back at Chelsea. He reaches the byline down the left yet again, and then goes along it on a tightrope sprint. Ivanovic eventually blocks the ball out for another corner. Shelvey takes, Fernandez leaps above Terry, and flashes a header over the bar.
47 min: Sigurdsson blooters the free kick straight into the wall. That’s deflected out for a corner on the left. Shelvey’s set piece isn’t cleared by Costa at the left-hand post. Gomis has the ball at his feet, and not for the first time in the match hesitates with the goal at his mercy. He’s bundled out of it, having failed to get his shot away yet again.
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46 min: The wonderful Montero embarks on another power-skitter down the inside-left channel. He’s obviously been ordered to keep on keepin’ on. He’s upended by Ivanovic, just outside the box. A free kick in a very dangerous position.
And we’re off again! Chelsea get the ball rolling. No half-time changes.
HALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT: “The greatest opening-day performance in English football history came from a Welsh team.” Here’s a classic Joy of Six, courtesy of Rob Smyth, on Swansea’s top-flight debut in 1981. Something in there for Chelsea supporters too, in that Arsenal get belted 4-2 in another of the picks.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 2-1 Swansea City
The Ki injury apart, that was 45 minutes of non-stop entertainment. Don’t go anywhere.
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45 min +2: Montero is shoved over by Matic on the left-hand edge of the Chelsea area. It should be a free kick, but the referee waves play on. Willian romps off down the right wing. Swansea are light at the back, and so Cork hauls him down. A booking, deservedly so. Cork let frustration get the better of him then.
45 min: Taylor pointlessly bundles Hazard over, as the Chelsea playmaker makes play down the right. A free kick that’s as good as a corner. In other words, not that good. Oscar’s dink inside is easily cleared.
43 min: Montero twists and turns down the left, and once again Chelsea’s defence is in tatters. The ball’s rolled to Taylor, overlapping. A low cross. Ayew traps, and attempts to make a little bit of space, but Terry steps in to put a stop to what he would no doubt consider insolent nonsense. Swansea have been highly entertaining in attack.
41 min: Ki is currently down receiving treatment. And he’s not going to be able to continue, his hamstring jiggered. He trudges off to be replaced by Jack Cork.
38 min: Montero is the best player on the pitch right now. Yet again he burns Ivanovic down the left, and reaches the byline. He dinks one into the middle. Gomis can’t get a header on the cross, though Terry can only cushion one into the path of Naughton, in space on the penalty spot. Fortunately for Chelsea, Naughton panics and opts to nudge the dropping ball towards the turf with an impatient arm. Arm ball!
36 min: This game has been breathless. And brilliant. Ki powers down the inside-left channel before shuttling the ball wide to the busy Montero. He reaches the byline and cuts one back. The ball eventually breaks to Sigurdsson, whose shot from distance is parried away from danger by Courtois. Chelsea have been very impressive today, and yet lively Swansea can consider themselves unfortunate to be trailing the champions.
33 min: Costa diddles around down the right. He reaches the byline and cuts one back for Ivanovic, who so nearly powers through to get a shot away. But the ball breaks to the right for Costa again. Costa lashes a shot goalwards at an almost impossible angle - and worries Fabianski into parrying the ball high into the air. The bounce favours Swansea this time and the ball flies off to safety.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Swansea City (Fernandez og 30)
But Swansea are level for just 92 seconds. Willian breaks down the left. He has a shot. Or is it a cross? Whatever it is, it balloons off Fernandez, who has closed him down, the ball looping on an absurd curling, diagonal arc and into the top-right corner. Fabianski had no chance of working out what was going on there.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Swansea City (Ayew 29)
Montero rips past Ivanovic down the left. A brilliant turn of speed. He crosses to Gomis, who powers a header towards the bottom left. Courtois sticks out a strong arm to make a brilliant save, but the ball breaks to Ayew. The debutant shoots, six yards out, only to see his effort blocked. And he’s fallen backwards. No worries! He springs up, performs a brilliant dragback to make himself a little space, and hammers a low shot into the bottom right! A glorious effort!
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27 min: Willian burst down the inside-right channel, drifts a little to the right, then fizzes one wide left. Then another wave of attack, Fabregas suddenly finding himself in space in the left-hand portion of the box. He should batter a shot goalwards immediately, but hesitates and eventually tries a backflick inside towards Costa. Far too clever for his own good, that. Swansea mop up.
26 min: This is all Chelsea. A corner down the left. It’s half cleared, but only to Cahill, just to the right of the D. Cahill has space to shoot, looking for a goal that will unquestionably be his. But he slips over as he sets himself. Swansea breathe again.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Swansea City (Oscar 23)
Swansea have been getting scrappy. Gomis needlessly bundles Hazard over, to the left of their area. Oscar again takes the free kick, a similar diagonal affair to the one a couple of minutes ago, only from the other side. This one flies straight into the bottom-right corner, Fabianski foxed by Cahill making a near-post run and wafting a leg at the ball as it passes. It doesn’t look like Cahill diverted it in, so Oscar gets the credit. But he doesn’t celebrate the goal. So who knows? Chelsea won’t care much. That’s the first goal of their title defence, right there!
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20 min: A free kick for Chelsea down the right, just shy of the area, Ki having taken his turn to upend Oscar. Poor Oscar. Po’ Oscar’s a-cold. He gets up and lashes a low diagonal free kick through the box, the ball fizzing out of play to the left of Swansea’s goal. One touch and that would have been diverted in, but nobody made the run.
19 min: Shelvey makes things happen all right. What he makes happen here is the flipping of Oscar miles into the air. A pointless tackle from behind, in the middle of the park, with Chelsea going nowhere. He’s quite rightly booked.
18 min: Costa still has his post-penalty-claim face on. While he’s sulking, another Chelsea attack. Matic takes a whack from 30 yards. It takes a massive deflection and spoons towards Fabianski in a high arc. The keeper smothers.
16 min: Ki has a batter at goal from the right-hand corner of the D. It’s straight at Courtois, who parries clear. Chelsea skedaddle straight up the other end, Costa breaking into the box from the left. He shapes to shoot but is denied by a stunning last-ditch tackle by Fernandez. Costa is beside himself with rage, demanding the penalty, and there was contact. But Fernandez took the ball cleanly first, and the referee’s not having it. Corner, which is dealt with easily enough by Swansea.
15 min: Swansea should be leading. Shelvey rolls a pass down the middle to split Chelsea’s defence in two. Gomis takes up possession, cutting in from the right, and he’s clear in the box. He’s only got Courtois to beat, but dallies, taking a touch when he should shoot. The ball eventually squirts past Courtois, but not at any great speed, and it’s hacked clear by Cahill.
12 min: Shelvey goes on a purposeful wander down the inside-right channel. He makes it as far as the byline, and fizzes a low ball into the centre, but nobody on his team has taken the gamble, and Courtois - who looks fighting fit - drops to smother. He’s an excellent player, Shelvey. Not the most technical specimen, granted, but this is football, not aerodynamics, and he makes things happen. He’s fun to watch.
11 min: Ivanovic, striding down the right, has a brazen lash at goal from the best part of 35 yards. Nope. But full marks for ambition.
9 min: A lovely bright opening to this game. Fabregas slides a pass through the eye of a needle, down the middle for Hazard, who drifts a little bit to the left before shuttling the ball further forward for Costa. Williams just about crowds the striker out of it, and Fabianski comes out to deal with the situation. A simple but very pretty Chelsea move, though.
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7 min: The set piece doesn’t trouble Courtois. But that’s only because he was nowhere near the action. The ball’s swung into the box, where Gomis, level with the left-hand post, 12 yards out, flashes a header inches wide of the right-hand post. If that was on target, Courtois wasn’t getting that, his feet planted.
6 min: Incidentally, that wasn’t Chelsea’s first injury worry of the evening. During the warm-up, Courtois felt a twinge in one of his knees, and went off for a bit of a sponge down, or whatever it is physiotherapists at football clubs do these days. He’s started the match, and no worries so far, but he’ll be tested now, because Montero has just won a corner for Swansea down the left.
4 min: Ki treads on the ball in the centre circle. Oscar takes up possession and floats a ball forward towards Costa, who very nearly breaks clear down the inside-left channel. Fabianski comes out of his box to hoick clear. After the move, Oscar falls to the floor, having copped an arm in the mush while tussling with Ki. Nothing deliberate, but he needs a little attention.
2 min: ... not very much happens. A bit of head tennis. Oscar hoicks the ball from right to left, allowing Costa to waft a lame volley into the side netting from a tight angle.
And we’re off! Swansea get the ball rolling. Chelsea are kicking towards the Shed End in this first half. The City fans are belting out their hymns and arias. But they’re forced to take a sharp intake of breath soon enough as Willian powers down the inside-right channel and wins a corner within the first 30 seconds. From which ...
The teams are out! Chelsea take to the field in their famous all-blue ensemble, while Swansea are in their crisp white shirt-and-breeks combo. While we wait for kick off, Simon McMahon has been perusing the teamsheets, so you don’t have to. “Falcao on the bench for Chelsea, Eder for Swansea. What is this, 1982? Great players both, though neither could lace Dave Narey’s boots.” All roads lead to Tannadice when McMahon’s the cartographer.
Tea-time teamsheet time
The big news here: the previously hamstrung Diego Costa starts for the champions. Swansea may be permitted a ferocious shiver, as Costa scored a 23-minute hat-trick in this fixture last season, Chelsea running out 4-2 winners. He also bagged a couple at the Liberty Stadium too, in a game Chelsea won 5-0. The recent form, it’s fair to say, favours Mourinho’s men.
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Costa.
Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Ramires, Falcao, Mikel, Remy, Moses.
Swansea City: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Shelvey, Ki, Ayew, Sigurdsson, Montero, Gomis.
Subs: Nordfeldt, Tabanou, Routledge, Eder, Rangel, Cork, Bartley.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
And so it begins again ...
Four more years! Four more years! It’s another term in office for Chelsea’s presidente, Jose Mourinho, who set about transforming club and country upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2004. Sure, Roman’s roubles might have had a little something to do with Chelsea’s ascension to superclub status as well, but access to large pots of cash money isn’t the be-all and end-all, as Avram Grant, Big Phil Scolari and Andre Villas-Boas would confirm. So the confirmation that Chelsea’s big cheese will remain at the club until 2019, internal politics all being well, ensures that the Blues go into the new campaign feeling very good about themselves. As if being the reigning champions isn’t enough.
Not that this match is a shoo-in for the title holders. They’ve not looked particularly impressive in pre-season, losing to Arsenal, Fiorentina and a rabble from New York shilling aorta-bothering energy drink. They were particularly ponderous in attack against the Gunners last weekend, creating very little in the Community Shield showdown at Wembley. Then again, none of that really mattered, while the Premier League does, and you know how o presidente rolls when things get serious. Make of pre-season what you will.
Either way, Swansea should give it a good go this evening. The Swans have had mixed results on the opening day of the season since returning to the top flight in 2011. They’ve shipped four goals on a couple of occasions, to Manchester City and Manchester United. But they skelped five past QPR three years ago, and last season went to Old Trafford and stunned Louis van Gaal on his debut in English football. Boosted this year by the arrival of André Ayew from Marseille, Swansea will be feeling pretty good about themselves too. Accordingly, they could set the champions quite a test tonight.
So will Chelsea lay down a marker ahead of another season of dominance? Or will they be shocked by Swansea? It’ll be a blast finding out. It’s the start of the new season. It’s the first match of Chelsea’s title defence. Surf’s up!
Kick off: 5.30pm.
