Fortunate officiating may have been the deciding factor as Chelsea continued their 2016 turnaround with a 2-1 win over Norwich yesterday morning.
The Blues took an immediate advantage at Carrow Road, with Kennedy turning inside and around the home defenders before slotting the ball into the bottom corner inside the first 60 seconds. Things would be just as open in the other direction though, with the Canaries also pushing forward early and nearly finding Cameron Jerome in space for a quick equaliser.
In the midst of the back-and-forth first-half, the first point of contention came when Cesar Azpilicueta passed a loose ball back to Thibaut Courtois and the goalkeeper picked it up. While the Norwich faithful were immediately incensed, replays showed that referee Lee Mason made the correct decision as Nathan Redmond had touched the pass on the way through.
However, the officials could not be let off the hook so easily when Chelsea doubled their lead moments before halftime. Bertrand Traore would slip the ball behind the backline from a throw-in for Diego Costa to finish past John Ruddy, yet on this occasion the replay made it clear that the striker was offside by a foot at least.
The Norwich spirits were clearly deflated as the second-half began, but the visitor’s intensity also faded and minutes after Jerome missed at an open net, Redmond provided some lifeline with a powerful strike into the net after charging down the right-wing. With minds set firmly on a pivotal oncoming seven-days Chelsea would do what was probably the bare minimum to hold on for the win. The reigning champions move into eighth place, while Norwich now languish in the drop zone.
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Horrid offside call costs Canaries
While Premier League observers became very familiar with a Chelsea manager criticising the referees, today it was Alex Neill who would have had a bone to pick with Lee Mason and his assistants. While the decision on the back-pass from Azpilicueta to Courtois is defensible due to a deflection, the linesman’s judgement when Costa ran on for the second-goal was at first hard to believe. It was a goal that should not have been allowed, but one that Norwich would not really recover from until the last 30 minutes of the match.
Considering Chelsea only had four efforts on goal in the second-half, the Canaries may well have walked away with a share of the spoils had Costa been correctly deemed offside.
Guus’ magic touch
Had the start of the season not gone so poorly Chelsea’s now 12-game unbeaten run would probably garner more praise, but under Guus Hiddink they have gone from a team many were jokingly throwing up for relegation, to sitting in eighth spot and just five points behind fifth placed Manchester United.
Fresh and youthful faces are making solid impacts on the pitch, including Kenedy’s first goal in the top-flight and Traore’s assist for the second, while Costa looks fitter than any point last season and is back to his fiery best.
Critics that speculated if Hiddink had lost his touch since his last stint with the Netherlands are well and truly being silenced. The fans are begging for the powers that be at Stamford Bridge to keep the Dutchman on for another season and it is becoming increasingly hard to argue, as 2015-16 redemption may still be in reach.
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