Stoke City 1 Chelsea 2: I’m here to win, not to beat Jose, says Carlo

14 September 2009 10:30
Florent Malouda would probably have liked a little longer to discuss his winning goal but the team bus was waiting to go and Chelsea had already left it late enough for one day. Off they went and who could blame Stoke for wanting to see the back of them? In January they had to endure the sight of Chelsea’s players charging down the touchline to mob coach Luiz Felipe Scolari after Frank Lampard’s injury-time goal completed a 2-1 comeback win. On Saturday it was Carlo Ancelotti’s turn to disappear amid the throng as Malouda’s strike, even deeper into time added on by referee Mike Dean, broke Stoke hearts. Two almost identical scenarios but a very different reality. Scolari was living on borrowed time. Lampard’s goal gave him a stay of execution but three weeks later the Brazilian was history. Ancelotti, on the other hand, has made an impressive start at Stamford Bridge. Five games, five wins. Not even the Special One managed that. ‘It’s not a battle against Mourinho, it’s a battle against Stoke City today and in the next game against Tottenham,’ said the Italian, diplomatically. Although the fixture list could not have been much kinder, no one can say Ancelotti’s men lack a battling quality. They won it at the death against Hull on the opening day and again at the Britannia Stadium when faced with the most robust challenge the Premier League has to offer. Having fallen behind to Abdoulaye Faye’s simple header, the league leaders still prevailed with a stunning equaliser from Didier Drogba and Malouda’s winner. Both were deep in injury time in each half. The fact that Dean added on a total of 13 minutes tells you just how physical an encounter it was. It is this resolve, believes Malouda, that gives Chelsea their best chance of wresting the Premier League title from Manchester United for the first time since 2006. ‘When you win against Hull in injury time and away to Stoke in injury time that means we can win when it’s difficult,’ he said. ‘It shows the spirit is good. That’s why we celebrated together as a squad. I think that will help us to reach the title. ‘You have to respond when it’s a physical game but the message at half-time was to play with our quality. ‘Ancelotti has brought that to the team - trying to help us make that last step.’ The Italian appears to be having the same effect on Chelsea as his former AC Milan boss Fabio Capello has had on England - an ability to get the best out of a group of very gifted individuals as well as winning not playing particularly well. ‘They played with a big heart,’ said Ancelotti. ‘But I’m not surprised. Any team who reach five semi-finals of the Champions League have character.’ Chelsea will need all the unity they can muster in the months ahead if the early-season promise is to be rewarded with trophies. Already facing a transfer embargo that will prevent Ancelotti from strengthening in January (even their own fans applauded the witty rendition of ‘You’re not signing any more’ from the Stoke supporters), they are handicapped by Drogba’s four-match Champions League ban. It kicks in when FC Porto come to Stamford Bridge for tomorrow night’s Group D opener and the Ivory Coast striker is also one of four senior players who will be lost to the Africa Cup of Nations in January. But Stoke’s former Chelsea defender Robert Huth, a title winner at Stamford Bridge three years ago, still expects his old club to be up there in May. ‘The thing about Chelsea is that they never give in,’ said Huth, who was one of three Stoke players making a debut. ‘It will be interesting to see how many games they win like that. But they don’t have to show the rest of the league what they can do — people know. ‘The title is there for Chelsea to win. Put it this way, they are my favourites.’

Source: Daily_Mail