Chelsea Ditahan Imbang oleh Norwich
Chelsea Stumbled to a 0-0 Draw Against Norwich
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
London (B2B) - Chelsea gagal meraih poin penting di di kandang sendiri untuk menyalip Manchester City dan Liverpool dari puncak klasemen setelah ditahan seri 0-0 oleh tim papan bawah Norwich City 1-0 di Stamford Bridge.
Mendominasi sejak menit awal sampai akhir pertandingan dengan menciptakan peluang lebih dari dua kali lipat dari lawannya, Chelsea gagal mengonversi satu pun peluang dari total 26 peluang yang diciptakannya, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
Norwich yang sempat lebih dulu membahayakan Chelsea lewat Bradley Johnson yang menerima umpan matang dari Martin Olsson, sayang dia terlambat mengantisipasi datangnya bola.
Sebelumnya Johnson membuat John Terry memaksa hand ball di kotak penalti Chelsea namun wasit mengabaikannya.
Pada menit 32, Chelsea nyaris menciptakan gol ketika tendangan bola terusan Nemanja Matic kepada Andre Schurrle diakhiri dengan tembakan yang membentur tiang gawang Norwich.
Di babak kedua, Chelsea memasukkan Eden Hazard dan David Luiz yang langsung memberikan dampak ketika tembakan keras Luiz membentur tiang gawang Norwich pada menit 48.
Pada menit 54 Andre Schurrle dijatuhkan oleh Alex Tettey di kotak penalti namun wasit tak memberikan hadiah penalti untuk itu. Demikian pula ketika Hazard dilanggar keras oleh Ryan Bennett, wasit membiarkannya karena Hazard dinyatakan sudah keburu offside.
Chelsea tak menyerah dan terus menciptakan peluang, diantaranya Willian, Demba Ba, dan Ivanovic, namun jika tidak diblok kiper maka upaya pemain Chelsea melenceng dari gawang. Sampai babak kedua usai kedudukan 0-0 tetap bertahan.
Hasil ini membuat Chelsea tertahan di peringkat tiga dengan 79 poin atau satu poin di bawah City dan Liverpool serta tiga poin di atas Arsenal, sedangkan hasil seri belum menyelamatkan Norwich dari ancaman degradasi dengan terpaut dua poin di bawah Sunderland di peringkat 18.
London - Chelsea missed the chance to temporary top the Premier League after a 0-0 draw with relegation-threatened Norwich at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho's men must now rely on both Man City and Liverpool dropping points to have any hope of winning the title.
In a match littered with penalty shouts, it was Chelsea who dominated and fans will be disappointed the Blues could not join Man City and Liverpool on 80 points.
Norwich are not down yet, but face Arsenal on the final day of the season, while Sunderland, who are two points ahead with a game in hand, play West Brom before the visit of Swansea on May 11.
The Canaries didn’t just surrender, though, and Martin Olsson felt he deserved a penalty early on after a challenge from John Terry, while towards the end of the half Bradley Johnson – playing without a name and number after swapping his bloodied shirt – also went close.
Chelsea will also feel they should have been awarded a spot kick when Michael Turner took Demba Ba out off the ball, but their best chance of the opening 45 minutes came from Andre Schurrle.
The German took a nicely threaded through-ball from Nemanja Matic, but his shot cannoned off the post after curling the ball around goalkeeper John Ruddy on 30 minutes, with Norwich clearing.
At half-time, Frank Lampard and Mohamed Salah were replaced by David Luiz and Eden Hazard and the new duo made an instant impact.
The former’s short pass to Branislav Ivanovic from a wide position saw the defender tee up Luiz on the edge of the 18-yard box, but after beating Ruddy with his excellent shot, the Brazilian was denied by the crossbar.
An appeal from Schurrle for a spot kick was waved away and the Blues were demanding another shortly after when Hazard was in the thick of it again.
