[ 2014-01-27 ]

Oscar earned Chelsea a fifth-round tie away to Manchester City

Oscar steals show for Chelsea with moment of brilliance
Chelsea 1 Stoke City 0
If Oscar had wanted to give a reason why Juan Mata
was no longer required at Stamford Bridge, his
right foot provided an emphatic one as he earned
Chelsea a fifth-round tie away to Manchester City
with a moment of brilliance.
The Brazilian’s goal, a swerving, dipping free
kick after 27 minutes, was the difference between
the sides on the scoreboard, even if there seemed
a distance between them in terms of quality.
Chelsea, unlike their fifth-round opponents, make
a habit of doing just enough to win. This time
Chelsea had the ambition to give Stoke City a
hammering, but the combined efforts of Asmir
Begovic, the Stoke goalkeeper, a determined
defence and the woodwork denied them more goals.
Oscar, who also hit a post with a low drive in the
first half, was the star. The departure of Mata to
Manchester United came with the message that José
Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, wanted to build the
team around the 22-year-old who would play in
Mata’s favoured position. On this evidence, Mata
will not be missed.
“It’s a bit of a contradiction because we
played so well, but won with a free kick,”
Mourinho said. “The free kick makes us happy
because he trains for that. It’s good to see a
player dedicate some minutes every day after
training on a specific thing to score a beautiful
goal like that.
“Nobody in this club sold Mata for football
reasons. We sold because, economically, it was
very good. I’m sorry I didn’t make him happy,
but football is football. I build a team around
Oscar in that position and, on the sides, the
other people are doing very well. Juan is not
comfortable on the sides. He did well and tried
hard on the right, but it’s not his natural
habitat. So when United come in and tell him
he’s going to play in his favourite position and
he wants to go, he goes.
“Maybe it was because it was something new for
him, not to be a first choice. But I went in one
direction. I tried to make him play in a position
where he was not comfortable. He’s a world
champion, a European champion. It was difficult
for him. Because of that, I feel that we
couldn’t stop him going to Man United, even
though it’s Man United, a direct rival.”
Chelsea were not in a mood to hang about. Within
two minutes, a smooth turn on the edge of the area
by Samuel Eto’o opened the way for a shot that
shaved the outside of a post. Stoke looked
comfortable on the ball, but when possession was
lost, they looked vulnerable to Chelsea’s pace
on the counter-attack, with Eto’o, Oscar and, in
particular, André Schürrle charging forward when
given the opportunity. Twice Ryan Shawcross made
vital interventions to deny Chelsea, but when the
breakthrough came, there was an element of good
fortune but plenty of undoubted class.
The good fortune came for Chelsea in Chris Foy,
the referee, awarding a free kick, 25 yards out,
when Erik Pieters’s challenge on Eto’o had
seemed fairly innocuous. The execution was
magnificent, though, Oscar curling a right-foot
shot from the wrong side that swerved and dipped
beyond Begovic and into the corner of the net.
“We were disappointed with the initial award of
the free kick,” Mark Hughes, the Stoke manager,
said. “The lads shouted as the challenge went
in, and that swayed the referee to give it. But
you hold your hands up when the player produces
the quality Oscar did.”
Try as they did, however, Chelsea would not add to
that goal. Shortly before half-time, Frank Lampard
was unable to get on the end of Eden Hazard’s
cross. And after Stephen Ireland fired just wide
for Stoke, Oscar’s low shot hit the bottom of a
post.
Chelsea’s domination continued after the break
and it was not long before they went close again,
the ball being fed to the right where
Schürrle’s shot from a tight angle came back
off the top of a post. Then a move on the edge of
the area resulted in Oscar firing just wide.
Stoke, though, were showing signs of life.
Jonathan Walters saw a shot whizz just wide, then
Marco Arnautovic went close from a free kick. With
20 minutes remaining, Stoke tried to force the
pace, but the game opened up and the chances fell
to Chelsea.
Hazard forced a save from Begovic, then Ramires
and Eto’o between them failed to force the ball
into the net with the goal gaping. Begovic’s
finest moment came from a David Luiz free kick,
which was hit like a thunderbolt, and turned over
by the goalkeeper.
@RonLewisTimes
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): M Schwarzer — B Ivanovic, G
Cahill, D Luiz, A Cole — F Lampard, N Matic —
A Schürrle (sub: Ramires, 70min), Oscar (sub:
Willian, 81), E Hazard — S Eto’o (sub: D Ba,
85). Substitutes not used: P Cech, J O Mikel, J
Terry, C Azpilicueta.
Stoke City (4-2-3-1): A Begovic — G Cameron, R
Shawcross, M Wilson, E Pieters (sub: M Muniesa,
85) — W Palacios (sub: O Assaidi, 72), S
N’Zonzi — M Arnautovic (sub: C Adam, 83), S
Ireland, J Walters — P Crouch. Substitutes not
used: T Sorensen, G Whelan, J Guidetti, R Shotton.
Booked: Cameron, Wilson, Pieters.
Referee: C Foy. Attendance: 40,845.

Source - The Times, UK

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