The only complaint Jose Mourinho might have after this astonishing contest is the fact that there was so little to complain about.
It was a near perfect performance from his Chelsea side, with no need to cry conspiracy or point to an ongoing campaign against his team. He could not even moan about Wilfried Bony’s transfer to Manchester City. Here Bony’s absence was clearly to Chelsea’s advantage.
Instead at a stunned Liberty Stadium Chelsea simply returned to the campaign that remains Mourinho’s main focus; his campaign to return his side to the summit of the English game.
However strong City might be, Chelsea will be hard to stop on this evidence. This time two first half goals apiece for Oscar and Diego Costa and a further second half strike from Andre Schurrle secured three more points, with some quite extraordinary defensive errors contributing to Swansea’s demise. But to suggest Swansea were the architects of their own downfall would be to seriously undervalue just how wonderful a performance this was from the leaders of the Barclays Premier League.
Chelsea ended a run that had seen them secure just one win in five away games with a display that was a joy to watch; another demonstration that continues to debunk a myth that this brand of football is beyond Mourinho’s tactical capabilities. He has assembled the Chelsea side we see here and they are playing as well, and as attractively, as any team in Europe.
The opening Chelsea goal against Swansea might have owed much to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s wayward pass – a pass seeming intended for Ashley Williams but one that was diverted into the path of Oscar when it struck Tom Carroll – but it remained a marvellous finish.
That is came as early as did, after just 49 seconds, did Swansea no favours in their efforts to settle into an encounter with their stylish visitors. But Oscar’s goal summed up what Chelsea were about here; precise, clinical and classy.
When Chelsea play like this, they are a nightmare for opponents. The accuracy of their passing, the flow of their movement. It is hugely impressive. Hugely effective too.
On Friday Mourinho joked that Manchester City might even be allowed to break the rules to the extent of playing with 12 men, but here it seemed Chelsea always had an extra body in midfield.
Swansea, seemingly struggling to adapt to what was actually a fairly orthodox 4-4-2 system with Sigurdsson in midfield in the absence of Ki Sung-Yueng, were drowning in a sea of blue.
There was the briefest glimpse of a riposte when Sigurdsson sent a shot crashing against the angle of post and crossbar in the second minute but after that they pretty much folded.
A second for Chelsea might have come when Willian seized on a parried effort from Oscar only to send his shot over the crossbar.
But when Cesc Fabregas, so composed and confident alongside the marvellous Nemanja Matic, executed a delightful one-two with Willian before feeding the ball into Costa, goal number two arrived in the 20th minute. Costa, much like Oscar, produced a fierce, low finish Lukasz Fabianski was powerless to stop.
Chelsea were so in control, with Willian seeing one shot bounce off a post and another rebound off the crossbar.
But when Federico Fernandez contrived in the 34th minute to knock a backpass into the path of Costa, the Spaniard extended Chelsea’s lead with another deadly strike.
For Garry Monk it was clearly proving very painful, Swansea’s manager watching in despair as another goal arrived within two minutes.
This time Willian sparked the move with a burst from midfield and a delightful pass out to Costa on the right flank, with Costa then delivering to the ball into the path of a rapidly advancing Oscar and so inviting the Brazilian to smash it home. He did so with admirable ease.
It enabled Chelsea to stroll through the second half, even if there was a moment when Costa and Ashley Williams became embroiled in what looked like a very slight clash of heads.
But it remained a game without controversy; without even a booking, so one-sided a contest this was.
Mourinho eventually made changes with one eye on Tuesday’s League Cup encounter at Liverpool. But a fifth Chelsea goal, scored in the 79th minute, nevertheless came, with Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic inviting Schurrle to compound Swansea’s misery from close range.
No comments:
Post a Comment