Schalke 0-3 Chelsea - Match Reports, Reaction and Video
Matt The Blue |
Press reports
The Guardian, Dominic Fifield: “Schalke were well beaten here, wounded by neatly taken goals from Fernando Torres, a striker revived as he revels under new management, and denied the last vestiges of hope by a late third from Eden Hazard. Chelsea cut the locals to pieces every time they sprang at them at pace and José Mourinho took as much satisfaction in keeping the first clean sheet by a visiting side here in this competition in 11 matches. There was strength as well as bite to a display that has thrust the Londoners to the top of the group.”
The Daily Telegraph, Jason Burt: “Jose Mourinho laid a ghost to rest. And Fernando Torres no longer looked a shadow of his former self. Torres scored twice — on his 100th start for Chelsea — and this was the man for whom Roman Abramovich paid £50 million, the man Sir Alex Ferguson said had “borderline Machiavellian” cunning, rather than the pale version of one of Europe’s most lethal strikers.”
The Independent, Simon Johnson: “Despite Torres being something of an enigma since he joined Chelsea for a British record £50m from Liverpool in 2011, something certainly seems to happen to him the moment he gets on a plane to participate on the continent. The Spaniard’s nerves evaporate and the prolific marksmen returns. There was nothing special about his strike which put Chelsea in front inside five minutes, calmly steering the ball in at the far post after Branislav Ivanovic flicked on Frank Lampard’s corner at the near post. What was so extraordinary is that he now boasts a remarkable record of scoring seven goals in his last eight European games for Chelsea.”
The Official Chelsea FC Website: “A 3-0 win in Schalke, secured courtesy of a Fernando Torres brace and a late Eden Hazard strike, saw the Blues move into top spot in Group E and record a fourth successive victory. The evening had started well, with Torres heading us in front inside the opening four minutes, but for the latter part of the first half it was Schalke looking the more threatening of the two sides. Torres, though, making his 100th start for the club, extended our advantage in the 68th minute when he finished from close-range following excellent build-up play between Hazard and Oscar. The Belgian, after scoring twice against Cardiff at the weekend, produced a wonderful individual display, and he got the goal his performance had merited in the closing minutes when he raced clear before finishing excellently. It’s now seven games unbeaten for Jose Mourinho’s men, with 19 goals scored in the process, and we head into Sunday’s Premier League game against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in great shape.”
Goals
5’ Torres 0-1 69’ Torres 0-2 87’ Hazard 0-3 Highlights
Jose’s reaction
“Fernando and Eden played a very good game, but I think everything started with the way we defended. My goalkeeper, my four defenders, Ramires and Lampard, they gave us fantastic stability, because we know the way Schalke play here and we knew that stability would give us the chance to be stable and to try to keep a clean sheet, but at the same time to recover the ball and find conditions to use the spaces that they normally give.
“So the game was very good for us, we had a difficult period in the first half, which a team normally has, and in that period, the last 10-15 minutes of the first half, they were really dominant. After that we were very compact and solid, we were always dangerous and I think my team deserved the points.” More…
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