A Blue Up North reviews our FA Cup replay at home to Norwich.
Wednesday evening saw the last of the replays of this season’s 3rd round of The FA Cup including Chelsea hosting Championship side Norwich City. The original tie at Carrow Road was generally disappointing and finished 0-0. However the replay contained incidents and talking points that will be discussed and debated for a while yet.
Antonio Conte once again rang the changes in his starting line up for the cup campaigns but this time opted for a 3-4-3 formation with Pedro and Willian flanking Michy Batshuayi in attack. The young Belgian striker went into this match on a run of 10 matches without scoring, albeit quite a few of those were just as a cameo role late on. However his general interplay and striker instincts have recently come into question and he has been the centre of speculation that he is being lined up to be loaned out elsewhere.
Daniel Farke stuck with the 3 central defenders who played very well in the original match as part of his 3-4-3 set up. However the Norwich manager had to change both central midfielders due to lack of fitness and also he reinstated top goal scorer Oliveira in place of the now departed Pritchard and his side did start a little unsure but quickly grew into the match and played some good football.
A relatively quiet first half ended goalless with only a few short spells of pressure on the Norwich goal including Danny Drinkwater’s shot being tipped onto the bar and Cesar Azpilicueta only inches from converting in at the far post.
Just as The Blues fans were starting to concern themselves that they heading for yet another goalless match, the Norwich defence hesitated for the first time early in the second half and that allowed Batshauyi to find a yard of space inside the 6 yard box and he thumped home a Kenedy cross. The sense of relief was felt throughout the stadium but despite Conte bringing on first team players N’Golo Kante, Alvaro Morata and Andreas Christensen the home side could not press home their advantage.
It had taken until the 64th minute for Norwich to register their first attempt on target in the whole tie but it should have acted as a warning. Morata’s hold up play and movement is generally so much better than Batshauyi’s but the Spaniard is clearly low on confidence in his goal scoring.
With the score remaining at 1-0, the door was always open for The Canaries. So with nothing to lose they pressed forward as a team right til the final whistle and in the 94th minute it took 2 defenders to get the equaliser. The best cross of the night from the impressive centre back Klose was converted by the promising left back Lewis.
So a cup tie that could have promised so much, had ambled along for 180 minutes and now entered extra time. However it was during these 30 minutes that most of the controversy occurred. Player integrity, referee decisions and the VAR system were all at the centre of conversation.
During the regular 90 minutes, Pedro had been rightly booked for simulation. He had gone over in the penalty box when clearly not touched by the goalkeeper. His grimace and head holding told the story of his embarrassment. However it served as a prelude to some of the decisions made in extra time.
In the second minute of extra time, Willian was clipped by Klose in the penalty box. Referee Graham Scott believed there was no contact and despite the Video Assistant Referee system being trialled and tested there was no assistance from the video referee. Replays clearly showed the trip on Willian and if the VAR system is to get the support of all in football it needs to get the easier decisions correct. After all it is there to assist the on the pitch referee who cannot see every challenge accurately, nor get every decision correct. VAR is there to rectify the clearly incorrect decisions made by the referee.
As extra time continued without a break through, Pedro correctly received a second yellow card for a cynical foul in midfield and The Blues were down to 10 men.
But then in added time at the end of extra time, we had another controversial player/referee fiasco. Substitute Alvaro Morata once again attempted to lose his close marker when he went down in the penalty box. Graham Scott instantly awarded a free kick to Norwich and showed Morata a yellow card. The decision was hugely debatable of that there is no doubt. However Morata instantly protested the decision and Scott quickly showed him a second yellow card and Chelsea were down to 9 players.
The incident highlighted a lot of wrongs with football at the highest level. Morata seems to be taking an age adjusting to knowing what constitutes a foul on him in the English game and goes to ground too easily too often. With this in mind there are occasions when he is genuinely fouled but does not get the decision his way. Whether a penalty should have been awarded in this incident is open to personal opinion. The one question to answer is would the same incident be awarded as a foul anywhere else on the pitch? Just because it took place in the area doesn’t suddenly make the pull back on the shoulder too weak to cause the striker to go to ground.
The speed with which Scott showed Morata the yellow card was surely born out of the referee’s frustration at what he felt was systematic cheating by the Chelsea attackers. Instead of pausing and collecting his thoughts he instantly allowed his emotions to take control and without even putting the card back in his pocket he was brandishing it to the Spaniard for a second time. From potentially awarding a soft penalty to sending the striker off inside 3 seconds. Surely the sensible solution from the official was some where in between.
Morata himself needed to control his reaction. Yes he has been struggling for form recently and yes he does feel that he needs more protection but he should never allow his frustrations to go over the top. A highly paid professional needs to remember he has a responsibility towards his teammates and the supporters and not get into a situation where he could be sent off.
The tie ended level and in the ensuing penalty shootout, all 6 Chelsea players involved excelled. Caballero’s excellent save and 5 very well taken spot kicks ensured The Blues did eventually progress to the 4th round. Norwich for their part should rightly feel very proud in matching the league champions both home and away and with their impressive looking youngsters playing significant roles in the tie, their future looks promising.
From Chelsea’s point of view there will be huge disappointment in the lack of impetus shown by the fringe and youngsters who were given an opportunity to prove their abilities and challenge for a starting place. However in a fairly lacklustre cup tie, it was The Blues who had slightly longer and better spells of control. They only allowed 4 attempts on target over the entirety of 210 minutes of cup football. And if Willian’s trip had correctly been rewarded with a penalty or if Azpilicueta, Willian, Drinkwater or any of Morata’s 3 glorious heading chances had been converted, Chelsea’s victory would have been more defined and we potentially could have prevented the need for extra time and the 2 unnecessary red cards.
Conte will clearly be pleased with making progress in another cup round and his side now extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches, but will also be disappointed with the lack of conviction of his side’s play and in the score line.
Roll on the 4th round and a home tie with Newcastle United.
Written by Jon Ellis. Follow him on Twitter @ClitheroeBlue
