Eden
Hazard, Oscar and Willian all shone as Chelsea beat West Ham 2-0 - but the
Blues' threat from set-pieces can not be underestimated...
“At times Chelsea were sensational. The movement, the rotation; the four up
front have got licence to do whatever they want, that’s why they’re so
difficult to pin down. This team are so fluid and that’s why they’re so hard
to stop and a joy to watch.”
Chelsea exhibited a fine display of their attacking talent in their 2-0 win
over West Ham and, as Jamie Redknapp pointed out on Sky Sports, Eden Hazard,
Oscar, Willian and Cesc Fabregas are producing mouth-watering football for
the Premier League leaders.
However, the contest also highlighted another key factor in Chelsea’s title
challenge – their strength from set-pieces.
Chelsea are the top flight’s leading scorers from set-pieces in this
campaign, netting 11 times from dead-ball situations and, for the second
game in a row, they broke the deadlock through John Terry on Friday, who
converted their seventh goal from a corner this season.
“It kills me,” said West Ham boss Sam Allardyce, when asked about letting in
the opener on Boxing Day from a corner.
“To be fair, we are one of the best defending set-pieces this season, that’s
why we are where we are, and we’re pretty good at scoring them. But that’s
disappointing, against a team as good as this you can’t give them a goal off
a set-piece. You’ve got so much to worry about in general play but we
switched off.”
A quick-fire interchange between Hazard, Willian and Oscar led to James
Collins hacking the ball behind his own goal-line in the first-half at
Stamford Bridge. However, the danger was far from over.
Blues skipper Terry revealed after the game the team had been studying West
Ham’s defensive set-up at corners and spotted room to exploit. The
centre-back moved to the back post when his marker, James Collins, went to
attack Cesc Fabregas’ corner, and he was unmarked when he tucked in Diego
Costa’s flick-on.
“We watched a video before the game on set plays and saw a bit of space in
behind,” explained Terry. “It’s not normally a run I make but I fancied
getting there, Diego flicked it on and I popped it in and was delighted to
get us off to a good start again.”
Of course, every team goes into matches with plans for set-plays. It’s the
execution that counts.
“John Terry, like all good centre forwards, gets in behind and his movement
is as good as anybody,” said Redknapp. “It looks an easy chance but his
movement gets him there.”
Chelsea – who added a second through Costa in the second half – travel to
Southampton on Sunday, aiming to finish 2014 top of the Premier League.
Saints have the second-best defence in the division behind Chelsea, but will
face a stiff test in open play and dead-ball situations by Jose Mourinho’s
side
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