England Uncategorized — 10 January 2013

Swansea striker Danny Graham scored his teams second goal in a two goal victoryFor a second consecutive night the Capital One Cup semi-finals produced a shock result, as Swansea defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their clash. Chelsea dominated possession through-out the game, but couldn’t find a goal.

Two mistakes from defender Branislav Ivanovic gifted the Swans their two goal victory. The Serbian centre-back gave the ball to Swansea’s star player Michu in the 39th minute and the Spaniard fired home his 16th goal of the season.

Chelsea continued to dominate possession, but Swansea’s defence produce a resilient defensive display. Chelsea introduced new signing Demba Ba for record signing Fernando Torres in the 81st minute and started to look more of a threat on the Swans goal.

The Senegal striker was involved in a controversial incident in injury-time, as he went down in the penalty area after a challenge by Swansea Gerhard Tremmel. The referee rather harshly decided to book Ba for simulation, rather than pointing to the penalty spot.

It got even worse for Chelsea though as Swansea doubled their lead in injury-time. Branislav Ivanovic played a blind back-pass to keeper Ross Turnbull and Swansea substitute Danny Graham got there before the keeper, rounded Turnbull and slotted into an empty net.

And there was still time for Ba to have a goal ruled out for offside, which looked like a very tight decision. Swansea will know that the tie isn’t over with a second leg still to come at the Liberty Stadium, but Michael Laudrup’s side have given themselves an excellent chance over making it to the final.

Disgruntled

The Chelsea fans were frustrated with the fact that interim boss Rafa Benitez didn’t bring on Frank Lampard and Demba Ba sooner than he did. Benitez is starting to win Chelsea fans round, but this was definitely a night to forget for everybody connected with the club, especially Branislav Ivanovic.

Can Chelsea recover from the two-goal deficit at the Liberty Stadium?

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David Nugent

David is a 29 year-old football fan and journalist, who is passionate about the beautiful game. He is a lifelong supporter of Premier League Everton and likes nothing better than a healthy discussion about the world's favourite sport.

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