Analysis of the goals conceded against Chelsea (30/4)
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No need to spend too long on these, is there?!
There are 44 minutes on the clock, Spurs are 1-0 up, and Chelsea have possession on the right of their midfield through Mikel.
Van der Vaart works hard to stop crosses coming in – first from Mikel and then from Drogba.
He pressures Drogba, but Drogba is able to step away from him, and he has Lampard as an option, just outside the centre circle.
Lampard receives the ball, as Sandro comes across to press the ball.
With no Spurs player close enough to stop the shot coming in, Lampard has a strike from distance.
It’s straight down Gomes’ throat but bounces just in front of him and goes through his hands and legs.
In making a desperate lunge to retrieve the ball, Gomes stops it just as it’s about to go over the line. This shot shows just how far away the linesman is – his flag is easy to make-out.
There is part of the ball clearly on the line and so, of course, the goal should not be given.
A terrible, fundamental error from Gomes, but one that he retrieved.
Terry pushes forward from defence as Chelsea’s pressure is starting to mount.
Terry finds Anelka, who suddenly comes alive and accelerates forward.
Anelka lays off to Lampard, and then makes a run to receive the return ball.
Lampard chips into Anelka’s pass, but it is not easy to control. It’s important to note that both Gallas and Dawson have stepped out at this point – they should not both be doing so here.
I think Anelka tries to cushion the ball down for himself, but it falls nicely for Drogba.
Kaboul comes across to challenge Drogba, but fails to make a proper challenge – Drogba fools him into thinking that he’s going to shoot, and instead cuts inside on to his left foot. Poor defending from Kaboul.
Drogba eventually gets a shot away, and Dawson throws himself at the ball.
The shot is mis-hit, but falls absolutely perfectly for Kalou to stab home from inside the 6-yard box.
As Drogba took his shot, Kalou had strayed beyond our defensive line, and the flag should have been raised.
Another advert for goal-line technology, as 1-0 to Spurs at half-time would have made for a very interesting second half. That is not to say that every decision went against us – Chelsea should have had a penalty for Kaboul’s lunge in the second half. 1-1 would probably have been a fair result despite the under-performances of a number of our players; 2-1 was cruel, but pretty much sums up how our last couple of months have gone.