Cech Completely Earned UEFA Champions League Winners’ Medal

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There can be little question that Czech Republic international goalkeeper PETR CECH earned every bit of the winner’s medal he received with the rest of the victorious FC Chelsea side at the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League Final opposite Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in southern Germany.

Cech certainly picked the right time to bring off a first penalty save off for the Blues this season in Europe. Prior to the 29-year-old shot-stopper’s moment of brilliance facing Holland World Cup winger and former FC Chelsea teammate ARJEN ROBBEN of Bayern Munich in extra time of the UEFA Champions League Final, the London-based English Premier League club had already conceded two penalties on the way to the Allianz Arena. But Spain international striker ROBERTO SOLDADO of CF Valencia had scored and Argentina World Cup attacker LIONEL MESSI of FC Barcelona had smacked the crossbar against FC Chelsea earlier in the competition.

And the highly-experienced custodian with 89 senior international caps for the Czech Republic also made a bunch of saves throughout the whole of FC Chelsea’s triumphant campaign in Europe this season, as the following chart showing the defensive record of the Blues using the match statistics of the official UEFA Champions League website exhibits :

2-0 … Bayer Leverkusen …… shots : 8 …….. on target : 2 … saves : 2
1-1 …. CF Valencia ……………. shots : 15 …… on target : 8 … saves : 7
5-0 … Racing Genk …………… shots : 2 …….. on target : 0 … saves : 0
1-1 …. Racing Genk …………… shots : 9 …….. on target : 5 … saves : 4
1-2 …. Bayer Leverkusen ….. shots : 8 …….. on target : 5 … saves : 3
3-0 …. CF Valencia …………… shots : 8 …….. on target : 5 … saves : 5

1-3 …. SSC Napoli …………….. shots : 15 …… on target : 8 … saves : 5
4-1 …. SSC Napoli …………….. shots : 16 …… on target : 5 … saves : 4
1-0 …. Benfica Lisbon ……….. shots : 17 …… on target : 8 … saves : 8
2-1 …. Benfica Lisbon ……….. shots : 20 …… on target : 8 … saves : 7
1-0 …. FC Barcelona ………….. shots : 19 …… on target : 6 … saves : 6
2-2 …. FC Barcelona ………….. shots : 17 …… on target : 5 … saves : 3

1-1 ….. Bayern Munich ………. shots : 26 …… on target : 7 … saves : 6

Note —— FC Chelsea were forced to play extra time on two occasions

Altogether, Cech saved 60 of the 72 shots the opponents of the Blues managed to put on target in the UEFA Champions League this season. The FC Chelsea goalkeeper also turned in five clean sheets while posting an impressive save percentage of 83.33% from thirteen appearances. The “bend-but-don’t-break” style, to borrow an American football term, of the FC Chelsea defense in Europe this term certainly required a standard of excellence be maintained between the sticks, then.

And Cech was more than equal to that demanding task.

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Penalties : FC Chelsea 4 – Bayern Munich 3

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May 19, 2012
UEFA Champions League
Final, penalty shootout

3 – BAYERN MUNICH (Ger) ——— Lahm, Gomez, Neuer
4 – FC CHELSEA (Eng) —————— David Luiz, Lampard, Cole, Drogba

After 120 minutes of one-sided football which still could only produce a 1-1 stalemate between German Bundesliga club BAYERN MUNICH and English Premier League side FC CHELSEA, the 2012 Final of the UEFA Champions League all came down to penalty kicks, the ultimate challenge for the goalkeepers, then.

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Bayern Munich defender PHILIPP LAHM (Germany : 85 caps, 4 goals)
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FC Chelsea attacking midfielder JUAN MATA (Spain : 16 caps, 5 goals)
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Bayern Munich striker MARIO GOMEZ (Germany : 51 caps, 21 goals)
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FC Chelsea defender DAVID LUIZ (Brazil : 11 caps, 0 goals)
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Bayern Munich goalkeeper MANUEL NEUER (Germany : 25 caps, 0 goals)
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FC Chelsea midfielder FRANK LAMPARD (England : 90 caps, 23 goals)
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Bayern Munich winger IVICA OLIC (Croatia : 77 caps, 15 goals)
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FC Chelsea defender ASHLEY COLE (93 caps, 0 goals)
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Bayern Munich midfielder BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (Germany : 90 caps, 23 goals)
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FC Chelsea DIDIER DROGBA (Ivory Coast : 84 caps, 54 goals)
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Bayern Munich 1 – FC Chelsea 1 (after extra time)

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Germany international TONI KROOS (39), the promising 22-year-old midfielder who totaled two goals and six assists in Europe and, altogether, seven goals and 17 assists in all competitions for Bayern Munich this season, and Nigeria international midfielder JOHN MIKEL OBI (12) of FC Chelsea both eye the match ball during the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final staged at the sold-out Allianz Arena in the region of Sued Deutschland known as Bavaria.
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May 19, 2012
UEFA Champions League
Final

1 – BAYERN MUNICH (Ger) ————— Mueller 83′
1 – FC CHELSEA (Eng) ———————— Drogba 88′

A dramatic equalizer shortly before time canceled out what appeared to be a certain match-winner scored with under ten minutes to play as wasteful German Bundesliga club BAYERN MUNICH and completely besieged English Premier League club FC CHELSEA finished all square at 1-1 in a historic and tense UEFA Champions League Final contest which would not only require extra time but, indeed, penalty kicks to ultimately decide.

Football is not a game which easily lends itself to statistics, but in this instance, the numbers themselves will do just fine in painting a very reflective picture of what transpired. Bayern Munich, playing on its own very pitch at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria, badly outshot visting FC Chelsea 11-2 in the first half and finished with an overwhelming 26-7 advantage for the whole contest in that category, according to the official website of the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately for the Bavarian supporters anticipating Europe’s ultimate prize for a fifth time in club history, however, inaccurate Bayern Munich only ever did manage to get seven shots actually on target.

As for corner kicks, the count there ended at 20-1 in favor of Bayern Munich but, again, the real story there was all about another complete failure to capitalize on multiple opportunities at hand.

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About twenty or so minutes in the UEFA Champions League Final match with visiting English side FC Chelsea, Holland World Cup winger ARJEN ROBBEN (10) of German club Bayern Munich found little luck when his shot ricocheted off the shin of not-pictured Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech and bounced harmlessly off the post — a little foreshadowing, perhaps, of events to follow at the Allianz Arena.
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After a long and frustrating evening spent almost completely in possession and firmly on the attack, Bayern Munich looked to have finally broken through for the goal it needed. Germany World Cup winger THOMAS MUELLER, deployed in the central attacking midfielder’s role as a result of all the suspensions, popped up at the back post to meet a wonderful, left-wing cross from national team constituent TONI KROOS and bounced his header right past FC Chelsea’s world-class Czech Republic goalkeeper PETR CECH in the 83rd minute of the match. Mueller’s second strike of the season in Europe (11th for the Bavarians in all competitions) meant that Bayern Munich were just seven minutes away from yet another continental championship.

But, although experienced Belgium international defender DANIEL VAN BUYTEN was immediately brought on for Mueller by Bayern Munich trainer JUPP HEYNCKES to strengthen the defense, it was clearly just not to be. Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA, the aging 34-year-old who scored just five goals for the Blues during the whole of the 38-match English Premier League schedule this season, capitalized on the one and only corner kick FC Chelsea would earn all match. Drogba rose to meet the ball from talented Spain international attacker JUAN MATA at the near post and, in the process, literally stole the song right out of the mouth of the Bavarian supporters.

A sixth goal in the UEFA Champions League from Drogba this term sent the match into extra time, where the FC Chelsea frontman could very well have ended as the villain of the whole the story, as a matter of fact.

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France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY (7), who scored a career-high 12 goals in the Bundesliga and totaled an impressive 17 goals and 22 assists in all competitions for Bayern Munich this season, is fouled from behind by FC Chelsea’s aging Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA (11) in the 94th minute and will have to leave pitch as a result of injury immediately — leaving the Fabulous Frenchman unavailable for the decisive penalty shootout which would follow extra time in the Final of the UEFA Champions League at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria.
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Not so long into extra time, Drogba conviently clipped Bayern Munich’s lethal France World Cup winger FRANCK RIBERY from behind in the penalty box. But Holland World Cup winger ARJEN ROBBEN — the other half of the ‘notorious’ “Robbery” gang — could not beat his former teammate at FC Chelsea from the spot in a scene that was frightening familiar to the same episode which saw the Dangerous Dutchman denied by Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller in a vital Bundesliga match earlier this spring. Cech should be sincerely and properly commended as well as credited, perhaps he studied film and took some notes.

The Bavarians’ very best chance of extra time had come and gone although brave Bayern Munich did soldier on after Robben’s devastating miss to continue its all-out offensive against FC Chelsea’s cage until an entire penalty-kick shootout would have to decide the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final …

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Germany international MARIO GOMEZ (left), the 26-year-old striker who had scored 41 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich heading into the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final match with FC Chelsea contested on home turf at the Allianz Arena, failed to find the back of Czech Republic international goalkeeper PETR CECH’s net until the concluding penalty shootout phase and, thus, finished with 13 goals, including the Qualification Playoff round, all told in Europe this season.
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BAYERN MUNICH : Neuer – Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Boateng, Contento – Schweinsteiger, Kroos – Robben, Mueller (van Buyten 87′), Ribery (Olic 97′) – Gomez

FC CHELSEA : Cech – Bosingwa, David Luiz, Cahill, Cole – Mikel Obi – Lampard – Kalou (Torres 84′), Mata, Bertrand (Malouda 73′) – Drogba

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Bah! … It’s Being Worked On

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Yeah, the standard, traditional Match Report for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final between record German champion BAYERN MUNICH and Czech Republic goalkeeper PETR CECH, masquerading as an entire football team from England operating under the banner of FC CHELSEA of London, is being worked on to include all normal things here such as the ‘picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words Goal Gallery’.

Nah, not really with anything even remotely resembling any sort of commitment and / or energy, however.

It is believed that das Spielbericht is just a little over half complete, although no one actually knows for sure. Or has any desire whatsoever to find out as the atmosphere in the Production Room might fairly be categorized as ‘quite phenomenally depressed, indeed’. Surely, then, things can only get better.

Sooner or later.

Kopf hoch!

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FC Chelsea – 2011/12 Season Stats

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Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDER DROGBA (left), the aging 34-year-old whose production has dropped from 37 goals in all competitions during the 2009/10 season to 25 goals in all games the past two years combined, and Czech Republic international goalkeeper PETR CECH pose with the prestigous English Football Association Cup trophy won by FC Chelsea two weeks ago at Wembley Stadium in London, England … the four fingers displayed by the pair of imported players, who each arrived at Stamford Bridge from France in 2004, represent the number of F.A. Cups the pair have now won with FC Chelsea.
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Despite a most disappointing English Premier League campaign which saw the London-based club sack the trainer at the beginning of March, interim manager ROBERTO DI MATTEO and FC CHELSEA still have the rare opportunity to complete an impressive double this season and deliver on the ultimate conquest for Russian billionaire owner ROMAN ABRAMOVICH.

The Blues, who were originally founded in March of 1905, only celebrated its first-ever year with twin titles more than a century later in 2010. An E.P.L. championship, the fourth domestic league crown in club history, and a triumph in the annual Football Association Cup competition saw to that. But now FC Chelsea, having just defeated FC Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in the capital city to claim the prestigous F.A. Cup for the seventh time, are in position to strike again and snatch the continent’s top prize with a victory over German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in the Final of the UEFA Champions League.

The task at hand will be difficult. Bayern Munich will be playing on its very own home turf at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria and desperate to make up in front of its fans for a disastrous performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokalfinale just one week ago in Berlin. Also, FC Chelsea must take the pitch in southern Germany minus four influential but suspended players from its starting eleven.

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Brazil international midfielder RAMIRES (7), the 25-year-old Olympic bronze medalist with 27 caps for the senior national side, is one of four FC Chelsea players suspended for the UEFA Champions League Final opposite Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria this Saturday … it was Ramires, who also later tallied in the F.A. Cup Final against FC Liverpool, that scored the critical away goal at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal opposite FC Barcelona and netminder Victor Valdes (above).
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FC CHELSEA – 2011/12 all competitions
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appearances/starts
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Cech 55/54, Mata 53/46, Lampard 48/37, Torres 48/32, Cole 47/45, Ramires 47/44, Ivanovic 45/42, Meireles 45/37, Terry 44/43, Sturridge 43/37, Bosingwa 42/35, Malouda 42/21, David Luiz 39/36, Mikel Obi 34/26, Drogba 34/24, Kalou 25/15, Romeu 24/17, Essien 19/11, Cahill 18/15, *Anelka 15/6, Bertrand 14/12, Lukaku 12/4, *Alex 9/6, Ferreira 9/5, Turnbull 5/4, *McEachran 5/3, Hilario 2/2, Hutchinson 2/1, *Benayoun 1/0

goals
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Lampard 16, Sturridge 13, Drogba 12, Mata 12, Ramirez 12, Torres 11, Terry 7, Meireles 6, Kalou 5, Ivanovic 5, Malouda 3, David Luiz 3, Cahill 2, *Anelka 1, Bosingwa 1

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England World Cup center back and club captain JOHN TERRY of FC Chelsea, the highly-experienced 31-year-old defender who scored seven goals in all competitions for the Blues this term, receives a straight red card from Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir during the 37th minute of the UEFA Champions League semifinal second leg opposite FC Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia.
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Aside from the Brazilian midfielder Ramires and the English center back Terry, hard-hit FC Chelsea will also have to make due without the services of Serbia World Cup central defender BRANISLAV IVANOVIC as well as those of Portugal World Cup midfielder RAUL MEIRELES in the UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Frank Lampard Unfamiliar With La Liga

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“We enjoyed the feeling of beating the best team because Barcelona certainly are the best team.”

The above quote was offered by 33-year-old veteran England international midfielder FRANK LAMPARD of Premier League side FC CHELSEA in a recent published interview with respect to the approaching UEFA Champions League Final against German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria this Saturday.

The only thing that is certain is that Frank Lampard must be completely unfamiliar with current events in the Spanish La Liga. It is, in fact, Real Madrid who just so happened to claim the domestic title for the 2011/12 campaign after finishing a full nine points ahead of “the best team”, FC Barcelona, in the standings. Furthermore, it was Los Blancos who confirmed their status as the champion football club in Spain this season by recently beating their arch-rival fair and square on the road at Camp Nou in Barcelona.

“Barcelona certainly are the best team”? … perhaps in all of Catalonia!

FC Chelsea (England) – 2011/12 Current Roster : Total Cost

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The Startelf for English Premier League side FC CHELSEA pose for the traditional team photograph just prior to the start of the UEFA Champions League semifinal first round match opposite Spanish La Liga powerhouse FC Barcelona at a jam-packed Stamford Bridge in London.

back row : Obi Mikel, Cahill, Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Lampard
front row : Meireles, Ramires, Cole, Mata, Drogba
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Compared to some of the other clubs that four-times European champion BAYERN MUNICH have already had to face in this year’s 2011/12 UEFA Champions League tournament, it might appear to some that London-based FC CHELSEA are really something of a knock-off, reduced-price luxury opponent for the German Bundesliga club.

After all, this season’s FC Chelsea roster only cost wealthy Russian billionarie ROMAN ABRAMOVICH an austere 282.185 million English pounds (or roughly 352.735 million Euros) to assemble. But that figure, quite simply, still leaves Abramowich’s charges roughly 80.0 million English pounds (or about one hundred million Euros) shy of the total roster cost of domestic rival Manchester City. At the time the Bavarians met the eventual 2011/12 English Premier League titlists in Group A of the UEFA Champions League earlier this season, the playing staff then currently available to Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nayhan’s club had been put together for the total sum of 361.550 million English pounds (or somewhere around 452.282 million Euros) excluding the value of player exchanges.

Eighty million English pounds, coincidentally, is the exact same amount that Bayern Munich’s opponent at the semifinal stage of this year’s UEFA Champions League paid to acquire Portugal World Cup star CRISTIANO RONALDO. Then again, in terms of total roster cost, Real Madrid had Manchester City beat by about twenty or so million Euros this season. Altogether, a total of 471.5 million Euros were necessary to construct the 2011/12 Spanish La Liga winners that took the Bavarians to penalty kicks before ultimately falling short.

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At the price of 7.0 million English pounds, Premier League club FC Chelsea negiotiated themselves a real bargain with French outfit FC Stade Rennes when purchasing goalkeeper PETR CECH, the 29-year-old with 89 international caps for the Czech Republic thus far in his career, in July of 2004; the world-class shot-stopper, who just recently won a fourth FA Cup with the Blues, played a huge role in FC Chelsea’s defeat of highly-regarded Spanish La Liga side FC Barcelona at the semifinal stage of the UEFA Champions League.
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FC CHELSEA – 2011/12 roster
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50.000 ep … Fernando TORRES ………. (1/2011 : FC Chelsea)
24.400 ep … Michael ESSIEN ………….. (8/2005 : Olympique Lyon)
24.000 ep … Didier DROGBA …………… (7/2004 : Olympique Marseille)
23.500 ep … Juan MATA …………………. (8/2011 : CF Valencia)
17.585 ep …. RAMIRES ……………………. (8/2010 : Benfica Lisbon)
16.300 ep … Jose BOSINGWA ………….. (6/2008: FC Porto)
16.000 ep … John OBI MIKEL …………. (6/2006 : FK Lyn Oslo)
13.200 ep … Paulo FERREIRA …………. (6/2004 : FC Porto)
13.000 ep … Florent MALOUDA ……….. (8/2007 : Olympique Lyon)
13.000 ep … Romelu LUKAKU ………….. (6/2011 : RSC Anderlecht)
12.000 ep … Raul MEIRELES ……………. (9/2011 : FC Liverpool)
11.000 ep … Frank LAMPARD …………… (8/2001 : West Ham United)

9.700 ep … Branislav IVANOVIC ………. (1/2008: Lokomotiv Moscow)
9.000 ep … Salomon KALOU …………….. (6/2006 : Feyenoord Rotterdam)
7.000 ep … Petr CECH ……………………… (7/2004 : Stade Rennes)
7.000 ep … Gary CAHILL …………………. (1/2012 : Bolton Wanderers)
6.500 ep … Daniel STURRIDGE ………… (7/2009 : Manchester City)
5.000 ep … Ashley COLE …………………… (8/2006: FC Arsenal)
4.000 ep … Oriol ROMEU …………………. (8/2011 : FC Barcelona)

Free : Henrique HILARIO, Ross TURNBULL
Youth System : John TERRY, Ryan BERTRAND, Sam HUTCHINSON

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NOTES — John Obi Mikel’s total transfer fee was divided by English Premier League club Manchester City and Norwegian side FK Lyn Oslo … the transfer fee paid for David Luiz does not reflect consideration of value for Serbia international midfielder NEMANJA MATIC, who was shipped to Portuguese giant Benfica Lisbon to complete the transaction … the transfer fee paid for Ashley Cole does not reflect consideration for France international defender WILLIAM GALLAS, who was sent to FC Arsenal by FC Chelsea as part of that transfer agreement.

One expensive asset who departed FC Chelsea during the season was veteran France international NICOLAS ANELKA, who had been purchased from Bolton Wanderers for the transfer fee of 15.0 million English pounds in 2008; the experienced, 33-year-old striker signed with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua along with aging Brazil international defender ALEX at the start of 2012.

Arsenal Ambushes Chelsea In Critical London Derby

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Portgual World Cup fullback PAULO FERREIRA (19) of FC Chelsea races for the ball with FC Arsenal’s France international midfielder SAMIR NASRI, the Gunners’ leader with eight goals in the Premier League this season, in the 175th edition of this particular London Derby contested at the Emirates Stadium in the English capital city’s Borough of Islington. (Tom Hevezi/AP)
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French manager ARSENE WEGNER had stated before latest London Derby it was imperative for FC ARSENAL to defeat FC CHELSEA in order to keep pace with table-topping Manchester United in the Premier League.

A three-goal blitz inside of ten minutes on both sides of the halftime whistled enabled the Gunners to shoot down the visiting Blues 3-1 and remain in second place in the English top flight with 35 points from 18 matches. The Red Devils lead by two points and have a game in hand, as well. Chelsea, meanwhile, hold at fourth on 31 points from eighteen outings.

Cameroon World Cup midfielder ALEX SONG, Spain World Cup champion midfielder CESC FABREGAS and England international winger THEO WALCOTT responded to the pre-match plea of Wegner with goals for Arsenal against Chelsea in the cross-town rivalry.

The all-time record in this particular London Derby now stands at : Arsenal 70 wins, Chelsea 54 wins with 51 drawn matches.

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(Dylan Martinez/Reuters)
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(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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(Dylan Martinez/Reuters)
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(Tom Hevezi/AP)
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(Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Olympique Marseille 1 – FC Chelsea 0

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France World Cup winger FLAURENT MALOUDA of English club FC Chelsea, who is tied for the London club’s leadership with seven Premier League goals this season, shields the ball from Olympique Marseille’s Burkina Faso international midfielder CHARLES KABORE (12) at the Stade Velodrome in the south of France on the Mediterranean Coast. (Lionel Cironneau/AP)
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UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
12/8/2010

1 – Olympique Marseille (FRA) ——— Brandao 81′
0 – FC Chelsea (ENG)

A goal just ten minutes from time decided a match not without controversial moments as French Ligue 1 side OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE nipped visiting English Premier League club FC CHELSEA 1-0 in Group F of the UEFA Champions League.

With Chelsea and Marseille having clinched first and second place, respectively, in the group heading into the final game at the group stage not much other than pride was on the line. Embattled Italian manager CARLO ANCELOTTI elected not to rest several key players, such as Czech Republic international goalkeeper PETR CECH, ahead of Chelsea’s London Derby with Tottenham Hotspur this weekend. Meanwhile, Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA was in the midst of a homecoming.

The 32-year-old veteran poacher, of course, spent a highly successful 2003-04 campaign with Marseille after signing from En Avant Guingamp in France. Drogba scored 19 goals in 35 league games while adding another eleven in sixteen European contests as Marseille reached the UEFA Cup Final. Following his only season with OM, Drogba was sold to FC Chelsea for the staggering sum of 24.0 million English pounds.

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(Christine Poujoulot/AFP/Getty Images)
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OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE : Mandanda ; Heinze, N’Diaye (J. Ayew 86′), Diawara, Taiwo ; Kabore, Valbuena (Gonzalez 63′), Cheyrou, Abriel (A. Ayew 63′) ; Brandao, Remy

FC CHELSEA : Cech ; Ferreira, Terry (Bruma 72′), Ivanovic, Bosingwa (van Aanholt 80′) ; McEachran, Essien, Obi, Malouda ; Kalou, Drogba (Sturridge 62′)

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(Philippe Laurenson/Reuters)
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

FC Chelsea 2 – MSK Zilina 1

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Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA of FC Chelsea, who scored six goals in the first six Premier League games to start the new season but has not put a ball in back of the net during a domestic match since, attempts to take the ball of the feet of MSK Zilina’s Nigerian-born Benin international midfielder ISSAIKA BABATOUNDE BELLO at Stamford Bridge in the capital city of England. (Eddie Keogh/Reuters)
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UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
11/23/2010

2 – FC Chelsea (ENG) ——— Sturridge 51, Malouda 86′
1 – MSK Zilina (SVK) ———- Bello 19′

A learning experience then for the younger players in the line-up as a pair of second half goals overturned an early deficit as FC CHELSEA clipped visiting Slovak side MSK ZILINA 2-1 to win a fifth game on the trot and clinch first place in Group F of the UEFA Champions League.

MSK Zilina, who were annihilated at home 7-0 by French Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille on their last outing in Europe, took the lead before even twenty minutes had been played when Benin international midfielder ISSAIKA BABATOUNDE BELLO exchanged passes with club captain ROBERT JEZ to knife right through the heart of the FC Chelsea defense and toe-poke past the Blues’ reserve goalkeeper ROSS TURNBULL.

And so FC Chelsea, who would finish with a clearly one-sided 25-6 edge in the shots-at-goal category, went to the break down a goal to winless-in-Group F and bottom of the table MSK Zilina.

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With visiting goalkeeper MARTIN DUBRAVKA guarding his post, Ivory Coast World Cup striker SALOMON KALOU of FC Chelsea is dispossesed by the slide tackle of MSK Zilina’s Slovakia international defender MARIO PECALKA (3) as fellow defender LUBOMIR GULDAN (5), who spent the 2007-08 season with FC Thun in Switzerland, at Stamford Bridge in London. (Nick Potts/AP)
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19-year-old France youth international striker GAEL KAKUTA was withdrawn by Chelsea at halftime in favor of Ivory Coast World Cup striker SALOMON KALOU. The substitution paid immediate dividends in the sixth minute of the second half when a cross from Kalou on the left was not properly cut out and allowed to roll right across the face of goal. Arriving on the right was England U-21 international striker DEAN STURRIDGE, who gladly stuffed the ball past Slovakia U-21 international goalkeeper MARTIN DUBRAVKA in between the sticks for MSK Zilina to bring the Blues level.

Chelsea continued to press for a winner but found Dubravka difficult to beat; the MSK Zilina shot-stopper was forced to make an impressive save with the free kick of Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA on the hour.

Another front-line substitution factored prominently in the end after Sturridge was replaced by France World Cup striker NICOLAS ANELKA, who tops Chelsea with 10 goals in all competitions this season; with less than five minutes remaining in the match, the Frenchman’s cross found Drogba in the area, who headed the ball straight into the path of the anticipating France World Cup striker FLORANT MALOUDA, the Blues’ leading goal-scorer with seven strikes in the Premiership.

Malouda left the beleaguered Dubravka little chance and bagged his first goal for FC Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League this campaign.

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The flying Slovakia U-21 international goalkeeper MARTIN DUBRAVKA, after getting his palm to the formidable 60th minute free kick of FC Chelsea’s Ivory Coast World Cup striker DIDIER DROGBA, anxiously watches the ball just before it rebounds safely off the woodwork at Stamford Bridge. (Matt Dunham/AP)
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FC CHELSEA : Turnbull – Ferreira, Bruma, Ivanovic, van Aanholt – Ramires, McEachran (Mellis 90′), Malouda – Kakuta (Kalou 46′), Drogba, Sturridge (Anelka 74′)

MSK ZILINA : Dubravka – Angelovic, Piacek, Pecalka, Gergel – Matjan (Poliacek 86′), Bello, Guldan, Jez, Vladavic (Rilke 90′) – Oravec (Ceesay 64′)

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21-year-old Benin international midfielder ISSIAKA BABTOUNDE BELLO (28) of MSK Zilina, who has been on the books of the Slovak club since signing from Beninese club FC Soleil in 2006, races off after a fine finish against FC Chelsea for a stunning opening goal in the first half at Stamford Bridge. (Kirsten Wigglesworth/AP)
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England U-21 international striker DEAN STURRIDGE of FC Chelsea, who has scored one goal in 20 Premier League games for the London club since arriving from Manchester City in July of 2009 for an initial fee of 3.5 million English pounds, equalizes in the second half at Stamford Bridge with his second goal in as many matches opposite MSK Zilina in the UEFA Champions League this term. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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MSK Zilina defender JOZEF PIACEK (15) is powerless to prevent his opposite number for FC Chelsea, the seated France World Cup winger FLORENT MALOUDA, from scoring the game-winning goal for the Blues at Stamford Bridge in the capital city of England. (Eddie Keogh/Reuters)
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS