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MANCINI WARY OF CHELSEA

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The Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has said that he is extremely wary of a threat posed by Chelsea in the title race, despite the team struggling with a number of bad results in recent weeks. This has prompted to change the manager Roberto di Matteo, who has been replaced by Rafael Benitez. Despite the arrival of the former Liverpool man, the club has been unable to get back to winning ways after they have suffered draws against Manchester City and Fulham in the last two matches. The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently suggested that it was a two horse title race between the two Manchester clubs.

However, Mancini believes that Chelsea should not be discounted from this title race because they have players who can make the difference. It has been six matches without a win in the league for Chelsea. They will be facing yet another London derby in the weekend against West Ham. Due to the fact that there are still 24 matches remaining in the league, it is very wrong to discount Chelsea as not a proposition in the title race. Mancini has pointed out to the number of points City made up for United in the last six matches of the season.

“I think Chelsea could be in it. We have another 24 games. It is too long to say. Last year in [the last] six games we recovered eight points. Teams like Tottenham and Arsenal can recover these points in the next 24 games but it is difficult to say this now. Everton started the season very well. They can finish in the Europa League but also they have the quality to finish fourth,” said Mancini ahead of the match with Everton, who were the last team to win at the Etihad stadium.

Cech: Di Matteo was right to rest Mata

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It would be fair to say that Juan Mata was the best player on the park during Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Tottenham, with the Spaniard well and truly pulling the strings during the victory. Following his highly impressive performance, Petr Cech has lauded praise on the player and insisted that Roberto Di Matteo’s decision to rest him for two weeks has paid dividends.

Mata was the star of the show on Saturday, with the Blues coming back from being 2-1 down to completely outclass Spurs and strengthen their hold at the top of the Premier League. As well as scoring twice, the former Valencia midfielder was a constant thorn in the side of Andre Villas-Boas’ side, with the club’s former manager even lavishing praise on the player he brought to Stamford Bridge just over twelve months ago.

Following on from the classy performance, goalkeeper Cech has praised all his teammates. He told talkSPORT that the team did fantastically well to win their first game at White Hart Lane in years, while also complimented Di Matteo’s approach in relation to Mata, “It was a great reaction from 2-1 down. We haven’t won here for a long time and then you think here we go again but it was not the case, we knew how to get back into the game and in the end we scored some great goals. It was important to give him [Mata] a break. You can’t play two seasons in a row and the Euros. You can see he benefited from that, he’s still got the hunger to play. It’s great to see him playing like that.”

The win over Spurs means that the Blues retain their place at the top of the division, with 2nd place Manchester United still four points behind following the opening eight games.

MOSES IS A GREAT FIT

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The Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo has told Chelsea FC News that he believes that the Wigan athletic winger Victor Moses is exactly the type of player Chelsea need at the moment. After many weeks of discussion with the Premier league club, Chelsea finally managed to secure his signature for around £ 9 million. Victor Moses came to prominence with Crystal Palace before moving to Wigan athletic for around £ 2.5 million. Chelsea initially came with a bid of around £ 3.5 million, which was rejected initially by Wigan. However, after making many increased over the past couple of weeks, Chelsea have finally decided to offer the asking price of £ 9 million for the player.

The Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo reckons that it is money well spent because Victor Moses is a player who will definitely suit Chelsea because of the new dimension that they will adopt this season. It is expected that the club will be adopting a pass style of football similar to Barcelona following the additions of players like Eden Hazard and Oscar. As a result of these additions, the midfield of the club has become extremely strong according to the manager Roberto di Matteo, who has said that Victor Moses will be capable of playing on the wings for Chelsea.

“Roberto Martinez has done a wonderful job with this player since signing him. He’s really developed him. He had a very good season last year and hopefully we can progress his development He can play on either wing and wing and will give the team width. He has good dribbling ability, has pace and is powerful. We’ve tried very hard to get this player. We like him very much. He’s young and hopefully he’ll be the future of the club,” said Roberto di Matteo after securing the signature of the Nigerian international.

TORRES GOAL WAS LUCKY

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The Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has said that the club was fortunate in having the Fernando Torres goal allowed in the match against Reading. Chelsea were facing the newly promoted club Reading at Stamford Bridge from the first time since winning the Champions League title last season. Hence, there was a party atmosphere at the club, but it was spoilt after Reading managed to take the lead in the match. Going into the first half break, the newly promoted club were 2-1 up in the match. However, goals from Gary Cahill and Fernando Torres helped Chelsea turn the match around in the second half.

They were finally made sure of victory following the last minute goal by Ivanovic. The new summer signing Eden Hazard was at his best in the match and he set up all but one goal in the match. The 4-2 win now means that Chelsea have six points from the opening two matches, which is a great start according to the manager Roberto di Matteo. However, Chelsea could have easily drawn the match, as they were fortunate when the linesman allowed the Fernando Torres goal to stand, despite the replays showing clearly that he was offside.

“It was maybe slightly [offside] so that went for us. But it was fantastic for Fernando. He has two goals now and he is up and running,” said Gary Cahill after the match. Fernando Torres has now scored two goals in the last three matches for Chelsea. The Reading manager Brian McDermott was visibly disappointed with the outcome of the match after his side came extremely close to getting a famous result at Stamford bridge. “He’s a clear yard offside. It’s just a shame really. I’m disappointed for the players. I thought it was a great game. We’ve come to the European champions and put on a real performance,” said the Reading manager.

TERRY COULD TAKE ONE

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England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Chelsea defender John Terry could be one of the 5 penalty takers if the Euro 2012 quarter-final match against Italy goes into penalties. England have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition as the winners of the group D. As a result, they will be facing runners up from the group C – Italy. Due to the fact that Italy are well known for their defensive abilities, there is a very good chance that the game might go into penalties. England manager Roy Hodgson has already revealed that the team are practising penalties just in case the match goes into extra time and penalties.

Chelsea captain and defender John Terry has some of the worst experiences in a penalty shootout after he missed the crucial kick in the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow. Even though John Terry has been redeemed from the mistake this season after Chelsea won their first ever Champions League title, it is thought that John Terry would be extremely fearful of taking a penalty in the match against Italy. Hodgson has denied such rumours by saying that Terry will step up if he is called to do so.

“John will step up to the plate. He has confidence in his own ability. He will take one if needed. We have practised already, we have used the time after training sessions to practice. We’ll obviously take it even more seriously now. But you well know, you can practise penalty shoot-outs until the cows come home, it’s really your composure, your confidence, your ability to block everything out and forget the occasion that means you score or you don’t score,” said a very confident looking Roy Hodgson ahead of the Italy match that will take place on Monday.

DROGBA SHOULD STAY

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Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay has said that both fans and the club want striker Didier Drogba to stay at the club next season. The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season with rumours persist in that the striker is demanding a two year contract, while Chelsea are offering him only a one-year deal. In recent weeks, Didier Drogba has said that he is the man for the big games after scoring against the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool in crucial encounters. However, it is thought that Chelsea are looking towards the future by building their team around Fernando Torres rather than the 34-year-old Didier Drogba.

However, Gourlay recently said that Chelsea will still not to leave the possibility of retaining Drogba at the end of this season. Hence, they will be holding talks with the big Ivorian after the end of the season. Didier Drogba could still end of the season on a high with Chelsea by helping them lift the Champions League title when they face Bayern Munich on May 19. Drogba has sent off in the 2008 Champions League final after slapping Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic in the face. However, he is expected to start the match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz arena.

“We continue to discuss with Didier the situation. Didier loves this football club, we love Didier, and we’ll continue to have the conversations. Didier and the rest of the team are completely focused on what we’ve got to achieve in the next week and, once that’s finished, we’ll sit down,” Gourlay told Sky Sports regarding the contract situation of Didier Drogba. Former Chelsea striker Anelka said that Drogba has already made the decision on his future, but is not willing to go public on his decision just yet.