Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Carling Cup 23/1/2008 - Everton vs Chelsea

This is the second Carling Cup live commentary and play by play telecast and soccer match of the semi final between the two English Premier League clubs Everton and Chelsea. The first leg between these two clubs saw an exciting match that see sawed from end to end and in a dramatic finale and end to the match, saw Lescott the Everton defender put through his own net with a comical own goal which he did not even seem to know he had scored. The ball basically fell onto his head while he was challenged in the air by pint sized Chelsea winger Shaun Wright Phillips and then bounced into goal past the despairing dive of the Everton keeper. Chelsea on the other hand fought hard for the result and while they were not at their best, which they haven't been for months, they still scraped a result against a battling Everton side. Wright Phillips in particular played a great game but he will be missing for Chelsea in tonight's game, along with their usual missing players through injury or international duty such as Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba.

That said, Chelsea should still have enough quality to pose a challenge to Everton, and maintain their stature as one of the top three English Premier League clubs, in this live telecast and radio broadcast Carling Cup semi final second leg. Their recent striking acquisition Nicolas Anelka will be available, not being cup-tied, and Anelka has gelled quite well into the team. Up front he will continue to partner Pizarro, who hopes to continue his fine form from the last match and to score more than the 2 goals he has totalled so far this season. However, it is not a guarantee that Chelsea manager Avram Grant will play Pizarro in this Carling Cup semi final live commentary and telecast match, as Chelsea are playing away and might have to put on a defensive front to weather Everton's hard tackling and pressing style before trying to strike on the counter attack. If that is the case, Pizarro would most probably find himself on the bench as Anelka would provide the better option in such a strategy.

That said, Everton will be playing at home and they will come out with all guns blazing as they try to impose themselves on Chelsea and make their first cup final in donkey years with this live commentary and radio broadcast soccer match. They have their key playmaker Arteta back from suspension, and with Australian midfielder Tim Cahill's continued good form, plus the other formidable terriers in midfield Leon Osman and Lee Carsley, Everton are a powerful side and they can break down just about any opponent or shut them out. Their defence is also hard to break down and might not be tested too much against a Chelsea side shorn of their regular attacking threat and with German Ballack still not in top form although he has started to show glimpses of his leadership qualities and vision and has scored a few fine goals in previous live commentary soccer matches involving Chelsea. This Carling Cup semi final tonight looks to be a tight game overall and it might feature few goals and even less goalmouth action although you can rest assured Everton will press hard and try to knock Chelsea out and create an upset like what Spurs did the previous night in the other live commentary and radio broadcast semi final soccer match.

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