Today, Chelsea played and won their first match of the 2015/2016 season donning their new Adidas third kit. More importantly, though, today was new signing Pedro’s Chelsea debut. Here’s both Pedro and the new third kit, in all its glory…
Chelsea got off to a good start. They were both dominating possession of the football and dictating the tempo of the match. All was well, and a goal was eventually coming. That was until, of course, Nemanja Matic’s horrific attempt at a tackle resulted in a penalty for West Brom just thirteen minutes into the match.
There was plenty of commotion amongst the Albion players prior to the penalty being taken, though. With Saido Berahino missing and Rickie Lambert on the bench, it was James Morrison who forced his way to the penalty spot ahead of teammate Chris Brunt. However, his shot was straight down the middle and was saved brilliantly by the foot of Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea certainly dodged a bullet there, and on they went. After a quick one-two with Eden Hazard, Pedro slipped through, shifted the ball onto his left foot, and had a shot, which was slightly deflected into the back of the net. Twenty minutes into his debut, the Spaniard had his first goal.
But it would only get better for the winger. Ten minutes later, Chelsea scored an extremely well-worked goal which climaxed in a hard Pedro cross (or shot, I still don’t know) that collided with the path of Diego Costa. The striker’s sliding effort was enough to direct the ball into the back of the net. Half an hour into Pedro’s Chelsea debut, he had both a goal and an assist to his name. Now that’s how you impress your new fans!
It wouldn’t be that easy, though. New Baggies signing Solomon Rondon’s overhead kick landed in the path of an unmarked James Morrison, who most definitely made up for his poor penalty earlier in the match. He struck the ball ever so sweetly and it flew past everyone.
But shortly before the break, the Blues (or Blacks, I guess) restored their two-goal lead. Diego Costa fell over after settling the ball with his chest, and it sat nicely for Cesar Azpilicueta, who seemed to be rushing towards it at Olympic speed. His second goal of his Chelsea career was a beauty. The full-back banged it from around eighteen yards precisely into the bottom left corner.
To say the least, the Spaniard was overjoyed to have scored a goal – they don’t come too often for him!
It would only get more difficult for Chelsea, though. John Terry had some difficulty with Rondon’s run in behind. After a few tugs on the arm, the striker went down and the skipper was rightly, and unfortunately, shown a red card.
Things got a bit hairy for the visitors when James Morrison scored an absolutely insane header. He flicked the cross on while not even facing the goal, and there was nothing Courtois could do to stop it from flying into the top corner.
In the final half hour, the match was very nervy for Chelsea, but they defended well and the final whistle eventually blew. Chelsea earned their first win of the season. Big things ahead!
This next picture goes out to the away support, who were in fine voice today.
After 95 minutes at The Hawthorns, the final score was West Bromwich Albion 2-3 Chelsea.
