And this weekend showed why I love football so much. Just when I thought this blog post would be dedicated to a certain Uruguayan striker who has stolen so many headlines in his career that one more means nothing to him, another striker stepped out of the shadows. A striker who left us on the same weekend that Suarez joined. Hello Fernando. It's been a while.
Torres' life at Chelsea so far has been the mother of all roller-coasters, viciously careering one way then the other, teasing us with his potential before dropping off the grid for games, even months at a time. So many games have epitomised Torres since he joined Chelsea but today he really went for the jugular, as Chelsea welcomed their fierce title rivals, Manchester City, to the Bridge. This was to be a titanic tussle between the two sides people are pipping for the big prize. But it was Torres who stole the show. It started early, with a classic Torres at Chelsea miss. A lovely clipped ball by Ramires, he was in, but under pressure he wilted and smashed it over the top. And that was that. Or so we thought. Just a few minutes later, there was a shocking change of demeanour. Whatever Jose had said to him, it worked, because he skinned Clichy alive, drove to the by-line and beautifully picked out Andre Schurrle to make it 1-0 Chelsea.
Torres continued to stun the visitors, leaving Demichelis, who had a very challenging debut indeed, for dead before checking back and unleashing a barnstorming effort onto the woodwork. For the rest of the first half, he had City on the ropes. City came out an entirely different side though, and after Aguero scored a belter, there was only one side going on to win it. Torres faded into the background, a few hazy runs checked by some brutal City defending and fouling, Garcia and Fernandinho able to find no other way to stop him but managing to through illegal means.
And so the game petered out. It was to end a draw, a decent result for both sides in the end and Torres' role in the weekend would fade amongst the history books. There would be no grand revival. That was what I told myself and I wasn't the only one either, I can tell. Across social networks there was a real sense of: "we've seen this before". Torres would blinker out of form as quickly as he blinkered into it. Of course, this still might well be the case, but then came the moment that not only tore up the script, but pointed at the script writers, laughed in their faces and made obscene gestures at their families. It was just a long ball down field, no danger, but Nastasic and Hart made a complete mess of it. Hart came charging out, Nastasic nodded it past him and Torres did the rest.
What impressed me was Torres' hunger. He was very much alive and alert to any sniff of goal and the second the ball was in the air he was off. As soon as the header was made, he was onto it like a flash and the finish wasn't as easy as Torres made it look. This had all the signs of Torres at his best, the way he played for us back in the day. As I say, we've been here before, but even if it doesn't stick, and even if he fades back into mediocrity, this game will have to be remembered for Torres. And I think this will do wonders for his confidence. Honestly, I'm backing Torres to turn his career around and I think this will be the season he explodes into life for Chelsea. No, really, I'm not joking...
Elsewhere...
- I love Man United, they're so funny. It's a sign of how far they have fallen this season that a scraped home win against Stoke is considered a great result. That said, massive credit to them, because it required a lot of mental strength and courage to bounce back and win the game from the position they were in. They still have some real quality players and although I don't think they'll be anywhere near challenging for the title, they still have a shout of making it into the top 4. But still, they're comedy gold at the moment, please Moyes, keep on losing.
- An absolutely huge win for Sunderland today. Not only their first of the season and their first under Gus Poyet, but in a game that they couldn't afford to lose, at home in the Tyne-Wear derby. But, it has to be said, they need to improve. Newcastle were absolutely wretched today and still could have won the game and probably deserved at least a point. It was an awful game of football, but Fabio Borini lit it up with an absolutely thunderbolt. Why did he never do that for us?
- Poor old Crystal Palace. They just can't catch a break. They're now rock bottom of the table but they give it their all against Arsenal, who spent half an hour or so with 10 men and it just wasn't enough. You have to say, they're looking solid candidates for relegation, almost stone-wall candidates in fact. Bleak times for managerless Palace.
- Spurs continue to win without impressing anyone, even their own supporters. This time, it was a very unfortunate Hull side who lost 1-0 due to another dubious penalty decision. Spurs may need to find their A-game, but they're still 4th and only 3 points off the top. Ominous signs.
Annnd it's Suarez time. I could only put it off so long. Luis Suarez makes it so damn difficult to hate him. He's like a puppy that keeps shitting on the carpet but whenever you punish him for it, he'll bring you the newspaper for a week and you can't help but feel he's too useful to get rid of (okay this was a bad analogy). But despite the fact he's a lying, conniving sack of shit, he keeps on doing things that make you sit up and take notice. This weekend he scored an absolutely stunning hat-trick that had Suarez written all over it. First he slaloms past two defenders, including a cheeky nutmeg that made Jonas Olsson look utterly ridiculous, before rifling home. Then, he scores a header from the flipping 18 yard line (who else would even try such an insane trick) before flicking in a brilliant Steven Gerrard free-kick. Gerrard remains one of the best deliverers in the League, but how Suarez continues to score headers when half his team mates are nearly a foot taller than him is ridiculous. But, not to be outdone, Daniel Sturridge scored an absolutely outrageous chip to make it 4. These two are capable of scoring goals against any team in the world and doing so on a regular basis. Between them they now have 14 of our 17 league goals and it makes our trip to the Emirates next weekend so damn tasty it's unreal. I suspect that'll be the best (and most fucking nerve-racking) game of the season so far.
Before I go, I'd like to throw a few superlatives the way of Pochettino's Southampton, who are playing brilliant football and fully deserve to be where they are in the table. They completely and utterly outclassed a hapless Fulham side, who were made to look a lot better than they are on Monday by a hapless Palace performance. Martin Jol may have earned a reprieve that night, but if they keep playing like this, the axeman is coming. And fast.
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