It has been a long two weeks, but the international break (i.e. World Cup qualifying match period) is finally over! The United States and England have both earned places in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Wales and Cardiff City's Craig Bellamy unfortunately did not qualify. <insert imaginary sad trombone here>
That's bad news for Wales, but the good news for the rest of us is that we can return to our Saturday morning Premier League rituals...
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| Set honour in one eye and death i' the other, and I will look on both indifferently. Now let me up on your lap, dammit. |
If you've watched even five minutes of Premier League, you've likely noticed how much acting is involved. So why not a Shakespearean Play theme this week on Dragon and Bluebird? Allow me to set the scene...
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| @jodylaforge came to bury Chelsea, not to praise them |
Enough with the prologue, you must be dying to know if the Bluebirds were in for a comedy or a tragedy?
Alas, tragedy...
Chelsea 4 - Cardiff City 1
- Mutch (CAR) 10'
- Hazard (CHE) 33'
- Eto'o (CHE) 66'
- Oscar (CHE) 78'
- Hazard (CHE) 82'
Chelsea were the heavy favorite to win this weekend. But ten minutes into the match, Cardiff's Jordon Mutch took advantage of a moment of Chelsea inattention and sprinted towards the ball like a Peregrine falcon descending upon an unsuspecting prairie rodent.
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| Cry, 'Jordon!' and let slip the dogs of war (Image Credit: EPA) |
Mutch's goal gave the Bluebirds a shocking early lead against one of the Premier League's strongest teams. Cardiff City seemed confident after this goal and poised to end the first half with a 1-0 lead. And that's when the treachery took place.
At a break in the match, Bluebirds goalkeeper David Marshall began carrying the ball out to kick it down field. He either didn't notice or didn't care that Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o was only a foot away when he began to dribble the ball. And like Casca stabbing Caesar, this happened...
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| Et tu, Eto'o? (Image Credit: BBC) |
Eto'o poked the ball away from Marshall and passed it to his teammate Eden Hazard who went on to score. You can watch an animated GIF of the shenanigans here (safe for work if you'd go to a site like Barstool Sports).
I'm still learning the rules of soccer, so I just assumed that Marshall's pre-kick ritual had led to a blunder. But after hearing some of the match commentary, I learned that Eto'o's (so many apostrophes) action was in fact illegal and the goal should not have counted.
According to FIFA, "The goalkeeper is considered to be in possession of the ball...while in the act of bouncing it on the field or tossing it in the air...When a goalkeeper has gained possession of the ball with his hands it cannot be challenged by an opponent." (FIFA Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct)
Suck it, cheaters.
A few days later, everyone except Chelsea's cartoon of a manager Jose Mourinho has acknowledged that the goal should not have counted. The referee in charge is likely going to be suspended or demoted, but that's all small comfort to Cardiff City.
After this point, the Bluebirds seemed deflated and Chelsea performed as the dominant side they were advertised to be.
Chelsea's Eto'o went on to score his own legitimate goal sixty six minutes into the match. Then his teammate Oscar added another at seventy eight minutes.
By the time Eden Hazard scored his second goal, Chelsea's fourth, the Bluebirds had already imploded.
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| Oh David Marshall! Does thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, shrunk to this little measure? (Image Credit: Getty Images) |
With this loss, the Bluebirds are now at 2 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses. The table below captures the full Premier League standings as of 10/22/13. The table columns are: Club Name, Matches Played (Pld), and Match Points (Pts).
It is of course still very early in the season, so don't panic at the Bluebirds' downward trend in the rankings. No one should think less of Cardiff City for losing to potential title contenders like Chelsea. Let's stick to the plan and beat up some scrubs next week.
Fantasy news update, the Cardiff'rent Strokes continue to hover around the 50% mark of the worldwide league. Not bad for my first attempt at a fantasy league, but I think we can do better. Here's the summary of my FPL status:
- Rank (Last Week): 1,444,677
- Rank (This Week): 1,553,785
- Total Players: 3,020,087
Cardiff City's next match is away at Norwich (i.e. the previously mentioned scrubs) on October 26th.
That's it for this week. Be sure to check out our friends Dodgem-X on iTunes and follow them on Twitter (@DodgemXofficial)! And thank you as always for reading Dragon and Bluebird! You can find me on on Twitter as well, @dragon_bluebird.
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