Good against Gala

     Now thats more like it.  I was hoping to get a third goal just to wrap the whole tie up but in the end 2-0 got the job done and it was done well.  Now for some other thoughts on the match.
     Overall, the team had a great performance.  We defended brilliantly, we made one of the better strikers in Europe essentially helpless for 90 mins, we held possession well, and we made (and converted) some really  great chances.  Again, there were a handful of chances that should have been finished better, but overall we finished when we needed to and our misses didn't come back to hurt us.  I do think that we could still score more goals, and maybe it's just me expecting or wanting too much, but I really think that with our attacking players we could put in three our four goals in an average match.  But that's for Jose to work on and if someone can get the best out of our players, it's the Special One.
     Two players over the course of the match really stood out to me in terms of quality, and one of those players was Frank Lampard.  It's been a while since I've seen a performance like that out of Frank, and if he keeps it up we will be in fine shape as far as holding midfielders.  Not only did he show his usual hunger in front of goal (he should have done better and probably should have scored with a couple of his chances, but his work to get there was great none the less) but he also showed a hustle and skill in his defensive work.  There were a couple of times where he would be blazing back to make a tackle and I wouldn't think it was him because he was going so fast.  He had some superb tackles and did great job of moving balls forward into attacking positions.
     The other player that I feel had (yet again) a standout game was Dave.  His endless pace of going up and down the pitch still astounds me.  The boy doesn't tire. Ever.  He played the whole 90 minutes and looked every second dangerous on the overlap with Hazard, and solid in defense (and playing defense against the likes of Drogba is no easy feat).  Despite losing a couple of aerial duels with the big man, Azpilicueta had a number of beautiful tackles which showed both strength and skill.  I honestly don't know what this guy can't do.
   So a good result and a good game that hopefully transitions well into taking on Arsenal at home.  This game will be vital in not only the premier league title race, but also in proving that we can still take down the other contenders.  Hopefully the game will be a little more exciting than the reverse fixture was (and I think that it should be).

-Gage