8 April, 2013 - 08:30

Premier League results: Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland

Premier League results: Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland

This game could have drawn much less attention in regular circumstances however the controversial appointment of inexperienced Paolo Di Canio, self-confessed fascist, set the whole country in turmoil. In fact the country has been split into two groups – those disgusted by Di Canio’s political views and his dictatorial approach to the game, saying he should not be allowed to manage Premier League side, and those thinking his political views are absolutely irrelevant to his managerial duties while recognizing he is capable to breathe new life into anaemic Sunderland.

Sunderland looked revived in their 2-1 defeat against Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge, with the players being determined to show their best in their first game under new boss. Sunderland deservedly opened the scoring second before the half-time whistle as Cesar Azpilicueta suffered own-goal misery, sending the ball past his own keeper from the corner. The Blues leveled the game two minutes into the second half after Matthew Kilgallon scored a weird own goal. Ivanovic netted the match-winning goal with a deflected shot in the 55th minute.

The result saw Chelsea moving to a third place, while Sunderland are remaining level on points with the 18th-placed Wigan, oustripping them on goal-difference. The Black Cats’ fans have several reasons to be optimistic about staying in the top-flight, as their side looked lovely in the game against the exhausted Blues, who played the fourth game in eight days.

Di Canio blamed insufficient fitness of his players to be main reason of the defeat against Chelsea. He said: “I’m not going to say they’re not fit, but it’s not the fittest team in the world. This team at this moment is not a team that can play Chelsea for 95 minutes. I’m not going to say they’re not fit, but it’s not the fittest team in the world. But we are going to work and give them more energy in the next few days and weeks. You can’t do it in the way you want, but we’re obliged to give more energy. We’ve studied 24 hours a day, how to give them something more without giving them problems or causing damage.”

At the same time the Italian said he is confident of avoiding the relegation. He stated: “I’m not worried, I’m a very good manager. My new team, we’ve only had a few days together, but I’ve had good answers from them. Some of them have told me that what we’ve done in the last few days has been fantastic. Technically and tactically, they’ve said that’s what we needed.”

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Author: Basil Naumov

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