Chelsea were as lucky as possible yesterday to escape Cardiff City with a 2-1, come-from-behind win. The Blues were the very fortunate recipients of two horribly blown calls that may have cost the Bluebirds a realistic chance of not getting relegated.
The referee-aided outcome also kept the Blues from falling into a deep hole in the race for the top four. While Chelsea were losing on Sunday, thousands of Blues supporters in attendance at Cardiff were calling for the head of Maurizio Sarri, their team’s manager.
“I have been on the pitch for the last 45 years so I know very well the reaction of the fans,” the Italian commented on the manner to the club’s official website.
“I understand very well because I was really disappointed for my players because they were fighting. Probably it was better [for the fans] to wait for the end of the game but for me it is not a big problem.”
“In the last period I am getting used to this unfortunately and I have to work to change their opinion. The way to do it is to win matches. Of course we need to improve and play better but sometimes in a season you need to win matches like this.”
Now it’s on to the next match, and it’s going to get here very quickly- Wednesday night when Brighton & Hove Albion come to Stamford Bridge.
Brighton boss Chris Hughton was already looking forward to Wednesday night’s game, right after having suffered a poor defeat at home to Southampton.
“The game on Wednesday evening is the most important one this week because it’s the next one,” Hughton said.
“I expect and need a performance against Chelsea, even though we pushed late on to get an equalizer, our performance today wasn’t good enough to win us the match.”
“The midweek game is my only thought – not the weekend, because it will be another difficult game.”
Chelsea FC vs Brighton & Hove Albion FYIs
Kickoff: April 3, 7:45pm GMT, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Form Guide: Chelsea WLDWW Brighton LWWLL
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 76%, Draw 17%, Brighton win 7%
Odds via Odds Checker: Chelsea 2/7, Draw 11/2, Brighton 27/2
Prediction: Chelsea 0, Brighton 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.