[NoSkillz]

Sat. April 23, 2022

Barclays Premier League
Dover (20-9-6, 69 points, 3rd) vs. Chelsea (18-7-10, 61 points, 7th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Chelsea: 6-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 2D 6L

Chelsea are one of the few teams we haven't beaten yet - perhaps City is the only other team in this league but if there were ever a time to get our first win, this is it. We've battled to two consecutive draws against them and we are the slightest of underdogs at home in this one. Chelsea are in good form, having gone unbeaten in five in all competitions but actually haven't lost in Premier League play in their last eleven games so they will be tough. It's Romelu Lukaku who does all the damage for Chelsea, with 25 goals on the year. Midfielder Miguel Sousa is second on the team with 9.

My assistant thinks I should bench Ingo Wilke due to bad form but that's not happening. Paulus Tjiuoro is in again for Claudio Contreras otherwise we go with the same lineup as last week. I make a couple of moves for the bench, with Wayne Rooney and Giorgos Gesios available as substitutes instead of Samir Nasri and Paul Moses.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, P. Tjiuoro, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, , N. Cairney, Mancini, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi
Bench - C. Contreras, J. Kuciak, W. Rooney, E. Harvey, A. Zubizarreta, C. Murray, G. Gesios

Chelsea are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation and Lukaku is alone up front. I tell the team to go out there and win it for the fans and pull aside Mancini to tell him I have faith in his ability.

6' - Chelsea look good early and are moving the ball crisply. Lukaku wins a race against Rayane Hamon but his hard shot is right at Wilke and he makes the stop.

9' - Wilke again with a stop on winger Miguel Sousa, who beats Renato Gaucho up the sidelines.

18' - Chelsea defender Fabio takes down Zoltan Bardi and he's hurt. ASSHOLE! No foul call either and Chelsea actually march up field with the ball and don't kick it out of play. We tackle the ball from them and Bardi needs to come off. Damnit. He's got the dreaded cross and he may miss time. I bring in Wayne Rooney for Bardi for now.

28' - We work possession down the left side and Neil Cairney gets it to Bamba just outside the area. He cuts in towards goal but is tackled by Sebastian Toro. The ball is loose though and Shanon Andrea pounces and immediately kicks the ball past Rafael Romo, the Chelsea keeper and it's IN! DOVER GOAL 1-0

39' - Mancini takes a pass from Cairney and unleashes a piledriver from outside the area but Romo makes the fine stop.

40' - Rooney dives in the penalty area and is given a yellow card.

HALFTIME - Chelsea look dangerous and are the better club today on the statsheet but not the scoreboard. They hold 53% of possession and outshoot us 10-6 (4-2 on target) but we have the lead. I switch to a counter attacking mentality for the second half and tell the team I'm pleased with the performance so far.

46' - Right off the second half kickoff, we move up field and it's Arsene Bamba cutting into the area before sending a pass toward the middle. Two defenders and Romo converge on the ball but Gianluca Bolis beats them all to it and taps the ball into the net for the HUGE second goal! DOVER GOAL 2-0

Chelsea immediately make a substitution and switch to a flat 4-4-2.

51' - Sousa dribbles down the right and he's got a step on a chasing Renato Gaucho. Sousa crosses in and it's substitute Nassim Ben Khalifa heading the ball past a diving Wilke and Chelsea strike back right away. Crap. CHELSEA GOAL 2-1

57' - Rooney has the ball at midfield and passes up to Andrea. He's tackled on an innocent enough looking play by DC Shane Duffy and the ref pulls him over. I'm expecting a yellow at most but Duffy is given the straight RED CARD and he's OUT! Chelsea is down to 10 men!

I switch back to a control mentality.

60' - Salim Loucif with a yellow card. They have a free kick deep in our end and Lukaku sends a ball past Wilke but Renato Gaucho, protecting the post, is there to kick the ball to safety! Whew!

Chelsea, by the way, are in a 3-4-2 right now, with three DCs.

63' - We work a counter up field and Andrea storms down the left side. He's about to reach the byline but makes a ridiculous move on Fabio, the Chelsea defender and cuts back to his stronger right foot before sending a pass into the middle. It's right to Wayne Rooney and he sends a hard left footed blast into the net and we're up two once again!!! DOVER GOAL 3-1

Now Chelsea are sitting back in a 5-2-2…wild.

81' - Arsene Bamba with a horrific pass in the middle and the giveaway forces Rayane Hamon to pull a guy down and he's given a yellow card.

Jozef Kuciak is in for Salim Loucif.

85' - Kuciak passes up to Rooney and his shot from just outside the area is a howitzer that is stopped in spectacular fashion by Romo.

86' - Gianluca Bolis scores but he's ruled offsides after taking a nice feed inside the area from Bamba.

88' - Hamon is out and Aitor Zubizarreta is in. Mancini moves back to DC.

90'+2 - Zubizarreta has the ball and dribbles in towards the area. He shoots from distance but it hits a Chelsea defender and bounces out to Neil Cairney. From 30 yards away, Cairney unleashes a ROCKET on the half volley (!!!) and Romo can only watch as it goes into the far corner of the goal for the BEAUTY goal! WOW! DOVER GOAL 4-1

WOOO!

Dover 4 - 1 Chelsea
Goals - Shanon Andrea (8.2), Gianluca Bolis (8.2), Wayne Rooney (7.8), Neil Cairney (8.1)
Assists - Paulus Tjiuoro (8.1), Arsene Bamba (7.7), Shanon Andrea
Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.1), Salim Loucif (7.3), Rayane Hamon (7.1), Renato Gaucho (7.3), Mancini (7.2)
Attendance - 16,611

A DOMINATING second half performance that certainly was helped by their foolish red card. We hold 58% of overall possession (!!) and outshoot them 21-15 (8-8 on target). Our first ever win against Chelsea and in dominating fashion, no less!

-- Zoltan Bardi broke his arm on that Fabio tackle and will miss our last two games.

-- Man City lose a 2-0 shocker to Huddersfield and Liverpool keep pace with us after beating Sunderland 2-0 as well. Man United can only get a draw against a tough Reading team and in another absolute STUNNER, 18th placed Blackburn destroy FA Cup finalists Arsenal 4-1 (!!!) City retain the Premier League title after these results, their third consecutive championship.

-- Our win, coupled with the Arsenal loss, puts us in a tie for second with United at 72 points. Liverpool is two back of us with 70 and Reading is now up to fifth with 63 points. With a nine point edge on fifth place with only two games remaining, DOVER HAVE GUARANTEED A SPOT IN NEXT YEAR'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR A SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE 2 GAMES REMAINING UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester City - 79 points
2. Manchester United - 72 points
3. Dover - 72 points
4. Liverpool - 70 points
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5. Reading - 63 points
6. Arsenal - 63 points
7. Chelsea - 61 points
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Dover U18 Update

-- The kids knock off AFC Wimbledon 4-0 behind a brace from defender Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. Sebastian Kraft and Gregoire Lambert notch singles.



Transfer Clause Money IN

-- We sold defender Emir Faccioli to Livorno in the offseason since his influence wasn't needed after the forced sale of Cristian Rodriguez to Man United. Faccioli has played in 20 games for Livorno and that activated a clause in our transfer agreement that sees them sending an additional £100,000 our way. Cool.



Barclays Premier League Team of the Week

-- Gianluca Bolis is named to the team of the week for his fine work in the Chelsea game.



Champions League Update

-- Olympique Lyonnais are on a mission, as they throttle Atletico Madrid 4-1 at home to win 7-2 on aggregate to get to the Champions League finals. Man City notched a 2-1 away win at Barcelona to move on as well. City are looking for their FOURTH consecutive Champions League title and this would complete a treble for 2022 (Premier League, Club World Championship and Champions League) if they win over Olympique Lyonnais.



Dover Reserve Team Update

-- Paul Moses scored a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Wolves Reserves. Emmanuel Agbo scored from the penalty spot for our other goal. We win the reserves league for a third consecutive year and the board is delighted. It's the little things that matter sometimes!



Next Up

-- We are FAVOURITES on the road at Emirates Stadium as we face FA Cup finalists Arsenal.