6:45 in the morning came early on Sunday. Awfully early. Rather than sleep off the previous night’s consumption, I had set my alarm for 6:45, so that I would be up in time for the Liverpool-Manchester City match that kicked off at 7:00 a.m. EST. Normally I wouldn’t have been so concerned about watching this match live, but this Sunday was different...because it was a Cup Final Sunday for my beloved Chelsea Football Club.
Going into the weekend, I was more than a little nervous about the match. Chelsea had been uneven as of late, following their highway-robbery draw against Burnley last weekend (during which I had to actively work to not throw/break things in my apartment), which led to the seemingly-irreplaceable Nemanja Matic being suspended for the Cup Final. Oh, and there was the little thing of Spurs having destroyed Chelsea 5-3 at White Hart Lane a mere two months before. Plus, following the abhorrent behavior of its fans in Paris, it’s not like the karma gods would be sporting blue.
But Liverpool did its part, defeating Manchester City 2-1 to start off the day, meaning that Chelsea would maintain its 5 point advantage over City in the League, with a match now in hand. I hoped that it would prove a good omen for what was to come later. For those new Manchester United fans, let me tell you what it’s like to wake up with a Cup Final on tap for the day. You’re a bustle of nerves, you think of all that can go right and all that can go wrong. And there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it (but you don’t worry about such a trivial matter as that).
So with a supply of Guinness in tow, I traveled to a friend’s house to watch the match, a necessity given Comcast in my area doesn’t carry BEIN sport in high definition. Seriously, Comcast? Watching something in SD, especially sports, is like living in the 80’s without any of the positive things like Miami Vice, power ballads, and a Flock of Seagulls-inspired hairstyle.
And so after a few necessary “warmup beverages,” the match started and as a typical fan, I believed everything and everyone had conspired against the Blues. The American-based announcing crew was clearly on Spurs’ payroll (and also clearly not on site, which was disappointing). They would spout off comments about Chelsea’s performance that I immediately vehemently disagreed with (“Ramires isn’t known to shoot,” “Oh I don’t know about that...” and so on). Being a fan is great.
It was an entertaining match from start to finish. The play went from end-to-end and there were scoring chances for both sides. Christian Eriksen hit the crossbar from a free kick, Eden Hazard just went wide from a counterattack and the match looked like it would be a classic. But then just before half time, Willian’s free kick went into the box, bounced around, and then fell to Chelsea captain John Terry, who slotted the ball home with the help of a deflection from a Spurs defender. Chelsea went into the break up 1-0 and that was a good point to grab some food, take a deep breath, and refill beverages.
The second half was relatively drama free, as Chelsea got its second goal in the 56th minute thanks to another deflection from a Spurs defender, this time a Diego Costa strike aided by Kyle Walker’s toe. After it got its luxury goal, Chelsea didn’t look back and the result was only a formality. Though Harry Kane threatened a few times towards the end, Spurs were unable to get a goal to truly worry Chelsea and in the end, the Blues secured their first trophy since winning the Europa League in 2013. Arsenal fans are undoubtedly sympathetic as Chelsea having to wait almost 2 years for a taste of silverware.
Even though the Capital One Cup is probably the least-prestigious of the trophies available in England, there is something special about seeing your lads walk in a line to collect their medals and ultimately lift the trophy as champagne explodes around them. It must have been nice for John Terry to actually get to celebrate this win after having played in the match (and being named Man of the Match), rather than hastily throwing on his jersey to celebrate/claim the credit like in years past. He also appears to have told Matic how they do things at the club, as Matic changed out of his suit and into his kit just like Terry did after the 2012 Champions League Final that he missed due to suspension.
The win marked the first trophy for Jose Mourinho since his return to the club, though obviously this squad has its eyes on bigger prizes this season, notably the Premier League and the Champions League. Watching him jump around and celebrate with the squad took me back to when I first started as a fan of the EPL during his first reign. As I sipped a celebratory beer, I reveled in the moment and became hopeful for what still is to come this season. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will be able to do what it takes to win the bigger prizes, but for now, it made my entire weekend.
Follow Mike Smith on Twitter @thefootiegent
The victory led to a magnificent #happynap
