Chelsea maintained the pressure on the Premiership title-chasers but consigned
Charlton to a survival dogfight at the Valley.
Gianluca Vialli knew that nothing less than the maximum three points would
fuel his side's drive for the title and with influential coach Graham Rix
starting a twelve-month prison sentence, desperately needed a boost to morale.
With both sides accustomed to studying the table and form guide for distinctly
different reasons, it was hardly surprising that a high-octane match was played
with all the passion of crunch London derbies of yesteryear.
Chelsea, determined to make headlines on the pitch after a fortnight of
screaming news headlines, dominated the early proceedings, laying siege to Sasa
Ilic's Charlton goal-line.
Unlike fellow Yugoslavians plying their trade in the Premiership, Ilic made
the decision not to boycott the match in protest at NATO air strikes.
Instead, he wrote an impassioned article in the match programme pleading for
the bombing to stop.
He was in the thick of the action early on with Gianfranco Zola and Albert Ferrer both hitting the side-netting. But Roberto Di Matteo
was deadly accurate firing home Chelsea's opener in the 11th minute as confusion reigned in the
Charlton goalmouth.
To their credit, Charlton, a side reared in the battling spirit of manager
Alan Curbishley, refused to buckle under the weight of Chelsea pressure.
Both Mark Kinsella and Martin Pringle tested the visitors' back line and
forced keeper Ed De Goey to work for his money.
Swedish international Pringle wasted the hosts' best first-half opportunity
when despite beating De Goey, he was stopped from scoring by a brilliant
goal-line clearance from Marcel Desailly, which saved the Blues blushes.
Chelsea could have extended their lead before the break but Ilic was in fine form. Tore Andre Flo and Zola went close, while the innovative
Ferrer was a constant thorn in Charlton's side.
After the break, the home side's record £1.1million signing Graham Stuart
almost marked his debut with a fine, headed effort, but the Valley faithful
watched in agony as the former Sheffield United man's attempt flashed wide.
Charlton thought they might exploit Chelsea's goalkeeping weakness as mighty
Dutch 'keeper De Goey was replaced by Kevin Hitchcock following a first-half
injury, but the understudy proved more than capable.
In contrast to the early exchanges, the Addicks began to enjoy themselves, but
their neat passing game lacked the bite to penetrate Vialli's all-star line-up.
Ilic was again in the thick of the action as the visitors upped the momentum
in search of the decisive goal. The Yugoslavian kept out a stinging Di Matteo
effort with a textbook block and then saved a precision, close-range Flo header
with his feet.
With Chelsea in the ascendency, the time was right for their temperamental
captain, Dennis Wise, to earn his obligatory yellow card by clattering into John
Barnes.
Charlton campaigned to the whistle, but in the final analysis, their rivals
never looked like surrending their early lead.
Teams
Charlton: Ilic, Mills (Barnes 55), Powell (Jones 81), Rufus,
Kinsella, Mendonca (Hunt 77), Robinson, Brown, Tiler, Pringle, Stuart.
Subs Not Used: Petterson, Bowen.
Booked: Stuart.
Chelsea: De Goey (Hitchcock 46), Ferrer, Le Saux, Desailly,
Leboeuf, Di Matteo (Duberry 85), Goldbaek, Wise,Morris (Poyet 70), Flo, Zola.
Subs Not Used: Lambourde, Nicholls.
Booked: Wise, Poyet.
Goals: Di Matteo 11.
Att: 20,046.
Ref: R Harris (Oxford).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook