LONDON, March 20: No matter the opponent, no matter the competition, Chelsea’s players are managing to maintain their on-field focus amid a troubling period for the club.
It’s now six straight wins since Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich announced he’d be selling the London club, with Chelsea swatting aside second-tier Middlesbrough in a 2-0 win to reach the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday.
Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech scored the first-half goals that were celebrated by a smaller-than-normal pocket of visiting fans inside the Riverside Stadium. In fact, there were only around 700 Chelsea supporters.
And so concluded another turbulent week for Chelsea, which advanced in the Champions League on Wednesday – setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Real Madrid – before a deadline passed Friday for bids to buy the club from Abramovich and end his 19-year ownership.
Given the doubts over their futures, Chelsea’s players are showing remarkable professionalism and application.
No little skill, too, with both of the goals being length-of-the-field moves that started with Chelsea’s ball-playing defenders beating Middlesbrough’s high press.
The first ended with Ziyech setting free Mason Mount, whose low cross from the right was tapped home by Lukaku in the 15th minute.
Ziyech made it 2-0 in the 31st by cutting in from the right, aided by Cesar Azpilicueta’s decoy run taking away a defender, and drilling a low, angled shot into the far corner from outside the area. (AP)
