'The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world' - Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas defends Fernando Torres after shocking miss against Manchester United
Stamford Bridge boss sympathetic with Spanish striker, comparing his miss to Wayne Rooney's penalty as he reflects on a match he believes the Blues could have won
18 Sep 2011 19:08:00
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has defended striker Fernando Torres despite his shocking miss in the latter stages of the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Having already scored once in the second half, the Spaniard rounded David de Gea but somehow saw his left-footed effort miss the target with an empty net in front of him to deny the Blues a chance to get further back into the match.
Villas-Boas was unfazed by the incident, though, saying it can happen to all top strikers and comparing the miss to Wayne Rooney’s unsuccessful penalty, which he blazed off-target.
“Today, Rooney missed a penalty which is just the same really,” he said to Sky Sports. “The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world and it happened to both of them today.
“He made a good comeback in the second half today, that’s all I have to say.”
Reluctant to dwell on Torres, the Portuguese boss was more happy to discuss his side’s performance against their title rivals, claiming the result could easily have been a different one in what was an entertaining end-to-end encounter.
He continued: “It was a very strange game. It was very open and there were a lot of opportunities for both teams.
“Luck could have played a better part for our side today because we had very good chances to level the score or even to score first.
“Suffering early on against United when they are in a goalscoring spree like they are could have taken its toll on the players but I thought we reacted well. We continued to play well and create opportunities, such as the Ramires chance which could have made it 1-1.
“Eventually they found the back of the net with Nani which was just a wondergoal. I think we initially closed down the space well but then should have done a little bit better. The third goal was just an unfortunate ricochet and these things can happen.
“The response for the second half was very good; we recovered a goal straight away and then had a couple of good opportunities to level the score. You are always playing right on the edge as chasing goals when you are 3-0 down away to United is always difficult. We had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much which was why we couldn’t do anything else than we did by way of our substitutions.”
Villas-Boas also suggested that it was far too early for any conclusions to be drawn about where the Premier League trophy is destined to be by the time next May comes around.
“It is still the beginnings of the Premier League, most of us didn’t expect Manchester City to drop points today – it shows that anything can happen,” he said.
“We also have the example of what happened to us last year with a strong start not necessarily meaning you can sustain a challenge for the Premier League. We have to continue to believe in the things that we do and continue to score points.
“It was a good display. We had good opportunities to do something in the game. Eventually it fell United’s way but it was competitive and the scoreline doesn’t show the difference between the two teams because we are both very even.
“The scoreline in the first half was just crazy compared to how we played. I cannot say what happened in terms of the refereeing decisions, it doesn’t matter now because it’s a fact that it happened – they were offside, it’s a refereeing mistake and that’s unfortunate for Phil Dowd. To be fair, I’m not even sure it’s a foul for the free kick before the first goal, but some things like this can happen in a game, you just have to respond to it.
“The 3-0 was very heavy for the first half and doesn’t correspond with what happened in the game, the key moments just didn’t fall our way this time.”
Stamford Bridge boss sympathetic with Spanish striker, comparing his miss to Wayne Rooney's penalty as he reflects on a match he believes the Blues could have won
18 Sep 2011 19:08:00
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has defended striker Fernando Torres despite his shocking miss in the latter stages of the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Having already scored once in the second half, the Spaniard rounded David de Gea but somehow saw his left-footed effort miss the target with an empty net in front of him to deny the Blues a chance to get further back into the match.
Villas-Boas was unfazed by the incident, though, saying it can happen to all top strikers and comparing the miss to Wayne Rooney’s unsuccessful penalty, which he blazed off-target.
“Today, Rooney missed a penalty which is just the same really,” he said to Sky Sports. “The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world and it happened to both of them today.
“He made a good comeback in the second half today, that’s all I have to say.”
Reluctant to dwell on Torres, the Portuguese boss was more happy to discuss his side’s performance against their title rivals, claiming the result could easily have been a different one in what was an entertaining end-to-end encounter.
He continued: “It was a very strange game. It was very open and there were a lot of opportunities for both teams.
“Luck could have played a better part for our side today because we had very good chances to level the score or even to score first.
“Suffering early on against United when they are in a goalscoring spree like they are could have taken its toll on the players but I thought we reacted well. We continued to play well and create opportunities, such as the Ramires chance which could have made it 1-1.
“Eventually they found the back of the net with Nani which was just a wondergoal. I think we initially closed down the space well but then should have done a little bit better. The third goal was just an unfortunate ricochet and these things can happen.
“The response for the second half was very good; we recovered a goal straight away and then had a couple of good opportunities to level the score. You are always playing right on the edge as chasing goals when you are 3-0 down away to United is always difficult. We had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much which was why we couldn’t do anything else than we did by way of our substitutions.”
Villas-Boas also suggested that it was far too early for any conclusions to be drawn about where the Premier League trophy is destined to be by the time next May comes around.
“It is still the beginnings of the Premier League, most of us didn’t expect Manchester City to drop points today – it shows that anything can happen,” he said.
“We also have the example of what happened to us last year with a strong start not necessarily meaning you can sustain a challenge for the Premier League. We have to continue to believe in the things that we do and continue to score points.
“It was a good display. We had good opportunities to do something in the game. Eventually it fell United’s way but it was competitive and the scoreline doesn’t show the difference between the two teams because we are both very even.
“The scoreline in the first half was just crazy compared to how we played. I cannot say what happened in terms of the refereeing decisions, it doesn’t matter now because it’s a fact that it happened – they were offside, it’s a refereeing mistake and that’s unfortunate for Phil Dowd. To be fair, I’m not even sure it’s a foul for the free kick before the first goal, but some things like this can happen in a game, you just have to respond to it.
“The 3-0 was very heavy for the first half and doesn’t correspond with what happened in the game, the key moments just didn’t fall our way this time.”
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