A Tale of Two Penalty Areas

With referee Mark Clattenberg smiling upon them, Chelsea clawed their way to an unconvincing victory over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park which many neutrals will claim they scarcely deserved. Certainly, they were fortunate to be awarded a 48th minute penalty when the mighty John Terry inexplicably crumpled to the ground under the attention of Blackburn’s slim debutant, Andre Ooijer, prompting accusations of simulation and inadequate rehearsal on the training ground. Frank Lampard duly squirted the kick under the body of the diving Freidel – perhaps his most memorable contribution in a performance in which he gave the ball away 37% of the time, while ensuring that 60% of his passes were directed either sideways or backwards. Adventurous stuff.

Twenty four minutes later, Clattenberg came to Chelsea’s rescue again as he magnanimously ruled that Carvalho’s attempt to acquire Jason Robert’s shirt long before the final whistle, though perpetrated well inside the box, did not warrant any form of censure. So it was left for Ooijer to cap a miserable debut when he was outmuscled by Drogba, who went on to finish imperiously to put the result beyond doubt, and cause several members of the crowd to question why the Blackburn centre back could so effortlessly floor Terry, yet bounce off Drogba.

Perhaps Mark Clattenberg has the answer.