Why We Love Soccer – Manchester City vs Chelsea
By Jimmy Lee
Some moments in life change you forever.
The person you are when that moment begins will cease to exist because a new person comes out the other end of such a life changing experience. No I am not talking about a wedding or the birth of a child, even though those experiences certainly are life changing, I am talking about sport. And not just any sport, but soccer.
For me, there is nothing quite like waking up early on the weekend, sometimes before the sun has even contemplated coming up for the day, turning on the TV and hearing the silky smooth voice of Arlo White as I enjoy 90 minutes of emotions that are hidden away inside of me for an entire week and only find their way to the surface during the most special of occasions. Yes I am talking about the English Premier League. The most special of special occasions.
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Let me be honest, not all EPL matches are made alike. Yes they are all 90 minutes and feature a ball, 22 players, a field of grass and two goals, but what happens on that field from one week to the next cannot be predicted nor imitated. And this is why soccer has the power to change a man’s life.
I am starting a new feature called, “Why We Love Soccer” where I focus on just one of the many reasons why I love this sport, and specifically, why I love the EPL (inevitably, after my team suffers a few embarrassing defeats I will debut my new feature, “Why I Would Rather Get the Flu Than Watch Soccer”). Today I am focusing on what was clearly, the match of the weekend, Manchester City at home against Chelsea. Only one word is sufficient to sum up this match… narrative. If the script for this game was being shopped around Hollywood, no producer would dare touch it knowing that the narrative is so unbelievable (or maybe they would make it into a movie, I mean, has anyone seen Draft Day?).
So in case you missed the match, or if you are new to the Premier League, let me break down what happened so you too, just like me, can allow such a special match to change your life. Let me paint for you the picture: Manchester City, last season’s title winners are coming into the match having failed to win any of their last 3 matches in all competitions and are taking on Chelsea, the top team in the EPL so far.
I could go through and break down minute by minute details of what happens, but let’s face it, you would stop reading this article long before getting to my analysis of the second minute of the match. Let’s skip ahead to the second half. City is now down a man after referee Mike Dean, who in the first half resembled a cowboy from the old west, quick to pull the trigger on yellow cards, has sent off Pablo Zabaleta for a bad foul on Diego Costa (it was so bad that Costa got up and almost strangled Zabaleta – literally, both hands went towards his neck). Now with a one man advantage, for the first time in the match, Chelsea looked like the team threatening to break the deadlock.
In the 71st minute on a counter attack that can only be described as Mourinhoesque, Chelsea attacked the City defense and with a perfect pass from Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle (don’t call him Shirley) was able to get behind the defense and beat Joe Hart for the match’s opening goal.
Just six minutes later, the one thing that everyone hoped to happen did. Frank Lampard, the man who spent 13 successful seasons at Chelsea made his entrance into the game… wearing a Manchester City jersey! That’s right, after so many years at Stamford Bridge, Frank Lampard (on loan with City from New York City FC in MLS), was on the pitch wearing a lighter shade of blue. And wouldn’t you know, both sets of fans stood to applaud the Chelsea hero as he ran onto the pitch.
Down a man and with the fear of falling 8 point behind Chelsea early in the season, with less than 10 minutes to play, David Silva sent a ball into the box which was volleyed by James Milner to the center of the pitch, just left of the penalty spot. The next touch of the ball would prove to be historic. The ball was hit into the grass, past the keeper and into the back of the net.
And of all people, who was it to score such an important goal and broke Chelsea hearts?
Well I wouldn’t be talking about narrative if it was anyone other than Frank Lampard. Lampard, out of respect, refused to celebrate the goal he had just scored against his former club. Instead he simply walked back up the field while his new teammates celebrated around him.
After the matched ended in a 1-1 draw, Lampard walked around the pitch as he received a standing ovation from City and Chelsea fans alike. Knowing this would very likely be the last time he faces his former team before moving over to MLS for the start of the 2015 season, Lampard was at a loss for words and very emotional in his post-game remarks.
I couldn’t believe it myself when I saw it and I couldn’t stop thinking about the match for the rest of the day. It was one of those matches that changed my life. Ok, maybe I took that too far. It may not have changed my life, but it did remind me once again why I love soccer and why I cannot get enough of the EPL.