Petr Cech : Sesalkan Penampilannya

Kiper utama Chelsea, Petr Cech, menyesalkan kesalahan yang dibuatnya ketika bermain imbang dengan Wigan Athletic, Minggu (18/12) dini hari WIB.

Dalam pertandingan yang berlangsung di DW Stadium itu, The Blues harus menunggu hingga babak kedua untuk membuka keunggulan. Tepatnya di menit ke-59, pasukan Andre Villas-Boas sukses menjebol gawang Wigan lewat gol Daniel Sturridge.

Sayangnya, Chelsea batal meraih poin penuh setelah di menit ke-88 Cech gagal mengantisipasi tendangan striker tim tuan rumah, Hugo Rodallega, yang akhirnya memungkinkan Jordi Gomez untuk menceploskan bola ke gawang. Skor 1-1 bertahan hingga laga usai.

Cech rupanya tak bisa melupakan kesalahan yang dibuatnya dalam pertandingan tersebut. Ia mengaku gagal menghalau tendangan dari Gomez lantaran tidak melihat bola.

"Ada sepersekian detik di mana saya tidak bisa melihat bola dan kemudian sudah terlambat untuk mengantisipasinya," kata kiper kebangsaan Ceska itu di Daily Mail. "Saya mencoba menangkap bola tapi ternyata berbelok. Bola bisa pergi ke mana saja tapi sayangnya itu bergulir langsung ke pemain mereka."

"Saya seharusnya bermain lebih baik. Tapi ketika Anda tidak melihat bola, sulit untuk melihat apa yang saya bisa lakukan secara berbeda. Perasaan yang saya dapat dari lapangan bukanlah sesuatu yang bisa saya banggakan."

"Poin ini tidaklah ideal karena kami menginginkan tiga poin, jadi kami dapat mempertimbangkan dua poin yang hilang. Kami akan melihat di akhir musim betapa pentingnya dua poin," tukasnya.

Meski hasil di matchday ke-16 kurang memuaskan bagi Chelesea, namun Cech tak ingin terpaku. Ia masih optimistis memandang partai selanjutnya melawan Tottenham Hotspur yang akan berlangsung tanggal 22 Desember nanti.

"Kami memiliki pertandingan di Spurs dan kami perlu mendapatkan poin kembali. Sayangnya, ketika kami berada di belakang dan mengejar poin, kami berada di bawah tekanan untuk menang kembali. Tottenham lawan kami dalam perebutan titel dan Liga Champion, yang membuat permainan lebih menarik," tuntas Cech.

Dengan gagalnya The Blues meraih poin penuh di kandang lawan, kini mereka harus puas bertengger di posisi empat klasemen sementara Liga Premier dengan koleksi 32 poin. John Terry dkk. masih tertinggal sembilan angka dari sang pemuncak klasemen, Manchester City.

Super Monday : Chelsea 1-1 Wigan

Emile Heskey struck with an injury-time volley to earn a point for Wigan and leave Chelsea's hopes of winning the Premier League hanging by a thread.
Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland made fine saves from Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou while John Terry hit the bar. Chelsea eventually took the lead when Michael Essien struck from 20 yards. But Heskey converted Jason Koumas's teasing cross to leave Chelsea five points behind leaders United with four games left to play. Heskey's goal is a hammer blow for Chelsea and a severe punishment for their failure to kill off the game after taking the lead with 54 minutes played.

The warning signs had been there when when Latics substitute Antoine Sibierski forced a decent save from Petr Cech minutes before Heskey scored. And once the final whistle sounded a chorus of boos rang out across Stamford Bridge as manager Avram Grant made his way down the tunnel.

But the draw is a superb result for visiting team Wigan, who are now six points clear of the relegation zone. The Latics refused to give in and boss Steve Bruce was visibly delighted at the end, but in truth it was a far from inspired Chelsea performance. Chelsea boss Grant, doubtless with Thursday's match against Everton in mind, opted to rest Didier Drogba, Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho, while Frank Lampard withdrew for personal reasons shortly before kick-off.

The changes presented Anelka with a rare opportunity to lead the line and he should have scored after five minutes but headed wide from six yards.The France international appeared to have put his team in front later in the half with a looping header but was denied by Kirkland's brilliantly athletic save. Paul Scharner then headed towards his own goal under pressure and it required Josip Skoko's goal-line clearance to ensure the Latics remained on level terms. But these were all-too-rare chances in a rather humdrum opening half, played out in front of a crowd that seemed underwhelmed by events on the pitch.

And Wigan, who appeared comfortable for the most of the opening 45 minutes, were not without opportunities of their own. Scharner had a shot blocked while Cech, playing with a special chin strap to protect the 50 stitches he had in a facial wound last week, made a smart save at his near post to deny Antonio Valencia.

Cole replaced the ineffectual Florent Malouda at the break and his arrival coincided with a much a greater sense of urgency from the home team. Terry crashed a volley against the crossbar from a corner and Kirkland brilliantly smothered a Kalou shot before Essien finally found the net after 55 minutes. Anelka slipped but regained his footing to lay the ball off to Essien, whose 20-yard strike took a slight deflection off Emmerson Boyce on its way to goal.

All three chances fell within the space of 60 seconds - and from the moment Essien struck the home team seemed firmly in control. Kirkland saved a header from Alex, Michael Ballack drilled a free-kick over the bar and Joe Cole narrowly missed as Chelsea looked for a decisive second goal. But the late chances fell to Wigan, with substitute Sibierski's miss followed by Heskey's equaliser.