Is Chelsea’s Fernando Torres finally back to his best?
With Chelsea romping to a 6-1 victory at the expense of Queens Park Rangers in Sunday’s early Premier League game, it’s time to discuss whether hat-trick hero Fernando Torres is rediscovering his best form once again.
After his goal in the Champions League semi-final second leg against holders Barcelona, to effectively knock them out of the tournament, Torres started the following league game, and netted three goals in the fashion of a world-class striker.
With Daniel Sturridge and John Terry scoring two early efforts for the Blues, the Spanish attacker converted his first, and Chelsea’s third of the game on 18 minutes when he latched onto Salomon Kalou’s through-ball and rounded a stranded Paddy Kenny in the Rangers goal.
And not long after, the former Liverpool man made the most of a communication breakdown between Nedum Onuoha and Paddy Kenny, with Torres finishing the simple task with a left foot shot.
El Nino then completed his hat-trick in the second half, when he broke the QPR offside trap, to coolly place a low shot past Kenny, and give Chelsea the five goal lead they merited.
Florent Malouda added the sixth, with Djibril Cisse grabbing a consolation for the visitors later on; however, the day belonged to Chelsea’s number nine, after he grabbed his first treble since 2009.
The result boosts the hopes of a top-four finish for Roberto Di Matteo and his players, with the Stamford Bridge outfit now one point, and two places behind fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur.
With three games to go for the Blues, and Torres now amongst the goals, they surely have enough quality to go on and secure the final Champions League place.
However, with Di Matteo guiding his side to two cup finals, the question now is how much game-time will the 28-year-old Spaniard see.
Didier Drogba, the other attacking option to the management team, showed how big a role he can play with his performances in the semi-finals of both competitions, and so this may possibly be one of the toughest, and biggest, decisions Di Matteo has had to make.
It’s a dilemma that the boss will no doubt welcome though, knowing that substitutes can also make significant contributions to a match.
One thing is for certain though: the striker Roman Abramovich forked out £50 million for, looks like he may finally be coming good.
Derek Baker
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