We only need 10 men

From the official Chelsea FC website:

The resilient performance which saw Chelsea earn three points against Leicester City on Saturday despite being a player down for more than an hour is something we have grown accustomed to watching in recent years.

Here are some other occasions since the turn of the millennium when the Blues have overcome the early loss of a player to secure an unlikely result.

Liverpool – Premier League – August 2021

The win against the Foxes came 364 days after we earned a battling point from a 1-1 draw at Anfield despite playing with a numerical disadvantage for the entire second half.

Blues fans might have feared the worst when Reece James received an unfortunate red card in first-half stoppage time after Sadio Mane’s shot had struck his hand and Mohamed Salah converted the resulting penalty to cancel out Kai Havertz’s opener.

However, the Blue wall stood firm against everything Liverpool threw against them after the interval with Edouard Mendy making some excellent stops on the rare occasion that anything got past his well-marshalled defence.

Barcelona – Champions League – April 2012

One of the greatest nights in club history saw 10-man Chelsea come from behind to defeat a team regarded at the time as the best in the world on their own patch and advance to the Champions League final.

All had appeared to be lost when John Terry’s red card and two goals in eight minutes put Barca 2-1 in front on aggregate late in the first half as the Catalans threatened to run riot at the Camp Nou.

However, Ramires’ stunning chip in stoppage time gave us the edge on away goals before a brilliant rearguard action in the second half capped by Fernando Torres’ breakaway effort right at the end sealed a triumph which will live long in the memory of every Blues supporter.

Everton – League Cup – January 2008

Despite taking the lead at the Bridge through a Shaun Wright-Phillips strike in the first leg of our League Cup semi-final against Everton, things unravelled when John Mikel Obi was sent off for a sliding tackle on Phil Neville in the 54th minute and Yakubu levelled nine minutes later.

The odds looked to be against the defending champions reaching the final for the third time in four seasons with a tricky second leg to come at Goodison Park, but we continued to battle for a win despite the player disadvantage.

And we got our reward in stoppage time when Michael Ballack delivered a dangerous cross into the box which Joleon Lescott directed into his own net under pressure from Wright-Phillips to secure a 2-1 win.

West Ham – Premier League – April 2006

Chelsea produced a vibrant performance worthy of champions to come from a goal and a player down to thrash West Ham United 4-1 as we closed in on our second consecutive Premier League title in the 2005/06 season.

Things didn’t look good for Jose Mourinho’s side when James Collins put the visitors in front early on and Maniche was then dismissed in the 16th minute for a lunging tackle on Lionel Scaloni. But we dug deep and turned the game on its head with Didier Drogba and Hernan Crespo both finding the net in a stunning three-minute spell around the half-hour mark.

Indeed it was hard to tell which team had the extra man for most the contest as the Blues continued to dominate, with John Terry and William Gallas adding to the scoreline after the interval to complete a memorable derby win against the Hammers.

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