Clint Dempsey is in fine form for Fulham, having scored four times in his last six matches. He'll try to add to that tally Monday afternoon as the Cottagers host Chelsea in a West London derby (2:55 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN3.com).
The match is notable for other reasons than just Dempsey being involved. It is also Fernando Torres' second game since joining Chelsea on transfer-deadline day, and he is getting the start in place of Didier Drogba atop the Blues' 4-2-3-1 formation. The Blues' other new signing, David Luiz, is starting aside John Terry in central defense.
With a victory, Fulham would vault into the top half of the Premier League table. Chelsea needs the three points in order to keep its thin hopes of another league title alive and also to keep pace with Tottenham in the race for a 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League berth.
If you will be watching the match, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. Enjoy the action.
Thanks for proving my point.
That’s why Donovan takes penalties for the US.
But I don’t think Donovan would have been able to draw that penalty.
They are making excuses. He was tired is a poor excuse. Drogba came in to early, etc all excuses. Those saying he shouldn’t have taken it, are probably right.
And that post was aimed more at the posts above, mine just after the tired/ Drogba posts
Interested in the source of your “research.”
Why in the name of God Almighty do you own a Kenny G record? And then admit to it? You don’t deserve your man card.
Yes he was exhausted, what can be said when a pro soccer player misses a penalty??, it is a disgrace
I rate him quite highly. Works hard tracking back for the ball, is quality with it at his feet, and is only missing the final shot.
Altidore couldn’t draw a penalty against the sisters of the poor. His first touch would have betrayed him and it would have been goal kick.
What happened to Demps??
Fair enough. Obviously they were parking the bus for the draw. But for a good amount of time there Fulham couldn’t even complete one pass.
Who had blinders on? All the comments are people saying it wasn’t a good penalty, that he was tired, that someone else should have taken it, etc. One person said they’ve seen those go in before (which is true, it happens all the time)
How can u miss a penalty beign a pro footballer???, I can’t believe it, Palencia and Dempsey damn luck
yep. Firstly i think research has shown the guy who was just fouled for the penalty is more likely to miss than someone else, secondly Dempsey was clearly drained. Cooler heads should have prevailed and Gudjohnsen or Gera probably should have taken it.
Heartbroken. Would have been a huge result for Fulham and Clint, but left to rue the missed opportunity. Ouch.
Maybe Ancelotti should start David Luiz up top cause he seem to be there best attacking option lol.
ya it was a fine attempt the biggest problem was that Peter Cech is frigken 8 foot tall puma garding the net.
Terrible penalty.
Down the middle and he converts, in the corner he converts. He put it right in the no-no spot 1/4 into the net.
Terrible.
The real story of this game is how misused Torres is. These past two games have been a serious black eye to the season and coaching career of Ancelotti.
Drogba was worse than Torres, and the Chelsea attack was non-existent after Torres was taken off.
Dempsey’s didn’t really have either.
Uh…from the angle I had on ESPN, Luiz caught all of Dempsey and none of the ball. It was a stupid play for him.
I’m thinking it’s because Deuce took one recently against Stoke, and if I’m a Fulham player (not named Danny Murphy) then I don’t think I wanna try to convince Clint to let me take it.
I have to say that as a Midfielder today, Deuce was ok. Kind of like with the US team, when they moved him up to striker, he got more into the game. He was a big part of the game after they took off Johnson, and put him up front. Overall, I’d give him a 6 (would be 7.5 if he hadn’t missed the penalty).
Okay, he could have done better on the penalty. But honestly, penalties are kind of a crap shoot. A lot of it is based on luck, and a whole lot of people don’t make it. Unfortunate that he missed it, but he had a very good game altogether. We’ve seen many worse penalties this season–Cech was still only able to punch this one away.
If the ref had been watching closely enough, I think it should have been retaken, anyway.
I can only imagine the hate if it were Altidore (as a lot of vocal people seems to hate him)
Absolutely. Drogba was even with Dempsey when he made contact with the ball.
+1000000000000000000000000000000000000000
I wouldn’t say completely down the middle.
If you were to say the left post (from Clint’s perspective) was 0 and the right post was 100, and the middle was 50. Then I’d say dempsey probably hit it at the 30 or 35
Ok guys we need to take the good ol’ USA blinders off (stop making excuses for a beloved USMNT player)… That was a horrendous PK. He earned the penalty, but my god that was bad.
Tough break for Dempsey after a great play. When it comes to PKs, it seems like going top shelf is always a better bet, because even if the keeper guess the right way to jump, he usually can’t stop it if it’s in the top half of the net. Of course, easier said than done.
it wasnt a penalty, justice was served, if your gonna call that a foul, then the foul against malouda was a pen also
Yeah especially when he who draws the penalty is so tired that he can’t muster enough energy to take a sh*t
Okay I didn’t watch the game, but from ESPN’s gamecast it looks like he pretty much went down the middle, but some of the peeps above are saying Drogba was pretty much 2 yards from Deuce by the time Clint took the shot, so shouldn’t it been retaken?
Yeah but if anybody other than Deuce takes it then we’d have had a meltdown on these boards. Unfortunate that he missed it after he did well to earn it(questionable or not)
Except he took the one he drew earlier in the season and converted it… albeit it was also not superb…
Fresh legs should have taken it. Dempsey was exhausted and Cech is no slouch. But I also strongly believe that if the guy who drew it wants it he should get it unless the manager says otherwise. Tough break for Demps. Cech guessed and still only pushed it back out.
Ah ok. Wonder why he didn’t take it.
Old superstition: he who draws the penalty DOES NOT take the penalty. Sorry, Duece.
Actually Gera…
It wasn’t THAT poorly taken of a penalty…there are millions of penalties just like that have scored even when the keeper goes the right way, simply unfortunate in this situation…it could have been a better kick but it was by no means terrible.
+1… he should have slid that into cechs lefthand corner with a side foot… or gone high and hard el centro
meh, he played okay. he obviously does a lot well, but there were 3 or 4 50-50 balls he didn’t even try on, which makes fans mental.
I thought for sure when he won that that Davies would take it-isn’t he usually the guy who takes it when Murphy is not on the field? Help me out Fulham fans.
Clint we still love you.
A pre-emptive eff to all the English media who will criticize the Deuce.
I’m thinking Gudjohnsen should of took the penalty. Should of had some fresh legs taking it.
LMFAO YOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF WANKERS!!! DEMPSEYYYYYY HAHAHA SHANK!!
I agree.
Droga ran up like he was going to take the penalty itself.
How that was not called back for encroachment is beyond me.
Unlucky for Dempsey. Taking a penalty in the 93rd minute in a game like that can’t be easy.
And I highly doubt it’ll hurt his confidence. Dempsey has been around awhile.