2011-12, in review: Best match (poll)

The season hath ended. About a month ago.

Apologies for the lack of activity around this space, but both Devin and I have been in the midst of a recharge following a season in which the sanity of Chelsea supporters far and wide was tested with regularity. It really was an astonishing year for the club.

A year that saw the club initially wane – and part ways with a promising, yet stubborn, young managerial prospect – before winning not only another FA Cup but also capture its first Champions League trophy. Hands up if you saw any of this coming. Rephrase, hands up if you saw silverware in our future around January.

Few, if any.

Our review of the season begins here, with the first of several polls that aim to bring you, the reader, front and center. It is you guys that drive this blog, after all. We set it off this year, unlike the last, with voting for the season’s best match. While this may seem straightforward for many (um, the Champions League final?) there are a number of worthy candidates.

Before making your decision, peruse our list of nominees below. Proper matches these. One you’re done reminiscing (no doubt with a grin), have a vote in the poll. As is customary with our year-end review, we’ll reveal another poll tomorrow and the results for this one a week from now. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Carefree, bitches.

The nominees:
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City
12 December 2011
This was the first sign that this team, despite its numerous flaws, could indeed produce something special this season. Down a goal inside two minutes against a side yet to lose a league fixture was, well, ominous. No matter, Raul Meireles leveled matters later in the first half before Frank Lampard did what he does. Lampard’s converted penalty eight minutes from time was the difference, and City were brought back down to life – at least for the time being.

Chelsea 3-3 Manchester United
5 February 2012
This one makes the list based not on joy – though there was some – but for sheer bemusement. How did we throw away a three-goal cushion? Oh yeah, a bag of ludicrous refereeing decisions from Howard Webb. Thanks, guy. Amazingly awful.

Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea
24 April 2012
This game really defied logic. Down a man and two goals, we should have rolled over. We should have been eliminated from the Champions League with stunning ease. Except, we weren’t. Ramires unfurled for a finish that will probably be earmarked as the season’s best (by a sizable margin). And then, well, these men formed an impenetrable wall. Not even the world’s finest player could breach our goal. From the spot. How to cap such an unforgettable display? With Fernando Torres, of course.

Chelsea 6-1 QPR
29 April 2012
Fernando Torres, of course. And, fittingly, John Terry. A huge slice of revenge for a result in the reverse fixture that was grossly undeserved.

Bayern Munich 1-1 Chelsea (Chelsea win 4-3 on penalties)
19 May 2012
There’s really nothing to say about this one, is there? An historic night made that much more memorable by the way it unfolded. No words.

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Category: Poll