Branislav Ivanović, universally adored, appreciated and loved unconditionally, was captain for the day once again as John Terry started back-to-back Premier League matches on the bench for the first time since the Interim days. After the match, he was called over for a chat by Sky Sports. While the 2-2 draw ended on a high-note* for Chelsea, it was hardly a day to be ecstatic about, especially after that horror show of a first half. Ivanovic echoed Mourinho's comments in that regard.
"It was a difficult day. We know how difficult these games can be."
"We didn't start well but in the second half we dominated and played better. In the end, we had a couple of chances to score a third but at the end of the day we have to play the rest of the season like that second half."
"Everyone knows how difficult this Premier League will be [e.g. Man City getting blasted by Spurs]. Every team is difficult to play. We expect a lot of interesting results. It's getting harder and harder and that's why we have to show character to win games and be on top."
-Branislav Ivanović; source: Sky via Get West London
Two weeks ago, after the Everton debacle, Ivanović blasted the squad for the poor results, saying that we had to "wake up" and treat every match "like it's a [cup] final". Since then, we've won three and now drawn one. Certainly an improvement from the first six games that only saw one win. It's just too bad we hit the snooze button in the first half today.
* It should be noted that this is still the best result we've managed away to Newcastle in four seasons, and it was the first time in 25 tries that we didn't end up losing in Premier League once going down by two goals.