Rotherham United 1
Chesterfield 4
Adam
Lallana capped off a great game with a valuable brace
Chesterfield
started their season in the best possible way with a dominant 4-1 display
against playoff contenders Rotherham United. English international Adam Lallana
grabbed a brace, Hiroki Sakai and Rodrigo both got a goal while Marco Van
Ginkel replied with a late consolation.
In
a week where Chesterfield’s transfer policy was under scrutiny, the Spireites
responded in the best way with a masterful display against fierce rivals
Rotherham.
Chesterfield
came out of the blocks firing with a stunning opener through a lovely finish by
English winger Adam Lallana, cutting inside his marker and curling his shot
towards the far post, just outside the Miller’s keeper Murara Neto’s reach. The
Spireites superior possession bore further fruit when Rodrigo spotted the run
of flying Japanese wingback Hiroki Sakai who darted through the midfield and
unleashed a powerful drive towards the bottom corner of the net, zipping past
Neto to double Chesterfield’s lead, It was a lovely way to mark the Japanese
International’s first ever goal for the Spireites since his move from Barnsley three
seasons ago.
Spanish
starlet Rodrigo was a constant menace for the Millers’ defence and drew a foul
in a dangerous area when Italian central defender Luca Caldirola tackled
Rodrigo instead of the ball. From the subsequent free kick, Spireites
midfielder Mehmet Ekici floated in a delicious cross which was met by Rodrigo’s
head burying the ball into the back of the net for a goal.
The
surprising Spireites performance silenced the Rotherham crowd with some rare
attacking football; Chesterfield completed the rout just after half time when a
beautiful piece of vision from Spanish winger Pablo Hernandez switched play to
Lallana in open space. The 25 year old then cut inside his marker to curl his
shot inside the post, both Lallana’s goals bookended the Spireites
dominance.
The
Millers did provide some resistance late in the second half when Man of the
Match Marco Van Ginkel showed some fancy footwork and supplied a slide rule
pass to Italian striker Immobile, only for Sprieites keeper Claudio Bravo to
deny his shot by spreading his body. Rotherham United did pull one back through
a well taken free kick by Van Ginkel, beating the Spireites captain Bravo and
ruining his clean sheet.
But
it was to be the Spireites day and after a splendid opening day performance,
the fans can hope for a bright season moving forward. The Chesterfield –
Rotherham continued their tradition of providing high scoring affairs with an
average of 4 goals per match and today’s game was no different.
Manager
Glory Days was delighted with the opening day win
“It
was a superb performance by the lads; I’m really pleased with our efforts.
We’ve had a solid offseason and we are looking forward to try to get rid of the
bad habits that we picked up last season. I was impressed with how our team responded
to a very talented outfit who just last season were in the play-offs.”
When
asked about the performance of Adam Lallana
“I
thought Adam (Lallana) was excellent today, hopefully a sign of things to come.
He has worked hard in the off season in trying to make an impact in every
single match and he did just that. He had a difficult run of form last season
but is looking to play a bigger role this season. His finishing, dribbling and
passing was brilliant today, he showed how classy a player he is.”
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