Pub debate: Was Stephen Hunt’s challenge on Petr Cech deliberate?

Ollie Irish

16th, October 2006

10 Comments

Chelsea keeper Petr Cech is recovering in a neuro-surgical unit after suffering a depressed fracture of the skull against Reading. Was the injury inflicted deliberately by Stephen Hunt? My gut instinct is that with the adrenalin pumping just seconds after kick-off, Hunt went for a ball as if it was 50/50 when in fact it was 60/40 in Cech’s favour. I don’t think there was intent to hurt Cech, but let’s put the incident before the Pies jury to reach a verdict.

[Rob Parker]

Posted in Chelsea

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10 Comments

  1. Ollie says:

    Don’t think it was malicious, but I feel Hunt probably wanted to let Cech know he was there.
    If Hunt knew the consequences, he would never have gone in to challenge a ball that was always Cech’s to win. I understand why Mourinho is upset, but Hunt is no Ben Thatcher MkII.

  2. Ashley says:

    Olie’s right. It was early in the game and he was a bit over keen. John Terry looked great in goal tho

  3. Ollie says:

    John Terry >>>>>> Paul Robinson

  4. Pauly T says:

    I’m wondering if Hunt thought he might get a penalty out of it. It looks a bit like he’s getting ready to fall over like Drogba, Robben or Ronaldo might do…

  5. Rob P says:

    Interesting take on the incident, Pauly. I hadn’t thought of it, but it’s definitely a possibility.

  6. joe says:

    It looks to me as if there is a split second where Cech has obvious control of the ball and Hunt doesn’t seem to pull out. I’m not saying that he intended to inflict this sort of damage and he has the right to play aggressively. But, it certainly seems he could have jumped over or avoided Cech better than he did. Cech obviously has the ball so I doubt he has any intention of trying to make a penalty out of it. Also from watching him throughout the game he doesn’t strike me as a diver.

  7. Mike Nothum says:

    Hunt definitely wasn’t making any great efforts to clear Cech, but I don’t think it was his intent to fracture Petr’s skull.
    This is going to make the Barca match even more interesting…

  8. joe says:

    Its going to make it quite a bit harder on Chelsea. I don’t know much about Hilario but if he was any good he’d probably be starting somewhere else. Not to knock him too much though, getting your first team introduction against Barca in the champs league is a tall order. I just think the familiarity and communication might be missing.

  9. Footblogger says:

    There’s absolutely no way anyone can prove intent from that video.
    As for Terry in goal – you’re down to 10 men with only minutes to spare, your keepers are knackered and you stick you best defender in goal? And they call Mourinho a tactical genius…
    http://footblog.typepad.com

  10. Stephen Hunt's Mom says:

    I’m worried about Stephen Hunt getting killed. I think he’s going to have his head on the block. Of course, he probably deserves it…oh, wait….did I say that out loud?