As the Spain striker’s problematic time at Chelsea persisted, Fernando Torres experienced a downfall from hero to zero following an embarrassing miss in his team’s 3-1 loss at Manchester United.
In a Chelsea shirt, Torres appeared to be having a rare standout performance, netting just his second goal for the Blues since his record-breaking transfer from Liverpool for $76 million in January.
His composed, chipped shot over David de Gea shortly after the break provided Chelsea with a flicker of hope after United scored three times in the first half, and represented just reward for his adventurous efforts.
However, he fell back into the awkward form that led many to label him as the most significant transfer failure in Barclays Premier League history.
Andre Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager, chose not to criticize Torres for the blunder, arguing that the error was analogous to Wayne Rooney’s penalty miss earlier in the game.
“You have an example of Rooney missing a penalty, too, which is basically the same,” he explained.
“The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world, and today it happened to both of them.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, was confident that Torres would convert, as he had ample time to choose his target.
“I thought he was bound to score,” Ferguson remarked.
“It was a bad miss.
“He had so much time.”
Buford Balony says: Money well spent Chelski.