Irons Inspired : West Ham 1 Chelsea 1

Frank Lampard showed the nerve which has made him one of England's finest players to rescue a point to draw 1-1 with West Ham which takes Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premier League at Christmas,reports sportal.co.nz.
Lampard, once hailed but now routinely jeered inside the Upton Park ground he graced as a youngster, slotted home a penalty in the second half which he was forced to take three times.
Some players might have been thrown by that. Lampard simply kept rippling the back of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green's net until referee Mike Dean finally signalled the goal which cancelled out a first-half penalty by Alessandro Diamanti.
But if it signalled two dropped points for Chelsea in their quest for the title, then for West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola perhaps this was the corner he has been waiting to turn.
The corner which means the Hammers will not be bottom on Christmas Day, which is usually a prelude to relegation.
Instead, Zola can forget bringing in a psychologist, as he had admitted thinking of, to boost the confidence of his West Ham players.
All he needs to do is show them the video of this battling performance, when at last they added grit to their undoubted style.
Maybe the improvement was sparked by the fact that Zola was facing his old club and opposing manager Carlo Ancelotti, with whom he used to play for Italy.
You certainly could not fault West Ham's work rate, nor their readiness to play football. It was committed to the fluent, passing, scampering style of play for which Zola has always been famed.
Scott Parker, in particular, was a terrier in the centre of midfield. So was Jack Collison, while Guillermo Franco was a threat up front.
True, Chelsea, with Joe Cole and Lampard back on the ground where they learned their football, always had more physical power.
They might have taken the lead after 22 minutes when Branislav Ivanovic's powerful header from a corner was chested off the line by Parker.
Lampard, who received a predictably hostile reception, also spurned a good chance when he fluffed a left-footed shot from eight yards.
But it was West Ham who took the lead and no-one could say they did not deserve it, even if it was via the penalty spot.
Collison surged at the heart of Chelsea's defence and as he bore down on goalkeeper Petr Cech, England full-back Ashley Cole slid in.
The tackle needed to be perfect. It wasn't and referee Mike Dean had no hesitation pointing to the spot to allow Diamanti to send Cech the wrong way.
Cue the sort of Upton Park euphoria which has been in scarce supply this season.
It must have been an easy half-time team talk for Zola. Carry on playing as you are.
And they tried to, snapping and harrying the blue shirts with a tenacity which made a nonsense of their lowly league position.
They were undone by what looked like a dodgy refereeing decision from Mr Dean, who pointed to the spot when Matthew Upson tackled Chelsea substitute Daniel Sturridge.
It looked as if he took the ball, a message he attempted to deliver to the assistant referee when he raced to the touchline miming the shape of a football.
No matter, Lampard took the spot kick and scored, only for it to be scratched by the referee for encroaching players. Lampard tried again and scored again, only for the picky Mr Dean to order the kick to be retaken once more.
To Lampard's credit he did not let it upset him, stroking the ball home once more and this time the referee did point to the halfway line.
West Ham could have let their heads drop as they has done in recent months when faced with adversity.
But they did not and it took a diving save from Cech in the 72nd minute to beat away a powerful left-foot shot from the lively Diamanti.
They also found the resilience to keep out a surging Chelsea finish.
"Things can change very quickly in football," Zola told the fans in the matchday programme.
He was right. Now the Hammers need a lot more of the same.

Avram Returns : Chelsea 2 Portsmouth 1

A second-half penalty from Frank Lampard spared Chelsea's blushes as bottom club Portsmouth threatened to further undermine their title ambitions, reports sportal.nz.
Lampard scored from the spot in the 78th minute after Branislav Ivanovic had been fouled by Marc Wilson.
Chelsea had followed defeat to Manchester City with a 3-3 home draw with Everton but were back to winning ways for the first time in five games in all competitions to restore their three-point lead at the top of the table.
Lampard's strike also ruined former boss Avram Grant's return to Stamford Bridge after lowly Pompey had threatened to leave with a point when Frederic Piquionne cancelled out a first-half goal from Nicolas Anelka in the 50th minute.
Yet again Chelsea's defending from set-pieces was called into question as they conceded their 12th goal out of 14 this season from a dead-ball situation.
Chelsea almost opened the scoring in the second minute when Michael Ballack's shot flashed just the wrong side of Asmir Begovic's left-hand upright.
Anelka was just as close with a 20-yard drive that was tipped around the post by Begovic.
Chelsea were completely on top and a corner from Deco in the seventh minute found the head of Ballack.
The Germany captain flicked the ball into the six-yard box where Salomon Kalou headed over the bar from point-blank range.
England midfielder Lampard, normally deadly from the edge of the penalty area, was thwarted by Begovic in the 18th minute.
The Pompey goalkeeper dived low to his right to collect Lampard's low drive with some ease.
But the goal finally arrived for the home side when central defender Alex made a stunning run down the right flank and crossed for Anelka to sidefoot home from six yards.
The Brazilian defender held off the challenge of Hermann Hreidarsson to pull back for Anelka who finished with ease.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech had been a spectator for most of the first-half but the Czech Republic international preserved the home team's lead in the 33rd minute.
Portsmouth finally put a decent move together with Jamie O'Hara feeding Piquionne.
The Pompey striker turned and hit a vicious low shot which Cech did well to save as the ball sped towards the bottom corner.
But Chelsea responded quickly and when Ballack played a free-kick into the path of Alex, the Brazilian drilled a shot just wide of the far post.
In the 40th minute, Portsmouth should have equalised when Ivanovic gave away a free-kick.
But former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim headed O'Hara's free-kick just over from six yards.
Chelsea's nervousness from set-pieces was clear to see and Kevin-Prince Boateng almost made them pay in the 43rd minute but shot wide.
However, Chelsea's set-piece disasters continued in the 50th minute when captain John Terry fouled Boateng 25-yards out.
O'Hara's free-kick rebounded against the wall and then off the unfortunate Ashley Cole into the path of Piquionne who fired an equaliser into the roof of the net.
Ancelotti's insistence that his side would learn their lessons from recent setbacks had clearly fallen on deaf ears.
But Chelsea only had themselves to blame. They had given away so many free-kicks around the penalty area that it had only been a matter of time before Portsmouth took advantage.
The response from the home side was immediate as they increased the tempo of the game.
But yet again Chelsea had waited for the opposing team to score before they began to play with restored intensity.
Ivanovic forced Begovic into a fine save when the full-back let fly from 25 yards in the 57th minute.
Ancelotti had clearly seen enough of the disappointing Deco and in the 58th minute, the Portugal international made way for Joe Cole.
Five minutes later Chelsea replaced John Mikel Obi with Florent Malouda as the home fans became more and more frustrated by their inability to re-impose themselves on the bottom club.
Anelka forced Begovic into a fine save at his near post but Chelsea's attempts to get back in front were somewhat laboured.
Chelsea finally got themselves out of trouble in the 78th minute when Ivanovic was felled by Wilson inside the penalty area and Lampard fired home the spot-kick to make it 2-1.
Substitute Fabio Borini then squandered a chance to make it three when he fired wide from an acute angle after rounding Begovic in the injury time.

Toffees Untamed : Chelsea 3 Everton 3

Chelsea's suicidal defending from set-pieces threatens to wreck their title ambitions as they failed to win for the fourth game in a row, drawing 3-3 with Everton, reports sportal.nz.
The Blues have now conceded 10 goals in their last four games and all three Everton strikes arrived courtesy of a Chelsea defence that looked clueless at free-kicks and throw-ins.
Everton became the first team this season to leave Stamford Bridge with any reward but Chelsea should have put this game beyond the Toffees long before half-time.
Everton took a shock 12th minute lead when a Louis Saha header off a Leighton Baines free-kick hit the post and rebounded into the net off the back of Petr Cech.
But Chelsea hit back and goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka put the Blues in front only for substitute Ayegbeni Yakubu to pounce from a throw-in to level the scores in first-half injury time.
Drogba restored Chelsea's lead but another blunder from a free-kick allowed Drogba's attempted clearance to bounce off the back of Saha to make it 3-3.
Chelsea almost took the lead in the fourth minute when Michael Ballack put Didier Drogba clear of the Everton defence but the Ivory Coast striker's effort was just wide of the far post.
But Everton hit back four minutes later when Jo unleashed 25-yard drive that Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech did well to turn away for a corner.
And the Toffees went in front in the 12th minute when the home side were again caught out from a set-piece.
Baines sent the free-kick into the penalty area and although Saha headed the ball on to the post, it rebounded off the back of Cech and into the net for an own goal.
It was only the second goal Chelsea had conceded at home in the Premier League this season.
Not since the opening day, when Hull's Stephen Hunt scored, had any opposing domestic side found the net.
It was the perfect tonic for an Everton side that has won once in its last nine league games.
But Chelsea were level in the 17th minute with a simply worked goal.
Ricardo Carvalho broke forward and evaded a number of challenges before supplying a superb pass for Frank Lampard.
The England international tapped the ball into the path of Drogba who hit a first-time shot into the roof of the net for his 17th goal in all competitions this season.
Anelka then put Chelsea in front in the 23rd minute when Everton failed to clear Lampard's corner and Anelka collected Ivanovic's neat pass and fired into the roof of the net from close range.
Everton striker Jo was forced to hobble off with an ankle injury in stoppage time and replacement, Yakubu, shocked Chelsea with an equaliser seconds later.
Terry failed to clear a throw-in and when the ball bounced off Carvalho, the Everton striker pounced.
After Wednesday's 2-2 draw with APOEL in midweek, coach Carlo Ancelotti called for his players to play with the same intensity for 90 minutes.
But Chelsea once again had stopped playing when they had Everton on the ropes and were punished them again with Yakubu's equaliser five minutes into first-half injury time.
Ancelotti resisted making any changes at half-time and began the second period in a positive fashion.
And in the 58th minute their pressure paid off when Branislav Ivanovic crossed for Drogba to score his 18th of the season.

The Ivory Coast striker fired home from six yards at the far post after Everton's defence failed to intercept the cross.
But astonishing Chelsea again committed defensive suicide in the 63rd minute with yet another set-piece blunder.
It was a comical affair as Heitinga sent over a free-kick into the Chelsea penalty area.
Drogba, helping out in a defensive role, headed the ball into the back of the leaping Saha and it bounced back over Cech and into the empty net to make it 3-3.
Ballack showed Chelsea could almost be as deadly from set-pieces when he forced Howard into a fine save with a 25-yard free-kick in the 74th minute.
But despite the home side's pressure, including another Ballack effort that flew just wide, they could not find a breakthrough and the doubts are growing over Chelsea's title credentials under Ancelotti.

Frustrated Again : Chelsea 2 APOEL 2

Chelsea were made to pay for more costly mistakes as APOEL Nicosia increased the gloom around Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 draw in the Champions League, reports ninemsn.com.au.
Back to back defeats over the last seven days to Blackburn in the League Cup and Manchester City in the Premier League had brought the Blues crashing down to earth after their much-lauded win at Arsenal.
Carlo Ancelotti's side were hoping for a convincing victory over the Cypriot champions to restore morale, but the Blues were undermined by more of the careless errors that proved so crucial in those recent disappointing results.
John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho were exposed by Marcin Zewlakow's early opener for APOEL and, although Michael Essien and Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead before half-time, the hosts had to settle for a draw when John Obi Mikel's blunder presented Nenad Mirosavljevic with a late equaliser.
While the result does no harm to Chelsea's European prospects as they had already won Group D, Ancelotti will be concerned by another lacklustre display that left them without a win in three matches.
Ancelotti, who rested Nicolas Anelka, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech and gave French midfielder Gael Kakuta and goalkeeper Ross Turnbull their first starts, must have found it hard to understand the slack defending that allowed APOEL to take a shock lead in the sixth minute.
When Constantinos Charalambides slipped a clever pass from the left wing towards the six-yard box, Terry and Carvalho appealed for offside rather than clearing and, with the flag rightly staying down, Zewlakow was able to guide a low shot past Turnbull at his near post.
Joe Cole thought he had equalised when he headed home Florent Malouda's cross, but the midfielder's effort was ruled out for offside.
Chelsea didn't have to wait long to draw level. In the 19th minute, Essien worked a yard of space 25 yards from goal and unleashed a ferocious swerving strike that flashed past APOEL goalkeeper Dionisios Chiotis.
That was Essien's last contribution as he limped off moments later after pulling up in mid-stride. The Ghanian's departure didn't unsettle Chelsea as they moved in front in fine style in the 26th minute.
Signing Kakuta from Lens could cost Chelsea dearly if they are unable to overturn a two-year transfer embargo imposed by FIFA as punishment for inducing the 18-year-old's move.
But the teenager, the youngest Chelsea player ever to feature in the Champions League, is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Europe and he showed enough flashes of skill to suggest he will be worth the hassle.
He started the move that led to Chelsea's second goal with an incisive run and perfectly weighted pass to Yuri Zhirkov. The Russian cut the ball back to Drogba, who shot low past Chiotis for his 16th goal of the season.
Frank Lampard, on for Essien, went close to increasing Chelsea's lead just before half-time with a skimming shot that went just the wrong side of the post.
It took APOEL some time to recover from Chelsea's two-goal blast but they made a bright start to the second half when Turnbull dived low to his left to keep out a deflected shot from former Blues midfielder Nuno Morais.
Cole almost put the result beyond doubt with a cross that drifted over Chiotis and glanced off the top of the crossbar before Terry had a late effort disallowed for offside.
But Chelsea had lost any sense of urgency by now and they were made to pay for their lethargy in the 87th minute.
Mikel's under-hit pass back to Terry left the England defender with no chance of reaching the ball and Mirosavljevic stole possession, advanced on goal and calmly slotted his shot under Turnbull.

Blues Bruised : Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1

Shay Given emerged a hero on both sides of Manchester by saving a late Frank Lampard penalty to give City a precious 2-1 win over Chelsea and cut their advantage over United to two points, reports sportal.nz.
Carlos Tevez's brilliant free-kick ultimately proved decisive after Emmanuel Adebayor had inadvertently put Chelsea in front, then cancelled out that own goal himself seven minutes before the interval.
However, that hardly told the story as bad tempered Chelsea went down in a hail of yellow cards - six in all - and skipper John Terry went off with a leg injury that will bring a moment of dread to Fabio Capello even if the damage is not too great.
The two first-half goals were certainly not in keeping with a pulsating opening in which City more than matched their highly-rated opponents without ever looking completely secure at the back.
Mark Hughes' men had already been given one warning when Shay Given turned away Drogba's angled drive.
Yet, when he looks at the replay, Hughes will probably conclude the main factor in Chelsea's opener was complete bad luck.
Didier Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic could both have been more closely marked at the start of the scramble but the Blues survived that lapse when Given made his first save.
The ball bounced back to Anelka but Given got behind his shot too.
But the Republic of Ireland star could not legislate for the ball shooting upwards, striking Adebayor on the back and bobbling in.
As Chelsea should not have been awarded the corner which started the whole melee off in the first place, City could have been forgiven for believing it was not to be their day.
Far from it. They poured forward and if their delivery from set pieces had been less persistent in picking out Petr Cech, the equaliser might have come long before it did.
Cech's only mistake had been to come for a Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross and get nowhere near as Richards rose. Ricardo Carvalho read the situation perfectly though and made a splendidly acrobatic clearance.
City kept up their offensive and when Wright-Phillips drove another shot into the Chelsea box it ultimately brought their equaliser.
Terry, who was linked so heavily with a move to Eastlands last summer, was still complaining to referee Howard Webb at halftime that Richards handled Wright-Phillips' shot.
It was difficult to see what the England Under-21 full-back could have done to get out of the way though.
The ball deflected into Adebayor's path and did so again when it bounced back off the England skipper. At the second time of asking Adebayor did not fail to make up for his earlier misfortune.
If Drogba's free-kick in the final minute of the half had been one inch inside Given's left-hand post rather than just outside it, City might have had problems responding.
As it was, they were the ones with the impetus when the sides returned and got their noses in front.
In keeping with the others, there was an element of controversy about the goal.
Ricardo Carvalho did have a point when he claimed he had been looking at the ball as he went for an aerial challenge with Tevez, but he also kept a leg in the air long enough to plant it into the Argentina star's back.
Tevez added insult to the resulting yellow card though, curling a crisp free-kick into the bottom corner.
The loss of Richards and Wayne Bridge to injury hardly assisted City in their efforts to cling on for a win, but Juliano Belletti's studs-first challenge that led to Bridge being carried off could easily have left Chelsea with 10 men.
That bad-tempered tackle led to a few more. At one point Ashley Cole and Deco were booked for offences in the same passage of play.
Prior to that though, Given had emerged the hero when he turned away an admittedly poor Lampard penalty after Onuoha had upended Drogba.
There was still time for Terry to limp off and Drogba to waste a glorious chance to level at the death although City, and Given, deserved their success.

Ballack Ballsup : Blackburn 3 Chelsea 3 (aet. 5-4 on pens.)

Blackburn had keeper Paul Robinson to thank for two penalty saves that sent them into the Carling Cup semi-finals at Chelsea's expense, reports soccernet.espn.go.com.
Rovers will now meet Aston Villa for the right to go to Wembley after former England keeper Robinson saved from Michael Ballack and teenager Gael Kakuta, who took the last kick.
Benni McCarthy, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella and David Hoilett scored Rovers' penalties, with Nikola Kalinic having his saved. Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Yury Zhirkov were successful for Chelsea.
In normal time, Blackburn had taken an early lead through Kalinic but Chelsea hit back after the break, with quick-fire goals from Drogba and Salomon Kalou, before Emerton's cross deceived keeper Henrique Hilario.
But, with Chelsea down to ten men after Kalou picked up an injury and having used all their substitutes at half-time, Rovers went ahead again through a McCarthy penalty, only for Paulo Ferreira to lash home the equaliser and force penalties.
Chelsea made the expected wholesale changes for this quarter-final, taking perhaps too much of a risk by resting seven players from the side that won at Arsenal on Saturday.
John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho, Nicolas Anelka, Drogba and Ashley Cole all stood down, with Joe Cole getting another run-out, while teenager Kakuta - at the centre of the row that saw a transfer ban imposed on the Stamford Bridge club - was on the bench.
Blackburn, again without manager Sam Allardyce on the sidelines due to his recent heart surgery, made five changes from the side that drew at home with Stoke last time out. But their alterations were primarily enforced, with Keith Andrews and David Dunn injured, while Franco Di Santo - on loan from Chelsea - was ineligible.
Although Chelsea started well, with Deco prompting from midfield, a determined Rovers found themselves ahead after only eight minutes.
Seconds earlier Kalinic had shot wide after taking a return pass from Jason Roberts. But his next opportunity was far more successful. Morten Gamst Pedersen and Pascal Chimbonda combined well down the left and, when the full back's low cross arrowed into the six-yard box, Kalinic finished in style.
Emerton flashed a 20-yarder wide as Rovers kept coming forward and the nearest Chelsea got in the opening exchanges was a diving header from Kalou, following Ferreira's cross, that skidded wide of the far post.
Chelsea's response took a long time to get up any steam, with Cole shooting wide and then Ballack crashing a volley into the side-netting from Malouda's right-wing cross.
But it was Blackburn who continued to look dangerous, and Chris Samba saw a header pulled down by Hilario, the keeper being clattered to the ground by the big defender for his troubles.
The hosts could see their opportunity against a weakened side, with Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti only having Drogba from his front-line troops on the bench.
Ancelotti could hardly have been impressed with Chelsea's first-half efforts and he made three substitutions for the second period. Not surprisingly, on came Drogba as well as Kakuta and Jeffery Bruma, with Cole, Juliano Belletti and Deco making way.
And Chelsea were level within two minutes of the restart. Malouda's cross came in from the left and Drogba rose above Ryan Nelsen to head powerfully past Robinson.
It did not take Chelsea long to go in front, with Blackburn punished for some dreadful defending. Zhirkov found all the time in the world to send Kalou racing into Blackburn's half, without a defender within 20 yards of him, and the striker coolly rolled his shot wide of Robinson after 52 minutes.
Rovers sent on Grella for Pedersen after 61 minutes and were level three minutes later. Emerton's swirling cross came in from the right and, although Kalinic went for it and claimed the goal, the ball looked to sail straight in and past a bemused Hilario.
Roberts was replaced by youngster Hoilett with 20 minutes left. But Chelsea were left with only ten men for the last 19 minutes, having used all their substitutes at the break, when Kalou limped away with a groin injury.
Elrio Van Heerden replaced Steven Nzonzi at the start of the extra half-hour, and Rovers were ahead a minute later. Zhirkov brought down the nippy Hoilett and McCarthy rammed home the penalty.
But, in the second minute of injury-time at the end of 120 minutes, Chelsea were level when Ferreira lashed home after Robinson had fumbled a Malouda free-kick to send the game to penalties.
Ancelotti defended his decision to field a weakened side at Blackburn in the Carling Cup quarter-final, and then to use all three substitutes at half-time. A string of debatable decisions by Ancelotti contributed to Chelsea's demise, including using all three substitutions before injury reduced them to 10 men for almost 50 minutes of the match.
He even chose French teenager Gael Kakuta to take the crucial pressure penalty in the shoot-out, which was saved by Paul Robinson to send Rovers through. Kakuta is the former Lens youngster whose move to Stamford Bridge has seen Chelsea fined and banned from transfer by FIFA, with an appeal pending.
Ancelotti, who rested seven top players including John Terry and Frank Lampard, said: "We had priorities this week with league games against Arsenal and Manchester City. I felt we fielded a strong team. But in the first half they did not play well. That is why I used all three substitutes, it is not something I usually do.
"Then we were unlucky to have Salomon Kalou injured in the second half, and that meant we were left with 10 men. It was just unfortunate, but we still played well with 10 against 11.
"As for using Kakuta for that last penalty, it was my decision. I have seen him take good penalties during training, and I felt he could handle it.''
Blackburn assistant boss Neil McDonald, standing in for Sam Allardyce following the Ewood Park manager's heart surgery, was critical of Ancelotti's decisions.
He said: "I hope they regret making so many changes and not fielding a stronger team. Maybe they should have looked at our home record and realised that we are a decent side here.
"They should have played a stronger side. But I have to praise Paul Robinson for his shoot-out save after making a mistake to give them their equaliser.
"I have spoken to Sam and he is very pleased. He just told us to enjoy the moment and to get ourselves ready for Liverpool on Saturday.''