Quaresma To Shine

Chelsea's new signing Ricardo Quaresma will take the Premier League by storm, according to his compatriot and new team-mate Ricardo Carvalho.
The Blues centre-back has welcomed the arrival of Quaresma, who joined on transfer deadline day in a loan switch from Inter Milan.
And Carvalho has hailed the move and thinks the Premier League will have to be on their guard.
"Quaresma is a very fast and explosive player who is a real warrior on the pitch, so he will be able to handle the physical nature of the Premier League," he said. "But at the same time he is a very technical player and can score goals, which will be good for us.
"He will be a huge help to us at this time of the season.
"He is a very attacking player and that is what we need at Chelsea at the moment."
Carvalho also insists that Quaresma has always been interested in the Premier League.
"At different times with the Portugal national team he would always ask about English football and was interested in what it was like," he continued.
"He could have come here last summer but he ended up going to Inter Milan with Jose Mourinho - but it has not worked out for him there.
"(Luiz Felipe) Scolari knows Quaresma well and this is an advantage for us.
"He also knows a lot of players here already, but he will need time to adapt.
"He will add more pace, which is important. Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba will love playing with him because he gets a lot of assists.
"We have to be strong between now and the end of the season after the defeat to Liverpool. I just want to get back to help out."

Quaresma has been given the squad number 18.

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0

Fernando Torres struck two late goals as Liverpool revived their flagging title hopes with a deserved 2-0 victory at home to Chelsea.
The Spaniard headed home in the 89th minute after we had been reduced to 10 men by a red card for midfielder Frank Lampard and then made sure of a league double over the The Blues with a second in stoppage time.
It was a bitter blow to our title hopes although we could have few complaints as we barely mustered a shot on target even before Lampard was harshly sent off by referee Mike Reily for a tackle on Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
"After the Lampard sending off they had more possession, more quality, more chances in front of goal, but until then, no," Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari told Sky Sports.
"I want the referee to look at that decision on TV and change his decision. It was a foul by the other player not Lampard."
Liverpool, who had drawn their previous three Premier League matches, moved back above us into second place with 51 points from 24 games, two points behind champions Manchester United who have played a game fewer.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had come under increasing scrutiny since his outburst at United manager Alex Ferguson last month and their rival's surge to the top of the table.
His decision to axe striker Robbie Keane from the squad looked baffling during a tepid first half, but Torres burst into life to spare him further inquests.
"He showed that he can score important goals and it's great to see him back so hopefully he can score more between now and the end of the season," Benitez said of Torres before adding that Keane was not leaving the club.
Torres, who has missed important chunks of the season with injuries, had been largely anonymous for most of the match as Liverpool toiled to break down the visitors.
He had not scored a league goal since October but chose the perfect moment to show what a lethal striker he is.
Cech had saved well from Alonso and substitute Yossi Benayoun after the break as Liverpool drove forward but he was powerless when Torres glided into space at the near post to head Fabio Aurelio's cross into the net.
There was a huge sense of relief among Liverpool fans, who have seen their side's attempts to win a first league title since 1990 stall in recent weeks, and they were celebrating wildly deep in stoppage time when Torres struck again after Benayoun robbed Ashley Cole.
Our only shot on target came from Salomon Kalou 16 minutes from time and the team trudged off at the final whistle with their title hopes fading rapidly.
"We were not good today, they were better for all the game," Scolari conceded. "We need to look again, and try again because we have many games and we need to fight until the last game."

Another awful display by the notorious Mike Riley.
How can Ickle Stevie get away with that disgraceful lunge on Kalou and not even get booked, then Frank gets sent off for nothing.
The red card will be rescinded but it's too little too late.
We didn't deserve to win the game but with 11 men on the pitch we'd have probably got a draw.
I hope Riley gets demoted. He deserves it.

Chelsea 2 Middlesbrough 0

Salomon Kalou kept Chelsea's title aspirations alive with a second-half double to leave Middlesbrough entrenched in the relegation zone after a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Kalou opened the scoring in the 58th minute and added a second 10 minutes from time as Chelsea moved second in the table, two points behind leaders Manchester United.
Middlesbrough have now gone 11 games without a win in the Barclays Premier League and this latest setback will only increase the pressure on boss Gareth Southgate.
Chelsea's start was hardly inspiring, though, with a hopeful dribble into the penalty area from Kalou the highlight of the opening 10 minutes of the game.
The Ivorian striker bamboozled most of the Boro defence but ran out of space before he could test keeper Ross Turnbull.
Alex saw a goal-bound header inexplicably glanced over the bar by Kalou in the second half but he broke the deadlock 58th minute when Boro defender David Wheater could only partially head clear and the frontman volleyed the ball home.
Kalou made it two for Chelsea 10 minutes from time with his last act of the game before going off to a standing ovation from the home faithful.
The Ivorian rose unmarked to head home a corner from Frank Lampard after Middlesbrough goalkeeper Turnbull had completely missed the ball.
Kalou celebrated his goal with a bizarre handcuff gesture, as the Blues took advantage of Liverpool`s draw at Wigan to move into second place on goal difference from the Reds and two points adrift of Manchester United.

Carlo Joins Spurs On A Free

Tottenham have today completed the signing of Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini on a free transfer from Chelsea.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp stepped up his pursuit of a new keeper when his under-fire No.1 Heurelho Gomes was injured, and when veteran Spanish keeper Cesar Sanchez joined Valencia on Friday, Redknapp was forced to select Gomes as his back-up keeper to Ben Alnwick for Saturday's FA Cup defeat at Manchester United.

Carlo joined the Blues on loan in 1999 from Italian side Castel Di Sangro and signed a permanent deal a year later for £130,000. He was voted Chelsea Player of the Year in 2002, but has found his chances limited since Petr Cech's arrival in 2004. Cudicini's arrival will provide competition for Gomes, who has also been the subject of much criticism this season.

Carlo will be sorely missed at the Bridge where he gave long service and support to the other keepers, never moaning about his lack of first team opportunities and he thoroughly deserves his chance of first team football, having no trouble in becoming a permanent member of the Tottenham team.

Chelsea 3 Ipswich Town 1

Michael Ballack was Chelsea’s FA Cup hero as he scored twice to beat a plucky Ipswich side 3-1 at Stamford Bridge with Frank Lampard adding a stunning third.

Ballack struck either side of a goal from Alex Bruce – son of former FA Cup winner Steve Bruce – to end Ipswich’s hopes of creating a major upset and send Chelsea into the Fifth Round.

But the Championship side were always in the game and it was only a 35-yard special from Lampard that truly ended their dreams.

The Blues started strongly and should have gone ahead after only nine minutes when Ballack was found unmarked from an excellent Anelka cross but fired his shot wide.

By the 16th minute the home side had found a way through with an excellently-worked effort.

This time the outstanding Lampard swept a cross-field pass out to his England team-mate Ashley Cole who, at full pace, pulled it back for Ballack to stretch and turn home first time.

It was a goal Chelsea deserved - but then their old defensive problems returned as they gifted Ipswich a foothold in the match.

Blues manager Luiz-Felipe Scolari has had his players working hard on defending set pieces but it seems they still haven’t found the perfect system.

Because when Owen Garvan whipped in a free-kick after 32 minutes the home team were all at sea as the ball cannoned off Ricardo Carvalho – and straight into the path of Bruce to fire home unchallenged.

Suddenly Ipswich were filled with confidence and a famous FA Cup shock looked possible.

But Chelsea eventually turned to star striker Didier Drogba to try and save the day, bringing him on after 57 minutes, and it reaped instant dividends.

Almost immediately his strike partner Anelka won a free-kick a minute which Ballack curled home superbly for 2-1.

Ipswich had chances to equalise but when Lampard sent an incredible free-kick arrowing high into the net after 85 minutes the game was all over.