Hull City 0 Chelsea 3

The Blues put high-flying Hull in their place to get back to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League last night.
The Tigers had gone into the game at the KC Stadium trailing the Blues only on goal difference but a stunning strike from Frank Lampard after just two minutes established superiority.

Lampard found the net with a delicate left-footed chip from the edge of the box after Paul McShane had dispossessed Florent Malouda but failed to clear.

Hull tried to respond through star forward Geovanni but the Brazilian was denied a free-kick after running into Ricardo Carvalho just outside the area.

Lampard tried his luck again from a free-kick 30 yards out but could not find the target.

Hull were inches away from an equaliser after 22 minutes as former Rangers striker Daniel Cousin's low shot from 20 yards took a slight deflection and beat Cech, only to bounce back off the post.

Geovanni also tested Cech with a long-range free-kick, but the Chelsea keeper beat the ball away after it bounced awkwardly in front of him.

Hull were then forced to sit back for a spell and survived a scare as Malouda found room to shoot but fired over.

Nicolas Anelka went even closer with a ferocious drive just before the break but Myhill did brilliantly to tip over.

Cech was also in action again, keeping out another Geovanni free-kick and a King header.

Chelsea doubled their lead in the 50th minute as Anelka capitalised on uncertainty in the home defence.

Michael Turner and Kamil Zayatte switched off as they allowed a ball to bounce between them. Myhill came forward to gather but was caught in two minds as he reached the edge of the area and Anelka nipped past him to turn the ball home.

Malouda made up for some earlier misses as he reacted first to stab home a Carvalho cross and put the game beyond doubt after 75 minutes.

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

Xabi Alonso's first-half goal ended Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home league record and put Liverpool three points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Alonso struck in the ninth minute when his 20-yard shot deflected off Jose Bosingwa and left Petr Cech wrong-footed.
It was Chelsea's first defeat under new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. Chelsea had not been beaten at home since Arsenal's 2-1 success in February 2004 but Liverpool deserved their triumph with an impressive display.
Chelsea began the brighter of the two sides and their initial thrusts almost resulted in an opening goal.
Nicolas Anelka dribbled his way into the penalty area in the third minute but was tackled before he could test Jose Reina.
The ball fell to Deco but the Chelsea midfielder's shot was deflected to safety.
Liverpool went ahead in the ninth minute with their first attack of the game.
Chelsea failed to deal with a thrown-in when John Terry could only half-clear Dirk Kuyt's clever back-header.
The ball fell to Alonso on the edge of the penalty area and his shot deflected luckily off Chelsea right-back Bosingwa into the net.
In the 17th minute, Albert Riera beat Bosingwa on the left flank but fired his shot into the side netting.
Chelsea, hoping to stretch their unbeaten home league sequence to 87 games, struggled to get back into the game.
Bosingwa tried to run at the Liverpool defence in the 21st minute but was chopped down crudely by Riera who received a deserved booking from referee Howard Webb as a result.
Seconds later Salomon Kalou headed just over the bar from another cross by Bosingwa.
Liverpool continued to look dangerous and in the 24th minute they almost increased their lead when Cech was forced to tip a glorious volley from Ickle Steven Gerrard over the bar.
Chelsea began to find some consistency as the first half wore on but they were struggling to produce a telling final ball into the penalty area.
Time and again their neat approach work was undone by a poor pass but Frank Lampard, so often their inspiration, won a corner in the 33rd minute with a deflected shot.
But although it came to nothing, Chelsea continued to enjoy their best spell of the game.
Bosingwa sent over a number of crosses from the right flank but Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher, through a process of undetected holding and shirt pulling, managed to survive.
In the 36th minute Deco was given time and space to run at the Liverpool defence but his left-foot drive from 18 yards was wide of Jose Reina's right-hand upright.
In the 38th minute Gerrard should have been heading for an early bath for a foul on Bosingwa.
However, referee Webb elected to show the media's golden boy a yellow card for his challenge.
Liverpool's speed on the counter-attack almost opened up Chelsea again in the 43rd minute but, despite some confusion in the home defence, John Mikel Obi managed to clear their lines.
Chelsea began the second half in a much brighter fashion and it required an interception from Carragher to prevent a cross from Florent Malouda reaching its destination in the six-yard box.
In the 53rd minute Malouda was booked for checking a fine run by Alvaro Arbeloa.
Moments later Malouda was felled by Liverpool 'keeper Reina in the penalty area but he had already been ruled offside by referee Webb.
Cole was next into Webb's book when the official took a dislike to his challenge on Carragher.
In the 57th minute, Kuyt tried his luck from 20 yards but his effort was wide of the target.
It was the catalyst for a Chelsea to make a double substitution with Malouda and Kalou replaced by Juliano Belletti and Franco Di Santo.
It was another indication of Chelsea's growing frustration and it prompted Liverpool to replace Robbie Keane with Ryan Babel.
The Reds were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out in the 60th minute when Belletti kicked Riera in the face.
Chelsea then had a massive escape when Alonso's effort rebounded off the foot of the post for Ricardo Carvalho to clear.
Babel was brought down by Cole as he tried to collect the ball but referee Webb decided, quite rightly, to book Javier Mascherano for attempting to persuade the official to dismiss the left-back.
Cole squandered a great chance to level the scores in the 73rd minute when Di Santo nodded Lampard's cross into his path.
But the defender screwed his effort wide of the post from eight yards. Moments later Carragher rescued Liverpool when he deflected Deco's effort for a corner.
At the opposite end, a 25-yard drive from Babel was only just wide of the target.

All in all, the standard of Howard Webb's refereeing was awful to say the least and if he's supposed to be the best we've got then refereeing in the Premier League is in serious trouble.

Although Liverpool shaded the game performance wise, and that's debateable, their last two games were won with late comebacks, one of them against ten men and they got a lucky deflected goal against us, which the wrong footed Cech would have saved comfortably otherwise, so I still can't see them being up there at the end of the season.

Having said that, we looked pretty lightweight up front and I think Anelka just isn't good enough for us. We need Drogba back and maybe a forage into the transfer market in January for another striker but I still think it'll be us and United again in May.

Chelsea 1 Roma 0

Captain John Terry ended Roma's stubborn resistance with a second-half matchwinner at Stamford Bridge.
He headed home from Frank Lampard's 77th-minute corner to keep Luiz Felipe Scolari's side top of Champions League Group A.

Roma, struggling in the lower reaches of Serie A, were not expected to upset Chelsea's European momentum but they almost did so with a dogged defensive display that nearly earned them a share of the spoils.

The opening few minutes saw Chelsea enjoy the lion's share of possession with the impish Deco pulling the strings in midfield. But eight minutes elapsed before Chelsea mustered their first real attempt on goal via a 20-yard volley from Lampard which Doni dealt with effectively.

That apart, there was little sign of the beautiful game which Scolari desired as the home side were largely frustrated by the visitors.

In the 21st minute a rare attacking drive from John Mikel Obi brought a booking for Philippe Mexes when he brought the Nigerian crashing down on the edge of the penalty area. But Lampard saw his effort cannon into the crowd after flicking the angle of the post and bar.

Roma were more than happy to stop Chelsea trying to play their way through the middle with Alberto Aquilani particularly impressive.

It required a superb tackle by Terry to prevent Matteo Brighi opening the scoring in the 35th minute. Terry dived in to deflect the ball for a corner after a fine piece of skill from Francesco Totti had set up Brighi.

Scolari was incensed four minutes before the interval when Deco was brought down on the edge of the penalty area but the referee opted to let the home side play on.

Scolari replaced Florent Malouda at the interval with Juliano Belletti and he immediately sent a 20-yard drive high into the crowd.

Roma were forced to make a change on the hour when Aquilani suffered a hamstring injury and was replaced by Simone Perrotta.

The Italians were happy to settle for a point and, with Totti offering a solo option in attack, the onus was on Chelsea to make the breakthrough, which almost arrived in the 67th minute when a 20-yard shot from Mikel was deflected over the bar by Anelka.

But the deadlock was finally broken by England captain Terry in the 77th minute when he slipped his marker and headed Lampard's corner into the net. Lampard almost made it two in the 83rd minute but Doni tipped his free-kick over the bar.

Middlesboro 0 Chelsea 5

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari gained an insight into just how good his injury-hit squad is after seeing it rip Middlesbrough apart 5-0.
Despite missing the likes of Petr Cech, Didier Drogba and Ashley and Joe Cole, the Blues were in rampant form at the Riverside Stadium to condemn Boro to the heaviest defeat of Gareth Southgate's reign.
Salomon Kalou fired the visitors ahead with 14 minutes gone, and although Chelsea took the game by the scruff of the neck, they had to wait until six minutes after the break for Juliano Belletti to increase their lead with a stunning 35-yard strike.
Kalou made sure of the points with a deflected 53rd-minute third, and Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda completed the rout on a day when Nicolas Anelka had a goal disallowed, hit the post and was denied by keeper Ross Turnbull.
The visitors arrived on Teesside having not lost a league game in 10 months, but with concerns their injury problems might make an extension of that record difficult.
But they need not have worried as Boro proved compliant hosts in front of a crowd that numbered 29,221 at kick-off, but significantly fewer by the time the final whistle brought a welcome end to their misery.
Scolari could have been forgiven for bemoaning his luck as he was forced to name a side shorn of players worth in excess of £100million, with Cech, the Coles, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Drogba all unavailable to him.
Opposite number Southgate, however, might have reminded him, had he asked, he was still able to call upon a formidable squad, and the former England defender would have taken little pleasure in being proved absolutely correct in his assessment by half-time.
Despite their lack of big names, the visitors were utterly dominant before the break and not only that, they played a brand of expansive, penetrative football that left Boro gasping for air.
The only concern for Scolari will have been that as they went in at the break, they were only a goal to the good, Kalou pouncing on a loose ball to fire past Turnbull after Andrew Taylor had blocked the impressive Belletti's 14th-minute shot.
But for the slightest of touches from right-back Jonathan Grounds, Lampard would have doubled the lead from Malouda's cross 10 minutes later.
The Frenchman should have done better when he found himself in on goal with 31 minutes gone, only to fire wide of Turnbull's far post with Boro hanging on for dear life.
Southgate's side did not muster a single credible attempt on goal in the opening 45 minutes with Cech's deputy Carlo Cudicini a virtual spectator.
Its fortunes were summed up seconds before Malouda's miss when Adam Johnson picked out Stewart Downing with a set-play from a corner, only to see the England international thrash at fresh air.
Indeed, the most pressure returning England skipper John Terry found himself under was in injury-time when central defensive partner Alex tried to be a little too clever and left him stretching to clear his lines.
That earned the apologetic Brazilian a stern rebuke from his captain, who otherwise had few problems handling Egypt striker Mido.
Southgate may have been happy to get his players back into the dressing room with the scoreline at only 1-0, but the game was over within eight minutes of the restart.
Turnbull at least stood up to the challenge when, within four minutes of the restart, Malouda waltzed past Grounds and, having opted not to hand Anelka a tap-in, was denied by the keeper.
But the youngster could do nothing two minutes later to keep Belletti's stinging 35-yard pile-driver out of his top corner as Chelsea flexed its muscles once again.
The third goal arrived with 37 minutes still to play when Kalou claimed his second with the help of a wicked deflection off David Wheater, although Boro's misery was far from complete.
Kalou and Anelka combined down the right with 63 minutes gone for the midfielder to send in an inviting cross for Lampard, whose diving header gave Turnbull no chance.
The Boro keeper's afternoon took a further turn for the worse with 66 minutes gone when he allowed Anelka's shot to squirm from his grasp, with the post serving a fifth up on a plate for the vigilant Malouda.
Anelka saw a sixth goal rightly ruled out for offside with the Teessiders in tatters, and was then denied by a fine save from Turnbull with 14 minutes remaining, although the job had been completed long before.

Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0

Chelsea extended their unbeaten start with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in what coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called the Premier League leaders' most important game so far this season.
Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka hit first-half goals at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea totally outclassed a Villa side that had lost just once in the league this season.
Villa went into the game in fourth place and confident of a good result after taking four points off Chelsea last season, including a 4-4 draw in west London.
But Chelsea made light of the injury problems that robbed them of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Deco and Ricardo Carvalho to dominate their opponents.
"I thought Chelsea were brilliant today,'' Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill said. "Absolutely brilliant. We would have had to have our best players playing at their peak to compete. It was a harsh lesson.
"I really thought this morning that we would win the game.''
Instead, Chelsea are now unbeaten in 86 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge - a run stretching back to February 2004.
Chelsea had already created several chances by the 21st minute when Cole, who later limped off injured, put the home team in front from a slick move involving Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard. Anelka then hit the bar before doubling the advantage from close range in the 43rd minute, following a double save from goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
The win lifted Chelsea to 17 points from seven matches, further raising fans' hopes that last season's failure to win a single trophy will not be repeated. Chelsea will stay top for at least two weeks as the league breaks for World Cup qualifying matches.
Although Liverpool trail only on goal difference after scoring in the last minute to win 3-2 at Manchester City on Sunday, the Blues look well equipped to regain the Premier League title they last won in 2006.
"For me, it is the most important game this season because if we win we are in first position,'' Scolari said. "We now have a minimum 10 days to recuperate our players - the players who are injured and did not play. This is most important thing for us.''
Cole, Malouda, Michael Ballack and Anelka were all on form in an attack so potent that Scolari felt able to withdraw Anelka at halftime because of a minor leg problem.
Scolari said Anelka may only be able to play one of France's two upcoming matches but his rest still represented another boost for Chelsea, wh0 learned Saturday that Drogba's midweek injury may only keep him on the sidelines for a month - far less than initially feared.
But the Blues didn't seem to miss him much Sunday anyway. Villa rarely threatened despite starting with an unchanged lineup for the seventh straight Premier League match.
Chelsea fullback Jose Bosingwa had the first shot of the game blocked in the first minute before Ballack and Malouda each had a swerving shot saved by Friedel.
"He was brilliant,'' O'Neill said. "And we needed him today.''
Cole then just failed to get on the end of a firm cross from Anelka inside the six-yard box and Lampard missed a clear opportunity by heading past the post.
Villa were under sustained pressure and lost possession on the edge of their area, where Malouda gathered the ball and slipped a pass to Lampard. The midfielder played it on to Cole, who let it run across his body before shooting right-footed past Friedel.
More chances came and went before Anelka made it 2-0. Friedel parried a shot from Ballack and couldn't hold the follow up from Anelka, who reached the ball first to hit the rebound past the veteran American goalkeeper.
With Anelka off the field and Cole injured by a lunging challenge from Stilian Petrov - forcing him to be replaced in the 57th by Salomon Kalou - Chelsea still produced some thrilling football even though the players eased off slightly in the second half.
Ballack smashed a chance over the bar and substitute Juliano Belletti missed with an overhead kick as Villa still spent most of the second period pinned inside their own half.
Gabriel Agbonlahor almost had a chance to get a goal back for Villa in the last minute of normal time when John Terry missed a header back to Petr Cech and let the ball bounce, but the Czech Republic goalkeeper still intercepted to preserve the two-goal advantage.

CFR Cluj 0 Chelsea 0

Romanian minnows CFR Cluj pulled off a surprise result at home to Chelsea in the Champions League after holding last year's runners-up to a 0-0 draw.

An injury to striker Didier Drogba added to a frustrating night for the Blues, although they had goalkeeper Petr Cech to thanks for keeping them in the match late on as Cluj almost nicked a win.

Buoyed by a 2-1 win against Roma in the last round Cluj defended confidently against Luiz Felipe Scolari's side and restricted them to half-chances throughout most of the match.

Drogba linked up well with Salomon Kalou before he got injured but Kalou scuffed his two chances and Drogba did likewise from a Frank Lampard free-kick.

The Transylvanians played largely on the counter-attack but Alvaro Pereira showed a sign for what was still to come when he whizzed a shot just wide of Cech's goal before half-time.

Nicolas Anelka replaced Kalou at the break as Chelsea looked for a way to break down the stoic Romanian defence.

But their plans were severely affected when Drogba collapsed heavily after going up for a headed ten minutes into the second half. The Ivorian was down for several minutes and had to be stretchered off the field.Chelsea were not as threatening without Drogba up front and only had two long-range Lampard shots to show for their second-half efforts.

As the match wore on Cluj grew in confidence and increasingly threatened the Blues' goal.

Eugen Trica unleashed a fearsome shot that had Cech beaten but it shaved the outside of the post, much to the relief of Chelsea. The Czech keeper then had to be alert to deny Pereira with a good save in the dying minutes.

The draw means both sides move on to four points in group A. Chelsea will play Roma home and away in their next two fixtures.