Blackburn Rovers 0 Chelsea 2

Nicolas Anelka struck twice as Chelsea went back to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.
A torrential downpour made conditions almost unplayable in Lancashire but Anelka overcame the elements to find the net in each half and fire Chelsea back above Liverpool on goal difference.
Anelka broke the deadlock on 39 minutes, deflecting a long-range Alex shot past Paul Robinson, before adding a second in the 68th minute with a cool dinked finish over the otherwise excellent Rovers keeper.
The win - on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's 60th birthday - was Chelsea's sixth out of six on the road so far this season and did much to make amends for their Champions League defeat to Roma in midweek.
Despite the appalling playing conditions, the visitors flew out of the blocks and went on to dominate the first half, even though it took them the majority of the opening period to find a way through the Rovers defence.
That the deadlock lasted so long had much to do with the form of Robinson, who pulled off a string of fine saves to deny Anelka two headed efforts, a John Obi Mikel header and Frank Lampard's bouncing strike before even 20 minutes were on the clock.
Chelsea had earlier seen a loud penalty shout waved away by referee Chris Foy when Anelka tumbled to the ground under a challenge from Robinson after having latched onto a suicidal Keith Andrews back pass. Replays showed there was minimal contact between the two.
Terry saw a header fly over the bar before Anelka and Lampard were again thwarted by Robinson as Chelsea pressed for an opener.
The pressure finally told as Anelka netted his first of the day six minutes before the half-time whistle; the goal stood despite loud calls from Robinson for handball against the Frenchman.
During the break, the skies cleared and by the time the second half kicked off the weather were far more clement - Blackburn capitalised and began to work their way back into the game as Chelsea eased off the gas.
During the opening period, Blackburn had just a Carlos Villanueva shot on the break to shout about - an effort which brought a fine save out of Petr Cech - but once the rain had stopped, Paul Ince's side looked far more threatening.
The hosts could have equalised soon after the restart when jason Roberts - asked to play as a lone striker due to Blackburn's injury problems - turned John Terry with some neat control on his chest to make space for a shot. Only a fine save by Cech foiled him.
Blackburn continued to press for an equaliser, but Chelsea hit them on the break on 68 minutes to effectively seal all three points.
Anelka registered his sixth goal in the last three league games when he reacted sharply to pounce on a loose ball in the box ahead of Robinson, clipping it over the keeper and into the back of the net.
At 2-0 up, Chelsea were able to cruise for the remainder of the game, and they should have added to their tally, Lampard rattling the cross bar with a terrific free-kick moments before Terry missed his kick from close range with eight minutes left.

Roma 3 Chelsea 1

A Mirko Vucinic brace inspired Roma to a superb 3-1 victory over 10-man Chelsea in the Champions League Group A clash at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Romans, fourth from bottom in Serie A, were too strong for the Premier League leaders, for whom John Terry's late goal was nothing more than a consolation after Christian Panucci's strike before the break and Vucinic's second-half double.
Chelsea also saw Deco dismissed late on, perhaps harshly, after the Portuguese was shown two yellow cards.
The Blues had much the better of the possession in the opening half-hour but failed to test Doni with anything other than efforts from long range. The Brazilian keeper twice denied Frank Lampard from distance after he had turned away a Deco drive from outside the box as Chelsea made all the early running.
The hosts however grabbed the lead, against the run of play, in the 34th minute. Cicinho escaped the attentions of the Chelsea defence as Francesco Totti lined up a long-range free-kick, and the right-back's low cross was turned home by Panucci as the Chelsea defence stood and watched. The former Blues defender's strike was the first Chelsea have conceded in this season's Champions League campaign and it seemed to settle the hosts down.
Florent Malouda blasted high and wide of the target five minutes later when he was sent clear down the inside-left channel by John Obi Mikel's fine pass, and that was the French wideman's final contribution as he was withdrawn at half time, along with Joe Cole, to make way for Didier Drogba and Juliano Beletti.
Despite the decisive substitutions, things got worse for Blues boss Luiz Filipe Scolari when Roma doubled their lead only three minutes after the break. Matteo Brighi laid the ball off the Mirko Vucinic to unleash a superb 20-yard drive which flew past Cech and into the corner of the Blues net.
If the second goal was good, Roma's third 10 minutes later was even better, and it was Vucinic again. The Montenegrin striker robbed Mikel in the host's half and carried the ball fully 50-yards, outpacing and riding the tackle of the Nigerian before fooling Cech to slide the ball coolly inside the near post.
Chelsea looked ragged but Terry gave his side a lifeline, somewhat controversially, with 15 minutes remaining. Deco's shot was directed goalwards seemingly off the arm of the England skipper and despite Doni's point-blank block, Terry sidefooted home the rebound.
Deco, cautioned in the first half, was lucky to avoid a second booking when he up-ended Totti early in the second period. But his luck ran out in the 81st-minute when referee Luis Medina Cantalejo brandished a yellow card, followed by a red, when the Portuguese took a free-kick too quickly for the official's liking.
Despite the result, Chelsea remain top of Group A with seven points, one ahead of Roma and Bordeaux, with the French side due to arrive at Stamford Bridge in three weeks time.
Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was left to rue an under-par performance from his side.
Scolari felt his side made too many errors to merit taking anything away from their trip to the Italian capital.
"We didn't play well," Scolari admitted after goals from Christian Panucci and two from Mirko Vucinic gave the Italians a deserved victory.
"We made mistakes at critical times. We allowed Roma chances and individual mistakes cost us dearly."

Chelsea 5 Sunderland 0

If the mission was to make Stamford Bridge the fortress it had been for the past four and a half years before Liverpool barged down the gates last week then this was a splendid start.
A short-range effort from Brazilian defender Alex notched up the 1,000th Chelsea goal in the Premier League. A Frank Lampard header gave the Chelsea midfielder the 100th league goal of his career. And a Nicolas Anelka hat-trick completed a rout which had the home jokers chanting sarcastically "Boring, boring Chelsea."

In truth Chelsea hardly required a fortress to repel a Sunderland side who all but waved a white flag in the teeming rain which drenched Stamford Bridge.

The Wearsiders, dismal in defeat against Stoke in midweek, were as woeful as Chelsea's passing and movement was wonderful.

So woeful that manager Roy Keane was sent to the stands by referee Martin Atkinson as his frustration boiled over in the half-time tunnel when he verbally remonstrated with the officials.

Before the match Keane had warned it takes at least four days for him to recover his karma when he loses his temper. After this performance it might take him until Christmas.

Keane had made five changes to the starting line-up, dropping Djibril Cisse and El-Hadji Diouf to the bench and handing striker Kenwyne Jones his first start of the season after recovering from the knee injury which had kept him out for four months.

But not one Sunderland player would have passed the exacting Keane contribution test on an afternoon when the Chelsea fans taunted them with chants of "Cheerio".

The tone was set from the kick-off as Chelsea penned Sunderland in their own half, dominating possession, fizzing the ball around the greasy surface with precision.

They signalled their intentions as early as the 16th minute when Deco swivelled sweetly on the edge of the area and sent a swerving angled shot thundering against the Sunderland crossbar. It was the shot of the match, a demonstration of Portuguese quality. But there was more, much more, to come.

And Chelsea confirmed their authority with two goals in two first-half minutes.

The first arrived from Rodrigo Dias de Costa, otherwise known as Alex, who started the move in midfield. The ball was switched to Joe Cole out on the right and when it fizzed across the penalty area it deflected off goalkeeper Marton Fulop into the path of Alex, who had continued his run, and he swept the goal home from three yards.

Not the grandest of strikes but it will still grace the record books as Chelsea's 1,000th Premier League goal.

Number 1,001 was scored by Anelka, but again owed much to the prescience of Alex.

This time it was Lampard who provided the angled cross, which skidded across the penalty area off the rain-drenched surface.

Alex again got the touch as he slid in and although the ball was about to cross the line Anelka made sure, smashing the ball home from no more than 12 inches.

Anelka slotted his second, again from close range, on the stroke of half-time.

It got worse for Sunderland in the 51st minute when Joe Cole supplied the cross for Lampard to head home and two minutes later Anelka completed his hat-trick, again from close-range with the ball looping off the body of goalkeeper Fulop and dropping agonisingly over the line.

Sunderland raids were rare but one did bring the save of the match from Petr Cech, who dived bravely at the feet of Cisse to palm the ball away.

But that was scant consolation for Keane who sat in the stand, hunched into his overcoat, whispering into his mobile phone.

He might well have been telling chairman Niall Quinn how many reinforcements he needs in the January transfer window.

As for Chelsea, they go to Roma in midweek in buoyant mood. The fortress as secure as ever.

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.