Carlo Not Happy

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted he was far from happy with his team's performance in their uninspiring 1-0 Champions League win over unfancied Apoel Nicosia, reports PA Sport.
Nicolas Anelka's 18th-minute goal gave Chelsea an undeserved Group D victory in Cyprus as Ancelotti's side produced another disappointing performance, but the Italian coach had wanted a big reaction from his team following their 3-1 defeat by Wigan last Saturday, but he failed to get it and was clearly not satisfied. "It was a good result but perhaps not a good performance," said Ancelotti. "We started with good control, scored a goal and we had opportunities to do quick counter-attacks after that, but we didn't do this."He added: "In the second half it was different. We tried to control the game with possession, but we made a lot of mistakes. "Nicosia played very well in the second-half and deserved to draw this game. This is football. "I'm not satisfied. I wanted Chelsea to play better and to take more control, to play with courage. But I think that, in this moment of the season, it's normal. We have to change, for sure."We have to play better. In the first half, the team showed good application of the system and of their defensive duties. "We took good control in defensive positions, but the second half was totally different. We lost a lot of balls. We allowed Nicosia to get back into the game. "I'm not angry with the players. I have a lot of faith in this team and these players. I was a player for a lot of years myself, and I know when things don't go well. "I'm not afraid, not angry with the players. The only thing is that I'd like Chelsea to play better than we did.

Phil "Look At Me" Dowd : Wigan 3 Chelsea 1

Wigan sent shockwaves through the Barclay's Premier League with a shock 3-1 win over 10(or 9)-man Chelsea, reports skysports.com.
Petr Cech saw red in an explosive start to the second-half which saw Chelsea equalise before immediately conceding a penalty, which Hugo Rodallega won and dispatched.
Chelsea had won each of their six games so far this season and only this week were being labelled as almost unbeatable, a tag which manager Carlos Ancelotti rebuffed.
Titus Bramble opened the scoring on 16 minutes when he headed home unmarked from around 8 yards when Charles N'Zogbia delivered after a short corner.
The Latics held on until half-time and perhaps should have taken advantage of some suspect Chelsea defending as Emmerson Boyce shot straight at Cech from inside the six yard box.
Chelsea began the second-half in great urgency and were level on 47 minutes as Didier Drogba steered home Florent Malouda cross past Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal, who was guilty of failing to hold the Ivorian's tame effort.
Wigan were back in front soon after when Cech brought down Rodallega inside the after the Columbian raced through on goal.
Florent Malouda was sacrificed as Henrique Hilario came in to replace Cech in the Chelsea goal but he was sent the wrong way by Rodallega, who picked himself up to drill home the penalty.
Chelsea were unable to regain control of the game as play resumed and after using all three subs, they were reduced to nine men after Ashley Cole was unable to continue in injury time.
The away side were massively exposed as they desperately searched an equaliser and Paul Scharner capitalised when he poked home from a yard out after great wing play by Maynor Figueroa a minute into added time.

So, another disgraceful display of refereeing. When are prats like Phil Dowd going to realise that the fans come to see eleven men against eleven, not the likes of him.
Make no mistake, if Cech had been wearing a Man. Utd., Liverpool or Arsenal shirt in the same situation he would have stayed on the pitch.
Still, we'll win the league despite the officials, not because of them. We always have before.

Joe Just Happy To Be Playing

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole was delighted with his return from injury in the Carling Cup third-round victory over QPR at Stamford Bridge.
Cole has been sidelined with a cruciate knee problem for eight months but came back and set up Salomon Kalou's winner just after the interval.
"I'm back now and it's blinding," Cole said. "But I'm not going to get ahead of myself. There is going to be a lot of ups and downs. All I can do is keep working hard in training. If you see the size of the squad we have, a lot don't play week-in week-out so it's vital for them to get airtime," said assistant boss Ray Wilkins.
"It's entirely up to the young men to push themselves forward and the two that played have been doing so in the reserves and training. We want to win everything we enter. Every side that takes to the field in a Chelsea shirt wants to win the game and the tournament they are playing in. If we can blood a few on the way, all well and good."
"It's not a bad substitution to make," Wilkins said. "It's a testament to QPR that we had to use Frank, Ashley and John. QPR equipped themselves very well and gave us a very tough evening. It was nice to see Joe and Paulo (Ferreira) come through the 90minutes, Yury (Zhirkov) got a good hour and the two youngsters did very well too."
QPR boss Jim Magilton was pleased with his side's application. "We have to use it as a springboard," said Magilton. We have a chance of promotion, like 14 other clubs. We had a lack of belief in the final third but I was immensely proud of the overall performance."
Magilton, who started with two strikers, added: "I'm not naive but that is the way I thought we could get after Chelsea. We were encouraged against Cardiff in our last game and some players may not get back to Stamford Bridge so I couldn't deny them that by resting them."
Magilton refused to answer questions on owner Flavio Briatore, whose position has been questioned following his role in Formula One's "crashgate" scandal. "I've never met him," Magilton joked.

Hoops Held At Bay : Chelsea 1 QPR 0

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole returned from his long-term knee injury to help defeat QPR 1-0 and send the Premier League leaders into the fourth round of the Carling Cup, reports espn.go.com.
The 27-year-old, named by manager Carlo Ancelotti as skipper for the evening, was playing in his first match since January and set up Salomon Kalou's winner at Stamford Bridge.
Ahead of the tie, the future of Flavio Briatore as QPR's owner has been uncertain following his role in Formula One's "crashgate'' scandal - but Jim Magilton's men could not give him something to smile about despite putting the hosts under pressure at times.
It was Cole's evening after eight months out with ruptured cruciate knee ligaments, a problem he aggravated in July's pre-season tour of the United States.
The clock is ticking for Cole - he has to get back into Fabio Capello's England squad before the World Cup after watching competition increase while out injured.
Cole was playing in the hole and showing no signs of his injury affecting his approach. He matched Wayne Routledge for pace in the early stages and went shoulder to shoulder. Later in the first half he danced around Routledge and Akos Buzsaky before Martin Rowlands brought him down.
When Paulo Ferreira, also returning from a long-term knee problem, crossed from the right 10 minutes before the break, Cole was on the end of it but stabbed wide of Tom Heaton's goal.
That was a rare bright moment in a dull opening 45 minutes although Juliano Belletti, just before the whistle, smashed a 30-yard free-kick and Heaton tipped over the crossbar.
The other clear-cut chance of the first half dropped to Fabio Borini, one of Frank Arnesen's youngsters who was making his first start for the club.
With FIFA having imposed a transfer ban on Chelsea for two windows, this was meant to be the clash to show what youngsters sporting director Arnesen had unearthed for Ancelotti to utilise.
Instead, there was plenty of experience in the starting XI, with the only Arnesen player to feature being Borini, as centre-back Sam Hutchinson has been at the club since he was a child.
Borini headed over in the 10th minute from Yury Zhirkov's cross and goalkeeper Heaton, on loan from Manchester United, was forced to save powerful efforts from Florent Malouda and Kalou in the early stages.
The visitors had their moments as well, with Jay Simpson volleying over wildly and Buzsaky curling wide after an exciting run by Routledge.
They were holding their own, although boss Magilton was ranting and raving on the touchline, chucking his chewing gum onto the pitch at one point.
His mood did not get better at the break when Ancelotti brought on Frank Lampard for Malouda. The Frenchman was the only survivor from Sunday's win over Tottenham but there was still the likes of John Obi Mikel and Branislav Ivanovic in the side.
After the interval, Rowan Vine's ball over the top almost embarrassed the hosts, with Henrique Hilario forced into a rushed clearance as Routledge chased him down.
But the visitors were ahead in the 52nd minute after Cole spun on the ball and slipped it through to Kalou. The Ivory Coast forward cut inside Mikele Leigertwood from the left and his crisp finish went in off the post.
Borini could have added a second goal when Lampard sent him through but the Italian youngster was forced slightly wide and Heaton saved his finish.
QPR were still in the tie and Buzsaky forced Hilario into a save when his awkward shot from 30 yards bounced just in front of the veteran goalkeeper.

Spurs Smashed : Chelsea 3 Tottenham H 0

Chelsea extended their 100 percent record under Carlo Ancelotti as goals from Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba gave them a comfortable 3-0 victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.
The win was enough to lift them back above Manchester United to the summit of the Barclays Premier League, three points ahead of their rivals, who had briefly gone top with a 4-3 win over Manchester City earlier in the day.
Tottenham were second best but left having lost more than three points as defenders Ledley King and Sebastien Bassong both suffered serious-looking injuries.
Chelsea goalscorer Cole said: "This is the best squad, team and spirit since I've been here. John Terry won the title here so it's probably not as good as that year but we all stick together and fight. Hopefully that can help us win the title."
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp bemoaned referee Howard Webb's decision not to give a penalty for Ricardo Carvalho's challenge on Robbie Keane at 1-0.
"Robbie tried to stay on his feet, if he went down it might have been different," Redknapp said.
"If he (Webb) felt he (Keane) dived he should have given a yellow card."
Chelsea almost opened the scoring in the eighth minute when right-back Jose Bosingwa latched on to Ballack's header and fired in a shot from the edge of the area.
Tottenham goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, the ex-Chelsea man, was relieved to see the ball rebound back into play off the top of his near post.
Jermain Defoe should have given Tottenham the lead three minutes later though when he was played through by Wilson Palacios's fine ball.
The England marksman already has five Premier League goals to his name this season but was denied by the boot of Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Cech was needed again to deflect away Tom Huddlestone's long-ranger, which caught him by surprise, and Jermaine Jenas fired wide by the most slender of margins from the next attack.
Chelsea's reply was a header from Frank Lampard that wasn't far away either and an effort from Nicolas Anelka that fizzed into the side-netting.
The home side's appeals for a penalty when Vedran Corluka and Ballack collided in the box were ignored by Webb but the reprieve was short-lived for the Croatia defender as Chelsea scored seconds later.
Drogba fired in a cross from the right that was met by Cole's diving header, with the left-back having stolen in ahead of Corluka.
The second half began with Lampard scuffing a good chance wide but there was trouble for Tottenham when centre-back King's already-damaged knee failed him and he was replaced by Alan Hutton.
Webb had another decision to make when Carvalho challenged Keane in the Chelsea box.
Again he ruled no penalty should be awarded although the defender appeared to clip Keane.
Chelsea doubled their lead through Ballack straight afterwards. Anelka's cross was chested down by Drogba and Cudicini could not hold on to the low shot that followed.
Lampard was first to the loose ball and set up the German for a tap-in.
Further disaster for Corluka and Cudicini followed when Cole's long ball over the top sent Drogba clear of the Croatian, who had switched to centre-back in King's absence.
Out came Cudicini only for Corluka to divert the ball past him and Drogba collect it for another tap-in.
Cudicini almost cost Tottenham another when he let slip a shot from John Obi Mikel, who had come on for Ballack, but the Italian just managed to claw it away before it trundled over the line.
There was yet further misery for Spurs when Bassong fell heavily and had to be stretchered off, a fate that then befell Drogba five minutes before the end.