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.

Stoke City 0 Chelsea 2

Jose Bosingwa and Nicolas Anelka scored to give Chelsea a 2-0 win at Stoke for their sixth consecutive away victory in the Premier League.
Bosingwa's goal was his first for Chelsea and gave the Blues the lead in the 36th minute. Anelka came off the bench to score for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's team in the 76th.
It was Chelsea's third league win on the road this season and their sixth straight stretching back to the last campaign. The Blues are now unbeaten in 27 league matches overall.
Resilient Stoke battled hard for most of the game but rarely threatened, eventually slumping to their fourth defeat in six league games.
Scolari said his team had fought to get the result because Stoke "were just trying to put the ball in the box every time.''
"It is impossible sometimes to play beautiful football,'' Scolari said. "We have to win the game first. And second, if it's possible to play good football, OK. But it's difficult when we try to play and the other team don't. It's not easy in this situation.''
Bosingwa crossed to set up Anelka's goal, and Scolari praised the player he had worked with when Portugal coach.
"Bosingwa started as a midfielder and when Porto bought him, their coach put him right back,'' Scolari said. "He has the power to go forward 200 times a game - he is an improved right back who got into the national team and now the whole world knows him.''
Stoke had its first attempt on goal in the 36th when Mamady Sidibe's header at the far post forced goalkeeper Petr Cech into a comfortable low-down save.
Chelsea almost immediately took the lead, Bosingwa finally managing to penetrate Stoke's solid defence when the Portugal right back started and finished a clinical move.
He broke down Chelsea's right flank and, after a neat exchange of passes, controlled Frank Lampard's pass on his chest before slotting the ball into the net from an angle despite defender Andy Griffin's attempt to clear on the line.
The 1-0 halftime score didn't quite reflect Chelsea's dominance as Stoke lacked the attacking punch of pre-match guest and former boxing world champion "Sugar'' Ray Leonard.
Chelsea almost went 2-0 up in the 47th when Stoke failed to clear a corner and Florent Malouda found himself alone 20 yards out, but his stinging shot was tipped on to the crossbar by goalkeeper Thomas Soerensen.
Stoke substitute Ricardo Fuller injected some pace after coming on in the 55th minute and the hosts almost equalized just minutes later when Leon Cort's header had to be cleared off the line by John Obi Mikel.
The chance nearly punished Chelsea for failing to convert its superiority into more goals. Anelka's miss from 12 yards after Lampard's neat pass soon after was another example of their wastefulness.
Chelsea eventually extended their lead when Cort failed to clear Bosingwa's cross from the right and Anelka scored from close range after some clumsy defending.
"The second goal killed us,'' Stoke manager Tony Pulis said. "They are a great, great team with good players all over the pitch. They are like red arrows - or blue arrows - attacking all over the place.''
Scolari said Salomon Kalou, who had to be substituted at halftime due to injury, should be fit for next week's Champions League game against CFR Cluj, but that Deco requires "another 14 days'' before he will be available.

Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 4

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari selected close to a full-strength starting line-up for his side's visit of Fratton Park this evening, says Goal.com.

The only notable tinkerings were the inclusion Serbian international Branislav Ivanovic in the place of Jose Bosingwa, Juliano Bellitti displaced John Obi Mikel, and Salomon Kalou was also fielded.

Ahead of tonight's clash Harry Redknapp noted that Arsenal loanee Armand Traore was in need of a rest from first team affairs after witnessing him "running on empty in the second half on Saturday [against Manchester City]," so the French wing-back is named among the seven options for the bench, together with England international Jermain Defoe.

This is a reverse fixture of the Premier League tie at the beginning of the season but Pompey still suffered a similar fate as they were outclassed once again by an efficient and emphatic Chelsea side.

Two goals in the first half virtually sealed the match as there are not too many teams who could net three times in 45 minutes, least of all Portsmouth, who are having problems with their positional sense and overall defending, as highlighted during their 6-0 mauling at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday.

Frank Lampard scored the first, a powerfully converted penalty kick, after Michael Ballack was fouled by Nadir Belhadj in the box.

Just before half-time Florent Malouda, who also scored Chelsea's third goal in their opening Champions League match against Girondins de Bordeaux last week, doubled the Blues' lead when he took advantage of a Kalou pass and sent a shot centred down the goal from the 12-yard line.

After the break it didn't take long for the visitors to inflict more misery on the south-coast club as Kalou provided another assist and Frank Lampard recorded his first brace of the season.

Kalou completed the rout fifteen minutes later when he sent a low left-footed drive from the centre of the penalty area.