morning papers fulham away 2-2

The Times
December 29, 2008
Luiz Felipe Scolari fails to find local anaesthetic for ChelseaFulham 2 Chelsea 2
Matt Hughes

The problems – and consequently the pressure – are mounting for Luiz Felipe Scolari. A longstanding struggle to break down opponents at Stamford Bridge has been exacerbated by a failure to hold out in matches they have dominated, with Clint Dempsey’s late header giving Fulham a point that they deserved for their persistence, if not for the quality of their football.
As a gentleman, Scolari had the good grace to wish the media a happy new year after he had rounded on his players’ poor defending in the postmatch press conference, but the Chelsea manager’s own outlook is far from rosy. A run of disappointing results has hardened from a blip to a trend, with his team collecting only ten points from the past 21 available, winning only two of seven matches.
Fulham are in the unusual position of being the form team in West London, with a nine-match unbeaten sequence enabling Roy Hodgson to celebrate his first anniversary as manager of the club in style. Finishing 2008 ninth in the Barclays Premier League – ten places higher than when he took over in January – should make Hodgson a genuine candidate for any award for manager of the calendar year.
Scolari’s stock, by contrast, is falling. Chelsea fans questioned his judgment with shouts of “You don’t know what you’re doing” midway through the second half. That the same people were celebrating Frank Lampard’s second goal, from a free kick, moments later demonstrates the fickle nature of the modern supporter, without completely detracting from the legitimate doubts surrounding the Chelsea team. The invincible swagger of the early José Mourinho era is a thing of the past.
Scolari was right to criticise the defending that allowed Dempsey to leap above Didier Drogba and head the equaliser from Simon Davies’s corner after Dempsey had given Fulham the lead in the tenth minute, though as such shambolic marking has been a feature of their season, the manager must also look at himself.
Fulham’s first goal was even softer, with Davies’s free kick sailing past four blue shirts on its way to the far post, where Dempsey was allowed to flick the ball past Petr Cech. No one took responsibility for clearing the ball in the manner that John Terry would have, raising further questions about Chelsea’s strength in depth in the absence of their captain and Ricardo Carvalho.
Bordeaux, Arsenal and West Ham United have scored from set-pieces against them in the past month, with Chelsea suddenly surrounded by an air of vulnerability that would have been unthinkable under Mourinho. Some hard work on the training ground is in order in the next few days. Scolari is deserving of some sympathy, however, as several of his key players continue to let him down.
Florent Malouda and Alex limped off in the first half with hamstring injuries after showing precious little appetite for the game, though the latter’s removal did at least facilitate the return of Carvalho from the bench after three months out with a knee problem. The Portugal centre back will be crucial if Chelsea are to challenge for honours in the coming months.
Whereas Carvalho slotted back in seamlessly, Deco was anonymous on his return to the side, with Barcelona’s surprising decision to let him leave last summer looking more sound by the day. Scolari’s persistence with him, by contrast, is looking increasingly puzzling, with the Chelsea fans showing their derision when Joe Cole was hauled off instead after another hard-working display.
Drogba also showed his battling qualities in bringing several smart saves from Mark Schwarzer and Nicolas Anelka did his best despite being isolated out on the left, but without the sterling contribution of Lampard, Chelsea could easily have lost.
The England midfield player provided a true captain’s performance, driving his colleagues on and scoring two typically opportunist goals, his tenth and eleventh of what is shaping up to be another 20 goals-plus season. Unfortunately for Fulham, the otherwise outstanding Schwarzer was culpable for both, colliding with Aaron Hughes to allow Lampard to tap in from close range in the 50th minute and then being wrong-footed by his free kick in the 72nd.
Chelsea looked like going on to win comfortably at that stage, which would have been harsh on the likes of Dempsey and Andrew Johnson, but such certainties can no longer be taken for granted. This was the fifth occasion when they have led and failed to win this season, a weakness that is unlikely to be rewarded with trophies in May.
Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 6 J Paintsil 6 B Hangeland 6 A Hughes 6 P Konchesky 5 S Davies 6 D Etuhu 5 D Murphy 6 C Dempsey 6 A Johnson 7 R Zamora 6 Substitutes: L Andreasen (for Etuhu, 79min), E Nevland (for Zamora, 79), C Baird (for Murphy, 90). Not used: P Zuberbühler, J Gray, F Stoor, T Kallio. Next: Blackburn (h).
Chelsea (4-1-3-2): P Cech 6 J Bosingwa 6 Alex 5 B Ivanovic 5 A Cole 6 J O Mikel 6 J Cole 7 F Lampard 8 Deco 5 F Malouda 5 D Drogba 6 Substitutes: N Anelka 6 (for Malouda, 31), R Carvalho 6 (for Alex, 37), S Kalou (for J Cole, 72). Not used: C Cudicini, M Ballack, P Ferreira, J Belletti. Next: Man United (a).
Referee A Marriner Attendance 25,462
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Telegraph:
Chelsea left exposed by clever FulhamFulham (1) 2 Chelsea (0) 2 By Oliver Bown at Craven Cottage
The late Charlton Heston once observed, in his capacity as head of America’s National Rifle Association, that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” But, as Eddie Izzard memorably retorted, “I think the gun helps”. Luiz Felipe Scolari betrayed, in his endearingly mangled English, some of Heston’s flawed thought process when asked why, after Clint Dempsey’s last-minute header had deprived Chelsea of two vital points in the title chose, he had chosen not to station a defender at the far post of Fulham’s goal. “Posts don’t score goals, players score goals,” he said. Yes, but the post helps.
Scolari was at his most enigmatic after this damaging result, refusing to elaborate on his heated confrontations at the final whistle with first Andre Marriner, the referee, then Petr Cech, his own goalkeeper. About Marriner, the Brazilian would only say that he had thought the official was “the best”, while about Cech, powerless in the absence of any defence as Dempsey pounced, he was only obliquely critical. “I asked Petr what happened because one player was free in the middle of the area in the last minute,” the manager explained. “It is incredible. Petr is the captain for this area.”
Chelsea’s fragility was in stark evidence at Craven Cottage, their feathers ruffled first by Dempsey’s early strike before their self-belief faltered alarmingly to allow the American midfielder’s last-gasp second.
Scolari was defensive about his selections, in particular the decision to leave Nicolas Anelka on the bench just when the Frenchman’s partnership with Didier Drogba appeared to be flourishing, but he conceded the grim consequences of a defeat that left Chelsea three points behind Liverpool heading into 2009. Unlike the draw at Everton a week ago, where his team took satisfaction in a point gained, here they could only ruefully reflect on two points disappearing down the Fulham Road.
“We lost two points; we made two mistakes with our marking and conceded two goals,” Scolari admitted. “Before the game every player knows who to mark. It is my job now to look and see what happened. It is my dressing room. I need to look at it.” The manager’s ambivalent relationship with journalists dictates that he only offers post-match remarks when he feels there is a case to answer – thus, after a routine victory, he stays silent, but here he felt compelled to try to justify how his team had drawn a game they had dominated, and in which Frank Lampard’s two fine strikes had rescued them from being a goal down.
At least Frank Lampard, a dynamic and composed captain while John Terry served the second part of three-match suspension – why, he even responded in good humour to the Fulham fans’ traditional goading about his weight – was singled out for rightful acclaim. His goals, one a neat shot after Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer failed to deal with a drive from Drogba and the other a dipping 30-yard free-kick, underlined his resurgent form. “It’s the same Lampard that you know very well,” Scolari said. “He doesn’t accept losing any game, never gives up. He was the man who tried more than anyone else, there were more chances for Lampard than for the other players. He played played very, very well.”
But Chelsea reckoned without the resourcefulness of Fulham, as obdurate at home as they are on the road, where they have ground out a succession of goalless draws. Roy Hodgson has invested his unglamorous side, a side he promised would “stay humble”, with an impressive resolve and on the first anniversary of his appointment as manager another precious point consolidated eighth place for Fulham in the table. Brede Hangeland, the Norwegian centre-back whom the club fear losing in next month’s transfer window, was as talismanic as ever, playing on despite a deep cut above his eye, while Dempsey weaved his attacking magic from midfield.
“It has been one of the best managerial years of my career, if not the best,” the 60-year-old Hodgson said. “I’m immensely satisfied with what we have achieved.” This display exemplified the style he has sought to impose, as Fulham cleverly seized the lead courtesy of Dempsey’s nimble finish from Simon Davies’ free-kick, before buttressing their defensive wall against wave after wave of Chelsea pressure. The resistance endured until half-time, but was ultimately broken due to a rare lapse from Schwarzer, parrying Drogba’s shot only as far as the waiting Lampard. The Australian was similarly culpable for Chelsea’s second, diving too early as Lampard’s free-kick swerved to his right. Scolari, sensing danger, remained animated in the dug-out and, at the death, one could see why as Dempsey dispatched Davies’ corner and Cech found himself pipped at that pesky post.
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Indy:
Dempsey keeps heat on Scolari
Fulham 2 Chelsea 2
By Sam Wallace
Luiz Felipe Scolari walked off the pitch at Craven Cottage yesterday wagging a finger in the face of his goalkeeper Petr Cech and demanding to know how his team had thrown away victory in the last minute. Chelsea's carelessness is proving expensive in the title race and Scolari admitted that he wanted an explanation from his goalkeeper as to why Clint Dempsey was allowed to head in from a corner in stoppage time.
It was Dempsey's second goal of the game and the second that was gifted by chaos in the defence of Scolari's team who failed to put anyone on the line as Simon Davies' corner came over. "I asked Petr about the positions for marking players," Scolari said. "He's the captain for marking in this area. I give him the power to say what he wants in that area. There was one player free in the middle of the area. In the last minute. That's incredible."
Even more incredible was how Chelsea conspired to lose this game after dominating a match in which two goals from Frank Lampard (right) gave them the lead until the last minute. Dempsey had put Fulham ahead but Lampard almost carried Chelsea over the line on his own. This was the England midfielder at his very best, making tackles, initiating moves, scoring goals and, probably if they asked him, driving the team bus home as well. If only his team-mates had risen to the challenge.
After an error by John Obi Mikel, who was defending a Davies' free-kick, allowed Dempsey to score in the 10th minute, Scolari said that he took his side to task at half-time for their sloppiness.
"Every player knows who to mark when we start a game," Scolari said. "It's my job now to ask what happened in this situation. I'm not telling you who was supposed to mark him [Dempsey]. We spoke at half-time, who was supposed to be marking who and who was supposed to be covering. After every goal, we try to make sure that doesn't happen again. But, at the corner, we made another mistake."
The mistake means that as Liverpool tore apart Newcastle, Chelsea could only manage a single point – their third draw in their last four league matches. They are only three points behind the leaders Liverpool but they are struggling to generate much momentum and the seeds of discontent among the supporters are evident. Some of them sang: "You don't know what you're doing", when Scolari substituted Joe Cole for Salomon Kalou, although Chelsea's second goal came soon after.
In Florent Malouda and Alex da Costa, Scolari can be fairly certain that he does not have a couple of bravehearts capable of dragging his side through the tough winter months. Malouda substituted himself on 30 minutes, walking around the pitch and down the tunnel complaining of a hamstring problem. Alex also came off before half-time. He was replaced by the excellent Ricardo Carvalho whose first appearance since 29 October was a source of comfort for Chelsea.
With the suspended John Terry in the stands, it fell upon Lampard to do the hard work, barracked, as he was throughout by the Fulham fans, for being a "fat bastard". For a "fat bastard" Lampard really gets about the pitch well.
There was a wonderful moment during a lull in play when, as the level of abuse rose, Lampard smiled at the home fans, puffed out his cheeks and stuck out his belly. The Fulham fans with a sense of humour applauded, although incredibly there were some halfwits who, having dished it out, then took offence.
Scolari dropped Nicolas Anelka and Michael Ballack to the bench, then brought on Anelka for Malouda, and his team dominated most of the game. They simply could not finish Fulham off. Mark Schwarzer stopped shots from Lampard, Anelka and Joe Cole although he was at fault for the Chelsea equaliser. The goalkeeper collided with Aaron Hughes and when the ball dropped loose it was Lampard who finished.
Dempsey had given Fulham the lead when he chested down Davies' free-kick and flicked it in from close range. On 50 minutes, having equalised, Lampard then gave Chelsea the lead with a free-kick that went through the Fulham wall after Carvalho broke away from the knot of defenders to create space. Dempsey's late second goal was a well-placed header from Davies' corner and Chelsea did not have a man guarding the post.
Lampard looked as if he might score the winner at the end with a shot that the Chelsea man seemed to claim was stopped by a Fulham hand. Was that why Scolari confronted the referee Andre Marriner before he turned his attention to Cech? "No, I was telling him he was the best referee we've had," said Scolari. "Really, I was. This referee and linesmen, if they made a mistake it was one mistake, maximum."
On the first anniversary of Roy Hodgson taking over at Fulham it was fitting that his team gave him the performance he deserved. Hodgson has been a revelation at the club, who reach halfway in the season in eighth position. As for Scolari, the jury is still out especially for the Chelsea fans who booed him yesterday.
Goals: Dempsey (10) 1-0; Lampard (50) 1-1; Lampard (72) 1-2; Dempsey (90) 2-2. Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Paintsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky; Dempsey, Murphy (Baird, 90), Etuhu (Andreason, 78), Davies; Zamora (Nevland, 78), Johnson. Substitutes not used: Zuberbuhler (gk), Gray, Stoor, Kallio. Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Alex (Carvalho, 37), A Cole; Mikel; J Cole (Kalou, 72), Deco, Lampard, Malouda (Anelka, 30); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Ballack, Ferreira, Belletti. Referee: A Marriner (West Midlands). Booked: Chelsea Drogba, Bosingwa. Man of the match: Lampard. Attendance: 25,462.
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Guardian :
Dempsey disrupts flow of Chelsea's seasonFulham 2 Dempsey 10, Dempsey 89 Chelsea 2 Lampard 50, Lampard 72
Kevin McCarra at Craven Cottage Fulham's Clint Dempsey makes 2-2 in the final minutes against Chelsea at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Marcello Pozzetti/IPS
Chelsea wavered for an instant and their season swung drastically off course. Following Clint Dempsey's second goal of the afternoon for Fulham, in the 89th minute, the visitors now lie three points behind the Premier League leaders Liverpool and their next fixture in this competition is at Old Trafford. They will feel all the more distressed because they failed marginally to come up with the type of gritty victory that would have smacked of the Mourinho period.
Fulham came into this game on a run of eight consecutive league fixtures unbeaten and then took the lead. Luiz Felipe Scolari, in addition, was compelled to take off both Florent Malouda and Alex, who had hamstring injuries, before the interval. Frank Lampard then scored twice and this had the makings of a morale-building result. Instead there will be brooding that the side is no longer so resilient.
Dempsey levelled the match with a header from Simon Davies' corner. The American was not marked and had a gap into which he could steer a header. A spirited Chelsea might have regained the lead but Mark Schwarzer denied Ashley Cole and Lampard's effort was blocked amid yells for a penalty.
Attention will therefore be fixed on the visitors' deficiencies. John Terry was suspended but the remaining defenders ought still to be competent in their captain's absence.
Ricardo Carvalho should be exonerated. He came off the bench here after being out with knee ligament trouble since October 29 and instantly displayed outstanding form. A lapse elsewhere in the back four undid Chelsea and Scolari's preparation of these footballers will once more be doubted.
It would still be a gross error not to appreciate the steady and resourceful line-up Roy Hodgson has pieced together for Fulham. Even with Jimmy Bullard unfit, there was cohesion and spirit. For all the vigour of Chelsea's revival at Craven Cottage, neutrals could take some pleasure in seeing the spoils shared.
The sides were tied on their level of fallibility. Chelsea coped so badly with Davies's deep free-kick from the Fulham left that Dempsey had the liberty to take a touch before putting his shot behind Petr Cech in the 10th minute. The equaliser saw Joe Cole chip a through-pass, after 50 minutes, that confused both Aaron Hughes and Schwarzer as Didier Drogba applied pressure. Possession broke to Lampard and he took the opportunity capably.
Chelsea had been fighting their own inadequacies as much as Fulham. Deco, specifically, had an atrocious time of it. There was a brief period in which he was either hitting passes straight out of play or failing to lift a corner over the first defender. The form of the Portugal international has deteriorated severely and, for the time being, it does look as if he left La Liga for the Premier League just as his career went into headlong decline.
Scolari's squad could still have surmounted every difficulty. Lampard, most obviously, would not tolerate Chelsea lagging 1–0. In a spell before half-time his attempts demanded saves from Schwarzer. Fulham had appreciated then that the acting captain was their principal concern but Lampard was not to be nullified. Eighteen minutes from the end Schwarzer positioned himself poorly at a free-kick and there was also a space through which the midfielder could flight home Chelsea's second goal with a dipping finish.
Fulham are a well-drilled, industrious group with high morale and Hodgson has served the club wonderfully by building such a group but a recovery should still have been beyond them. Lively and busy as Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson had been in attack, they could not quite break loose and, what is more, their energy inevitably ebbed. Chelsea had the situation under control, or so it appeared.
Indeed this was so nearly an occasion to bolster Chelsea. Carvalho was in action once more and Nicolas Anelka, on for Malouda, had some time to see if he and Drogba could operate in tandem, a tactical option which Scolari views with unease. There would have been a modest satisfaction, as well, in bringing to a halt Fulham's unbeaten run.
Instead there is unease once more about Scolari's regime. Chelsea will also be dismayed at the thought that, conceivably, they may be embarking on another campaign this summer to discover the true heir to Mourinho. The rest of us can simply be content that the top clubs are all being compelled to live in anxious times.
Man of the match Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
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Mail :
Fulham 2 Chelsea 2: Scolari sets up post mortem inquest after Clint Dempsey escape actBy Steve Curry
Clint Dempsey, the tall Texan from Nacogdoches who grew up worshipping Diego Maradona, had his own magical moment in the fading winter sunshine by the River Thames with a double that dented Chelsea's title aspirations.Dempsey's 89th-minute equaliser at Craven Cottage left Chelsea three points adrift of Liverpool at the top of the Barclays Premier League and prompted earnest questions from Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Chelsea boss wants to know why Dempsey was allowed freedom at the far post for his opener and was then left without a marker as he rose to head the late equaliser that ignited hysteria from Fulham's biggest gate of the season.
Although Fulham have become the draw specialists of the top division, they have every reason to look back with satisfaction and pride on a year when they have recovered their self-belief under shrewd and intelligent leadership from Roy Hodgson. The pre-match loss of Jimmy Bullard through injury might have affected their confidence in this highly-anticipated derby but the side showed that if their best player is to leave in January there can still be a bright future. Frank Lampard seemed to take charge of the game single-handedly and was outstandingly the man of the match, wrenching Chelsea from a one-goal deficit to a 2-1 lead.The Fulham fans in the 25,462 crowd goaded him as the man who ate all the pies, but they were the ones eating their own words as the marauding destroyer scored twice in 22 minutes.It was in other areas that Chelsea had problems. Alex and Branislav Ivanovic are very much second-choice centre backs to the suspended John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho and, in a splendid opening 20 minutes, they seemed to be like passing strangers.Carvalho's arrival after Alex tweaked a hamstring after 36 minutes improved their defence beyond measure.But it would be interesting to know the identity of the player who failed to pick up Dempsey for his goals.The loss of Florent Malouda after half-an-hour brought Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba together, but once again it proved an impotent partnership, especially in a 4-3-3 formation. Surely if Chelsea played in a 4-4-2 set-up it might be more threatening and there would be less reliance on Lampard to drag them out of trouble.Fulham, whose energy levels remain high and who play very much as an orchestra under the baton of Danny Murphy, deservedly took the lead after 10 minutes when a Simon Davies free-kick sailed over everybody for Dempsey to take it on his chest and hook the ball home.A frustrated Scolari admitted: 'We made two mistakes and they scored two goals. We had 10 chances yet scored only two goals. We have been good at defending free-kicks and corners but today that was not the case.'Before every game the players know who to mark. It is my job now to look and ask the player concerned what happened, but I am not saying to you who the player is who should have been marking Dempsey.'I asked goalkeeper Petr Cech what happened as we walked off the pitch. He is the captain for this area. He has the power to direct players in those situations.'The championship is not finished. It will be finished in the last two or three games. It is normal in England. The Premier League is difficult.' It is baffling why Chelsea do not keep a defender on the the far post when defending corners - the area from which Dempsey directed his headers, but Scolari said: 'The goalpost doesn't score goals.'Ironically, Chelsea had enough chances in the first 20 minutes of the second half not only to equalise but to have won the game.A 50th-minute misunderstanding between Aaron Hughes and the otherwise excellent Mark Schwarzer, when Joe Cole dinked the ball to Drogba, meant the danger was not cleared and Lampard, as predatory as ever, stroked the loose ball home. When Andy Johnson needlessly put his foot up on Deco in the 72nd minute, Lampard's free-kick was perfect. Schwarzer had moved slightly to his right and was wrong-footed as the ball dipped viciously and flew inside his left-hand post.It seemed then as if the game was won and the pressure would stay on Liverpool.
But Fulham never give in these days. Hodgson said: 'I thought the spirit and character we showed were remarkable. 'We started playing football again. It is nice we can score goals from set-pieces. I would not say we are an exaggerated set-play side but we do work on them.' Dempsey certainly has and he was Fulham's hero as the game entered its final phase. Again the supplier was Davies, whose left-wing corner found the American climbing highest at the far post to head the equaliser and trigger great celebrations among the home fans. The draw extended Fulham's unbeaten run to nine games and Hodgson, on the anniversary of his arrival at Craven Cottage, added: 'It's been one of the best managerial years of my career, if not the best. I'm immensely satisfied with what we've achieved in 2008. 'It was a remarkable achievement for the players to come back and keep the unbeaten run going.'
MATCH FACTSFULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer 7; Pantsil 7, Hangeland 7, Hughes 6, Konchesky 6; Davies 7, Etuhu 6 (Andreasen 78min), Murphy 7 (Baird 90), Dempsey 7; Johnson 6, Zamora 5 (Nevland 78). Booked: Dempsey.CHELSEA (4-1-2-3): Cech 7; Bosingwa 6, Ivanovic 6, Alex 6 (Carvalho 36, 7), A Cole 7; Mikel 6; Deco 5, Lampard 9; J Cole 7 (Kalou 72, 6), Drogba 6, Malouda 6 (Anelka 30, 6). Booked: Drogba, Bosingwa.Man of the Match: Frank Lampard.Referee: Andre Marriner.
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morning papers west brom home 2-0

The Times

December 27, 2008
Luiz Felipe Scolari goes back to basics as Chelsea dominate West Brom

Chelsea 2 West Bromwich Albion 0
Matt Hughes

Luiz Felipe Scolari may not take kindly to the comparison, but this felt like a throwback to the days when José Mourinho was in charge. Chelsea dominated from start to finish against limited opponents to move briefly back to the top of the table, without quickening the pulse. A derby match against Fulham tomorrow should present the Brazilian with a greater insight into the English tradition of festive football.
Given Mourinho’s achievements, and more importantly, Chelsea’s run of one win from five matches at Stamford Bridge before yesterday, Scolari should take it as a compliment. He did not see eye to eye with Mourinho when they worked in Portugal, but there is much he could learn from his predecessor when it comes to winning trophies in England. Unfortunately, Scolari also appears to be emulating the Portuguese’s habit of winter hibernation, as he again sent out Ray Wilkins to face the media in what was known as the “Steve Clarke role”.
“He’s very happy, as you can imagine,” Wilkins, the assistant manager, said. “We’ve got three points and up until a minute ago we were top of the Premier League. He’s loved every minute of it this Christmas. It’s the first time he’s had training on Christmas Day and really enjoyed being with the lads last night.”
One of Mourinho’s biggest tendencies was obsessively looking one step ahead — why waste energy beating Charlton Athletic 5-0 when you have to play Manchester United in three days’ time? — and, after the flowing football of the autumn stalled during the winter, this may be a lesson that Scolari has absorbed. Although they passed the ball as crisply as ever and looked to get to the byline at every opportunity, there was more than an air of a back-to-basics approach from Chelsea, with the primary focus on maintaining possession. This they achieved to an almost absurd degree, like children refusing to part with their new Christmas football.
With dissenting voices whispering around every corner, Scolari has endured a difficult few weeks, and this victory may be remembered as the moment when he regained his mojo. In any industry, the art of management is based on making the correct decisions, and Scolari got all the big ones right, particularly the dropping of Deco in favour of Didier Drogba. The Ivory Coast striker scored his first Premier League goal of the season in the third minute from a cross by Joe Cole, while the England midfield player also helped to create the second for Frank Lampard on the stroke of half-time.
Cole has always had to work harder than his team-mates to stay in the side so this was a timely reminder of his talent. The 27-year-old was his usual busy self throughout, combining with José Bosingwa to torment Paul Robinson down the right before moving to the left to combine with Ashley Cole for Chelsea’s second, which, given Scolari’s fondness for Deco, is just as well. The Portugual playmaker is unlikely to stay on the sidelines for long.
Drogba also had one of his better days and, with a combination of sharper shooting and slightly less attentive goalkeeping from Scott Carson, could have scored a hat-trick in the second half, but little was learnt about his potential to play with Nicolas Anelka. The France striker was given an unceremonious reminder of his place in the pecking order by being deployed on the left and was as subdued as the crowd, the majority of whom seemed to be nursing heavy hangovers.
Chelsea were helped by West Bromwich Albion’s crippling caution, with the surprising omission of their first-choice strikers, Roman Bednar and Luke Moore, leaving them short of firepower. Tony Mowbray, the manager, defended his decision afterwards, admitting that he had prioritised tomorrow’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur as a better opportunity to get three points.
“You’re either very silly or very brave to play two strikers here,” Mowbray said. “In our predicament, we’ve got to target certain football matches and if you look at Tottenham at home and Chelsea away and make a decision. If we win on Sunday, it could be the best decision I’ve made this season.” West Brom troubled the home side only once, when Michael Ballack lost his cool and appeared to slap Christ Brunt. The Germany captain collected his fifth booking of the season and will miss the FA Cup third-round tie against Southend United through suspension, but was fortunate to stay on the pitch.
“I wish Rob Styles [the referee] was here to explain the decision,” Mowbray said. “I’m not going to urge the referee to send someone off, but he did slap him in the face.” Mourinho would not have been so understated.
Chelsea 4-1-3-2: P Cech 6, J Bosingwa 7, Alex 6, B Ivanovic 6, A Cole 7, J Obi Mikel7, J Cole 8, M Ballack 6, F Lampard 7, D Drogba 7, N Anelka 6. Substitutes: F Malouda (for Drogba, 67), Deco (for J Cole, 79min). Not used: C Cudicini, P Ferreira, S Kalou, Mineiro.
West Bromwich Albion 4-4-2: S Carson 6, G Zuiverloon 5, A Méïté 5, J Olsson 6, P Robinson 4, J Morrison 6, R Koren 6, J Greening 5, C Brunt 5, D Kim 5, C Beattie 5. Substitutes: L Barnett 5 (for Méïté, 29min), R Bednar 5 (for Kim, 69). Not used: D Kiely, M Cech, L Moore, G Dorrans, Borja Valero
Attendance: 43,417 Referee: R Styles
Star man: Joe Cole Under pressure to perform having been preferred to the manager's favourite, Deco, but more than justified the decision by creating both goals with balls from either flank and was a threat all match.
Window watchLuiz Felipe Scolari has asked for money to strengthen his squad without getting the response the Chelsea manager was after and is likely to have to keep working with what he has. A loan signing such as Vagner Love, of CSKA Moscow, is a possibility. Tony Mowbray, the West Bromwich Albion manager, needs a regular goal-scorer, but top-class strikers are hardly queuing up to join clubs at the foot of the Barclays Premier League.
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Telegraph
Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba mesh well as Chelsea sink West Brom

Chelsea (2) 0 West Bromwich Albion (0) 0 By John Ley

New look, fresh hope. Didier Drogba started with Nicolas Anelka for the first time under Luiz Felipe Scolari and responded with his first league goal since March as Chelsea strolled to victory over doomed West Bromwich Albion.
Scolari had hinted at experimenting and the trial, with Joe Cole effectively joining a three-man attack, appeared to work, with Chelsea able to dominate, albeit against poor opposition. With greater fortune and a lesser goalkeeper than Scott Carson,
Chelsea would have waltzed to an easier victory, but after successive draws, at Everton and at home to West Ham, the points were the priority.
Drogba, over a suspension and back to full fitness, took three minutes to respond to Scolari’s new formation before Frank Lampard added a second, on the stroke of half-time. Drogba squandered a succession of chances to add to just the four league goals he has claimed this year before suffering a kick on the thigh and leaving in the 66th minute. The Ivorian should be fit to face Fulham on Sunday.
While it was not a vintage performance, Chelsea finished with enough in their tank to suggest they will be key players in the title race in the new year. Indeed they led the table for a couple of hours until Liverpool played.
Scolari chose again not to address the media, but assistant Ray Wilkins insisted there was nothing untoward in his decision.
Wilkins said: “There is no reason whatsoever for him not coming up, he just asked me to do it. He’s as happy as Larry and up to a few minutes ago we were top of the Premier League.”
Of the new formation, Wilkins said: “It was a classic goal from a centre forward we are delighted to have back. It was a three-man front line really, with Joe Cole, and I thought their movement was exceptional.”
Chelsea, missing the suspended John Terry, have threatened to ruin their hopes of wresting the title off Manchester United by squandering points at home. Any hopes that Albion, rated by the bookmakers at 14-1 to create the shock of the day by winning, had harboured were soon ended when Drogba, starting a league game for only the second time this season, was allowed the time to head beyond Carson.
Cole’s high cross, from the right, fell invitingly to Drogba, who faced only minimal resistance from Gianni Zuiverloon before directing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
Operating intelligently, with good movement on and off the ball, the Anelka-Drogba alliance, with Cole diligent, threatened to produce more goals though Scolari will need further evidence against better opposition before he will be fully convinced it is the answer to his problems.
Albion, already looking like second-class citizens, were forced into a change when Leon Barnett had to replace Abdoulaye Meite before half an hour had been completed after the defender pulled a hamstring while chasing Lampard and is out of tomorrow’s visit of Spurs.
Ashley Cole almost added a second when Carson pushed his first effort on to the left post then saved the follow-up.
The second goal came when Ashley Cole lost possession to Zuiverloon, who inadvertently prodded the ball into the path of Lampard. The England midfielder skipped past a defender and finished superbly to put the game beyond Albion’s reach.
Drogba missed the chance to add a second, with Carson saving well before slicing another attempt wide. He then combined with Anelka who forced a save from Carson but slid the rebound wide.
After Drogba departed, Michael Ballack wasted another chance before pushing Chris Brunt on the side of the face – in response to being pushed – and could have seen red.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray, who should recall Roman Bedner against Spurs, was honest in defeat. “They could have been out of sight if we had conceded another quick goal after the first. In Drogba and Anelka they had two genuine world class players in attack.”
Mowbray confirmed that he will sign Arsenal striker Jay Simpson on loan until the end of the season when the window opens. It may not be the answer to their problems.
Half-term reportsBy John Ley
Chelsea: Chelsea, under Big Phil, has lost their unbeaten home record and a level of consistency expected at Stamford Bridge. Yet the story is different away from home and that is where the title could be won.Next game: Fulham (away, Sunday).
West Brom: Albion are doomed. Saturday’s listless 2-0 defeat only served to confirm that a team promoted in May do not have the resources to survive, though they have – to their credit – tried to play some decent stuff.Next game: Tottenham (home, Sunday).
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Indy:
Cole's creative spark lightens burden at Bridge
Chelsea 2 West Bromwich 0
By Conrad Leach

If Chelsea had suffered a slight bout of pre-Christmas indigestion, drawing at Everton on Monday and having John Terry sent off for his much-discussed red card, then West Bromwich Albion turned out to be the perfect palliative. It only took Didier Drogba, starting his first game since mid-November, three minutes to score Chelsea's first goal and thereafter they were in complete and utter control and on their way to their first home League win since 1 November and the 5-0 rout of Sunderland.
Luiz Felipe Scolari spurned the chance to talk up a Chelsea side that had lost its way at Stamford Bridge in the last couple of months, leaving the explanations to his assistant, Ray Wilkins. Faced with a West Brom team at the bottom of the table, this was as good a time as any to experiment and this was the first start for the pairing of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Losing Terry to his three-game suspension was never going to be the biggest of Scolari's problems over Christmas, although he almost had another to deal with, as Michael Ballack shoved Chris Brunt in the face late on, although the referee, Rob Styles, only gave a yellow card to the German, who was possibly saved from a red as Brunt did not fall to the ground.
Wilkins was happy with what he saw, especially the combinations of the front three, as he views Joe Cole as a forward. He said: "The players' movement was exceptional and I'm delighted with more competition in the squad." Drogba is happy to play with anyone as long as the team plays to his strengths, one of them being his aerial prowess. At the first opportunity Joe Cole lofted a ball to the far post and Drogba, outjumping the ineffective Gianni Zuiverloon, twisted his neck to head beyond Scott Carson. It was his first goal since the ill-fated Carling Cup home defeat against Burnley last month, when he threw a coin back into the crowd and was suspended for three games. More surprisingly, in his first League start for exactly three months, it was his first League goal of the season. Less surprising was his failure to last much more than an hour, taken off as a precaution with a slight thigh strain. By then, however, he should have scored at least twice more.
By dropping Deco, one of his core players, Scolari was making another bold statement. It certainly made Joe Cole's day more enjoyable, as it has usually been him who comes on for the Portuguese midfielder. This time the opposite was true and he made his point with a convincing display, something Wilkins, and therefore Scolari, noted.
Having seen Frank Lampard and Ballack waste a series of chances after Drogba's strike, and Ashley Cole force a flying save from Carson, who pushed the ball on to the post, Joe Cole set up the second goal. An incisive pass let in Ashley Cole, who had made a clever run. A fortunate ricochet let the ball run to Lampard, who evaded one tackle and chipped Carson neatly for his first goal since the Sunderland game.
While Carson was busy, his counterpart, Petr Cech, barely had a save to make. Given Chelsea's recent vulnerability at home, and West Brom's last-minute win over Manchester City a week ago, this could have been an opportunity for Tony Mowbray, the West Brom manager, to get his players to attack their hosts. But it was a chance they passed up entirely, appearing limply to accept their fate once Drogba had scored. Chelsea's Christmas headache is over.
Goals: Drogba (3) 1-0; Lampard (45) 2-0.
Chelsea (4-3-3): P Cech; Bosingwa (Belletti, h-t), Ivanovic, Alex, A Cole; Mikel, Ballack, Lampard; J Cole (Deco, 79), Drogba (Malouda, 66), Anelka. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Ferreira, Kalou, Mineiro.
West Bromwich Albion (4-5-1): Carson; Zuiverloon, Meite (Barnett, 27), Olsson, Robinson; Morrison, Kim (Bednar, 69), Greening, Koren, Brunt; Beattie (Moore, 60). Substitutes not used: Kiely (gk), M Cech, Dorrans, Valero.
Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).
Booked: Chelsea Ballack.
Man of the match: J Cole.
Attendance: 43,417.
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Guardian

Chelsea rediscover home form but Drogba and Anelka fail to gel against West Bromwich Albion

Chelsea 2 Drogba 3, Lampard 45 West Brom 0
David Hytner at Stamford Bridge

If only every home game could be as straight forward as this for Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Chelsea manager may find the concept of football on Boxing Day strange, but his players were never in danger of seeing their struggles at Stamford Bridge continue as they took a nonchalant step towards an upturn in form.
West Bromwich Albion contributed next to nothing to a one-sided encounter. Tony Mowbray started with the strikers Roman Bednar and Luke Moore on the substitutes' bench, making Sunday's home fixture against Tottenham Hotspur his priority.
Chelsea were able to enjoy their first Premier League victory in front of their own fans since thrashing Sunderland 5–0 on 1 November. When Michael Ballack tangled with Chris Brunt with 15 minutes left and raised his hands to risk a red card rather than the yellow that he got, it was tempting to wonder whether the Chelsea midfielder was simply bored and keen to add a bit of spice. It would certainly have been one of the most needless dismissals in recent memory, although Mowbray did argue afterwards that the letter of the law ought to have been applied.
"It's a bit confusing because Ballack did lift his arm and slap Chris in the face," Mowbray said . "If Rob Styles [the referee] does not think a slap in the face is worthy of a red card then it's up to him."
Scolari had started with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in the same line-up for the first time since he took over and the Brazilian was smiling broadly under his white baseball cap after the first three minutes of the match when Drogba headed his team front, scoring his first league goal since March. There seemed to be little immediate danger when Joe Cole put over a cross from the right, but the Ivorian leapt above Gianni Zuiverloon, whose lack of a challenge was galling, to plant the ball firmly beyond Scott Carson.
The only thing that might have vexed Scolari was that Drogba's return marginalised Anelka, his 16-goal leading scorer. Although Scolari attempted to incorporate both of the strikers he did not tinker with the formation and, as a result, Anelka was pressed out to the left wing, where he merely flickered.
"It was a [front] three, with Joe Cole as well, so it was not necessarily Didier and Nicolas playing together," Ray Wilkins, the assistant manager, said, while Scolari took another break from media duties. "But their movement was excellent. That's why we caused West Brom so many problems. We were always going to create chances."
Chelsea ought to have been out of sight by the interval. Frank Lampard, a snapshot in latent menace, repeatedly broke at pace and the only surprise was that he had to wait until injury time to score his ninth of the season. He had snatched at three earlier shooting ­opportunities yet his deft finish, after ­Ashley Cole had burst on to Joe Cole's pass and seen the ball break off Zuiverloon, was of the highest order.
Ashley Cole had earlier been denied by a combination of Carson's finger­tips and the near post after more slick work from the impressive Joe Cole.
West Brom lost Abdoulaye Méïté in the first half to a hamstring strain and some of their other defenders risked similar ­injuries as they stretched every sinew to make vital interceptions. Mowbray's team were also indebted to Carson's handling as Chelsea made him work from distance.
"We had half an eye on Sunday," Mowbray said. "In our predicament we have to target certain games. We've got Chelsea away and Tottenham at home and we have to ask, 'Which have we got the best chance of picking up points in?'"
Chelsea, who monopolised the ­possession and the territorial advantage, sprang forward at will and the mood was encapsulated by the substitute Juliano ­Belletti. He found himself played through the right-hand channel by Drogba in the 52nd minute and, as the crowd bellowed for him to shoot, he attempted an ­audacious chip from the edge of the area, but got it horribly wrong. Nobody thought for a ­second that it would prove costly.
The best chances of the second half fell to Lampard and Drogba — Carson stood tall to block on both occasions — and while Ballack's slap briefly threatened to seize the headlines this was not a day for the sensational.
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Mail:

Chelsea 2 West Brom 0:

It's a slappy Christmas for Ballack, but at least Blues and Drogba are back on track

By Matt Barlow

Home comfort has been in short supply for Luiz Felipe Scolari so this was a welcome visit by a West Bromwich team with their minds elsewhere.Didier Drogba scored his first Barclays Premier League goal of the season after just four minutes, Frank Lampard made it two before the interval and Chelsea coasted to the sort of victory they used to enjoy all the time at Stamford Bridge.Scolari then dodged his press conference for the second time in a week and sent assistant Ray Wilkins in to do his talking.
The only thing which might have marred Boxing Day for the Brazilian manager was when Michael Ballack cuffed Chris Brunt around the face but Rob Styles somehow decided the German should only be booked.It was similar to the slap which saw Drogba sent off in last season's Champions League Final but Brunt's reaction perhaps saved Ballack. He stayed on his feet, turned to the Albion bench, shrugged his shoulders and laughed.Had he collapsed in a heap like plenty of others do, he might have tempted Styles to spoil the festive mood of goodwill with a red card. 'It's a bit confusing,' said visiting boss Tony Mowbray.
'He did lift an arm and slap him in the face, right in front of the referee. Mr Styles gets paid to referee a football match and if he doesn't think a slap in the face is worthy of a red card then so be it. It was right in front of me, right in front of him. I don't know the rules any more when it comes to that sort of thing.'I would never call for anybody to be sent off. Ballack is a world-class player and I don't know what irritated him enough to slap my player in the face but it might have helped us if we were playing against 10 men.'Brunt deserved credit for refusing to dive but Wilkins was reluctant to give him any. 'I didn't think Michael would get himself sent off, he's a very experienced guy,' said Wilkins when asked about Brunt's reaction.
Scolari had claimed before the game that a busy Christmas schedule was something of an alien concept to him but he will now realise it plays into the hands of those teams with the biggest, strongest squads.Mowbray left strikers Roman Bednar and Luke Moore on the bench, started with Craig Beattie on his own up front, then confessed his team selection and tactics had been heavily influenced by tomorrow's clash with Tottenham at The Hawthorns.'You have to target certain matches,' said Mowbray. 'We have three strikers and I had half an eye on Sunday. You've got to look at Chelsea away and Tottenham at home and think, "Where's our best chance of points?" 'Chelsea's home form has disappointed recently but you can see Mowbray's point. He arrived with a plan to frustrate, hopefully agitate the home crowd and put Scolari under pressure to chase the game.Drogba's goal in the fourth minute scuppered that. It was the first time since his arrival in the summer that Scolari had paired his two senior strikers and it meant 16-goal Nicolas Anelka was forced wide into a support position to accommodate a centre forward without a Premier League goal since March.Here is the riddle for the Chelsea boss. He cannot play the pair together as genuine strikers because he does not have the midfield options to change the balance of the team.
So, without a major injection of transfer cash from owner Roman Abramovich, he must give Drogba the match action he needs to reach top form again and hope Anelka does not throw a tantrum about playing out of position.'Didier is an exceptional centre forward,' said Wilkins. 'It is vitally important to get everyone fit and it was a classic goal.'Joe Cole swung a high ball into the penalty area from the Chelsea right and Drogba drifted to the far post, where he climbed above Gianni Zuiverloon to plant a textbook header into the opposite corner.Ashley Cole thought he had marked his 100th game for Chelsea with a goal but Scott Carson tipped his shot on to the post. The England full back could do nothing with the follow-up.Albion's back four came under intense pressure, losing centre half Abdoulaye Meite early on with a hamstring injury, but they almost made it to the break with a one-goal deficit.Lampard struck in the final seconds of first-half stoppage time. Zuiverloon halted another Ashley Cole raid into the area with a good tackle but the ball spilled kindly for Chelsea's stand in captain, who took a touch before dinking the ball over Carson's dive.It was his first goal since the last home win, over Sunderland on November 1, and it meant the second half was a formality, best summed up by Juliano Belletti's outrageous attempt to chip Carson. Even the reserve right back, on to give Jose Bosingwa a breather, had the party tricks out as the game meandered to its inevitable conclusion.
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morning papers everton away 0-0

The Times
December 23, 2008
Chelsea stumble but Luiz Felipe Scolari grateful for point Everton 0 Chelsea 0
Oliver Kay
For the Manchester United players returning home from Japan after an 11½-hour flight, this was the perfect antidote to the disorientating effects of jet lag. They may have been crowned world champions in Yokohama, but there could be nothing more uplifting on their return last night than this latest frustration for Chelsea, which featured a red card for John Terry and meant that none of United’s principal rivals in the title race have won a game during their absence.
By Boxing Day, it will have been 20 days since any of the so-called “big four” in the Barclays Premier League picked up three points, but, while United return home galvanised by their success in the Club World Cup, Chelsea appear to be running into a wall.
These were the first Premier League points they have dropped on their travels all season, but it says everything about an arduous night on Merseyside that Luiz Felipe Scolari will look upon this as a point gained. With Terry sent off in the 35th minute for a late lunge on Leon Osman — correctly, despite the inevitable protests of Scolari and his players — his team-mates spent much of the evening pushed back against the ropes by an Everton side chasing a rare home win.
Everton might have claimed the victory that their efforts deserved had they had not been without all four of their recognised centre forwards through injury and had Phil Dowd, the referee, and his officials not cut short the home supporters’ celebrations when Steven Pienaar put the ball in the net with six minutes remaining.
Pienaar, pouncing as Osman’s shot was stopped by Petr Cech, was correctly deemed to have been in an offside position and in any case appeared to kick the ball from the goalkeeper’s grasp. David Moyes, the Everton manager, admitted as much afterwards, and his reaction was in stark contrast to Scolari, who, still harbouring a misplaced sense of injustice, ducked his post-match media duties in protest at Dowd’s performance, which, the odd pernickety moment aside, was first-class.
The sending-off? It was blatant. Terry, crossing the halfway line and overrunning the ball on the left-hand side, caught Osman with a tackle that left the Everton midfield player with a bruised ankle. It was only a split-second late, it was one-footed and it was an honest attempt to win the ball, but it was also wild and dangerous. That equates to a red card, regardless of intent or how many feet were raised. If Terry thinks that such a challenge is permitted these days, he clearly does not know that the laws have changed since his schooldays. Considering that most professionals struggle to get their heads around the offside trap, this would not be as surprising as it should be.
“Phil, Phil,” the Chelsea defender called as he left the field — his pleas directed at Dowd, the referee, rather than Scolari — but others carried their protests further. Lampard and Ashley Cole were soon booked for acts of frustration, respectively for dissent and failing to retreat ten yards at a free kick on the edge of their own penalty area, while eyewitnesses said that Scolari followed Dowd down the tunnel at half-time, repeatedly asking, “Are you afraid? Are you afraid?”
Dowd must have been tempted to reply that he is one referee who is not afraid to send off the England captain; as Alan Shearer and David Beckham might concede under interrogation, the position has appeared at times to carry some kind of immunity.
It was disappointing to see Chelsea losing their way like this, because they had begun the evening in impressive style. There were less than two minutes on the clock when, with Tony Hibbert napping, Ashley Cole stole into the Everton penalty area and tested Tim Howard with a rasping left-foot shot that the goalkeeper turned over the crossbar. At times in the first half they passed the ball magnificently well, but, with Nicolas Anelka having one of his less productive evenings — he was replaced by Didier Drogba at half-time, with Scolari also sending on Branislav Ivanovic for Joe Cole in a tactical reshuffle — there was no penetration. Anelka hit the post at one point, but from an offside position. Lampard had a shot deflected over the crossbar by Hibbert, but that, too, would not have counted had it gone in, with Anelka penalised for handball in the build-up.
Drogba was sent on with instructions to hold the ball up, but the forward, who will look back on 2008 as an annus horribilis, is either not fit, not interested or both. Everton did not have a single striker available and had to make do, again, with Marouane
Fellaini roaming behind Tim Cahill, but those two made far more impression on the opposing defence than either Anelka or Drogba. The towering Fellaini has the kind of presence that terrifies opposition defenders, but his two tame close-range efforts in the second half will only lend weight to the Evertonian school of thought that he needs a haircut if his headers are to carry the requisite power to trouble goalkeepers.
It was Joleon Lescott, producing his most commanding display of a disappointing season, who came closest to scoring before Pienaar’s effort. Having been restored to centre half after an injury to Joseph Yobo, he strode forward in the 77th minute to meet a Mikel Arteta corner with a perfect header, but Cech, diving high to his left, was equal to his effort. Moments later, Leighton Baines, the substitute, swung in a low cross from the left and Fellaini’s near-post flick drifted inches wide. Chelsea were living dangerously. Very dangerously as it turned out.
Everton (4-2-3-1): T Howard — A Hibbert, J Yobo (sub: L Baines, 61min), P Jagielka, J Lescott — P Neville, M Arteta — L Osman, M Fellaini, S Pienaar — T Cahill. Substitutes not used: C Nash, J Rodwell, D Gosling, J P Kissock, A van der Meyde, L Jutkiewicz.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — J O Mikel — J Cole (sub: B Ivanovic, 46), M Ballack, F Lampard, Deco (sub: W Bridge, 87) — N Anelka (sub: D Drogba, 46). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, J Belletti, F Malouda, S Kalou. Booked: Lampard, A Cole, Ballack. Sent off: Terry.
Referee: P Dowd.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea miss chance to go top as John Terry is sent off at EvertonEverton (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 0 By Mark Ogden at Goodison Park
Referee Phil Dowd prompted fury from both Everton and Chelsea as his decisions to dismiss John Terry in the first-half, followed by his ruling out of an apparent late Everton winning goal from Steven Pienaar, marked this 0-0 draw at Goodison Park that will only serve to leave Sir Alex Ferguson smiling through his jetlag when he returns to his desk at Manchester United on Tuesday morning.
Chelsea's failure to reclaim top spot from Liverpool leaves them just six points clear of champions United, who can wipe out the deficit by winning their two games in hand following their return from the Club World Cup in Japan.
That worrying thought, and the prospect of a three-match ban for Terry with the possibility of video evidence being used against Alex following an second-half stamp on Tim Cahill, will leave Luiz Felipe Scolari feeling miserable this Christmas.
Everton's hopes of ending a 20-game winless run against Chelsea, which stretched back to November 2000, were hardly helped by the injury crisis that has left manager David Moyes without a single recognised forward.
Yakubu's ruptured Achilles tendon will keep him sidelined until next season and James Vaughan will be lucky to return from knee surgery before the end of May. So with Victor Anichebe and Louis Saha confined to the treatment room, Australian midfielder Tim Cahill was once more deployed as a stand-in centre-forward against a Chelsea defence that had conceded just one Premier League goal away from Stamford Bridge since a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal last December.
Chelsea's immaculate record away from home in the league this season had to be maintained, however, if Luiz Felipe Scolari's team were to knock Liverpool from the Christmas number one spot and Everton, despite their lack of a cutting edge, gave as good as they got in a scrappy first-half.
Had Ashley Cole done better with a second minute half-volley that forced goalkeeper Tim Howard into an improvised near post save, Chelsea would have had the advantage of a one-goal cushion against a team that had won just once in front of their own supporters so far this season.
But Howard's save denied Chelsea and Moyes's team used it as a springboard from which they dominated the early exchanges and Cahill's endeavour against John Terry and Alex resulted in him creating a long-range effort for Phil Neville, whose 25-yard shot brought an important save from Petr Cech.
The busy tenacity of Cahill and Marouane Fellaini troubled Chelsea in the spaces between the back-four and midfield, which should have been controlled by holding midfielder John Obi Mikel. The Nigerian's radar was failing to detect the danger, however, and Fellaini's presence was a problem for Chelsea.
When Scolari's team were able to claim the ball and build up a head of steam, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard did their best to create an opening for Nicolas Anelka, but on on more than one occasion, careless play by the French forward saw him trigger the linesman's flag for offside.
But with Everton denying Chelsea the upper hand that they have held on their travels this season, Terry's attempt to assert his team's authority went horribly wrong on thirty-five minutes when his high-risk challenge on Leon Osman resulted in the England captain missing the ball and catching the Everton midfielder high on his trailing leg.
Terry's chances of winning the ball were minimal, so he could have no complaints when referee Phil Dowd brandished the red card.
Scolari, whose initial reluctance to criticise match officials marked his early days at Stamford Bridge, showed no such restraint when he followed Dowd down the tunnel at half-time, with witnesses reporting that the Brazilian pursued the referee, shouting "Are you afraid? Are you afraid?," apparently questioning Dowd's sensitivity to the angry reaction of the Goodison crowd to Terry's challenge.
Compromised by the paucity of their attacking options, however, Everton were unable to mount the kind of sustained pressure required against ten men and, although possession was dominated, chances were few and far between. Only a far post Fellaini header, which was easily saved by Cech on 53 minutes, troubled the Chelsea goalkeeper as Everton attempted to make the breakthrough.
And with Didier Drogba having replaced the ineffectual Anelka at the interval, the threat posed by Chelsea's moody Ivorian could not be ignored by Moyes' defenders.
While hardly throwing caution to the wind, Everton found the courage to raise their game by a notch in the closing stages as they attempted to turn one point into three, but Cech remained an unbreachable barrier.
The orange-clad Czech reacted brilliantly to keep the ball out of the net when Lampard deflected Tony Hibbert's cross dangerously close to the top corner on 76 minutes and the goalkeeper performed more heroics seconds later when denying Joleon Lescott from Mikel Arteta's corner.
And on the one occasion when Everton did manage to beat Cech, Pienaar's inability to beat the offside trap, followed by his shot that crossed the line only after he had kicked it out of Cech's hands, left Dowd with no option but to disallow the 84th minute effort.
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Terry sees red as Chelsea miss chance for top spot
Everton 0 Chelsea 0
By Ian Herbert
At least Avram Grant condescended to march up four flights of Goodison stairs to throw a tantrum. His response to a challenging period in the perennially challenging job of managing Chelsea, eight months ago, was to sit before the press here and refuse to talk.
Luiz Felipe Scolari failed to materialise at all last night, letting it be known through his head of media, Steve Atkins, that he would not be speaking as he had "a number of issues with a number of the decisions throughout the game." The entire Chelsea management team, Atkins declared, "feel it better that they don't say anything rather than cause trouble."
The prime point of contention was the 35th-minute dismissal of Scolari's captain, John Terry, and though resisting temptation to publicly criticise referee Phil Dowd is what the Respect campaign is supposed to be about, the peremptory way the club refused to enter any discussion on another tame display – this latest failure to take over at the top of the table means their points tally is now six in five games – pretty much reflected the way Chelsea had conducted themselves all night.
Terry's dismissal came out of the blue, at a time when Chelsea seemed to have shown the temperament to maintain poise among some fairly rudimentary challenges from Phil Neville and Tim Cahill. But his tackle was a dire one, he and Leon Osman thundering towards each other to contest a ball near the halfway line on 35 minutes and Terry lunging in with his right boot. He caught the Everton midfielder at shin height and left him crumpled on the pitch with an ankle injury which makes him a doubt for the trip to Middlesbrough on Boxing Day. Dowd delayed, first taking directions from his linesman, but Terry's fate was in little doubt from the moment he made the challenge. "I've not seen the sending off yet, but my first reaction was [that] it was reckless," said Moyes, who was a few yards away when the tackle was made. "In my day [you] would have enjoyed a tackle like that but you [can't] now."
The sending off, the third of Terry's career, asks more questions of the temperament of an individual who does not conduct himself like an England captain on occasions and was considerably worse than the straight red, later rescinded on appeal, which he earned at Manchester City on 13 September. The club had not decided whether to appeal it last night and Terry looks likely to miss the games against West Bromwich, Fulham and Southend. But if and when Scolari comes around from his sense of bitter indignation it should his players' response to the dismissal which alarms him most.
The initial protestations were long and loud, the indignation all the greater when Cahill jumped with his arms up into a challenge on Michael Ballack two minutes after Terry's departure. When Dowd correctly desisted from booking Cahill, then awarded the Australian a soft free kick for Alex's challenge on the edge of the Chelsea box, all hell let loose. First Frank Lampard, then Ashley Cole were booked for their unsavoury protests. Michael Ballack later joined them in the book, demanding of the referee that an Everton wall move back. Dowd marched out the ten paces to prove his point. Chelsea might have left Merseyside playing the high and mighty but Dowd had a good night.
Of course, all concerned might have reacted differently had Chelsea looked anything but a dislocated side. Their only win in the last six was against West Bromwich and they were unable to put Everton keeper Tim Howard under any pressure in the second half. Scolari looked like a man shuffling his pack and not finding any aces, starting the match with Nicolas Anelka, swapping to Didier Drogba at half-time and finding one as undynamic as the other.
Everton's resources could barely have been lesser. Moyes currently has no fit strikers to speak of at all. He started with Cahill up front for a second week and it showed. Even by Moyes' own admission, Everton's routes through to goal were limited. "We tried to go around them because we couldn't go through the middle of the park," he said. "We got a lot of crosses in from the edge of the box. If anything we should have got to the byline more."
The two accurate crosses Osman put up in the first half found tame headers from Cahill and the abundant mop of Marouane Fellaini and bore Moyes' modesty out.
Chelsea offered minimal threat of their own, though. Their best chance was their first, Ashley Cole unleashing a punishing 20-yard shot only two minutes in after Hibbert allowed him a fraction too much time, which Tim Howard pushed over his bar. Everton lost Joseph Yobo to a hamstring injury, which makes him a doubt for Boxing Day too, but as the evening wore on Goodison justifiably sensed an upset.
Two Hibbert crosses had brought the best from Cech when seven minutes from time Fellaini crossed and Pienaar, who had stepped over the ball to allow Osman to shoot, followed the effort in to squeeze the ball home. He was offside and Cech had both hands on the ball when he forced it in the net and Dowd rightly called in Chelsea's favour. It was with a mild sense of relief that Chelsea left the field, still one point behind Liverpool in the title race that no-one appears to want to lead.
Everton (4-4-1-1): Howard; Hibbert, Yobo (Baines, 61), Jagielka, Lescott; Osman, Neville, Arteta, Pienaar; Fellaini; Cahill. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Van der Meyde, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Kissock.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Mikel; J Cole (Ivanovic, h-t), Ballack, Lampard, Deco (Bridge, 87); Anelka (Drogba, h-t). Substitutes not used: Malouda, Kalou, Cudicini (gk), Belletti.
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).
Booked: Chelsea Lampard, A Cole, Ballack.
Sent off: Chelsea Terry (35).
Man of the match: Hibbert.
Attendance: 35,655.
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Guardian
Terry sees red as seething Chelsea miss going topEverton 0 Chelsea 0
Kevin McCarra at Goodison Park
John Terry's foul on Leon Osman that resulted in the Chelsea captain being shown a red card. Photograph: Mike Egerton/Empics Sport/PA Photos
Only one point was added to Chelsea's total, but there were still blessings to count. The visitors were reduced to 10 men for nearly an hour because of the red card for their captain, John Terry. In adversity their survival instinct resurfaced and the appraisal that Luiz Felipe Scolari makes of this night will carry a tinge of relief, even if he was angry about the officiating.
Terry was dismissed in the 34th minute for a lunge that sank his right boot into Leon Osman's right shin. The decision was elementary for the referee, Phil Dowd, who showed a straight red card. Despite Terry's aggression, he has been sent off a mere three times in his career.
The previous expulsion, at Manchester City this season, was overturned but there can be no reprieve on this occasion. This has at least been well-timed recklessness. He will be suspended against West Bromwich Albion and Fulham before coming back to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on January 11.
None the less the champions will be in good humour. The fellow members of the customary top four have faltered in the league while United were engaged in the Club World Cup. That is reminiscent of season 1999-00, when United came back to these shores from the Intercontinental Cup and retained the title.
A perfect record in Premier League away games for Scolari was cracked here but this damage must be tolerable to the Brazilian. All the same, his men were far from cool-headed. Soon after Terry had gone off, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole were both cautioned for dissent at a set piece. That conduct was a combination of the distasteful and the futile.
In an offbeat incident, Michael Ballack would also be booked for his unfounded complaint that an Everton wall had not retreated sufficiently at another free-kick. There is no risk, at any rate, of these Chelsea individuals lacking passion.
Openings for Everton were not plentiful. With 10 minutes to go Chelsea were nearly broken by a Marouane Fellaini backheel from the substitute Leighton Baines' cross, but it went wide. Later still, Steven Pienaar did find the net but he had been in an offside position that allowed him to force the ball home. The Everton manager, David Moyes, agreed with that verdict by the officials.
Moyes is still in search of a win over Chelsea. His side have also been restricted to a single win at home this season and that testifies to the industrious but predictable approach to work. The budget at Everton does not run to spectacular flair. Although they did not capitalise on the rare chance put before them, it was hard to think what more could have been offered by an honest team with a narrow repertoire.
Clubs such as Everton need some means to compensate for the imbalance in resources and Terry's departure did not quite suffice. Prior to that the impression was of Chelsea building an ascendancy. There had been an unwelcome reminder for Everton of how suddenly things can go wrong in the third minute when Tony Hibbert's mistake allowed Ashley Cole a drive, dealt with well by Tim Howard.
In principle, Moyes's side ought to have been in command once they had superiority in numbers. Scolari had some scheming to do. For the second half, Branislav Ivanovic came on take up position in defence and in attack the more muscular Didier Drogba took over from Nicolas Anelka in the undermanned side.
Everton did strive to grasp an unusual opportunity. Play poured down the flanks against a stretched Chelsea defence and Hibbert found the head of Fellaini in the 52nd minute, although the save from Petr Cech was elementary.
Everton would have had the rare nature of this opportunity impressed upon them at the interval. Some disruption had to be borne when Joseph Yobo limped off. Baines came on at left-back, with Joleon Lescott relocating to central defence.
There was no apparent need to brood on the composition of the Everton back four when it was Chelsea's which was regularly under inspection. The tempo quickened and Fellaini was advanced to centre-forward, where his height was a concern to the visitors as Moyes's team sought to mount a barrage of crosses.
The visitors respond strongly to adversity, but this outcome continues a spell of form which has been patchy even when there has been a full line-up on the pitch.
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Mail:
Everton 0 Chelsea 0: Skipper Terry off as Chelsea flop at Goodisonby JOHN EDWARDS
He shook his head in dismay and disappeared down the tunnel at the final whistle, but Luiz Felipe Scolari may just consider his Chelsea side passed one of the most searching tests of their Barclays Premier League title credentials so far at Goodison Park last night.
The Chelsea manager has never been one to hide his emotions and to say he was not best pleased with referee Phil Dowd’s decision to punish a scything 35th-minute challenge by John Terry with a straight red card would be putting it mildly.
Remonstrating in his usual expansive arm-waving way, he evidently waited for Dowd in the tunnel at half-time and, according to eye-witnesses, asked him: ‘Were you afraid of the crowd? Were you afraid?’ In the cold light of day, he might reflect on his skipper’s airborne attempt to win the ball and conclude that, for all the absence of any malice, it might not have been the most advisable course of action.
Certainly not given the inevitable response from home fans and the current climate of such challenges incurring the wrath of the authorities.
He may also concede that the response of his 10-man team for the remaining 55 minutes, as they survived a disallowed goal and several near-misses in a second-half Everton bombardment, suggests they have the resilience to match Liverpool and Manchester United all the way in the race for the crown.
Chelsea began proceedings with an eye on smashing Tottenham’s 48-year record of launching a topflight campaign with eight straight away wins — and also reclaiming top spot from Liverpool for Christmas — but were soon forced to modify their aims, once Terry found himself on the wrong end of Dowd’s occasionally erratic officiating.
There had been little to choose between the teams when Terry fixed his sights on a bouncing ball near the halfway line and hurled himself into the task of reaching it before the onrushing Leon Osman.
Unfortunately for the Chelsea skipper, and Osman, the execution left something to be desired as a flailing boot made contact with Osman and left the Everton man crumpled in agony on the turf.
Players from both sides milled round Dowd in an attempt to influence his ruling but were waved away as the official took Terry to one side, collected his thoughts for a moment, then brandished a red card at the crestfallen England defender. Terry looked genuinely stunned as he twice called out ‘Phil’ in a vain effort to plead his case before making his way off.
It was clearly hard to take for the most committed of defenders, but Terry at least had the good grace to inquire about Osman’s well-being, a gesture clearly appreciated by the stricken midfielder.
Michael Ballack appeared to be seeking retribution of his own two minutes later as he went down clutching his face following an innocuous challenge from Tim Cahill. He was fooling no one, least of all Dowd, although the official was later to miss an apparent stamp by Alex on Cahill.
Harshly though Scolari felt his side had been treated, he could only trust they would stand up to the test of containing an Everton side sensing an upset and roared on by the most partisan of crowds.
Challenges do not come much more daunting, but his faith was not misplaced as Chelsea threw a protective cordon round goalkeeper Petr Cech and saw the giant Czech Republic man rise to the occasion whenever it was breached.
The Chelsea keeper clawed a flashing header from Marouane Fellaini out of the air from a 52ndminute cross by Tony Hibbert and produced a brilliant stretching save to spare Frank Lampard’s blushes after the England midfielder inadvertently deflected another Hibbert cross towards the roof of his own net 24 minutes later.
He was equal to the task again in the 77th minute, tipping a Joleon Lescott header round the post from Mikel Arteta’s corner as Everton maintained their aerial bombardment.
When he finally looked to have been beaten just six minutes from time Dowd, of all people, came to his rescue.
The officials saved a point for Chelsea when mounting Everton pressure appeared ready to crack the away side’s resolve. Steven Pienaar and Cahill both dummied a low cross from Fellaini and as panic rose in a congested Chelsea area, Osman hit a low drive that was parried but still looked to be bobbling over the line.
As Cech flung himself back and desperately tried to lay a hand on it, Pienaar sprang forward and forced it into the back of the net before wheeling away to take the acclaim of an ecstatic home support. Even the giant scoreboard at the opposite end started flashing GOAL, only for Dowd to agree with his assistant and rule offside.
Cech revealed that he had been injured in the melee, saying: ‘I just managed to grab the ball on the line when their players slid in and hit my arm. I can’t take my glove off at the moment, so we will have to see what state my hand is in.
‘It’s a pity we missed out on the top, but this is a hard enough place to come to with 11 men. To have kept the ball so well and controlled the game with only 10 says a lot for us.’
Still seething from the loss of Terry for Premier League games with Fulham and West Bromwich and an FA Cup-tie with Southend, Scolari made a rapid exit at the end, shaking his head and muttering to himself as he went.
Once the red mist has cleared, though, he may just look back on a frantic night of drama and incident with a quiet smile of satisfaction at the way his team came through a searching test of their title mettle.

morning papers west ham home 1-1

The TimesDecember 15, 2008
Chelsea waste chance to regain leadership of Premier LeagueChelsea 1 West Ham 1
Matt Hughes
As everyone else tightens their belts, Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, could be forgiven for enjoying a luxuriant Christmas feast. The league’s cheerleaders have claimed for some time that it is the most competitive in the world, an outlandish boast that is finally ringing true. Either that or the leading clubs are secretly engaged in a bizarre non-aggression pact as they continue to drop points like desperate retailers slashing prices. Selling the Premier League’s next set of television rights, by contrast, should not prove a problem as viewers are treated to the closest title race and relegation battle for several years.
With respect to the admirable challenge of Aston Villa, the top four from last season are likely to remain the same, though they could yet finish in any order. All four have problems to overcome, with Chelsea’s the most intriguing as their turnaround has been the most dramatic. The best home record in English football history has deteriorated to such an extent that their form on their own ground this season is worse than Stoke City’s, with 14 points slipping through their grasp already. Chelsea’s most recent home league win was a 5-0 demolition over Sunderland six weeks ago, with their last commanding performance against threatening opposition a victory over Villa at the start of October. Given such results, it was little wonder that they were booed off at the end against West Ham United and even Luiz Felipe Scolari, the manager, agreed with the punters’ considered opinion.
Scolari’s pale demeanour and hesitant manner were not solely because of his hospitalisation on Saturday night with kidney stones, as he contemplates ongoing problems on the pitch that could be equally painful. With even Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner, short of money, there will be no quick fix in the transfer window, either, and the Brazilian accepts that he must work with what he has.
Didier Drogba’s introduction as a second-half substitute brought some improvement after a dire first half in which they fell behind to Craig Bellamy’s second goal of a largely disappointing season, yet there remained more questions than answers. Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Joe Cole failed to gel as a front three, as Scolari conceded, and Deco’s contribution was minimal, a verdict that the manager found harder to accept.
Such was the lack of invention from a misfiring midfield that Chelsea resorted to launching long balls towards the end, a desperate tactic that brought little reward. Robert Green was by far the busier goalkeeper in the second half, making an outstanding save from a header by Alex and two more routine ones from Frank Lampard, but the best chance fell to Carlton Cole in injury time, only for the former Chelsea striker to shoot tamely at Petr Cech. “I was thinking, ‘Chip it over, chip it over the goalkeeper,’ ” said Gianfranco Zola, a far more assured finisher who relished his return to Stamford Bridge as the West Ham manager.
To linger too long on Chelsea’s deficiencies would be unfair on West Ham and particularly Zola, who deserves immense credit for formulating a bold game plan. The 42-year-old took a wrong turn before kick-off by visiting the home dressing-room, but given his friendship with Abramovich it is not too outlandish to suggest that he could return one day as manager, even if he needs more results like this.
It has long been a source of bemusement that West Ham’s East End boys are paid West End salaries, but for once their big earners justified their pay packets. Scott Parker was outstanding, Bellamy used his pace to give John Terry a difficult afternoon and Lucas Neill was flawless apart from a challenge on Lampard that could have given Chelsea a penalty.
Scolari will have to earn his money in the next few weeks, as a lack of penetration has been exacerbated by defensive frailties that were shown up when West Ham took the lead, Mark Noble controlling Herita Ilunga’s bouncing throw-in with his shoulder before crossing for Bellamy to score. Scolari’s complaints about a handball were groundless.
Chelsea’s equaliser showed that they can still play the one-touch stuff that was their hallmark at the start of the season, but it was all too rare. John Obi Mikel found Drogba, who shipped the ball on with his first touch to Lampard, whose angled pass left Anelka one-on-one with Green. The France striker scored his sixteenth goal of the season and Scolari must find a way of pairing him with Drogba if he is to end the slump.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech 6 - J Bosingwa 5, Alex 5, J Terry 5, A Cole 6 - J 0 Mikel 6 - J Cole 5, M Ballack 5, F Lampard 6, Deco 4 - N Anelka 6. Substitutes: D Drogba 6 (for Ballack, 45min), S Kalou (for J Cole, 75), J Belletti (for Mikel, 79). Not used: H Hilário, B Ivanovic, W Bridge, P Ferreira. Next: Everton (a).
West Ham (4-4-2): R Green 6 - L Neill 6, C Davenport 6, M Upson 6, H Ilunga 6 - J Collison 6, S Parker 6, M Noble 6, V Behrami 7 - C Bellamy 7, C Cole 5. Substitutes: H Mullins (for Noble, 72min), L Boa Morte (for Collison, 87), D Di Michele (for Bellamy, 90). Not used: J Lastuvka, J Faubert, D Tristán, F Sears. Next: Aston Villa (h).
Referee: M Riley Attendance: 41,675
Transfer targets
Chelsea
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s need for extra creativity is obvious, but he may have to be content with a loan signing such as Vágner Love, of CSKA Moscow.
West Ham United
Carlton Cole’s miss demonstrated Gianfranco Zola’s need for a striker, but he needs to sell to buy.
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Telegraph:
Nicolas Anelka saves poor Chelsea with 100th Premier League goalChelsea (0) 1 West Ham (1) 1 By Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge staged the Ex-Factor show on Sunday, a truly thrilling event when old boys returned with a vengeance. So many of the visitors had Chelsea connections. So many delivered. Scott Parker won the 50-50 tackles, even the 40-60 ones. Carlton Cole bullied Chelsea’s defence. Gianfranco Zola, his name sung by home and away fans, masterminded tactics that brought more than a point. It brought a feeling of pride and hope to West Ham.
If Zola’s men perform with similar heart and discipline for the rest of the season, and sharpen their cutting edge in front of goal, they will surely avoid relegation. From the moment the claret-and-blue mascot won a pre-match race with his Chelsea counterparts, West Ham’s determination was clear. Their fans certainly lacked for nothing in noisy defiance, particularly when Frank Lampard came into view.
From back to front, Zola’s players were filled with fortitude. Robert Green made stunning saves from Lampard and Didier Drogba in particular. Matthew Upson and Calum Davenport dealt well with Chelsea’s aerial threat. Parker was magnificent in turning Zola's tactical instructions into reality, strangling the life out of Chelsea’s midfield. Alongside Parker, Mark Noble and Jack Collison ran their young bodies into the ground for the cause, giving hope for the present as well as the future.
In attack, in a real tale of the unexpected, Carlton Cole dragged Terry through an assault course of mind and body. During his Chelsea days, Cole was hailed by Claudio Ranieri as "my lion’’ but he has been as threatening as a peacenik kitten in recent games for West Ham. Not on Sunday. Not on his old stamping ground.
Cole first set Terry a physical challenge, backing into him constantly, but sensibly changing tack after being cautioned, applying the little grey cells more, using his pace to alarm Chelsea’s back-line. He would have scored the winner but for Petr Cech.
Chelsea’s defence was breached only once, by Craig Bellamy, but they rarely looked convincing. With Bellamy buzzing about like a hornet with a headache, the game was as much jaw-jaw as draw-draw but he embodied West Ham’s determination. He started duelling with Ashley Cole, a scenario guaranteed to cancel all leave in the FA disciplinary department, and then went to work on Terry and Alex. Watching Alex’s labours, Ricardo Carvalho cannot return soon enough.
Bellamy’s spitfire presence ensured the Derby-day temperature was typically high. Chelsea themselves hardly sought to ease incipient tensions: the front page of the programme carried a picture of Lampard clutching the Chelsea crest on his shirt. Once of Upton Park, Lampard continues to be loathed by West Ham fans and he was greeted caustically, a reception that will not have bothered him one iota.
The first whistle sounded like a call to arms to those from along the District Line. Hardly seconds had elapsed when Collison lunged at Deco. The tone was set but moments of class were increasingly glimpsed amidst the cordite. Joe Cole darted inside, exchanged neat passes with Lampard, but saw his shot blocked by Parker. Inevitably.
John Obi Mikel, delivering another high-class display at anchorman, then glided around Noble, but soon the tackles flew in again. Noble dived in on Mikel and Parker hounded Jose Bosingwa almost up to Sloane Square. West Ham’s tactics were working, pressurising Chelsea’s midfielders and full-backs, denying them any space to create.
Out of the blue - make that claret and blue - West Ham even took the lead after 33 minutes, sending their supporters into a frenzy of jubilant dancing and chanting. Bellamy forced Terry into surrendering possession, bringing a throw-in to the visitors. Herita Ilunga seemed to chuck the ball on, stirring a sense of injustice in home hearts. Noble took charge, using his shoulder to control the ball, nurturing a grievance in Michael Ballack who was convinced there had been a handling offence.
Chelsea’s defence was in disarray, key figures absent from their stations. Noble cut the ball back to Bellamy, amazingly left unmarked. Alex sought to close Bellamy down, so did Terry. They were too late. Showing control and accuracy, Bellamy placed the ball expertly between Cech and the keeper’s right-hand upright.
As well as conceding a goal, Chelsea lost their composure, an incensed Ballack raging at Riley, who duly booked the midfielder. Then Ashley Cole caught Parker disgracefully late. Chelsea were troubled. Potential champions? Not without Didier Drogba. The Ivory Coast striker charged on at the break, Ballack departing to little lamentation.
The switch proved inspired, immediately forcing West Ham deep, immediately doubling the work-load for the defence. Six minutes into a compelling second half, Chelsea were level following a move brimming with exquisite first-time passes that flowed between Lampard, Mikel, Drogba and Lampard, who chipped one of the passes of the season into Anelka’s path. Lampard even imparted the requisite spin for the ball to kick back perfectly for Anelka’s right foot, which duly despatched it past Green.
The rest of the half was pulsating, the game flowing from end to end. Carlton Cole shot wide. Green saved from Lampard. Mikel make a good interception on Bellamy. Chelsea then borrowed a trick from the old Spurs manual, Lampard clipping a near-post corner to Drogba, whose volley drew an exceptional save from Green.
The spotlight continued to shine on West Ham’s keeper, showing up his good and bad points. One moment he was punching a corner from Lampard almost into his own net (that man Parker cleared), the next clawing away an Alex header. Then Carlton Cole almost won it, muscling away from Alex but thwarted by Cech.
Yet Chelsea should have had a penalty, Lucas Neill flicking out a foot and clearly catching Lampard. Not the type to dive, the England midfielder’s frustration was understandable but Parker, Cole and the rest of Zola’s men deserved their point.
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Indy:
West Ham pile on agony for Scolari
Chelsea 1 West Ham United 1
By Sam Wallace
Luiz Felipe Scolari was in hospital on Saturday night with a kidney stone complaint, although the real pain in the belly this weekend came from West Ham. Painful but also embarrassing because Chelsea have dropped 14 points at Stamford Bridge this season and they really do have problems when West Ham can hold out for a draw.
With respect to Gianfranco Zola, his return to Chelsea as West Ham manager was supposed to be a fond celebration of the club's greatest player followed by Zola watching his team being soundly beaten. It never worked out that way. Nicolas Anelka was required to score the equaliser and Scolari had to reconcile himself with the fact that he has already dropped four more points at home than Jose Mourinho did in his entire first season.
Scolari said he was hoping the stones disappear with medication and, failing that, he will have an operation to remove the persistent irritation – and this time we are not talking about Craig Bellamy, scorer of West Ham's goal. "I've heard that having kidney stones is more painful than having a baby," said Scolari, and only slightly less agonising than seeing your team, who have won just two out of the last five league games, blow it against West Ham.
Yesterday Scolari complained, justifiably, about the referee Mike Riley's failure to give his side a penalty in the last two minutes when Lucas Neill – by his own admission – tripped Frank Lampard in the box. He also said that the three strikers he played in the first half – Anelka, Didier Drogba and Joe Cole – failed to understand the brief. "I need them to understand they are not fixed in position," he said. "They need to come back and win the ball."
They are just one point behind the Premier League leaders Liverpool after a weekend in which every one of the original big four drew their games. The truth for Scolari is that Chelsea are struggling to generate momentum. They are not the free-scoring machine of years gone by, and Deco is badly out of sorts. They are still relying on the old guard – Lampard, in particular – to get them out of trouble and even he cannot be expected to do it every week. There were boos for some of the Chelsea players as they left the pitch from their own fans, an outpouring of dissatisfaction that Scolari said he could sympathise with. He will have noticed that they sang Zola's name all afternoon but are yet to make their minds up about their Brazilian manager.
When Bellamy scored Zola stayed in his seat because, he said: "I like to respect people who have shown me so much respect." Along with his assistant Steve Clarke, formerly of Chelsea, the Italian instinctively went to open the home changing room door when he arrived at Stamford Bridge. "It was a special day for me," he said. His team's record is still just one win in 11 but, after the defeat to Tottenham last Monday, this was respectability at last.
The heroes for Zola were his centre-back Matthew Upson, Scott Parker in midfield and Robert Green in goal. They could easily have collapsed after conceding the equaliser on 50 minutes but West Ham held it together. If Carlton Cole had kept his nerve with just Petr Cech to beat in injury time this would have been a historic, if slightly undeserved, victory.
Chelsea should have scored on seven minutes when Lampard and Joe Cole exchanged passes and the latter got into the West Ham box, where his shot was blocked by Parker. The home side were in control yet found themselves going in at half-time a goal down, mugged on 33 minutes by the persistence of West Ham's midfielder, Mark Noble.
It was Noble who got his foot up an inch higher than Jose Bosingwa did on the left flank and nicked possession away from the right-back. Noble sprinted to the touchline, chesting the ball down to his feet – Chelsea would protest he had handled it – cut it back sharply to Bellamy, who controlled it and hit it on the volley past Cech at his near post.
It was a tetchy affair with five bookings, including one for Ashley Cole, who thought better of arguing with Riley, with whom he had that unedifying scene at White Hart Lane last season. At half-time, Scolari substituted Drogba for Ballack and switched to the 4-3-3 system that he would later criticise for being inflexible. Nevertheless, it did help create the equaliser, with Lampard instrumental in making the chance for Anelka to scored.
It was a beautifully worked move beginning in midfield with Lampard, on to John Obi Mikel, to Drogba and back to Lampard. His through ball found Anelka, who beat Green from close range. West Ham continued to resist and were lucky when Neill clipped Lampard's foot in the area but Riley waved play on. Green messed up with a punch on 79 minutes, Parker having to head off the line, then the West Ham goalkeeper saved brilliantly from Alex's header. "To be in this stadium is always incredible for me," Zola said. He was talking about the reception he got from Chelsea fans but he might as well have been discussing the unlikelihood of getting a draw.
Goals: Bellamy (33) 0-1; Anelka (51) 1-1.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, A Cole; Mikel (Belletti, 80); Deco, Ballack (Drogba, h-t), Lampard, J Cole (Kalou, 75); Anelka. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Ivanovic, Bridge, Ferreira.
West Ham United (4-4-2): Green; Neill, Davenport, Upson, Ilunga; Collison (Boa Morte, 87), Parker, Noble (Mullins, 72), Behrami; Bellamy (Di Michele, 89), Cole. Substitutes not used: Lastuvka (gk), Faubert, Tristan, Sears.
Booked: Chelsea Mikel, Ballack, A Cole; West Ham Cole, Bellamy.
Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire).
Man of the match: Upson.
Attendance: 41,675
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The Guardian, Monday 15 December 2008
Scolari feels the pain as Chelsea miss their chance to seize top spotChelsea 1 Anelka 51 West Ham United 1 Bellamy 33
Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge
The Premier League has become a picturesque landscape of fallen fortresses. The ramparts of Stamford Bridge no longer look impregnable. An equaliser here was until recently a down payment on near-certain victory for Chelsea, but Luiz Felipe Scolari's side soon slipped back into faltering ways after Nicolas Anelka had brought them level yesterday. The side has now won just three of their nine League fixtures at home, dropping 14 points.
There is protective cover for this embarrassment since the leaders Liverpool, a point ahead of Chelsea, are getting bogged down at Anfield. The reigning champions Manchester United may not experience this syndrome profoundly, but even they have dropped a couple of points at Old Trafford. It might be valid to speak of a levelling down in the League, but West Ham deserve great praise for rising to match Chelsea.
Having led, they might have lost had the referee Mike Riley detected Lucas Neill's contact on Frank Lampard, following a pass from the substitute Didier Drogba, in the 88th minute. "There was contact but I don't think I could have done anything about it," said the Australian full-back with the sort of explanation normally shunned by an official. It was typical of West Ham's perseverance, however, that there was further action to take people's minds off that incident. In stoppage time, the influential Valon Behrami put Carlton Cole through, but Petr Cech reached his lame attempt.
There was an air of reunion about the fixture, with Cole just one of the people returning to his former place of work. There was, naturally, greater attention reserved for the arrival of Gianfranco Zola, coming back to foil Chelsea initiatives rather than inspire them. He has, with alarming speed, accumulated experience of the hazards of management, with doubts already arising over his prospects of keeping the job.
As well as West Ham conducted themselves, there was nothing unduly delicate about the line-up, despite the artistry that was once the essence of the person who selected it. Scott Parker, yet another returnee, was tough and effective. "Had Scotty stayed, he could have broken into our team," wrote the Chelsea captain John Terry in his programme notes. The defender would have wished those words had not gone on to seem so prescient.
The weekend was troubling for Scolari, who had spent the night in hospital before the match because of kidney stones. "They say it's more painful than having a baby," he said, as men are wont to do in this situation. It would undoubtedly be flippant that his team causes him as much suffering, but he is unhappy about his fortunes. "Don't forget," he said, "that [I haven't had] a penalty in this competition. Any other club will have had three, four or five by now. But with my players it's never a penalty."
This seemed to be the first sign of paranoia in the Brazilian, but, to his credit, he faulted the display by his players and emphasised that there is labouring ahead on the training ground. To his way of thinking, the attackers had been too static. Scolari suggested that there will be no purchases or sales in January, with the emphasis to be put on improving the displays of those already on the payroll.
He might still have got his way, regardless of all that. Rob Green, largely convincing, miscued a punch that would have brought an own goal in the 69th minute, had Parker, on the line, not knocked it onto the crossbar. That could have been a winner for Chelsea, who had levelled slickly after 51 minutes. That equaliser, with its confident one-touch passing, had been redolent of the side's magisterial away form.
Lampard was at the start of the move and re-entered it, after Mikel John Obi had linked with Drogba to send Anelka through for the leveller. For all that, West Ham had seldom been outclassed. The opener was not a startling development when the readiness to carry the game to Chelsea had been so apparent. After a throw-in, Mark Noble appeared to control with a shoulder and, while opponents screamed for a foul, he set up Craig Bellamy to convert firmly.
Chelsea recovered to a certain extent, but they seem neither secure in defence or incisive in attack at home. Since the loss to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge they have mustered one win here.
There is something predictable about Scolari's line-up when it does not enjoy the freedom experienced in away matches, where the onus is on the opposition to take the initiative.
That problem might be addressed if Drogba were to be paired with Anelka from kick-off, yet Scolari frets that two outright strikers could be denied possession if Chelsea were thereby undermanned in midfield.
Zola himself had the confidence afterwards to speak not merely of the benefits of meeting clubs who have been taxed by midweek Champions League campaigns but also of "smaller teams who are getting organised and playing more tactically." West Ham's showing had given him every right to make that claim.
Man of the match Scott Parker (West Ham)
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Chelsea 1 West Ham 1: Gutsy Hammers add to the Stamford Bridge blues By Matt Lawton
Even after a night in hospital, Luiz Felipe Scolari is still being made to suffer by these stuttering Chelsea players.They appear to have no apparent concerns for his health, and no concerns for the fact that 61-year-old manager who was already said to be tired now has kidney stones. Last week's Champions League encounter with CFR Cluj remains their only victory in five games at Stamford Bridge, and before they return on Boxing Day the Brazilian might just take the medical advice he received on Saturday and stay in bed. After all, the poor chap does claim to be in more pain than a woman giving birth.He looked shattered by Sunday's experience - as much by the sight of Craig Bellamy sending West Ham into a much-deserved first-half lead as the ubiquitous Scott Parker dismantling almost every Chelsea attack before sparing Robert Green's blushes by clearing his colleague's misplaced punch off the line.
West Ham were excellent, an impressive combination of determination and defiance and so much better than they were against Tottenham six days earlier. Green again made some crucial saves, Matthew Upson and Calum Davenport were terrific in defence and, as well as Parker, young Jack Collison shone in midfield. Chelsea, by contrast, were desperately disappointing, their failure to take advantage of Liverpool's draw with Hull City infuriating Scolari as much as certain decisions that were made by Mike Riley.
It probably was a penalty in the 88th minute when Lucas Neill caught Frank Lampard's trailing foot, but the contact was minimal and the delay in Lampard's collapse to the ground clearly convinced referee Riley that a foul had not been committed. The incident, however, does not hide the fact that Chelsea, rather like Liverpool and England before that, are experiencing certain difficulties at home, with players like Deco finding it as difficult to pass the ball as their manager struggles to pass water.'Go home, Deco,' cried certain supporters before booing their team at the sound of the final whistle. For them an equaliser from Nicolas Anelka was not enough. They were incensed by yet more mediocrity. Out of a slightly misplaced loyalty to his former club, manager Gianfranco Zola chose not to celebrate Bellamy's goal, and he did not exactly punch the air in delight when the contest did end with a share of the points. Perhaps because he is still looking at one win in 11 matches and four goals in 10.
Yet in this increasingly bizarre season even a fine draw like this was not enough to lift them higher than 16th in the table. They are, however, a point better off than Manchester City, the world's richest football club, who head Sunderland only on goal difference.That each member of the socalled big four also failed to win eases what pressure there is on Scolari, too, and actually makes the title race, as well as the battle to avoid relegation, all the more interesting.If the first half of the season has been entertaining, the second half promises to be a real fight to the finish.Even this game had its moments, Parker making his mark in the first few minutes when he frustrated his former employers by denying Joe Cole after the England winger had executed a neat one-two with Lampard.West Ham's goal came in the 33rd minute, and a perfectly good goal it was whatever Chelsea's players dared suggest to Riley.They objected to what they thought was the use of Mark Noble's arm, but the midfielder actually used his shoulder to knock the ball past Jose Bosingwa before Bellamy controlled the pass that followed on his chest and beat Petr Cech with a super half-volley. Chelsea were struggling, and it was only when Scolari took off Michael Ballack and sent on Didier Drogba at the start of the second half that they began to pose more of a threat.Letting the Drog off the leash did prove crucial in securing their 5st minute equaliser, because it was the Ivory Coast striker who guided John Mikel Obi's pass into the path of Lampard, who then dropped the ball in front of a rapidly advancing Anelka. A 16th goal of the season for the Frenchman followed - his 100th in the Barclays Premier League - courtesy of a neatly executed finish.For the remaining 39 minutes the match seemed distinctly one-sided, with Green denying Drogba and Alex, and Herita Ilunga doing well with a challenge on Joe Cole. But after a surging run from Valon Behrami, Carlton Cole was suddenly presented with an opportunity to punish his former club. 'He probably thought about celebrating before he hit it,' said Neill, and the West Ham captain was probably right. The shot was weak. Far too easy for Cech to gather.Exactly how Zola would have responded had Cole scored we will never know. But he was proud of his players and no doubt thankful for the intelligence he received from Steve Clarke, the deputy he recruited from Stamford Bridge.That said, anyone can take points off Chelsea at Stamford Bridge these days. As Scolari's kidneys know only too well.CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6; Bosingwa 6, Alex 7, Terry 6, A Cole 6; Ballack 5 (Drogba 46min, 6), Obi 6 (Belletti 79, 6), Lampard 6; J Cole 6 (Kalou 74, 6), Anelka 7, Deco 4. Booked: Obi, Ballack, A Cole.WEST HAM UNITED (4-4-2): Green 8; Neill 6, Davenport 7, Upson 7, Ilunga 7; Collison 7 (Boa Morte 87), Parker 8, Noble 7 (Mullins 72, 6), Behrami 6; Bellamy 7 (Di Michele 90), Cole 6. Booked: Cole, Bellamy.Man of the match: Scott Parker. Referee: Mike Riley.
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