burnley 2-1

Observer:

John Terry's late header beats valiant Burnley

Burnley 1 Fletcher, S 50 Chelsea 2 Anelka 27, Terry 82
Paul Wilson at Turf Moor

He must have been expecting an uncomfortable evening, he must have known the whole country was watching and waiting to be critical, yet in the event Brian Laws' first home game in charge of Burnley was not going badly at all until John Terry robbed him of the limelight by scoring the winner eight minutes from time.
Sometimes it is impossible to believe these things are not scripted. Chelsea had been pegged back after taking a first-half lead and their forwards were starting to looked a bit ragged as they searched for a way through the home defence, until the captain went up for a corner and scored with a determined downward header.
It was genuinely no surprise, since Terry went about his business here as if nothing had happened. That took some doing, even for someone with a reputation for playing away. Facing down his detractors with an expression of stone, Terry endured the boos and kept Burnley's attack at bay before getting forward at the end to rescue his attack. The Turf Moor crowd did not hurl anything particularly witty or vindictive at the England captain in any case, and as Alastair Campbell turned up for a half-time presentation Terry might not even have been the most unpopular person on the pitch.
"He's had a great weekend, hasn't he?" Laws asked rhetorically. "But we were only minutes away from taking points off Chelsea and we can take a lot of positives from that. We showed them too much respect in the first half, but if we can keep the self-belief we showed in the second and stay solid, we can get out of trouble."
As well as scoring the winner John Terry demonstrated the defensive qualities that Alex lacks. Alex won only half of his tackles and lost the ball in key areas, while Terry not only made ten of the eleven tackles he attempted but the tackle he lost was harmlessly on the periphery of play. Chelsea were certainly not a class apart. They spent too much of the first half trying to hit long balls from their own half and generally failing to find Nicolas Anelka or Joe Cole in forward positions. Frank Lampard did hit an early chance over the bar and Anelka had a brief shooting opportunity that he uncharacteristically fluffed, but Chelsea showed little of the passing fluency and movement that had enabled them to make short work of Preston on their previous visit to the north west and demolish Birmingham at Stamford Bridge last Wednesday. Burnley moved the ball around better in the opening stages, and had just begun to create opportunities around the visitors' penalty area for Chris Eagles and Steven Fletcher when Chelsea suddenly pounced, as they are always capable of doing.
The move for the opening goal began with Petr Cech and ended with neat interplay between Chelsea's front three. After the goalkeeper had rolled the ball out, Joe Cole made progress down the right wing, before hitting a deep cross to find Florent Malouda cutting in from the left. With the Burnley defence pulled first one way then the other, it was a simple matter for Malouda to lay the ball back across goal for the unmarked Anelka to score his 12th goal of the season with a tap-in.
If Chelsea imagined they were in for an easy ride in the second half, they were quickly disabused of the notion when Burnley equalised with their first real attack of any note. The deftest of first touches allowed Fletcher to pluck Robbie Blake's lofted pass from the air and completely wrongfoot Alex, and though the defender briefly appeared to recover himself the ball broke kindly off Fletcher's chest and he controlled it again before beating Cech with an angled shot.
All Chelsea's missing urgency came back after that and they began to lay siege to the Burnley goal. Joe Cole headed in from an offside position and Lampard pulled a shot across the face of goal before Ashley Cole was denied a shooting opportunity when Clarke Carlisle got a firm foot in the way. The left-back made way for Deco shortly afterwards, Carlo Ancelotti evidently believing another attacking player might help win the game, before he realised his unflustered captain had the matter in hand. Whatever one thinks about Terry, managers will always rate what he does on the pitch.
"He's a fantastic player," said Ancelotti. "I never thought about not playing him, and I didn't even need to ask whether he was ready. He's a professional. This is his job."

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Independent:

Terry discovers the benefits of playing away

Burnley 1 Chelsea 2: England captain shrugs aside storm of controversy to fire Chelsea four points clear with superb winner

By Steve Tongue at Turf Moor

Flawed character he may be, but for all the unwanted publicity down the years surrounding him and his ill-starred family, John Terry has never allowed his football to be affected. Apparently oblivious to all the fuss that followed the latest unsavoury allegations about his private life, he not only strolled through yesterday's game but even had the audacity and sense of drama to win it for Chelsea with a powerful late header.
The recently prolific Nicolas Anelka, surviving quite happily without Didier Drogba, had earlier scored his 12th goal of the season before a lapse by Alex allowed Burnley a first goal in four games under Brian Laws. The new manager felt his team showed the leaders too much respect before half-time and was pleased with their efforts. Overall, however, the feeling was always that Chelsea had at least one more gear to move into and the surprise was that they left it so late.
Carlo Ancelotti would have been entitled to displeasure had they not accelerated to a first away win in the League since the decisive 3-0 success at the Emirates in November. Now he and his squad can sit back and watch Arsenal and Manchester United – five and four points behind them respectively from the same number of games – do their worst today. "We played well in the second half and deserved the win," Ancelotti said. "John Terry is a fantastic player. Tonight he did very well. So I'm not worried. I don't want to talk about his personal life. I think everyone at the club supports him and his family."
There was no doubt about who was the centre of attention from the moment Chelsea's bus pulled into Turf Moor, with club officials declaring that Terry's problems were a private matter. He can only hope that Fabio Capello takes the same view. His name was greeted with raucous guffaws when the teams were announced, and boos at every touch later on, culminating in a yellow card when he put a foot – and an arm – wrong for the only time in the evening, blatantly blocking Robbie Blake.
Laws, welcomed on to the pitch for his first home game since succeeding the now reviled Owen Coyle, had brought Blake back to support Steven Fletcher. That pair would eventually conjure up the equalising goal, although that was almost the first time Chelsea's defence was disturbed.
For the first quarter of the game neither side had a shot on target. Indeed, as Anelka miskicked altogether when set up by Joe Cole, there was only one attempt on goal all told, which Frank Lampard sent into the stand housing Chelsea's subdued followers. Team and supporters came alive at last in the 26th minute. Petr Cech threw the ball out to Joe Cole who made good ground from inside his own half before chipping a diagonal pass just over Tyrone Mears' head for Florent Malouda. A simple low cross found Anelka criminally unmarked by either of the centre-halves and able to knock in his sixth goal in as many games.
So, as in their Lancashire sojourn last week, for the FA Cup tie at Preston, Chelsea went in leading at half-time without having exerted themselves. On that occasion they were able to add to the advantage immediately, killing the game with a second goal. Had Malouda's fierce drive a minute after the interval been a foot lower, local history would have repeated itself. Instead there was a price to pay as it was the opposition who scored. Blake knocked forward a pass that Fletcher touched first, still allowing Alex the chance to clear. The big defender failed to connect and Fletcher was able to reach double figures for the season with a smart finish.
Again the leaders roused themselves. Brian Jensen, rushing from his goal with no hope of reaching the ball, was lucky that when Anelka crossed and Malouda nodded on, Joe Cole had wandered offside before heading in. The goalkeeper did better in parrying Lampard's free-kick low down by a post. Terry, impressively solid, even joined the attack himself after one forceful interception, as did Ashley Cole, who was injured in the attempt and had to be replaced by Deco.
The captain would not be denied. He met Lampard's corner with a fine downward header inside a post that Burnley had foolishly left unguarded. At the final whistle, Chelsea supporters chanted Terry's name as Cech raced from goal to embrace him. Any team-mates concerned, as has been suggested, by his conduct knew whom they had thank for another win bonus.

Attendance: 21,131
Referee: Phil Dowd
Man of the match: Terry
Match rating: 7/10

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Mail:

Burnley 1 Chelsea 2:
Shamed John Terry nods late winner to send Chelsea four points clear
By Rob Draper

With eyes staring coldly ahead, John Terry led his team into hostile territory at Turf Moor, fully aware the condemning eyes of the world were upon him.Yet with a nerve that is as impressive as it is chilling, he was able to deliver an immaculate performance before heading home a winner which could yet prove crucial in taking the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge.For it is on freezing nights at venues like Turf Moor, when the game looks beyond you, that league titles are either surrendered or grasped.
And it is the brutal determination of players like Terry that makes the difference in such circumstances.Conducting an affair with the longterm girlfriend of a close friend and former club team-mate may well indicate a contemptible selfishness, but such callous insensitivity served Terry.His ability to perform at the level he did was extraordinary. For his team were struggling and Burnley were alive with dreams of at least securing a point against their exalted visitors.
Then came that 83rd-minute corner, a familiar routine, as Frank Lampard swung in a telling cross. True, Burnley neglected to mark the man of the moment, meaning that Terry’s task was easy, but when he thundered home the header in trademark fashion, he sealed a remarkable performance.He did, at least, have the decency not to celebrate, an indication that he has some self-awareness and realises that his unconfined joy is unlikely to be well received at present. But, for a man preparing for a period of unimaginable, if self-inflicted, scrutiny, the observable effect on Terry the footballer is undetectable.For his manager, Carlo Ancelotti, there had apparently never been a decision to make. ‘I never thought of not playing him,’ he insisted.
Ancelotti is clearly a good judge of the kind of animal his captain is. Even as he stepped out last night, Terry’s lifeless eyes were seemingly fixated only on football — and he was utterly prepared for what was to come.
And though Turf Moor did not disappoint, with jeers greeting his name and every touch, Burnley seemed to possess fans that cared more for supporting their own than abusing their opponents.After all, Terry’s peccadilloes were a mere sideshow to the grand announcement of Brian Laws, taking charge for his first home game as manager since the departure of Owen Coyle, and the debut of £1.5million signing Leon Cort.
The abuse of Terry was muted, except when he performed a cynical block on Robbie Blake, earning himself a yellow card. Only then did Turf Moor roar as one: ‘Same old Terry, always cheating!’Early jitters, including a dreadful slice from Alex and a mis-hit from Nicolas Anelka, suggested that Terry’s team-mates did not possess the equanimity of their captain.
Certainly, Burnley’s fans took some encouragement, roaring their team on with added zeal, but their players were unequal to the task. Hard though they battled, impressive though Andre Bikey was, they struggled to carve out genuine opportunities.

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NOTW:

IT'S A LOTTI HASSLE BUT CARLO'S STILL SMILING

Burnley 1 Chelsea 2

By Steve Lillis

PICTURE Carlo Ancelotti sitting at home this afternoon in his swanky London pad, vino in one hand, Arsenal v Manchester United blaring out of his 52-inch flat screen and not giving a damn who wins.
Even John Terry's latest dodgy deed will be forgotten because whatever the outcome he knows Chelsea are the team to beat.
How can he be annoyed when the baddest boy in English football pops up to score the winner eight minutes from time and his players continue to show incredible resilience.
Great teams never know when they are beaten and Chelsea are becoming fully paid-up members of that club.
They are now four points clear at the Premier League summit.
And even Terry might be raising a glass at the end of the season if his late goal proves crucial in squeezing out Manchester United and Arsenal.
There were no smiles, no celebration, just a shrug for his team-mates when the England skipper, for now, headed home Florent Malouda's corner.
Ancelotti rarely drops his guard but when asked what he would prefer at the Emirates, he cockily bragged whatever occurred in today's tea-time tangle was a good result for him.
While the Italian will be unhappy with the headlines surrounding his skipper, he will close ranks and allow nothing to interfere with Chelsea's title march.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and perhaps Roberto Mancini will make threatening noises about 'Coming to get you'.
They will be the noises their fans want to hear but even they must be wondering how to stop this blue machine.
Last month, there was a blip when they lost to Manchester City, dropped points against West Ham and Birmingham and needed two late goals to beat Fulham.
Chelsea might have deserved the win yesterday but you must afford some sympathy for Burnley after Steven Fletcher cancelled out Nicolas Anelka's opener.
Clarets fans are still spitting blood at Owen Coyle dumping them to join neighbours Bolton.
It has left Brian Laws to pick up the pieces in a season that is in a bigger freefall than Terry's reign as England captain.
Facing Manchester United away in your opening game and Chelsea in your first home encounter does little to help convince people you're the bloke to save the season.
Not surprisingly Laws, sacked by Sheffield Wednesday just seven weeks ago, has now lost all three league games since taking charge.
But that didn't stop the former Burnley defender getting a deafening reception from the Turf Moor supporters whose nails will be bitten to the skin come May.
Chelsea have 15 games to go and if they continue to race off leaving rivals spluttering dust, it will prove the latest scandal to haunt their skipper has not affected morale.
Burnley fans predictably booed Terry but roared every single challenge from their players and strangely adopted a 'No one likes us, we don't care' siege mentality.
But it didn't stop the Clarets being bamboozled by Chelsea's movement in the final third.
After the Stamford Bridge shenanigans of the last two days, the last thing Ancelotti wanted was a poor performance from his players - and they were hell bent on delivering the goods.
Frank Lampard should have taken advantage of the early momentum but blazed over from 15 yards after a delightful one-two with Anelka.
Lampard's miss brought even louder howls of derision than those being directed at his grey-faced skipper.
Ancelotti has demanded more from Joe Cole and he saw plenty of the ball, setting up Anelka who turned his cross wide.
The temperature would have chilled the bones of an Eskimo but the atmosphere was electric at one of football's traditional outposts.
Burnley's spirit might have rattled Manchester United, who were beaten here, but that seemed a distant memory when Anelka put Chelsea ahead on 27 minutes.
They made the goal look simple but it contained four moves that had the precision of a chess grandmaster.
Petr Cech picked out Joe Cole, his cross found Malouda who pulled the ball back for Anelka to finish crisply from five yards.
Ruthless football from a team who look like champions... on the field at least.
Terry got more GBH from the crowd in the 33rd minute when he was booked for a blatant shoulder charge on Robbie Blake.
Burnley were getting hold of the ball but were not holding on to it for long enough as Chelsea produced a succession of sweeping moves coupled with the occasional punt forward.
Ironically, when the Clarets did get in the opposing penalty area, Terry was always on hand to hoof it clear of danger.
Chelsea had been in complete control and even Burnley's raucous fans seemed resigned to defeat when Fletcher's 10th goal of the season stunned the Londoners.
Blake's 20-yard pass found Fletcher who made a prize chump of Alex before rifling a shot past Cech.
Chelsea hit back with Michael Ballack forcing a save from Brian Jensen and Joe Cole sending a looping header into the net, only to have it ruled out for offside.
At that point, Ancelotti must have been wondering whether his weekend was about to get worse as Laws' battlers dug deep.
Burnley fans might have been happy with a draw but not the new manager.
He signalled his intentions by replacing midfielder Kevin McDonald with striker Martin Paterson.
It was a brave move. Take away the top five or six clubs and there are not many other Premier League bosses who would be so audacious with 30 minutes left.
Burnley's back four were holding out heroically but, so often, it needed a last-ditch block to rescue them.
Jensen just about managed to beat out Lampard's free-kick and also held on to Alex's tame header.
The pace was incredible and if anybody thinks Burnley are certs for the drop, think again - despite this loss.
Yet Chelsea always looked the likely winners and there was an inevitability about their second goal.
But who would have backed Terry to be the man who broke hearts - he does that elsewhere.

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Telegraph:

Burnley 1 Chelsea 2
By Graham Chase at Turf Moor

For a while there was a sanctuary for John Terry as revelations about his private life were ignored amid headers and clearances, and he came up with a winner to move Chelsea four points clear at the top of the table.
Nicolas Anelka's goal was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher's effort but Terry headed in with eight minutes left to seal a crucial win that takes Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premier League table ahead of the game between Arsenal and Manchester United.
Where Terry will watch that match, with who, and what those involved will make about further stories that will hog the newspapers on Sunday morning, only the England captain, who was roundly applauded by the travelling Chelsea fans, knows.
It can certainly be said that playing away has not been doing anyone at Chelsea much good at the moment, as Terry's late header earned Carlo Ancelotti's side their first away win since November.

They will look to improve that on Tuesday at Hull and Terry will be counting the hours until he gets to run out at the KC Stadium, not that the storm currently surrounding him seemed the effect the defender's performance although he was grim-faced throughout an afternoon that saw his every touch booed by the Burnley fans.
After being trailed by a cameraman for most his warm-up, rarely can Terry have been so keen to get a game underway and he even appeared to beckon referee Phil Dowd to get on with the pre-match coin toss.
Assistant manager Ray Wilkins claimed before the game that Terry has his "football head" on and that Chelsea's preparations had not been affected by the scandal despite paparazzi heading to Accrington, where
Chelsea stayed on Friday night, surely for the first time in the town's history.
His first touch was a mis-judged header as he attempted to clear Brian Jensen's hoof up-field and after Alex then sliced another attempt to get the ball away, Terry scurried back to block off Burnley players to allow Petr Cech to gather.

Terry continued to look comfortable and the visitors were in control of the early stages, though a scooped effort from Frank Lampard that flew over was all they had to show for it.
Burnley were as positive as always and looked like they might get somewhere with their quick, short passes around the Chelsea area but they rarely got beyond that
Just before the half hour, the visitors took the lead with a goal of some style.
Burnley could not get anywhere near the Premier League leaders as Petr Cech's quick throw allowed Joe Cole to break down the right and hit a cross-field pass for Florent Malouda to cross to Anelka, who touched in his 12th goal of the campaign.
Terry was cautioned for a barge on Robbie Blake after Stephen Fletcher tried to play his fellow striker past Chelsea's offside trap just inside the visitors' half, earning another chorus of "Same old Terry, always cheating" from the home support.

The Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen had to be alert to tear out of his box and head away a Branislav Ivanovic through-ball aimed at Anekla and Lampard dragged a low effort wide of goal from distance as Carlos Ancelotti's side continued to stroll through the period before half time.
Terry headed down the tunnel deep in conversation with Michael Ballack, who had his arm around his captain and the England player spent almost half a minute in relaxed conversation with Dowd before the second period started.

Malouda missed with a wild drive but the feeling of clam was shattered five minutes after the restart when Robbie Blake took a free kick quickly.
Alex failed to deal with the ball over the top and his attempt at a flick away bounced off Fletcher, who controlled and then drilled a low shot past Cech and the Turf Moor stands shook as they did when Blake's goal beat Manchester United here back in August.
Joe Cole had an effort ruled out for offside after Anelka and Ballack had been thwarted and Cole also dragged wide after a solid run down the right by Ivanovic.

Lampard's low free kick was pushed away by Jensen and Anelka's follow-up was hacked away by David Edgar and at the other end, Cech held an awkward long-range effort from Eagles.
Sensing an opportunity, Brian Laws, who was looking for his first win as Burnley manager, threw on Martin Paterson and Steven Thompson, but it was Terry that made the crucial contribution, rising highest to head in from Lampard's corner.

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The Sunday Times

Chelsea sinner John Terry heads late winnerBurnley 1 Chelsea 2

Jonathan Northcroft, Football Correspondent at Turf Moor

CARLO ANCELOTTI could not have looked more dishevelled had he been John Terry’s marriage guidance counsellor, but at a time few in football want to speak up for the disgraced centre-half, the Italian did so, mounting a strong — and startling — defence of his player.
The revelation of Terry’s affair with the partner of his former close mate, Wayne Bridge, an England teammate regarded as one of the game’s “good lads”, has damaged Terry’s standing among other players. Yet Ancelotti denied there was any disquiet about Terry in the Chelsea squad, despite the fact that Bridge was a part of it until last January and has several friends, including Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, within its ranks. “The players will never lose their trust in him [Terry],” Ancelotti said. He added that reconsidering whether Terry should captain Chelsea had never crossed his mind. “There is no discussion about this. I don’t know why you ask this.”

A tumultuous 48 hours for the Chelsea camp appeared to have put Ancelotti under strain. Nonetheless, he maintained all was okay at his club and came out with a remarkable claim. He denied Terry’s actions damaged Chelsea, who are keen — especially in key foreign marketing territories such as the USA and Korea — to portray themselves as a high-class, family club. “The professionalism of John Terry improves the image for the club. I am a manager and I only want to speak about his work. He is a fantastic professional.”

Of course others took a different view. Being football supporters, and blessed with caustic northern humour, the Burnley fans had a song. “Same old Terry — always cheating,” it went. Every time Terry touched the ball he was booed — except when he was whistled. Alastair Campbell, watching from the stand, was too far away for the defender to shout over and ask for advice on managing a media crisis. It was a new Labour spin doctor who came up with the idea that there are good days to bury bad news, but good news can also be buried. Yes, Terry scored, but set beside the moral storm engulfing him, despite Ancelotti’s best efforts, his football exploits appeared secondary.

At least he had the decency not to celebrate when he nodded Chelsea 2-1 up in the 82nd minute, an advantage they held to secure three points in a game unfancied opponents made awkward for them. It seemed predictable under sport’s perverse laws that Chelsea’s disgraced captain would emerge as their matchwinner. To steal a colleague’s line, it was like an episode of Footballers’ Wives. Burnley left Terry unmarked at a corner and he planted a header past Brian Jensen from 10 yards. Terry confirmed that he is a competitor of stiff character, even if as a pal and role model he is flimsy.

It was no coincidence, surely, that as the players waited in the tunnel before kick-off, the stadium DJ played Let’s Stick Together by Bryan Ferry. “And now the marriage vow is very sacred,” goes the song’s first line. But football — unlike matters involving personal judgment — is something Terry handles rather well and footballers often say that in times of stress playing becomes a release.

When Phil Dowd started the game, Terry probably exhaled in relief. Not that Burnley supporters wanted him to be salved. They booed his first touch and when, in the 33rd minute, he body-checked Robbie Blake, the jeering intensified. Dowd booked him and “Same old Terry — always cheating” was aired again.

Burnley’s players were not so good at making Terry’s environment uncomfortable. Brian Laws’ outnumbered midfield struggled to find their strikers and when Burnley did put together a sequence of pressure, they paid on the counterattack. Chelsea keeper Petr Cech hurled the ball to Joe Cole on the right touchline just inside his own half. Cole hit a gorgeous diagonal pass to the far side of the penalty area, where Florent Malouda volleyed back across goal and Nicolas Anelka scored his 12th goal of the season from close range.

Then, at last, Burnley found the right pass. Blake chipped forward to Steven Fletcher and, on the edge of the area, the tall Scot took the ball inside Alex with a delicious first touch. Fletcher spun round the Brazilian before striking an expert shot past Cech.
Leon Cort blocked a meaty Michael Ballack drive, Joe Cole nodded past Jensen but was offside, David Edgar cleared when Jensen spilled Lampard’s free kick and Clarke Carlisle made an outstanding tackle to thwart Ashley Cole. Then Terry had his moment of redemption — a brief one.

Star man: Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Yellow cards: Burnley: Bikey Chelsea: Terry
Referee: P Dowd
Attendance: 21,131

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Cort, Carlisle, Kalvenes (Edgar 35min), Elliott, Bikey, McDonald (Paterson 60min), Eagles, Blake (Thompson 72min), Fletcher

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole (Deco 76min), Ballack, Zhirkov, Lampard, J Cole (Sturridge 72min), Malouda, Anelka