Sunday Times
Nicolas Anelka sets Chelsea on way to victory
Preston 0 Chelsea 2
Jonathan Northcroft, football correspondent, at Deepdale
THE FA Cup revived Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Manchester United but his son Darren will have to make Preston come alive in the league. Chelsea, slick and ruthless, ensured there would be no upset here. This was only Ferguson’s second game in charge and Deepdale denizens dispersed with positives to consider after their team’s organised and occasionally enterprising display suggested their manager is already beginning to have an impact.
Chelsea, though, were hardly over-extended and assured their passage to the fifth round with 44 minutes still to play when Dean Sturridge scored to make it 2-0 after Nicolas Anelka had opened the scoring. “Professional” was how Ray Wilkins, Chelsea’s assistant manager, described his team’s performance.
After Anelka’s 37th-minute goal, two moments of Preston carelessness decided the final scoreline.
Two minutes after Anelka’s goal, Darren Carter was off balance and sent the ball corkscrewing wide from a few feet out. “It was one of those things and he’ll need picking up because we know it’s a bad miss,” Ferguson said. “If he’d scored we’d have been level at half-time.”
Preston’s second moment of player malfunction involved their defenders. Youl Mawene and Sean St Ledger were stalwart otherwise, but the back four was disorganised when John Terry was allowed an unchallenged header from a corner on 47 minutes. Andy Lonergan made a reflex save but the rebound fell to Sturridge, who lashed in his third goal in two FA Cup appearances.
Anelka, inset, was the star of the show. The Frenchman has grown so much this season that he performs as a winger, playmaker and finisher, depending on Chelsea’s need, and after spending the early part of the game creating for others, it was Anelka who took the scoring responsibility just when his side required a goal to confirm their superiority.
Preston lost the ball on the edge of Chelsea’s area. Yury Zhirkov moved it to Deco, who found Michael Ballack, and the German measured an expert pass to Anelka, who cut on to his right foot and shot from the edge of the area. Lonergan, who had kept Preston in touch early on, could only make a partial block and the ball careered off the goalkeeper high into his net.
The second half was straightforward until Ferguson switched to 4-4-2 and sent on Jon Parkin, a striker so tall and meaty he made Terry look like David Haye beside his Nikolai Valuev. Preston asked a few late questions and bad refereeing by Mike Dean also prevented Chelsea scoring more.
On Tuesday, Preston go to Peterborough and Ferguson will hope for his first win at his former club. Chelsea were too good, but he may get it.
Star man: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
Yellow card: Preston: Hart
Referee: M Dean Attendance: 23,119
Preston: Lonergan 8, Hart 6, Mawene 7, St Ledger 7, Davidson 6, Sedgwick 6 (Mayor 72min), Chaplow 6, Jones 6, Carter 5 (Parkin 59min, 5), Wallace 5, Brown 6 (Mellor 72min)
Chelsea: Hilario 6, Ferreira 7, Alex 6, Terry 6, Zhirkov 6, Belletti 5 (Malouda 19min, 6), Ballack 7, Lampard 7 (J Cole 66min), Deco 6, Anelka 8, Sturridge 7
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Telegraph:
Preston North End 0 Chelsea 2
By Rory Smith at Deepdale
A new manager, scion of a famous family, making his home debut against the FA Cup holders, the favourites for the Premier League title, in a year in which Manchester United and Liverpool have already found themselves embarrassed by lower league opposition.
Preston North End, and Deepdale, crackled with the magic of the cup. Chelsea, though, do not do romance, only victory.
Far from their imperious best, Carlo Ancelotti’s side simply did enough to swat Preston’s challenge aside, taking the lead in slightly fortuitous fashion through Nicolas Anelka before seeing Daniel Sturridge double it with the first attack of the second half. All hope extinguished and progression secure. The holders are on the march.
Preston can, at least, take solace from the fact that they put up more resistance than Sunderland proffered in the Premier League last week.
Darren Ferguson had highlighted on the eve of the game that such a fixture would give his new team a taste of life among the elite, the status he has been tasked with bringing to Deepdale. He will have seen enough to know the gap in quality is bridgeable.
True, Preston had to curb the attacking instincts usually associated with Ferguson’s - any Ferguson’s - sides. For long periods, they not only parked the bus, but jack-knifed a couple of articulated trucks in front of Andy Lonergan’s goal. Disciplined and determined, until Anelka struck, it worked.
The hosts even had a couple of early chances themselves, both Callum Davidson and Richard Chaplow calling Hilario, standing in for Petr Cech, into action.
Chelsea, as was to be expected, had all of the possession, all of the territory, the neater passages of play. Their threat, though, was fleeting.
Yuri Zhirkov’s exchange of passes frayed Lonergan’s nerves, and his shot stung his palms, but so dogged were Preston that their illustrious guests found their every move shadowed, their space reduced, their rhythm disrupted by the breath on the back of their necks.
Only twice did they pick their way through. The first, a tap in for Sturridge after Frank Lampard had played in Zhirkov, was ruled out as Mike Dean, rashly, called play back for a foul on Lampard in the build-up. Alex struck the free kick, fiercely, from 25 yards, but could only find Lonergan’s wrist.
Preston had no salvation from the second. Michael Ballack, tracked assiduously for much of the game, ghosted into space in midfield, no marker on his heels. He found Anelka, who cut inside and powered a shot through Lonergan’s legs. Lancastrian hearts sank.
FA Cup lore, though, dictates that the underdogs, no matter how Sisyphean their task, must be given one chance to overcome the odds. Preston are no exception. Just moments after falling behind, Chris Brown looked to have looped a header over Hilario, only for the Portuguese, all untucked shirt and shambling gait, to extend a fingertip. Darren Carter ballooned the rebound over the bar.
Chelsea were not likely to be so generous twice. Within a minute of the restart, Sturridge had bundled home from a corner. Whether and if were replaced by how many as the question of the moment.
Any more than two would have been harsh on Preston, but they were fortunate Chelsea found themselves in generous mood. Ballack went close, Anelka and Sturridge missed a pair of chances apiece. Joe Cole managed to waste three.
A glimmer of hope, of pride remained, but that was all. Chelsea’s serene, ominous progress continues.
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Observer:
Chelsea leave Darren Ferguson still searching for first Preston win
Preston North End 0 Chelsea 2 Anelka 37, Sturridge 47
Paul Wilson at Deepdale
"Beast!" hissed the home crowd, respectfully, as the portly Jon Parkin was sent on to chase a two-goal deficit for the last half hour. "You fat bastard!" bellowed the Chelsea fans in the Bill Shankly end.
Not particularly romantic, granted, but you cannot make a fairytale out of every FA Cup mismatch. At least Darren Ferguson's second defeat in his short period in charge of Preston was nowhere near as grim as the DVD of Chelsea's 7-2 thrashing of Sunderland with which he has been torturing himself all week, and after taking on a virtually full-strength Chelsea team in his first home game the new manager's task can only get easier.
"Carlo wants to take the FA Cup seriously, and that's why we put out such a strong outfit," Chelsea's assistant manager, Ray Wilkins, said. "We are the holders, we value the competition and we want to hang on to the trophy."
Defensively, Preston just about held up, though once Chelsea made certain of victory with a second goal at the start of the second half a certain amount of urgency left their game and, it must be said, the stadium as a whole. It was the lack of attacking verve that flattened the cup-tie atmosphere.
Ferguson has taken over a solid, if not stolid, Championship side, but not one equipped to deliver upsets against teams of Chelsea's quality. When Burnley were in this division last season they looked hungry enough to eat Premier League opponents alive when cup competitions brought them together, and sometimes did. Preston just look well-fed, Lancashire hotpots to Chelsea's rucola with parmesan shavings, never more so than when Neil Mellor joined Parkin in a front row that would frighten a few rugby teams but made little impression on John Terry and Alex.
"We had chances, I thought my lads did fine," Ferguson said. "If we could have just turned round level, and we missed a good chance to do just that, it might have been a different game, but Chelsea are full of world-class players and they can strike at any moment. We can take heart from this, if we can just get that first win I can see us kicking on a bit."
Chelsea would have struck earlier than they did but had a perfectly good goal disallowed before they took the lead, Florent Malouda stabbing home Yuri Zhirkov's cross just as Mike Dean was blowing his whistle for a foul on Frank Lampard in the build up. "It was the wrong decision, but these things happen," Wilkins said. Michael Ballack was unable to profit from the free-kick, so perhaps feeling sheepish about failing to play advantage the referee awarded Chelsea another free-kick five minutes later for a slight obstruction, from which a crashing shot by Alex brought a save from Andy Lonergan.
Preston could not make the most of these let-offs, failing to put the ever nervous Henrique Hilário under any real pressure until they had gone a goal behind. Ironically, after doing most of the probing and attacking in the first half, Chelsea broke through when the home side gave them a rare opportunity to break on the counter. Chris Sedgwick had the ball pinched off his toes on the edge of the Chelsea area by Zhirkov, Ballack brought it through the middle and played in Nicolas Anelka, who beat Lonergan with a low shot that Sean St Ledger could only help into the net.
Briefly the home side threatened an equaliser, and might have had one had Darren Carter made a better contact in front of goal when Hilário could only palm away Chris Brown's header. The midfielder was in the right position for a follow up but found himself stretching for the ball and shinned it over the bar. That was to be Preston's only chance of getting back on terms because Chelsea scored again two minutes into the second half. Malouda swung over a corner, John Terry's header was stopped on the line, and Daniel Sturridge was first to pounce on the rebound for his third FA Cup goal of the season.
He could have had a couple more in the second half, as could Anelka and Joe Cole, though most of Chelsea's efforts lacked conviction and Lonergan was equal to the ones on target. The only opportunity for consolation that came Preston's way fell to Parkin in stoppage time, and he headed high and wide. More jeers from the Shankly end. Still, at least Burnley lost too.
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Independent:
Ferguson no match for Chelsea this time
Preston NE 0 Chelsea 2: Sir Alex's advice unable to help Preston's new manager as Anelka and Sturridge see Cup holders ease through
By Steve Tongue at Deepdale
A misty Lancashire lunchtime and an opposing manager called Ferguson held no terrors after all for the FA Cup holders, who sauntered into the last 16 of the competition despite leaving out half a dozen of the players who had demolished Sunderland the previous week. For much of the time it must have felt like a training game in leafy Surrey as Chelsea knocked the ball around among themselves while doughty locals bellowed "hit him!" or "get stuck in!"
Preston, 17th in the Championship, had to get close enough first and rarely managed that. Darren Ferguson's new team were reduced mainly to counter-attacking, the irony being that Chelsea's opening goal from Nicolas Anelka came from just such a break of their own. They never lived as dangerously as Liverpool had done here in the third round a year ago, when Fernando Torres did not make the tie safe until the final minute. Yesterday Chelsea's second, from Dean Sturridge, arrived right at the start of the second half and effectively killed a game that was already looking destined for the grave.
Sir Tom Finney's proud old club now have only two wins in 13 games to their name, the start of that run having caused the panic-stricken sacking of Alan Irvine. His successor said he had consulted Sir Alex about Preston's potential but not about playing Chelsea. It was difficult to see what difference any further insight would have made, given the gulf in quality between the two sides and Ferguson Jnr was happy enough with his new team, who had suffered a 4-2 defeat in his first match at Bristol City. "No complaints," he said. "I thought we gave Chelsea a game. They're a fantastic team with world-class players. Our players had taken confidence from the first half but two minutes later the whole place is deflated."
He may want them to play more football but Preston's few opportunities tended to come from deep crosses beyond the far post. Not until John "Beats" Parkin came on after an hour did they go more direct. When Neil Mellor, once of Liverpool, joined him for the latter stages, it was like a heavyweight tag team charging at John Terry and Alex, who were only briefly discomfited.
"A very professional performance," said Ray Wilkins, doing media duty for Carlo Ancelotti. "We scored at good times in the game. Preston get the ball in the box with a bit of quality."
Chelsea's first goal followed a rare Preston attack. Deco took possession and fed Michael Ballack, who in turn put Anelka in to score his 11th goal of the season past a goalkeeper unsighted by his centre-half Sean St Ledger. That should have been the second goal but Mike Dean, the referee, had denied them 10 minutes earlier. Frank Lampard was clattered as he slid a pass to Yuri Zhirkov, whose cross was turned in by Florent Malouda as Dean whistled for the original foul. By waiting only a few seconds, the official could have allowed justice to be done.
Malouda was on at that early stage as a substitute for Juliano Belletti, who had injured a knee. Deco, having started wide on the left of a 4-1-2-3 formation, dropped back to become the holding man, but Preston rarely looked capable of taking advantage. Their what-if moment came just before half-time. The right-back Michael Hart lofted a long ball into the penalty area, where Hilario, not as tall a goalkeeper as Petr Cech, had to stretch to the full to push it out; Darren Carter could do no better than slice it high and wide.
Any encouragement that the home team and a capacity crowd could derive from a near-miss was squashed within two minutes of the restart. At Bristol City, Preston conceded three goals from set-pieces and now there was another; Malouda swung over a corner, Terry's header was pushed out by Andy Lonnergan and Sturridge, the scorer of two goals in the last round against Watford, grabbed another.
Chelsea were not inconvenienced by taking off Lampard and replacing him with Joe Cole, who is desperate for a run of games in World Cup year. There will be plenty more opportunities for him as Chelsea embark on a run of five games in 15 days.
Attendance: 23,119
Referee: Mike Dean
Man of the match: Anelka
Match rating: 6/10
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Mail:
Preston 0 Chelsea 2:
Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge strike as FA Cup holders sail past North End
Joe Bernstein
Like father, like son. On his home debut as Preston North End manager, Darren Ferguson found Carlo Ancelotti as awkward an adversary as dad Sir Alex might have predicted. Ancelotti once knocked Ferguson Snr out of a Champions League semi-final and came out on top again when Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Premier League earlier this season. This time, it was young Darren who felt the Italian's ruthlessness with any romantic notion an FA Cup giantkilling wiped out from virtually the opening whistle. The Cup holders were strong, experienced, dominated possession and territory, and always set for the fifth round, particularly once striker Nicolas Anelka had fired them ahead after 37 minutes.
Preston's one fleeting moment of potential glory came on the stroke of half-time when Darren Carter had a great chance three yards out. He missed, the teams turned around and, straight from the restart, Daniel Sturridge poached a second. Ancelotti allowed assistant Ray Wilkins to speak for Chelsea after a victory that keeps them on course for a potential Treble and a third FA Cup triumph in four years. 'It was a very professional display from us. We put out a strong team and showed as holders we don't want to give the trophy up. I didn't see the great chance Preston had - Carlo was standing in my way! They tell me the lad should have scored but he didn't and we settled down again. We scored at good times in the game.'
Ferguson's players, whose run of poor form cost Alan Irvine his job last month, never looked capable of unsettling a Chelsea side that included John Terry and Frank Lampard. They hardly got out of their own half for 30 minutes and were fortunate referee Mike Dean failed to play advantage when Lampard was fouled and therefore ruled out Florent Malouda's strike seconds later that ended up in the back of the net.'We wish Mike had hung on for a few seconds,' chuckled Wilkins.No matter. Chelsea broke the deadlock soon after when Preston were made to pay for launching a rare attack of their own. Deco led the counter with a fabulous pass to Michael Ballack and he fed Anelka, the Frenchman firing his 11th goal of the season, with goalkeeper Andy Lonergan unsighted by his own defender Sean St Ledger.
Preston should have been level with the last meaningful attack of the half but after Hilario had parried a Chris Brown header, Carter scooped the rebound over.
'It was a bad miss and when they scored again, it killed us,' said Ferguson. 'Chelsea are a fabulous side. We had the ball in a good position and 10 seconds later they have scored the first goal. That's what they can do.'The tie was made safe after 47 minutes, when Terry headed a corner goalwards despite being held by Youle Mawene. Baptism of fire: Ferguson has lost his first two games in the Deepdale hotseat
Lonergan managed to block but was powerless as Sturridge, whose value was set at £6.5million by a tribunal following his move from Manchester City, poked it home. ‘We are pleased for Dan. It’s hard for our young men here when they have to get past players like Nicolas (Anelka) and Didier (Drogba) but he has talent and is working hard at it,’ said Wilkins.Captain Terry, who lifted the trophy in 2007 and again last year, said: ‘It is always an amazing day at Wembley which is why I am desperate to get there again.’Ferguson said Celtic had made a second enquiry for £3.5m-rated defender St Ledger but added: ‘They’re a million miles away with their valuation.’
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NOTW:
CARLO'S SWAT SQUAD BRUSH ASIDE FERGIE LAD
Preston 0 Chelsea 2
By Martin Hardy
RELENTLESS. The swatting of Sir Alex's son on his home bow. The confidence in the stride towards a potential Double few have still to mention.
January, the month when the Africa Cup of Nations takes its toll on Carlo Ancelotti's men. Really?
No evidence still to back up that particular claim.
This was another reminder to Manchester United and Arsenal that Chelsea's groove remains the most consistent.
A timely reminder that, as Cup holders, they care enough to send out a team with backbone and strength. That they won't lose their crown on a beach in Brazil.
There was just one slip. One moment when the old Cup gave its usual opportunity to a budding hero.
Fancy it, Darren Carter? Fancy making a game of it? Sadly, he didn't.
It was not quite an 'and Smith must score' moment - a la the 1983 final when Brighton missed the chance to beat Manchester United. Has that bloke slept since by the way?
But on the stroke of half-time, Carter had the opportunity potentially to make his own little mark, to scare the flash southerners, to make them think. Yet from a yard, he could not manage it.
Michael Hart crossed deep from the right. Chris Brown for once emerged from the all-encompassing shadow of John Terry and Alex to loop a header to the far post that forced keeper Henrique Hilario to dive full stretch to fingertip the ball into the path of the Preston midfielder.
Even with Terry on the line, it was a dolly. From underneath the crossbar, with momentum carrying him forward, Deepdale braced itself for an equaliser, a chance to believe.
To go in at half-time level and with Ferguson ready to blow inspiration into their tightening lungs.
But Carter missed, striking the ball awkwardly with the inside of his right calf, watching in despair as Preston's and his own moment in the sun went skywards.
There was never a way to come back from that. A miss indicative of a glaring gulf in class. If Reading's win at Liverpool and Leeds' victory at Old Trafford have done but one thing, it is too sharpen the senses of those big boys still in the competition.
When the window of opportunity opens, at least hit the target, at least frighten the holders.
Ferguson junior knew its significance, admitting: "It was a bad miss."
His side were already behind by then, already blowing hard and realising with each double-quick pass, the gulf in front of them.
That was reinforced eight minutes before the interval, when they had the ball, when they could sense an opening.
But within a matter of seconds of Chris Sedgwick being dispossessed, Chelsea had their lead.
They broke with lightening pace, Michael Ballack finding Nicolas Anelka, who toyed with Youl Mawene before driving a right-footed shot through the excellent Andy Lonergan.
Blink and you could have missed it.
The change from end to end, from defence to attack. It should have deflated Ferguson's men.
But they should already have been behind, referee Mike Dean blowing a fraction too soon on the edge of the Preston penalty area when Mawene crashed into Frank Lampard.
Again, in seconds the ball had fizzed to Yury Zhirkov on the left, and then found Florent Malouda, who tucked his shot past Lonergan.
Dean's whistle had barely stopped blowing. He was unfortunate. Chelsea were showboating their speed. The warning could not be heeded.
The difference, for all the promptings of Richard Chaplow and the stoicism of Lonergan, was just too great.
Deep down at Deepdale, you have to acknowledge that even had Carter tucked away his chance, Chelsea had the firepower to react.
It may offer the Preston midfielder a crumb of comfort as he struggles to stop the moment repeating over and over in his mind.
His head, like those of his team-mates, had not cleared of his miss when Chelsea officially killed the game.
Less than two minutes had been played in the second half when Terry rose to head a Malouda corner goalwards. Lonergan again did his bit but Daniel Sturridge reacted quickest to score from close range. Game over.
Still, Anelka refused to relent, to take it easy. With 20 minutes remaining, another stirring run ended with Ballack holding his head in his hands as Lonergan reacted instinctively to tip the effort over his crossbar.
The French forward was unplayable.
Behind him, Terry and Alex were impregnable, Frank Lampard probed and Deco cantered.
And the introduction of Joe Cole, a player with something to prove as his contract ticks down, further turned the screw. He was here and there and everywhere, in pursuit of a goal, in pursuit of a new deal.
It was a harsh first day at the home office for Ferguson. He did not over do his introduction, no fists waving or centre spot bows.
His team were not put to the sword, that may well have been his prime objection for a struggling Championship side at quarter-to-one yesterday afternoon.
On the hour mark he had sent on Jon Parkin. A white flag going up. A big one.
The expanding Beast swapped shirts with Terry at the finish. The Chelsea captain could have put it up in a boat and with a tail wind, been home in double-quick time.
For the most part yesterday, as is increasingly becoming the norm for Ancelotti's men, it was plain sailing.
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