sunderland 1-0

Independent:

Lamps lights way for Chelsea again

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0: England midfielder steals the glory with poacher's goal while terrific Torres rediscovers his touch

by Glenn Moore

When the Ivory Coast begin their African Nations Cup campaign against Sudan next Sunday, it is a reasonable bet that Fernando Torres will be hoping they win. Indeed, the Chelsea striker will be cheering them all the way to the final on 12 February.
Torres knows that for as long as Didier Drogba and his countrymen are in Africa, he will be playing centre-forward for Chelsea. Even if Ivory Coast are knocked out in the group stages, Torres is guaranteed at least five matches and this was the second. The knowledge appears to have relaxed him for yesterday we saw the Torres of old: running at opponents, taking them on, demanding the ball, scoring goals.
Ah, not quite. The last aspect, the most crucial one for a £50m striker, was not there, but Torres again hit the bar, and the shot that did so led to the only goal of the game. Frank Lampard was the scorer, his 181st for Chelsea, this one a somewhat fortuitous poacher's effort from a player who always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
That was in the 13th minute and it seemed to set Chelsea up for a routine win, their third in a row. But Chelsea cannot close games out the way they used to and Sunderland, as might be expected given their manager and their form, refused to go quietly. Busy, vibrant and resilient, they took the game to the London side and with better finishing would have gained the draw they merited.
"I'm very disappointed and frustrated," said Martin O'Neill, the Sunderland manager. "We had the best opportunities and we missed at least five and that's too many. Scoring goals is difficult, but it is not that difficult. A blundering full-back from four leagues below could have put a couple of those away."
There was also a strong penalty claim, Ashley Cole jumping into Nicklas Bendtner in the 58th minute. Phil Dowd, who seconds before had turned down a penalty appeal by Torres, waved play on. "It's a definite penalty," said O'Neill, who intimated that it was not given because it came so soon after the Torres incident. However, Torres should later have had a penalty when tripped by Phil Bardsley, but was booked for simulation.
Andre Villas-Boas was disinclined to discuss either incident, preferring to praise Torres. "His performance was good. He is getting a good run of games and finding form. He has all the team and fans behind him and it is good to see him picking up confidence. He hasn't been scoring, but he is getting nearer all the time." Torres has not scored in three months but Villas-Boas added: "I don't think he has to score as long as he helps the team to win games."
Chelsea were watched by Gary Cahill who passed a medical yesterday. He may start at Norwich next week for this was another of David Luiz's Jekyll and Hyde displays, the latter on display in the 93rd minute when he allowed Bendtner to run off him on to Connor Wickham's pass, only for the Dane to shoot wide.
That was Bendtner's third miss, he also put a header and a shot wide in the first half. James McClean wasted very good opportunities in the third minute when set up by Stephane Sessegnon, and 65th from Seb Larsson's cross; and Craig Gardner shot wide in the 89th minute.
Chelsea had chances, Torres and Juan Mata testing Simon Mignolet, but it was the old faithful who actually scored. From's Mata right-wing cross, Torres performed an acrobatic overhead kick. The ball hit the bar, the third time Torres has struck it with spectacular efforts in Chelsea's recent home games. It bounced down and Lampard, smartly changing his body shape, diverted the ball in for his ninth league goal of the season.
There was more good news for Villas-Boas with the return of Michael Essien, out all season with a knee injury, for the last 18 minutes. "It is great to see him back on the pitch," said Villas-Boas. The Ghanaian's drive and energy has certainly been missed.

Chelsea (4-1-2-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Romeu; Meireles, Lampard (Essien, 73); Ramires, Torres, Mata (Malouda, 85).
Sunderland (4-4-1-1): Mignolet; Bardsley, O'Shea, Kilgallon (Turner, 45), Richardson (Wickham, 80); Larsson, Vaughan (Gardner, 70), Cattermole, McLean; Sessegnon; Bendtner.

Referee Phil Dowd.
Man of the match Torres (Chelsea).
Match rating 7/10.


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Observer:

Chelsea's Frank Lampard claims winner to see off Sunderland
Amy Lawrence at Stamford Bridge

This was a game that promised changes afoot in Chelsea's makeup. Michael Essien was thrilled to make his long awaited return to the midfield heartland for the first time since May, Gary Cahill, his transfer imminent, watched with an excitable smile from the stands, and Fernando Torres looked like a brand new player – or more pertinently, an old player.
This was much more like the version that terrorised the Premier League in his Liverpool days. Torres did everything but score. The statisticians may be able to rack this one up on top of the goalless games that stretch back almost four months in the league, but it was a top-class display. His role in the matchwinner merited more than just a plain old assist, too, given that his work amounted for about 99% of the goal.
He lashed at Juan Mata's cross with a swivelling scissors kick, as spectacular in technique as in ferocity, only to see the ball rebound off the crossbar, hit Frank Lampard, and bounce in. While the Englishman lapped up the applause, the crowd knew who to thank for the goal and chanted for Torres.
Over the course of the game half a dozen chances came the way of Chelsea's No 9, and his sharpness of thought and willingness to shoot made him a constant threat. "He's getting a good run of games and finding inspiration and motivation. He hasn't been scoring but he is getting nearer all the time," said André Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager.
But for all the possibilities of future improvements, Chelsea walked off mindful that a narrow victory over Sunderland had caused more than enough nervy moments. The fearless form recently instilled in the visitors by Martin O'Neill only missed finesse in the finishing department. "We missed at least five really good opportunities," said Sunderland's frustrated manager.
The first would have given them an early lead, in the fourth minute, when Stéphane Sessègnon ambled into the box with a fine mazy run, and James McClean could not quite make a clean connection with the goal at his mercy. The winger, 22, had another chance late in the game but sliced horribly.
Perhaps the occasion got to McClean. He was being watched by the Republic of Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, with a view to being integrated into the squad in time for the European Championship.
With Sunderland hunting an equaliser and Chelsea seeking some breathing space, the game could have tilted in any direction in a frantic period when Phil Dowd was confronted with three penalty appeals around the hour mark.
Torres was brought down by John O'Shea on the margins of the penalty area, then Ashley Cole crashed into Nicklas Bendtner's back and finally Torres attempted to jink between two Sunderland defenders and got caught by Phil Bardsley's knee. Dowd's only action was to book the Chelsea striker for the final plea – a poor decision.
Sunderland played with enough courage to ensure Chelsea were anxious about the outcome until the final whistle. The visitors mustered three late efforts that suggested they would not have been unlucky with a point.
"A blundering full-back from four divisions below could have stuck a couple of those in," said O'Neill. "When you consider Chelsea were overwhelmed at the end, we should try to press on. It just gnaws away we didn't get something from the game."
Funny, really. The difference in the end was finishing and yet the finish that made the difference was merely down to Lampard's knack for being in the right place at the right time.
That drew him level with Jimmy Greaves's 124 strikes in Chelsea's league goalscoring charts. Lampard has 181 in all competitions, 12 behind Kerry Dixon, with the all-time leading scorer, Bobby Tambling, on 202. "He will continue to threaten all remaining Chelsea records," Villas-Boas said, before confirming that Cahill had passed his medical at the club. "He should be our player soon," he added.
There was no disguising the manager's pleasure at the result. "It was an important weekend for us. We have shortened the distance to Tottenham, and increased the distance from Liverpool," he said.


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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0
By Oliver Brown, Stamford Bridge

A hex hangs over Fernando Torres, and even this cultured exhibition of the lone striker’s art did nothing to lift it.
Here it was Frank Lampard who profited from the Spaniard’s rotten luck, staying stationary as his team-mate’s exquisite volley cannoned off the crossbar and in, courtesy of his shin.
The freakish strike proved enough for Chelsea to thwart a resolute Sunderland side, but only a goal of Torres’ sown could have satisfied a man who has still not scored in the league for almost four months.
Lampard could have applied few more straightforward, or unwitting, finishes to his 124 top-flight goals for Chelsea than the one that presented itself here.
Ambling into the penalty area, he found himself in precisely the right place as Torres thwacked the sweetest shot on to the bar, straight off Lampard and into the net.
Poor Torres. Here was his moment, with Didier Drogba otherwise engaged at the Africa Nations Cup, to assert his claims to lead the line. But toil as he did, he could not expunge the grim reality of a Premier League goal drought that has lasted since Sept 24.
He could be grateful for the surprising patience of the Stamford Bridge crowd as a succession of opportunities were spurned.
'Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s No?9,’ they cried, although the £50?million man has too often looked a troubled imitation of a Premier League centre-forward.
When he unleashed one low drive on the turn, watching the ball skid past Simon Mignolet’s far post by a fraction, he must have wondered if he would ever score again.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was unconcerned, arguing: “His performance was good — he is getting a good run of games. He is finding inspiration, motivation, and finding form with all his team behind him. As for scoring, he is getting nearer every time.”
This was one instance where the result was all that mattered to Chelsea.
Barely credibly after their recent travails, they clung to the last vestiges of a title challenge, cementing their position in fourth. And for the second straight game, Villas-Boas had Lampard to thank for the critical intervention.
The friction between the pair is well-documented but when Lampard was substituted in the second half for Michael Essien, making his return after six months out with a knee injury, they at least looked each other in the eye.
There were flaws in Chelsea’s armoury here — not least the combustible David Luiz, who was booked for a daft challenge on Nicklas Bendtner — but they should acquire greater steel once the £7?million signing of centre-back Gary Cahill is confirmed today.
Cahill, who was sitting in an executive box after passing his medical yesterday morning, watched the team prevail in a tense performance that punctured the momentum of Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland.
The anguish was etched across O’Neill’s face as Sunderland’s late bombardment fell short, with Bendtner, Craig Gardner and James McClean all throwing away opportunities to seal a point.
While this was a game complicated by several penalty appeals, including one where Bendtner believed he had been bundled over by Ashley Cole, the manager could not disguise an exasperation with his strikers. “I know scoring goals is difficult, but it’s not that difficult,” he muttered. “A lower-league full-back from four divisions below could have scored one of those.”
Chelsea were fortunate to protect their lead. Indeed, if Bendtner were not possessed of such a clumsy first touch, then this tussle could have turned out very differently.
The out-of-form striker displayed a minimum of poise in Sunderland’s attacks and wasted an opening for a swift equaliser, dragging the ball inches wide from Stephane Sessegnon’s lay-off with Petr Cech beaten. McClean fared little better, denied only by Jose Bosingwa’s desperate saving tackle after more fine work from the dynamic Sessegnon.
Torres was unstinting in his work ethic, and there were howls of protest as he was booked early in the second half for diving, when John O’Shea seemed to have impeded him.
He appealed again when Phil Bardsley blocked his path with a clear trip, and frustrations began to simmer, with Lee Cattermole receiving a yellow card for an uncompromising body-check on Lampard.
Sunderland surged forward in waves in the final 10 minutes, with McClean’s cross producing a flap of a clearance from Cech and Gardner side-footing wide after a penetrating Sessegnon run.
Bendtner’s miss was the most glaring, as he lifted the ball over the net with only the Chelsea goalkeeper to beat, drawing a reaction of pure disgust from O’Neill on the touchline.
Villas-Boas exhaled in relief, even if the frustration of the luckless Torres was left to linger.


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Mail:

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0: Torres fails to score but he shines in victory
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

For Fernando Torres, the goal famine persists. The Spaniard has now gone 14hr 2min without scoring, but this was an afternoon to forgive, at least in part, his past sins since his £50million, ill-starred transfer from Liverpool 12 months ago.
At last, Torres reminded Chelsea supporters why Roman Abramovich had felt compelled to make him the most costly player in the history of British football; even if memories now have to travel three months back in time to recall his last goal.
Yet, on another day, Torres's athletic, acrobatic volley, at the far post in the 13th minute at Stamford Bridge, would have been acclaimed as a candidate for goal of the season.
Instead, the ball struck Sunderland's bar with such velocity, as Torres twisted in mid-air to make contact with his right foot, that it had rebounded into Simon Mignolet's net off Frank Lampard without the England star having much knowledge of what happened.
Lampard took the plaudits from the crowd behind the goal - but this was a moment when the credit belonged to Torres.
The 27-year-old Spaniard was looking comfortable on the ball again and keeping it under control on the run, as we had been accustomed to witnessing through his years at Anfield.
Twice, he was involved in claims for penalties in the second half. On the first occasion, Torres might have gone down a mite too easily in the 57th minute.
Yet nine minutes afterwards he was unquestionably impeded inside Sunderland's area by Phillip Bardsley; however, rather than receive a penalty, referee Phil Dowd booked him for 'simulation'.
But if Torres had cause to be aggrieved, so did Martin O'Neill.
He has made a profound impact since being appointed manager of Sunderland, but luck deserted him at Stamford Bridge.
If he was dumbfounded the referee denied Nicklas Bendtner a legitimate argument to be awarded a penalty after he was clattered by Ashley Cole, shortly after Torres had been refused his first penalty appeal, O'Neill's frustration on the touchline when James McClean, Craig Gardner and Bendtner all wasted gilt-edged opportunities for his team, with two of them materialising in the dying moments, was evident to all.
He dropped to his knees, he spun on the spot.
He died a little death with each passing miss.
'In the second half we must have had five really good opportunities,' he lamented.
'I know scoring is difficult - but it's not that difficult. 'A blundering full-back, from four leagues down, could have stuck two of those in. When you consider how overwhelmed Chelsea's staff were to have won at the final whistle, you know we must have played all right. But it just gnaws away that we didn't get something out of that game.'
He had a case. The misses in front of goal from McClean, then Gardner and Bendtner, as the clock rolled over into injury-time, deserve to cause them sleepless nights. In the stand, David Milliband, a non-executive vice-chairman of Sunderland, must have viewed this afternoon as the worst instance of a miscarriage of justice since he was beaten to the leadership of the Labour Party by his younger brother, Ed.
Apart from returning to the North-East empty-handed, O'Neill's other disappointment was to lose centre back Matthew Kilgallon with an ankle injury.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas- Boas, in contrast, illustrated his jubilation at cutting the gap to third-placed Tottenham to six points by greeting his players as they left the pitch.
'We left the game on the edge,' he admitted. 'But it was a good performance, and an important weekend for us as it has shortened the distance to Tottenham.'
He was protective of Torres, the goal-shy striker, but with justification on this afternoon when the Spaniard did little wrong other than fulfil the part of his contract for which he is most handsomely rewarded.
'Fernando is finding inspiration, and motivation and there was a good solidarity from the fans for him,' said Villas-Boas.
'Of course, he hasn't been scoring, but he is getting nearer all the time.'
Pointedly, Chelsea's young Portuguese manager refused to yield to any suggestions that Torres cannot possibly be acclaimed to be at his best until he rediscovers the art of scoring.
'As long as he helps the team, we are happy with him,' he insisted.
The argument will always be deemed to be a spurious one - but Torres truly earned the right to have celebrated a goal with his fabulous volley that led to Lampard's match-winner.
In the best seats, Gary Cahill, whose £7m transfer to Chelsea from Bolton Wanderers will be completed on Sunday, was caught laughing, in sympathy, as the drums rolled for Lampard, not Torres in west London.


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Mirror:
Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland
By Julian Bennetts

‘Fantastic Fernando’ exclaimed the headline in the Chelsea matchday programme.
Even by the Pravda-style standards of club ­propaganda, this was an absolute belter.
“It seems like a lot longer than one year since I arrived here,” said Torres.
You bet it does. And it seems a lifetime since he scored.
Actually, it is over 14 hours and counting.
Yet there was something about this display, something about his attitude, something about his body language, that suggested his Chelsea career – and the £50m-worth of baggage that came with it – might yet take off.
In the interview that accompanied the headline, Torres was much more realistic about his 12 months at the Bridge. Well, a touch more realistic.
“It has been a very hard year with a lot of change in both my personal and professional life,” he said, hinting at a struggle to settle into London life as well as into the peculiar politics of a Chelsea dressing room and into a formation that does not pivot around his singular talent. At times, it still looks a struggle. In his finishing, instinct has been usurped by panic, speed of thought has been overtaken by haste of mind.
But the jauntiness is returning to his game, the change of pace to flat-foot defenders was evident at times and textbook technique resurfaced in the form of the volley that led to Frank Lampard’s decisive goal.
He was unfortunate not to win two penalties and was wrongly sanctioned for diving by Phil Dowd.
(Dowd, incidentally, demonstrated the quality Premier League managers demand. Consistency. He was ­consistently poor.)
Torres is testing the maxim to its very limit but the ‘class is permanent’ line remains a lifebelt for him to cling to.
Martin O’Neill would certainly love someone of Torres’ calibre to lead the Sunderland line.
All of the qualities that O’Neill can squeeze out of a football team were evident in this Sunderland display.
Commitment almost demonic in its intensity – and not just from Lee Cattermole – allied to rigid organisation and tactical, if not always physical, ­discipline.
O’Neill even has Nicklas Bendtner labouring slavishly. No wonder. If the heat of his rhetoric matches his touchline pyrotechnics, the squad ­cannot fail to respond.
Precisely 32 seconds had elapsed before O’Neill – ­looking like a man at C&A alongside AVB’s man at D&G – had sprung out of his box.
Watching his technical area joust with Villas-Boas was like watching a Punch and Judy show without coshes.
The reason O’Neill suffered a setback yesterday was that his team fumbled for that touch of extra class that can undo one of the elite. Like the moment Craig Gardner sidefooted an easy chance wide or when Bendtner fluffed his lines – and failed to find it.
But, strange as it may seem, this was further evidence of the galvanising effect O’Neill’s appointment has had.
Right up until Dowd called time on his own forgettable display, Sunderland appeared to have a belief – if not the technique to realise it – that they would get something from the game. Progress under O’Neill will continue. Whether Chelsea will progress under Villas-Boas is still uncertain.
It was a fillip to welcome back Michael Essien but a negative move to send him on in place of Lampard.
Chelsea dropped deeper, invited Sunderland to the ­attacking table, and nearly choked on AVB’s tactics.
His celebration showed the importance of this win, of every win in his most important season as a coach.
Villas-Boas claims there is no unusual pressure on him. There is. There is ALWAYS unusual pressure at Chelsea.
A Fantastic Fernando would help relieve it and maybe, just maybe, he is finally coming into view.

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People:

Chelsea 1 - 0 Sunderland: Fernando Torres still can't find the net but Lampard seals the points
by Tom Hopkinson

IT’S not easy to sympathise with a man who pockets in a week what most on these shores earn in a decade.
But few inside Stamford Bridge would have begrudged Fernando Torres a right good moan last night as the Spaniard’s goal drought worsened.
The poor fella – all £170,000 a week of him – has not scored a goal since October, but he worked his socks off yesterday and will have drifted home wondering exactly what he has to do to get one.
Even when he produced the sort of effort which most thought was now beyond him – a picture-perfect volley – the ball rattled the bar, hit Frank Lampard on the shin, and only then trickled over the line.
And as Lamps wheeled away in delight, Torres was picking himself off the ground no doubt wishing he could catch that sort of break himself.
Not that Lampard will be too bothered because the goal was yet another milestone in his glittering Chelsea career.
It was his 124th in the league for the Blues, taking him third with England legend Jimmy Greaves in their all-time list of scorers.
Lampard’s flukey strike also served as yet another reminder to manager Andre Villas-Boas that he has an uncanny knack of scoring goals.
Not that there’s anything lucky about finding yourself in the right place at the right time, a point Villas-Boas himself was keen to make.
The Chelsea boss, who expects to complete the signing of Gary Cahill today, said: “Frank is always a player who times his arrival in the box amazingly well and it’s no coincidence he’s one of the best scoring midfielders in the world.”
And as long as Torres keeps taking up the positions he found himself in yesterday, the goals will start to come for him too.
Villas-Boas, who threw on Michael Essien yesterday for the midfielder’s first taste of action since July, added: “Fernando’s performance was good. He’s getting a good run of games now and he’s finding his motivation and inspiration.
“He’s finding his form. He has all the team and the fans behind him, and it’s good to see him picking up confidence.
“As long as he helps the team win games, we are happy with what he is doing.”
Torres did that the moment he met Juan Mata’s cross with a spectacular volley.
Simon Mignolet was beaten all ends up, but it thudded the bar, hit Lampard and rolled home.
Torres carved out several openings and was unlucky to see his efforts drift just wide. He was equally impressive in his link-up play. Not that it was all one-way traffic – Sunderland played their part in a pulsating game which ought to have had three penalties.
Referee Phil Dowd twice waved away appeals by Torres – wrongly booked for diving the second time – and denied Nicklas Bendtner after Ashley Cole clattered him. That was about a minute after Torres’s first appeal which perhaps played on Dowd’s mind.
Bendtner twice went close, as did Seb Larsson, and James McLean will have nightmares about one sitter he missed.
Manager Martin O’Neill said: “When you consider Chelsea were overwhelmed to have won the game then I suppose we take some sort of consolation.
“But it just gnaws away that we didn’t get something.
“I need to look at the other penalty appeals again but ours is a definite penalty.”
O’Neill, who took over from Steve Bruce last month, is not ruling out buying a forward and laid into his mis-firing strikers.
“Scoring a goal is difficult – but not that difficult,” he said.
“A blundering full-back could have stuck a couple of those goals in...from four leagues below.”


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Sun:

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0

FRANK LAMPARD is back in Andre Villas-Boas' good books after he downed Sunderland.
Lamps knew little about his goal after the ball bounced off him and into the net after Fernando Torres' sublime acrobatic kick had thumped back off the bar.
But Blues boss AVB will care little for the technique after the England star's strike made it three straight wins in 2012.
Villas-Boas insisted earlier in the week that he has no problem with Lampard despite the player seemingly falling out of favour with the Portuguese.
The Stamford Bridge chief refused to get carried away with the goal celebration. But Lampard's form is clearly winning AVB over.
Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief inside the opening five minutes when Stephane Sessegnon was allowed to run through unchallenged, with Jose Bosingwa just doing enough to prevent James McClean pouncing.
David Luiz was booked for a poor challenge on Nicklas Bendtner, with Petr Cech fisting away Sebastian Larsson's powerful free-kick.
Lampard had already seen a shot blocked at the other end and Torres flicked a header wide before the pair inadvertently combined to give Chelsea a spectacular 13th-minute lead.
Torres smashed a sensational volley against the crossbar and the ball careered back off Lampard and into the net.
Terrible defending from a corner then forced Larsson to clear Lampard's hooked volley off the line as the home side held sway.
Phil Bardsley blocked a header from Torres, who was being given vocal backing by the Stamford Bridge crowd.
But they were almost silenced 10 minutes before half-time when Bendtner dragged Sessegnon's pass inches wide with Cech beaten.
Torres did the same at the other end after a neat turn 20 yards out before leaving Matthew Kilgallon in a heap following a seemingly innocuous aerial challenge.
Kilgallon stayed down and was eventually carried off on a stretcher in stoppage time, with Michael Turner coming on.
Sessegnon fired an early warning shot after the break when he drilled a volley straight at Cech.
Simon Mignolet kept out Torres' shot from a tight angle, Juan Mata volleyed the resulting corner over the top and Ramires failed to capitalise when Mignolet spilt Ashley Cole's cross.
Torres was convinced he should have had a penalty after going down under John O'Shea's challenge.
Bendtner thought the same at the other end seconds later after being bundled over by Cole but referee Phil Dowd disagreed on both counts.
But Dowd had no hesitation whistling and producing a yellow card when a frustrated Lee Cattermole clattered into Lampard as tempers frayed.
David Vaughan flashed a 30-yard strike narrowly wide before McClean missed an open goal in the 63rd minute, stabbing wide after a brilliant run and cross from Larsson.
Torres was denied another penalty claim when he was clearly tripped by Bardsley, Dowd rubbing salt into the wound by booking the striker.
Luiz produced a vital interception to rob McClean before Sunderland withdrew Vaughan for Craig Gardner.
Raul Meireles was soon cautioned for bringing down the new man, who was then joined on the field by Michael Essien, with scorer Lampard withdrawn.
Essien, returning after a long-term knee injury, skidded a 30-yard drive wide before Sunderland threw on Connor Wickham for Kieran Richardson.
Cole had to be alert to beat Bendtner to a cross as Sunderland poured forward in the final 10 minutes, during which Chelsea threw on Florent Malouda for Mata.
Cech got away with flapping at a McClean cross either side of a Meireles chip tipped over by Mignolet and a horrible shank from the same player.
Sunderland missed two glorious late chances to equalise, Gardner sidefooting wide after a great Sessegnon run and Bendtner lifting the ball over the bar with only Cech to beat.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Lampard (Essien 73), Romeu, Meireles, Ramires, Torres, Mata (Malouda 85). Subs not used: Turnbull, Lukaku, Sturridge, Hutchinson, Bertrand. Booked: Luiz, Torres, Meireles.Goals: Lampard 13.

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Kilgallon (Turner 45), O'Shea, Richardson (Wickham 80), Larsson, Cattermole, Vaughan (Gardner 69), McClean, Sessegnon, Bendtner.Subs not used: Westwood, Ji, Meyler, Elmohamady.Booked: Cattermole.

Att: 41,696
Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).

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Star:

CHELSEA 1 - SUNDERLAND 0: FERNANDO TORRES' SUPER SHOT HAS ELECTRIC LAMPS HOT TO TROT
By Harry Pratt

POOR old Fernando Torres.
It is highly unlikely the Spanish dud has ever struck a shot quite so sweetly in his career, let alone since his £50million Chelsea move.
A deep ball into the box after 12 minutes fell his way and Torres swivelled on a sixpence to produce an absolute peach of a scissor-kick strike.
You’d have put your mortgage on it bulging the back of Sunderland’s net or, at least, John Terry might.
But did it go in? Did it heck. It shuddered against the crossbar and there was lethal poacher Frank Lampard to greedily gobble up the scraps.
It was Lamps’ 124th league goal for the club he joined in 2001 and meant he had drawn level with legendary Jimmy Greaves when it comes to that hotshot chart at Stamford Bridge.
And as he turned away to celebrate another milestone, it was hard not to feel for Torres.
There he was on his knees shaking his head in disbelief, no doubt wondering when his luck might change. But credit maligned man as he went on to turn in a great all-round display.
One man who did not care a jot about the name on the scoresheet was Andre Villas-Boas.
Far more important for the Chelsea boss was that the early goal put his team en route to another three vital points.
This result keeps them in the driving seat to finish in the top four, just six points adrift of third-placed Spurs.
Villas-Boas was full of praise for Torres and the relentlessly prolific Lampard.
He said: “Torres’ performance was very good. You can see he is motivated and inspired by the games he’s getting and he has the fans and players behind him.
“He hasn’t been scoring but he’s getting nearer. I don’t think it matters when he gets his next goal, just as long as he is still helping the team to win.
“Frank is always a player who has amazing timing when he runs into the box.
“It’s no coincidence he’s one of the great scoring midfielders in world football. He will continue to threaten the Chelsea scoring records.”
Not long ago this fixture would have been deemed a home banker for Chelsea but then Martin O’Neill took over at Sunderland.
When the wily Northern Ireland miracle-worker took control of the Black Cats they were languishing in 18th place. Six league games and four wins later, they arrived in SW6 in tenth spot.
O’Neill, though, was still pulling his hair out after the game. He moaned: “We had five great opportunities and missed them all. That’s too many. Even a blundering full-back from four divisions below could have stuckthose away.
“We also had a definite penalty in the second half.”
It took just three minutes for the visitors to unzip the hosts’ fragile rear- guard. Stephane Sessegnon brokethrough only for his cross to evade James McClean by inches.
AVB’s men made the most of that escape as they led against the run of play after 12 minutes.
Torres might have gone home there and then as the writing was on the wall, this wouldn’t be his day.
Midway through the first half, his header was destined for the far corner until Phil Bardsley arrived to clear the danger.
Things got worse after the break as he was twice denied penalties, despite being hacked down by John O’Shea and Bardsley.
To compound his misery, referee Phil Dowd decided to book him for diving on the second incident.
Sunderland had a great penalty shout denied too after Ashley Cole bundled over Nicklas Bendtner.
During a nerve-shredding finale McClean squandered a sitter – as did Craig Gardner and Bendtner, as Chelsea clung on.

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Express:

CHELSEA 1 - SUNDERLAND 0: MARTIN O'NEILL'S HAIR-RAISER
By Colin Mafham

THEY call Sunderland the Black Cats, but any luck that is supposed to go with that tag deserted them good and proper yesterday.
They had high-flying Chelsea on the ropes but failed to deliver the knock-out blow by squandering at least two chances that manager Martin O’Neill claimed “a blundering full-back from four divisions below could have stuck away”.
O’Neill looked like tearing out what little hair he has left as the side he has transformed since taking over just weeks ago simply blew it.
“We missed five opportunities – and that’s just too many,” he moaned. “When you consider Chelsea were overwhelmed at the end, I am very disappointed not to get anything out of this game.”
But despite that O’Neill poured cold water on speculation that he could return to his former club, Aston Villa, for Emile Heskey to convert some of the chances his strikers missed yesterday. “I won’t be rushing out to get someone just because we missed those opportunities,” he said. “Getting a 20-goal-a-seaon striker would cost us £35 million anyway.”
In the meantime, if Gary Cahill had any doubts about joining Chelsea they will surely have vanished after just 13 minutes that, contrary to fable, proved mighty lucky for his new club – and Frank Lampard
Chelsea’s favourite son got what turned out to be their match-winner, but it was what Fernando Torres did before that which caught everyone’s eyes, never mind the watching Cahill’s.
The Spaniard met Mata’s cross with a spectacular mid-air volley that clattered the crossbar before rebounding off the unsuspecting Lampard into a net that had barely been threatened until then.
Given that it was nearly four months ago since Torres last scored in the league, you could forgive him for wondering what he has to do to find the net. But at least he looked a lot nearer his £50m best yesterday.
Lampard on the other hand went into the history books with his 124th league goal for Chelsea – the same as the legendary Jimmy Greaves.
But Sunderland are no slouches these days, and they really did deserve to cancel out that goal when an uncharacteristically industrious Nicklas Bendtner shaved the post with keeper Petr Cech beaten – a chance set up by the impressive Stephane Sessegnon.
If they suspected their luck had deserted them in that 13th minute, the Black Cats had it confirmed just before the break when Matt Kilgallon, thrown a lifeline by O’Neill after being frozen out by the previous manager, was carried off on a stretcher after falling badly under a Torres challenge.
Then referee Phil Dowd qualified for membership of the rogues’ gallery by denying three seemingly nailed-on penalty claims soon after the restart – the first after John O’Shea bundled Torres over, the second when Ashley Cole cynically pushed Bendtner in the back, and the third when Phil Bardsley tripped Torres.
The official saw the latter as a dive and duly booked the striker, but at least he got one thing right, doing what most referees do these days and showing Lee Cattermole a yellow card in between it all.
If their luck had been in rather than out, Sunderland should have had an equaliser when James McClean, another unheard-of who has benefitted from O’Neill’s arrival, missed his second sitter of the match after Seb Larsson set him up. If there was any justice the clear chances Craig Gardner and Bendtner missed near the end would have gone in and Sunderland would have got the three points they arguably deserved.
But if nothing else the fact that they got that close shows what a massive difference O’Neill has made. A relieved Chelsea knew that last night all right.
As Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas admitted: “It took an incredible effort to end Sunderland’s incredible run of form.