Basle 0-1

Independent:

Basel 1 Chelsea 0 Woeful Chelsea qualify the hard way and must improve
Saves from Petr Cech keep the score down against Basel as Jose Mourinho’s team struggle to get one shot on target
By SIMON JOHNSON

Chelsea secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League despite slumping to a shock defeat in Switzerland, but Europe’s elite will have little to worry about in the new year’s knockout phase after this woeful display.

Mohammed Salah netted the winner Basel deserved three minutes from time to send the home fans into delirium and leave Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho questioning whether his players have the strength to cope with the winter period after all.
They have progressed with a game to spare in fortunate fashion because Schalke only drew against Steaua Bucharest and still trail Chelsea by a point, while Basel remain two behind.
Chelsea’s closest rivals play each other in the final group game so Mourinho’s side can’t be caught by both, although they will need to win at home against Steaua to guarantee top spot.
John Obi Mikel boasted confidently 24 hours earlier that the “real Chelsea are back,” but they actually look to have taken another step backwards in what is proving to be a season of inconsistency.
They have suffered the ignominy of losing to Basel home and away now, although the result was not surprising because they struggled from the outset.
Given Mourinho’s comments on the eve of the match, much attention was paid to the 11 players he believed strong enough to survive the challenge Basel posed.
Ashley Cole and Juan Mata were left on the bench for the fourth game in a row, but Willian was given a chance to impress instead of Eden Hazard, who was among the substitutes.
The build-up had also seen a lot of discussion about how Mourinho had given his head a close shave, but in the opening stages it was his team’s turn to have a few themselves.
In complete contrast to the fast, dynamic start they made at West Ham just three days ago, Chelsea were sluggish and allowed Basel to seize the initiative from the outset.
As the home side forced seven corners inside the first quarter, Mourinho’s men didn’t have look like a side trying to avenge the shock 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge in September or get the win needed to secure progression to the last 16 as group winners.
Mourinho used the same 4-3-3 formation as he did on Saturday, but Basel exploited the gaps on the flanks time and time again and could have had the three points wrapped by half-time but for keeper Petr Cech.
He made his first save inside three minutes when Marco Streller escaped his markers at the near post – in a similar fashion to the way he scored the winner two months ago in London – to flick on Taulant Xhaka’s free-kick.
He also had to be alert to palm Fabian Frei’s effort to safety before midfielder John Obi Mikel cleared off the line from Ivan Ivanov.
However, their luckiest escape came when referee Stephane Lannoy declined to give a penalty even though Frank Lampard clearly handled Xhaka’s cross.
The conditions were a lot colder than when these two sides last played at St Jakob-Park in April and Chelsea won 2-1 in their Europa League semi-final first leg.
Mourinho’s icy breath was clearly visible as he stood on the touchline, yet there was no doubt he was getting hot under the collar as his players carelessly gave the ball away time and time again.
One rare attack saw Samuel Eto’o just fail to get on the end of a great cross from Branislav Ivanovic, but that was virtually the only threat they posed in the first half.
In contrast, Mohamed Saleh, who was terrorising Chelsea on the right flank yet again, brought another fine save out of Cech. To make matters worse, Eto’o was carried off on a stretcher just before the break after falling awkwardly under Serey Die’s fair challenge. Fernando Torres, who has been out for three weeks with a knee problem of his own, came on to replace him.
Mourinho walked down the tunnel prematurely to clearly give his players the harsh half-time words they deserved – but they didn’t have the desired effect.
Oscar was the next to feel the manager’s wrath as Chelsea’s anaemic display continued and he was replaced 11 minutes after the restart by Hazard.
The hour mark came and went with Chelsea still to have a shot on goal.
Technically their barren streak finally came to an end in the 64th minute when Ivanovic’s flick from a Lampard free-kick was blocked six yards out, but it hardly caused a stir among their frozen travelling support.
Cech was the only Chelsea player to come out of the match with real credit. But the team needs more than that if they are to progress through the knockout stages. They still have an awful lot of improving to do.

==================

Guardian:

Basel defeat Chelsea but José Mourinho's team still advance to last 16

Dominic Fifield at St Jakob Park

Chelsea have qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League yet, as the locals celebrated raucously and the acrid smoke from their victory flares drifted across the turf, it was the scowl worn by José Mourinho that summed up this evening's work. A chance to win this group was passed up in Switzerland, Basel completing a deserved double over the Europa League holders, even if Schalke's goalless draw in distant Bucharest edged Chelsea through regardless. In the end, they staggered on in a daze.
There was an admission from Mourinho in the aftermath that he had erred in his selection, that fatigue had undermined his team's efforts for all that Basel had been excellent to merit their win. There had been a solitary change from Saturday's powerful victory at West Ham United, and yet Chelsea had been unrecognisable. Had it not been for Petr Cech, they would have been buried by the break. As it was, Mohamed Salah's late goal, clipped over the advancing goalkeeper as the visitors' entire back-line dawdled, was all that was required to confirm the hosts' success. The winner may have been cruel on Cech, but Chelsea's collective could hardly complain.
It is the inconsistency that must infuriate the management. Where Mourinho's team had been so dominant in prevailing at Upton Park, they merely drifted here apparently unable to rouse themselves. They were devoid of rhythm and zest going forward, Uefa's statistics confirming they had not mustered a single shot on target all evening. Frank Lampard's scuffed and deflected free-kick, which was cleared away by Ivan Ivanov, was about as close as they came, though the locals were never unnerved.
This was only a second blank in 25 Champions League games, the last of which had been a year ago and that traumatic 3-0 defeat at Juventus from which Roberto Di Matteo, a European Cup winner six months previously, never recovered. They exited this competition with 10 points last term. Chelsea have progressed with nine this time, even if they must beat Steaua Bucharest next month to ensure they top a mediocre group. Bang goes any hope of using that occasion as an opportunity to rest weary limbs and allow a second-string a run-out.
December boasts nine fixtures and, on this evidence, too many of this squad will struggle to play consecutive games. "Clearly I've got signs of fatigue and players who have trouble playing two matches in a few days," said Mourinho. "That will push me for sure to make a different kind of decision. That's obvious."
Weariness, both physical and mental, clearly played some part in his team's anaemic display here but Basel were blistering in their own approach. They are a slick and impressive side when permitted to revel but, even if acknowledging they had already prevailed at Stamford Bridge in the group's opening round of fixtures, no one could have predicted the in-roads they would make here.
They hustled and bustled through central midfield and fed their free-flowing wingers and full-backs. Salah, so menacing when terrorising Ashley Cole in London, tore at Branislav Ivanovic and César Azpilicueta as he drifted from flank to flank. Valentin Stocker was a nuisance, Kay Voser and Taulant Xhaka marauding forward at will. Witnessing a display this effervescent it is mystifying to consider Basel had failed to beat Steaua, the group's whipping boys, home or away.
Cech kept them at bay for a while. His best save was from Salah, pushing away a vicious shot as he tumbled to the floor and the ball reared up from the turf. The tip behind was outstanding improvisation but merely maintained the excellence already offered to deny Fabian Frei, Xhaka and Salah from distance. When he was beaten, John Mikel Obi cleared Ivanov's toe-poke from the goal-line, but Chelsea would not survive unscathed.
The visitors had just flung on Kevin de Bruyne near the end when their rearguard switched off and allowed Salah to charge beyond Ivanovic and into the area. Cech darted from his line but the finish was crisp and accurate, over the goalkeeper and into the far corner. Basel now sit second and, should they avoid defeat against Schalke in the last game, their own interest in the competition will be prolonged into the new year.
Chelsea, of course, still aspire to regain this trophy though considerable improvement will be required to make that feasible. They had lost Samuel Eto'o to "a muscular injury" after an awkward fall just before the interval, the striker to be scanned back at Cobham with Mourinho braced for more bad news. Fabian Schär, the home captain, was rarely troubled either by the veteran or his replacement, Fernando Torres, with the composure demonstrated by Basel's young centre-half likely to have the scouts gushing over his qualities. For Chelsea, there was little here from which to draw encouragement other than progress. The booming message to be issued to the rest of Europe, that this team is back in contention, will have to wait.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2013/nov/26/chelsea-v-basel-champions-league

=================

Telegraph:
Basle 1 Chelsea 0

By Jason Burt, St Jakob Park

This was a chop that Jose Mourinho did not expect. Having taken the clippers to his locks, with that new cropped haircut, he watched asChelsea were shorn. Cut down, in fact.
Having made a rallying cry for bravehearts for the coming intense flurry of matches, Chelsea were meek and mild and deservedly lost without registering a single shot: on or off target.
Uefa charitably claimed there was one effort — maybe a Frank Lampard free-kick that dribbled goalwards — but that was pushing it. A lot.
Chelsea were caught napping — and Mourinho let them know it.
As Mohamed Salah, a perennial thorn in Chelsea’s side, surged onto a long punt forward by Fabian Schär, scooting past Branislav Ivanovic finally to beat Petr Cech, Mourinho made a sign on the sidelines to show his team had been caught sleeping. And that was not acceptable.
Predictably, though, he did not tear into his players after the final whistle and that was probably because despite having lost twice to the Swiss champions, Chelsea, in Group E, have also now somehow already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League.
They did so despite earning just nine points so far — fewer than they gained last season which sent them out of the competition.
They have not won the group yet but a home tie next month against Steaua Bucharest should see the task completed.
It was not the only saving grace. For Chelsea, also, November, which has often been such a curious month for them with bad results is over. They come out of it with two defeats, two wins and a draw in the Premier League and Europe. Hardly the stuff of champions but they have done worse at this time of year.
Mourinho knows it has been a close shave. He was restless and unhappy throughout having detected, he later said, that his players were not right, that tiredness was a factor and that, basically, he picked the wrong team.
Even so it was odd that 35-year-old Lampard, who looked more fatigued than most, played the whole game.
He did not have much positive effect. But then few Chelsea players did beyond Cech who produced a string of first-half saves to keep his team in the contest as there were problems all over the pitch. The defence struggled; the midfield was overrun; the strikeforce seemed blunted.
Chelsea also lost Samuel Eto’o to injury — pulling up with a muscle strain he later said was a precaution — but despite Mourinho’s reasoning that he did not want to change a winning team too much after the convincing victory over West Ham, he got it wrong. And he knew it.
Again Juan Mata got no minutes, an increasingly baffling situation for the Spaniard, who must surely be reassessing his future as Chelsea huffed and puffed and failed to create.
Basle were at it from the off. They forced corner after corner and chance after chance with Salah, who has now scored in his last three matches against Chelsea, at the centre of it all.
He was denied, superbly, by Cech who adjusted while falling to beat out a snapshot and the goalkeeper pushed away a drive from the edge of the penalty from the pacy winger. A last-ditch tackle by Gary Cahill also stopped a slaloming run by Salah as he prepared to pull the trigger.
There was then a clearance off the line, after Ivan Ivanov, from a corner, planted a header beyond Cech. John Obi Mikel hacked the ball away while Cech scooped out a free-kick and then, less convincingly, pushed away a deflected shot by Fabian Frei as Marco Streller lurked.
There were appeals for a penalty — as the ball bounced up and struck Lampard — and so abject were Chelsea that Mourinho did not even wait for the half-time whistle before walking down the touchline.
He had seen enough and his team did find a bit more ballast after the interval without actually threatening.
It also appeared Basle had run out of steam. After all they had thrown the kitchen sink at Chelsea and still not scored. Maybe a draw was acceptable?
But their coach, Murat Yakin, ran the changes and the spiky, aggressive Serey Die kept biting away in midfield while Schalke’s inability to beat Steaua meant hope grew inside this tight, raucous stadium.
Chances, again, finally came with a rapid break leading to the ball falling to Serey Die outside the area. His ambitious volley flew narrowly wide with Cech grasping. Earlier, Valentin Stocker had headed weakly at Cech from a free-kick but Basle did not lose belief.
The goal came in the most direct fashion — just after a Chelsea substitution — and there was, even after that, one more chance for Serey Die while Mourinho’s side failed even to find a final rally.
The manager stood motionless. His team had also been caught cold in the plummeting temperatures.

====================

Mail:

Basle 1 Chelsea 0: Salah catches Jose’s men napping but ‘ridiculous’ visitors keep Champions League dream alive despite loss

By MATT BARLOW

The clock above his goal said 10.30pm when Petr Cech was finally beaten. For the second time in this European campaign, it was Mohamed Salah who punished him, racing clear behind Branislav Ivanovic to clip a shot over the diving goalkeeper.
On the touchline, Jose Mourinho spun around, put the palms of his hands together and did a little mime which made it clear he thought his team had nodded off.
‘Everybody, everybody, the goal is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,’ said Mourinho. ‘They were sleeping. If they weren't sleeping, how could that goal go in?
‘When you are tired, you sleep. When you are tired, you think slow. It's true. When you are tired you react late. We had situations to score but had bad control, no sharpness. When the team is tired, defensive and attacking mistakes can happen, and you concede goals that you never normally concede. But Basle deserved the bonus.’
The defeat was harsh on Cech who performed brilliantly. Without him, this would have been much worse. Basle were the better team in St Jakob-Park and the Swiss champions deserved their elaborate celebrations.
Chelsea were quite awful, they did not manage a shot on goal, but somehow fly home with the consolation that they have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League thanks to Schalke's failure to beat Steaua Bucharest.
Last year, they finished third and went out of the competition with 10 points. Twelve months on and they are guaranteed to go through with just nine points, by virtue of the fact Basle and Schalke face each other in the final game and one of them must drop points.
For Chelsea, a win at home to Steaua in the final game will win the group.
Sometimes it makes no sense. Arsenal are still not safe with 12 points. This time last year Chelsea were losing 3-0 to Juventus in Turin, a defeat which cost Roberto Di Matteo his job and sent the club spiralling into the Europa League.
That defeat in Italy was the last time Chelsea failed to score in Europe, a run which froze in Switzerland's sub-zero temperatures.
Mourinho's players probably thought they had done enough to escape with a point, weathering heavy spells of pressure and were four minutes from time when Salah struck, seconds after the Chelsea manager had made a change, sending on Kevin de Bruyne for Willian.
As De Bruyne scurried across to the right wing, Salah sped onto a long pass out of defence and scored. The passionate home fans in St Jakob-Park erupted. Suddenly they too could detect the thrill of the knockout stages and lit their flares.
For Chelsea, emotions are mixed. The Europa League will not return and as such the first aim of the season has been achieved. But there remains plenty to occupy Mourinho's mind.
According to UEFA's match statistics, they had only one shot of any kind in 90 minutes, compared with 15 by the home team.
To make matters worse, Samuel Eto'o was carried off injured in the first half with a muscle injury. ‘We'll have to wait for the scans,’ said Mourinho. ‘Clearly I've got signs of fatigue and players who have trouble playing two matches in three days. We paid the price today of the international week.
‘Maybe I should have made more changes, but when the team's played so well, you want to give them more confidence, you want them to keep that going. But I could see many signs of fatigue.
‘I don't punish players when I know the reason for their performance but to use the squad and make changes when we have so many consecutive matches.’
Despite his understanding, Mourinho appeared irritated by what he saw, a few days after 10 of the same players had produced an accomplished performance at West Ham. Perhaps that victory owed as much to the quality of the opposition.
At half-time, he was on his way to the dressing room before the whistle had gone and, as he watched from the touchline, more than once he threw his arms down in exasperation as his players failed to value possession.
They made simple passing errors, which stopped them relieving pressure on their own goal and could not get Oscar on to the ball as often as they would have liked. They were better in the second half and more threatening with Eden Hazard on, but still did not trouble Basle goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
The same could not be said for Cech, who made his first save within seconds of the kick-off, low at his near post from an in-swinging free-kick whipped low through a crowd of legs by Taulant Xhaka.
He pushed a low shot aside from Fabian Frei, tipped another over from Salah and John Mikel Obi hooked clear from under his own crossbar after Ivan Ivanov headed a corner towards goal.
Cech's best save of this opening spell of Basle pressure, a reaction save to deny Salah with a strong left hand to claw the ball over.
It was a more even second half but Basle summon a spirited finish. Serey Die volleyed narrowly wide before Salah caught Chelsea napping.

BASLE: Sommer 6; Voser 6, Schar 6, Ivanov 7, Xhaka 6 (Ajeti 71, 5); Elneny 6, Serey Die 7, F.Frei 7; Salah 8, Stocker 7; Streller 6.
SUBS: Vailati, D.Degen, P.Degen, Delgado, Sauro, Sio.
MANAGER: Murat Yakin 6

BOOKINGS: Xhaka, Serey Die.
CHELSEA: Cech 8; Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 5, Mikel 6, Lampard 5; Oscar 5 (Hazard 55), Willian 6; Eto'o 5 (Torres 41, 6).
SUBS: Schwarzer, Cole, De Bruyne, Mata, Schurrle.
MANAGER: Jose Mourinho 6

BOOKINGS: Mikel, Ramires.
MOM: Petr Cech
REFEREE: Stephane Lannoy (FRA) 6.

==============

Mirror:

Basel 1-0 Chelsea: Blues qualify for Champions League last 16 despite losing to Swiss bogey side
By Martin Lipton
Londoners have been beaten home and away by matchwinner Salah and co, but Steaua's draw with Schalke secures progress
So much for the "real Chelsea" being back. That didn't last very long, did it?
No wonder Jose Mourinho looked like a bear with a very sore head, his call for "brave" hearts answered by a performance of wretched timidity.
It might not have been until three minutes from time that danger-man Mohamed Salah skated through to send the Blues tumbling but nobody could say it had not been coming.
And while Mourinho described the goal as "ridiculous", accusing his side of sleeping on the job, nothing felt more silly than the fact that Chelsea have still gone through to the knock-out phase with a game to spare, despite losing twice to a side likely to end up in the Europa League.
If Upton Park on Saturday was a big step forward, this felt like two giant strides in the opposite direction.
Events in Bucharest conspired to send Mourinho's men into the last 16 yet this was the sort of display that has been a warning sign for too many Chelsea managers in the Roman Abramovich era.
Terrible passing, with even the players you can normally rely on, Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel, as guilty as the rest.
No intensity, at any point. Second best to almost every ball. Over-run out wide. Struggling through the middle. Imagination and invention in short supply.
And when the sum total of your attacking efforts, in 90 minutes, is a Lampard free-kick that didn't even reach the six-yard box, let alone force a save from the opposing keeper, the poverty of the performance cannot be denied.
Not, to be fair, that Mourinho attempted any smokescreens.
He knew how awful his side had been and did not try to hide that recognition.
Without Petr Cech, who seemed at times, especially in the first half, to be playing the Swiss champions on his own, this really would have been a bruising evening.
Cech made top-class stops to keep out Marco Streller's early header, a raking low shot from Fabian Frei and two efforts from Egyptian greyhound Salah, the second of which saw the Czech change direction to claw away while on his knees.
But Cech had to be so good because his team-mates were so, so bad.
Mourinho's frustrations at the dreadful ball retention was clearer with every passing minute, his gestures more frantic, his disbelief growing.
Quite what the Brazilian trio of Oscar, Ramires and Willian were doing - and what left Juan Mata kicking his heels on the bench, again - was hard to understand.
Yet they were not the only culpable men, Samuel Eto'o also invisible before the "muscular" injury which saw him carried off before the break.
Lampard was lucky not to concede a penalty when he batted down Taulant Xhaka's deflected cross, Mikel was in the right place to clear Ivan Ivanov's flick off the line.
Chelsea rocked, alarmingly. Mourinho heading for the dressing room before the interval whistle blew.
Only when Eden Hazard came on at the start of the second half did Chelsea have anybody willing or able to carry the ball into the Basel half.
Even so, they offered nothing, Lampard twice failing to get shots away, the Blues crowded out, snuffed out, far too easily.
It looked as if they were going to get away with it after the combative Geoffrey Serey Die's shot scraped past the post.
But then, with the final whistle closing, Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill were caught dozing by Fabian Schar's ball through the inside left channel.
Salah, though, was wide awake, capitalising on the blunder, waiting for Cech to commit himself and picking his spot with a beautifully clipped finish, his third goal against the Blues in the past seven months.
The news from Romania brightened a dismal night.
Chelsea, though, do not look like potential tournament winners.
Not if they play like that.

=================

Express:

Basle 1 Chelsea 0: Blues scrape through despite poor performance
JOSE MOURINHO was not a happy man last night even though Chelsea booked their place in the last 16.
By: Peter Edwards

This sloppy defeat means Chelsea will have to wait a week to clinch the group.
Yet they had looked nothing like group winners, let alone Champions League winners, as they failed to get a shot on target all night against the Swiss champions.
And they were punished for their lethargy in the 87th minute when Mohamed Salah latched on to a fine long ball from Fabian Schar, outpaced Branislav Ivanovic and coolly lifted the ball over Petr Cech to score.
With a jam-packed December featuring nine matches, Chelsea will now have to beat Steaua Bucharest to ensure they top the group.
Just like in September, when Chelsea slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against the same team, this was poor performance.
Chelsea were awful before and after the break, with only the excellence of keeper Cech keeping them level.
Mourinho’s men started slowly, looking a totally different outfit to the team who brushed away West Ham 3-0 at Upton Park on Saturday, despite the manager making just one change with Willian coming in for Eden Hazard.
The game was hardly under way when Gary Cahill’s miskick almost let in Marco Streller.
Then John Terry clattered Valentin Stocker and Taulant Xhaka’s driven-in free-kick deceived all but Cech, who was able to react at the last second to beat the ball away.
Cahill then had to slide in to concede a corner as Salah tried to set up Streller, his fellow goalscorer at Stamford Bridge, in the seventh minute.
Cech also had to be at his sharpest to turn round a left-foot shot from Fabian Frei after Kay Voser brushed aside Willian.
Stocker’s inswinging corner was flicked on by Ivan Ivanov but John Obi Mikel was on the line to clear.
Chelsea’s first attack in the 16th minute saw Ivanovic almost pick out Samuel Eto’o for a tap-in, but the ball was just a few inches too far in front of the striker.
Ramires lost another duel with Salah, and the winger’s shot was tipped over by Cech.
Almost immediately Basle demanded a penalty when Stocker’s ball into the box bounced up and hit Frank Lampard’s arm, but French referee Lannoy waved play-on, much to Basle’s disgust.
Cech pulled off his best save of the half in the 24th minute when he seemed to be wrong-footed by Salah’s left-foot shot into the ground, but still managed to throw up a strong left hand to palm over.
Basle were battering the Blues and impressive right-back Kay Voser just failed to pick out Salah’s darting run into the box.
Cesar Azpilicueta did well after his lapse let in Salah to take possession of Schar’s long kick downfield, with the Spaniard sliding in to force the Egyptian to shoot tamely wide.
Xhaka was first to be booked for a late challenge on Ivanovic in the 37th minute and in the 42nd minute the ineffective Eto’o had to come off on a stretcher after he appeared to be caught accidentally on the back of the leg by Serey Die.
Mourinho lost patience with Oscar in the 55th minute and sent on Hazard.
The Belgian looked a little livelier – he could hardly have been worse – but having demanded Bravehearts for this tough period ahead, Mourinho must have felt he was watching a bunch of pussycats.
With three minutes to play Chelsea were caught out and Basle almost added a second on the break in stoppage time but Sergey Die hit his volley over.

Basle (4-5-1): Sommer; Voser, Schar, Ivanov, Xhaka (Ajeti 71); Serey Die, Elneny, Salah, Frei, Stocker (Sauro 90); Streller (Sio 78). Booked: Xhaka, Die. Goal: Saleh 87.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Oscar (Hazard 55), Willian (De Bruyne 86); Eto’o (Torres 42). Booked: Ramires, Mikel.
Referee: S Lannoy (France).
NEXT UP: Chelsea – Sunday: Southampton (h) league.

==================

Star:

Basel 1 - Chelsea 0: Jose Mourinho's upset as Salah brings the Blues to their knees
JOSE MOURINHO was not a happy man last night as a late goal by Mohamed Salah sank his sloppy Blues.

By David Woods

The Chelsea boss had talked on the eve of this game of the need to go all out for the victory which would mean they would be certain of ­topping Group E with a game to go.
And with a jam-packed December featuring nine matches, that would allow key players a much-needed rest for the final group game against Steaua Bucharest.
But just like in September, when Chelsea slumped to a 2-1 home ­defeat, this was a Basel faulty ­performance.
They looked to be heading for an undeserved point until Salah struck in the 87th minute.
He got on the end of a long ball and left the Chelsea defence in his wake before firing home. It was no more than Basel deserved, and only the ­excellence of keeper Petr Cech had kept Mourinho’s side in the game until then.
Chelsea were dreadful, ­particularly in the first half, and ­Mourinho had almost walked the 50 yards to the dressing room in disgust before ­referee Stephane Lannoy blew his whistle for the break.

Despite his new ultra-short ­haircut Mourinho’s half-time talk was ­presumably of the hair-dryer ­variety!
Chelsea started slowly, looking a totally different outfit to the team who brushed away West Ham 3-0 at Upton Park on Saturday, despite Mourinho making just one change to his side with Willian coming in for Eden Hazard.
The game was hardly under way when Gary Cahill’s mis-kick almost let in Marco Streller.
Then John Terry clattered ­Valentin Stocker and Taulant Xhaka’s fiercely driven free-kick deceived all but Cech, who was able to react at the last ­second to beat the ball away.
Cahill then had to slide in to ­concede a corner as Salah tried to set up Streller, his fellow goal- scorer at Stamford Bridge, in the seventh minute.
Cech also had to be at his sharpest to turn round a left-foot shot from Fabian Frei after Kay Voser brushed aside Willian.
Stocker’s inswinging corner was flicked on by Ivan Ivanov, but John Obi Mikel was on the line to clear.
Chelsea’s first attack, in the 16th minute, saw Branislav Ivanovic ­almost pick out Samuel Eto’o for a tap-in, but the ball was just a few inches too far in front of the striker for him to latch on to it.
Ramires lost another duel with Salah and the winger’s shot was tipped over by Cech.
Almost immediately Basel ­demanded a penalty when Stocker’s ball into the box bounced up and hit Frank Lampard’s arm, but the referee waved play-on.

Cech pulled off his best save of the half in the 24th minute when he seemed to be wrong-footed by Salah’s left-foot shot into the ground, but he still managed to throw up a strong left hand to palm over.
Basel were the far livelier side as they battered the Blues and ­impressive right-back Kay Voser just failed to pick out speedy Salah’s darting run into the box.
Cesar Azpilicueta did well after his lapse let in Salah to take ­possession of Fabian Schar’s long kick downfield, with the Spaniard sliding in to force the Egyptian to shoot tamely wide.
In the 42nd minute the ineffective Eto’o had to come off on a stretcher after he ­appeared to be caught ­accidentally on the back of the leg by Serey Die.
Mourinho lost patience with Oscar in the 56th minute, sending on ­Hazard instead.
The Belgian looked a little livelier, but having demanded bravehearts for this tough period ahead ­Mourinho must have felt he was watching a bunch of pussycats.
And after Salah’s late strike, the Blues boss knew his less than ­purr-fect side were done for.

=============================

West Ham 3-0

Independent:

West Ham United 0 Chelsea 3 Frank Lampard hammers his former club

By MIGUEL DELANEY

This time, no close shave. A crew- cut Jose Mourinho may have said on Friday that it’s “not good to compare” this current Chelsea team with his old one, but they are increasingly illustrating many of the same fine qualities.
Just at the point when a poor run of results looked set to become a problem, they showed a remarkable capacity to claim the kind of win that levels everything out again. Between 2004 and 2006, his title-winning teams never went three successive league games without a victory and that is still the case.
Chelsea responded to the dropped points and poor performances against Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion with a commanding victory. Frank Lampard, meanwhile, responded to a 10-game drought to score twice against his old club.
For all that Mourinho will have wanted to quickly inject an intensity into his team again, Chelsea were not immediately imposing. There was still a slight reticence about their play with only Hazard on the left offering any sense of liveliness.
West Ham were comfortable, and even had the better of the early chances, which will make it all the more galling for Sam Allardyce, their manager, that they gifted the away side the opening goal in such a calamitous way. After 20 minutes, Guy Demel, the defender, tried to play a relatively aimless Chelsea cross back to Jussi Jaaskelainen in the West Ham goal, only to misjudge and meekly hit the ball with his thigh. That allowed Oscar to nip in ahead of the goalkeeper, draw the approach and go over under the challenge. Even if there was an element of innovation about the way the Brazilian went down, a collision was inevitable and referee Chris Foy couldn’t but award the penalty that Lampard smashed into the roof of the net.
The real grievance for Allardyce was not to go behind to such a good team but to lose that first goal so cheaply when Chelsea were then playing so limply. The game was transformed. Still without a striker in the absence of Andy Carroll, West Ham’s entire attempt at containment and countering was rendered irrelevant.
On 34 minutes, Chelsea’s two star attackers rendered their defenders irrelevant too. Receiving the ball just inside the opposition half, Hazard flicked on to Oscar before peeling off to the right. That opened up even more space in front of the West Ham backline, which the latter duly maximised. Oscar surged forward with the ball before beautifully slipping it into the bottom corner. Two goals down, Allardyce evidently felt he had no choice but to make two significant switches before half-time with Joe Cole and Jack Collison hauled off for Mohamed Diamé and Modibo Maiga.
It almost paid off as, after 65 minutes as Maiga was presented with a chance to pull one back.
After much better footwork from the surging Demel on the flank, the right-back squared for Maiga to finish from just yards out but he could only pull it wide.
In truth, it would have pushed West Ham’s luck too. Chelsea could have been out of sight by then, with Gary Cahill having a header cleared off the line by Mark Noble and Oscar powering wide after a flowing move. Amidst all this, Samuel Eto’o was displaying some sublime touches.
West Ham were at least then displaying greater fight too, with the use of an actual forward clearly helping, even if he hadn’t helped himself with his finishing. Minutes from the end, though, Lampard showed him how. After a Branislav Ivanovic cross found its way to the edge of the box, the England midfielder found the bottom corner with a drive. Chelsea were simply a cut above.

West Ham (4-2-3-1): Jaaskelainen; Demel, Collins, Tomkins, O’Brien; Collison (Maiga, 40), Noble; J Cole (Diamé, 40), Morrison, Downing; Nolan (Jarvis, 76).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Oscar (Schürrle, 83), Hazard  (Essien, 84); Eto’o (Ba, 79).
Referee: Chris Foy.
Man of the match: Lampard (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10

================

Observer:

Chelsea ease to victory at West Ham courtesy of Frank Lampard's brace
David Hytner at Upton Park

For José Mourinho and Chelsea, there was beauty in this East End stroll. Needing victory after the loss at Newcastle United and the fortunate home draw against West Bromwich Albion, they found opponents only too happy to oblige.
West Ham United were a shambles in the first half. Sam Allardyce persisted with his 4-6-0 formation and the manager watched his players offer nothing and, seemingly, look to do little more than cling on.
So bad were his tactics and his team that he made two substitutions in the 40th minute, with one of the new faces being a striker, Modibo Maïga. Joe Cole was furious to be withdrawn and he stormed straight off to the dressing room.
The damage was done by then. Chelsea took advantage of West Ham's lack of ambition and, also, defensive slackness; the opening goal, thrashed home from the penalty spot by Frank Lampard against his old club, followed a faintly ludicrous lapse. Oscar got the goal that his man-of-the-match performance deserved after the half-hour and that was pretty much that.
Mourinho's team were helped on their way but they were stable, confident and incisive. They might have struggled at times when opposing teams have flooded the midfield but not here. Mourinho's only gripe was that the third goal took so long to come and, at 2-0, Chelsea risked allowing West Ham back.
Maïga did fluff their only chance on 65 minutes, and it was a glorious one, but a comeback never looked likely. Lampard scored again, shooting home after yet another flowing move and West Ham, despite showing more spirit and purpose in the second-half, could not escape being booed off.
Allardyce believes that the striker-less strategy is the best way to compensate for the absence of Andy Carroll and it did work in the 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on 6 October. Since then, though, there have been two points taken and the club have been left to teeter above the relegation places.
The tactic, quite simply, feels negative at home and when any manager tears up a blueprint after 40 minutes, it is tantamount to an admission that he got things horribly wrong in the first place.
What Allardyce did not need was the darkly comic moment that served to put Chelsea in charge. Gary Cahill's chip did not appear to present a problem but Guy Demel contrived to create a big one, when his attempt to get the ball back to Jussi Jaaskelainen with his thigh went askew. Oscar nipped in, Jaaskelainen sent him spinning and the only discussion concerned the colour of thegoalkeeper's card.
Mourinho said it should have been red; the referee Chris Foy ruled that it was not even yellow. Oscar was running away from goal and it was not a clear scoring opportunity. Lampard relished converting in front of the Bobby Moore stand and the supporters who continue to jeer him.
Chelsea ratcheted up the intensity, Lampard twice went close and Oscar's goal came as no surprise. It was another soft concession. James Collins lost his bearings after Eden Hazard's flick and Oscar ran and kept running before, in the absence of any challenge, he threaded low into the corner from the edge of the area.
Allardyce chuntered about Cole's reaction to his removal. "All any player ever does is think about himself," Allardyce said. "It's up to him the next time he gets a chance to make it impossible for me to substitute him."
Allardyce also removed his captain, Kevin Nolan, in the 76th minute, a decision that was greeted by cheers from the home crowd.
Chelsea might have had more before the interval – Jaaskelainen made one save from Samuel Eto'o – and the visitors could revel in lovely individual flickers, with Hazard running Oscar close for star billing. Eto'o showed his touch and skill.
Mourinho had started Mikel John Obi in front of the back four to counter West Ham's high balls and allow Lampard to get forward while the team was configured to allow Hazard to eschew any defending. He enjoyed himself and so did the travelling fans. "Frankie Lampard," they told their West Ham counterparts. "He's won more than you."
Chelsea pushed for more. Cahill had a header cleared off the line by Mark Noble and Oscar was off target following a Chelsea counter. Maïga's point-blank miss, after Demel's wonderful run and cross, seemed to sum things up for West Ham and Lampard twisted the knife with his second.
Mourinho said that a "third game without a win would not have been acceptable" but for Allardyce, comfort was scarce. "We've lost our home fortress," he said. "We are struggling in front of goal and now, we are suffering with our defensive errors."

=====================

Telegraph:

West Ham United 0 Chelsea 3
By Oliver Brown

Frank Lampard rather enjoys sabotaging his former club.
Despite the unrepeatable slurs he endures whenever he returns to this corner of E13, he has now scored five goals in his past five encounters with West Ham, and none better than the luscious strike with which he rounded off a superlative contribution on Saturday night to lift Chelsea into third place in the Premier League.
It was refreshing, too, to see him celebrate with such exuberance, subverting the absurd maxim that one should mark a goal against one’s ex-employers like a lapsed monk.
By rights, and there is never any such thing for a player who leaves a club for a loathed enemy, Lampard ought to be accorded a little more respect by West Ham’s fans.
He was part of a young side that led the club to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League in 2000 and yet he is treated here like the devil incarnate. Small wonder that this superb brace, which brought to an end his longest goal drought as a Chelsea player, was the source of such relish.
It was likewise a relief for Jose Mourinho, as Chelsea reasserted their authority with a first clean sheet in seven matches, courtesy of record scorer Lampard and a beautifully-taken first-half goal by Oscar.
As Lampard put it: “We knew if we kept conceding silly points we were going to be out of the race, so I very pleased to be a part of this.”
By contrast West Ham left the field to boos after an abject performance, in which Guy Demel gifted an early penalty and substitute Modigo Maiga was guilty of a horrendous miss that killed off any hope of a comeback.
West Ham, as has become increasingly common, were suffocatingly negative.
Sam Allardyce appears to be on a strange crusade this season, exhorting his players to defend with such grim obduracy that their opponents fall into a kind of glazed stupor. But there is scarcely much point in reverting to a 4-6-0 system when you start with two strikers seething on the bench, in Carlton Cole and Maiga, and when you fall two goals behind within 34 minutes.
It is a damning reflection upon this team’s indecision, and sapping lack of ambition, that the first half could be so sterile and that they could still found themselves holed below the waterline so quickly. The breakthrough of Lampard’s penalty was a prime case in point.
Guy Demel was specifically told by Jussi Jaaskelainen ‘time, time’ and yet inexplicably chose to knee the ball back in the direction of his stranded goalkeeper. It was such a witless move that the ever-likely Oscar needed no second invitation to steal in, only be upended by the suddenly exposed Finn.
Referee Chris Foy rightly chose not to show a red card to Jaaskelainen, who did dive in strongly on Oscar but caught the Brazilian as he was going away from goal.
Lampard, meanwhile, could not wait to take the ball to the spot, lashing it home with a ferocious strike. He wheeled exultantly in front of the West Ham stands, arguably a just decision for the fearful abuse that the fans mete out to him here, over his perceived perfidy in leaving them in 2003.
While West Ham had shown the faintest flickers of a threat, not least when John Terry had to block Mark Noble’s follow-up shot from a Kevin Nolan header, Chelsea looked in control.
By the 34th minute they all but had the match won as Oscar struck at the culmination of an attack of devastating simplicity. James Collins, charged with marking him, chose instead to close down Eden Hazard and the 22-year-old from Sao Paulo had more time than he could ever expect on the training ground to tee up his shot and slot the ball expertly beyond Jaaskelainen.
Allardyce, at a loss to configure his starting XI, had to act, and quickly.
Maïga was brought on at the expense of James Collison, while Mohamed Diame replaced the unfortunate Joe Cole, hooked after only 39 minutes and reacting to his manager with a thunderous look and a contemptuous brush of the hand. West Ham fans, intensely fond of Cole despite his less than stellar impact since rejoining his former club last winter, booed the switch loudly to heighten a mutinous mood inside the Boleyn Ground.
Chelsea, well-drilled by Mourinho in the wake of that fractious draw with West Bromwich Albion, kept a firm grip on West Ham’s throats. Even Gary Cahill was not afraid to join the offensive, watching his bullet header cleared off the line by Ravel Morrison.
They were equally effective on the counter, as when Cesar Azpilicueta picked off Noble’s pass with ease and angled a slick ball to the feet of Samuel Eto’o before overlapping.
The Spanish lofted an enticing cross to the far post but Oscar, contriving an audacious volley, for once could not convert.
Eto’o, in particular, seemed the fittest he has been since his Premier League baptism, and almost grabbed a goal himself with a wonderful whipped effort that drifted fractionally past the far corner.
For the sake of their pride, West Ham did at least make an effort at a fightback. Demel, desperate to atone for his hideous earlier lapse, ran determinedly down the right to slide a ball across the face of Petr Cech’s goal that screamed ‘bury me’.
Instead, Maiga, a man with an average of a goal every two games at Sochaux, continued his dismal form at Upton Park by directing it straight into the advertising hoardings.
Lampard, ultimately, could not resist having the last word, with a block by Joey O’Brien directing straight into his path, and he was unerring in unleashing a typically ferocious strike past Jaaskelainen. For these London rivals, the balance of power has seldom looked so lopsided.

==================

Mail:

West Ham 0 Chelsea 3: Frankly, it's too easy! Lampard returns to haunt former club (again) with two goals in comfortable win

By MARK RYAN

Frank Lampard tasted fresh freedom, scored his first goals for ten league matches and reignited his ‘bromance’ with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
As for Sam Allardyce, there was no outward display of affection towards any of the West Ham players who underperformed for him, becausehe says ‘all players ever do is think of themselves’. And his relationship with Joe Cole, substituted inside 40 minutes, seems to have hit a very rocky patch.
First to the messages of love exchanged between Lampard and Mourinho.
The 35-year-old midfielder ended a ten-goal scoring drought, the longest of his career in the top flight, to seal only Chelsea’s second away win of the season with two goals — making it five in as many league games against his old club.
Released from the shackles of defensive responsibility, he responded by taking the pressure off a man he clearly adores.
Lampard said: ‘We knew if we’d thrown away any more silly points we’d be out of the title race, so I’m very pleased to be part of this win.
‘I’ve been playing a holding role of late but I’ll play anywhere for this manager. Once we were ahead, we were superb.’
Chelsea led thanks to Lampard’s 21st-minute penalty, fired past Jussi Jaaskelainen with disdain.
Perhaps he shared Mourinho’s view at the time, because his manager had been bending the ears of any official who would listen, insisting that Jaaskelainen should have been sent off for bringing down Oscar.
Unusually for Mourinho, he had relented by the time he voiced his opinions to the media, insisting that, although he thought it had ‘possibly’ been a red card, he was by then ‘happy’ to leave the ultimate judgement to referee Chris Foy. It might have been  different if his team had lost.
But by then Oscar had skipped through to slot Chelsea’s second, released by a magical flick from Eden Hazard. Then, with eight minutes, left Lampard arrived on the edge of the area to sweep home a typically feisty finish and complete Mourinho’s joy.
No wonder we were treated to the following outpouring of love. Mourinho said of Lampard: ‘I think he’s in a moment when he has nothing to prove to you, the fans, to me or to himself.
'He just needs to enjoy the last years of his career, try to play the maximum he can, try to score, because it was always part of his DNA as a player before.
‘I was his manager in the best period of his career possibly, and I am here to enjoy the last years of his career.’
That is the kind of praise you receive when you have saved your manager from further embarrassment, because, as Mourinho had already pointed out, ‘a third game without a win would not have been acceptable’.
Allardyce was unable to feel a similar glow when he talked about the substitution of Joe Cole. It was Cole’s display of frustration, as he took off his shirt and disappeared down the tunnel, which prompted some cold-hearted remarks from Big Sam.
‘Every player is frustrated because all every player ever does is think about themselves. I have to think about the bigger picture. If he’s frustrated then fine, next time he gets a chance he’s going to play so well for me that the last thing I can do is substitute him. If he doesn’t play quite as well and I think I need to take Joe Cole off, I’ll do it.’
Allardyce clearly did not see Cole as a threat to Mourinho’s men, even though the former Chelsea midfielder almost scored early on, seeing his shot blocked.
Allardyce added: ‘I brought  my captain Kevin Nolan off  too because I didn’t think he drove the team on as well as he normally does.’
Modibo Maiga missed a  point-blank chance to put  West Ham back in the game after Guy Demel had sent in a dangerous low cross.     
Allardyce sounds distraught and needs wins quickly, now that the fans are booing.
‘Our world has been turned upside down because last season we lost only four games at home in the entire season. This year we’ve already lost four at home so we’ve lost our fortress,’ he said.
Many more public attacks like this and Allardyce might risk  losing the dressing room too. No danger of that for Mourinho.

West Ham: Jaaskelainen, Nolan, Tomkins, Collison (Maiga 40), Morrison, Noble (Jarvis 76), O'Brien, Collins, Demel, Downing, J.Cole (Diame 40).
Subs not used: McCartney, Adrian, Taylor, C.Cole

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Oscar (Schurrle 83), Hazard (Essien 84), Eto'o (Ba 79).
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Mata, Willian.

Goals: Lampard (pen) 21, Oscar 34, 82

Att: 34,977

Ref: Chris Foy
Man of the match: Frank Lampard

==============

Mirror:

West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea: Lampard double piles pressure on Sam Allardyce
By Steve Stammers

The former Hammer was on target twice as Chelsea won with ease
Frank Lampard last night continued his personal vendetta against West Ham as Chelsea cruised back into title contention at Upton Park.
The England midfield star brought his goal tally against the club where he learned his trade to five in five Premier League games as Chelsea moved to third in the table.
There were the ingredients for a fascinating clash that would have an impact at both ends of the table.
A Chelsea win would oust Southampton from third spot while West Ham would enjoy some relief on the edge of the relegation zone.
But the massive advantage for Chelsea was the strength of the squad at the disposal of manager Jose Mourinho. He had seven internationals to cover every eventuality.
West Ham, in contrast, looked short of firepower with Sam Allardyce reluctant to call on misfiring Modibo Maiga and Carlton Cole, still striving for match fitness.
Mourinho said: “From the first minute we looked very tough, solid, comfortable. From We were in control.”
Mourinho is still intent on challenging Ashley Cole to re-establish himself in the first team at Stamford Bridge. He may be an England centurion but currently Cesar Azpilicueta is proving something of an obstacle to his ambitions.
Needless to say, two East End sons who have been guaranteed a hostile welcome on every visit to home territory are John Terry and Frank Lampard.
Nothing changed yesterday in the cold and gloom of Upton Park. But it was Lampard who came out the winner.
The abuse was cruel and vindictive – and it bothered Lampard not one bit. He stayed assured and commanding and in front of him were the elusive Edin Hazard and the talented Oscar.
West Ham were forced to defend deep with the occasional forward foray. James Collins and James Tomkins needed to defend manfully but their work was undone by a brainstorm from Guy Demel on 20 minutes.
A forward ball from Gary Cahill was hopeful at best and Demel had time to select any option to clear. He chose the wrong one as he attempted to guide the ball back to Jussi Jaaskelainen off his thigh. It fell woefully short and Oscar pounced only to be brought down by the goalkeeper.
Referee Chris Foy had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Lampard was delegated to take the spot-kick and despite ferocious attempts from those in the Bobby Moore stand to distract him, he drove the ball firmly into the net. The only debating point was why ­Jaaskelainen was not shown a card for the ­challenge.
Mourinho said: “I expected a red card. The keeper was the last man. He made contact with Oscar to bring him down.”
Worse was to come in the 34th minute. Oscar and Hazard performed a neat exchange and the Brazilian broke clear to score from the edge of the area.
Allardyce (left) reacted – but not in the way a ­discontented crowd wanted. He took off local hero Joe Cole who reacted by tearing off his shirt and disappearing down the tunnel. Jack Collison was also replaced and on came Mohammed Diame and Maiga.
Chelsea went looking for the goal that would surely end West Ham’s resistance and it almost came in the 53rd minute.
Lampard drilled in a corner and Cahill rose above the West Ham defence to head ­goalwards but Mark Noble cleared.
Chelsea’s dominance was interrupted by a spectacular run in the 65th minute from Demel. He muscled past two challenges, crossed low but Maiga shot wide.
Lampard got the crucial third in the 82nd minute when he drove home a cross from Branislav Ivanovic.

==================

West Brom 2-2

Independent:

Chelsea 2 West Brom 2
Steve Clarke left crushed by Ramires' fall
Albion suffer rough justice after being denied a famous victory at Chelsea by penalty decision

By GLENN MOORE

Twenty-four hours after Jose Mourinho declared of diving, “I hate it, but I don’t have a problem as none of my players do it,” his unbeaten league record at Stamford Bridge was rescued by an example of the genre from Ramires. The Brazilian tumbled to the floor in the 94th and final minute of this pulsating match. It may have been a dive, it may have been Ramires lost control of his legs, either way it should not have been a penalty.
Andre Marriner thought differently and Eden Hazard converted the spot-kick to end his difficult week on a positive note and deny Steve Clarke a famous victory over his former boss.
Behind to an injury-time first-half goal from Samuel Eto’o, Albion had scored twice in eight second-half minutes through Shane Long and Stéphane Sessègnon – the latter due to a howler by Petr Cech. They had chances to kill the game but seemed set for victory when Ramires burst into the box and hit the deck as Steven Reid came in to tackle. Ben Foster, Albion’s injured goalkeeper, tweeted in apparent response: ‘A load of shit’.
“It was a penalty,” insisted Mourinho with a straight face. “I wasn’t sure from the bench but I have seen it on television.” He must have been watching a different screen to Clarke who said, after viewing a series of replays: “I am flabbergasted at the decision. I can’t believe he gave it. It was a bad decision. [Ramires] started going down early, before the contact. "
Clarke added: “It is very, very hard to take. I am very disappointed and very sad for my team as they deserved the three points, but I’m proud of my team too.”
Mourinho felt his team deserved at least a point as Albion had “not crossed the halfway line in the first half”. That is reasonably accurate, but given the clubs’ respective resources it was up to Chelsea to break them down.
That they struggled to do. A well-drilled back four is a thing of rare beauty and Albion’s operates with clockwork precision. With distances between defenders expertly maintained, and Jonas Olsson  calling the ‘step up’, ‘drop off’, movement, they kept Chelsea restricted to the free-kicks Claudio Yacob kept conceding. Oscar brought a good save from Boaz Myhill from one of these but it was still a surprise when Chelsea broke though.
The architect was Hazard, dropped against Schalke in midweek as punishment for missing training on Monday following a cross-Channel trip. He cut in from the right, evading challenges, before driving a low shot towards the far post. Myhill went full length to palm the ball out and Liam Ridgewell should have cleared. But he paused to allow the ball to run across his body so he could kick with his left foot and Eto’o nipped in to poke the ball past the prone keeper.
As Eto’o’s recent embarrassing of goalkeepers David Marshall and Timo Hildebrand has shown, the veteran striker may not be quite as quick over 20 yards as he once what, but his mind is as sharp as ever.
The irony was, having been forced to come out Albion outplayed Chelsea. Long headed against the post from a Morgan Amalfitano cross before heading in the loose ball after Cech had parried a point-blank Gareth McAuley header from an Amalfitano corner. Then Sessègnon robbed Branislav Ivanovic – “a bad mistake by the referee, it was a foul”, said Mourinho; “not a foul” said Clarke, “just good pressure”. The Benin striker traded passes with Ridgewell then shot weakly, but under Cech’s dive.
Mourinho, who dropped Ashley Cole for the match, preferring Cesar Azpilicueta at left-back, introduced Juan Mata among a trio of substitutions and went to three at the back. With Mata orchestrating the attacks they laid siege to Albion’s goal. Myhill saved an Ivanovic volley, Willian headed over Hazard’s cross, Demba Ba somehow failed to connect with a Gary Cahill cross.
With John Terry and Cahill playing as auxilary stikers, and John Obi Mikel sweeping, Albion broke and Chris Brunt should have scored. The seconds ticked by and had Goran Popov taken the ball into the corner flag instead of trying an ambitious shot in the 94th minute, Albion would have won. Instead Chelsea went forward one last time. “Chelsea had run out of ideas,” said Clarke. “They were lumping the ball into the box, they were waiting for a lucky break, and they got it.”

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta (Mikel, 72); Ramires, Lampard (Ba, 64); Willian, Oscar (Mata, 72), Hazard; Eto’o.

West Bromwich (4-4-1-1): Myhill; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Amalfitano (Popov, 88), Mulumbu, Yacob, Brunt; Sessègnon (Morrison, 81); Long (Anichebe, 79).

Referee: Andre Marriner
Man of the match: Olsson (West Bromwich)
Match rating: 7/10

=================

Observer:

Chelsea deny West Bromwich victory with contentious late penalty

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

Escapes such as this merely fuel the sense that José Mourinho is invincible when it comes to Premier League matches in this arena. Chelsea seemed beaten here as the fourth and final minute of stoppage time ticked down, their desperate gameplan apparently spent with Goran Popov in possession deep inside the home half, Petr Cech off his line and home players strewn upfield as if accepting of their fate.
Had the West Bromwich Albion substitute taken the ball into the corner and wasted the last few seconds, rather than attempting an unlikely shot from an unkind angle, then his side might have added a victory at Stamford Bridge to that already achieved at Old Trafford this season. As it is, that wait for a first win here since 1978 goes on. Chelsea reclaimed the ball, Ramires bustled into the area and tumbled under contact of some kind with Steven Reid. The clock read 93 minutes and 41 seconds when Andre Marriner, after a pause as if for dramatic effect, pointed to the spot.
It was the type of flashpoint that provoked immediate confusion over whether the official had spotted a foul or a dive, and debate over whether Ramires was en route to the turf prior to impact or sent sprawling by Reid's intervention. The managers, predictably, agreed to disagree. By the time Eden Hazard's penalty had billowed the net, extending the Portuguese's unbeaten league run here to 66 matches, the injured West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster had tweeted his own sense of deflation. "Load of shit," he offered. His team-mates made their feelings just as clear out on the pitch.
Chris Brunt and Jonas Olsson took their frustrations out on the officials, barking their disappointment at Marriner, an afternoon of admirable endeavour having been soured at the last. Steve Clarke's side can be inconsistent, blown away at Anfield one week but just as capable of winning at Manchester United, but they had been solidly impressive here. Well drilled and feverishly industrious, they had blunted the hosts in the opening period until their concentration wavered on the stroke of half-time. Once behind they were compelled to be slightly more expansive, only to excel yet more persuasively with their strength in the air and pace on the counterattack.
Shane Long had already thumped a header on to a post from Morgan Amalfitano's centre when the winger's delivery duly prompted panic at a corner just after the hour-mark. Gareth McAuley, such a threat at set-plays with his muscular presence and charge on to the cross, might have scored only for Petr Cech to push the attempt up rather than out. John Terry, Frank Lampard and Branislav Ivanovic were all inside the six-yard box watching the ball loop high into the early evening gloom, perhaps assuming its arc might take it over the bar and away, but it was Long who reacted smartest, springing up above all three to deposit his own header beyond Cech and in.
Mourinho bemoaned that defensive indecision, the concession too sloppy for comfort particularly given his side had succumbed on their last league outing at Newcastle and had considered this an opportunity to eat into Arsenal's lead at the top. Yet he was incensed seven minutes later when Stéphane Sessègnon's dispossession of Ivanovic just inside the Albion half was deemed legal. "Even the fourth official said I was right [to complain]," he offered having watched Sessègnon leave the Serb on the floor and break at pace, exchange passes with Liam Ridgewell, and then cut inside Terry to eke out space for a shot.
The attempt was scuffed and might have been stopped with ease, only to scuttle under Cech's loose attempt to save and Chelsea were breached yet again. Had Ivanovic been fouled in the build-up? "No," said Clarke. "They pressured us in midfield through the first half. When we do it very well on a Chelsea player, why is it suddenly a foul?"
Thereafter the home side cast caution aside and, had their opponents been more ruthless, might have been buried on the break. Those chances Chelsea created themselves were missed, Boaz Myhill springing to turn aside Ivanovic's shot and Willian heading over from point-blank range, before Ramires earned a reprieve and Hazard, his passport and place in the side restored, claimed a point.
"We deserved a draw," said Mourinho. "We were the only team who tried to score in that half."
The visitors had been unambitious but comfortable until virtually the half-time whistle, when Gary Cahill's cross-field pass was controlled on the chest by Hazard who cut in from the left flank and ran at Reid. The Belgian skimmed a low shot towards the far corner which Myhill pushed out and Ridgewell should then have cleared. But as he waited for the ball to come across his body, there was Samuel Eto'o, sneaking up on the blind side, to wrap his foot around the full-back and ram the loose ball into the gaping net. Myhill buried his head in the turf in disgust. By the end, that sense of exasperation had been exacerbated.

===============

Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 West Bromwich Albion 2

By Jason Burt, Stamford Bridge

Eden Hazard was dropped after forgetting his passport. On Saturday he delivered a pass of his own for Jose Mourinho by scoring a hugely contentious 95th-minute penalty which preserved the Special One’s special record of never having lost a league match at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho had refused to accept Hazard’s apology after his fateful – and absent-minded – trip to Lille last weekend but here was an acceptable response from the player he continually refers to as the “kid”.
But that record of 65 matches should have gone.West Bromwich Albion should also have recorded a unique double of winning at both Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford this season – and a first victory here since 1978 – as apprentice turned sorcerer Steve Clarke outsmarted Mourinho, who cut a figure of incredulous frustration as the clock ticked.
How his team laboured, with that old guard of Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard creaking and Chelsea indebted to an incredible passage of good fortune in the final moments of this intriguing encounter. A slow burner that eventually crackled.
The climax started with West Brom captain Chris Brunt breaking. Three on one. He foolishly decided to go alone and ballooned a shot over. Then substitute Goran Popov, rather than retaining possession, ridiculously attempted a shot from the touchline.
It gave Chelsea one last chance to pour forward – Ramires ran into the penalty area, Steven Reid ran across and the Brazilian hit the turf. Easily – although he might argue his momentum took him over. Andre Marriner pointed to the penalty spot and West Brom were apoplectic, with the referee brandishing cards in the confusion.
But Hazard stayed calm. He may have been omitted from the midweek Champions League tie at home to Schalke because he missed a training session after mislaying his passport on a flying visit to his former club, but Mourinho had restored him to the starting line-up. In truth he had done little all afternoon but he coolly dispatched the penalty.
Had Hazard not scored then Mourinho would have been staring at back-to-back league defeats and the brewing of a crisis. There would also have been more discussion of his handling of his players – with Ashley Cole, for example, dropped and Juan Mata on the bench again.
Even so Chelsea dropped points. Again. November is often a difficult month for them, with poor runs of form in recent years and five points have been mislaid in the last two league matches. Mourinho also complained about his team having to play on Saturday while other Champions League clubs had 24 hours more rest.
Chelsea certainly looked jaded. Mourinho complained – again – accusing West Brom of not wanting to venture over halfway and putting up a “double wall”, but that was a disservice. There was far more wit to the visitors than that, even if they were unadventurous until falling behind, and Mourinho knew it. Instead his team huffed and puffed.
Little happened in that first half. The crowd probably half expected tumbleweed to drift across the pitch. Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill smartly tipped over Oscar’s free-kick and it seemed to be meandering to the interval until there was a dreadful mistake by Liam Ridgewell. After Myhill had done well to push out Hazard’s cross-shot, Ridgewell dawdled. And dawdled. He was waiting for the ball to run across his body to his stronger left foot instead of simply clearing – surely he can kick with his right – and Samuel Eto’o nipped in to stab the ball home.
Little wonder Clarke talked about being “mugged”. Surely that would settle Chelsea? Not so. Instead it was West Brom who showed the attacking intent.
Shane Long delivered the warning, beating Gary Cahill, only for his header to come back off a post – and then delivered the equaliser.
A corner was met powerfully by Gareth McAuley and Cech reacted superbly to push it out. But the ball dropped back into the six-yard area. Fatally Terry tried to create space rather than attack the ball, and Long jumped above him to nod it into the net.
Chelsea were stunned and then shocked. As Mourinho complained bitterly that Branislav Ivanovic was fouled – even claiming fourth official Scott Mathieson agreed with him and somehow should have intervened – West Brom broke. Stephane Sessegnon exchanged passes with Ridgewell and easily skirted to the right of the back-pedalling Terry. His shot was low and not particularly strong but it beat Cech, who was clearly at fault.
Chelsea reeled. And then they threw the kitchen sink. In fact they threw the sink, the bath – everything they could get hold of. They poured forward and Myhill pushed out Ivanovic’s half-volley and substitute Demba Ba made a hash of a chance, trying to flick the ball home and missing it completely from Cahill’s low cross. Then came that frantic final minute.

Match details
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 5; Ivanovic 5, Cahill 6, Terry 4, Azpilicueta 6 (Mikel, 73); Ramires 6, Lampard 5 (Ba, 64); Willian 6, Oscar 6 (Mata, 73), Hazard 5; Eto’o 5.
Subs: Schwarzer (g), Cole, Luiz, De Bruyne.
Booked: Ivanovic, Lampard, Eto’o.

West Bromwich Albion (4-4-1-1): Myhill 7; Reid 6, McAuley 6, Olsson 7, Ridgewell 4; Amalifitano 7 (Popov, 89), Mulumbu 6, Yacob 7, Brunt 5; Sessegnon 6 (Morrison, 81); Long 7 (Anichebe, 79).
Subs: Daniels (g), Vydra, Dawson, Berahino.
Booked: Ridgewell, Yacob, McAuley, Olsson, Amalifitano, Long, Brunt.

Referee: A Marriner (W Midlands).

====================

Mail:

Chelsea 2 West Brom 2: Baggies fume as Hazard saves Mourinho's home record with controversial penalty deep into injury time
By Rob Draper

Maybe Jose Mourinho is right. Perhaps there is no such thing as a curse on Chelsea in November. For Saturday, they were as lucky as you can be.
For the past three seasons, the west London club have capitulated in November, effectively surrendering their title hopes. This time, they avoided their second successive defeat of the month — but only with a huge slice of fortune.
Flat and uninspired for long periods, they salvaged a point three-and-a-half minutes into four minutes of time added on with a dubious penalty.
West Bromwich Albion had done the hard yards. They had defended manfully and then overcome a dreadful goal conceded just before half-time to come back to take a 2-1 lead. They had even wasted excellent chances to go 3-1 up, with Chris Brunt shooting over on 91 minutes when Victor Anichebe was in a great position to score.
Even then, with more than 93 minutes on the clock, Goran Popov rushed to control a ball deep inside Chelsea’s half. He kept the ball in play and needed only to head for the corner flag for Mourinho to experience his first defeat at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
It would have been a seminal moment. Instead, Popov tried a cross, which was intercepted, Chelsea broke and Ramires carried the ball into the penalty area. As the Brazilian ran out of options, he stumbled, ran into Steven Reid and fell down, appealing for a decision.
For a moment it appeared justice would be done, as referee Andre Marriner did nothing. But then came the fateful whistle. Eden Hazard dispatched the penalty with 20 seconds left on the clock, at least providing a degree of redemption for his problematic weekend jaunt to Lille.
But there were no redeeming features for West Bromwich. ‘I’m flabbergasted at the decision,’ said Albion boss Steve Clarke. ‘I can’t believe he [Marriner] gave it. I’ve been in the game a long time and I knew he [Ramires] was already on the way down before anyone was near him. The referee has to be 100 per cent sure. How he can be 100 per cent sure is beyond me.’
Mourinho had condemned diving in his pre-match press conference and said the Premier League should use video replays to shame players. Did Ramires stumble or dive? Whatever, he appealed as he went down.
‘You can put a label on it if you want,’ said Clarke, ‘but the onus is on the referee to make the right decision. It should have been a fantastic result for us, but it’s just a good result in the end.’
For Mourinho, it was a penalty. ‘It came at a moment when it’s difficult for the team that is winning to accept, but this one was a penalty,’ he said. ‘From the bench, I don’t know. But on the screen, no doubts.’
However, Mourinho had his own battles to fight. Albion’s second goal came from a move that had started with what looked like a foul by Stephane Sessegnon on Branislav Ivanovic. ‘It’s a free-kick just in front of fourth official,’ said the Chelsea manager. ‘It’s a big mistake from the  referee.’
And he had his team to defend, declaring himself: ‘Absolutely satisfied. The attitude in the first half was absolutely the correct one: be patient, wait, difficult to break a wall, wait for a mistake. After their  second goal our reacton could be, “Die” or “Fight for life”. And the team fought for life.’
It is true that Willian and Demba Ba had chances to equalise before the penalty and that Mourinho went to a now-familiar back three in search of the goal, even summoning the out-of-favour Juan Mata from the bench. Eventually, he had his reward.
But the first half was a turgid affair and Chelsea had managed to create hardly anything — a superb Oscar free-kick apart, which Boaz Myhill tipped over — until Hazard cut inside and forced a save from Myhill. From the deflection, Liam Ridgewell dallied horrendously, allowing Samuel Eto’o to charge in and thump the rebound home on the stroke of half-time.
Yet West Bromwich responded better, with Shane Long forcing a great save from Petr Cech on 57 minutes. Then, from Morgan Amalfitano’s corner on 61 minutes, Gareth McAuley powered a header which Cech parried. Frank Lampard and John Terry both stood uncharacteristically still as Long leapt, hungrier to win the ball, and headed in from close range.
West Bromwich were ahead seven minutes later. Though Sessegnon had appeared to foul Ivanovic, he then fed Ridgwell, who turned the full-back smartly to find  Sessegnon again, who stepped inside Terry to shoot home, with Cech seemingly wrong-footed.
Myhill would be forced to make a save from Ivanovic on 75 minutes and there were those late chances for Ba and  Willian. But Chelsea were faltering, their cohesion lost and their creativity in question.
It might have ended luckily in the end, but they have not yet done enough to  banish the idea of that November curse.

===================

Express:

Chelsea 2 - West Brom 2: Jose Mourinho saved in spot-kick storm

TEN seconds to go. Just 10 seconds to the end of Jose Mourinho’s proud record of never losing a Premier League match at home as manager of Chelsea.
By: Jim Holden
But it couldn’t happen, of course it couldn’t. Not to the Special One. He couldn’t lose 2-1 at home to West Brom. His magic run could not be crushed.
Mourinho had to be saved somehow, and salvation came from the softest penalty decision you will see in a long time as Ramires fell down when he touched shoulders running at speed with defender Steven Reid.
Referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot, sparking fury among the Albion players, and launching a nationwide debate about how such decisions always favour big clubs over the smaller ones.
Eden Hazard kept his cool, no mean feat in the circumstances, and scored the penalty to claim a draw for Chelsea, while the West Brom players were distraught at being robbed of the glory they deserved. As for Mourinho? He gave Hazard a kiss and this time gladly accepted the hazards of fate.
Most weeks during his career Mourinho has been full of conspiracy theories, raging about his club getting the rough end of the stick.
Even before this match he had been moaning about the fixture compilers who had brazenly given his team a schedule of playing on Wednesday and then Saturday.
It sounded oh-so hollow as the final whistle blew yesterday. So were his words afterwards, claiming with an absolutely straight face that: “Yes it was a definite penalty.
“Of course it is difficult for the team that is winning to accept this, but I have seen it on video and it is a penalty.”
West Brom manager Steve Clarke saw it very differently, and most neutrals will share his sentiments. “It’s very hard to take and I’m very sad for my team,” he said. “It was a bad decision because it wasn’t a penalty in my view. The player was already going to ground before any contact was made.
“I’m not putting any label on that. The onus is on the referee to make the correct decision. He has to be 100 per cent sure it is a penalty and I don’t see how you can be.
“It was the kind of penalty that can be given when the home crowd are shouting for everything in a game.”
West Brom’s dismay was understandable. They had played with such purpose throughout, and even Chelsea’s first goal, just before half-time, was a gift.
Hazard had drifted in from the right and fired in a low shot that was well saved by keeper Boaz Myhill. The ball fell straight to the feet of defender Liam Ridgewell, who had plenty of time to hack it away to safety.
Instead, bizarrely, foolishly, he wanted time to think. Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o wasted no such mental energy and quick as a flash stabbed the ball into the gaping goal.
Ridgewell was mortified, lying face down on the pitch in horror.
The response from his team-mates after the break was stunning, as they found ambition and purpose to rock Chelsea with their football.
Shane Long headed against a post in the 50th minute and then scored the equaliser 10 minutes later.
Gareth McAuley had seen a powerful header from a corner brilliantly stopped by Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, but the diminutive Long climbed high above John Terry to head in the rebound.
Eight minutes later West Brom were in the lead. They counter-attacked after a strong tackle on Branislav Ivanovic in midfield and the move was finished by Stephane Sessegnon with a left-foot shot.
Mourinho threw caution to the wind with attacking substitutions, and Myhill had to save from Ivanovic and Ramires while Willian headed a chance over the bar.
As the match went into stoppage time the tension was palpable with Mourinho’s record in dire peril. Chris Brunt missed a chance to seal victory for West Brom on a counter-attack, shooting over the bar when he might have passed.
Then, with 30 seconds on the clock, Goran Popov tried to score from long range rather than take the ball to the corner flag and see out time.
Chelsea broke forward, the referee awarded the contentious penalty, and Mourinho had his moment of salvation.

=================

Schalke 3-0

Independent:

Chelsea 3 Schalke 0
Samuel Eto'o takes his chance to shoot down German side
Cameroon striker scores twice after coming in to starting line-up to replace the injured Fernando Torres

By SAM WALLACE

One centre-forward's misfortune at Chelsea is another's opportunity and for Samuel Eto'o, his first Champions League goals for the club tonight will once again change the way that Jose Mourinho thinks about his squad of players.
Fernando Torres' training ground injury on Monday left the Chelsea manager with no choice but to make a change in attack and so his team moved on from that scrappy defeat to Newcastle on Saturday with a classically ruthless European performance. Mourinho's side were not at their best, and they will have to play much better sides than Schalke, but it was the home team who took their opportunities.
That was Eto'o who scored his second and third goals for the club, the first of which was a perceptive poacher's goal that severely embarrassed the Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand. He scored a second on 54 minutes to kill the game and left to a standing ovation. His replacement Demba Ba scored the third, his first goal of the season.
For this night at least, the erratic goalscoring contribution of Torres was not missed. He has an adductor injury and will require the international break to recover. It leaves Chelsea on top of Group E with nine points and in a strong position as they go to Switzerland to face Basel away in the penultimate group game. Basel, who beat them in the first game of the group at Stamford Bridge, only drew with Steaua Bucharest.
Six changes were wrought on the Chelsea team that made Mourinho feel so angry and mystified at Newcastle on Saturday. The notable one was the decision to drop Eden Hazard for returning late on Monday and missing training. But he also left out Ashley Cole and moved Cesar Azpilicueta over to left-back again. There was a return to the bench for Juan Mata and David Luiz.
The benefits were not immediately noticeable, not with Chelsea overrun in the early stages and looking more like the away side than one of the big boys of European football. The Hungarian striker Adam Szalai had two good chances in the first six minutes, made by Atsuto Uchida and Julian Draxler, both of which he snatched at and dragged wide.
In those moments, Chelsea had singularly failed to impose themselves on the game and a better side than Schalke might have punished them. But Schalke did not have much of a cutting edge up front and although they fought hard in those early stages they did not test Petr Cech. Draxler flitted in and out of the game and picked up a silly booking for dragging Azpilicueta back by the shirt.
From that free-kick in the 20th minute, Andre Schurrle struck a very nice right-footed shot that faded and dropped towards Hildebrand's right post. The goalkeeper got both hands on it and then embarked on a round of gratuitous high-fives and self-congratulatory shouting and clapping before the corner came in.
Oh, what a fall from grace he had awaiting him. Chelsea had only really tested him the once before the goalkeeper, who has seven caps for Germany, inexplicably lingered over a clearance in his own area in 31 minutes. At first, Eto'o angled his run to take him into the periphery of Hildebrand's vision but by the time he got close there was no doubting that the goalkeeper knew he was there.
Yet, for some reason Hildebrand had taken two big steps back to get a run-up at the ball and by the time he struck it, Eto'o had eaten up the ground and was in front of him. His block was skilfully done. It was no accident that the ball cannoned off his foot and into the empty goal. For Hildebrand, the fist-bumps and look-at-me celebrations after the Schurrle free-kick must have felt a very long way off indeed.
Later Mourinho would claim that he spotted the weakness in Hildebrand's game and encouraged Eto'o to chase him down. Certainly they both looked very pleased with themselves when Eto'o headed over to the touchline for a conspiratorial goal celebration.
Before then, John Terry, excellent all night, had caught an elbow from Szalai in the face which he was particularly unhappy about. Then after half-time, Schalke prised Chelsea open at last and might have scored when Draxler cut inside on his left foot and forced a great save out of Cech, diving to his right.
Mourinho can still rely upon his trusty old goalkeeper in moments such as these and so Cech came through for him yet again. Within two minutes of that save Eto'o scored Chelsea's second goal and the game began to look very comfortable for Mourinho's team.
The second was a fast-breaking beauty. It started with an Oscar ball across the middle of the pitch nicked away from Christian Fuchs by Willian who surged forward in possession. Eto'o broke to his right and had the ball delivered to his feet perfectly. He picked his spot beyond Hildebrand with some confidence.
Chelsea were in control. Had he still been under contract, Paulo Ferreira, the half-time guest at Stamford Bridge, might even have been given 15 minutes at the end of the game. Mourinho gave Kevin De Bruyne his first taste of Champions League football for the club, as a late replacement for Schurrle.
Ba scored with seven minutes left, a nicely taken volley from a player whose confidence will have suffered in recent months. It was Ba who chested down Gary Cahill's free kick forward from there it went from Willian to another substitute, Frank Lampard. He struck a nicely weighted ball over the Schalke backline which Ba volleyed past Hildebrand.
It was a bad night for the German goalkeeper. As for Eto'o he showed some signs of the kind of form that Mourinho requires from his strikers. He needs a goalscorer to lead this team and one suspects that while he is still not entirely satisfied with any of his options, Eto'o gave him something to think about.



Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel; Willian, Oscar (Lampard 81), Schurrle (De Bruyne 78); Eto'o (Ba 76).

Schalke (4-4-1-1): Hildebrand; Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Aogo; Draxler (Clemens 62), Jones, Neustadter, Fuchs (Meyer 66); Boateng (Kolasinac 76), Szalai.

Man of the match Terry.
Rating 6/10.
Referee S O Moen (Nor).
Attendance 40,000.

Results so far
Chelsea 1-2 Basel, Schalke 3-0 Steaua Bucharest; Basel 0-1 Schalke, Steaua 0-4 Chelsea; Schalke 0-3 Chelsea, Steaua 1-1 Basel; Basel 1-1 Steaua, Chelsea 3-0 Schalke.

Remaining fixtures
26 Nov Basel v Chelsea, Steaua v Schalke.11 Dec Chelsea v Steaua, Schalke v Basel.


===========

Guardian:

Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o punishes dozy keeper to set up win over Schalke

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea will hope this constituted normal service being resumed. A team that had been shaken by its own complacency up at Newcastle United over the weekend recovered its momentum in emphatic fashion, their aggression and industry overcoming Schalke to gain breathing space at the top of the group.
Roman Abramovich visited the home dressing room after the match and discovered the throng in celebratory mood. One more win will secure the section.
This was a reaffirmation of the José Mourinho effect. The manager had been so disgusted by his team's display on Tyneside – and dismayed by Eden Hazard's timekeeping – that he carried through his threat to reshuffle the pack in search of a response, albeit not with 11 changes but six, one of which was enforced, surely stinging the pride of the discarded.
There was validation, too, of the club's lavish summer pursuit of Samuel Eto'o and Willian from Anzhi Makhachkala, with that pair, so rusty upon arrival, enjoying their most productive evening yet in English football.
The veteran Eto'o scored twice and has now registered for four different clubs in a competition he has already won three times, numbers that will make appealing reading. His first goal was pure opportunism, Eto'o charging in to block Timo Hildebrand's clearance and Chelsea's anxiety melted away as the loose ball dribbled into the empty net. By the end they had brought the Germans, so impressive in the opening exchanges, to their knees.
"We recovered the ball and played in an aggressive way, attacking the spaces with two or three players," Mourinho said. "In the end, we won quite comfortably. After the Basel defeat [in the first game] we'd put ourselves in a difficult situation, so it's fantastic that we have qualified after four matches. Oh, we haven't? Well, almost."
A point will be enough to progress and the strength in depth displayed bodes well for the latter stages. Chelsea had been waiting for Eto'o to make a proper mark for them, with the Cameroonian duly exploiting Fernando Torres' absence with an adductor muscle problem to ensure the Spaniard was not missed.
The cheekiness of his first goal conjured up memories of theembarrassment he had heaped, illegally as it should have transpired, on Cardiff City's David Marshall last month. Then the visiting goalkeeper had been bouncing the ball in front of the Shed End. Here, Hildebrand dawdled over a clearance with the ball static just outside the area, the Germany goalkeeper retreating belatedly to muster a runup only for Eto'o to pounce.
Hildebrand duly panicked and his kick thumped against the striker's right leg and trundled into the empty net. Mourinho suggested Chelsea had been well aware of Schalke's propensity to take their time before kickstarting moves from the back, with his manic celebrations with the player on the touchline a reflection of a plan executed perfectly.
"Timo made a mistake, it won't bring him down," said the visitors' crestfallen manager, Jens Keller. "He's 34 and is experienced. He'll be fine."
His team were not. The shambolic concession knocked the stuffing from them, all their early ascendancy undermined in an instant. The Germans might actually have scored three times in the opening eight minutes, so nervy were the home side with memories of the debacle at St James' Park still fresh. Julian Draxler's sidefoot just wide from Atsuto Uchida's pass set the tone, the young Germany international midfielder then marauding from just inside his own half to set up Adam Szalai at his side, only for that shot to drift beyond a post.
Christian Fuchs's wild drive completed a hat-trick of missed opportunities. Mourinho, scowling disapprovingly from his technical area, took most of his frustration out on André Schürrle, his nearest player. This was no way for the winger to celebrate his 23rd birthday.
Yet the mood would improve. Once Schalke were chasing the game, Chelsea eased themselves further ahead on the counter. Petr Cech did wonderfully well to deny Draxler but the home side's response was brutal. Willian, recently called up to the Brazil squad, darted through the centre away from Fuchs and, with Ramires acting as a decoy, his slipped pass for Eto'o left the Schalke back line in disarray. The forward's collection was calm and his finish crisply dispatched across Hildebrand and in off the far post.
There was even time for Demba Ba, a late replacement for Eto'o, to turn and shin in a first goal of the season, with Schalke forlorn and desperate.
"It was a shaky opening but we settled down and started to play from the first goal," John Terry said. "We wanted to respond. We did that. The result puts us back in the driving seat in the group but it was the way we responded that was pleasing – the manager made some changes and the ones left out will be disappointed but those who came in took their chances."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2013/nov/06/championsleague-Chelsea

=========================

Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 Schalke 0

By  Henry Winter, at Stamford Bridge

When it came to a player showing sharpness, hunger and work-rate, Jose Mourinho knew he could rely on Samuel Eto’o, whose qualities he first admired at Inter Milan. Chelsea’s coach ordered his players to display more “ambition” after the limp defeat by Newcastle United. All of them responded, particularly John Terry, Willian, André Schürrle, Oscar, John Obi Mikel and, most significantly, Eto’o, as Chelsea moved closer to the last 16 of the Champions League.
This was an important result, and strong performance, an antidote to the supine effort at St James’ Park. It reminded the squad what Mourinho required: tactical selflessness, total commitment and being alive to every eventuality. Eden Hazard failed to show that by missing training on Monday and was left to languish in the stands. Eto’o delivered on Mourinho’s demands, scoring twice.
His first was what Mourinho described as a “fox” goal, a piece of real cunning, running in and blocking a clearance from Timo Hildebrand. The second was an unstoppable shot across Hildebrand, the clinical culmination of what Mourinho hailed as “a very good collective’’ goal. “My favourite players are the players who win matches for me, not the ones who lose matches for me and Samuel worked with me in the best season of my career,’’ said Mourinho. “We won everything (Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League at Inter in 2009-2010). So he’s in a good position.” That position varies. Eto’o played up top here but some of his most influential performances for Mourinho came out on the right for Inter (to accommodate Diego Millito), most notably against Barcelona as the Italians progressed to the 2010 Champions League final and then against Bayern Munich.
In taking his Champions League scoring tally to 29, Eto’o seems to have shaken off the slight rust acquired while playing in Russia. “He was, for two years, playing without big motivations,’’ continued Mourinho. “When you play without big motivations, you train without big motivations, and you lose condition, sharpness and even appetite. It was not a surprise for me that he arrived here not in the best condition after two years in Anzhi. Now, step by step, he’s growing. He’s 32, but fit and slim. Not a heavy boy. He’s intelligent, of course.’’
That asset was highlighted after 32 minutes. Schalke had actually started well, going close through Julian Draxler, Adam Szalai and Christian Fuchs but gradually Chelsea settled. Schürrle’s free-kick was athletically pushed away by Hildebrand, who then suffered a moment that will appear in his nightmares and Christmas blooper compilations.
For the third home game in succession in front of the Shed end, Chelsea benefited from a goalkeeping gift. Eto’o had also been involved in the controversial goal against Cardiff City when stealing the ball off David Marshall. Then came Joe Hart’s howler when Manchester City visited, presenting the winner to Fernando Torres. Now it was the turn of Hildebrand, who briefly had a trial at City in 2011 when Roberto Mancini was looking for experienced cover for Hart.
The former German international thought he was making a routine kick downfield. Eto’o was watching like a hawk, waiting for the moment that Hildebrand dropped the ball to the floor. The Schalke keeper stepped back and then moved forward, bringing his right foot down towards the ball. Too late. Eto’o was already racing in from an angle, timing his run perfectly to block the kick which rebounded at speed into the empty net. Hildebrand looked to the heavens. He should have been looking around for Eto’o.
Having also scored for Mallorca, Barcelona and Inter, Eto’o joined Fernando Morientes, Nicolas Anelka and Arjen Robben to have found the mark for four different teams in the Champions League. Hernan Crespo has scored for five while Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the prolific nomad’s way with six. Eto’o laughed as he ran towards the jubilant home bench, embracing Mourinho.
Poor Hildebrand was given the full “woooooh” treatment by the Chelsea fans whenever he ran in to kick the ball. Down the other end, Petr Cech needed to be at his best when saving a shot from Draxler. But Chelsea were largely in control and added a second after 54 minutes.
After Oscar advanced, Willian accelerated through the middle and slipped the ball right to Eto’o. His first touch nudged the ball into optimum shooting position and his second drilled it right-footed past Hildebrand. “Willian’s choice was fantastic, Ramires’ run to give him an extra option was fantastic, and Samuel’s movement was excellent,’’ said Mourinho.
As Chelsea fans taunted Hildebrand with “two-nil and it’s all your fault”, the Schalke hordes chorused “you only sing when you’re winning’’. Eto’o was taken off for Demba Ba, departing to the inevitable and deserved standing ovation. Ba almost scored shortly after coming on but his low shot was held by Hildebrand. Schalke’s fans kept singing but the life had gone from their team.
Mourinho removed his hard workers. Schürrle came off for Kevin de Bruyne and Oscar was replaced by Frank Lampard. Within 120 seconds, the England midfielder was involved in the third. After Gary Cahill launched the ball long down the pitch, Ba chested it to Willian. The Brazilian found Lampard, who lifted the ball over Schalke’s defence to Ba, and he hooked the ball past Hildebrand. At the final whistle, Cech went over to console Hildebrand, who then headed across to acknowledge the Schalke fans. Even then they refused to fall quiet but their team had fallen silent long before. Eto’o and Chelsea are now the big noises in Group E, reacting to their opening loss to Basel by scoring 10 and conceding none.

===============

Mail:
Chelsea 3 Schalke 0: Eto'o robs Hildebrand and grabs a second to leave Mourinho's men on brink of knockout stages

By Matt Barlow


Perhaps someone stirred the spirit of Peter Osgood, the legendary striker who died seven years ago and is interred beneath the penalty spot at the Shed End. Is Ossie back to help in a time of need? Certainly something is spooking out the goalkeepers in that penalty area.
First there was Cardiff's David Marshall, who was robbed of the ball by Samuel Eto'o as the goalkeeper bounced it and prepared to kick from his hands.
Then there was Joe Hart's rush of blood and communication breakdown, which presented Chelsea with a late win and cost the England goalkeeper his place in the Manchester City team.
We can add to that list Timo Hildebrand, Schalke keeper and German international, who was also out-witted by Eto'o.
Chelsea had been misfiring for half an hour when Hildebrand rolled the ball out before him and casually surveyed the 21 other players on the pitch. Or at least he surveyed some of them.
He failed to notice to Eto'o, lurking to his right, crouching, sprung and ready to explode in a sprint for the ball if Hildebrand continued to dither. And dither he did.
By the time the keeper had finally got around to swinging his boot at the ball, his kick merely slammed into Eto'o and rebounded as if remote controlled into the net.
With this turn of fortune, Chelsea were on their way to total control of Group E.
A point in their next game in Basle will take them into the last 16 and any win from the final two games and they will top the group, thus cleansing the ignominy of this time last year, when they became the first champions to go out at the group stage.
Even Roman Abramovich seemed satisfied as he strolled across the pitch and towards the dressing room after the game.
Eto'o's strange goal had soothed the anxiety generated by defeat at Newcastle. A little of the pressure lifted from what had threatened to be an awkward fixture and poor Hildebrand became a figure of fun for the crowd to toy with for the rest of the evening.
‘Whooooooaaaaaaaaah,’ they would roar whenever the ball came into his orbit and at one point, full-back Atsuto Uchida actually ushered Eto'o out of range as he threatened to ambush the goalkeeper again.
Eto'o pounced for the second, nine minutes after the break, this time a somewhat more orthodox and lethal finish - the type associated with this veteran centre forward - after neat footwork and an astute pass by Willian.
Demba Ba added a third, seven minutes from time, and there were strong performances at the back from John Terry and Gary Cahill and a fine display in goal by Petr Cech, who made one crucial save low to his right from Julian Draxler with the score at 1-0.
‘My favourite players are the players who win matches for me, not the ones who lose matches for me,’ said Jose Mourinho.
Having made six changes to avenge his fury after Newcastle, the manager needed a win. Frank Lampard, David Luiz, Ashley Cole and Juan Mata were all stuck on the bench, Fernando Torres was out injured - scans yesterday suggest he will be out for at least three weeks - and Eden Hazard sat behind the bench in his leather jacket.
Hazard, who was in France on Sunday to watch his former club Lille beat Monaco, was late back and missed an important training session, according to Mourinho. This was his punishment.
With Cole still struggling with the rib injury he first suffered in September, Cesar Azpilicueta deputised again at left back, as he did in Gelsenkirchen when Chelsea also won 3-0. Both teams had something to prove last night but the Londoners started sloppily and Schalke opened with greater intensity than they delivered in the first game.
Draxler swept a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area and then Adam Szalai, who engaged in a physical duel with Terry, was equally close to the same corner soon after.
Chelsea seemed unable to match to the tempo set by the visitors and unable to get playmaker Oscar onto the ball. Christian Fuchs darted in from the left and lashed a low drive across goal and wide on the other side.
Schalke manager Jens Keller spun on the spot in frustration. He had seen three good opportunities missed and must have realised Mourinho's team would solve their problems. Perhaps he had a feeling mistakes were lurking in his own side.
Azpilicueta caught Draxler in possession deep in his own territory and drew the foul. Draxler was booked and Andre Schurrle whipped the free-kick towards the top corner, only to see it pawed away by Hildebrand, who was then caught out by Eto'o.
The striker looks much sharper than when he first arrived from Anzhi Makhachkala in August and he ran straight to his manager to celebrate and Mourinho seemed keen to take some of the credit as they shared a joke.
‘It was not a surprise for me that he arrived here not in the best condition after two years in Anzhi,’ said Mourinho.
'Now, step by step, he's growing. He's 32, but fit and slim. Not a heavy boy. He's intelligent of course. Goals give confidence. The first one was a “fox” goal. The second goal was a very good collective goal: Willian's choice was fantastic, Ramires' run to give him an extra option was fantastic, and Samuel's movement was excellent.’
Two substitutes combined for the third with a pass from Lampard to Ba who converted it with a smart volley. It was his first goal since the FA Cup semi-final in April.

If the strikers are going to start scoring goals, Ossie can rest again.

===================

Mirror:
 
Chelsea 3-0 Schalke: Samuel Eto'o double seizes control of Champions League group

By Martin Lipton

It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was pretty ordinary.
But as Jose Mourinho showed there will be no room for sentiment in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea did what they needed to.
Three goals, three points - even Fernando Torres' two understudies both finding the net.
It means a draw in Basel in a fortnight will ensure  the Londoners do what was beyond them under Roberto Di Matteo 12 months ago and reach the knock-out phase.
Mourinho will not be misled into believing his side are, at this stage, realistic challengers to the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Not yet.
The Chelsea boss insisted the post-Newcastle blood-letting was not a "punishment" for those who had let him down on Tyneside.
Though it was, apparently, a penalty for Eden Hazard's poor time-keeping.
Those who cross Mourinho in haste learn to repent of their folly at leisure.
Yet omitting Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, two of his Blues "untouchables" first time round, seemed far more significant than mere rotation.
The next few months will determine the reality and what was important in SW6 was that there was a response to the St James' Park bawling-out.
For 20 minutes or more, before the mother of all blunders by veteran keeper Timo Hildebrand gifted Samuel Eto'o the opening goal that took all the air out of the German balloon, the changes had left Chelsea even more disjointed.
With Cesar Azpilicueta exposed at left-back, Petr Cech was grateful that neither the impressive Julian Draxler nor Hungarian Adam Szalai were able to hit the target from the edge of the box.
Even so, it needed a fluke to get Chelsea going.
Veteran former Germany keeper Hildebrandhad produced a fine stop to claw away Andre Schuerrle's free-kick but his shocker on the half-hour was a horror-show moment.
Hildebrand dropped the ball at his feet, dawdling as he weighed up his clearance options, failing to notice as Eto'o first tip-toed towards him, then started to sprint.
Suddenly, panic stations - Eto'o outstretched leg blocking the ball back into the vacant net.
Hildebrand was in bits, Mourinho clenching his fist, pointing at the Cameroonian and then himself in a gesture that seemed to say "You're my man."
The truth is that the Portuguese has staked plenty of his credibility with Roman Abramovich by persuading him to meet the £150,000-a-week wage demands of a 32-year-old striker.
It was only Eto'o's second Blues goal, although making Chelsea the fourth club he has scored for in the competition.
But the third, nine minutes after the break, demonstrated why the man is a two-time Champions League winner.
Admittedly, without Cech's save to deny Draxler - where was Azpilicueta? - just before it might have been different.
Two minutes later, though, Willian galloped through the middle before passing to his right, where Eto'o picked his spot inside the bottom corner.
A quality finish, Mourinho pointing both index fingers to the heaven
The doubts were now banished, Chelsea finally finding their cohesion, conviction, penetration and the "ambition" the Portuguese had demanded.
There could have been more.
Oscar's sand-wedge chip was erased by a flag but, eight minutes from time Demba Ba, on for Eto'o, put the seal on the evening.
Lampard, with his first touch after replacing Oscar, looped forward and the Senegalese striker's mis-hit volley dribbled in.
It was his first European goal for Chelsea and first of the season too.
Enough. More than enough.
Winning well without playing well? A useful attribute.

=====================

Express:

Chelsea 3 - Schalke 0: Lucky Sam plays it again as Eto'o does job for Jose Mourinho
JOSE MOURINHO has come to regard Samuel Eto’o as something of a talisman.
By: Tony Banks

It was the veteran Cameroon striker who helped him win the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010.
So the Chelsea manager went out on a limb to bring the £250,000-a-week legend to Stamford Bridge just before deadline day this summer, when many thought the 32-year-old was winding down his career at Anzhi Makhachkala.
A slow start to his Chelsea life had many doubting the wisdom of the move but last night, thanks partly to a huge slice of luck, Eto’o came alive as a Chelsea player with the two goals that put the Blues on the cusp of the knockout stages.
After Demba Ba scored the third goal to give the result a gloss it never looked like having at one nervy stage of the evening, Chelsea this morning find themselves needing just a point from their final two games to qualify from Group E.
And it was an evening and a performance that in the end totally justified Mourinho’s ruthless decision to axe five players for this game after the listless Premier League defeat by Newcastle on Saturday.
Dropped were Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, David Luiz, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard – who had missed training after celebrating with his former Lille team-mates after their win over Monaco on Sunday.
It was typical Mourinho. Bold, uncompromising and utterly ruthless. And it worked, as his reshaped side, with Eto’o leading from the front in place of the injured Fernando Torres, did the business.
Eto’o has form in sneaking up on keepers after infamously robbing David Marshall of possession
Into the team came Gary Cahill, John Obi Mikel, Andre Schurrle, Cesar Azpilicueta and Willian. The reshaped team took an age to settle and could have been 3-0 down before they even got going. Adam Szalai narrowly missed with two efforts and Christian Fuchs also came close to breaking the deadlock.
Gradually Mourinho’s team began to establish some rhythm. When Azpilicueta was felled, Schurrle curled in a great free-kick that was heading for the top corner before Timo Hildebrand brilliantly tipped it wide. Then Schalke simply handed Chelsea the break they needed.
Hildebrand had plenty of time to clear with the ball at his feet but hesitated as Eto’o closed him down. In a panic, he booted the ball against the Cameroon striker and it ricocheted past him into the empty net.
Schalke coach Jens Keller held his head in his hands. Mind you, Eto’o is making a habit of surprising goalkeepers this season. He had pounced on David Marshall to produce a crucial equaliser in the victory against Cardiff in October.
If you need a slice of luck to win the Champions League, that was probably Chelsea’s portion this year.
Schalke were far from finished and when Julian Draxler found himself free on the right, he cut inside and forced Petr Cech to turn his shot around the post.
Suddenly, though, Chelsea could relax. Willian, who had been quiet for most of the night, suddenly burst onto Oscar’s pass, surged through the middle and released Eto’o.
This one was more straightforward – a deadly low shot into the far corner from the former Barcelona and Mallorca striker, who has now scored for four different teams in the Champions League.
There was breathing space at last. Chelsea had in fact been doing most of their attacking on the break, with Schurrle, Ramires and the hard-working Oscar ever willing to do the running from deep.
samuel eto'oEto'o seems to have found his form after scoring a brace against Schalke [STUART ROBINSON]
Mourinho could be said to be turning this Chelsea into a counter-attacking side.
Schalke had plenty of the ball but, after that worrying opening spell, they had rarely tested Cech. And the Germans were made to pay for that wastefulness seven minutes from the end as Lampard set up fellow substitute Ba for his first goal of the season, an angled volley into the corner.
Mourinho said afterwards his favourite players are the ones who win matches for him – not the ones who lose them. And he grinned: “Samuel worked with me in the best season of my career at Inter. We won everything. So he is in a good position.”
And so are Chelsea right now, and so is the ‘Ruthless One’.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel; Willian, Oscar (Lampard 81), Schurrle (De Bruyne 78); Eto’o (Ba 76).  Goals: Eto’o 31, 54, Ba 83.
Schalke (4-2-3-1): Hildebrand; Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Aogo; Jones, Neustadter; Boateng (Kolasinac 76), Fuchs (Meyer 66), Draxler (Clemens 61); Szalai. Booked: Draxler, Uchida.
Referee: S Oddvar Moen (Norway).

=====================

Star:

Chelsea 3 - Schalke 0: Doh! Samuel Eto'o cashes in on gaffe

STAND-IN striker Samuel Eto’o picked the perfect time to prove that his scoring touch has not deserted him.
By Adrian Kajumba

“It wasn’t all plain sailing for Chelsea, who had to survive an early assault from Schalke before Eto’o put them in control”
Eto’o got the nod to replace the injured Fernando Torres against Schalke last night.
And he showed he can do anything the Spaniard can by repeating Torres’s two-goal heroics against the Germans two weeks ago.
Eto’o, who was once one of Europe’s most feared marksmen, had scored just once in 10 games before last night.
But he rolled back the years to put Chelsea in charge against Schalke as he hit the net for his fourth different club in the Champions League.
Chelsea were hugely helped by a goalkeeping cock-up for the third home game running for Eto’o’s first-half opener, before he doubled his tally with a clinical finish after the break.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Chelsea, who had to survive an early assault from Schalke before Eto’o put them in control.
But it was certainly a little more like it from the Group E leaders.
Boss Jose Mourinho admitted he made 11 mistakes and should have named an entirely different side in his fury following the defeat at Newcastle at the weekend.
In the end he settled for six last night as he brutally wielded the axe – but it was more than enough to make his point.
Eto’o’s selection was the only enforced change, while Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Frank Lampard and Juan Mata all paid the price for their part in the Newcastle nightmare and were dumped on the bench, while Eden Hazard didn’t even get that far.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, John Obi Mikel, Andre Schurrle and Willian also came in to a side Mourinho hoped would be good enough to preserve Chelsea’s excellent home record against German sides.
The Blues were unbeaten in six games against sides from the Bundesliga.
They also had the chance to nip talk of a new November curse in the bud.
Saturday’s defeat at St James’ Park raised fears that the dreaded season-wrecking hoodoo that has plagued Chelsea in recent years was about to strike again.
samuel eto'o, eto'o chelsea, eto'o goals, chelsea FC, CFC, Jose Mourinho, Mourinho, chelsea news, chelsea Schalke goals, Torres, Fernando torres,SAM-THING SPECIAL: Eto'o celebrates with boss Jose Mourinho [STUART ROBINSON:] 
Schalke would have arrived hopeful of adding to Chelsea’s misery – despite losing their home game 3-0 a fortnight earlier – after a brilliant 2-0 win at Arsenal on their last trip to London just over a year ago.
At first Mourinho’s changes failed to produce the reaction he wanted as his side’s defending early on was already desperate and last ditch, as Schalke tore into them like their boss did after the Newcastle loss.
And as the sloppiness from St James’ continued at Stamford Bridge they were lucky not to concede the opener.
Julian Draxler, Adam Szalai and Christian Fuchs all gave Chelsea huge scares inside the first eight minutes.
But the slackness soon spread to Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who went from hero to villain to gift the Londoners the lead.
Hildebrand produced a brilliant flying stop to keep out Andre Schurrle’s free-kick after 20 minutes.
But he had a shocker 11 minutes later when his clearance flew back past him off Eto’o, who bagged his first Champions League goal for the Blues.
Hildebrand joined Manchester City’s Joe Hart and Cardiff’s David Marshall on the list of keepers to cock-up in front of the Shed End and gift Chelsea a goal this season.
Petr Cech denied Draxler an equaliser at the start of the second half.
And the importance of that save was there to see when Willian released Eto’o, who fired past Hildebrand.
Eto’o was replaced by Demba Ba in the 77th minute and the Senegal striker took just six minutes to make his mark, volleying acrobatically into the corner of Hildebrand’s goal after fellow sub Lampard lifted the ball over the Schalke defence.