Crystal Palace 1-2

Independent:

Jose Mourinho's side stunned despite Radamel Falcao goal, Sako and Ward on target for Palace
Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 2

Michael Calvin

They did not need the donation of Patrick Bamford’s services for the day, denied by one of those loan deals weighted to give Chelsea the sort of marginal advantage rich clubs expect. They have a manager, in Alan Pardew, who has the measure of Jose Mourinho.
Their post-match embrace was revealingly warm, and radiated professional respect. Victory, only the second by a visiting team in 100 League games at Stamford Bridge under Mourinho, was richly deserved and a resonant statement of intent.
Much will be made of the eight-point gap which already separates the champions from Manchester City. Volumes will be read into their lack of purpose, and their pallid start to a season already littered with avoidable problems.
But let’s dwell on Palace, for a moment. They deserve their prominence. Reward for their resilience in regaining the lead almost immediately through Joel Ward, once Radamel Falcao had equalised Bakary Sako’s opening goal, conformed to a hugely impressive yet easily overlooked pattern.
Palace have won eight of their 10 away matches in the Premier League under Pardew, who detected, from midweek, that his gameplan was underpinned by something less tangible but infinitely powerful, a unifying perception of belief.
Sako is a free transfer signing of immense physical presence and unrealised ambition. “We sensed he was a Crystal Palace type, and he has proved us right,” Pardew reflected. “He has got a great pass and threatens the goal. We didn’t do that from wide areas last season.”
Their defence, based upon the yeoman qualities of old-fashioned centre-halves, Scott Dann and Damien Delaney, is outstanding. “It wasn’t a sit-in, 11-men behind the ball game,” Delaney reasoned. “That was full throttle for 90 minutes.”
Palace’s threat from wide areas intensified with the introduction of Yannick Bolasie, who returned from compassionate leave, following the death of his father, as a second-half substitute. Jason Puncheon’s previously unremarked quality is generating suggestions he could force his way into the England squad. 
No team has won more points than Palace away from home in 2015, 25, but statistical circumstance – this was also Mourinho’s 200th game in charge in the Premier League – was of marginal relevance. As Pardew said: “ It was one of the best performances I’ve seen in terms of composure.”
Chelsea’s staccato season is tinged with rancour and unease. Their defence lacks authority without John Terry, who became a better player as he sat, resplendent in brown cashmere, at the back of the technical area. They have not kept a clean sheet for seven League games.
Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic, symbols of last season’s title win, are struggling to wield even a modicum of influence in front of the back four. Diego Costa’s perpetual audition for a part in the next Mad Max movie perversely highlights the lack of bite in attack.
The next three days will test the credibility of Mourinho’s insistence he has no intention of suddenly accelerating his recruitment plans. “I am not going to say I want this, this and that,” he argued. “I am not going to try this, this and that. We – me and the players – have to do better.”
Mourinho’s frustration with his team’s lack of drive and intensity cannot be purged immediately since he admitted the international break will leave him “working with four players” for the next fortnight.
Palace should have taken the lead in the 28th minute. Wilfried Zaha’s brilliant turn, steeply angled run and composed pass into the path of Yohan Cabaye, whose shot lacked power and conviction, allowing the Chelsea goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, to throw himself to his left to save. They did so in the 65th minute, when Branislav Ivanovic was exposed by Pape Souaré’s surge, and calm pass into the path of Bolasie. He found Sako, who required no further invitation to thump it past Courtois with a left foot shot.
Chelsea equalised 14 minutes later when a 17-pass move  ended with Pedro delivering a superb low cross from the right. Falcao got in front of Delaney to head inside Alex McCarthy’s near post, but within two minutes the game was decided.
Bolasie stood up another cross. Sako, unmarked at the far post, turned it back to Ward, who scored with a full-length header. “That’s why you’re going down,” chirruped the travelling fans who had the boisterous innocence of a bunch of eight-year-olds let loose on a bouncy castle.
“They always like that?” asked Mourinho. “ Yeah,” replied Pardew.  Let’s face it, they’ve got a lot to shout about.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta (Kenedy, 68); Fabregas, Matic (Loftus-Cheek, 73); Pedro, Willian (Falcao, 66), Hazard; Costa

Crystal Palace: (4-2-3-1) McCarthy; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souaré;  McArthur, Cabaye (Ledley, 82); Zaha (Bolasie, 55), Puncheon, Sako (Lee, 83); Wickham.
Referee: Craig Pawson

Man of the match: Sako (Crystal Palace)
Match rating: 6/10
Att: 41,581

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

Guardian:

Chelsea humbled at home after Sako and Ward strike for Crystal Palace

Barney Ronay

This was a surprise result in more ways than one. More often than not a defeat for the Premier League champions at home to one of the division’s middleweights tends to go a certain way: a chance taken on the break, a defensive rearguard, a little luck. Here though Crystal Palace were victors entirely on merit, a composed, skilful, physically dominant visiting team who executed their game plan – pressing Chelsea in the centre, outrunning them on the flanks – to perfection in a well deserved victory. It will be tempting to riff on the poverty of Chelsea’s performance, and they were undoubtedly both uninspired and tentative. But Palace’s strength is a story in itself, further evidence of the levelling out of the division, and the Premier League’s finest point, its shared competitive edge. On this form these particular champions are likely to struggle a few more times this season.
Chelsea did look to have saved a point with a 79th minute equalising goal via Radamel Falcao’s diving header that was both brilliantly executed and entirely out of keeping with their performance up to that point. That Palace should still end up inflicting a second defeat in four matches for the champions thanks to Joel Ward’s winning goal, stabbed in after more good work by Bakary Sako, was both fair reward and a fair reflection of the poverty of Chelsea’s performance at a muggy, uncomfortably close Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea started the day in 10th place and with a sense of having spent the early weeks of the season crunching around in the high gears. Defeat here is hardly disastrous, but the nature of the performance from a Chelsea team lacking not just leadership, but energy and precision in too many positions will trouble José Mourinho. After the final whistle here Chelsea’s manager made a point of refusing to concede the Premier League title. Which, given that it’s still August, perhaps tells its own story.
Palace were excellent however, a team of muscular, pacey ball-players, well-drilled in deep defence and brisk in their counterattacks down both flanks. Jason Puncheon is a lovely, careful passer of the ball and here he out-Cesc’ed Chelsea’s own midfield creator for long periods of the game, strolling about to great effect in his central playmaker role.
For Chelsea Kurt Zouma, as expected, filled the hole left by John Terry’s suspension and Pedro started his first home match on the opposite flank to Eden Hazard with Willian deployed as one of elite level football’s more blue collar No10s, a source of hustle and pressure but little in the way of poise and vision.
For Palace Yannick Bolasie returned to the bench, with Connor Wickham starting up front and Sako, Wilfried Zaha and Puncheon interchanging fluidly behind. They started well, forcing a series of corners on the left and harrying Chelsea in possession. Wickham and Sako may not go down in history as one of the great goalscoring duos, but they could undoubtedly moonlight successfully in the piano lifting trade.
With 18 minutes gone Pedro cut inside and curled a shot just wide of the far corner, almost but not quite Chelsea’s first effort on target. Otherwise Chelsea simply dithered harmlessly. The need for muscle, bark, and sergeant-majorly instruction is often a little overstated in English football. On the other hand, all the best teams have dominant personalities in key positions and here a Chelsea side without a single vertebrae from that famous 10-year spine of Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba seemed to lack something in the way of bite and leadership. Hazard did his best to create a spark among the kindling. Diego Costa did his best to pick a fight. But this was still a mannered, polite, neat, unimposing Chelsea in a goalless first half.
After the break Costa tried to rouse the champions, at one point picking up the ball in the centre circle and charging past Scott Dann before laying the ball off to Hazard, who shot wide. But it was Palace who took the lead on 64 minutes with the goal they had been threatening to score all game. It came from the left flank, Pape Souaré playing a sharp pass to Bolasie, just on the pitch for Zaha. His low cross was allowed to travel all the way across the Chelsea area to Sako, who had time to set himself and slot the ball past Thibaut Courtois at the second attempt.
Bolasie might have added a second on 73 minutes, ballooning a bobbling ball over from five yards after Sako had seized on another loose moment in the Chelsea defence, as again their midfield had begun to sag a little, offering some great wide open spaces when Palace attacked. Nemanja Matic has been criticised for a tailing off in his form, and it has been a while since he resembled the telescopically dominating presence of the first half of last season.
But his declining influence mirrors that of Cesc Fàbregas. There are only so many times a single willing Serb can be asked to police single-handedly the space both in front of and behind his back four. Here again Matic could be seen frantically gumming up leaks and holes, whirling about to cover two or three breaking attackers while Fàbregas chugged back in his general direction.
Chelsea roused themselves to equalise through Falcao after an excellent cross by Pedro from the right. But this always looked likely to be Palace’s afternoon against champions who now find themselves eight points behind City, and five behind the visitors in second place.


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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 2
Visitors spoil Jose Mourinho's 100th home league game

Jim White

This was not the way Jose Mourinho sought to mark his 100th league game at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea may have made a stuttering start to the season, may have looked thus far a thin, underpowered ghost of the side that stormed to the title last term but, even so, no one of a blue persuasion expected this.
To lose at the Bridge is a departure from the script the manager has followed for his entire career: always win your home games.
No one could deny Palace deserved their win – only the second inflicted in the Premier League during ­Mourinho’s tenure. Goals from Bacary Sako and Joel Ward, which sandwiched a header from Radamel Falcao for the home side, were the legitimate return for a spirited determined, intelligent performance. It was a victory, moreover, which exposed glaring faults at the heart of Mourinho’s Chelsea.
“There was kind of belief in us, I sensed it in the dressing room,” Alan Pardew, the Palace manager, said. “The stadium was expecting Chelsea to win and most times they do. So to overcome the power of that team takes a considerable effort. This team is better than last year, we’ve got better technical players.”
No one was more aware of that than Mourinho. He had talked before the season started about the changing ­balance of the Premier League, how the mid-table sides would use the ­financial muscle available from the new television deal to improve and thus disrupt the ambitions of those at the top. He spoke in awed tones about Palace’s summer recruitment.
In his programme notes, he continued his admiration. “Palace,” he wrote, “are a club I respect a lot with great fans and a fine history.”

The visiting supporters were quick to pick up on his enthusiasm, mischievously chanting “Jose is a Palace fan” in his direction.
Mourinho’s observation was rein­forced by what soon began to unfold. Palace were neatly organised, their muscular back four strong in the tackle, Wilfried Zaha and Jason Puncheon endlessly intelligent in their delivery. There was nothing cowed or nervous about their attitude. They presented Chelsea with a much tougher examination than they will face from Maccabi Tel Aviv or Dynamo Kiev, for instance, in their forthcoming Champions League campaign.
Palace opened as they meant to go on. They forced three corners in the first six minutes. Nothing came of them, but they were a warning of the danger lurking. A danger exemplified when Zaha shimmied his way past the hapless, hopeless, helpless Branislav Ivanovic and – drawing the entire Chelsea defence over towards him – laid the ball perfectly to an unnoticed, unmarked Yohan Cabaye. But the Frenchman guided the ball tamely into Tibault Courtois’s midriff.

Chelsea - lacking the leadership and organisation of John Terry, with the way off-kilter Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas unable to match Palace’s midfield industry - struggled to break the visitors down. Pedro was neat and tricksy, Willian sharp in the pass, but drive and urgency were absent for much of the opening 45 minutes. And when a bit of verve did appear after the break, the Palace defence threw themselves into every challenge, fearless of the consequence. Behind them, Alex McCarthy made a fine double stop, first diving to his right to get his hand to Diego Costa’s drive, then producing an even better save to deny Fabregas’s drilled parry off the rebound.

Pardew’s instruction to his team was to be brave, to remain on the front foot, to take the challenge to the home side. There was no bus parked across the Bridge halfway line. For every attack Chelsea summed up, Palace responded in kind, breaking quickly and with purpose. Connor Wickham should have done better after Bacary Sako twisted past Ivanovic – again - to present him with a tempting chance. Moments later, Sako decided to miss out the middle man and went for goal himself.
Pardew, sensing he might have an opportunity to return to south London with more than a single point as reward for his team’s enterprise, brought on Yannick Bolassie. Returning from compassionate leave following the death of his father, the Congo international made immediate difference. On the 64th minute, he scooted down the right to collect Pape Soare’s through ball, then crossed to Sako, whose first attempt was blocked by a sliding Cesar Azpilicueta. But the ball bounced back to the Palace man and he shot high into the net past.
Mourinho responded with a flurry of substitutions. And one of them appeared for a moment to have reversed the momentum. In the 79th minute Falcao met Pedro’s cross with a sweet diving header for a goal made in Louis van Gaal’s out-tray.
But parity was but temporary. Palace were not to be diverted. Moments later, Bolassie belted forward again and crossed into the floundering heart of the Chelsea defence. Sako knocked the ball back and Ward scooped the ball home. Pardew was mobbed by his celebrating bench. And his sense of achievement was completed when his players managed to scramble away every one of Chelsea’s desperate attempts to recover. “As Crystal Palace manager that was my best result,” he said afterwards.
Mourinho, recognising the significance of the win, was no less effusive in his congratulation, slapping his opposite number repeatedly on the back. He knows he will need to be as vigorous when his players return from the international break. He urgently needs to shake some life back into his team’s rapidly faltering title defence.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace: Joel Ward nets winner just two minutes after Radamel Falcao had scored first goal as Jose Mourinho suffers second defeat in 100 home Premier League games

By Oliver Holt

The internet was awash with advice and mock sympathy for Jose Mourinho on Saturday night. His thwarted quest for a centre-back and his club’s unexpected re-acquaintance with ordinariness were both the subjects of enough mirth to fuel the Chelsea manager’s conspiracy theories for months to come.
Everton fans, still glorying in their club’s rejection of Chelsea’s overtures to John Stones, said it was such a pity that Mourinho had missed out on Jonny Evans. Liverpool fans, fresh from their loss to West Ham, were quick to offer him Dejan Lovren. West Brom supporters chastised him for being beaten to the punch by Aston Villa for Joleon Lescott.
Everybody likes it when a big club fail to get their own way. Everybody likes it when money fails to talk. And everybody likes it when the champions show a little fallibility. Chelsea have four points from their first four games and are already eight points behind Manchester City. ‘In another league, I would say “game over”,’ Mourinho said.
It was scant consolation but in this ignominious home defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday, his team, obedient to the last, had at least provided irrefutable proof of why Mourinho was so desperate to sign Stones.
Chelsea’s defence, which has conceded nine goals in four games, was ripped to pieces by a man-of-the-match performance by Bakary Sako, a close-season free transfer from Wolves. There were times in the second half when they were reduced to a rabble.
Before Saturday, Mourinho had lost only one of his 99 league games at the Bridge. Now it is two out of 100. On this showing, he will be desperate to draft his suspended captain, John Terry, back into his team after the international break.
Then again, he may decide that desperate times require desperate remedies. Chelsea need to strengthen their back four, although on Saturday the most glaring problems appeared at full-back, where Branislav Ivanovic, once again, looked horribly vulnerable.
Mourinho said he was angry with himself for allowing one of his players to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes because he had played so badly. He said the player in question only survived because he had already used his three substitutes. He would not name names but the smart money was on Ivanovic.
If Chelsea really have given up on Stones, they need to look elsewhere. Quickly. Mourinho suggested that was unlikely and that he was happy with the central defensive performances of Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill. But the back four’s defending for Palace’s second goal, in particular, was shambolic.
Stones, playing for Everton in north London on Saturday, rather than for Chelsea in west London, dominated the day even though he was not here. Chelsea found themselves under attack even before the game started. Everton boss Roberto Martinez criticised their pursuit of Stones and said that Everton stood for ‘more important values’.
For many, it is a source of encouragement that a less affluent club like Everton have resisted Chelsea’s attempts to buy the central defender and have, in their own way, stood up to the might of the Premier League’s fabulously rich.
At the same time, it is hard to see why Chelsea are being vilified for trying to sign a player they think will strengthen their team. Transfers happen. Players move up the food chain. Everton plucked Stones from Barnsley two years ago, now Chelsea are trying to buy him from them.
There is certainly no need for Everton fans to make Stones fear for his safety. Chelsea made three bids for him, as is their right. Everton turned them down, as is their right. End of story.
When the game began, Chelsea took their time to mount an attack of their own. It was the 20th minute before Pedro cut in from the right and whipped in a curling left-foot shot that whistled just wide.
Now, suddenly, the game erupted. Diego Costa was singled out for rough treatment by Scott Dann and, as is his custom, responded in kind. After Costa was bundled over by the touchline, Mourinho berated the fourth official for his inaction.
Zouma had a penalty appeal turned down when it appeared his shirt had been pulled as he leapt for a corner but Palace reminded their hosts that they posed a danger, too, when Thibaut Courtois had to save a fierce shot by Sako with his legs.
Chelsea’s problems are not just in defence. They are also lacking creativity and it was Palace who fashioned the best chance of the half when Wilfried Zaha turned beautifully past Nemanja Matic and rolled the ball into the path of Yohan Cabaye. He should have scored but he shot too close to Courtois and too tamely. It was a simple save for the Belgian keeper and a let-off for Mourinho and his team.
They finally posed a threat a few minutes before half-time when Costa lashed in a cross-shot that Alex McCarthy could only push back out. Cesc Fabregas was waiting to meet it and struck the follow-up cleanly but McCarthy was equal to it. He scrambled across his goal and blocked the ball with his right hand before it was hacked away.
Palace emerged the stronger after the break. Capitalising on the continuing uncertainty of Ivanovic, Sako waltzed past him and cut back a cross that Connor Wickham miskicked. 
Palace manager Alan Pardew had pulled on an overcoat at half-time but now, midway through the half, the game began to heat up and after Sako had headed off the line from Cahill, he went up to the other end and put Palace ahead.
Pape Souare played the ball down the line to substitute Yannick Bolasie, who cut the ball back into the path of Sako. His first effort was blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta but it fell kindly to him and he slotted it home, high past Courtois. Pardew took his coat off again and rolled up his sleeves.
Palace should have gone further ahead when the rampaging Sako delivered a perfect cross into the path of Bolasie, but he sliced his shot high and wide.
Chelsea seized on their reprieve and forced an equaliser in the 79th minutes. Pedro curled in a beautiful cross from the right, hit with pace and precision, and substitute Radamel Falcao flung himself at it at the near post, guiding it past McCarthy.
A few seconds later, Bolasie made amends for his earlier miss when he picked out Sako unmarked at the back post. Sako turned the ball back into the path of Joel Ward, who swept it into the net. The Palace fans erupted in disbelieving joy, the Chelsea fans yelled out their dismay.
Mourinho suggested after the game that it was too late to strengthen his team now. A hint of irritation crept into his voice when he said he had submitted his plans for the new season last April and that now it was the end of August.
He suggested Chelsea would have to fight with what they have got. Their plight is unlikely to elicit anything other than another barrage of that mock sympathy.

Chelsea: Courtois 6; Ivanovic 4, Zouma 6, Cahill 5, Azpilicueta 4(Kenedy 6); Fabregas 5, Matic 5(Loftus Cheek 5); Pedro 7, Hazard 6, Willian 6(Falcao 6); Diego Costa 5
Subs not used: Begovic, Baba, Mikel, Remy
Booked: Cahill
Goal: Falcao 79

Crystal Palace: McCarthy 7; Ward 7, Dann 7, Delaney 7, Souare 6; Puncheon 7, Cabaye 6, McArthur 6, Zaha 5(Bolasie 7); Wickham 5, Sako 8
Subs: Mariappa, Hennessey, Gayle, Mutc
Booked: Cabaye
Goals: Sako 65, Ward 81

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace: 5 things we learnt as visitors' shock win leaves Jose Mourinho feeling blue
BY DARREN LEWIS

Jose Mourinho had the celebrations for his 100th Premier League home game trashed by Palace who pulled off a shock win.
The Blues had lost just once in their previous 99 encounters under the Special One.
But Bakary Sako put Alan Pardew’s side ahead on 65 minutes and although Falcao stepped off the bench to level with 11 minutes left, Joel Ward clinched the points two minutes later.
Chelsea have now won just one of their first four games of the season and Mourinho looks certain to plunge into the transfer market over the remaining few days of the window.

1. Chelsea need reinforcements. Fast.
It isn’t that they aren’t already a top side. They won the title easing up last season and they actually didn’t play that badly today. But they need more quality, more competition for places to inspire some of the established stars in the same way that Manchester City have following their summer recruitment drive.
2. This could have been worse
Thibaut Courtois saved magnificently from Bakary Sakho and Yohan Cabaye - who looked for all the world certain to score - in the first half. Yannick Bolasie also missed a sitter in the second.
3. Falcao is back.
A small crumb of comfort and it was just one goal. But it came with his team up against it and the Colombian showed that class really is permanent. His near-post finish from Pedro’s cross showed that there is still a player there for Chelsea that may yet emerge during his loan spell.
4. It’s time to start giving Alan Pardew some credit.
He was hounded out of Newcastle but this win was was no fluke. He is doing a super job at Selhurst Park
Last season the Eagles managed to win seven of their nine games away from home in the League under Alan Pardew.
No team has won more points than Palace away from home in the Premier League in 2015 (22 - level with Chelsea and Arsenal).
After Falcao had drawn Chelsea level you could be forgiven for expecting the Champions to go on and win this match. Not so under Pardew’s resilient side.
5. It is easy to see why Palace wanted keeper Alex McCarthy from QPR.
He pulled off fine saves from Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas and did magnificently to keep the south Londoners in this contest.

Player ratings by Dean Jones
Chelsea: Courtois 6, Ivanovic 5, Zouma 5, Cahill 5, Azpilicueta 6 (Kenedy, 68, 7), Fabregas 5, Matic 5 (Loftus-Cheek 73, 6), Hazard 5, Pedro 6, Willian 5 (Falcao 67, 7), Costa 6.
Subs: Begovic, Rahman, Mikel, Remy

Crystal Palace: McCarthy 7, Ward 7, Dann 7, Delaney 7, Souare 7, Cabaye 7 (Ledley 82), McArthur 7, Zaha 6 (Bolasie 55, 7), Puncheon 7, Sako 8 (Lee 84), Wickham 7.
Subs: Hennessey, Mariappa, Gayle, Mutch

Ref: C Pawson; Straight forward day. No game-changing decisions to make
Man of the match: Bakary Sako

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

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Crystal Palace 2: Sako shines as Mourinho suffers rare home defeat
Colin Mafham

the birth of a new star in Bakary Sako.
After seeing his side send Mourinho's champions sliding on skid row, Pardew said: "I sensed in the thre  dressing room this week that there was a belief we could win here today. And as Crystal Palace manager this  was the best performance for me.
"We looked a very good team today and if we can steer clear of injuries we could have a good season.
"To overcome the power of a team like Chelsea here takes some doing - but we did it. We were resilient and showed a great attitude throughout.
On man of the match Sako he said: "he has been a real boost for us. We always sensed he was a Crystal Palace sort  of player - and so he's proved.
"We would not have won here today or beaten Villa last week if it hadn't been for him asnd he gives us that bit extra coming in from the flanks."
Pardew was also full of praise for reformed midfielder Jason Puncheon and banged the England drum for him, adding: "If Roy Hodgson sees  this game and sees the way Punch is playing it might give him something to think about before he names his England squad."
Pardew's delight was in stark contrast to beaten Mourinho's mood.

Mourinho said: "The reality is that we have had a bad start: four points in four matches is a very bad start.
"We have eight points less than the leader and seven and six and five from others. In another league I would say game over, but the Premier League I don't say game over because last season we had seven points to the second and in one month we lost the seven points.
'I'm not happy because for me a performance is a collective performance, of 11 players at the same time.
To perform collectively you need individual performances. When you have these kind of matches at this level you need people to perform. I cannot say I had 11 players at the same time performing.
Two or three of them their individual performance was far from good.

I blame myself for not changing one of them. When I made the third change I needed a fourth."
Mourinho did have his usual moan, however, this time at refere Craig Pawdon for denying Chelsea a first half penalty when Connor Wickhamm appeared to pull Zouma over in the box.
He said: "The referee did a big mistake. Clear penalty with the result 0-0 and obviously with influence in the result."
But after insisting that he would not be rushing out to buy players before the transfer window shuts on Tuesday, he added: The "My first thought is to Palace. They come with everything. The team was ready, the players were ready, the fans were ready.
"They came with a fantastic spirit. They were lucky but they deserves the luck."

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

Star:

Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 2: Pressure builds on Jose Mourinho as the Blues lose again
Colin Mafham

Chelsea are now eight points behind Manchester City and if this is anything to go by they don’t have a hope in hell of catching them.
Yesterday they were turned over by an inspired Palace side and free-transfer hero Bakary Sako who scored the Eagles’ first and set up their second.
Credit where credit’s due, though. Palace were never in awe of the champions.
And if it hadn’t been for Thibaut Courtois’ legs keeping out a Yohan Cabaye effort they would have been in front just before the half hour.
To be fair the visitors twice had Alex McCarthy to thank for keeping Chelsea at bay when Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic all threatened to break the deadlock in a first-half that had more huff and puff than quality.
There was good reason to expect better after the break – particularly from Chelsea and the improvement came at both ends of the pitch.
Costa and the impressive Willian both had a go at putting the frighteners on Palace while Sako was an increasing menace at the other end.
Not surprisingly it was the Mali international who fired Palace in front after 65 minutes, a just reward for persistence and a constant devotion to the Palace cause.
Substitute Yannick Bolasie, putting the heartbreak of his father’s death last week behind him, set up Sako for an attempt that was at first saved,But the former Wolves man – who quit Molineux because he wanted to play in the Premier League – was there to have a second go and this time made it count from close range.
Not bad for a free-transfer.
Desperate times call for desperate measures – and Mourinho was looking increasingly desperate.
He made three quick substitutions, even pulling off Willian – who had looked his best player up until then – to get more firepower from Radamel Falcao.
Fortunately for Chelsea they only had to wait 13 minutes for him to provide it with an equaliser that brought a huge sigh of relief on the Stamford Bridge bench, never mind in the stands.
It didn’t last long, though. Man of the match Sako saw to that.
He got on the end of another Bolasie cross to set up Joel Ward whose header had the beating of Courtois to send the Palace faithful behind his goal into raptures.
And after seeing his side give the champions a pasting, Palace boss Alan Pardew said: “There was a belief we could win here and this has to be the best performance for me as Crystal Palace manager.
“We looked a very good team. To overcome the power of a side like Chelsea here takes some doing.
“Sako has been a real boost for us. We would not have won here today or beaten Villa last week if it wasn’t for him.”

WBA 3-2

Independent:

Pedro enjoys dream debut as John Terry's dismal season continues with red card
 

West Brom 2 Chelsea 3




Sam Wallace  

His has been a career that has survived injury, scandal, Rafa Benitez and the limitless funds Chelsea have had to replace him over the last 12 years, so it would be unwise to write off John Terry as a footballer whose career should be talked about in the past tense anytime soon. He has proved to be the most durable of modern players but no-one could deny it has been a rough eight days.

Substituted at half-time against Manchester City last week, sent off against West Bromwich Albion today, he might be forgiven for thinking that someone is trying to tell him something. In the past he has ignored the voices that have told him he is too old or too slow to play this crazy game any longer and as the seasons have ticked on, he has been vindicated every time.

Even so, the ego will be hurting after this game, one in which he was sent off for bringing down Salomon Rondon, West Brom’s £12m man, as they ran towards goal together just before the hour. Tony Pulis said it was “harsh”. Jose Mourinho insisted that to discuss it would involve a whole wider thesis on the game itself and he was just not going to go there. For Terry it will mean more time out of the team, a possible appeal notwithstanding.

That was the human drama on a marvellous afternoon of five goals, a missed penalty, an absentee striker and a sparkling debut from Chelsea’s new £21.1m signing Pedro Rodriguez. The absentee was Saido Berahino who would now seem to be on his way out of West Brom this coming week although all Pulis would do was rage against a transfer window that does not close when the season begins.

It was a lot of entertainment from start to finish, with Chelsea hanging on for more than half an hour with ten men and Mourinho finishing the game by shouting into the microphone in his technical area. A strange way to end a frenetic afternoon in which everyone seemed to be feeling the stress as Chelsea fought their way to their first win of the season.

For Pulis, who was without Berahino in his matchday squad, it was a difficult result to take given how well his side played at times. He could blame James Morrison for a first half penalty that Thibaut Courtois saved but not too much because the Scot scored his team’s two goals. Calum McManaman continued Branislav Ivanovic’s difficult start to the season and Rondon was excellent as the sharp end of the home team’s attack.

Yet Chelsea are made of tough stuff and you could imagine that they were unwilling to have to face their manager at the end of the game without the three points. Mourinho projected the usual wronged-man schtick at the end of the game over his side’s second red card of the new season, but he could not conceal his relief that his players, even without Terry, had closed out the victory.

Pedro was as good as Manchester United must have feared he would be with a goal and an assist in the first half, and so much faith from Mourinho that he did not even substitute the winger in the post-red card reorganisation. Diego Costa scored his first of the season, and looked much more effective while not neglecting his quest to fight the world. Cesar Azpilicueta scored his first Premier League goal for the club.

Even so, the cracks are there in Chelsea and never more so than when they conceded a penalty on 13 minutes. There was a slight, indignant shake of the head from Mourinho on the touchline, but Mark Clattenburg had been right about this one and Nemanja Matic, who had thrust out a tired leg, did not bother with a protest.

McManaman was excellent, making the second goal as well and he might have been a better bet to take the penalty given his strong start. Morrison chose to strike it down the centre of the goal. Although Thibaut Courtois had already committed to his left, a leg thrust in the direction he had come from flicked the ball over the bar.

Chelsea had been on the rack for the first 20 minutes and then Pedro changed the game. He had demanded the ball at every opportunity throughout the first half and his goal came after an exchange of passes with Eden Hazard before he hit a shot that clipped off Jonas Olsson and went in.

If the Black Country summer rain and the close proximity of opposition players he may never have heard of before this afternoon were disquieting for Pedro, he did not show it.  On 30 minutes it was his low ball across the face of the goal that Costa slid in to force over the line. It had begun with a fine ball from Ivanovic up to Willian. “Chelsea are back” sung the away fans, and in part it did look that way.

Except in defence, and in defensive midfield, where they continued to look like they were one misstep away from calamity. Kurt Zouma fell over in possession. Cesc Fabregas passed the ball carelessly. Rondon managed to hook back James McClean’s cross on 35 minutes for Morrison to finish sharply.

Again, West Brom had demonstrated that there were weaknesses in this Chelsea team but they could not press home their point. Azpilicueta scored the third when the ball bounced loose from what looked like a foul by Craig Dawson on Costa on 42 minutes.

Terry was sent off nine minutes into the second half for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity, in this case a sharp pull down on the arm of Rondon as they chased the ball back towards the Chelsea goal. It was a close call but it looked like Rondon was just about to get to the ball before Courtois. Cue the usual indignation from Chelsea, and another extraordinary twist in the tale.

Five minutes later a back header from Morrison, made by McManaman who crossed from the left, gave West Brom their second goal of the game and Chelsea were under pressure.

This was all good stuff, and really it was in the next ten minutes that the two best chances came for West Brom to equalise through Rondon and then McManaman. At the other end Radamel Falcao replaced Costa and missed a good chance presented by Pedro’s ball in. Chelsea had come up with an answer to their current problems, but the solution still feels temporary at best.

West Bromwich Albion (4-1-4-1): Myhill; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Brunt; Yacob; McManaman, Fletcher, Morrison (Gardner, 88), McClean (Lambert, 60); Rondon.

Substitutes not used: Rose (gk), Chester, Lescott, Anichebe, Gnabry.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Pedro (Mikel, 84), Willian (Cahill, 56), Hazard; Costa (Falcao, 77).

Substitutes not used: Begovic (gk), Traore, Remy, Loftus-Cheek.

Booked: West Brom McClean, Olsson, McManaman Chelsea Matic

Sent off: Terry

Referee: M Clattenburg    



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


Guardian:

John Terry sees red but Chelsea get title defence up and running with win over West Brom

West Brom 2 - 3 Chelsea


Stuart James at The Hawthorns

The good news for Chelsea is that the defence of their title is up and running with a first victory of the season and that Pedro, on this evidence, will light up the Premier League with his presence. The bad news for José Mourinho to digest is that the champions continue to look like an accident waiting to happen at the back, with John Terry following his humiliating half-time substitution at Manchester City last Sunday with a straight red card here.

Quite what Mourinho screamed into the pitchside microphone at the final whistle is unclear – the Portuguese claimed that he was singing – but there is no escaping the fact that Chelsea made hard work of what could have been a routine win and that there is a vulnerability about them defensively that is hard to reconcile with the team that strangled the life out of opponents last season. Three games into the season and Chelsea have already conceded seven times and picked up two red cards.
 
The spotlight, inevitably, will shine on Terry. Mourinho chose his words carefully when asked about the dismissal of the Chelsea captain but it was plain to see that he was deeply frustrated with Mark Clattenburg’s decision. Tony Pulis, Albion’s manager, also felt that it was a little harsh.

Terry, however, was exposed by Chris Brunt’s long ball and he was tugging at Salomón Rondón with his left hand as he tried to make up ground on the powerful Albion striker, who was bearing down on goal. From the moment that Clattenburg decided it was a foul there was only going to be one outcome.

When James Morrison scored his second of the afternoon five minutes later to bring the score back to 3-2 it was tempting to wonder whether The Hawthorns, which has proved to be such a graveyard for Chelsea managers in recent years – Roberto di Matteo and André Villas-Boas both lost their jobs after defeats here – was about to witness another famous Albion result.

Callum McManaman, who was lively throughout, came within inches of equalising after sitting Branislav Ivanovic on his backside and curling narrowly wide of Thibaut Courtois’s far post, yet there were also plenty of chances for Chelsea to put an absorbing game to bed at the other end.

Pedro was often the architect on a day when he introduced himself to the Chelsea supporters with a sparkling performance that included a goal and an assist on his debut. He was, in short, a joy to watch and in the process highlighted what a shrewd piece of business it was on Chelsea’s part to sign the 28-year-old from Barcelona from under Manchester United’s nose.

Not everyone in a Chelsea shirt looked quite so comfortable on a miserable afternoon in the Black Country. Nemanja Matic was guilty of a clumsy challenge on McManaman that ended with Clattenburg pointing to the spot and Morrison striking a kick straight down the middle that Courtois saved with a trailing leg. Matic was later booked for a foul on McManaman and Morrison beat him to the ball to glance home Albion’s second.

Saido Berahino would normally have had the responsibility of taking the penalty that Morrison missed but Pulis felt that the striker, who scored from the spot against Chelsea in the corresponding game last season, was not in the right frame of mind to play because of Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of him.

Although Berahino was missed, Albion’s problems were at the other end of the pitch as Chelsea carved them open with alarming ease in the first half. The opening goal arrived following a lovely exchange between Eden Hazard and Pedro, who started from deep and continued his run before sweeping a left-footed shot into the corner via a slight deflection off Jonas Olsson.

Costa, with his first goal of the season, got Chelsea’s second after sliding in Pedro’s diagonal shot to finish off a wonderful counterattacking move that owed much to César Azpilicueta’s superb cross-field pass to Willian. “Chelsea are back‚” was the chant from the travelling supporters.

Morrison, atoning for his earlier miss, drilled home Rondón’s acrobatic cutback to pull a goal back for Albion but within seven minutes Chelsea had a third. Costa, holding off a challenge from Gareth McAuley with his back to goal, expertly steered the ball into the path of Azpilicueta, who lost his marker McManaman and beat Myhill at the near post to register his first Premier League goal. Chelsea appeared to be coasting at that point but the drama was still to come.

Man of the match Pedro (Chelsea)


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


Telegraph:


Chelsea hold on for first win of season as Pedro shines but John Terry sees red at West Brom

West Brom 2 Chelsea 3

Pedro impresses on his debut but his new captain is sent off as Chelsea win at The Hawthorns

Jason Burt

Chelsea held on for their first Premier League win of the season, withstanding John Terry’s red card and with West Brom missing a penalty, as new signing Pedro scored on his debut to cap an outstanding first appearance for his new club.

Terry’s dismissal was tinged with controversy but Chelsea will feel they had dominated their opponents until then even though James Morrison – who went on to claim two goals – could have opened the scoring from the penalty spot.

The team-sheets told a story. Or two. Pedro was put straight into the Chelsea team after his £21.4million move from Barcelona and while Terry retained his place Gary Cahill – who has suffered from a broken nose - did not. In came Kurt Zouma.

For Albion there was no Saido Berahino, not in the match-day squad, not in the right frame of mind apparently with Tottenham Hotspur wanting to sign him.


Maybe Tony Pulis might have regretted that decision when Albion were, rightly, awarded a penalty. It came as the impressive Callum McManaman cut back inside the penalty area and was tripped by Nemanja Matic. There was some dispute between Morrison and Chris Brunt as to who should take. Morrison did but drove it too straight – Thibaut Courtois diverted it over the cross-bar.

It felt like a big moment and was. Soon after Chelsea surged ahead with Pedro claiming that debut goal with his first show. The forward exchanged passes with Eden Hazard and ran into the area. As he stumbled his low left-foot shot deflected off Jonas Olsson and ran into the corner of the net, beyond the outstretched fingers of Boaz Myhill.

“Are you watching Manchester,” chanted the Chelsea fans and there was soon more celebration as John Terry did well to clear a corner for Cesar Azpilicueta to break, quickly finding Willian with a clever pass. He then found Pedro who fired in a low cross-shot that Diego Costa threw himself at to turn home for his first goal of the season.

“Chelsea are back,” was the chant this time although that was silenced – momentarily – as Albion claimed a goal of their own. Again the build-up was clever with James McClean sent in behind Azpilicueta. He crossed deep and Salomon Rondon, Albion’s record signing and a powerful presence in attack, volleye acrobatically into the path of Morrison who managed to steady himself and, this time, drove the ball beyond Courtois.

If that was a lifeline it was quickly snatched back as soon after Willian should of restored Chelsea’s advantage – he side-footed wide after being teed up by Pedro – Azpilicueta did. It came as Cesc Fabregas played the ball into Costa who once more showed his strength to chest the ball down to Azpilicueta who had been allowed to run free by Craig Dawson. The full-back claimed his first Premier League goal by finding the corner of the net.

Just as Chelsea were overwhelming Albion Terry was dismissed. It came as Morrison played the ball through to Rondon who again showed what a handful he is. Terry was deemed to have pulled back the striker, just outside the area, and referee Mark Clattenburg showed the red card. It appeared a borderline decision but Rondon was threatening to break away and looked set to get the ball.

Albion needed to capitalize quickly and did so with Morrison claiming his second goal as he smartly steered McManaman’s cross with a header, as he jumped with Matic, that looped beyond Courtois and into the top corner.

There was still half an hour to go and Pulis reacted by throwing on another striker, Rickie Lambert, to pile on the pressure.

But back came Chelsea with Pedro arcing in a dangerous cross which was met by Costa who could only power his first-time shot narrowly wide.

Albion went agonizingly close when McManaman created space, hesitating and the ball back, to curl in a shot just wide of the far post as Courtois dived across. Moments earlier and Rondon had miscued wide when afforded the chance to shoot. Radamel Falcao also miscued when the substitute was picked out by Pedro who then held his head in disbelief.

There were five minutes of added time but Albion could not take advantage of the extra man – with Courtois denying Rondon from close-range and Olsson heading onto the roof of the net - and Chelsea claimed the points.


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


Mail:


West Brom 2-3 Chelsea: Pedro scores and assists on dazzling debut as Jose Mourinho gets win despite John Terry's red card

By Martin Samuel

You see, the thing with Barcelona players is, can they handle it on a wet weekend at West Brom? The answer, apparently, is yes.

Pedro, £21million from Barcelona just four days ago, was the difference here. The difference between victory and, most likely, defeat. The difference between space to breathe and another week of recrimination and inquest. There will be enough of that already, as a result of John Terry’s sending-off, and another unconvincing defensive display from a team who as good as put a padlock on the Premier League trophy in the final months of last season.

Yet if Chelsea have now turned a corner with their first win of the season, Pedro was the catalyst for it. There are some new signings who require time to adjust, others who hit the ground running. It is fair to say Pedro falls into the second category.
Within 30 minutes here, he had scored his first Premier League goal and claimed his first Premier League assist. Chelsea’s delirium at having such a talent on the books was matched only by their delight in Manchester United being shown to have missed out so soon.

‘Are you watching?’ they asked Louis van Gaal and the Old Trafford recruitment team. If they were, it would have been through their fingers. Having drawn a blank against Newcastle on Saturday, the last thing they would have wanted is such a prompt reminder of the quality they claim to have turned down.

If Van Gaal’s version of events is genuine, and Chelsea only got the player after United lost interest, one has to wonder why. Pedro is exactly the type of player United need. Hell, he is the type of player any team needs – particularly one stumbling into the season like Chelsea.

Pedro, West Bromwich Albion – this was a perfect storm for champions looking for their first win of the season, so it was perhaps appropriate that rain teemed down throughout. Not that the quirks of an English summer bothered Pedro. He skated across the slippery surface, lightning quick for the first goal, crucial to a quite stunning counter-attacking move for the second. At times, this was Chelsea as remembered from last season. Hard to contain and Cobra-like in their attacking swiftness.

At others, they looked mystifyingly vulnerable. Terry saw red, while West Brom scored twice and missed a penalty. Chelsea saw the game out with ten men, and credit for that, but there was never a time when they looked truly comfortable – and this was a team that has previously looked better equipped for a 1-0 win than just about any in Europe.

No wonder Pedro felt at home, though. There were three different Chelsea scorers in the first-half, and all were Spanish internationals. Pedro, Diego Costa and Cesar Azpilicueta made sure Chelsea got their win, although Jose Mourinho will equally know his players got lucky at times. At the end of the game, he appeared to shout something into the touchline microphone, whether defiance, elation or that well-honed sense of justice only the Sky sound engineers know.

Still, in many ways, it was a fitting introduction to the strangely unhinged world of English football for Pedro. The lousy weather, the ferocious pace, the rash tackling and the openness of the play were a perfect miniature of what to expect in the coming months. He also now knows he will get chances with his new club – but he’ll have to run doubly hard to take them.

That was not a problem in the 20th minute, though, when after an unexceptional beginning to his Chelsea career, Pedro sparked to life.

He exchanged passes with Cesc Fabregas and most tellingly with Eden Hazard, collecting the ‘two’ of a one-two and sprinting into the West Brom box, his low finish settling in the corner after a mild deflection off Jonas Olsson. Pedro even lost a boot in the celebrations. Fortunately, he was properly attired to participate in Chelsea’s sublime second.

It was a goal that comprised all the elements of Chelsea at their best: strong defending, passing with vision, extreme speed on the break and an eye for a smart finish. It started with a West Brom corner and seconds later was in Boaz Myhill’s net.

Terry’s header, from deep in his penalty box, was powerful and well-placed out of danger, finding Azpilicueta and sending him on his way.

The full-back looked up and picked out Willian with a quite superb crossfield pass and he in turn spotted Pedro on the right. Half-cross, half-shot, Pedro whipped the ball across the Albion goal, but Costa was leaving nothing to chance. He slid in, stuck out a boot and diverted it into the net.

The third, and it was to prove vital, was another Spanish production. Fabregas’s chip into Costa looked mundane enough but he outmuscled Gareth McAuley and chested the ball down to Azpilicueta.

He is not a prolific defensive scorer like his counterpart on the right, Branislav Ivanovic, but he struck this one well enough – low and hard, slapping down an Albion team on the point of coming back into the game.

On two occasions West Brom seemed to be out of this. After 30 minutes, with Chelsea 2-0 up, and at half-time, trailing 3-1. Yet while, going forward, Chelsea rekindled thoughts of last season, something is very wrong at the back. West Brom should have been done, but weren’t. Indeed, they should have been ahead. There were 13 minutes gone when Nemaja Matic needlessly lunged in on Callum McManaman, bringing him down in the area and giving Mark Clattenburg no dilemma about pointing to the spot.

Morrison, however, chose hard, low and straight – but Thibaut Courtois ensured his legs protected the centre of the goal and the ball flew up and over the bar. Would West Brom get as good a chance again?

The answer? They would. And not just West Brom, but Morrison, too. In the 35th minute, Chelsea two up, James McClean slightly overhit a deep cross which new signing Salomon Rondon did magnificently to keep in with an acrobatic overhead volley. Whether by luck or exquisite judgement, the ball fell to Morrison who, in yards of space, struck it smartly past Courtois from the edge of the area. If only he had done that with the penalty.

Events nine minutes into the second-half then made sure the John Stones transfer saga won’t be going away any time soon, either.

Terry, already carrying the can for the heavy defeat at Manchester City last week, was exposed again. Hooked at half-time last Sunday as Sergio Aguero ran riot, he will feel equally concerned by this development, Rondon’s pace leaving him floundering and yielding a frantic tug at his shirt and arm as the striker closed in on the penalty area.

What he lacked in pace, however, Terry made up for in villainous timing, picking the moment just before Rondon crossed the crucial white line to make the foul. Mourinho moaned, cryptically, but it was the right call.

Had Terry not slowed his progress Rondon may have got to the ball, safely gathered by Courtois. Clattenburg showed a straight red, having first inadvertently brandished a yellow adding to the confusion, and Terry began a slow walk off. Whether delaying out of gamesmanship, or simple misery, it was hard to say. Who knows what Chelsea’s back line will look like when he returns? If he returns, as first-choice.

Less than five minutes later, West Brom got what they deserved: a second goal. McManaman’s cross was flicked on by Morrison, getting in ahead of Matic, and defeating Courtois a second time. Chelsea held on, and on occasions came close, but here were three gutsy points, rather than entirely convincing ones. Pedro has got into the swing of the Premier League early – now he needs his team-mates to do the same.

West Bromwich Albion (4-1-4-1): Myhill 6; McAuley 5, Dawson 6, Olsson 5, Brunt 6; Yacob 6; Fletcher 7, McManaman 7 (Gnabry 77), McClean 6 (Lambert 61, 5), Morrison 7 (Gardner 88); Rondon 6.5

Subs not used: Chester, Lescott, Anichebe, Rose

Booked: McClean, McManaman

Goals: Morrison (35, 59)

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois 7.5; Ivanovic 5, Terry 6, Zouma 6, Azpilicueta 6.5; Fabregas 6.5, Matic 5; Willian 6.5 (Cahill 56, 6), Hazard 7, Pedro 8 (Mikel 84); Costa 7.5 (Falcao 77)

Subs not used: Begovic, Traore, Remy, Loftus-Cheek

Booked: Matic

Sent off: Terry (54)

Goals: Pedro (20), Costa (30), Azpilicueta (42)

MOTM: Pedro

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)

Ratings by Laurie Whitwell at The Hawthorns
.


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


Express:


West Brom 2 - Chelsea 3: Mourinho breaks Pulis duck as Terry is sent off and Pedro scores

IT has been the week from hell for John Terry.

By Tony Banks


But his team showed all the fighting spirit their captain epitomises as they ground out their first win of the season.

For 36 minutes Chelsea fought out this game at the Hawthorns with 10 men after Terry was sent off - and produced a sleeves-rolled-up, gutsy display of sheer doggedness that was the sign of a team that had a point to make.

New boy Pedro was the star of the show as he scored once and set up Diego Costa for his first goal of the season, Cesar Azpilicueta adding the other.

But it is Terry everyone will be talking about again this morning.

Substituted at half time in the 3-0 drubbing at Manchester City a week earlier, yesterday he found himself dismissed as his lack of pace was once again cruelly exposed.

Chris Brunt's through ball in the 54th minute found out a static Chelsea back line and Terry, 34, was left having to vainly chase £12 million Albion's club record signing Salomon Rondon.

There was a desperate tug, and then a tumble - a furious argument with referee Mark Clattenburg as the red card was waved. But he was gone, with his team 3-1 ahead.

Once again there will be questions asked about the Chelsea captain. It was said after the City game that his whole club career could now be in danger. It was, though, significant that it was Gary Cahill that was left out yesterday, and not Terry.

Terry is in the team and probably will be again as soon as he has served his one match suspension - though Chelsea may well appeal.

But those doubts will only be strengthened as the pursuit of Everton's John Stones continues.

It was the third time in their last five games that Chelsea have been hit by by a sending off.

Afterwards manager Jose Mourinho wryly said that playing with 10 men is something his team regularly practice now. Five minutes after the dismissal, James Morrison flicked in his second goal of the game from Christian McLean's cross, and suddenly the pressure was on. But, as Cahill and then John Obi Mikel stiffened the team, Chelsea ground it out.

At the final whistle, Mourinho roared out his delight into the pitchside microphone. At last this season, he has something to shout about.

Earlier on in this gripping game, The Unhappy One as he has now styled himself, had plenty to smile about - thanks to a sparkling debut from his £21.4m new boy Pedro, who looks a class acquisition.

That was, though, after a dodgy start.

Nemanja Matic's clumsy tackle on Callum McManaman gave Albion a clear penalty. But salvation was at hand. Morrison rammed the spot kick down the centre, but Thibaut Courtois brilliantly turned the ball over the bar with his legs.

Then Pedro took a hand. Picking up the ball deep, the Spaniard neatly exchanged passes with Eden Hazard, jinked past a challenge and saw his low shot take a deflection off Gareth McAuley to fly in.

Nine minutes later Chelsea cleared a corner and Cesar Azpilicueta released Willian, who found Pedro. The former Barca winger's low cross was converted neatly by Costa.

But there is a vulnerability about this Chelsea side that was not there last season.

The excellent McClean scooted past a static Branislav Ivanovic, Rondon hooked the ball back, and Morrison partly made up for his penalty blunder by rifling home.


It is almost as if Chelsea may have to say to their opponents this season 'you score two and we will score three', so flaky is this back line.

Four minutes before half time, Cesc Fabregas' chip was chested down by Costa, and Azpilicueta arrived to drill in his shot.

That really should have been that - until Terry's aberration opened the game up again. In fact, after going down to 10 men, Chelsea actually had the better chances, as Costa and Radamel Falcao missed, both from Pedro passes. Albion pressed hard, but Callum McManaman and Chris Brunt both missed, and time simply ran out.

WBA (4-2-3-1): Myhill 6; Dawson 7, Olsson 7, McAuley 6, Brunt 7: Yacob 7, Fletcher 6; McManaman 7 (Gnabry 6), Morrison 7 (Gardner 6), McClean 7 (Lambert 6); Rondon 7. Booked: McClean, McManaman. Goals: Morrison 35, 59. Next up: Port Vale (h), Tomorrow COC.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois 7; Ivanovic 6, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 7; Fabregas 6, Matic 7; Pedro 8 (Mikel 6), Willian 6 (Cahill 56 6), Hazard 7; Costa 7 (Falcao 6). Booked: Matic. Sent off: Terry. Goals: Pedro 19, Costa 29, Azpilicueta 41. Next


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

Star:


West Brom 2 Chelsea 3: Pedro dazzles but John Terry sees red against the Baggies

JOHN TERRY'S bizarre season took a new twist as Pedro announced his arrival in the title race.
 
By Dave Armitage


Skipper Terry's week from hell came to a head in the 54th minute when he was red-carded for a foul.

He didn't see out the 3-0 humbling by Manchester City last week - being subbed at half-time for the first time ever under Jose Mourinho.

He didn't miss a single Premier League minute for Chelsea last season as they romped to the title.

This time it was referee Mark Clattenburg who called a halt to proceedings after Terry sent Salomon Rondon tumbling.

But 10-man Chelsea held on for victory and it was in no small part down to Spanish ace Pedro, making his debut after his £21m switch from Barcelona.

Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal must have been choking over his Sunday lunch as he watched the man he missed out on stamp his mark on the game.

Pedro scored the opener and then set up the second as Chelsea finally got back to winning ways.

The Spaniard provided the spark and looks a good little bit of business as Jose Mourinho sets about getting his champs back on track.

He set the ball rolling for Mourinho's men with a 20th minute goal to give them the lead.

But that only came after West Brom had squandered a fantastic opportunity in the 13th minute

Referee Clattenburg had little hesitation pointing to the spot to award the home side a penalty after Nemanja Matic had sent Callum McManaman sprawling with a clumsy challenge.

McManaman had jinked past him but was moving back out of the area when Matic tangled with him.

Clattenburg deliberately took a couple of seconds to confirm what he'd seen and quickly came to the conclusion that there was only one course of action

James Morrison stepped up and decided that a low drilled kick straight down the middle was the best option.

It wasn't. Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois dived to his left but still managed to get a leg in the way to send the ball ballooning up over the bar off his right knee.

You just can't the likes of Chelsea unnecessary reprieves and within minutes the home side paid a heavy price.

Pedro played a neat one-two with Eden Hazard before the ex-Barca man squeezed his shot home with more than a little assistance from a deflection off Jonas Olsson.

You could sense what a kick in the guts it was to Tony Pulis' side - and there was worse to come.

Pedro was at the centre of things again as he pounced on Willian's great run and shot across the face of goal where Diego Costa slid in to bundle the ball home.

"Chelsea are back" came the chant from the away end but that proved a bit premature when Morrison partly made amends for his penalty miss.

He drilled a low shot down the middle from 14 yards and this time no one could intervene.

Chelsea restored the two-goal cushion minutes before the interval when Cesar Azpilicueta steamed in at the far post to grab his first Premier League goal.

But there were more twists to come starting with Terry's 54th minute dismissal for hauling Rondon to the ground as the £12m striker surged through.

Clattenburg dished out Chelsea's third red in five games - to Terry's disbelief and frustration - and Mourinho was forced into a re-shuffle.

Willian was sacrificed as he brought on Gary Cahill but within minutes his worst fears were realised as Albion got another back.

It was Morrison again - this time with his head - as he flicked on McManaman's ball into the box and watched it loop into the far corner.

And West Brom could have snatched a point but Rondon was inches wide with a shot and then saw Courtois pull off a brave point-blank stop.




       

Man City 0-3

Independent:
Sergio Aguero inspires City to emphatic win as John Terry is hauled off at half-time
 
Manchester City 3 Chelsea 0
Sam Wallace  

We are only eight days into the new season and already Jose Mourinho is one doctor down, 16th in the Premier League table and has a captain
wearing the expression of a man watching his home being repossessed. Chelsea have certainly started with a bang but the smoke is coming from under
their own bonnet.

Diagnosis? Not yet critical, but with the potential to get much worse if things cannot be changed. With the caveat that these are early days, this was a
wonderful performance from Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City team who took the initiative within the first 20 seconds of the game and simply got
stronger from there. It was City who looked invigorated, positive and full of confidence – if anything they looked like the defending champions.
There was a new three-tier South Stand open for the first time at the Etihad Stadium, and a team that looked radically different from the side that
ceded the title so weakly at the turn of the year. Sergio Aguero, starting his first game of the season, was exceptional, and so too the likes of David
Silva and Fernandinho but all the time you waited for Chelsea’s response and it never arrived.
The drama was heightened by Mourinho’s decision to substitute John Terry for the first time in 177 league games over the two spells that this
manager-player partnership has been in existence. The explanation from Mourinho was that he wanted to play a higher line and in order to do so
needed the pace of Kurt Zouma to defend further up the pitch, but Terry returned to watch the second half with a cloud over his head as grey as
anything the Manchester climate serves up.
John Terry looks on after his half-time substitution John Terry looks on after his half-time substitution  When asked about the decision, Mourinho
immediately adopted his own defensive line – reminding all concerned that it was he who had resurrected Terry’s Chelsea career. “I don’t know if you
ask [Rafa] Benitez, Roberto Di Matteo who never played him,” he said. “I am the one who plays him every game, and recovered him in difficult moments
with others managers. [I am] the one who has the right to look at the game and say ‘I want Zouma on the pitch’.
The prospect of a fissure opening between Mourinho and his 34-year-old captain is really the least of his worries, and both of them seem a bit long in
the tooth for that now. Of more immediate concern was how brittle Chelsea look defensively – Mourinho admitted to a “fragility” – and what
implications that might have for the rest of their season.
Mourinho tried to put a brave face on it all, claiming that Chelsea had enjoyed the better of a second half in which they eventually conceded two goals
but the malaise goes a lot deeper than that. Gary Cahill was out of form and struggling with a bleeding nose. Diego Costa’s provocation schtick got little
change of Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala. Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas were not the game-changers of 12 months ago.
Aguero gave City a well-deserved half-time lead and Kompany and Fernandinho scored in the last ten minutes. It was patently obvious that this
Chelsea team need the kind of lift that only a player capable of breaking into their first XI can provide, and that is unlikely to be supplied by signing
Baba Rahman, a second-choice left-back, or even John Stones from Everton.
Of course, it had to be this day that Chelsea found themselves reaching the break with too few medical staff to go around, and blood and bandages
proliferating. After 45 minutes of being run all over the pitch by City, it was Chelsea’s recently down-sized medical department that found itself over-
stretched.
The stand-in doctor Chris Hughes was still treating a blow to Cahill’s face that required cotton wool to staunch the bleeding, when Diego Costa was
felled by Fernandinho’s elbow. In the meantime, the auxiliary medical team had to treat Costa who needed a bandage around the head and ended the
half chasing his fellow Brazilian down the tunnel.
While this went on, Mourinho had to listen to the name of Eva Carneiro, his recently demoted doctor, being chanted around the stadium by the home
support. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” sang the City fans to the newly installed Chelsea medical team. And on top of that there were too few
medics to go around. Truly, football has that miraculous habit of foiling the best-laid plans.
The opening stages had been grim for Mourinho as his team staggered from repelling one City attack after another. Three times in the first 17 minutes
the goalkeeper Asmir Begovic saved instinctively from Aguero, including one fine stop in the first 20 seconds.
Cahill was struggling badly against the Argentine and found himself turned after 16 minutes and reliant on a second save from Begovic. The goal on 31
minutes was brilliantly worked with a ball in from the right from Jesus Navas, and an exchange with Yaya Toure before Aguero took the return on his
chest and turned away from Cahill into space to score.
Vincent Kompany celebrates City's second Vincent Kompany celebrates City's second  The elbow by Fernandino on Costa should have been a red card,
Mourino said later, and having been kicked earlier by Kompany, the Chelsea striker was in no mood to shake and make-up. It took a few of his team-
mates and most of the backroom staff to stop him charging down the tunnel after Fernandinho.
Zouma replaced Terry at half-time and after the hour Mourinho brought on Juan Cuadrado for Ramires. He brought Fabregas back alongside Nemanja
Matic but it made precious little difference.
In midfield for City, Fernandino was outstanding and Toure’s work rate appeared to have climbed steeply. The best chance for Chelsea came when
Fernandinho slipped in midfield and allowed Hazard a run at goal. But Chelsea lingered over the shot itself and Joe Hart saved. In the seconds after
Mourinho’s third substitution – Radamel Falcao for Willian – the second, decisive goal came.
That was the second header in two games from Kompany and, like the one against West Bromwich Albion six days earlier, was from a Silva corner. The
final goal, with Chelsea stretched, was buried by Fernandinho. It is a rare sight to see Mourinho’s team so completely beaten with five minutes left.
Everywhere he looked he saw players who had come off second best, and the question will now be whether he can afford to trust them to change.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Sagna, Mangala, Kompany, Kolarov; Toure, Fernandinho; Navas (Nasri, 65), Silva, Sterling (Demichelis, 79); Aguero
(Bony, 83).
Substitutes not used: Caballero (gk), Zabaleta, Clichy, Iheanacho.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (Zouma, ht), Azpilicueta; Ramires (Cuadrado, 64), Matic; Willian (Falcao, 79), Fabregas, Hazard;
Costa.
Substitutes not used: Blackman (gk), Falcao, Mikel, Remy, Loftus-Cheek.
Referee: M Atkinson
Man of the match: Fernandinho
Rating: 8
Booked: Manchester City Kompany, Fernandinho, Toure Chelsea Ivanovic, Hazard

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

Guardian:

Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero too good for Chelsea as Diego Costa labours
Man City 3 - 0 Chelsea
Daniel Taylor at the Etihad Stadium

It was the kind of victory, one imagines, the entire medical profession will toast. Well, apart from the two physiotherapists in Chelsea colours who came
on during the first half, dropped some of their equipment, missed the fact there were two injured players rather than one and gave Manchester City’s
gloating supporters the chance to add to José Mourinho’s discomfort.
By the end, Mourinho’s players looked just as confused and his medics might have to understand if the loud cries of “sacked in the morning”, followed
by chants in favour of Dr Eva Carneiro, become a regular soundtrack wherever Chelsea play this season. Nothing, however, will have irritated their
manager more than the way his players crumpled. They have seldom been beaten so comprehensively and, on top of everything else that has
happened in the embryonic stages of the new season, Chelsea could hardly have imagined their defence of the title would get off to a more harrowing
start.
 
They have shown their staying power before and it would be daft to write them off but it must be disturbing, nonetheless, for Mourinho that his team
are five points behind already and locked in a game of catch-up against the side that has just subjected them to a rare, old-fashioned beating. City
look stronger, fitter and more motivated than last season and even at this early stage the gap feels like a sizeable advantage. Yes, it is way too early
to make snap judgments about the impact on the title race. It has, however, been long enough to ascertain that Manuel Pellegrini’s team are going to
make a much better fist of it this time.
City have started the new campaign in a way that makes it feel perplexing they could not have challenged Chelsea more tenaciously last year. It was
rare to see Mourinho’s team look so vulnerable and even ignoring, for one moment, the goals from Sergio Agüero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho,
there were so many other chances for City it felt slightly preposterous for Chelsea’s manager to call it a “fake result”.
Mourinho’s argument was that Chelsea were the better side in the second half and, perhaps for 25 minutes, they were. Yet the rest of the match leant
heavily in City’s favour and the bumper crowd of 54,331 – on the day City opened the new, vertiginous South Stand – could also reflect on four
presentable chances, all falling to Agüero, before the scoring started and John Terry’s afternoon turned into a personal ordeal.
Terry played every single minute for Chelsea in the league last season. He had not been substituted in 177 games and his withdrawal at half-time,
looking like a player in need of smelling salts, probably epitomised how the afternoon went for the champions.
Agüero had given him the runaround and seemed locked in a personal duel with Asmir Begovic, deputising for Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal,
before his perseverance finally paid off just after the half-hour, when he turned away from Gary Cahill and expertly rolled a left-foot shot in off the
post. Agüero was a constant menace and if he can avoid the injury issues that have affected him over the previous two years there can be no doubt
City have the most accomplished striker in the league.
Chelsea have a formidable one of their own in Diego Costa but the difference between the two was laid bare here. Agüero spent the match trying to
find a legitimate way past the Chelsea defence, always looking for space and an opportunity to draw back his shooting foot. Costa, on the other hand,
seemed entirely preoccupied with winning free-kicks, throwing his hands in the air in barely plausible outrage and trying to pick fights that, for the
most part, were only in his imagination.
He was entitled to be aggrieved by the clattering elbow that left him with a bandaged head towards the end of the first half and could easily have
resulted in a red card for Fernandinho. Yet there has been a change in Costa since his hamstring problem flared up last season. His aggression can be a
useful trait but it is reaching the point when it is his first tactic, and threatening only sporadically in more orthodox ways.

What Costa could not do was make any lasting impression on a City defence where Kompany looks more like his old self and Eliaquim Mangala seems far
more comfortable than before. Yaya Touré looks rejuvenated and Raheem Sterling has given City a new way to penetrate defences on the left side of
attack.
Kompany’s goal came directly from David Silva’s corner, emulating what happened at West Bromwich last Monday, and precisely the kind of
straightforward header-at-set-piece goal that a fully functioning Chelsea do not usually concede.
Likewise, the shot from Fernandinho to finish off the scoring after 85 minutes was beautifully taken, lashed past Begovic from 20 yards with great
power and control, but Mourinho must have noted the poor defending from Branislav Ivanovic that allowed Silva to divert the ball into the Brazilian’s
path. Terry’s withdrawal might generate headlines but the truth is the Chelsea defence looked strangely susceptible. No team can expect to defend like
that against these opponents and get away with it and City, with back-to-back 3-0 wins, look like they will take some stopping.
Man of the match Fernandinho (Manchester City)

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

Telegraph:

Man City 3 Chelsea 0
City send out an emphatic message as Chelsea collapse at the Etihad
Jason Burt

For this one, Jose Mourinho had to take his medicine. Chelsea, the champions, were utterly dominated, over-run, undone by Manchester City. At the
end of a week over-shadowed by Mourinho’s brutal and controversial treatment of two of his club’s medical staff, it is now his team that needs
surgery. Oh doctor, how they were in trouble. The diagnosis appears serious.
Instead the captain simply suffered from humiliation while neither Gary Cahill nor Branislav Ivanovic could cope with City’s pace, purpose and verve.
Here was laid bare why Mourinho is searching to re-build his defence with a fresh bid for Everton’s John Stones expected before the transfer window
closes to add to the deal for Augsburg left-back Baba Rehman, whose signing was confirmed after the final whistle.
Mourinho gave a cogent enough argument for taking off Terry – he needed more pace, he needed Kurt Zouma on the pitch – but it still felt like a big
moment in the 34-year-old’s career. Terry has shown remarkable powers of recovery in the past so should never, ever be written off. But, still, this
was a shock and a fresh debate has been opened.
Inevitably – given the focus on their medics - Chelsea were in the wars with Cahill’s bloody nose and Costa’s head being bandaged but that was as
nothing to the wounded pride they suffered to a City side brimming with desire and unleashing their awesome attacking power. 
If their 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion was a statement of intent then here was its emphatic follow-up with goal-scoring captain Vincent
Kompany declaring there is “more to come”. The hunger is back. City even look leaner, more threatening and, in that, Mourinho-esque.
City are unquestionably, already, the team to beat this season and manager Manuel Pellegrini deserves huge credit given how fragile his hold on the
job looked, at times, last season. Everything clicked. City have added Raheem Sterling and appear to be closing in on Valencia defender Nicolás
Otamendi. There is the injured Fabian Delph to be introduced – and maybe more. It is formidable.
Suddenly, also, City are five points ahead of Chelsea. Mourinho labeled it a “fake result” and obviously there is so long to go – but City looked the real
deal. Chelsea certainly did not.
Mourinho also claimed that while City had taken the first-half, the second belonged to Chelsea. But that was nonsense. City scored three but should
have scored three – at least – in the first period. Chelsea did not have a shot on target until the 70th minute although, to be fair, Eden Hazard should
have scored and would have leveled had Joe Hart not blocked.
There was more validity in Mourinho’s declaration that the otherwise outstanding Fernandinho should have been red-carded for the elbow that caught
Costa’s head. Chelsea were, collectively, dazed. Costa is struggling. Cesc Fabregas is not the creative force he was last season.
They need to re-discover their ‘mojo’ and while Mourinho remained typically defiant the empire needs shoring up. And quick. 
Chelsea arrived with Mourinho on the defensive after removing first-team doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn from the bench following his
outburst after the 2-2 draw against Swansea City last Saturday in which he accused them of naivety for rushing on to treat Hazard.
Carneiro did not travel to Manchester – although Fearn did. He is expected to resume his duties in full while her future is far more in doubt. Some
former players had ascribed Mourinho’s approach to some form of ‘mind games’ to deflect from only taking a point against Swansea but that simply
defies logic.
And there was no logic to Chelsea’s defending in the first half. They were taken apart inside 30 seconds with David Silva, as wonderfully precise as
ever, sliding the ball through to Sergio Agüero. Cahill was caught out and Aguero was clear – only for Asmir Begovic, in for the suspended Thibaut
Courtois, to parry with his legs.
It set the tone. Agüero was then thwarted twice more by Begovic – with, on both occasions, the goalkeeper diving to his left to thrust out a strong
arm and turn the striker’s powerful low shot away. The first came as Agüero swiveled from Aleksandar Kolarov’s smart low cross and then he fired in
first-time from a Jesús Navas centre.
Kolarov again picked out Agüero who miscued from point-blank range, poking the ball wide, before, finally, he struck with a wonderful execution.
Silva, inevitably, was involved as he found Agüero who moved the ball to Yaya Touré who chested it back. Agüero nimbly turned Cahill and, ice-cold, he
passed the ball low into the net.
On half-time Eliaquim Mangala headed across goal, when he should have scored, and an aggrieved Costa sought out Fernandinho for retribution as the
players walked down the tunnel – although that will have been as nothing to the simmering anger Mourinho will have unleashed.
Chelsea certainly seemed stung as they returned and there was instantly more snap. They pushed up and City’s dominance relented. Would the home
side pay for not taking those chances? Hazard’s moment came – and went – and it proved pivotal as Silva then took a corner with Kompany too strong
and too determined as he held off Ivanovic to direct a header across Begovic and into the far corner. Chelsea had been undone from a set-piece and
again looked increasingly ragged.
That was reinforced by the third goal as City broke at pace through substitute Samir Nasri. The danger appeared to pass as his cross was cleared out
to Ivanovic but he was sloppy, his touch charged down by Silva with the ball ricocheting to Fernandinho. On the area’s edge the Brazilian thumped a
fierce angled shot – and Begovic was beaten once again.
In injury-time Costa struck a post, with a poked effort, and Hart smothered Radamel Falcao’s follow-up but the champions had been taken apart. In a
week dominated by medical matters Mourinho now has to find the remedy himself.

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

Mail:

Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea: Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho strike as Manuel Pellegrini's side lay down early title race marker with
emphatic win over Jose Mourinho's champions
By Martin Samuel

Sergio Aguero, quite magnificent. David Silva, simply stunning. Yaya Toure, immense. Yet that defence. That Manchester City defence. They were, well,
Chelsea. There really is no other word for it. City were Chelsea-like in their resilience. They are the team to beat this season, make no mistake of that.
Yes, it is early. Long way to go, all the usual clichés. But this was a performance that made a powerful statement about the way City have grown in
just a year. It is more than the addition of Raheem Sterling to an already stellar forward line. He worked hard and adds a threat, but is still finding his
feet after the move from Liverpool.
This was about the rest of them: players who were here last season, yet strangely subdued. Toure, engaged again, a midfield monster; Eliaquim
Mangala and Vincent Kompany, refusing to be bullied by Diego Costa; Fernandinho, looking the best he has since powering Shakhtar Donetsk through
Europe; Aleksandar Kolarov, arguably the best left-back in the Premier League right now. We knew City would be an attacking force this season, but
the defence was a worry. No longer. This was a match that revealed a new depth to Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
They were not flattered by a three-goal winning margin, as Jose Mourinho suggested; if anything Chelsea were the fortunate ones.
Stand-in goalkeeper Asmir Begovic kept them in touch in the first-half and they did not have a shot on target until the 70th minute. This was not a
negative performance, but the plan was to hit on the counter, and City just directed that threat down blind alleys.
Costa was belligerent, but little more, expertly marshalled and crowded out in possession and matched physically when he tried to put it about. Eden
Hazard was nullified, Cesc Fabregas ineffectual.
John Terry was taken off at half-time with a badly bruised ego and scorch marks. He usually finds a way against quicker men like Aguero, but on
Sunday there was none. Hatchet faced on the sideline, Jose Mourinho seemed to know it, too. It was the first time he had substituted Terry in a league
game and although Aguero was quieter for the introduction of Kurt Zouma, City then scored two more. Branislav Ivanovic is looking every bit as
vulnerable right now, by the way.
Make no mistake, this was a huge result for City and Pellegrini. Mourinho usually beats his big rivals. He draws, at least. His record in these elite clashes
is remarkable. If he has the best team, he wins. If he is outgunned, he finds a way around that, throws a blanket over the game, organises, controls,
drills his players, leaves nothing to chance. Yet no mere scheme could negate City and only an exceptional first-half display by Begovic prevented this
match being done in little more than 30 minutes.
When Begovic signed up to be Thibaut Courtois’ understudy this season he probably didn’t expect to be involved so soon – or be quite so busy. Yet
with Courtois banned following his sending off against Swansea last week, it was Begovic in goal for the first marquee game of the campaign, and
Begovic versus Manchester City for much of the first-half. The goalkeeper even won an unlikely fan in Aguero, who was so impressed at the way he
had been regularly thwarted that he offered a high five salute to his rival. And no doubt some tensely gritted teeth.
For City versus Begovic, read Aguero versus Begovic, in essence. This was a quite wonderful individual duel that began within the first 20 seconds
when Silva threaded a pass to the Argentine striker, who sped clear of the back line, one on one. Perhaps the chance came a little too soon and he
was rusty, because his finish was ordinary and smartly saved. From the rebound Jesus Navas curled a low shot just wide of the far post.
There followed two quite magnificent, and uncannily similar, saves in the space of two minutes. The first was created by another Kolarov pass that
Aguero brought under control superbly before executing a great turn and a low shot, which Begovic kept out with a strong outstretched hand. 
From City’s next attack, a Navas cross from the opposite, right, flank was met by Aguero and repelled by Begovic in identical fashion. Even the striker
felt moved to admire that one.
It could not last, though. Terry was in trouble against Aguero’s movement, Cahill wasn’t greatly convincing either, and Chelsea ultimately buckled
under the sheer weight of City pressure. 
In the 31st minute, the team, and its striker, got what they deserved. It was Silva’s firm pass into Aguero that started the move, the striker laying the
ball back to Toure and getting it in return almost immediately. There were four Chelsea defenders in the vicinity but it did not trouble him. He turned
Cahill, left the rest for dead, and slipped his finish past Begovic into the far corner. An exquisite goal, from an exquisite player and a fair reward for the
ambition shown.
Not that the siege was over. In the last attack before half-time a Kolarov cross was met by Mangala, who should have done better with his glancing
header. It provoked Begovic’s sole false step of the half, missing the ball with his punch but connecting with Cahill’s nose, the player laid out and
requiring several minutes treatment.
This, of course, brought Chelsea’s medics haring onto the field, much to the merriment of the locals, following the fall-out from the row and demotion of
the previous pitchside team, Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn.
The Gibraltarian doctor had her name chanted, Mourinho was cursed with equal feeling and, then, Costa was flattened by a wild forearm from
Fernandinho – meaning Manchester City’s medical staff had to come to the aid of Chelsea’s stricken striker. More larks.
Amid the laughter, Mourinho will have quietly noted that his point about the danger of being reduced to nine men by pitchside treatment was
vindicated by what happened next.
As Cahill and Costa waited behind the white lines to return, a Chelsea free-kick broke down and City counter-attacked with numerical advantage,
stifled only by a magnificent rearguard action from Willian. Told you, Mourinho might have thought. Not that he was in any position to score points.
Not that he didn’t try. He described the outcome as fake, claiming Chelsea were the better team in the second-half. They were certainly better than in
the first but, frankly, they couldn’t fail to improve.
Cesc Fabregas had their only shot, wide, after 42 minutes, and their first of real purpose came 28 minutes later when Costa cut the ball back to Hazard,
who shot straight at Joe Hart. It was at this point, just when Chelsea were beginning to threaten on the counter-attack, that Kompany finished them
off.
It  was a Silva corner from the left that did the damage, Kompany all over Ivanovic, before flicking a header past Begovic to put the result beyond
doubt.
Chelsea may claim their man was fouled, but there is so much wrestling in the penalty area these days – and Ivanovic is such a master of it – that it is
hard to feel much sympathy
After his shocker against Jefferson Montero of Swansea last week, Ivanovic’s confidence looks shot. He was poor for the third too – the one that gave
the scoreline real emphasis – slow to react to the advancing Silva and dispossessed, the ball flying to Fernandinho, who finished it sharply.
On the touchline, Mourinho looked as if a migraine was kicking in. He has one point from two matches, the poorest return of any Premier League
champions at the start of the season. Is there a doctor in the house?
==============

Mirror:
Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea: 5 things we learnt as Manuel Pellegrini's side thrashed reigning champions

By David McDonnell
 
The reigning champions are still looking for their first win of the Premier League season after coming up short on Sunday

Manchester City hammered Chelsea on Sunday to underline their Premier League title credentials.
Manuel Pellegrini's men were in confident mood after their opening 3-0 win over West Brom on Monday night and hit the ground running when Sergio
Aguero put them ahead in the first half.
As Chelsea wobbled, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho added to the scoreline, to the delight of the home crowd.
It would have been easy for Aguero's head to drop after being denied three times by Begovic inside the first 20 minutes, but it is the enduring mark of
a truly great striker that he did not allow those early setbacks to affect him and showed why he is arguably the best striker in the Premier League
with his wonderfully taken opener.
After a quick exchange with Yaya Toure, Aguero showed exquisite poise and physical strength to turn Gary Cahill inside out before dispatching a clinical
finish beyond the reach of Begovic for a fine goal. Last season's Golden Boot winner with 26 goals, Aguero must stay fit if City are to win a third title in
five years.
Diego Costa duly fulfilled the role of pantomime villain, earning the derision of the home fans for his perceived theatrics and then for trying to get to
Fernandinho at half-time to avenge a poor challenge from the City midfielder with an errant elbow that left him sporting a bandage around his head.
In fairness to Costa, the action that so enraged him could and perhaps should have warranted a red card for Fernandinho, so his ire was
understandable.
Costa needs to play on the edge to produce his belligerent best, but there needs to be a balance between being fired up and losing the plot and, at
times, he came close to the latter.
Branislav Ivanovic has been rightly regarded as the best right-back in the Premier League for the past few years, his combination of defensive
reliability and attacking menace making him the stand-out player in his position.
But there were signs in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Swansea on the opening day of the season, when he was given the run around by Jefferson Montero,
and again here, with Raheem Sterling taking on the role of chief tormentor, that Ivanovic's best days may be behind him, despite his outstanding
service to Chelsea.
He was lucky to get away with a blatant block on Sterling in the first-half, but not so fortunate when he clipped the heels of the £49m man in the
second-half, when he was again left trailing in his wake. To compound his misery, Ivanovic was beaten to the ball by Vincent Kompany for City's second,
and gave the ball away to Fernandinho for the third. An afternoon he will want to forget.
By his own admission, skipper Vincent Kompany was one of those City players who under-performed last season as Manuel Pellegrini's side made a
meek defence of their Premier League title.
Injuries may have sabotaged Kompany's season, but even when he did play he looked a shadow of the imperious defender or previous campaigns, the
man who provided the foundation for City's two title wins, But here Komapny looked back to his imposing best, reading the game with intelligent
authority and capping that display with a fine header to put the game beyond Chelsea.
Like Aguero, if City are to reclaim the title this season, Kompany must remain fit and producing this level of performance throughout the campaign.
When Thibaut Courtois was sent off in Chelsea's opening-day 2-2 draw with Swansea and hit with an automatic three-match ban, it was felt his
enforced absence could see Jose Mourinho's men lose vital early ground in the title race, particularly given Petr Cech's move to Arsenal.
But Begovic proved his worth on three occasions inside the first 20 minutes, making vital saves from Sergio Aguero to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
Begovic waa derided for taking the perceived easy option in joining Chelsea from Stoke, where he was expected to reside on the bench.
But his early season involvement, and impressive form until Aguero finally made the breakthrough with the opener, went some way to vindicating that
decision. Begovic had little chance with City's other two goals, Kompany's header and Fernandinho's thunderous strike, but the scoreline could have
been more humiliating for Chelsea were it nor for his heroics early on.

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

Express:

Manchester City 3 - Chelsea 0: City send warning to title rivals with ruthless display
AN emphatic statement of title intent was just what the doctor ordered for Manuel Pellegrini - even if Jose Mourinho did not agree with the
prescription.
By Richard Tanner

While Pellegrini's Manchester City team look in rude health, Chelsea's condition, while not yet terminal, is certainly looking critical.
Mourinho's claimed it was a "fake result" because two of City's goals came late in the game and Chelsea had improved in the second half. But few would
agree with him. The champions were beaten by a superior team.
When Pellegrini punched the air in delight at the final whistle it was not just to celebrate the victory - only his third in 13 head-to-head battles in Spain
and England with his managerial nemesis - but also the manner in which it was achieved.
His football philosophy differs dramatically from the more pragmatic Mourinho. The Chilean belief in winning with style and panache has proved his
undoing on occasions in the past but here was thrilling vindication that City can win a third title in five seasons playing the way he wants.
Pellegirni could not have wished for a better start than two wins, six goals, none conceded and a five-point lead over Chelsea.
City were faster, hungrier and more fluent as they inflicted the joint heaviest defeat Mourinho has suffered in his two spells in the Premier League.
Their collective determination was exemplified by the number of times Yaya Toure and David Silva, two players renowned for their attacking skills, were
happy to do the dirty work as well, constantly tracking back to win possession.
Sergio Aguero tore Chelsea to shreds to such an extent that Mourinho was forced ito the drastic action of withdrawing John Terry at half-time - the
first time he has done that to his skipper in 177 games in his two spells as manager at Stamford Bridge.
But it underlined how badly Chelsea struggled to contain City - and Aguero in particular - in the first half.
Terry was not the only player who endured a torrid afternoon. Branislav Ivanovic, having been given the run around by Swansea's Jefferson Montero
last week, struggled to contain Raheem Sterling and capped his day by losing possession for City's third goal.
But few defences could have contained Aguero in this form. Despite his delayed start to pre-season following Copa America duty, the Argentina
international looked razor-sharp and had four chances in the first 22 minutes.

On three occasions Asmir Begovic - making his full debut in place of the suspended Thibaut Courtois - came to Chelsea's rescue with saves while
Aguero was off target with the other. But he was not to be denied and put City ahead after 32 minutes.
After David Silva had picked him out on the edge of the area, he played a one-two with Toure, turned inside Gary Cahill, held off Nemanja Matic's
challenge and steered a low shot into the net via the far post.
City went close to a second when Eliaquim Mangala got his head to Kolarov'v's free-kick but the ball flew just wide.
The half ended like a scene from Casualty. Cahill took the full force of Begovic's attempted punch and needed treatment for a bloodied nose. Then Costa
suffered a gashed head from Fernandinho's reckless forearm that Mourinho claimed should have earned him a red rather than a yellow card.
Costa, was left wearing a Basil Fawlty style head bandage, and it just about summed up Chelsea's comedy defending. Costa went looking for retributon
as the half-time whistle but his team-mates wisely made sure he as kept apart from Fernandinho as they trudged down the tunnel.
The extra pace of Terry's replacement Kurt Zouma helped to counter City's lightning attacks and gave Chelsea a foothold in the second half. Ramires
had a goal disallowed for offside but City remained dangerous with Bergovic saving from Toure and Aguero firing wide.
The turning point came in the 70th minute when Joe Hart denied Eden Hazard when he looked certain to snatch an equaliser from Costa's pass.
City stepped up another gear and killed the game when skipper Kompany headed home from Silva's corner. Then Silva dispossessed Ivanovic to set up
Fernandinho for a sweetly struck third.
The last time Chelsea failed to win either of their opening two League games was back in 1998. Mourinho may not agree with the diagnosis but his team
looks in need of urgent surgery.
Man City (4-2-3-1): Hart 7; Sagna 7, Kompany 8, Mangala 7, Kolarov 8; Fernandinho 7, Toure 7; Navas 7 (Nasri 65, 6), Silva 7, Sterling 7 (Demichelis 79,
6); Aguero 9 (Bony 83, 5). Booked: Kompany, Fernandinho, Mangala. Goal: Aguero 31, Kompany 80, Fernandinho 85. NEXT UP: Everton (a) PL - Sun.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6; Ivanovic 5, Cahill 5, Terry 5 (Zouma 46, 6), Azpilicueta 5; Fabregas 5, Matic 6; Ramires 5 (Cuadrado) 64, 5), Willian 6
(Falcao 79, 5), Hazard 6; Costa 5. Booked: Ivanovic, Hazard. NEXT UP: West Brom (a) PL - Sun.
Referee: M Atkinson (West Mids).

====================
Star:

Man City 3 Chelsea 0: The Citizens stun Jose Mourinho's men at the Etihad
TWO games in and champions Chelsea are already a team in crisis.

By David Woods
Jose Mourinho’s men were mauled by Manchester City yesterday.
And while last year’s runners-up top the table after their second successive 3-0 win, Chelsea are 16th, with just one point.
That famous Chelsea backline, so important in last season’s title success, suddenly appears frail, fragile and full of fear. At the Etihad they were
tormented by Sergio Aguero and co.
Mourinho said on Friday he had deliberately not pushed his players too hard in pre-season for fear of burning them out.
Yesterday they looked shot to pieces.
Even the unthinkable happened when ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ John Terry was hauled off at half-time, the first time he’s ever been substituted by
Mourinho in a league game.
Gary Cahill was turned so often by Aguero his shorts could have been on the wrong way round by half-time.
Right now, Branislav Ivanovic looks like Ivan the Terrible.
Mourinho appears to have a huge job on his hands bringing back some colour to his pallid Blues.
In contrast, Manuel Pellegrini’s City seem slick, fired-up and determined to win back their crown.
Mourinho must be thankful goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has not been infected by whatever it is that has seen the champs turn into chumps.
Without the Bosnian, the scoreline could have been doubled - or even worse.
Aguero was allowed to go clean through as early as the 20th SECOND and was denied three times in the first 17th minutes by Begovic who was only
playing due to Thibaut Courtois’ suspension.
The last two saves were superb reflex ones. The Argentine also slotted wide after a cross from the excellent Aleksandar Kolarov evaded Terry.
But Aguero was not to be denied in the 32nd minute. Playing a one-two with Yaya Toure - who was having one of his brilliant days - he fooled Cahill
then evaded challenges from Nemanja Matic and Terry to roll the ball inside the far post with a sidefoot to make it 10 goals in his last nine league
games.
Mourinho stood with hands in his pockets. Like his Chelsea team something was missing from his reactions to incidents all afternoon.
Raheem Sterling blazed over after being teed up by Aguero.
Yet another brilliant delivery from Kolarov, this time from a free-kick, picked out Eliaquim Mangala but he glanced wide.
Cahill was hurt thanks to a punch in the face from his own goalkeeper and there were ironic cheers as stand-in club doctor Chris Hughes and physio
Steven Hughes ran on to treat him.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” taunted the home fans, in reference to the axing of their predecessors Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn last week.
There was controversy at the break as a furious Diego Costa- who needed his head bandaged after being caught by Fernandinho’s elbow - tried to get
at the Brazilian, who had only been booked.
Ironically, City physio Lee Nobes had been the one to bandage up Costa, but it didn’t matter to the fired up striker.
Vincent Kompany and Mangala shielded their team-mate, while Cesc Fabregas, Ramires, Ivanovic and coaches Rui Faria and Silvino Louro tried to
restrain Costa.
Ramires tapped in from a harshly adjudged offside position then embarrassingly celebrated for what seemed like ages as everyone else ran the other
way.
Chelsea had their first real chance in the 70th minute, with Eden Hazard and Costa exchanging passes after a break before the former fired straight at
Joe Hart’s legs.
City scored their second in the 79th minute. Iron Man Ivanovic didn’t have enough mettle to handle Kompany at David Silva’a corner with City’s skipper
heading home.
The third came in the 84th minute, Ivanovic again at fault being beaten to a loose ball by Silva, whose prod went to Fernandinho on the edge of the
area to fire home.
For City this season is shaping to be something special. But for Mourinho he has a real job on his hands to stop Chelsea’s heading for disaster.