B90

everton 0-2

2012-02-12T08:53:00.003Z

Independent:

Pienaar back to leave Villas-Boas in despair
Everton 2 Chelsea 0: Pressure piles on Chelsea manager after Everton's loan star strikes

SIMON HART GOODISON PARK

The previous Chelsea manager to lose at Goodison Park did not get out of the ground with his job intact. That was Carlo Ancelotti on the final day of last season, and although Andre Villas-Boas, his successor, avoided the same fate last night, Chelsea's limp surrender will have done nothing to ease the pressure on the Portuguese. His team have taken only three points from their past four League fixtures and slipped out of the top four with this defeat, behind Arsenal on goals scored.
It was the last thing Villas-Boas would have wanted after a week in which the club's owner, Roman Abramovich made his presence felt at the training ground. The managersaid: "It was one of our worst games of the season – I think the worst. Our performance was short of anything positive, there were a lot of negatives to take out of this game and a lot of things to improve in the FA Cup and Champions' League."
Everton had not scored two goals at home since November yet were comfortable winners, and there was no little irony in the identity of their scorers. Steven Pienaar has not scored a Premier League goal for Tottenham, but his fifth-minute goal on his second Goodison debut, after returning on loan from north London, did his employers at White Hart Lane no harm, as Chelsea slipped 10 points behind third-placed Spurs.
The second goal, meanwhile, came from Denis Stracqualursi, a loan signing from the Argentinian club Tigre, whose impact as a hard-working front-runner contrasted markedly with another insipid showing from the £50 million Fernando Torres. Indeed, for all Chelsea's first-half possession, Tom Howard did not have a serious save to make until he dived bravely at the feet of the substitute Romelu Lukaku late on. Didier Drogba's return from the African Cup of Nations cannot come soon enough.
The sound of the away fans singing: "You don't know what you're doing" after Villas-Boas sent on Florent Malouda for Michael Essien after69 minutes summed up the manager's miserable afternoon. "It's part of the job," he said of the supporters' reaction. "At the moment, we're sitting fifth in the League and it's not enough for us."
For David Moyes, facing his seventh Chelsea manager as Everton's equivalent, this was an afternoon to savour. Everton rediscovered something of their old battling selves in the win against Manchester City in their previous home fixture and this was another display brimming with spirit, endeavour, and ultimately, no little skill. Not least from Pienaar.
Everton's ability to retain possession was diminished by his previous departure. His relish at being back was underlined by a moment in the second half when he danced over the ball before jinking away from Jose Bosingwa.
Moyes said of the South African: "Some of this stuff was terrific. I said to him it's as if he's not been away. Sometimes players fit a club, maybe this just suits him."
Pienaar put Chelsea on the back foot with his early goal. The unwitting assist came from Frank Lampard, whose attempted tackle on Tim Cahill sent the ball spinning into his own penalty box, where Pienaar got in front of Branislav Ivanovic and shot high into the roof of the net at Petr Cech's near post. Chelsea responded with plenty of possession but struggled to pick holes in a well-organised home defence. Juan Mata offered the only moments of incisiveness with passes to Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard. Sturridge's shot deflected wide off Phil Neville while Lampard dragged his attempt wide.
The only real moment of anxiety Torres provided came in first-half stoppage time when he went down in the Everton box after a collision with Marouane Fellaini; he appeared to run into the Belgian but remonstrated angrily as he left the pitch.
Things only got worse for Chelsea in the second half as Everton, with Fellaini dominating central midfield, looked for a second. It eventually came through Stracqualursi with 19 minutes remaining.
Neville sparked the move with a crunching tackle on Ashley Cole. Landon Donovan picked the ball up and ran at the heart of the Chelsea defence before slipping the ball through to Stracqualursi, whose low shot struck Cech's left hand on its way into the Gwladys Street net.
"He's old-fashioned, a little bit of huff and puff, but in the end he wore them down," said Moyes of the scorer. Stracqualursi made little immediate impact at Goodison after arriving from Argentina on a season-long loan and can look clumsy, but he proved a constant nuisance to a Chelsea defence still missing John Terry and ensured another headache for their manager.

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Observer:

Everton's Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi deepen Chelsea blues
Joe Lovejoy at Goodison Park

A leading London bookmaker refused a £20,000 bet on David Moyes to be the next Tottenham manager on Friday night, in the belief that it was a "done deal". The disappointed punter could well turn his attention to the Chelsea succession after Saturday's events at Goodison, which saw André Villas-Boas told by his own fans: "You don't know what you're doing," and taunted with "You're getting sacked in the morning" by the gleeful home crowd.
We are all probably getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here. There is no vacancy at White Hart Lane for Moyes to take just yet although, in the event of Harry Redknapp replacing Fabio Capello with England, Moyes would become odds-on favourite. Similarly, sources indicated that, despite his recent presence at the training ground, Roman Abramovich is not yet ready to dispense with his young manager. It goes without saying, however, that this most impatient of owners is getting an itchy trigger finger now that Chelsea have dropped out of the Champions League places, after taking three points from their past four games.
Villas-Boas said the vocal criticism was "part of the job", adding: "That was our worst performance of the season. We're sitting fifth in the league and that's not good enough."
Moyes is an acknowledged master of the alchemist's art, turning cheap base material into gold year after year, and no manager is more deserving of a chance with a bigger, wealthier club.
As Villas-Boas pointed out, Everton's success here, like their improvement generally, was the product of the club's latest signings, Steven Pienaar, Landon Donovan and Denis Stracqualursi. All three are only on loan, which is a frustration to Moyes, who said: "Landon is going back [to LA Galaxy] after next week. We haven't got the financial resources others have, so we look to them to get a few results while they are here to get some momentum going." There are no such constraints at Tottenham.
Pienaar, back at Goodison on loan from Spurs, was the man of the match, scoring the all-important first goal in the fifth minute and troubling Chelsea throughout. He struggled to make an impact with Tottenham, but Moyes said: "It was as if he'd never been away. Sometimes clubs suit players and I think that's the case here."
The second goal came from Stracqualursi, borrowed for the rest of the season, from Tigres of Argentina, where he was leading scorer in the league last year.
The early lead that had Everton's confidence coursing came when José Bosingwa's throw-in was headed on by Pienaar, producing a joust for possession between Frank Lampard and Tim Cahill. From their tussle, the ball fell obligingly for the South African to thump the ball into the roof of the net, left-footed, from eight yards. Without John Terry, who was nursing a knee injury, the Chelsea defence had a soft centre, with David Luiz again resembling a midfielder playing out of position. Why Gary Cahill remained rooted to the bench is anybody's guess. Answers on a postcard to Disgusted of Siberia.
Chelsea's efforts were undermined by Fernando Torres's clear lack of confidence, which now borders on the embarrassing. With one opportunity he headed over, with another he ran straight into Marouane Fellaini, appealing almost pathetically for a penalty. At half-time, with no apparent reason he berated the referee, Mike Jones, who had the last word by booking him in the second half for a succession of fouls born of frustration.
With no sign of the goal they needed, Chelsea withdrew Michael Essien and sent on an extra attacker, Florent Malouda – to the high-decibel disapproval of the visiting contingent. They were even more disgruntled two minutes later when Donovan played in Stracqualursi, whose finish was good enough to beat Petr Cech, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball.
Everton were indebted to Tim Howard for a late save from Romelu Lukaku, but a goal would have flattered Chelsea. Unbeaten in their past six, it is the scouse Blues who are looking good.

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Telegraph:

Everton 2 Chelsea 0
By Chris Bascombe, Goodison Park

Given that Roman Abramovich’s idea of patience is to allow his manager to board the team bus before informing him he is sacked, Andre Villas-Boas will be relieved to have departed Merseyside still in work.
The reprieve may be temporary. Goodison Park is developing a reputation as a graveyard forChelsea managers.
Villas-Boas’s predecessor, Carlo Ancelotti, was dismissed minutes after the corresponding fixture with Everton last season which Chelsea lost 1-0, a defeat that confirmed the ignominy of the club finishing second.
This defeat meant Villas-Boas’s side dropped out of the top four.
Disorganised, limp and passionless would be some of the more charitable observations of the performance. And that was during one of their more encouraging periods.
Fernando Torres was so ineffective there were times when the Evertonians did not even bother booing him.
If there are signs the club owner’s faith is dwindling, for once he appears to be a step behind the Chelsea fans, who gave up on their young Portuguese coach after 70 minutes. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” the visitors sang.
That followed what seemed a perfectly reasonable substitution in pursuit of an equaliser when the anonymous Michael Essien was replaced by Florent Malouda.
The same supporters were even less forgiving when their most potent attacking threat, Juan Mata, was replaced by Romelu Lukaku eight minutes later.
“It’s part of the job,” said Villas-Boas on the reaction of his own supporters. “We are sitting fifth in the league and it’s not enough.
“Today was our worst game of the season. Everton were fantastic, but we were short of anything positive. It’s a difficult day and there are a lot of negatives to take from it.”
Villas-Boas was not the only manager at Goodison whose future is the subject of speculation, with the chain of events which may take Harry Redknapp into the England job being carefully monitored by David Moyes’s admirers.
If Everton are dreading a phone call from Daniel Levy about stealing their manager, they will be grateful for the one the Tottenham chairman accepted in the final throes of deadline day.
Moyes was scurrying around for a mobile phone to complete the loan deal for Steven Pienaar, who was desperate to revive his career on familiar ground.
Pienaar scored just twice in 19 appearances for Spurs. He is evidently more comfortable on Merseyside as he struck after five minutes here.
The ball looped into the Chelsea box from the toe of Frank Lampard, and Pienaar pounced, slamming past the advancing Petr Cech. It signalled the start of a terrific performance, with his skill already transforming Everton’s style.
He was substituted to a standing ovation shortly after Everton added a second. Landon Donovan fed the enthusiastic Denis Stracqualursi, who nudged the ball beyond Cech.
“It was like he’d [Pienaar] never been away,” said Moyes. “Sometimes clubs just fit players.”
The frustration for Moyes is that all three of his most outstanding performers are owned by someone else, with Donovan soon to return to LA Galaxy, Pienaar heading back to Spurs in May and Stracqualursi on loan from Argentine club, Tigre.
None of the key participants can be sure where they will be next season. In the case of Villas-Boas, with the warnings from his recent meeting with Abramovich still fresh, the answer could come sooner than he might have feared.

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Mirror:

Everton 2-0 Chelsea

By Derick Allsop

Andre Villas-Boas had a sense of foreboding even before he stepped into Goodison Park and Everton confirmed his worst fears.
The Chelsea manager seemed obsessed with his club’s poor recent Premier League form here and they duly slumped to a third consecutive defeat.
Disgruntled Chelsea fans greeted his substitutions with chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing”.
Everton supporters added their own chorus of condemnation: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.”
That may be unlikely, even from Chelsea’s enigmatic owner, with FA Cup and Champions League assignments looming, but the reality is that his club no longer looks a force in the title contest.
They dominated periods of this match without ever displaying the power and venom of their heady years.
Fernando Torres is now almost five months into his League drought, but then he was again given scant service and too many others are playing below an acceptable level of creativity and commitment.
Villas-Boas, reluctant to acknowledge Manchester United’s superiority last week, made no attempt to hide from reality this time.
“Today was our worst game in every sense of the word,” he said.“Everton were fantastic and their signings have helped them a lot.
“We were short of anything positive. It was a difficult day. There are a lot of negatives and things to improve on. We didn’t create enough.”
He accepted the derision of the fans as “part of the game” and insisted he would persevere with the misfirin g Torres.
He said: “Torres is trying a lot to get his chance. Whatever time it takes we will persevere until he scores again. But I don’t create a system for one player.”
Everton boss David Moyes hailed his players, especially Steven Pienaar, back at Everton on loan from Spurs.
He said: “That was a great result, though the strange thing is I think we can play better.
“Some of Pienaar’s stuff was terrific. It’s as if he’d never been away. Sometimes clubs suit players.”
Everton may be less gifted individually, but they have the organisation and endeavour to confound the odds.
Pienaar’s first goal back in the blue shirt and Denis Stracqualursi’s strike rewarded their honest philosophy.
Villas-Boas, still without the services of John Terry, opted to go with Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz at the heart of his defence and return Gary Cahill to the bench, but he did restore Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard to the fold.
Lampard might have wished for a less conspicuous comeback as he unwittingly set up Pienaar’s goal. The Chelsea skipper’s attempted intervention merely served to propel the ball into the path of the winger, who smashed it into the roof of Petr Cech’s net.
Lampard wrung his hands in horror, but put himself at the hub of Chelsea’s controlled response as they patiently sought an opening.
A miscued attempt at a clearance by Phil Neville presented Daniel Sturridge with half a chance but to the winger’s dismay, he could not turn it into the genuine article.
Chelsea sustained the pressure, forcing Tim Howard into a panic punch that Luiz failed to make the most of.
Everton continued to ride their luck, a timely deflection lifting Sturridge’s blast over the crossbar. They escaped again as Lampard, making that trademark run into the area, pushed his shot wide.
A mistake by Cole gave Everton a rare opening and the full-back was relieved Stracqualursi could not capitalise.
Chelsea maintained their edge in possession yet grew increasingly desperate as they struggled to find a leveller.
Villas-Boas sent on Florent Malouda for Michael Essien, a move that drew chants of derision from Chelsea fans.
On the other hand, Everton knew exactly what they were doing from the moment Neville won the ball and fed Landon Donovan.
The winger, on loan from LA Galaxy, made ground, cut inside and found Stracqualursi, who beat the advancing Cech to secure the win. Howard averted any late anxiety by smothering the ball at the feet of substitute Romelu Lukaku.

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Mail:

Everton 2 Chelsea 0:
Villas-Boas jeered by own fans as Blues fall again

By NICK HARRIS

With a meagre three points from their last four Premier League games following this woeful submission to a resurgent Everton, Chelsea are in crisis and Andre Villas-Boas's future at Stamford Bridge is in grave doubt.
'There are a lot of negatives to take from this game,' he said, jeered by his own fans for a performance that saw Chelsea tumble out of the top four.
This is not the kind of message that Roman Abramovich - who attended Chelsea training this week - wants to hear. And when Abramovich is unhappy, his managers tend to know it, as Chelsea's financial results for the 2010-11 season, published in full this week, reminded us.
The accounts contained the fact that it cost Chelsea £28million to get rid of Villas-Boas's predecessor Carlo Ancelotti and to hire the replacement.
There is no owner more trigger-happy than Abramovich, and without a swift dramatic change in fortunes, it is easy to see Villas- Boas getting another visit from his boss soon and becoming yet another exceptional cost in the CFC financial document.
Everton deserve credit for the way they went about their work, inspired by Steven Pienaar, on loan from Tottenham, back at his old club.
He opened the scoring, while another on-loan player, Denis Stracqualursi, netted the second, and a third loan signing, Landon Donovan of LA Galaxy, was again impressive.
But the decline of Chelsea and their ongoing inability to make any impression on the title race is shocking. That at least appears to be the view of many of their own fans, who face the prospect of missing out on Champions League football next season.
Never in Abramovich's ownership, since summer 2003, have Chelsea finished outside the top three in the league, let alone outside the top four.
'Today was one of our worst games of the season,' Villas-Boas said, before quickly correcting himself. 'THE worst. Everton's [January] signings have helped them improve. It was a difficult day for us.'
Asked how it felt to be derided vocally by his own fans, as he was in the second half, he said: 'It's part of the job. At the moment we're sitting fifth in the league and it's not good enough.'
It was only when Stracqualursi scored Everton's second goal and took this match beyond Chelsea's reach that the home fans started chanting at Villas-Boas: 'You're getting sacked in the morning.'
It tells you everything you need to know about the dire state of Chelsea's season that their own travelling support had got their insults in first. 'You don't know what you're doing,' they chanted when 1-0 down and just after Villas-Boas had replaced Michael Essien with Florent Malouda in the 69th minute.
It's no wonder Roman is taking charge!
Chelsea's 43-point total from 25 games is their lowest since 2001, when they finished sixth.
Andre Villas-Boas, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, has managed only 12 points from the last 10 Premier League games.
No wonder owner Roman Abramovich is becoming hands-on again.That change failed to make an impact, just as Villas- Boas has failed to make much impact on indifferent form. Fernando Torres looks as far away as ever from rediscovering the form that made him a £50m player little more than a year ago.
Villas-Boas said he will simply keep encouraging the player but will not alter his overall approach to build play around the Spaniard. 'I don't create a system to suit one player,' he said.
Everton's manager David Moyes had written in his programme notes about his excitement at his recent hirings, notably Pienaar and the Croatia striker Nikica Jelavic. Jelavic was a late withdrawal from Saturday's squad with an abdominal problem, but his team-mates made the brightest of starts without him.
They were ahead inside five minutes following sloppiness from Chelsea. Jose Bosingwa's throw-in was ill-aimed and Frank Lampard needed to challenge Tim Cahill for the ball, which looped towards Chelsea's goal.
Pienaar shrugged past Branislav Ivanovic, controlled with his chest and then slammed the ball into the roof of the net.
With Everton compact and hard-working, they weathered the only sustained Chelsea 'storm' of the match, which lasted about seven first-half minutes and involved chances but nothing of substance.
Lampard blasted a wayward free-kick. Torres had a shot blocked by Phil Neville, as did Essien, while Daniel Sturridge also saw a shot deflect to safety.
Donovan laid on the pass for Stracqualursi's low drive for 2-0 in the 71st minute and the day was Everton's to savour.
'That was a great result for us,' said Moyes. 'Strangely, I think we can also play better, but it's a great result to beat Chelsea.'

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Sun:

Everton 2 Chelsea 0

STEVEN PIENAAR and Denis Stracqualursi downed Chelsea to put Andre Villas-Boas under huge pressure.Midfielder Pienaar celebrated his first home match since returning from Spurs by thumping a fifth-minute opener, then recalled Stracqualursi poached Everton's clincher on 71 minutes as the blunt Blues slumped to fifth.
Such a tame defeat will send speculation over Villas-Boas' future soaring - in the week that Fabio Capello left the England job and was instantly linked with the helm at Stamford Bridge.
Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard came back in for Chelsea, with Gary Cahill making the bench for the first time since his £7million arrival from Bolton.
Hitman Stracqualursi lined up for Everton as new striker Nikica Jelavic had a stomach muscle injury.
But it was Pienaar who was influential from the start, instigating a first-minute move from which Landon Donovan prodded wide.
Then, when Lampard deflected a Tim Cahill ball over Branislav Ivanovic's head. Pienaar raced into the box, controlled on his chest and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
Chelsea fought back slowly but created little - until Fernando Torres cleverly let Daniel Sturridge's low ball run across for Juan Mata, whose was firm shot was deflected over by Phil Neville.
Lampard then dragged a shot wide from Mata's pull-back.
But Cahill mis-controlled an equally-promising chance at the other end after Leighton Baines and combined well with Pienaar.
Chelsea playmaker Raul Meireles was booked for kicking Stracqualursi as the Argentinian tried to break clear.
And soon after it was the same Everton hitman who fired straight at Petr Cech.
Torres protested furiously that he should have had a penalty when John Heitinga blocked him off. And, when he continued to vent his anger at referee Mike Jones as the players walked off for half-time, Torres had to be led away by Toffees midfielder Marouane Fellaini.
Sylvain Distin in particular stood firm as the visitors pushed Everton back early in the second period.
And a loud cheer rang out when Torres was booked for a late challenge on Pienaar, whose footwork continued to cause Chelsea problems.
Torres, in fact, marred his hard work by looking sluggish in front of goal.
And he summed up his afternoon by heading Jose Bosingwa's cross straight at Tim Howard.
Villas-Boas angered many Blues fans by replacing Michael Essien with Florent Malouda.
And Everton doubled their lead 18 minutes from time.
Phil Neville robbed Cole in midfield, releasing Donovan to surge at Chelsea's defence and flick a pass for Stracqualursi to wrong-foot Cech.
Cole had stayed grounded following Neville's challenge and, despite treatment the delayed the re-start, the England left-back soon had to go off, seemingly in much discomfort.
The Blues dictated possession late on but once again Distin helped Everton cope with everything.

Everton:Howard,Neville,Heitinga,Distin,Baines,Donovan,Gibson (Hibbert 89),Fellaini,Pienaar (Drenthe 74),Cahill, Stracqualursi (Duffy 90). Subs Not Used: Mucha,Gueye,Barkley,Vellios.
Goals: Pienaar 5,Stracqualursi 71.

Chelsea: Cech,Bosingwa,Luiz,Ivanovic,Cole (Bertrand 77), Meireles,Essien (Malouda 69),Lampard,Sturridge,Torres, Mata (Lukaku 77). Subs Not Used: Turnbull,Mikel,Ferreira,Cahill.
Booked: Meireles,Bosingwa,Torres.
Att: 33,924
Ref: Mike Jones (Cheshire).

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Express:

EVERTON 2 - CHELSEA 0: STEVEN PIENAAR PUSHES AVB CLOSER TO THE EXIT
By Richard Jolly

ONE Chelsea manager’s reign ended ignominiously in a corridor at Goodison Park. Another’s won’t conclude quite the same way but it is going from bad to worse.
Nine months ago, Carlo Ancelotti was unceremoniously sacked after defeat to Everton.
Andre Villas-Boas lingers on after another loss to David Moyes’ men but, with Roman Abramovich an increasingly regular presence on the training ground and Chelsea’s results on the pitch deteriorating, for how much longer?
Because this is expensive failure. It cost £28million to dismiss the Italian and his staff and prise the Portuguese from Porto. That is £28m to go backwards, £28m to go from third place into an uphill battle for fourth.
Possibly, come the end of the season, £28m to drop out of he Champions League. And £28m to be told “you don’t know what you’re doing” when Villas-Boas replaced Michael Essien with Florent Malouda.
And again when he removed Chelsea’s most inventive player, Juan Mata, for the untried teenager Romelu Lukaku.
By then the match was lost, but the first rebellion in the stands came even before Denis Stracqualursi added to Steven Pienaar’s early goal.
Dissent and dismal defeat should give Villas-Boas and Abramovich plenty to ponder.
They may have a three-year plan but it didn’t involve playing in the Europa League. Or being beaten by a side with less talent and lower price tags but more commitment, more organisation and more spirit. Or being tormented by a man they tried to sign.
Pienaar would have only cost £3m last January. It is cheap by anyone one’s standards – let alone Chelsea’s – and, after he chose Spurs, they went and spent £50m on Fernando Torres. But, whereas the Spaniard can’t buy a goal, the South African marked his return to Goodison Park with an emphatic strike.
Brought back on loan from Tottenham, Pienaar got a huge ovation on his second coming.
He got a louder roar five minutes into it. When Frank Lampard challenged Tim Cahill, the ball looped up into his path and he controlled it on his chest before lashing his shot into the roof of the net.
Moyes said: “Bits of his stuff were terrific. Maybe some clubs just fit players and this one suits him.”
But it was a day for Everton heroes old and new. A great tryer, though by no means a great footballer, Stracqualursi has got a growing fan club at Goodison Park.
They appreciate the non-stop running of a man who never gives defenders a moment’s peace.
They are prepared to forgive the odd stray touch because of the huge amount of work he puts in.
And industry brought its rightful reward. No sooner had Villas-Boas been barracked by his own supporters than Stracqualursi had the Everton public cheering.
Landon Donovan darted infield before playing an intelligent pass. The Argentine ran on to it, finishing confidently for his first Premier League goal.
“Fantastic,” added Moyes. “He is old-fashioned. When I played there were lots of that type of centre- forward, a little bit huff and puff and not pleasing to the eye but by the end he wore them down.
“He’s got an iron lung and he deserves everything he gets.”
Villas-Boas admitted: “Everton were fantastic.” In contrast, Chelsea were shambolic.

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Star:

EVERTON 2 - CHELSEA 0: IT’S PIEN A NIGHTMARE

By Gary Carter

IF ANDRE Villas-Boas thought he was having a rough ride at Chelsea, things may soon get a whole lot uglier.
Slumping to a hapless two-goal defeat is bad enough – but now the fans have turned against him too.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” they chanted as Michael Essien and later Juan Mata, two of their brighter lights, were hauled off with the rest failing dismally.
South African Steven Pienaar was one who got away from the Blues last January as he opted for Tottenham when he left Everton.
Just five minutes into his return after re-signing on loan, Pienaar re-established himself as a Goodison Park hero by slamming the ball into the roof of the net after Frank Lampard inadvertently played him through.
And three minutes after Chelsea fans finally vented their anger for the first time, Denis Stracqualursi piled on the misery by taking advantage of Raul Meireles’ comic attempt at the offside trap from Landon Donovan’s pass.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” was the Everton fans’ taunt aimed towards Villas-Boas.
Careful lads or he may end up with the England job!
Somewhere in Portugal, defender John Terry would have been shifting even more uncomfortably as things around him get ever more awkward.
“There’s only one England captain,” chanted some of the travelling Chelsea fans in support of the man who must be one of the more relieved at Luis Suarez’s antics yesterday.
But whatever the arguments and claims against Terry, one thing that can’t be denied – the organisation he brings.
Chelsea had none at the back and they were a compleste shambles.
At various stages, Jose Bosingwa, David Luiz and Ashley Cole were all upfield, leaving Branislav Ivanovic holding the fort.
And poor old Essien found himself at centre-half more often than not. Villas-Boas needs to sort it out and fast – as the prospect of Chelsea missing out on the Champions League grows ever more realistic.
Gary Cahill did not exactly get the greatest endorsement.
After making his debut last week against Manchester United, the £7million new boy was promptly dropped to the bench.
Amazingly, Villas-Boas is the seventh Stamford Bridge boss David Moyes has faced with Everton.
Continue like this and he may be preparing for his eighth, with a certain Fabio Capello being mentioned.
There was no Nikica Jelavic in Moyes’ squad after the striker suffered a stomach muscle injury in training.
But Everton have a much stronger look after the January transfer window and the manager admitted changes had to be made.
The result was that plucky Everton out-muscled, out-thought and out-played the supposed big boys in every aspect.
The heat is very much on Villas-Boas and owner Roman Abramovich, who spent several days at Chelsea’s Cobham training base this week, does not bode well.
And Michael Sturridge will not have been impressed with where his son Daniel was again played.
In the week he said that the Blues were wasting his talent by playing him out wide – his call went unheeded.
But it was from a central position that the England candidate first made his mark with a fierce shot that was deflected over by Phil Neville.
Give Lampard a free shot from the centre of the penalty area and you would expect the ball to nestle in the net.
Instead, he scuffed a 28th-minute shot well wide.
Pienaar revelled in the space he found and Chelsea’s fragility was highlighted when the tricky midfielder exchanged passes with Leighton Baines.
Everton also showed moments of panic at the back.
Tim Howard almost gifted Mata a strike when he spilled the ball as Neville got in his way. Some of the defending – and passing – was so poor, it seemed inevitable there would be another goal.
Stracqualursi almost cashed in when Ashley Cole presented him with the ball on the edge of the area, seconds after he was poleaxed by Meireles.
One thing was certain, Fernando Torres was not going to score as the Spaniard cut such a pitiful figure and nothing went his way.
Everton fans began the afternoon booing the ex-Liverpool man – there was almost a tinge of sympathy by the end as it is now 19 Chelsea matches and 20 hours 54 minutes without a goal.
Howard denied substitute Romelu Lukaku – but that was as good as it got for Chelsea.
This was the low point for Villas-Boas and he may lose Cole for a spell after he limped off.

man utd 3-3

2012-02-06T06:40:00.002Z

Independent:

Inspirational Rooney keeps title dream alive
Chelsea 3 Manchester United 3: Boos for Blues as Red Devils recover from 3-0 down to draw... but Webb is villain of piece
SAM WALLACE STAMFORD BRIDGE

A draw at home to Manchester United given his team's recent run of results would not have been a bad outcome for Andre Villas-Boas, all things considered. A draw at home to United having led the game by three goals, well, that is a different proposition altogether.
It was the hope that did for Chelsea in the end which is why the men in blue shirts were booed by sections of their own support when the whistle blew for full-time. They had led United by three goals with 32 minutes of the match remaining and this promised, at one point, to be the definitive win of Villas-Boas' eight months in charge. In the end, it felt like it offered up as many question as it did answers.
When David Luiz scored his team's third goal on 51 minutes, the club were looking at one of those watershed moments. This was a Chelsea team without John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole and they had a victory over English football's most-longstanding power within their grasp. This was the new era that the club had envisaged that Villas-Boas would deliver for them.
Never during the Premier League years have Chelsea failed to turn a three-goal lead into a victory but they were up against a United side that refuses to relinquish its place in the title race. There is a softness to Sir Alex Ferguson's team, especially in the way in which they conceded twice in six minutes at the start of the second half, but they still have Wayne Rooney who embodies their old refusal to surrender.
Rooney benefited from two penalties awarded by Howard Webb against Chelsea in the second half and neither of them were anything like open-and-shut decisions. Villas-Boas was generous in saying that the first, given for Daniel Sturridge's challenge on Patrice Evra, was "an obvious penalty" when it looked anything but.
The second of Webb's two penalty awards 11 minutes later was "very, very dubious", according to Villas-Boas, and that was putting it mildly. Danny Welbeck hung off for an age to make the most of minimal contact from Branislav Ivanovic and when it came he certainly made the most of it.
With Rooney in such decisive form from the penalty spot, these were vital moments for United and put them in a position to gain the momentum for Javier Hernandez's equaliser.
The draw leaves United two points shy of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League which is no disaster. The league leaders lost their game at Stamford Bridge in December and United escaped with a point. There's has been a sometimes chaotic pursuit of City but since those back-to-back defeats to Blackburn and Newcastle, Ferguson's team have won three and drawn one game. Beat Liverpool at home on Saturday and they will go top for one day at least.
It was not Webb's finest game but for a slow-burner it exploded into action in the second half. Possibly pre-empting the softness of the penalties awarded to his own team, Ferguson railed against Webb's failure not to dismiss Gary Cahill in the first half when he fouled Welbeck. It looked like a penalty but the angle of Welbeck's run appeared to be taking him away from goal.
Yet for a game that had such an unpromising start this built into a tremendous climax. David de Gea, who started his first league game for United since the defeat to Blackburn Rovers on New Year's Eve, flapped at a cross on seven minutes. Fernando Torres, playing alone up front in a 4-2-3-1 formation, looked effective against Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans, but until Chelsea took the lead it was a game without a theme.
That was apart from the chants from the home fans directed at Ferdinand in relation to his brother Anton and his part in the racial-abuse charge against Terry. It was unpleasant and unnecessary and it will embarrass those Chelsea supporters who took no part in it.
The first Chelsea goal went in off Evans whom the ball struck last, but it was Patrice Evra who Daniel Sturridge left behind on the right wing before he cut in down the touchline. The Chelsea man beat United's left-back from what was a standing start and hit his cross into a congested area where it struck Evans and beat De Gea.
That goal was flattering for Chelsea who had not had the best of the game before then. Rooney and Ashley Young, making his first start in 12 games, both had shots saved from Petr Cech before Chelsea came back at them with a vengeance after the break. The second Chelsea goal was magnificent: 24 seconds gone and a cross from Torres to the back post where Juan Mata hit the ball crisply with his left foot into the top of De Gea's goal.
Before United had recovered, Luiz headed in Mata's ball from the right with six minutes of the half played, via a deflection off the shoulder of Ferdinand. This should have been the moment from which they wrapped the game up. The trouble with Villas-Boas' team is that for a manager so preoccupied with tactical theory they do lack a certain discipline.
Villas-Boas had already berated Sturridge once before for failing to track back when, in a fit of exuberance, the player did just that and fouled Evra for the first penalty. It was noticeable that when Sturridge was substituted he came off with great reluctance, not seeking to acknowledge his manager on the way. He should have done himself a favour and considered why it was that he was being withdrawn.
By the time Rooney had dispatched the second of the penalties, following Ivanovic's foul on Welbeck, Chelsea were well and truly struggling. Nevertheless they did have chances. De Gea saved from Michael Essien and then Torres spent too long with the ball in the United area without unleashing a shot and was eventually dispossessed.
The goal from Hernandez came after Cech pushed a shot away and Ryan Giggs recycled the ball on the left wing. Suddenly it looked like a defence that was missing John Terry. Hernandez was between Cahill and Luiz when he twisted and directed his header past Cech. De Gea made two good late saves from a Mata free-kick and Cahill but no winner for Chelsea. Hence the boos from the home fans which did not tell the whole story.

Match facts

Chelsea: CECH 6/10; IVANOVIC 6; CAHILL 6; LUIZ 7; BOSINGWA 5; ESSIEN 7; MEIRELES 6; STURRIDGE 6; MATA 7; MALOUDA 6; TORRES 7
Man Utd: DE GEA 6; EVRA 6; FERDINAND 6; EVANS 6; RAFAEL 5; YOUNG 5; GIGGS 7; CARRICK 7; VALENCIA 5; ROONEY 8; WELBECK 6

Goals: Chelsea: Evans og 36, Mata 46, Luiz 50. Man Utd: Rooney pens 58, 69, Hernandez 84
Substitutes: Chelsea Romeu 5 (Sturridge, 70). Manchester United Hernandez 6 (Young, 53), Scholes 6 (Rafael, 63), Park (Welbeck, 86).
Booked: Chelsea Torres, Ivanovic. Man United Evra.
Man of the match Rooney.
Match rating 8/10.
Possession: Chelsea 51% Man United 49%.
Attempts on target: Chelsea 10 Man United 10.
Referee H Webb (South Yorkshire).
Attendance 41,668.

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

Guardian:

Manchester United earn point at Chelsea after thrilling comeback
Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge

Even for a side with Manchester United's renowned powers of recovery, this was a remarkable demonstration of the competitive spirit and togetherness that makes them such a hard team to shake off. Sir Alex Ferguson's team were 3-0 down after 50 minutes, playing badly and facing the prospect of a reckless defeat, before reminding us in time-honoured fashion why the improbable comeback has become their speciality over the years.Rescuing seemingly irretrievable positions is an enduring part of the United story under Ferguson's watch and, though they could not emulate that famous 5-3 win at White Hart Lane in 2003, it still represents another astonishing feat of escapology, the first time Chelsea have surrendered a three-goal lead in the Premier League years. Points have been lost to Manchester City in the title race this weekend but, in another sense, Ferguson's men have shown their neighbours how determined they are not to relinquish the championship trophy.It was a wild and eccentric game in which questionable refereeing and erratic defending both played their part, Juan Mata scored one of the outstanding goals of the season and, in the end, both teams could reflect they had enough chances to win. Ferguson seemed perplexed that United lost their momentum at 3-3, with seven minutes of normal time still to play and four minutes of stoppages, whereas Chelsea can reflect on two brilliant saves from David de Gea to prevent Mata then Gary Cahill from one providing one final, dramatic twist.The lingering memory, however, will be of United's response at the point of the match when it had seemed as though this was shaping up to be remembered as a collective loss of nerve. The game had seemed to have lurched away from the champions at the start of the second half when Mata lashed in a stunning volley from Fernando Torres's right-wing cross and, four minutes later, David Luiz's header took a decisive flick off Rio Ferdinand's shoulder.The home side had been given the lead on 36 minutes when Danny Sturridge's cross struck Jonny Evans on the chest and went past De Gea for an own goal, and when the lead accelerated with two more goals in four minutes André Villas-Boas could have been forgiven for thinking this was going to be one of the more satisfying days of his time in charge.Instead, what followed was a remarkable display of character from Ferguson's team. They replied with two goals in the space of 10 minutes, both penalties from Wayne Rooney, and when the substitute, Javier Hernández, headed in the equaliser from Ryan Giggs's cross United might actually feel disappointed they could not go on to complete the job. This Chelsea team have lost the solidity of old and there were boos at the final whistle. Villas-Boas spent a large part of the post-match interviews criticising the referee, Howard Webb, for the second penalty. The Chelsea manager had a point because there was only the briefest of touches before Daniel Welbeck went to ground and, if anything, it was the United player whose foot had initiated the contact with Branislav Ivanovic. Yet United had their own complaints about Webb.Ferguson was incensed that Cahill was not penalised, and sent off, for an early challenge on Welbeck on the edge of the penalty area and the United manager could be seen striding a yard on the pitch, flapping his arms like a man fighting off an invisible swarm of wasps.Both managers had reasonable gripes but it was also true that the two sets of players did not always make it easy for Webb, particularly the way they crowded around him. Ashley Young's dive in the penalty box was lamentable in the extreme and, before criticising the match officials, managers should take account of how their players behave.Rooney also took an exaggerated tumble in the first half and, with Villas-Boas pointing an accusatory finger at Welbeck, there were three different England internationals under scrutiny.From Chelsea's point of view, however, they should have done a lot better at closing out the game at 3-0. This was the point when the home side could have been excused for playing with a bit more caution. Yet they demonstrated a bewildering lack of know-how in that 25-minute period when everything went wrong. In those moments Chelsea badly missed the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole.Villas-Boas will also reflect on that moment, with the score at 3-1, when Fernando Torres had a clear sight of goal and hesitated just at the moment when the player of old would have taken his shot. The chance passed away and it was not long afterwards that Welbeck went down. Rooney buried the penalty, just as he had 10 minutes earlier when Evra tumbled under Sturridge's challenge.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 3
By Henry Winter, at Stamford Bridge

Never write Manchester United off. Never stand off them. Chelsea were leading 3-0, coasting towards a famous victory when they eased up, allowing the champions to stage one of their epic comebacks. United, and the outstanding Wayne Rooney in particular, never give up.
A more intelligent team than Chelsea would have killed the game off. A less resilient team thanUnited would have folded. Even though they did not win, and are two points behind leaders Manchester City,
United’s reputation as the comeback kings under Sir Alex Ferguson is enhanced. Stamford Bridge 2012 will be added to the list, thanks to Rooney.
The memory remains strong of Steve Bruce in the 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in 1992-93, of Eric Cantona in the 3-2 against Manchester City in 1993-94 and David Beckham putting Tottenham to the sword 5-3 in 2001-02.
There was Rooney in the 4-2 over Everton in 2006/07 and Federico Macheda against Aston Villa in 08-09. No one, of course, will forget Barcelona 99.
When Chelsea were three goals clear, there was a temptation to feel that this was a turning-point, a watershed at the Bridge, the signature performance for Andre Villas-Boas. Chelsea were playing with more youth, largely free of the old guard.
No John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard or Didier Drogba? No problem? By full-time, they realised how much they missed the injured Terry in particular.
Chelsea fans sang Terry’s name, chorusing "there’s only one England captain" and, sadly, booed Rio Ferdinand, the brother of Anton.
Their chants pockmarked an otherwise compelling game. Yet the early sparring gave little indication of the drama to come. Chelsea settled quickly in their 4-2-3-1 formation, Michael Essien and Raul Meireles holding with Juan Mata unleashed in his preferred position behind Fernando Torres. David Luiz, all blue tights and Joan Baez hair, partnered Gary Cahill.
United were 4-4-2 with Rooney dropping off Danny Welbeck, and Antonio Valencia and the returning Ashley Young looking to get behind Chelsea’s full-backs.
Yet Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa held firm. Mistakes still littered the first half. De Gea finished the game magnificently but he started with a weird clearing punch, almost a back-hand slap like Basil Fawlty reprimanding Manuel.
A game of assorted controversies saw Cahill catch Welbeck just outside the box. Howard Webb waved play on and Ferguson went into meltdown, berating Darren Cann, the World Cup final linesman.
Still the mistakes continued. Jonny Evans hesitated and Torres shot wide. Luiz gave ball away. Chelsea raised their game, raising their fans’ hopes by attacking more persistently and breaking through 10 minutes before half-time.
Essien had already been imposing himself on midfield and now he found Mata, whose response was majestic.
A disguised pass down the inside-right channel released Sturridge, who cut in towards goal. De Gea decided to block with his feet, the ball struck Evans and bounced in.
De Gea largely impressed for the rest of the game, immediately making a fine save from Sturridge. When Chelsea came calling 24 seconds after the break, De Gea stood no chance.
Torres lifted a magnificent cross in from the right and with Evans and Ferdinand dawdling, Mata cracked a marvellous left-footed volley into the roof of the net.
United’s defence was creaking like a barn door in a storm. Suggestions that Evra’s form has been in slow decline since the World Cup were lent additional credence here; whether the Luis Suarez incident has affected him only Evra will know but he looks vulnerable to quick-witted wingers.
Five minutes later, Chelsea’s third came from the right. Mata swept across a free-kick and there was Luiz heading firmly goalwards, the ball going in off Ferdinand.
Ferguson promptly removed Young, and sent on Hernandez, meaning Welbeck had to push wide where he worked with typically tireless endeavour. And so it began. United rallied. Evra, chasing Ryan Giggs’ ball, was fouled by Sturridge, a naïve challenge, gifting Rooney a penalty. He absolutely thundered the ball past Petr Cech. Game on.
Second sub on. Scholes charged on in the 63rd minute, replacing Rafael and immediately bringing his passing mastery to the occasion. Welbeck went right, Valencia dropped to left-back and Giggs went left.
Chelsea were confused, their confidence draining, their defence dropping deeper. A wonderful passing move saw the ball glide between Scholes, Rooney, Giggs, Rooney and Welbeck before Rooney demanded a low save from Cech.
Within six minutes, United took a stride closer to Chelsea, albeit contentiously. Welbeck trailed his leg, actually catching Ivanovic and went down.
Howard Webb was tricked into awarding a penalty when Welbeck’s response had simply echoed Adam Johnson’s gamesmanship for City a day earlier. However many doubts clung to the decision, Rooney’s response was undeniable, the ball placed expertly past Cech.
Strangely, Villas-Boas hooked Sturridge, who trudged to the bench without a handshake or any eye-contact with his manager. The surprise was that Malouda remained in the fray.
There was little surprise in seeing United continuing to pour forward, almost invited on by a now nervy Chelsea. The hosts did break out at times, and an Essien drive was punched over by De Gea, but the rising tide was flecked with red. Cahill impressed by throwing himself in the way of a Welbeck shot and then heading clear.
But Chelsea’s central defence was badly caught out with six minutes remaining. Valencia found Giggs, whose cross from the left was headed home by Hernandez, exploiting poor marking by David Luiz.
United were level but were still grateful to De Gea, their oft-criticised keeper, for an unbelievably athletic save at the death. Mata’s free-kick appeared destined for the top corner until De Gea somehow tipped it away.
United’s fight-back certainly deserved a point.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 3: Head boy Hernandez completes stunning fightback
By MATT LAWTON

What an insane game of football. A game as memorable for Manchester United’s comeback as Chelsea’s collapse. For a terrific goal from Juan Mata, to mark a terrific performance, and a save from David de Gea that demonstrated why Sir Alex Ferguson chose to spend as much as he did on the young goalkeeper.
There were two United penalties, one soft and one just about deserved, and claims that were rightly and wrongly ignored. Should Gary Cahill have been dismissed 11 minutes into his Chelsea debut for a foul on Danny Welbeck? Quite possibly, even if that particular challenge did not merit a penalty.
In a game that had everything, there was even a clean tackle from Paul Scholes. No really, there was. But there was a poor one too and it was from the resulting free-kick in the 91st minute that De Gea produced that marvellous save.
Mata could not have placed it any better; in the top corner to De Gea’s left. But the Spaniard, 21, launched himself across the goal and somehow diverted the ball to safety with his right hand.
As a spectacle it was soured, sadly, by the moronic booing and baiting that Rio Ferdinand had to endure. It was disgusting, and clearly motivated by the fact that his brother, Anton, is central to the case that has cost John Terry the England captaincy and sees him standing trial for an allegation of racism in July.
Ferdinand, as the watching Fabio Capello no doubt noted, was abused every time he touched the ball and he had to listen to his brother being called ‘a c***’ on a number of occasions as well.
Presumably because he too has been involved in a high-profile racism case this season, Patrice Evra also took some stick to underline further how much work still needs to be done to combat racism in this country. Players are being abused for making a stand against racism. As are the siblings of players who make a stand against racism.
When the entertainment on the field here at Stamford Bridge was as good as it was, it makes it all the more depressing.
This was a breathless, brilliant contest, United somehow recovering from a three-goal deficit that Chelsea had established by the 50th minute.
In Chelsea’s defence, this was the first time in four years that they were missing all four of the players who have long been considered the key to the success they have enjoyed. There was no Terry, no Frank Lampard, no Didier Drogba and no Ashley Cole.
But this was still another crushing setback for Andre Villas-Boas, just as it proved this remains a United side with the appetite and desire required to defend their title. Ferguson saw it as ‘two points dropped’ and he was right, even if he must have been thrilled by the spirit of his side. Afterwards Villas-Boas also congratulated Ferguson on his ‘fantastic substitutions’. They were aggressive, effective and hugely influential.
Both managers criticised referee Howard Webb and his assistants and they did do so with justification. That said, things probably just about evened themselves out.
A degree of leniency from the officials favoured both sides in the opening 15 minutes. Rafael da Silva looked a little lucky to escape punishment for a crunching challenge on Fernando Torres just outside the box. And Cahill was even more fortunate when he felled a rapidly advancing Welbeck, again outside the penalty area but in a position that could well have resulted in a red card for a defender making his first appearance since January 4.
If that one was not a penalty, Jose Bosingwa’s tug on Ashley Young probably was and it would have made it all the more frustrating for Ferguson that a first half his side dominated ended with Chelsea a goal up. It was a poor goal to concede in the 36th minute, Daniel Sturridge beating Evra with ease before driving in a ball that De Gea diverted with his foot against Jonny Evans only to then see it bounce over the line; an own goal for Evans and a demoralising one at that.
Some fine goalkeeping followed. While De Gea did well to deny Sturridge, Petr Cech produced excellent saves to stop Welbeck and Wayne Rooney.
But there was nothing De Gea could do to prevent Mata scoring 20 seconds into the second half. It was a marvellous cross from the otherwise ineffective Torres but a truly breathtaking left-foot volley that Mata blasted into the roof of the United net.
When Chelsea scored again five minutes later, David Luiz meeting a Mata free-kick with a header that took a deflection off Ferdinand, United appeared to be finished.
But within eight minutes Sturridge had brought down Evra with a clumsy challenge, enabling Rooney to convert with finesse from the spot, and by the 69th minute Rooney had repeated the feat, albeit in rather more dubious circumstances.
Webb gave the penalty for Ivanovic’s foul on Welbeck when it looked like the striker, while impressive yesterday, might have made a point of tripping over the Serb’s foot.
There was no disputing the third United goal, scored in the 84th minute. It began with a touch of class from Rooney, the striker controlling a cross from Antonio Valencia before forcing a fine save from Cech. The move continued when Ryan Giggs knocked the ball back in for Javier Hernandez to meet with a wonderful header which also exposed a breakdown in communication between Luiz and Cahill.
To Chelsea’s credit they probably went closest to scoring a fourth, De Gea not only denying Mata but also Cahill. Not that knowing it will ease Chelsea’s pain.

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 3-3 Man United
By Martin Lipton

They may not be a title-winning side – but nobody can doubt they have the courage of champions.
Last night, as Chelsea went from heroes to zeroes in the space of half an hour and United made the opposite journey, the enduring truth of every Sir Alex Ferguson side was illustrated once again at a freezing Stamford Bridge.
There have been many better United teams. Ferguson, for all he rails against such criticism of his men, will know that all too well.
When David Luiz’s header flicked off Rio Ferdinand’s shoulder to cap five minutes of defensive madness and put Chelsea three up and seemingly in cruise control, with the Bridge aflame in delight, what followed would have been inconceivable.
There was only, surely, one winner. Only, surely, one outcome. Only, surely, smiles for Roberto Mancini. Previous Chelsea sides, as well, would not have crumbled.
Yet United, even a United side which is a pale imitation of the great ones of the recent past, simply do not know when they are beaten, do not understand the concept of a lost cause.
Yes, Andre Villas-Boas will argue, they were given a helping hand by referee Howard Webb, certainly on the second of the two penalties converted with staggering calmness by Wayne Rooney.
But once the opportunity was there, once the possibility came alive, once Chelsea’s confidence evaporated as swiftly as the air escaping from a punctured tyre, there was an inevitability about the end game.
And as Javier Hernandez rose, unchallenged, six yards out to glance home Ryan Giggs’ cross and rescue a point, the sheer spirit of United had once again chiseled out a result from the most unlikely of circumstances.
It may not be enough, especially if Mancini’s Manchester City keep winning, certainly not if United do not sort it out at the back.
Even though United did get a point – not matching their remarkable win from three down at White Hart Lane in 2003 – they lost ground on the leaders.
Yet 90 minutes which explained just why the Premier League is the world’s favourite version of the game, which delivered far more in real spectacle than all the false glitter and glamour on display at the NFL showpiece in Indianapolis last night, were truly engrossing.
The jeers that greeted Villas-Boas’ team at the end – far less unpleasant than that which met every touch from Ferdinand – were unfair, too.
That, though, is what happens when a team is perceived to have thrown away victory, when supporters feel that the officials have conspired against them. There would have been none of that before the first United penalty.
Indeed, Webb allowed Jose Bosingwa to escape for a blatant tug on Ashley Young and then decided debut-making Gary Cahill had got the ball before sending Danny Welbeck tumbling in the first half.
United were bossing the game, only a terrific intervention by Branislav Ivanovic preventing Welbeck tapping in Rooney’s pass, before the Serb’s heel accidentally sent Juan Mata’s ball to Danny Sturridge nine minutes before the interval.
Sturridge walked around Patrice Evra – the defender’s sluggishness perhaps the belated effect of other recent events – and smashed across goal, the ball flicking off David De Gea’s leg onto luckless Johnny Evans’ chest and over the United goal-line.
Cech saved thrillingly from Young, Welbeck and Rooney before the break, but, 24 seconds into the second period, Fernando Torres’ deep cross was thundered home on the volley by Mata.
The Spaniard’s technique and quality were truly acceptable, and soon afterwards the baying home fans relished Ferdinand’s misfortune after Luiz got the first touch to Mata’s free-kick.
But that was all before Sturridge’s clip on Evra was viewed as a spot-kick by Mr Webb, Rooney finding the top corner.
If that was soft but arguable, the second was harder to justify, Welbeck looking for Ivanovic’s leg and making sure of contact before striking the ground with no outside aid. By now Hernandez had been followed on to the pitch by Paul Scholes, Rooney the Pied Piper leading Chelsea a merry dance, only Cech’s defiance – three times – preventing the England ace levelling.
From the third of those saves, though, Giggs latched on to the loose ball, picked out Hernandez’s run for the ‘Little Pea’ to nod home despite Cech’s touch.
Time for a winner, prevented when Raul Meireles headed over before De Gea brilliantly denied Mata’s free-kick.
Yet it felt like a victory for United, was treated like a defeat for Chelsea. Only in the Premier League.

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

Express:

CHELSEA 3 - MANCHESTER UNITED 3: UNITED SHOW BOTTLE FOR A BATTLE
By Danny Fullbrook

IT is a cliche – but Manchester United proved exactly what champions are made of.

They looked overwhelmed as Chelsea raced into the most unlikely of 3-0 leads by the 51st minute.
But then Sir Alex Ferguson’s side produced the most stunning comeback in a scintillating game.
Mind you, they were given some help as referee Howard Webb handed them two very soft penalties and Chelsea did the rest as they crumbled under intense pressure.
When the Blues needed leaders to batten down the hatches, to see the game through, they were not there.
John Terry, in the eye of the storm since being stripped of the England captaincy, was missing with a knee injury along with the sidelined Frank Lampard.
Ashley Cole was suspended while Didier Drogba is on international duty, and it was the first time since January 2008 those four stalwarts have all been missing in a league game.
But even so, this result should never have been allowed to happen.
United were shell shocked after a Jonny Evans owngoal, and strikes from Juan Mata and David Luiz, which deflected off Rio Ferdinand, put the Blues in command at 3-0.
But even with their own list of absences, United got their heads down and stormed back.
Within 12 minutes of Chelsea’s last goal they had a lifeline. Daniel Sturridge tackled Patrice Evra in the area and just caught his right foot with a tackle which should never have sent the stand-in skipper to ground.
But that was what happened and Webb pointed to the spot.
Wayne Rooney scored the most brilliant of penalties as he smashed the ball high into the top corner.
Chelsea’s resolve melted away as easily as the snowfall around the ground.
In the 69th minute United were awarded another spot-kick but they should never have been given the opportunity.
Danny Welbeck danced across the edge of the Chelsea area followed by Branislav Ivanovic.
The Serb initially dangled his foot out to make a challenge but then withdrew it.
But Welbeck pushed his foot towards the tackler and then dived as well as he could to try to win a penalty.
The trickery worked, despite the home side’s protests. There was no danger of Rooney not having the bottle to step up again and once more he out-thought Petr Cech to drive the ball home and bring the score to 3-2.
Cech had made great saves in the first half from Ashley Young and Welbeck.
If it had not been for him the fightback would have been completed sooner, or the result could have been even worse.
The third goal looked inevitable, and that was how it proved. Cech once more was forced to save well from Rooney, but only managed to push the effort wide to Ryan Giggs in the 83rd minute.
The veteran winger crossed perfectly and the Chelsea defence went walkabout as Javier Hernandez ghosted in to head the ball home and shatter Chelsea’s hopes of a memorable win.
This never looked on the cards after Chelsea took an emphatic lead and seemed to be fighting tooth and nail for their under pressure manager, Andre Villas-Boas.
The first goal was scrappy, just like the first half, but it was still deserved.
Sturridge has been a revelation this sea- son so it was no wonder he had a vital hand in it. In the 41st minute he walked past a feeble challenge from Evra and looked to cross the ball.
It bounced of the knee of fit-again goal- keeper David de Gea and then onto the chest of Jonny Evans and into the net.
There was a huge sense of relief around Stamford Bridge with the breakthrough and that got better within 24 seconds of the second half kicking off. Ivanovic fed Fernando Torres on the right and he whisked the ball perfectly towards the backpost.
Mata arrived on time and hit a brilliant left foot volley into the roof of the net with sublime technique to score the goal of the game.
Matters looked catastrophic for United when Chelsea grabbed their third.
It came in the 51st minute when a Mata cross found Luiz unmarked and his header bounced off the shoulder of Ferdinand and into the corner of the net.
All this seemed pointless after United’s fightback but Chelsea could still have won the game.
The £50m Torres failed to score again de- spite being put clean through before Hernandez grabbed the third.
A goal then would have stopped United in their tracks but the Spaniard could not manage it.
De Gea has also come under pressure recently for his cock-ups, but with seconds left he made one of the saves of the season with his right hand from a perfectly taken Mata free-kick which was heading into the top corner.
Mind you, Fergie still thought his side deserved another two penalties in the first half.
Just another mad game to add to the rollercoaster nature of this season’s Premier League.

swansea 1-1

2012-02-01T14:53:00.003Z

Independent:

Swansea City 1(Sinclair, 39)Chelsea 1 (Taylor, og 90)
JAMES CORRIGAN LIBERTY STADIUM

Chelsea discovered what Arsenal, Tottenham and so many other Premier League teams already knew. Swansea City at home are a mighty proposition who are anything but coy in taking it to their affluent visitors.
Andre Villas-Boas can thank a huge deflection in injury time for sparing him last night.
The points appeared lost when, in the 93rd minute, Jose Bosingwa's cross – "a nothing ball" as Brendan Rodgers called it – was turned into the net by the home defender Neil Taylor. Despite their outrageous luck, Chelsea may have been deserving of a point, but it must be suspected Roman Abramovich thinks his richly assembled squad should be worthy of rather more.
The XI which Rodgers fielded last night cost £7.5m. That's roughly a sixth of what Chelsea paid for one man. Fernando Torres was not the only multi-millionaire who played below his price tag here – Ashley Cole was having a bad night even before his late red card – but the Spaniard's latest round of blanks did highlight his continued inadequacy. The last Premier League team Torres scored against was Swansea – in September. It is now more than 1,000 minutes since he scored in any competition.
As if to ram home the point about value for money, Scott Sinclair was almost the home hero. Eighteen months ago, Chelsea happened to allow the 22-year-old to join Swansea for £1.5m. At least Sinclair had the good grace not to celebrate his fine volley. "It was great skill," said Rodgers, himself a former Stamford Bridge employee. "Scott is a terrific talent who just needed a platform. Like many Chelsea youngsters."
Arsenal and Newcastle can close the gap to three points tonight in what now appears a race for fourth place, although Villas-Boas refused to concede the title. But with 12 points separating them from Manchester City, the Portuguese's sights are set on Tottenham, in third. "Seven points is nothing," he said. It is if the Chelsea defence makes a habit of playing this poorly.
The absence of John Terry – the captain whose racism case goes to court this morning was missing with a knee injury – was keenly felt, but it was strange Villas-Boas opted not to play £7m capture Gary Cahill. Villas-Boas explained the England international was on the bench because of the "solidarity" his side had shown in their recent run. His loyalty was misplaced.
"We gave Swansea the initiative in the first half," he said, "but we were very confident in the second half." One could not argue with him on his initial claim. Swansea's reward for their exquisite movement and passing precision came in the 39th minute. Bosingwa tamely nodded out a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick and from the edge of the area Sinclair showed the balance of a gymnast to swivel before producing a wonderfully arched volley into the top corner.
Villas-Boas's analysis of Chelsea's response was true in the sense that they stopped Swansea's monopolisation of possession, but even though they were pressing forward they created very little, with Ashley Williams supreme leading the Swansea back four. "They defended very well," agreed Villas-Boas.
Michael Essien and Boswinga both came close with spectacular efforts and when Cole upended Nathan Dyer in the 84th minute and was dismissed for a second yellow – a transgression which means he misses the weekend confrontation with United – the Blues' gloom seemed set. Then Bosingwa let fly and poor Taylor unwittingly did the rest.

Match Facts

Substitutes: Swansea Agustien 6 (Sigurdsson, 67), Moore (Sinclair ,77). Chelsea Essien 6 (Romeu, 65), Lukaku (Malouda, 80).
Booked: Swansea Taylor, Rangel. Chelsea Cole , Malouda, Meireles. Sent off: Chelsea Cole (86).
Man of the match Williams. Match rating7/10. Possession: Swansea 42% Chelsea 58%.

Attempts on target: Swansea 5 Chelsea 10.
Referee A Marriner (West Midlands).Attendance 20,526.

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

Telegraph:

Ashley Cole sees red as Chelsea leave it late to deny stylish Swansea
Stuart James at Liberty Stadium

Good fortune was smiling on Chelsea, although the point that was salvaged in stoppage time came at a cost. Trailing to Scott Sinclair's wonderful first-half goal and down to 10 men after Ashley Cole picked up a second yellow card for a lunge on Nathan Dyer, Chelsea looked devoid of ideas and were on the brink of a sixth league defeat of the season until José Bosingwa's cross deflected off Neil Taylor to leave Michel Vorm stranded.
Relief coursed through André Villas-Boas on the touchline but the bigger picture is that this represented another two dropped points for a Chelsea side who will have to face Manchester United on Sunday without Cole. The England international will receive an automatic one-match suspension for the red card that the referee, Andre Marriner, was left with no option to brandish after Cole brought Dyer down in the 86th minute.
The game looked to be up for Chelsea at that point. Although they had enjoyed much more of the ball in the second half, after being outplayed during the opening 45 minutes by a Swansea side who caught the eye with their incisive passing, Chelsea lacked penetration, in particular up front, where Fernando Torres was once again a passenger. He touched the ball just nine times in the first half and has failed to score for Chelsea in 1,076 minutes or, to put it another way, his past 17 appearances for the club.
Instead it was left to Bosingwa to rescue something from an unconvincing display. The full-back picked up possession on the right and turned the Swansea substitute Kemy Agustien one way and then the other before sweeping a cross that struck Taylor and slipped inside Vorm's near post.
"I think it was [two] completely different halves," said Villas-Boas, who claimed Chelsea will "continue to persist" with Torres despite the Spaniard's glaring lack of confidence. "In the second half we were competent and managed to create lot of problems by pressing them. In the first half we conceded the initiative and they found spaces to create problems. They were magnificent."
Villas-Boas had no complaints with Cole's red card and also attached no blame to Dyer, whom Arsène Wenger had accused of diving in Swansea's previous home match. "The first [booking] is fair," he said. "The second is a difficult challenge to assess because of the speed it happened at. Ashley thought he would get the ball. Dyer anticipates. [I'm] not sure if [there was] enough contact because Dyer came straight up. [But] Ashley said there was contact. I'm not blaming Dyer. Ashley made a bet and got a little bit of him."
On a day when Chelsea announced losses of £67.7m, it seemed a ironic that they should fall behind to a goal from a player they allowed to leave the club for only £500,000 the summer before last. Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped in a free-kick and Bosingwa's poor defensive header was dispatched by Sinclair with some style, the winger finding the top corner with a sweet volley against the club for whom he made only five league appearances. "He's a terrific talent. He just needed a platform," said Brendan Rodgers.
The Swansea manager was unfortunate not to see his side go ahead earlier on, Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz forced into last-ditch clearances to deny Sigurdsson and Danny Graham during a period when the home team were dominant. Yet Chelsea turned the tables after the interval and their pressure delivered belated reward. "It was disappointing to lose the goal so late but I can give nothing but credit to the players," said Rodgers.

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

Telegraph:

Swansea upwardly mobile against Chelsea despite late own goal misery
By Jeremy Wilson, at Liberty Stadium

It was only a 90-minute snapshot of a 38-game Premier League season but, on this evidence, Roman Abramovich selected the wrong Jose Mourinho protégé.
Yes, Chelsea snatched a deflected equaliser but the dominant theme of another uplifting occasion at the Liberty Stadium was Swansea’s wonderfully slick passing football.
Brendan Rodgers, former Chelsea reserve team manager, continues to extract considerably more flair from Swansea than Andre Villas-Boas, Mourinho’s ex-scout, is coaxing from the supposed superstars at Stamford Bridge. A one-dimensional Chelsea performance was further marred by the dismissal of Ashley Cole, who collected two bookings and will now miss Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester United.
With Chelsea down to 10 men and having created few chances, Rodgers knew that feeling such deep disappointment at a 1-1 draw was also testament to just how far Swansea have come. Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea have all now returned from trips to South Wales in the past month without tasting victory. “The players were magnificent – they deserved to win the game,” said Rodgers.
As much as it was a tale of two managers, this was also a story of two strikers. Scott Sinclair, who made just one league start in five deeply frustrating years at Stamford Bridge, scored for Swansea while 1,076 minutes have now elapsed since Fernando Torres registered his last Chelsea goal.
At £50million, Torres has cost Chelsea 100 times more than they recouped from selling Sinclair to Swansea for £500,000 two seasons ago. While Villas-Boas offered his usual support for Torres, he also looked forward to the return of Chelsea’s long-time talisman Didier Drogba from the African Cup of Nations.
“We all know the significance of Didier to this team,” he said.
With Frank Lampard and Drogba absent, there was a distinctly unfamiliar core to the Chelsea team. They looked disjointed in the opening exchanges as Swansea initially dominated both chances and possession.
The first clear chance was from a set piece. Sinclair’s accurate delivery was met by Steven Caulker but, despite falling invitingly for Danny Graham, the shot was skewed wide.
Further difficulty was caused with another direct ball into the heart of Chelsea’s defence. Angel Rangel launched a clearance from the right and, with Ivanovic failing to deal with the danger, Petr Cech hastily charged out. Cech missed the ball, leaving the goal at Gylfi Sigurdsson’s mercy. His shot was cleared off the line by Branislav Ivanovic, with Luiz scampering back to make a similar goal-saving block from Graham’s follow-up.
Swansea took a deserved lead in the 39th minute. Juan Mata had needlessly conceded a foul deep inside his own half and, from another dead-ball position, Chelsea’s defensive frailties were exposed. Sigurdsson’s free-kick landed on the edge of the six-yard box, with Jose Bosingwa unable to clear the penalty area with his header. Sinclair brilliantly punished the mistake, hooking his finish over Cech into the corner of the goal.
His previous association with Chelsea meant that the celebration was muted but the internal sense of elation must have been considerable.
The Chelsea dressing-room was short of obvious leaders but they emerged for the second-half with more purpose. Luiz remained unpredictable defensively but frequently stepped out to offer an extra man in midfield and provide some variety to Chelsea’s attacks. Yet while Mata, Bosingwa, Daniel Sturridge and Michael Essien all provided fleeting moments of danger, there was often a gaping hole in the centre of Chelsea’s attack. It appeared that a miserable evening had been compounded in the 85th minute when Cole was sent-off, but Bosingwa salvaged an unlikely point with a low drive that deflected off Neil Taylor and beyond Vorm.
Villas-Boas later expressed doubt over Cole’s second booking for a late challenge on Dyer and rejected the accusation that his team had been lucky. Yet after another unconvincing performance, and with Manchester United due at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the dilemma is clear. Does Villas-Boas revert to that tried and tested core who were unavailable last night or does he use the remainder of this season to accelerate the process of change? With Chelsea losing further ground last night on the top three, their ongoing Champions League status is likely to hinge on finding the right answer.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor; Sigurdsson (Agustien 67), Allen; Dyer, Britton, Sinclair (Moore 77) Graham. Goal: Sinclair 39
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole; Malouda (Lukaku 80), Romeu (Essien 65) Meireles; Sturridge, Torres, Mata. Goal: Taylor og 90
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Att: 20,526

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Mail:

Swansea 1 Chelsea 1: Chelsea's late show denies old boy Scott
By MATT BARLOW

Funny how Chelsea should bump into Scott Sinclair and Brendan Rodgers on a day when they recorded another eye-watering annual loss and returned from Wales grateful for a draw they barely deserved.
The Blues finished the game with 10 men after Ashley Cole was sent off four minutes from time and the England left-back will miss Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
It was Jose Bosingwa who rescued a point with a strike in stoppage time that deflected in off Neil Taylor but this was another sobering evening for Andre Villas-Boas.
Swansea had dominated and taken the lead with a brilliant goal from Sinclair, the 22-year-old winger sold for £500,000 by Chelsea after one Barclays Premier League start.
Sinclair has been doing just fine in the top flight in a Swansea team under the guidance of Rodgers, another who left Stamford Bridge to fulfil his ambitions. The Swans have beaten Arsenal and drawn with Tottenham and Chelsea in their last three home games.
Last night, Rodgers stood on the touchline beside Villas-Boas, another former member of Jose Mourinho’s backroom team, who must be aware of whispers from Madrid that the Special One is seeking a move back to England.
All this on the first anniversary of Chelsea’s record transfer splurge on Fernando Torres, who took his personal goal drought through the 1,000-minute mark at Swansea, and David Luiz and the day the club revealed a loss of £67.7million for the year ending June 2011.
It may have been marginally down but includes nearly £30m spent sacking Carlo Ancelotti and recruiting Villas-Boas and his backroom team from Porto.
‘The club is focused on complying with the requirements of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations while maintaining its ability to challenge for major trophies,’ said chairman Bruce Buck, although Chelsea have continued to spend heavily since last June.
Fees for Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, Oriol Romeu, Raul Meireles, Thibaut Courtois and Gary Cahill total more than £70m and Chelsea added Kevin de Bryune yesterday, completing his £6.5m transfer from Genk, where he will spend the rest of the season.
The Blues also signed Nottingham Forest teenager Patrick Bamford for £1.5m. In the absence of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Petr Cech was captain and there was a distinct lack of personality on the pitch as they struggled.
Swansea ought to have taken the lead in the 16th minute from one of the trio of efforts triggered when Cech came out of his area and was beaten to the ball by Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Branislav Ivanovic hurled his body in front of Sigurdsson’s drive and Luiz slid across goal to thwart Danny Graham on the follow-up. Joe Allen collected the loose ball on the edge of the area but Cech recovered to block his shot with his feet.
It may have been spirited last-ditch defending but it emphasised Swansea’s first-half dominance. As at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, Daniel Sturridge was Chelsea’s only real threat in attack.
Torres worked hard without summoning a shot of any kind through the entire game. The Spaniard did manage to set up a chance when he mis-controlled a cross from Luiz into the path of Sturridge, who fired wide.
Another attempt by Sturridge forced Michel Vorm into action and Luiz failed to capitalise on a free header from a corner before Swansea took the lead in the 39th minute.
Bosingwa was unable to clear a free-kick swung in from the right by Gylfi Sigurdsson and his header fell at the feet of Sinclair, who adjusted smartly and hooked the bouncing ball over Cech into the top corner.
‘He’s a terrific talent who just needed a platform like a lot of the young Chelsea players,’ said Rodgers.
Chelsea improved in the second half, forcing Swansea back for long periods yet were unable to open up the Swansea back-four. Instead they were restricted to long-range efforts from Michael Essien and Bosingwa.
Disillusioned Chelsea fans cheered when Florent Malouda was substituted in the 80th minute and, when Cole (left) was dismissed for a second yellow card, for a late sliding tackle on Nathan Dyer, it seemed they had run out of ideas.
Dyer almost grabbed Swansea’s second before Bosingwa drifted into the box from the right and swung his left boot. The shot clipped Taylor on its way through and flashed past Vorm.
‘It was a terrific performance,’ said Rodgers. ‘We deserved to win. We dominated in the first half and we were punished by a deflection.’

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Express:

SWANSEA 1 CHELSEA 1: BLUES TAKE A LIBERTY IN LAST MINUTE
By Tony Banks

THIS PART of South Wales has become a tricky destination for the Premier League’s big boys this season.
Chelsea looked set to become the latest Liberty Stadium victims until Jose Bosingwa got their 10 men out of jail with a last-gasp effort deflected in off Neil Taylor which earned them a point they barely deserved.
Andre Villas-Boas’ side looked to be on the way to their sixth defeat of the season until Bosingwa’s shot from just inside the area three minutes into injury time took a diverson off Taylor and flew into the far corner.
They had looked out for the count at that point, after five minutes earlier seeing Ashley Cole sent off for his second yellow card, while trailing to ex-Chelsea man Scott Sinclair’s superb first half strike.
Chelsea had released figures before the game revealing that they had lost £67.7 million, down from £70.9m the previous year.
It still meant that Roman Abramovich had ploughed more than £1 billion into the club since buying it in 2003. He must have wondered why he bothered at times as his team were outplayed for long spells.
Villas-Boas looked on the bright side, saying: said: “We put in a great effort in the second half and got the reward.
“If we had played like that in the first then we might have got the result.”
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said: “It feels like a defeat. It was a terrific performance and we deserved to win.”
Chelsea left new £7m signing Gary Cahill on the bench again and Swansea, conquerors of Arsenal last time out, and who had previously held Tottenham, set about Chelsea.
As goalkeeper Petr Cech blundered, it took frantic clearances off the line from Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz to keep them out.
But when another free-kick from Gylfi Sigurdsson was only half cleared, Sinclair latched on to it and superbly volleyed home.
Chelsea were by some distance second best – sluggish, unimaginative and sloppy, constantly exposed by Swansea’s pace and invention. But Michael Essien crashed a 30-yard effort over the bar, and Daniel Sturridge stabbed wide as they piled on the pressure.
Fernando Torres, who has now gone 1076 minutes since his last Chelsea goal, was again a peripheral figure. Nathan Dyer almost added a second goal and was then cut down by Cole who was sent off.
It looked all over until Bosingwa’s late effort.
Torres now has just two games before Didier Drogba returns from the African Nations Cup.
Villas-Boas issued a stark warning about what will happen then, saying: “When Didier returns he will be competition. We all know his significance to this team and his record.”

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Allen; Dyer, Sigurdsson (Agustien 67), Sinclair (Moore 77); Graham. Booked: Taylor, Rangel. Goal: Sinclair 39.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Luiz, Ivanovic, Cole; Meireles, Romeu (Essien 65), Malouda (Lukaku 80); Sturridge, Torres, Mata. Booked: Cole, Malouda, Meireles. Sent off: Cole 86. Goal: Taylor 90 og.

Referee: A Marriner (W Midlands).

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qpr 1-0

2012-01-29T07:41:00.002Z

Independent:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1

Mata books Chelsea's passage as neighbours refuse to make a fuss
Not even a controversial penalty fans the flames as players avoid pre-match handshake and remain on best behaviour in wake of Terry-Ferdinand affair

GLENN MOORE LOFTUS ROAD

There was no handshake, and precious little football either, at Loftus Road yesterday as a promising FA Cup tie was suffocated by the controversy surrounding it. So determined were both teams to avoidfurther inflaming the tension provoked by John Terry's alleged use of racist language towards Anton Ferdinand in their last meeting that QPR even accepted with only moderate anger the highly dubious penalty award which settled the match in Chelsea's favour.
The spot-kick, converted by Juan Mata on the hour, was given after Daniel Sturridge fell dramatically to the floor after Clint Hill made mild contact with his back. QPR, who beat Chelsea here in thrilling circumstances in October, never looked like levelling and can now return to their relegation battle. For Chelsea, the next items on the agenda are a Premier League match at Swansea on Tuesday, and an appearance at west London magistrates' court for Terry on Wednesday, where he will be formally charged.
If Terry is being affected by the affair it is not showing on the pitch. Yesterday he produced an assured performance, albeit rarely put under pressure by a QPR side overly focused on defence. Ferdinand, whose performances after the incidents faltered, also played well, which was all the more creditable given he was sent a bullet in the post last week.
"I thought Anton conducted himself really, really well, not only this week but for a number of weeks," said Mark Hughes, the QPR manager. "It was important he faced what he had to face, and I'm pleased for him. He was right to be concerned by the content of the letter. I read it and it wasn't particularly nice."
Andre Villas-Boas was equally complimentary about Terry, who was abused throughout by the home support. The Chelsea manager said: "He had an excellent performance, very, very focused. Off-field events were out of his mind and he concentrated on events on the pitch."
Only once did the verbal taunts threaten to spill over into something more sinister, a fan throwing the match ball into Ashley Cole's back as Chelsea prepared to take a throw-in. The refer-ee, Mike Dean, intervened, asking the nearest steward to speak to the man involved. There were no arrests, then or elsewhere in the ground, for which both clubs and the FA will be grateful.
It may have helped that there was not much to get excited about for the game was dire, especially in a lifeless first half. QPR, despite the small capacity of Loftus Road, failed to sell out this west London derby, and the fans who stayed away made the right decision. Hughes has made great play of the fact he has given his new team greater organisation and yesterday he praised his players' work-rate and defensive discipline.
Yet QPR have lost the attacking intent they had under Neil Warnock and only twice exercised Petr Cech. Once was in the seventh minute of injury time, when he parried Luke Young's shot, the other, after 59 minutes, led indirectly to Chelsea's goal.
Shaun Wright-Phillips beat Cole on the right and fired in a rasping shot, which Cech parried perilously close to Tommy Smith. It fell instead to Ramires, who run deep into QPR territory. The move broke down but was resuscitated, and Mata crossed towards Sturridge. Hill nudged the striker in the back and he tumbled to the deck with enthusiasm.
"It was very harsh," said Hughes. "Mike Dean will be disappointed when he sees the decision he's given. He told Paddy Kenny he had to give it as [Sturridge] was going to head the ball, but that was not my view." Chelsea lost to a similar, if more obvious, penalty in October and Villas-Boas said: "We were treated unfairly then, maybe QPR were treated unfairly [today]."
Chelsea fielded a full-strength team and Villas-Boas confirmed afterwards that, with the Premier League title looking out of reach, he was aiming to win the FA Cup. His team produced, as he said, "a good solid display" but lacked panache. Fernando Torres looked to have regressed, Mata only occasionally influenced play and Sturridge continually turned inside, on to his favoured foot but into trouble.
Worryingly, Ramires, who did provide energy, departed on a stretcher late on. The QPR fans suspended hostilities and clapped him off. He was diagnosed with medial ligament damage, but Chelsea hope the Brazilian will be back within a month.
There was one effort on goal in the opening half and that followed a mistake, Mata testing Kenny with a fierce shot. The second half offered little more, with Chelsea largely happy to knock the ball around the back four and QPR, even after falling behind, usually prepared to let them.
With Heidar Helguson suffering a muscle injury, Joey Barton quiet and Akos Buzsaky finding the game rather harder than he had against Wigan last week, QPR lacked firepower.
Hughes will doubtless renew his efforts to add to his squad in the closing days of the transfer window. "The disappointment was that we were unable to build on our defensive platform and attack," he said.

QPR (4-4-2): Kenny; Young, Hall, Ferdinand, Hill; Mackie, Buzsaky (Hulse, 80), Barton, Wright-Phillips; Smith, Helguson (Macheda, h/t).
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires (Romeu, 79), Meireles, Malouda; Sturridge, Torres, Mata (Essien, 90).

Referee: Mike Dean.
Man of the match: Ramires (Chelsea)
Match rating: 3/10
Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 1 (Mata, pen)

Spotlight on John Terry
So what happened to the handshake?
There was no formal handshake between the teams after QPR's players said they would refuse to shake hands with John Terry as a gesture of solidarity with AntonFerdinand. Terry did, however, shake the hand of Joey Barton the QPR captain at the coin toss, and those of the match officials. After the game, Barton (pictured) was again the only QPR player whose hand he shook.
How did the fans greet his first touch?
He was booed throughout by QPR fans, but as the match wore on the venom in the booing dropped. There was also a series of chants directed at Terry and his family, some too unsavoury to print. They included: 'John Terry, we know what you said'. The Chelsea fans cheered him.
Did he have any arguments with anybody on the pitch?
None whatsoever. The game was surprisingly bereft of confrontations between players.
How did he play?
Very well. If not quite flawless, Terry won the majority of his headers, tracked his man, won most of his tackles, generally distributed the ball well and made no serious errors.

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Observer:

QPR point fingers at Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge over decisive penalty
Jamie Jackson at Loftus Road

After the phantom handshake, this FA Cup tie barely lit up and had only one potential powderkeg moment, which was happily a good old-fashioned football incident: the disputed Juan Mata penalty that won the game.
On an incessantly sour and hostile afternoon, it was Daniel Sturridge who caused the one moment of on-field acrimony. When he went down close to Clint Hill in the area from a Mata cross just after the hour Mike Dean pointed to the spot. But the left-back's furious verbal volley at Sturridge, plus video replays, suggested that the forward had fashioned a swallow dive and – as Joey Barton of Queens Park Rangers continued to debate the matter with the forward – Mata stepped up to slot home.
"Cheat! Cheat!" was the livid cry from the home congregation, the latest choral offering in a tie peppered with the obscene chants and boos that can form the alternative soundtrack to John Terry's fine football career.
Both managers had their own takes on the game-turning moment. André Villas-Boas chose to harp back to Chelsea's 1-0 Premier League defeat here in October when both José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba were sent off and David Luiz conceded the penalty that allowed QPR the victory.
The manager said: "Well, they reacted angrily of course. QPR were not satisfied with the penalty, Mike [Dean] has given it, I think if you guys can recall it's very, very similar to the David Luiz/Heidar Helguson [incident] here – and you pointed the finger quite quickly at David Luiz for his mistake. We finished the game in the league here with nine men and [were] treated unfairly so maybe QPR this time got treated unfairly and we ended up winning the game."
Mark Hughes offered this view: "Obviously I'm disappointed with the decision on the penalty, it was very harsh on us, I felt.
"Mike Dean will be a little bit disappointed when he sees what decision he's given because I think he's said to Paddy Kenny that he had to give the penalty because the lad was going to head the ball in, which wasn't my take on it to be perfectly honest.
"I just felt Daniel Sturridge went down a little bit easy and unfortunately for us he's given the penalty which at that point I thought was probably one of our better periods in the game, when I think we just had a strike on goal and [Petr] Cech made a good save. Then, they went up the other end and the penalty was awarded. So we're disappointed we didn't get any reward, albeit we probably didn't do enough to win but we felt we could very easily have got the draw."
This was a markedly rose-hued perspective from Hughes regarding a side who were too agricultural in approach and who lacked any technical brilliance – the odd Shaun Wright-Phillips flourish apart – and the giveaway of this came in the Welsh manager's praise being littered with functional-speak.
"We worked exceptionally hard in terms of having discipline and making sure we have a good defensive shape, and we worked exceptionally hard this week on making sure we had a good platform to go in the opposite direction to create chances," Hughes said, before a smattering of home truth was offered: "In fairness, that was the only disappointment – that we weren't able to retain possession higher up the field after defending so well."
Luke Young had made the first mistake of many for QPR when a cleared Barton free-kick came to him and his attempted return of the ball to the Chelsea area found only Fernando Torres, near the D. The striker instantly passed to Mata and though this was short, Young compounded his initial error by sliding and failing to clear the danger.
This allowed the Spaniard to zoom down the inside-left channel at Kenny's goal before he let fly a shot that the keeper parried well.
The odd corner apart, this fourth-round match was then a generally and disappointedly insipid affair, Ramires – until he was injured – and the balletic zest of Fernando Torres offering the punters what entertainment there was.
More than once Torres drifted to the edge of the QPR area and executed a soft-shoe shuffle that seemed to pull enough space to him for him to produce a cross that was begging to be converted by a team-mate.
"The excellent positive today was our change from the first half to the second," Villas-Boas said. "We looked dominant during the whole game but maybe first half we were a bit one-paced. The amount of attack we created eventually got the penalty situation. It was a good solid display."
Near the end, Young unloaded a shot that Cech saved brilliantly with his legs. It would have secured the draw Hughes claimed would have been fair but the result was the right one.
Ramires's injury was serious enough that there were seven minutes of added time. The Chelsea midfielder may be out for a month with a knee injury apparently sustained when the ball struck him in the second half.

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Telegraph:

Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 1
By Jason Burt, at Loftus Road

The Football Association cancelled the pre-match handshakes because of the maelstrom surrounding Anton Ferdinand and John Terry and, unfortunately, somewhere along the way the football appeared to have been cancelled also.
For an hour this was a spiky FA Cup fourth-round tie, a west London derby between bitter rivals with rancorous history, that somehow transformed itself into a turgid encounter of the most questionable quality.
Then there were two minutes in which the pulses raced and controversy reigned. QPR went close to scoring and then Chelsea took the lead through a penalty that simply should never have been given. And the tie then drifted to its end.
Chelsea will feel a sweet pang of revenge having lost the Premier League match between the two sides in October, by the same scoreline and through another penalty that they – with less justification – claimed should never have been awarded.
There was then, of course, the eruption of investigation and allegation surrounding what Terry was accused of saying to Ferdinand with the case now imminently in the courts.
Juan Mata’s cross, after a strong run by Ramires, was aimed towards Daniel Sturridge. The striker fell to the turf, however, with Clint Hill beside him and the QPR defender immediately remonstrated, accusing Sturridge of diving as he had also accused him of doing moments earlier.
To Hill’s horror, referee Mike Dean judged differently. The penalty was given and Mata scored. “Mike Dean will be very disappointed when he looks at that again,” said QPR manager Mark Hughes, choosing his words with care.
“I just felt Sturridge went down a little bit easily. Dean said he had to give it because the lad was going to head the ball.”
In truth, Mata’s cross was sailing over Sturridge and, in any case, there did not appear to be a push.
Joey Barton later observed Sturridge behaved as if he had stepped on a “landmine” and added that bad decisions are “ruining the game”.
But Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas could not resist pointing out that the last time Chelsea were here they also had two men dismissed and did not garner sympathy.
This win meant much to him and he is now ramping up the FA Cup as a competition his team can win.
Returning from their training camp in Mallorca, and without the injured Frank Lampard, Villas-Boas fielded his strongest available side, although they lost Ramires with a medial ligament problem that could rule him out for a month. QPR needed a striker, especially with Heider Helguson again departing injured.
There was no menace yesterday, beyond the stands, and even much of that was pantomime stuff, and precious little from Chelsea either with Fernando Torres taking two steps backwards – apart from a couple of clever runs – after the progress made in recent weeks. In the first period, little of note occurred beyond the odd registering of chants about Terry’s parentage.
It really was that uneventful. Chelsea had control but could not kill the game. Crosses were over-hit, passes misplaced, runs went unread.
Torres teed up Sturridge, after a fine dribble, but he blasted over and then, soon after, fell to the ground claiming a trip by Hill who was, not for the last time, furious with him.
Then Shaun Wright-Phillips burst into the area and hit a cross-shot that Petr Cech beat out and Jamie Mackie waved a leg at, when he should have driven it back into the net, wasting a glorious opportunity.
Chelsea broke away – and Sturridge 'won’ the penalty. Could QPR reply? It never appeared likely. There wasn’t the stomach from either club for a replay and the closest it came to being forced was deep into added time when the ball broke wide to Young whose half-volley was well-judged by Cech who pushed it away.
Terry and Ferdinand proved to be, probably, the game’s best two performers. Both defended immaculately with Terry unflappable – as he can sometimes be in cases of adversity – and Ferdinand imperious.
They both, also, studiously avoided each other at the final whistle with Ferdinand completing a circuit of the pitch to thank the QPR supporters – and Terry thumping his chest before the 3,000 visiting fans.
He hugged Sturridge also, in congratulation, much to the fierce annoyance of the QPR contingent. That final whistle felt like a relief. For everyone.

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Mail:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1: A grubby, tawdry, ugly day... and the football matched the occasion
By PATRICK COLLINS

The abuse had pursued John Terry through the afternoon, and the screeches assaulted his ears as the final whistle sounded. He looked around for the only Rangers player likely to shake his hand, and Joey Barton obliged. Terry walked across to his own fans, flinging his arm around Michael Essien. Then he left the pitch, stroking the head of Daniel Sturridge.It was a curious display, one which carried the whiff of choreography. But then, it had been a curious day: grubby; depressing; one which aroused tawdry passions and ugly emotions. Amid it all, there was a football match of sorts. A desperately poor game involving two mediocre sides enduring a bad day. Chelsea, marginally the better, won it with one of the most dubious penalties Mike Dean has ever awarded.'Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!' screamed the QPR fans at Sturridge. It was one of the more genteel sounds that we heard. As for Rangers, they launched their most promising attack in the 97th minute, which says much about their sense of adventure and their level of performance. Both managers entered into the spirit of the occasion by spouting a stream of public relations platitudes. Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas, who had delivered an impertinent lecture on the day before the match, when he insisted that everybody should shake Terry's hand for reasons of 'respect', now described the decision to scrap the handshakes as 'wise'.He also offered the view that 'emotions were kept low', suggesting that his command of English is less secure than we imagined. Mark Hughes, of QPR, was equally unconvincing. He thought the handshake decision was 'absolutely right', and came close to suggesting the whole affair had been concocted by the media. 'If it's not done in the right spirit, why do it at all?' he asked. He also thought that Terry had been 'very professional'.What he could not admit was his relief that Rangers were out of the Cup, so that they can now concentrate on saving themselves in the Premier League. Which is, of course, the reason for employing him. But you could not really blame him, since official candour was in short supply at Loftus Road yesterday. There was, however, no shortage of vile, clamorous, degrading insults from all sides of the ground. Most were aimed at Terry and almost all cannot be repeated here.The trite wisdom insists that the Chelsea captain thrives in such circumstances, that this kind of poison somehow brings out the best in him. It speaks of a thick skin and a strong character, we are regularly informed.It also speaks of a man who is not strong on sensitivity. The mildest accused him of the solitary vice, the most pernicious cited his family. On it went, over and over. You could see grown men standing and thinking of their next squalid ditty, the next gutter jibe. It felt like some ritual humiliation, like Celebrity Big Brother or one of those talent shows involving Simon Cowell. But Terry paid it no heed. Sometimes, he almost seems to court attention. He plugged on impassively, playing his mundane 10-yard passes, knowing that Rangers could offer nothing to discomfort him. His expression never changed. He has been there before, he knows how it works. 'Stand up if you hate John Terry!' came the chant. Everybody stood. Terry never noticed.Meanwhile, the 3,114 away fans, bored by the abject football, made an attempt to demean their humble surroundings. 'What a s***hole!' they sang. Meaning 'we've got an oligarch but you've only got a pauper of a multi-millionaire'.They were still singing by half-time, nothing of the remotest import having happened on the field. We waited a full hour for the goal, and it seemed curiously appropriate in its shabbiness. A rare Rangers initiative had broken down when Chelsea constructed their counterattack. The ball was worked swiftly forward, and Juan Mata lifted a hopeful cross. Clint Hill challenged with Sturridge, who fell with implausible drama. The linesman, in a relevant position, did nothing, but Dean was suitably conned. Mata's penalty was the most efficient accomplishment of the day. 'Anton, Anton what's the score?' chanted the sophisticates at the visitors' end. They chanted it repeatedly, as if sheer perseverance would make it sound witty. And that was about that, except for a worrying knee injury suffered by Ramires as he sought to block a drive, and a fine save by Petr Cech from the substitute Rob Hulse, with the match effectively over. 'One England captain, there's only one England captain,' chorused the visitors. And they are right, for the moment, at least. The Rangers fans responded with a fresh and fouler blast. The marketing men go to immoderate lengths to persuade us that the game has changed, that the bad days are far behind, that we are enjoying an elevated spectator experience. Sadly, that was not how it felt in West London yesterday, when Chelsea reached the fifth round of the FA Cup. And nobody seemed to care.

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Mirror:

QPR 0-1 Chelsea
By Paul Smith

John Terry was subjected to a torrent of abuse by QPR fans – but the Chelsea captain had the last laugh as a questionable penalty enabled his side to go through to the fifth round.
The controversial return of the Chelsea and England captain to Loftus Road had predictably dominated the pre-match build-up.
Terry is due in court in three days’ time charged with racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand during October’s bad-tempered league clash between the sides at the same ground.
Twenty-four hours before this game the situation was further inflamed when Ferdinand received a package containing a bullet.
Fears a pre-match handshake between the pair would light the touchpaper for an already explosive clash were allayed after QPR’s players collectively decided at an emergency meeting held on Friday night that no player would shake Terry’s hand.
But their planned show of solidarity was scuppered when both clubs and the FA decided to scrap the customary handshake to avoid inflaming the situation.
It was a decision supported by both managers.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas said: “I was informed of the decision about 45 minutes before the game.
“It was wise not to do the handshake because it could have had an effect on what happened in the crowd immediately afterwards.
“So the decision was a sensible one.”
Turning to the game itself, Villas-Boas added: “It was a good, solid display defensively.
“Since losing to Aston Villa, we’ve organised ourselves a bit better in defence and we’ve not conceded many goals. It’s repaying us and we look more solid now.
“Individually, it was an excellent performance from John Terry. He was very focused. He managed to get the off-the-field events out of his mind and concentrate fully on the game.”
Villas-Boas had little sympathy for Mark Hughes’ side over what appeared to be a soft penalty, converted by Juan Mata after Clint Hill was deemed by referee Mike Dean to have barged over Daniel Sturridge.
Villas-Boas said: “It was similar to the one [Heidar] Helguson won against us in the league. In that game we also finished the match with nine men.”
QPR boss Hughes said: “Cancelling the handshake was absolutely the correct decision. It was a question of avoiding a trouble situation.
“There was so much tension hinging on such a brief moment in time that it was clouding the issue.
“We had a meeting of management and players last night. Chelsea had their views and we all came to the same decision.”
Nonetheless, Terry didn’t escape unscathed. The home fans erupted with deafening boos when he emerged from the Loftus Road tunnel and, subsequently, every time he touched the ball.
When they weren’t booing Terry they goaded the defender with some unoriginal chants that had no impact on the centre-back whatsoever. Hughes added: “John’s a big figure in the game and I’m sure he gets booed at every away ground.
“He plays the same way. Headlines don’t affect JT and that was the same today. He was professional.
“And I thought Anton conducted himself really well. For him to come through that gave him great credit. He put in a tremendous performance.
As for the penalty decision, Hughes said: “I think Mike Dean will be a bit disappointed when he sees it again.
“I just felt Daniel Sturridge went down a little bit easily and he has given the penalty at a point that I thought was one of our better periods in the game.
“We worked exceptionally hard today on discipline and making sure we had good defensive shape.
“The only disappointment was that we couldn’t retain possession of the ball higher up the field.”
Chelsea dominated early on against an injury-hit QPR side missing at least five players.
But as poor as QPR were going forward, they were resolute in defence and managed to limit the Blues to a couple of decent chances in the opening 30 minutes.
It didn’t improve in the latter stages of the half either, as Chelsea’s inability to turn possession into chances irritated Villa-Boas in the dugout.
QPR seemed content to soak up pressure while there was no threat on their goal and at the break brought on Manchester United loanee Federico Macheda for Helguson. The change had little effect as Chelsea continued to take the game to QPR.
Chelsea were fast running out of ideas when Mata’s harmless ball into the QPR penalty area led to Hill being harshly adjudged to have bundled over Sturridge. But in fact Chelsea should have had a penalty moments earlier when Hill appeared to trip Sturridge.
Mata stepped up and put away the spot-kick, sparking wild celebrations in the away section of the ground.
QPR tried in vain to get back on level terms and Chelsea’s Ramires appeared to suffer a serious knee injury while attempting to block a shot in the 78th minute.
Chelsea stood firm during late pressure from the home side and Luke Young almost secured an undeserved draw for the hosts in injury time, only to be denied by a full-stretch save from Peter Cech.

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Sun:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1

JUAN MATA was spot on as Chelsea marched into the fifth round of the FA Cup.
With all the pre-match build-up focusing on Anton Ferdinand possibly snubbing Blues skipper John Terry, the traditional pre-match handshake was scrapped.
And the London derby never really got going until Daniel Sturridge took a tumble in the box, with Mata netting the resulting penalty in the 62nd minute.
As expected, Terry was jeered every time he touched the ball and was also the subject of numerous abusive taunts.
Chelsea fans refrained from using the notorious "Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are" chant, although they did sing "Anton, what's the score?" after the visitors took the lead.
Both sets of supporters cranked up the decibel level before kick-off but had little to cheer in a disappointing first half that saw only one shot on target.
That came after Mata, playing more centrally in the absence of the injured Frank Lampard, pounced on a Luke Young slip in the 12th minute and unleashed a 15-yard drive too close to Paddy Kenny.
Otherwise, the final ball from both sides was sadly lacking, resulting in a succession of speculative efforts that were well off target.
A fixture that had seen Chelsea reduced to nine men in October was also a more controlled affair and it was almost half an hour before Mike Dean brandished the first yellow card for a Shaun Wright-Phillips foul on Raul Meireles.
Ramires should have done better with great cutback opportunity after being released by a wonderful Mata backheel but neither side deserved to be ahead at half-time.
QPR threw on Federico Macheda for Heidar Helguson at the restart as Mark Hughes freshened up his attack.
But it was Chelsea who flew out of the blocks, with Fitz Hall booked for handball before Sturridge lashed over after great work from Fernando Torres.
The game finally exploded into life on the hour mark.
Petr Cech parried a Wright-Phillips cross just too far in front of the outstretched foot of Jamie Mackie and Chelsea surged down the other end to win a penalty.
QPR were furious at the award but Mata shrugged off the jeers to score, the midfielder celebrating with most of his team-mates in front of the visiting fans.
Ashley Cole was then carded for fouling Wright-Phillips before Chelsea lost Ramires to a serious-looking knee injury.
The midfielder appeared to twist his ankle blocking a shot and — after several minutes of treatment — was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced by Oriol Romeu.
By that point QPR had already thrown on Rob Hulse, who was denied a penalty in the dying minutes.
And there was a flashpoint deep into stoppage-time when Romeu was booked for diving in on Hulse, with Young almost snatching a draw when his 20-yard drive was parried by Cech.

QPR: Kenny, Hill, Ferdinand, Hall, Young, Mackie, Buzsaky (Hulse 79), Barton, Wright-Phillips, Helguson (Macheda 46), Smith. Subs not used: Cerny, Orr, Derry, Ephraim, Onuoha.Booked: Wright-Phillips, Hall.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Meireles, Ramires (Romeu 79), Sturridge, Malouda, Mata (Essien 90), Torres. Subs not used: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Lukaku, Cahill, Bertrand. Booked: Cole, Romeu. Goals: Mata 62 pen.
Att: 15,728
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).

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Express:

QPR 0 CHELSEA 1: JUAN MATA PENALTY STRIKE SINKS RANGERS

By Gary Jones

JUAN MATA'S hotly-disputed penalty helped Chelsea secure victory in a tempestuous FA Cup fourth-round tie at west London rivals QPR today.
A match that for an hour was completely devoid of the kind of flashpoints that marred October's Barclays Premier League meeting suddenly had one when Clint Hill was harshly adjudged to have bundled over Daniel Sturridge.
Mata stepped up to score the only goal of a game dominated by the reunion between Chelsea captain John Terry and Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, neither of whom put a foot wrong following what had been the most combustible of build-ups.
The match itself was always going to struggle to live up to the drama that preceded it, which culminated in full body searches for fans entering the ground and the cancellation of the traditional pre-match handshake.
The former was prompted after police last night confirmed they were investigating allegations Ferdinand had received "malicious communication", although they refused to reveal whether it contained a bullet.
QPR's Rob Hulse was denied a penalty in the dying minutes
Ferdinand and Terry were spared having to shake hands with each other after the Football Association agreed the clubs did not have to undertake the traditional pre-match ritual.
Ferdinand had reportedly been agonising over whether to accept Terry's hand four days before the court case begins in which the Chelsea and England captain stands accused of racially abusing his fellow defender.
Terry denies the charge, which relates to an altercation between the pair in October's league clash at Loftus Road.
But that did not prevent him being jeered every time he touched the ball today, while he was also the victim of numerous abusive taunts.
Chelsea fans refrained from using the notorious "Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are" chant that they were warned would see them punished, although they did sing "Anton, what's the score?" after the visitors took the lead.
Both sets of supporters cranked up the decibel level before kick-off but had little to cheer in a disappointing first half that saw only one shot on target.
That came after Mata, playing more centrally in the absence of Frank Lampard, pounced on a Luke Young slip in the 12th minute and unleashed a 15-yard drive too close to Paddy Kenny.
Otherwise, the final ball from both sides was sadly lacking, meaning a succession of speculative efforts that were well off target.
A fixture that had seen Chelsea reduced to nine men in October was also a more controlled affair and it was almost half an hour before Mike Dean brandished the first yellow card for a Shaun Wright-Phillips foul on Raul Meireles.
Ramires should have done better with great cutback opportunity after being released by a wonderful Mata backheel but neither side deserved to be ahead at half-time.
QPR threw on Federico Macheda for Heidar Helguson at the restart but it was Chelsea who flew out of the blocks, with Fitz Hall booked for handball before Sturridge lashed over after great work from Fernando Torres.
But the game really exploded into life on the hour mark.
Petr Cech parried a Wright-Phillips cross just too far in front of the outstretched foot of Jamie Mackie and Chelsea surged down the other end and won a penalty.
QPR were furious at the award but Mata shrugged off the jeers to score, the midfielder celebrating with most of his team-mates in front of the visiting fans. Terry was a notable absentee.
Ashley Cole was carded for fouling Wright-Phillips before Chelsea lost Ramires to a serious-looking injury.
The midfielder appeared to twist his ankle blocking a shot and - after several minutes' treatment - was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced by Oriol Romeu.
QPR had already thrown on Rob Hulse, who was denied a penalty in the dying minutes.
And there was a flashpoint deep into stoppage-time when Romeu was booked for diving in on Hulse, with Young almost snatching a draw when his 20-yard drive was parried by Cech.

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Star:

QPR 0 - CHELSEA 1: CAUSING A STURR
By Tony Stenson

THERE were boos, chants, jeers and angry shouts of “cheat” at Loftus Road – but it wasn’t John Terry who was the target.
The QPR fans, who had been venting their angerat the Chelsea captain, turned their attention to Daniel Sturridge.
They were furious the striker went to ground too easily under pressure from Clint Hill – they were even more annoyed when referee Mike Dean awarded the controversial spot-kick.
Juan Mata scored it to give Chelsea the lead on the hour.
It looked harsh and the home support spent the rest of the game booing Sturridge and chanting “cheat, cheat” at the England star.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas claimed the penalty made up for decisions in the league game between the two sides earlier this season.
He said: “It was very similar to events in the league game when we finished with nine men and were treated unfairly.
“QPR reacted angrily to this one but the referee gave it.”
The Portuguese boss was also full of praise for his captain. He said: “I thought Terry was excellent. He kept his mind off all the pre-match events.”
The penalty was a pivotal moment in a game that was always going to contain drama.
Terry left Loftus Road knowing he had led Chelsea into the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
His next big match is in court on Wednesday, to answer charges of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand in a league match in October.
At least we were all spared the shake, or non-shake of the hand between Terry and Ferdinand.
The FA and police decided to allow both clubs to waive the usual pre-match niceties.
Terry was booed and barracked during the warm-up and it continued throughout the game.
You almost felt sorry for him and it’s a true measure of his mental strength that he stayed focused throughout.
There was a heavy police presence outside the ground and inside the atmosphere was hostile – but under control.
No one in Terry’s family was left ignored by tasteless taunts from three sides of Loftus Road.
But the skipper did what he has always done – he was the backbone of Chelsea’s defence.
At the other end, the visitors lacked a cutting edge. It wasn’t until the 35th minute that Raul Meireles, Chelsea’s best player, lashed their first chance over.
Fernando Torres played another minor role, while Mata, despite his goal, seems to have lost the magic he had earlier this season.
On one rare occasion, Torres threatened with a run that took him away from three defenders but he passed to Sturridge who blasted over.
Then the game changed in one controversial minute.
Hill was ajudged to have pushed Sturridge in the box and referee Dean awarded a penalty.
As the home fans hurled abuse at Sturridge, Mata comfortably steered his spot-kick past Paddy Kenny to give Chelsea the lead.
QPR boss Mark Hughes, upset the game’s big decision went against his side, said: “We’re disappointed by the penalty decision.
“The referee said the player was going to head the ball in the goal. I thought it harsh.”
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech saved from Luke Young in the seventh minute of added time – but the Blues saw it out to book their place in the Fifth Round. Just.

norwich 0-0

2012-01-22T09:08:00.003Z

Independent:

Torres misses chance to end nightmare

Norwich City 0 Chelsea 0: Spanish striker substituted as Norwich hold out while Chelsea lose more ground to leaders

STEVE TONGUE CARROW ROAD

Under normal circumstances, Chelsea followers would not wish any ill fortune to the proud footballers of the Ivory Coast, but this morning they must be hoping that Didier Drogba's team suffer unexpectedly early elimination from the African Cup of Nations, allowing him to return to London at the earliest possible moment.
Drogba has indicated that he will come back to the capital rather than taking either a slow boat or fast plane to China, where riches are on offer. That is just as well, for yesterday's lively lunchtime encounter proved again that Chelsea cannot afford to wave him farewell on a permanent basis. The Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku may have provided a bright little cameo towards the end, but the images of the day were of the man he replaced, Fernando Torres, first poking wide a glorious chance from 10 yards as his manager cursed in frustration, then trudging to the sidelines to the inevitable Norfolk chants of "What a waste of money".
For Torres it is a matter of one step forward – as in last weekend's performance against Sunderland – and one backward, like yesterday; one acrobatic volley against the bar last Saturday and one toe-poke wide of a gaping goal here. The feeling would normally be that a goal would see him right, a sentiment widely expressed after he scored in successive League games in September and then added two in the same game against Genk a month later. Since then, however, there has been nothing, in 17 games for club and country.
Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas, commendably supportive of his player even though he was not the manager – or owner – who signed him a year ago, said: "He tried really hard, we're very happy with his play. He's been doing excellent work for the team and it doesn't matter who scores."
Unfortunately, yesterday nobody scored, for the first time since the team's last away defeat, at Queens Park Rangers in October. There was also a calf injury to Frank Lampard, the extent of which is not yet known, which made it just as well that Michael Essien was able to come on as a substitute for the second successive week.
Lampard was forced off shortly before half-time, just as Chelsea were coming into a game they had been largely absent from until that point. Norwich passed the ball whenever they could get hold of it, and thanks to solid defending from the centre-halves Zak Whitbread and Daniel Ayala and, above all, a fine performance from the goalkeeper John Ruddy, kept a clean sheet for the first time since achieving promotion last May.
"They all put their bodies on the line and it's a huge point for us," their manager, Paul Lambert, said. "Two years ago we were playing Yeovil, Walsall and Stockport and now we're competing with Chelsea."
Compete they did, and take the lead they could easily have done twice before Chelsea got into gear. In the 10th minute Steve Morison – who was playing for Millwall when Torres was winning the World Cup – played in his striking partner Grant Holt, who turned perfectly past David Luiz before shooting just wide of a post. Closer to half-time, after Ruddy had pushed away Torres's one good effort,Bradley Johnson's shot took a deflection off John Terry that appeared to have wrong-footed Petr Cech, who was nevertheless able to hold the ball.
From then on, every clear scoring opportunity was Chelsea's. On the hour, Jose Bosingwa pushed forward to set up Torres, who from the penalty spot took aim and knocked his shot well wide. Villas-Boas turned away in frustration, but having already had to replace Lampard, waiteduntil the last quarter of an hour before sending on Lukaku and Essien. Ruddy proved unbeatable whoever appeared. He saved from Juan Mata, then from Ramires and again from Mata, though Mark Clattenburg did not see the touch and awarded agoal-kick. Perhaps the referee was dozing off after having so little to do. Incredibly, he did not need to award a free-kick in the whole of the first half, even for offsides.
Chelsea's defending, with David Luiz much improved against the physicality of Holt, justified Villas-Boas's assertion that it was not necessary to rush his new signing Gary Cahill into action. Cahill did not make the substitutes' bench either, because Branislav Ivanovic was "more versatile", but he is available for Saturday's Cup tie with QPR. Lambert, who had expressed his frustration at the difficulties of adding to a thin squad, will shortly complete the signing the Leeds United midfielder Jonathan Howson, who watched the game, as did Cahill. Arguably the new Canary was the one singing on his way home.

Norwich (4-4-2): Ruddy; Martin, Ayala, Whitbread, Naughton; Pilkington, Fox (Crofts, 79), Johnson, Surman (Bennett, 90); Holt, Morison (Jackson, 79).
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Meireles (Essien, 79); Lampard (Malouda, 37), Sturridge, Torres (Lukaku, 77); Mata.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Man of the match: Ruddy (Norwich)
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer:

Norwich and John Ruddy stand firm to deny Chelsea and frustrate Torres
Amy Lawrence at Carrow Road

After the many hoots of mockery and chants about money and painful critiques that have trailed Fernando Torres since his move to Stamford Bridge, the Spaniard must have felt he had heard it all. Not quite. Having seen a chance fizzle out, it spoke volumes that the chant that floated over from behind the goal was sung without any irony: "We'd rather have Grant Holt".
Norwich's centre-forward, whom they could have bought 125 times over to reach the total price of the Torres transfer, is adored in these parts not just for his goals but also for his enthusiasm and endless chasing of causes. But his role here, as the match wore on and Chelsea began to press Norwich into a game of pure resistance, was to fall back and help out any which way.
André Villas-Boas, in his continuing defence of Torres, always entreats us to look at the bigger picture and see how his work for the team is appreciated. But however you choose to paint it, the inescapable fact is that Chelsea need Torres to score some goals. Just before the hour mark the crowd paused in anticipation of exactly that. Having controlled José Bosingwa's cross, the Spaniard picked his spot in the far corner but watched with dismay as the ball arced outside the post. It was a tantalising chance to end a run of 11 league matches without a goal. It was not long after that he was substituted.
Torres's drought remains a niggling problem for Chelsea, but it is far from the only source of their frustrations. They were sluggish and short of sparks of invention from midfield. It took them until midway through the second half to exert their authority on a hard working and enterprising Norwich team, and when they did a combination of careless finishing and the calm interventions of John Ruddy in goal ensured a shut-out.
The primal roar that greeted the final whistle from everybody in yellow was of the sort normally reserved for victory. Such are the standards to which Paul Lambert aspires, he was reluctant to say he felt triumphant. But he was delighted all the same with a first clean sheet this season, and a statement made against such a powerful adversary. "It is a huge point for us," he said. "Ruddy was excellent. The whole group put their bodies on the line when they had to."
They were gutsy, too. Norwich were eager to ruffle a few feathers, and the front pairing of Holt and Steve Morison caused some discomfort for Chelsea's backline. Early on, Holt latched on to Steve Morison's through-ball and wrongfooted David Luiz, only to steer his shot wide.
When Torres prowled forward only for a chance to fade away, the signs were there that it would again not be his afternoon. He then cruised into shooting territory and curled the ball goalwards with the outside of his boot. The excellent Ruddy dived to palm the ball away. Villas-Boas was obliged to make another defence of his misfiring striker. "We cannot be hypocrites and not take into account what he did last week when everyone praised him," he said. "We are looking for him to produce for the team and I am happy with the performance."
Chelsea began to turn the screw as the clock ticked on, seizing control and dominating possession. Juan Mata tested Ruddy on a couple of occasions, and the midfielders tried their luck. First Raul Meireles swept a shot just over the bar. Ramires then took aim with a piledriver that flew into Ruddy's midriff. Norwich's goalkeeper was equal to whatever Chelsea could summon, which in fairness was not that much.
All in all it was a disappointing day for Chelsea, who also lost Frank Lampard in the first half to a muscle tear in his calf. He went for an MRI scan to assess the extent of the damage. On the plus side Michael Essien got another run-out, and Gary Cahill, who wasn't selected, is expected to be ready to figure in the FA Cup game against QPR.
This was an opportunity for Chelsea to make some ground with the rest of the top five playing each other . "It could have been a good last opportunity to threaten for the title," admitted Villas-Boas. The manager scoffed at the suggestion that he should keep an eye on what is behind him in the league table, insisting, "No, I am not worried about finishing lower than fourth."
Norwich were entitled to savour a proud moment. Lambert tried to put the achievement into perspective: "Two years ago we were playing the likes of Yeovil and Stockport, with all due respect to them, and Chelsea have been in Champions League finals. That we are competing against them is incredible."
Late on Saturday night, Chelsea were drawn into another racial incident, after it emerged that some of their fans had allegedly been involved in racist chanting on a train back from Norwich.
A statement posted on the club's website said: "Chelsea Football Club is concerned to hear that a small number of fans travelling back by train from Norwich were alleged to be involved in racist chants and comment.
"We are working to help the relevant authorities identify those responsible and will take the strongest possible action should these allegations prove to be true.
"The club, like the overwhelming majority of our fans, strongly believe that all forms of discrimination are abhorrent and have absolutely no place in society."

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

Telegraph:

Norwich City 0 Chelsea 0: match report
By Duncan White, Carrow Road

Andre Villas-Boas keeps playing possum. On Boxing Day, the prognosis for Chelsea’s title challenge was dire and after defeat at home to Aston Villa on New Year’s Eve their prospects looked about as promising as those of a man paddling off into the North Sea in his canoe. Turns out, of course, that the Canoe Man was alive and well and living next door. And Chelsea were still secretly in the hunt. In fact this game was Chelsea’s final chance. Now it is definitely dead. Sort of.
“This could have been a good last opportunity to threaten for this title,” Villas-Boas said, before contradicting himself with a flicker of optimism. “We will have to see whether this has been a point gained or two points dropped.”
He went on to clarify that this really was it, however, but that this January concession would not affect his players’ attitude. “I have been saying it for quite some time,” he said. “It is nothing new. We have not found the winning consistency to make this a little bit more of a title challenge. There is not going to be any lack of ambition and motivation. You might speculate that we might not find the right motivation but there is always motivation when you play for a top club.”
There is, of course, plenty of the season to go and, as with villains in a horror film, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini will only rest when the credits start to roll. It is not over, as the stale cliché goes, until the fat lady sings.
Another cliché tells us that inside every fat man there is a thin man struggling to get out. Well, inside Fernando Torres there is a world-class goalscorer wriggling like hell, desperate to find the exit. This game was another fruitless struggle. If Chelsea’s title keeps being announced prematurely dead, then so is Torres’ emergence from his arid goalless trough. He has now gone more than 15 hours without scoring and was taken off after another impotent afternoon.
Just as at Sunderland, though, there were moments in which you recognised something of the old vim, in a weaving run from deep or in his improvised shot, with the outside of the boot, which drew a brilliant save out of John Ruddy.
There were, also, less dignified moments.Norwich had not kept a clean sheet in a single game this season and surely Carrow Road would provide fertile territory. Time and again, Torres was suffocated by Norwich’s central defensive pairing of Zak Whitbread and Daniel Ayala. The latter had doubtless had the fear of God put into him by his countryman during Melwood training sessions at Liverpool, but this was a very different story.
The replay moment came with an hour played. Torres had grown more and more frustrated as the game wore on but suddenly he had his chance. Jose Bosingwa had found some space on the right and his low cross worked its way to Torres’ feet. There was a moment’s pause as he trapped the ball. Surely a goal. But Torres toe-poked the ball past the near post.
“He tried really hard and he met with an excellent save from Ruddy in the first half,” Villas-Boas said. “His movement was sharp and effective and he was trying hard to get the goals he wants. He has persisted during all these weeks. We cannot be hypocrites and not take into account what he did against Sunderland after which everybody praised him for the arrival of his form.”
After an even first half, in which Norwich’s Anthony Pilkington was the outstanding performer, Paul Lambert’s side began to tire and Chelsea to dominate. Yet with Frank Lampard having left the field after 35 minutes with a torn calf muscle, Chelsea were short of players to exploit the gaps opening up. Lampard will undergo a scan to discover the severity of the tear.
When Chelsea did manage to get around the Norwich defence, they found Ruddy defiant and, when Juan Mata seemed finally to have beaten the goalkeeper, his shot clipped the outside of a post.
Most of Norwich’s best work had come before the break. Lambert had made his intentions fairly clear, dropping the impishly-inventive Wes Hoolahan for the barrel-chested battering ram of Grant Holt in partnership with the equally-imposing Steve Morison. Holt gave Petr Cech some moments of panic while Bradley Johnson’s shot, which deflected off John Terry, almost wrong-footed the Chelsea goalkeeper.
That Lambert had gone with both his powerful strikers made the decision to omit new signing Gary Cahill seem a little curious — Cahill has a great leap and is very competitive in the aerial challenge — but as Villas-Boas pointed out, there is no point throwing somebody in before they have “assimilated the basic principles” of the way he organises his team.
And David Luiz performed perfectly creditably alongside John Terry anyway.
While Raul Meireles should have been punished for handball on the edge of his own box and Norwich argued that Mark Clattenburg was overly-officious in not letting them take a quick free-kick – Holt putting Pilkington clean through – the final whistle was greeted as if this were a victory. It was a reward for the incredible work ethic of these Norwich players.

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

Mirror:

Norwich 0-0 Chelsea:
By Dave Smith

Norwich recorded their first clean sheet of the season to frustrate Chelsea and all but extinguish the Blues’ title hopes.
Blues striker Fernando Torres failed to find the target for the 11th game on the trot, and he squandered a couple of decent chances to end the drought.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is playing down his club’s chances of competing with the Manchester giants for the Premier League title.
He admitted: “This could have been our last opportunity. It is not a bad point given Norwich’s form, but it’s not so good in terms of the title.
“We will have to wait and see what happens in the Sunday games. We created enough chances to win the game and we were dominant in the second half, but we just could not find the net.
“The players’ work rate was fantastic and they tried hard to get the winner, but couldn’t find it.” The Chelsea boss was keen to give encouragement to Torres.
He added: “He has had a major impact on our offensive game. We are not just looking for him to find the net, but to contribute to the team and he is doing that.
“He had good praise after the Sunderland game and he has been doing excellent things for the team.”
Passing and moving is the name of the game for Norwich and Chelsea, and it made for fascinating viewing as the game ebbed and flowed.
Chelsea were almost caught on the hop in the 10th minute when Canaries striker Grant Holt shot just wide.
Torres’ critics have been lining up to take pop shots at the Spaniard.
To his credit, though, Torres never stops working and continues to look more and more like his old self. It’s just that final touch which is missing.
Even though things weren’t going for Torres in an attacking sense, there was no doubting his desire to help out when they were on the back foot.
The marksman had one clear chance to end his barren spell but his tentative effort with the outside of his foot was turned wide by John Ruddy in the Norwich goal.
From the corner Daniel Sturridge hammered a shot over the bar, and it was beginning to look like one of those days for Chelsea. Even more so when, with just 35 minutes on the clock, Frank Lampard pulled up with a calf injury and limped off.
The England midfielder looked totally dismayed and frustrated as he left the scene. And Norwich kept battling.
Andrew Surman set up a chance for Bradley Johnson, whose shot was half blocked by John Terry before keeper Petr Cech cleared.
Juan Mata was beginning to have more and more of an influence on the game as the first half wore on and went close on two occasions just before the break.
But for all his hard work and endeavour, Torres was still lacking conviction in front of goal and he squandered a great chance on the hour-mark. There was a distinct lack of confidence in the strike he poked wide, prompting caustic chants of ‘what a waste of money’ from the Norwich fans.
The Canaries’ followers were howling for a penalty soon after, but ref Mark Clattenburg shied away from making another controversial decision.
There was certainly a hint of handball from Raul Meireles, who was then involved in a key moment at the other end of the field, firing over from the edge of the box.
Chelsea looked the more threatening in the closing stages and Ruddy was called on to make a couple of saves before, inevitably, Torres was substituted after 76 minutes, replaced by Romelu Lukaku.
In his absence Mata went close for the visitors and Ashley Cole also chanced his arm as Chelsea stepped up their bid for the winner.
But the Canaries held out for a draw which was celebrated like a win by the home fans.
Norwich boss Paul Lambert was full of praise for his men.
The Scot said: “They have earned the right to play against the best and I am delighted with what they have achieved. The fact we have our first clean sheet against such a top team is great.”

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

Mail:

Norwich 0 Chelsea 0:
Taxi for Torres! After more than 15 hours without a goal should Chelsea cut their losses?
By ROB DRAPER

The statistics have become wearily familiar. It is 919 minutes - more than 15 hours - since he scored for club or country and he has gone 16 games, including 11 Premier League matches, without a goal.
But raw numbers never do justice to the pathos of the situation. Only watching a dignified man, who once could claim to be among the world's best at his trade, trudge slowly from a football ground faraway from home as a gleeful mob chant 'What a waste of money!' can summon up the pitiful nature of Fernando Torres's plight.
In nine days' time we will register the anniversary of that sensational £50million move from Liverpool to Chelsea, which will provoke another flurry of debate as to whether this is the worst signing of all time.
Andriy Shevchenko's £31m move is beginning to look not such bad business after all and Garry Birtles' reputation is redeemed with every simple chance that Torres misses.
Yesterday's was not on the scale of the open goal he spurned in front of the Stretford End nor as poor as his slice from close range at Blackburn. But it was bad and no amount of decent movement and willing running can atone for that.
Chelsea dropped points in a game which Andre Villas-Boas said 'could have been a last opportunity for us to threaten for this title'. And Torres missed the simplest chance of the day, on the hour and from eight yards out.
Jose Bosingwa cut to the byline and pulled it back only for Torres to prod the ball wide with his toe. In mitigation, there was very little space to shoot as Daniel Ayala and Zak Whitbread rushed to close him down.
But he should have scored and, on the touchline, Villas-Boas exploded with frustration, clutching his head and turning away in despair.
Around Carrow Road, they roared at the reprieve but, in reality, there was little to celebrate, other than from a partisan point of view.
For watching Torres at present is like being a voyeur at an unpleasant reality TV show, as you view a man's confidence disintegrate before being invited to pass comment.
It is true, as Villas-Boas later said, that elements of his game remain admirable.
He forced a fine save from the superb John Ruddy on 27 minutes and who could forget the exquisite technique he produced last weekend to set up Chelsea's winner? But he had also preceded yesterday's miss with a wayward shot one minute earlier and there are too many times when he seems to cut wide and look for a pass where once he would have headed for goal.
'We can't be hypocrites and not take into account last week, what he did against Sunderland, when everyone praised him for his arrival of form,' said Villas-Boas.
'He couldn't find the back of the net but we are not looking just for that, we are looking for him to produce for the team.
'He has persisted during all these weeks. I think he collided with an excellent save from Ruddy in the first half but his movements again were sharp and effective. We're happy with his play.'
Others were culpable, too, and this game, an entertaining one given the lack of goals, had much more to it than the Fernando horror show.
Norwich started brightly and only a superb tackle by Ramires prevented Steve Morison scoring on seven minutes, while Grant Holt then beat David Luiz but pulled his shot just wide.
Luiz went on to redeem himself, coping admirably with the excellent Holt, having managed to keep £7m signing Gary Cahill out of the team. Indeed, Cahill did not even make the bench, with Villas-Boas saying he needs time to integrate.
It was the second half when Chelsea - and Ruddy - came into their own. In fact, Ruddy's finest save possibly came when denying Juan Mata from close range after a glorious sweeping move on 62 minutes. Florent Malouda, on when Frank Lampard sustained a calf injury after 36 minutes, drove a fierce, curling shot over and Ramires had a strike well saved by Ruddy.
Chelsea could break neither Ruddy nor his chief lieutenants, Ayala and Whitbread. It was a minor triumph for some, but not for Norwich manager Paul Lambert.
'I can understand people saying it's a terrific result, which it is, because two years ago we were playing Yeovil, Walsall and Stockport and, no disrespect to those teams, now we're competing with Chelsea, who have been in a Champions League final,' he stated.
However, the Scot prefaced that by saying: 'You don't want to draw. You want to win.'
Nevertheless, his admirable team are edging ever closer towards 39 points, so at least there was something to cheer. Just not for the most expensive player on the pitch.

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

People:

Norwich 0-0 Chelsea: Blues held as Torres draws another blan
by Dave Kidd

THERE are plenty of barn doors round these here parts – yet Fernando Torres still couldn’t hit one.
Norwich may have taken the Premier League by storm but they had yet to keep a clean sheet in any competition all season.
Send, then, for the most expensive striker in the history of British football and it was always a safe bet that little run would come to an end.
Torres works hard – he even pops up at left-back to make important tackles – but for £50million, Chelsea demand goals.
And as the anniversary of his move from Liverpool approaches, the Spaniard has netted just three times in the league and seems stifled by timidity in front of goal.
Lingering
Torres was presented with probably the best chance of the match just before the hour mark, but prodded wide from a Jose Bosingwa cross.
He has not scored in 11 Premier League appearances and was subbed for the raw Romelu Lukaku 13 minutes from time. Even the absence of Didier Drogba, on international duty, has failed to ignite him.
And Stamford Bridge boss Andre Villas-Boas admitted that his side’s failure to nail three points here, having dominated the second half, is likely to have extinguished any lingering title hopes.
They are left to cling on for fourth spot, and their record of being London’s top side for the previous seven seasons is under threat from Tottenham.
A point at Carrow Road is nothing to be ashamed about – although this was the first time Norwich have taken anything from a clash with a top-five side since their return to the Premier League. On the plus side for AVB, David Luiz came through with flying colours in what was billed as a potential battering from Grant Holt and Steve Morison, two strikers built like village blacksmiths.
Juan Mata sparkled at times but, without a goal-scorer to profit from his artful work, his efforts were in vain.
Frank Lampard limped off in the first half with a torn calf muscle – but Michael Essien is closing on full fitness, which will lift the Blues.
Norwich chief Paul Lambert dropped his most creative force in Wes Hoolahan and the home side were unable to provide enough ammunition for their barnstorming front two – both recruited from the Football League but boasting scoring records which shame Torres.
Norwich began brightly, Petr Cech saving Anthony Pilkington’s angled shot and Ramires blocking Morison’s effort from the rebound.
Holt then collected a pass from Morison, twisted past Luiz and shot narrowly wide.
Yet that was as bad as it got for the Brazilian, whose starting position is now under threat from Gary Cahill, and who was expected to struggle against the brawn of Norwich’s strike force.
When Torres was first sent clear of the Norwich defence by Mata, he dallied and fed Sturridge when he might have chanced his arm. The Spaniard’s best moment arrived on 27 minutes when he conjured a curling shot, forcing John Ruddy to tip it wide.
Lampard limped off soon after, replaced by the ineffectual Florent Malouda, and Norwich continued to threaten – a deflected Bradley Johnson effort and a cross-shot from Holt both forcing decent saves from Cech.
Mata continued to enchant, having a deflected shot smothered by Ruddy, then slipping past two defenders and firing over in first-half injury-time.
Banjo
The big moment arrived for Torres just before the hour, when Bosingwa picked him out with a low right-wing centre, but he failed to hit the target.
Even with his countryman Roberto Ayala blocking out a little daylight, Torres should have done better.
Norwich called for a penalty when Raul Meireles handled but the incident, missed by ref Mark Clattenburg, occurred just outside the box.
Meireles thumped a 20-yarder just over before Ramires and Mata both further stretched Ruddy.
Norwich were the happier side with the point but as the Chelsea bus meandered back through East Anglia’s rural landscape, none of the cow’s backsides would have twitched, even if Torres had wielded a banjo at them

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

Sun:

Norwich 0 Chelsea 0
By TOM BARCLAY

FERNANDO TORRES saw his Chelsea torment continue as he failed to score for a 15th successive game.
The Spaniard looked lively in this stalemate with Norwich but he missed a sitter in the second half and was substituted with the scoreline still level.
For Paul Lambert's side, it was another good result to continue their wonderful season back in the top flight while Blues boss Andre Villa-Boas was left frustrated.
Canaries keeper and man of the match John Ruddy said: "You know you are going to come up against a team who will create chances when you play Chelsea, but the game plan worked again and we've got a very good point.
"I had a torrid time last time (against Chelsea) but it was a great team effort from the lads today.
"As long as we're picking up points (the lack of clean sheets) it isn't a problem but clean sheets make that easier."
Striker Grant Holt added: "This is a massive result. We talked all week about getting tight and showing them wide and we managed to do that."
New Chelsea signing Gary Cahill was surprisingly left out of the squad as AVB revealed the ex-Bolton stopper has not yet "been integrated into the team system".
There was very little between the two sides in the opening stages with both teams moving the ball well.
Norwich's bruising double act of Steve Morison and Holt showed they can both play a bit too with ex-Millwall man Morison turning to play in Holt who shot just wide.
Torres had a much better game against Sunderland last week and looked sharp early on at Carrow Road too.
The Spaniard was a whisker away from finishing off a fine Blues move — started by an audacious bit of skill by David Luiz in his own box — but his curling effort was superbly tipped wide by Ruddy.
Bradley Johnson then had a tame shot from distance which almost fooled Petr Cech after a wicked deflection, but the Czech stopper got down well.
Juan Mata should have given Chelsea the lead on the stroke of half-time as he escaped a Norwich challenge and cut into the box only for to lift his shot over the bar.
And there was still time before the interval for the Blues to miss another good chance as Torres sent in an inviting cross for substitute Florent Malouda.
But the Frenchman, who had come on for the injured Frank Lampard, decided to wait for the ball to reach him instead of attacking it and the ball was cleared.
Astonishingly, there were no fouls in the first half but that was quickly put to rights as Morison took down Raul Meireles within 76 seconds of the restart.
Chelsea picked up the pace in the second half with Luiz firing in a shot from distance before Torres missed a sitter.
Daniel Sturridge got in down the right with a neat bit of skill and sent in a cross which Torres controlled before toe poking just wide from eight yards.
Mata came close moments later as Sturridge played him in down the left, but his firm shot at the near post was well stopped by Ruddy.
Chelsea were coming closer and closer to breaking the deadlock as Raul Meireles fizzed a shot over the bar and Ramires hit a sumptuous volley straight into Ruddy's arms.
Torres' nightmare was ended on 77 minutes when he was hooked for Romelu Lukaku.
The Spaniard has now failed to hit the back of the net for the 15th successive game — his worst run in England.
And the Belgian sub made an instant impact with a lung-busting run down right before Mata almost sneaked a shot in at the near post.
But ultimately Norwich managed to hang on for a share of the points as AVB rued his side's missed chances and two points dropped.

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Whitbread, Ayala, Naughton, Fox (Crofts 79), Johnson, Pilkington, Surman (Bennett 90), Morison (Jackson 79), Holt. Subs Not Used:Steer,Drury,Hoolahan,Wilbraham.
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Lampard (Malouda 37), Meireles (Essien 79), Sturridge, Torres (Lukaku 77), Mata. Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Romeu, Bertrand.
Att: 26,792
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

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

Express:

NORWICH CITY 0 - CHELSEA 0: FORGET THE TITLE RACE, CHELSEA
By Jim Holden

THE agony was etched on the face of Fernando Torres as he missed yet another shocking sitter in his season of despair.
He had stabbed wide from just eight yards when in the centre of the goalmouth and with clear sight of the net. Glory be, it was hopeless.
It was the kind of chance Torres buried with ease throughout his stellar career before joining Chelsea a year ago in a £50million transfer.
Now it’s the kind he always fluffs. At the moment scoring even the simplest goal seems completely beyond the Spaniard – and his nightmare howler midway through the second half yesterday cost Chelsea two valuable points in the battle raging between four clubs for the lucrative fourth place position that entitles entry to the Champions League. How are the mighty fallen.
It is not just Torres who is fading fast. So are Chelsea as a team, now unable to impose themselves on mid-table opponents and with every reason, like Arsenal, to fear where the season might be heading.
It is not towards a credible title challenge.
Manager Andres Villas-Boas claims he is unconcerned, saying emphatically: “No, I’m not worried about finishing lower than fourth.”
To which the only reasonable response is: Well, you should be.
The reality of Chelsea’s concern was clear in the way Villas-Boas reacted with raging disbelief on the touchline to that glaring miss by Torres which prompted inevitable chants of “What a waste of money” from the Norwich supporters.
The reality was on show again when the manager decided to substitute the Spanish striker rather than the equally ineffective Daniel Sturridge 15 minutes from time. The reason given – that Torres was “tired after trying very hard” – was as lame as can be.
Villas-Boas reckons Chelsea’s problem is merely “inefficiency” in front of goal – a failure to take chances. But it’s surely more than that. For most of this contest there was a lack of zip in the team’s play, sometimes a lack of intelligence, and certainly a lack of confidence. You could see that the first time Torres had a sniff of the ball in the Norwich penalty area in the 12th minute. He was half a yard clear in the box, and at his peak there would have been an instant decisive movement towards goal and a rasping shot.
Here he took the unselfish option, in reality the fearful option, and played a square pass in the hope of setting up Sturridge. It didn’t work. It was a cop-out.
The one time that Torres trusted his instincts and stabbed in a first-time shot, he was denied by a good save from Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy.
Torres has now failed to score in his last 11 PremierLeague games, a drought that is more than three months long. He is scampering around in the most expensive wilderness in football history.
It wasn’t just the lack of a goal yesterday. The longer thematch went, the more visibly his confidence drained. It was a sorry sight. The substitution was a kindness when it came, and nobody in the ground expected anything else.
If the draw meant dismay for Chelsea, the final whistle was greeted with wild cheers by the home fans. They are still new enough to the Premier League to relish not losing to a major team.
For Norwich, superbly well-drilled by manager Paul Lambert, it was a first clean sheet of the season. They defended with diligence, and Ruddy confirmed his emergence as a goalkeeper of stature with some stout saves to keep out shots from Juan Mata and Ramires.
The home team had their opportunities in the first half, with Grant Holt forcing a fine leaping save from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, who also reacted well to stop a deflected drive from Bradley Johnson.
“It was a huge point for us,” said Lambert afterwards.
“I thought we were excellent at the back, and there are no apologies from me for our strong defending in the second half. It’s encouraging to get a clean sheet against a team like Chelsea. We are improving with each game and getting used to the demands of the Premier League.”
A curiosity was that referee Mark Clattenburg did not whistle for a single foul in the first half. It reflected the desire of both teams to play decent football, but also the way careless passes from both sides surrendered possession too easily.
Chelsea had surprised some observers by leaving out new signing Gary Cahill, the England central defender. It seemed to give a spur to the much-criticised David Luiz, who played with style and strength to subdue Norwich dangerman Grant Holt.
A concern for Villas-Boas was Frank Lampard suffering a calf injury that could keep out the England midfielder for a few weeks.

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

Star:

NORWICH CITY 0 - CHELSEA 0: MORE PAIN FOR FLOP FERNAN-DOH!
By Peter Layton

CHELSEA missed a golden chance to close the gap on the leaders as Fernando Torres’ Premier League drought goes on.
The Spain striker has not scored in the league since he netted against Swansea on September 24 and Norwich stopper John Ruddy played a blinder to ensure his nightmare run continues.
Paul Lambert’s side kept their first clean sheet of the season to stop Chelsea from making up ground on Man City, United and Spurs, who all play today
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas takes his team to Majorca this week for a bonding break – but it was Norwich who were supposed to get the tanning.
But brilliant Canary keeper Ruddy and his back four covered themselves in glory to rip up the script.
And £50million flop Torres found himself in the firing-line again after missing a 60th-minute sitter that should have wrapped up the points.
The striker had the goal at his mercy when right-back Jose Bosingwa’s cross fell perfectly at his feet – but he somehow scuffed wide from six yards.
If Torres can’t hit a barn door in Norfolk then he really has got problems.
AVB said: “Torres tried really hard and his movement was sharp. He isn’t getting the goals he wants but he is playing a major part in our performances.
“This could have been our last chance to challenge for the title, we will have to wait and see. But if the top teams win on Sunday then it will be a big margin for us to make up.”
Norwich boss Lambert said: “It’s very satisfying to get our first clean sheet, especially for Ruddy.
“But everybody put their bodies on the line and it was a huge point for us. Considering we were playing Stockport two years ago, it’s amazing that we are now competing with Chelsea.”
The Blues, chasing four successive wins for the first time under their Portugese boss, took complete control from the start and Norwich had to survive an early siege.
American central defender Zak Whitbread acrobatically cleared a dangerous Daniel Sturridge cross into the heart of the Canary box and Torres almost capitalised on a John Terry long ball from the back that had the Norwich defence fretting.
But the home side then almost cashed in on a swift sixth-minute counter-attack that saw right winger Anthony Pilkington bursting past England left-back Ashley Cole to the by-line.
Pilkington’s powerful cut back was only half cleared by goalkeeper Petr Cech but midfielder Ramires dived in bravely to deflect the ball for a corner with Steve Morison poised to pull the trigger.
The game was wide open with both teams looking to attack at every opportunity and Spanish midfielder Juan Mata then threatened with a left-foot volley inches over the bar from a Frank Lampard corner.
Torres was causing Norwich problems with his inventive runs and one stunning 27th-minute cameo suggested that the Spanish star was slowly getting back to his best.
The hitman darted inside Whitbread on to a pinpoint Ramires pass into the box and then speared an instant shot goalwards with the outside of his right boot that had Ruddy sprawling full length to fingertip the ball wide.
Chelsea then lost Lampard with what looked like a hamstring injury just after the half hour – a massive loss considering the Chelsea midfielder’s last four goals had all been match winners.
AVB simply sent on Florent Malouda though and the Blues barely missed a beat with Ruddy forced to save heroically at the feet of Torres and then make another crucial stop to deny Mata just seconds later.
After successive away wins Norwich were after three top flight victories in a row for the first time since 1993.
But the visitors continued to dominate after the break and Norwich were chasing shadows for most of the second half with Raul Meireles blazing over and Ruddy making saves from Mata, Ramires and Malouda.
But Torres’ miss was the killer and he has now gone an incredible 17 games for Chelsea and Spain without finding the net.

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

sunderland 1-0

2012-01-15T08:11:00.002Z

Independent:

Lamps lights way for Chelsea again

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

by Glenn Moore

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

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

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

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

Observer:

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

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

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0
By Oliver Brown, Stamford Bridge

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

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

Mail:

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

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

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

Mirror:
Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland
By Julian Bennetts

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

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

People:

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

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

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

Sun:

Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0

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

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

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

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

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

Star:

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

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

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

Express:

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

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

portsmouth 4-0

2012-01-09T06:03:00.003Z

Independent:

Four goals flattered us, admits Di Matteo

Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0

JACK PITT-BROOKE STAMFORD BRIDGE

Chelsea progressed rather than impressed against Portsmouth last night, despite recording a 4-0 win to reach the FA Cup fourth round.
Their reward, depending on a replay, could be another short trip up to Loftus Road, the site of their acrimonious 1-0 defeat in October.
For 85 minutes, Chelsea struggled to overcome a resilient and determined Portsmouth side, despite Juan Mata's goal straight after the break. Ramires, one of the most effective players late on in games in the division, scored twice in the last five minutes, and Frank Lampard scored in stoppage time. But before then Chelsea had been well-matched.
"I think it was a bit harsh on Portsmouth," said Chelsea's assistant manager, Roberto Di Matteo, of the scoreline "especially the way they were organised and defended but we are very pleased with it and we deserved a [few] goals as well."
The first half was an exhibition of precisely the problems that Andre Villas-Boas was brought to Chelsea to solve. Even with Mata, Raul Meireles and Ramires all on the pitch, Chelsea still lapsed into some of the ponderous, one-paced football that Villas-Boas was meant to cleanse from Stamford Bridge.
Portsmouth, who were more comfortable than they could have hoped, should even have taken the lead. In the very first minute, Marko Futacs flicked a header on to his strike partner Dave Kitson. The former Reading forward, through on goal, could only drag his shot wide.
From there on Chelsea dominated possession but rarely displayed the guile to pass through Portsmouth's well-drilled back four. Chelsea's best early chance came when they went round Portsmouth: Florent Malouda, wide on the left, crossed for Fernando Torres, whose header was tipped over by Stephen Henderson.
Portsmouth had to defend well, certainly, and Jason Pearce stood out. He stuck tight to Torres, cut out crosses and dominated the penalty area as if he owned it. But Portsmouth may well have fiercer first-half examinations in the Championship this season.
Chelsea started the second half well. Florent Malouda darted past Aaron Mokoena in the way that used to be his trademark. On reaching the byline he rolled the ball to the near post, where Mata tapped it in.
Portsmouth were not content to limit damage. When winger Erik Huseklepp came on for Hayden Mullins they had a much more meaningful threat and nearly equalised through one triple chance. Futacs, Joel Ward and David Norris were denied by Petr Cech, John Terry and Cech again respectively.
The Portsmouth manager, Michael Appleton, said: "We got back into the game and you could sense there was a little bit of nervousness towards the end before they got the second goal, and I think that's a credit to the boys. But that's why Chelsea are where they are. The longer a game goes on, fatigue comes in, a lack of concentration comes in at times, and they've got players that can be clinical."
It took until the final five minutes for those differences to tell. Chelsea's best move of the match ended when Ramires ended a move he had started by knocking home a header by Torres.
Two minutes later, Torres fed Ramires once more, as ever still the fittest player on the pitch even after 87 minutes. He held off a pack of defenders and chipped Henderson. Then, in stoppage time, the substitute Oriol Romeu found Lampard, who shot into the bottom corner.

Chelsea: CECH 6/10, BOSINGWA 5, LUIZ 7, RAMIRES 8, TERRY 7, COLE 6, MEIRELES 7, LAMPARD 6, MALOUDA 6, TORRES 6, MATA 7

Portsmouth: KITSON 7, FUTACS 7, LAWRENCE 6, NORRIS 6, MULLINS 5, WARD 6, HALFORD 7, HENDERSON 7, PEARCE 7, ROCHA 7, MOKOENA 5

Goals: Mata 48, Ramires 85, 87, Lampard 90
Substitutes: Chelsea Romeu (Malouda, 78), Bertrand (Cole, 86), Lukaku (Torres, 88). Portsmouth Huseklepp 8 (Mullins, 67), Williams 6 (Rocha, 70).
Booked: Chelsea Malouda, Terry, Meireles. Portsmouth Pearce, Halford, Williams, Kitson.
Man of the match Ramires. Match rating 5/10. Possession: Chelsea 57% Portsmouth 43%.
Attempts on target: Chelsea 8 Portsmouth 3.
Referee A Taylor (Cheshire).
Attendance 41,259.

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

Guardian:

Ramires late double confirms Chelsea's FA Cup win against Portsmouth
David Hytner at Stamford Bridge

André Villas-Boas's selection made the point eloquently enough. This was virtually the strongest starting lineup he could have named and, to reinforce the theme of the day, there was even room on the substitutes' bench for a recently retired player. Young Sam Hutchinson might not get the same headlines as Paul Scholes.
Chelsea cannot pick and choose the trophies they chase and the FA Cup is one that Villas-Boas wants to win. They remain in contention, following a performance that came to the boil in dramatic fashion, after Juan Mata's sixth goal for the club had for much of the second half looked likely to suffice.
Three goals in the final minutes gave the scoreline an unfortunate appearance for Portsmouth, who had been a match for Chelsea while never truly threatening to get a result. Ramires's one-two punch was stunning and it brought the seventh and eighth goals of his season, with Fernando Torres claiming both assists. Torres departed to a generous ovation, gilding a largely inconsistent performance with a positive finish – a little like his team. Frank Lampard's low injury-time shot brought the visitors to their knees.
Chelsea's confidence has been fragile, particularly at Stamford Bridge, and there was relief to be found in their fourth home win in nine attempts before the fourth-round draw served up, potentially, the tie that the club's PR department might have dreaded. If Queens Park Rangers get past MK Dons in their replay, Chelsea will travel to Loftus Road and the buildup will focus on Anton Ferdinand versus John Terry. Ferdinand's allegations of racism against Terry remain under investigation.
"I think the scoreline today was a bit harsh on Portsmouth," Roberto Di Matteo, the Chelsea assistant manager, said. "But we also deserved a little bit of goals. This is a competition we would like to win and we have taken a step towards the target."
It was a strange afternoon for Michael Appleton, the Portsmouth manager. There were positives for him, in terms of his team's discipline, yet they departed on the wrong end of a comprehensive scoreline. "But that's why Chelsea are where they are and we are a Championship club," Appleton said. "The longer the game goes on, the more fatigue and loss of concentration comes in and they have the players who can be clinical."
Portsmouth, revelling in a day away from the Championship dogfight and talk of new ownership, were left to wonder what might have been after they flickered in the first minute. Marko Futacs flicked on and Dave Kitson burst between David Luiz and John Terry only to pull his shot wide.
Portsmouth arrived at the ground only 45 minutes before kick-off but their concentration and commitment did not waver in the first half, when Aaron Mokoena and David Norris also had sightings of goal. Chelsea were laboured in the opening period and the crowd had little to quicken their pulse save for the occasional burst from Lampard and David Luiz's outrageous skills in the wrong areas.
Torres reflected the best and worst of Chelsea in the first half. He timed his run to meet Florent Malouda's excellent 13th-minute cross to draw a save out of Stephen Henderson and he later tricked away from Jason Pearce, who pulled him back to incur a yellow card.
Yet Torres was also reduced to campaigning in vain for decisions. Pearce's challenge on him inside the penalty area was clumsy and borderline but the defender did not react well to Torres's rather desperate tumble while the striker lay motionless on the touchline after being checked by Mokoena.
Di Matteo said that patience against deep-sitting opponents was essential but "it was just a matter of scoring the first goal". Mata's effort owed everything to Malouda, who outpaced Mokoena to pull back invitingly for him. Kitson argued that Ashley Cole had handled when he won possession for Chelsea but any offence did not look deliberate. Malouda's performance, meanwhile, felt like a gentle reminder to Villas-Boas.
Portsmouth's response almost yielded the equaliser. Kitson caught David Luiz messing around in possession and he fed Futacs, who got away from Terry and in on Petr Cech's goal before his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. Joel Ward's headed effort on the rebound was smuggled off the line by the covering Terry, who hurt himself against the post in the process, and Norris's follow-up shot was saved by Cech. Terry said afterwards that he was fine.
Portsmouth found the onus to create too much for them and they struggled to stretch Chelsea yet they did not deserve the final scoreline. Torres's header from Mata's cross ushered in Ramires for his first and the Brazilian finished magnificently after taking Torres' pass and racing in on goal from the halfway line.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0

Ramires struck twice as Chelsea booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge here on Sunday.
The Brazil midfielder's goals, scored in the 85th and 87th minutes, together with an added time fourth for Frank Lampard added gloss to the scoreline after Juan Mata had put Andre Villas-Boas's side ahead in the 48th minute.
That ensured the Blues were spared an embarrassing slip against Championship opponents in a re-run of the two teams' meeting in the 2010 final, which Chelsea won 1-0.
But despite the convincing scoreline, this was another stuttering performance from Villas-Boas's side who are finding their feet after a disastrous run of results in December.
Chelsea failed in their bid to convince Ivory Coast officials to allow Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou to delay their departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.
That meant Fernando Torres started as the main striker and denied Drogba the chance to stage a repeat of his match-winning goal at Wembley two seasons ago.
Much has changed since that meeting which secured the Premier League and FA Cup double for Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea team.
Ancelotti left Stamford Bridge just 12 months later while Portsmouth slipped out of the top flight at the end of that season and are currently facing another battle to remain clear of the Championship danger zone.
One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the precarious financial position at Fratton Park and Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, came into this tie with uncertainty surrounding the future ownership of the club.
This was certainly a game Chelsea could not afford to take lightly, however, no matter what the status of their opponents.
A disastrous run of recent results was ended only by the narrow victory at Wolves last time out and Villas-Boas's side badly needed a confidence boost.
They had one before kick-off when skipper John Terry was passed fit to start after recovering from a knee problem.
But even with Terry at the heart of Chelsea's defence, Portsmouth created several good chances.
The first of the match fell to the visitors after just two minutes when Dave Kitson collected Marco Futacs's flick and sent a left foot shot narrowly wide.
Pompey right back Aaron Mokoena then went close midway through the half when he headed over from just six yards out from a corner.
And midfielder David Norris also threatened Petr Cech&£8217;s goal with a snapshot from the edge of the box.
Chelsea dominated possession but created few chances, the best falling to Torres after 13 minutes when the Spain striker produced a full length save from Portsmouth keeper Stephen Henderson with a powerful header.
The hosts raised their game in the second half and three minutes after the break were ahead through Mata.
Ashley Cole contested a loose ball with Kitson, prompting Pompey claims of handball. But referee Anthony Taylor ignored the protests, allowing the Chelsea full back to release Florent Malouda on the left.
Malouda, often criticised by Chelsea fans this season for failing to produce a telling final ball teed up Mata perfectly and the former Valencia man finished it off from close range.
Portsmouth responded well to the blow and could have been level but Chelsea escaped when Cech saved from Futacs and then Norris either side of a goal-line block by Terry from Joel Ward.
Pompey began to tire though, and Chelsea took full advantage in the final minutes with Ramires first nipping in to turn Torres's header in from close range before running from halfway for the third.
And Lampard wrapped up the win with a left footed shot seconds before the final whistle.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0:

Brazilliant! Ramires double sparks late FA Cup goal rush
By MATT BARLOW

When Ramires arrived at Chelsea he was handed the No 7 shirt vacated by Andriy Shevchenko and the Brazilian has already surpassed the impact made at Stamford Bridge by the Ukrainian striker.
In 18 months since his arrival from Benfica he has impressed greatly with his energy and industry, but this year has acquired attacking responsibilities and has added a goal touch.
The 24-year-old struck twice on Sunday as the Blues eased past Portsmouth and into the fourth round of the FA Cup. Juan Mata and Frank Lampard were also on target.
The scoreline is slightly misleading, with three Chelsea goals in the last six minutes plus stoppage time, but Andre Villas-Boas will be grateful for the win after seeing his team struggle at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks.
He certainly didn’t need a slip against a Championship team which has been teetering on the brink of financial meltdown since the clubs met in the FA Cup final in 2010, or the inconvenience of a replay at Fratton Park.
‘It was possibly a bit harsh,’ said Pompey manager Michael Appleton. ‘But I’ve learned it can be very hard to come to a top-six Premier League team, especially if you don’t get an early goal to hang on to.
‘Conceding two minutes into the second half after a good first-half display doesn’t help but we got ourselves back into the game.
‘You could sense some nervousness before they got their second but we are a Championship club and fatigue and concentration come in and they have players who can be clinical.’
Portsmouth had opportunities to strike first. Dave Kitson and Marko Futacs combined within a minute to pull John Terry and David Luiz out of position but Kitson dragged his effort wide from the edge of the area.
Aaron Mokoena then headed over from a corner when he ought to have hit the target and the visitors kept Chelsea at bay without too much fuss in the first half.
But Mata made the breakthrough soon after the interval. Ashley Cole charged down a clearance from Kitson with his hands and the Pompey players froze as they appealed for handball. There was no free-kick.
Florent Malouda did not pause, seizing the loose ball and tearing past right back Mokoena before rolling a low cross for Mata to score from close range. It was Mata’s sixth of the season and he continues to sparkle amid the gloom of Chelsea’s wider problems.
Villas-Boas’s team continued to look vulnerable at the back. Even when a goal behind, there were chances for the Championship team to equalise. Liam Lawrence curled a free-kick close and Chelsea’s slender lead was protected by a brilliant clearance by their captain.
Kitson stole the ball from Luiz to start the move and passed to Futacs, who spun away from Terry and forced a save from Petr Cech.
Greg Halford headed the rebound towards an open goal but Terry slid across the goal-line to hook clear before crashing knee-first into a post, beating the turf in agony as Cech finally killed the danger with a save from David Norris.
Terry has been playing with pain-killing injections in a knee injury but the Blues are short of experienced defenders with Branislav Ivanovic injured and Alex in exile.
‘He’ll be fine,’ shrugged assistant manager Roberto di Matteo, when asked about Terry.
Di Matteo stepped in for Villas-Boas to answer post-match questions and claimed to know nothing about the progress of the move for Gary Cahill. ‘I’m not in the loop,’ he added.
Terry hobbled through the rest of the game in obvious discomfort but, fortunately for his team, Pompey’s resistance began to wilt.
Ramires made it 2-0 in the 84th minute, darting ahead of Halford to reach a header from Torres and poke past Stephen Henderson in the Portsmouth goal. Torres then released the free-running midfielder for his second, Ramires dinking the ball over the diving keeper to take his tally to eight in 22 appearances this season.
The two Torres assists were appreciated by the crowd and they offered support to their £50million record signing by singing his name, but he rarely threatened the goal.
With Didier Drogba on international duty and Daniel Sturridge out with a hip injury, he must start to take some of his chances soon.
Torres had an early header saved by Henderson and was generally well policed. It was only when centre back Ricardo Rocha limped off with a calf injury that Chelsea started to open up Pompey through the centre of their defence.
Lampard claimed the fourth in the third minute of stoppage time, arriving in the penalty area to drive a clinical finish for his tenth of the season, and he milked the applause after the final whistle.
Only two players have scored more goals for Chelsea yet his future is clouded as Villas-Boas often leaves him on the bench.

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

Mirror:

Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth
By John Cross

Frank Lampard is the headache that will not go away for Andre Villas-Boas.
The Chelsea boss is giving Lampard the silent treatment and appears to be trying to ease him out of Stamford Bridge.
But Lampard just keeps on popping up to prove that, even at 33, the England midfielder will not give up on his Chelsea career. That was his 180th Chelsea goal and makes him joint top scorer this season with Daniel Sturridge.
Lampard left it late to make his mark as he fired home from close range deep into injury time to complete a scoreline which was not a fair reflection on the game.
But it was another goal, another point made and another chance to further embarrass Villas-Boas by proving he is not ready for the knacker’s yard just yet.
Villas-Boas wants to move on, yet Lampard is proving unmovable. It will take a brave Chelsea manager to sell him.
But it would appear that this town is not big enough for the both of them. Villas-Boas wants him out, Lampard does not want to give up his place in the team and the next few months will tell us who rules the roost.
It is an intriguing sideshow and was at times more interesting than a rather workmanlike Chelsea performance which ground out a win against a resolute and determined Portsmouth. The last time these clubs met competitively was in the 2010 FA Cup Final and how their fortunes have changed since then.
But Portsmouth gave Chelsea a stern test, some scares and the Premier League giants did not make it comfortable until a late goal rush as Ramires scored twice in the closing stages before Lampard’s clincher.
Juan Mata opened the scoring to liven up the contest after an awful first half in which Chelsea looked flat, sluggish and disappointing.
That was despite Villas-Boas putting out his strongest line-up – assuming Lampard still fits into that category – and yet they made heavy weather of it.
It took moments of madness from Chelsea centre-half David Luiz to liven things up as the Brazilian continually gave the ball away and went on forays forward which left his defence exposed.
Fernando Torres, despite his £50million price tag, hardly set the game alight even though his early header was the best effort of the first half, bringing a comfortable save from keeper Stephen Henderson.
It was pretty forgettable stuff with referee Anthony Hudson dishing out yellow cards like confetti – he booked seven in total – making himself the most noticeable man on the pitch.
But Chelsea made their breakthrough three minutes after the restart – even if there was a touch of controversy. Portsmouth striker Dave Kitson’s attempted clearance hit Ashley Cole’s arm and the ball broke kindly for Chelsea.
Florent Malouda escaped down the left, easily beating Pompey captain Aaron Mokoena then cut back a perfect cross for Mata to steer home.
Portsmouth did not give up. Cheered on by their magnificent fans who have stuck with them through thick and largely thin, the visitors went desperately close to levelling after 54 minutes.
Luiz was dispossessed far too easily by Kitson, Marko Futacs saw his shot blocked brilliantly by Petr Cech, Joel Ward’s header from the follow-up was cleared off the line by John Terry then David Norris had his shot saved by Cech.
Terry injured himself making the heroic clearance – he needed treatment before carrying on – but you suspect playing with Luiz is always rather painful.
Finally, Chelsea took control in the 84th minute. Ramires drove forward from midfield, Lampard spread the ball wide to Mata and his cross was headed by Torres and luckily Ramires had kept going to force the loose ball home.
Torres laid it off for Ramires three minutes later as the Brazilian stormed forward before chipping Henderson. Lampard grabbed the fourth to once again ensure he keeps his name in the headlines.

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

Sun:

Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0
By MARK IRWIN

THE final score was emphatic enough but little else about this Chelsea victory was that convincing.
Three goals in the final eight minutes made it look far easier than it actually was for a team who still flatter to deceive.
And while Chelsea might be safely through to the FA Cup fourth round, there was little in this laboured performance to suggest that they have finally sorted their underlying problems.
Fernando Torres still does not look like he is ever going to score and David Luiz remains an accident waiting to happen in defence. Skipper John Terry continues to bale them out at the back, while the goals of Ramires and Frank Lampard paper over the cracks going forward.
At least manager Andre Villas-Boas can take heart from the determination of his players to keep their season alive.
Even when they were struggling to break down a well organised Pompey defence, they never hid from the ball and kept trying to force an opening.
Yet there was little imagination or creativity to go with their overwhelming possession in a desperately drab first 45 minutes.
Torres had an early header saved by Pompey keeper Stephen Henderson in one of his rare ventures into the penalty area but spent most of the match on the periphery of the action. It is now almost three months since Britain's costliest footballer last scored and right now it is hard to see where his next goal is coming from.
But with Didier Drogba away at the African Nations Cup and Daniel Sturridge out with a hip injury, Chelsea do not have too many other options to lead their attack.
Not that £50million Torres is the only one struggling to justify his billing at Stamford Bridge right now.
Luiz was all over the place in defence once again and got away with a clean sheet more by luck than judgment. The unpredictable Brazilian was caught out right from the start, when he allowed Dave Kitson a clean run on goal from Marko Futacs' flick.
Luckily for him, the Pompey striker failed to take advantage of the second-minute chance and shot wide of Petr Cech's far post.
The Championship visitors had an even better opportunity to test Chelsea's mettle in the 52nd minute, when Luiz was dispossessed on the edge of his own area by Kitson.
Although Futacs' shot was blocked by Cech, it still required a goal-line clearance from Terry to keep out Joel Ward's follow-up header.
It was only five minutes earlier that Chelsea had taken the lead, when Juan Mata scored from close range after Florent Malouda had surged to the by-line past the toiling Aaron Mokoena. To have conceded an equaliser so soon afterwards would have provided a serious test of Chelsea's resolve.
Proof of Chelsea's anxiety came 15 minutes from the end, when Oriol Romeu was sent on for Malouda to protect their single-goal lead.
Yet while Villas-Boas might have settled for a 1-0 win, his players clearly had not.
Their place in the fourth round, where they will visit either MK Dons or QPR, was confirmed in the 85th minute, when Torres headed down Mata's cross and Ramires forced his way ahead of Greg Halford to score with the sole of his boot.
The tireless Brazilian then outstripped the Pompey defence to lift the ball over the advancing Henderson.
But the final word went to Lampard, who turned and shot inside the near post through the legs of Ryan Williams.
It was a cruel finale for Pompey, who certainly did not play like a team with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
It is hard to believe that it was less than two years ago that these two clubs had faced each other at Wembley.
So much has gone wrong for Pompey in recent years that it is a miracle that they are still in business, never mind putting up such a spirited display.
Their future is up in the air again following the arrest and resignation of owner of the month Vladimir Antonov and administration beckons once more.
Manager Michael Appleton urged his players to take talk of another takeover with a pinch of salt and put all their focus into avoiding relegation from the Championship.
Chelsea's future looks positively bright in comparison and Villas-Boas maintains they are still competing for three trophies this season.
Believe that one if you will. But don't hold your breath.

DREAM TEAM
STAR MAN — RAMIRES (CHELSEA)

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Bosingwa 6, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 6 (Bertrand 6), Ramires 9, Meireles 7, Lampard 6, Mata 8, Torres 6 (Lukaku 6), Malouda 6 (Romeu 6). Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, McEachran, Hutchinson. Booked: Malouda, Terry, Meireles.

PORTSMOUTH: Henderson 7, Mokoena 6, Rocha 7 (Williams 6), Pearce 6, Halford 6, Ward 6, Norris 7, Mullins 6 (Huseklepp 6), Lawrence 6, Kitson 8, Futacs 7. Subs not used: Ashdown, Hreidarsson, Benjani, Ben-Haim, Webster.

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

Star and Express :

CHELSEA 4 PORTSMOUTH 0: 4-GOAL BLUES HAVE LITTLE TO BOAS-T ABOUT
By Adrian Kajumba

IT WASN'T pretty. But it was effective.
And ultimately that is all that will matter to Andre Villas-Boas this morning.
Chelsea booked their spot in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to second-half strikes from Juan Mata, a Ramires double and Frank Lampard’s late fourth.
But don’t be fooled by the scoreline, beefed up by three goals in the final five minutes.
Chelsea stumbled nervously rather than strode confidently into the next round.
But just the fact they are still in the competition will be a huge relief to Villas-Boas.
Chances are running out for him to have any silverware to show demanding owner Roman Abramovich at the end of this underwhelming season.
With the Premier League and Carling Cup long gone, the FA Cup is their best hope.
And the strong side he named against Championship outfit Portsmouth showed how seriously Chelsea will be taking the competition this year.Of course, they are still in the Champions League, too.
But it’s impossible to see them troubling the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid – especially playing the type of slow, uninspiring football that, in truth, was only just enough to see them past Portsmouth.
A hefty defeat was hard on plucky Portsmouth, who were once again left wondering what might have been.
Two years ago these two met in the final at Wembley, with Chelsea winning 1-0. That day, like yesterday, Portsmouth had their chances to cause an upset.
And Kevin-Prince Boateng’s missed penalty was Pompey’s ‘what if’ moment in the 2010 final.
Yesterday it was a trio of chances to equalise in one move when the score was 1-0.
Chelsea survived a scare after just 30 seconds when Dave Kitson latched on to Marko Futacs’ flick-on and burst between John Terry and David Luiz.
But much to the home side’s relief Kitson dragged his shot across goal and wide.
Chelsea briefly burst into life after that early escape.
Fernando Torres had a penalty appeal waved away before being denied the opener by a stunning save from Stephen Henderson.
Torres met Florent Malouda’s 15th-minute cross with a thumping header which Henderson went full length to his left to tip behind.
But that was as good as it got for Chelsea before the break.
And they were lucky not to be behind at the end of a dire first half after Ashley Cole gifted the ball to David Norris, who firedwide when Futacs and Kitson were better placed.
The game quickly livened up after the break when Chelsea took a 48th minute lead.
Malouda burst past Aaron Mokoena to the byline and cut the ball back for Mata to slam home from close range.
But Portsmouth were unlucky not to draw level soon after. Liam Lawrence curled a free-kick just wide three minutes before an incredible triple let-off for Chelsea.
David Luiz was robbed by Kitson, who fed the ball into Futacs.
His smart turn beat a flat-footed Terry but Petr Cech came to the rescue to block the Hungarian striker’s drive with his legs.
The rebound fell to Joel Ward, whose header was cleared off the line by Terry before Cech then saved Norris’ follow-up on the line.
Chelsea finally put the game to bed in the last five minutes.
Ramires poked home Torres’ knockdown after 85 minutes before chipping Henderson after racing on to the Spaniard’s pass.
And Lampard poured more salt into Pompey’s wounds right on the whistle, firing Oriol Romeu’s pass home on the turn to make it 4-0.

wolves 2-1

2012-01-03T06:53:00.002Z

Independent:
Lampard seizes his chance to make point
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 2
SAM WALLACE MOLINEUX

Frank Lampard spent so long celebrating with the Chelsea fans in the Steve Bull stand at the end of the match yesterday that Andre Villas-Boas gave up waiting for him on the pitch and walked down the tunnel with the rest of his victorious team, leaving his match-winner to come back in his own time.
The pair of them shaking hands or embracing, as Villas-Boas had done moments earlier with a bare-chested John Terry, would have been the picture to soothe the bubbling stories of discontent at the club but it never happened. Lampard wanted his moment with the Chelsea fans and he was not for rushing back. Chances to score the kind of crucial goal he did have been fewer than ever under this new young manager.
It was a day that began with another story about the rift between Villas-Boas and senior players at Chelsea, one which prompted an indignant denial from the manager. It ended with the pressure being lifted from Villas-Boas by Lampard's goal. And along the way there were a few subplots that made this another fascinating day in the development of Chelsea under Villas-Boas.
It was not just Lampard's lingering celebrations with the Chelsea fans that meant he avoided encountering Villas-Boas in the centre of the pitch. There was also a strangely contrived goal celebration following Ramires' first for Chelsea on 50 minutes when a group of players – mainly the Lusophone contingent, it should be said – headed over to the touchline for a man-hug session with Villas-Boas and his assistants.
On that occasion, John Terry arrived at the party too late and Lampard did not even make it over at all. In his post-match press conference, Villas-Boas avoided giving Lampard any personal credit – although, it should be said, that is common with this Chelsea manager. Nevertheless it provoked an outraged response from Phil Thompson on Sky Sports. This is not an issue that is likely to just go away.
That was the politics of the Chelsea camp; the game was another story altogether. Having lost so disastrously at home to Aston Villa, with Lampard gifting the opposition the third goal on that occasion, this game looked like it could be yet another cock-up from Villas-Boas's players when Stephen Ward scored an equaliser on 72 minutes.
Before then, Chelsea had much the better of the second half. They worked hard to push Wolves back and played like a team that knows it is in urgent need of a win. Fernando Torres had one of his better days, accelerating past defenders from a standing start and attacking without the moping that has become commonplace for him.
The Chelsea goal had come from a corner that was poorly defended by Wolves. Terry jumped to challenge for the ball, did not reach it and it came through to Ramires. The Brazilian midfielder, who had been impressive all afternoon, held off Ward and blasted the ball into the roof of the Wolves goal.
Chelsea had spent the first half making little progress until the later stages when Jose Bosingwa and Terry had both come close. Before then the referee Peter Walton had struggled to keep a lid on the game during a flurry of bookings for five players across both teams, the most controversial of which was for Lampard for a tackle on Adam Hammill.
Given how fervently the Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, had argued against Stuart Attwell's decision to dismiss Nenad Milijas at the Emirates last month, you had to wonder whether that would play on Walton's mind in Lampard's case. The studs of one boot were raised, they connected with Hammill and it was a decision that could go either way – even Lampard said later "my heart was in my mouth".
That it should be Lampard who came back to score the winner would, you suspected, only further stoke McCarthy's indignation. However, by the time of his post-match press conference he had made a decision not to go down that route. "It [the Lampard decision] is irrelevant," he said. "Defend the bleeding cross. They shouldn't have scored and I should have been sat here talking about a 1-1 draw."
It provoked a bout of bad feeling between the players during which five in all were booked in the space of eight minutes. Ashley Cole landed a high kick on Kevin Doyle and then lashed out when he was on the ground. He should have been booked but only Doyle was shown a card for throwing the ball at Cole. Karl Henry and Oriol Romeu also followed into the referee's book.
The game was low on quality with Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge, both injured, notable absentees. That is the last Chelsea will see of Drogba for some time as he meets up with the Ivory Coast squad on Saturday for the Cup of African Nations. Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou were also unavailable.
As for Wolves, McCarthy gave Emmanuel Frimpong his debut and rested Matt Jarvis, Steven Fletcher and Stephen Hunt. He said he could simply not afford to push them too hard. But with his team a goal down he brought on Jarvis and Fletcher and the two combined well to create Ward's goal. Jarvis played the ball into the area for Fletcher to knock down and the defender finished confidently from close range.
It looked grim for Chelsea. On form it was hard to see them scoring a winner but when it came it was expertly made. Lampard played the ball in to Torres, who spread it out left to Cole. When he crossed, it was Lampard who arrived on time to force it into the goal.
Even Villas-Boas would struggle to argue that the transition under his stewardship is developing painlessly. It feels like there will be many more awkward afternoons like this one until he finally has the team working the way he wants, with the individuals in whom he believes. In an ideal world he would also wean them of their reliance on Lampard's goals but this was not an afternoon to be picky.
It turned out to be Lampard's day, no doubt about that, and if it was the case that he was reluctant to celebrate with his manager at the end then so be it. Villas-Boas is trying to shake it up at Chelsea and even after that goal, Lampard knows there is no guarantee he will be in the team to play Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Substitutes: Wolverhampton Wanderers Jarvis 7 (Forde, h-t), Fletcher 6 (Frimpong, 61), Foley (Edwards, 76). Chelsea McEachran (Mata, 87).
Booked: Wolves Hammill, Henry, Doyle. Chelsea Lampard, Romeu.
Man of the match Ramires.
Match rating 6/10.
Possession: Wolves 39% Chelsea 61%.
Attempts on target: Wolves 5 Chelsea 10.
Referee P Walton (Northamptonshire). Att 27,289.

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

Guardian:

Vintage Frank Lampard saves the day for Chelsea against Wolves
Stuart James at Molineux

The pain was short-lived for André Villas-Boas. Moments after the Chelsea manager threatened to kick over the drink bottles in the technical area in a fit of pique, following Stephen Ward's late equaliser for Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Portuguese was celebrating a restorative victory courtesy of a vintage Frank Lampard goal in the 89th minute that should help to relieve some of the pressure.
Wolves supporters will have departed questioning whether Lampard should have been on the pitch at the time, after a reckless challenge on Adam Hammill in the 24th minute that drew a yellow card from Peter Walton, the referee, when it might easily have been red. Yet for Villas-Boas all what mattered was that Chelsea had secured a first win in five matches and taken a small step on the road to redemption after a miserable festive period.
The three points could still have been wrestled from their grasp in injury-time but Petr Cech produced an instinctive save to turn Kevin Doyle's close-range header over the bar in what proved to be the final action of an absorbing contest. Chelsea deserved to triumph on the basis of the number of chances that they created although Mick McCarthy's anger at the way his side allowed the visitors back into the game, after Wolves had worked so hard to haul themselves level, was understandable.
"I am livid we conceded the goal we did," said the Wolves manager, who claimed it was "irrelevant" whether Lampard should have been on the pitch to score it. "Defend the bleeding cross. I have had a proper snarl in [the dressing room] because that is not acceptable for me. It was professional suicide."
It was a trademark Lampard goal, although it was also notable that when Villas-Boas was asked about the midfielder's contribution afterwards he passed up the opportunity to offer any praise. Instead the Chelsea manager saluted a team performance that included a show of solidarity of sorts when half a dozen of the players ran towards the dug-out to celebrate the goal that Ramires scored to put the visitors in front shortly after the restart. Lampard stayed out of the picture and also made no attempt to head in that direction when he grabbed the winner.
For Villas-Boas, however, this was an afternoon that was all about the result. Chelsea had lost here last season, when their season was unravelling under Carlo Ancelotti, and another defeat would have been difficult to bear in the wake of Aston Villa's 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Without the injured Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea's resources were stretched – four academy graduates were on the bench – forcing Villas-Boas to reconfigure his side. Ramires adapted well to his unfamiliar attacking role on the right flank and Fernando Torres, although still desperately short of confidence in front of goal, was industrious outside the penalty area and played a number of incisive through balls that opened up the Wolves defence.
One of those passes led to Lampard's goal, with the Spaniard threading a neat ball into the path of the onrushing Cole, who somehow got through the match without picking up a yellow card, despite poor tackles on Hammill and Kevin Doyle in a first half in which five players were booked in an eight-minute period as Walton lost control of the game. Cole delivered the perfect centre, picking out the run of Lampard, who volleyed home from close range.
It was a bitter blow for a Wolves side that had brought parity five minutes earlier. Jarvis swung a cross towards the far post and Steven Fletcher, who started on the bench, ghosted in behind José Bosingwa to steer the ball back across goal, where Ward thumped home. Although Wolves started poorly, they troubled Chelsea a couple of times in the first half, in particular when Roger Johnson headed Hammill's free-kick against the upright and when Ward nodded a set-piece from the same player wide with the goal at his mercy.
That profligacy was punished when Ramires stabbed the ball high into the roof of the net in the 54th minute after Wolves had failed to deal with Juan Mata's corner. The celebrations that followed will have been a long way from Villas-Boas's mind when he struggled to contain his frustration on the touchline after Ward scored, but Lampard ultimately ensured that this was a satisfactory day for the Chelsea manager and one that added credence to the idea that playing away from home suits his players much better at the moment.
"Our results away from home have shown we are more tranquil and we have less anxiety; this a thing we also have to address at Stamford Bridge," Villas-Boas said. "We have discussed it between us and I think we can correct it. It's been a very informative period in terms of learning the mistakes we have been doing."

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

Telegraph:

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 2
By Jason Burt, at Molineux

As a study of body language this was a psychologist’s dream. There was the mass touchline man-hug of celebration at Chelsea’s first goal, interestingly mainly involving the Portuguese speakers including Andre Villas-Boas. Then, pointedly, there was Frank Lampard’s solitary communion with the away supporters after the final whistle as the manager sought out more contact with his players including a bare-chested John Terry.
Too much can be read into all that, although much of it appeared relevant given the machinations from some at the club right now including Lampard’s unease over his future and the limitations on his minutes on the pitch. However, there was no doubting the anger ofWolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy, who could well have argued that the midfielder’s goal, scored with just 90 seconds left on the clock, came 64 minutes after he should have been shown the red card for a reckless late tackle on Adam Hammill.
Instead McCarthy was simply “livid” at the appalling nature of his side’s defending and admitted he had had what he termed a “proper snarl” at his players for hauling themselves back into the contest only to toss it away as Lampard ran unchecked to volley home Ashley Cole’s low cross late on and deflate a gloating home contingent in front of him.
Wolves’s sense of injustice was compounded because they lost Nenad Milijas to a dismissal for a less-vicious looking challenge against Arsenal recently. In fairness to Lampard, his contrition was immediate and genuine after catching Hammill and that, and the fact it was a first offence, may have persuaded referee Peter Walton to spare him. But he probably should have gone. The official then embarked on a mad six-minute spell in which he booked four more players and with Ashley Cole on the verge of losing control.
It was an unedifying passage in a match that meant so much to Chelsea - they simply could not afford anything short of victory after three draws and a defeat - but which they almost threw away by giving up a goal, once more, late on. They have conceded 10 times in the final 10 minutes of matches this season and, even then, there was almost an 11th with the very last piece of action only for Petr Cech to superbly tip over a Kevin Doyle header from close range.
When Wolves had scored, Villas-Boas’s frustration was obvious but he pulled back from kicking a row of water bottles. Another equalising goal and he would have attempted to launch those bottles over the stand instead of saying, “it was good to see the team react to a negative” following the “incompetent” defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday and, before that, the draws that had hit belief and rekindled stories of player unrest.
Villas-Boas, as is his wont, hit those stories head on - “what is written is false” - and said the celebrations were “part of the unity of the team and what the team have been doing”. But it was interesting to observe what happened when Ramires turned, after Juan Mata’s corner ran to him, to lash the ball high into the Wolves net and open the scoring.
The Brazilian reeled away, only for Raul Meireles to gently steer him towards the away dugout, then David Luiz to join in with Jose Bosingwa to make a full-house of Chelsea’s Portuguese speakers. Cole joined in as, to an extent, did Terry with Luiz beckoning the substitutes and coaching staff to come forward also which they did.
Such gatherings can be signs of weakness as well as strength, looking overly dramatic, but Villas-Boas added to the sense of occasion by suggesting that, after all, Chelsea might just be back in the title race if the others continue to slip and they can take advantage with a string of wins. Certainly he feels that the 90-point winning post target set by Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini needs to be revised down.
Interestingly Villas-Boas did not accept invitations to praise Lampard but that is par for the course for the manager who does not like praising individuals. Given, however, that he did offer a nod of approval to Fernando Torres’s performance - once more an improvement - then it did add to the feeling that all does not remain well between the 33-year-old England international and his 34-year-old boss.
Only a fine tackle by Richard Stearman prevented Lampard from opening the scoring early on, as he shaped to shoot from Torres’s pass while the striker had already, by then, set up Mata whose effort slid across goal.
Chelsea’s set-piece vulnerability was also again obvious as Roger Johnson’s header came back off the post from one free-kick and then the unmarked Stephen Ward steering his header wide when he should have scored.
Just before Chelsea went ahead, there was a clear opportunity for Wolves as substitute Matt Jarvis crossed superbly and the ball fell to Hammill, only for his goal-bound shot to cannon off Terry. Once in front, Chelsea were dominant with Wayne Hennessey beating out Ramires’s shot after another powerful run by the midfielder and then Torres stumbling as he threatened to wriggle through.
Wolves appeared bereft of ideas but McCarthy’s substitutions rekindled them and when Jarvis sent in an angled cross, Steven Fletcher beat Jose Bosingwa to it and turned the ball to Ward who slammed it past Cech. It seemed then that Wolves had staged another rousing come-back but Chelsea re-grouped for the resilient Lampard to take the honours - although he didn’t seek out his manager for celebration.

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

Mail:

Wolves 1 Chelsea 2: Lampard to the rescue as Blues bounce back at Molineux
By NEIL MOXLEY

He might not have been at the centre of the celebrations which marked Chelsea’s first goal on Monday, but Frank Lampard supplied Andre Villas-Boas with something far more tangible when it mattered.
As the clock ticked down towards another frustrating afternoon for the young Portuguese, up stepped the club’s faithful on-field lieutenant to provide late relief.
Lampard has scored more spectacular goals with greater aplomb than Monday’s 89th-minute winner. But a close-range volley enabled his under-fire boss to speak with greater freedom about club unity, the need for improved consistency and neatly sidestep any suggestion of player unrest.
Indeed, there was a show of togetherness which accompanied the visitors’ opening strike, nine minutes after the interval. Goalscorer Ramires, joined by a clutch of his team-mates, made tracks to the Blues bench for what appeared to be an impromptu celebration.
Lampard and skipper John Terry were late arrivals to the pitchside throng. But they were at the heart of a resolute display against determined hosts.
Villas-Boas, amid rumours that his senior players are in revolt at his management style, refused to acknowledge the get-together after the opening strike was in any way a public show of confidence in him.
‘I didn’t know it was coming,’ he said, dismissing its relevance. ‘It was just them (the players) showing the unity of the team. We have had our first bad period, so it’s good to see. We were incompetent against Aston Villa and we didn’t do our jobs properly, but we recovered within 48 hours.’
It might help any negativity swirling around the west London club if credit was given where due by the club’s boss.
When asked about the veteran midfielder’s late contribution, Villas-Boas said: ‘I think the whole team did well. No matter who scores. Romeu, Mata - the most important thing is to find consistency.
‘Away from home we have less anxiety. We need to correct it at Stamford Bridge. We have discussed it between ourselves and I think we can correct it. It doesn’t matter who does the scoring, the most important thing is the victory.’
Lampard was fortunate to be on the pitch for his winner. His 25th-minute lunge at Adam Hammill was out of character and horribly late and could have easily ended in a dismissal.
As Lampard rose from the turf, acknowledging his error, howls of protest rained down from the stands. The man in the middle, Peter Walton, endured a dreadful first half and opted to caution the midfielder.
For some reason, he also refused to caution Ashley Cole, despite having at least two opportunities to do so, and produced a flurry of five yellow cards in eight minutes.
The official’s display overshadowed a first half in which Wolves could have taken the lead. Chelsea enjoyed a number of opportunities but the hosts came closest when Roger Johnson’s header from Hammill’s free-kick thumped into an upright and Stephen Ward glanced wide from the same source.
Shortly after the interval, the visitors found the net from Juan Mata’s right-wing corner. Terry provided the faintest of flicks and Ramires dug the ball out from under his feet before lashing into the top corner. There then came the unusual sight of the goalscorer being joined by Raul Meireles, Jose Bosingwa, Cole, Oriol Romeu and David Luiz running over to the dug-out. Villas-Boas’s assistants jumped into the melee. It was a very public demonstration.
The emphasis of the afternoon changed in an instant. The onus was then on the hosts. For all their efforts, Wolves find it difficult to retain possession and thus find it equally difficult to exert pressure.
The equaliser came when keeper Wayne Hennessey’s long free-kick was only partially cleared to substitute Matt Jarvis on the right. The winger centred and Steven Fletcher’s miscued centre arrived at Stephen Ward’s feet. The left back connected sweetly and the ball flashed past Petr Cech.
Wolves were now within sight of an unlikely point. But Lampard fed Fernando Torres, who spotted Cole racing up the left flank. His low cross was stabbed home by Lampard for his eighth goal of a disjointed campaign. There was no rush to the manager this time.
McCarthy was furious about the late goal. ‘They should have defended the cross,’ he said. ‘Chelsea shouldn’t have scored. I should be sat here talking about a 1-1 draw. I’ve had a proper snarl in there because it’s not acceptable for me.’
He left the press room paying tribute to Lampard. It didn’t go unnoticed that it was more than the winning manager managed to do.

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

Sun:

Wolves 1 Chelsea 2

IF 2011 was an annus horribilis for Chelsea, 2012 is already shaping up to be a whole lot better.Whatever could go wrong for the Blues last year, did.
Carlo Ancelotti was sacked after failing to win a trophy, Fernando Torres proved a £50million flop and the team ended the year outside the Premier League's top four.
Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa prompted the bookies to slash their odds on new boss Andre Villas-Boas getting the sack.
No wonder the mood in the camp was far from positive as the team bus chugged its way into Molineux yesterday.
And it was not exactly lifted by the news that Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou had all joined Branislav Ivanovic, John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien on the Stamford Bridge injured list.
Yet if Villas-Boas' starting line-up almost picked itself, the manager was rewarded with as spirited a performance as his team has managed for a long time.
Frank Lampard's dramatic late strike finally stopped the rot after a run of four games without a win and gave Villas-Boas some much-needed breathing space.
Now AVB is even mumbling about Chelsea being back in with a shout of challenging for the title. Make up your mind, pal.
At least he was smart enough to acknowledge that it will take plenty more results like this on a consistent basis before anyone at Chelsea can honestly claim they have turned the corner.
But at least Villas-Boas can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel after getting the backing of at least some of his stars yesterday.
For the first 20 minutes, Chelsea stroked the ball around as though they didn't have a care in the world while Wolves could hardly get out of their own half.
Juan Mata should have fired the visitors into an early lead when Torres took advantage of a defensive mix-up between Roger Johnson and Christophe Berra to play in his fellow Spaniard.
But Mata's attempt to lift the ball over the advancing Wayne Hennessey lacked both power and conviction and was easily cleared by the covering Stephen Ward.
Lampard was then denied by a last-ditch tackle from Richard Stearman before Mata teed up Ramires for an angled shot which flew the wrong side of the post.
Yet, just when it was looking as though Chelsea were heading for a rare trouble-free afternoon, they were dragged into a scrap by Lampard's 24th-minute foul on Adam Hammill.
There was no doubt that the challenge was late nor that Lampard caught Hammill with his studs as he threw himself at the ball from distance.
Yet the yellow card from referee Peter Walton was probably the correct decision despite calls from the Molineux crowd for a straight red.
But with Nenad Milijas currently serving a three-match ban for a far less fearsome challenge at Arsenal last week, it was hardly surprising that Wolves felt so aggrieved by Walton's decision.
What followed in the next 10 minutes was little short of anarchy as tackles flew in from both teams and the fans massed in the Jack Harris Stand bayed for blood. Hammill, Roger Johnson, Kevin Doyle and Oriol Romeu all followed Lampard into Walton's notebook and they should have been joined by Ashley Cole for a wild kick from behind at Doyle.
With the flow of the game constantly disrupted by Walton's whistle, Wolves took full advantage to test Chelsea's dodgy defence with a series of high free-kicks into the danger zone.
Johnson headed against a post and Ward missed the target with another unchallenged header as Chelsea suddenly looked vulnerable.
Yet Mick McCarthy's strugglers could not capitalise on Chelsea's uncertainty and they paid the price when Ramires lashed the visitors into a 54th-minute lead. John Terry's faint flick on Mata's corner dropped invitingly in the six yard-box for Ramires to turn Ward and thrash a rising shot high into Hennessey's net.
The Brazilian wideman turned on his heels and led the charge to the manager's technical area, where a slightly sheepish Villas-Boas was swamped by seven members of his celebrating team.
It might have been a choreographed display of unity but there was no doubting the sincerity of the show of gratitude from Ramires, Raul Meireles, David Luiz, Jose Bosingwa, Oriol Romeu, Cole and Terry.
But nothing is ever straight- forward at Chelsea these days and just when they looked set for a rare clean sheet, they were undone at the back once again.
Steven Fletcher showed greater desire than Bosingwa to reach Kevin Jarvis' 84th-minute chip and when the ball broke across Chelsea's six-yard box, Ward was the first to react with an unstoppable left-footer.
Villas-Boas looked ready to explode as he sensed another squandered opportunity.
Yet Chelsea's response was as swift as it was unexpected.
And with just one minute of normal time remaining, they seized the victory they desperately needed.
Torres worked the ball out wide to Cole and the full-back's cross was met by a surging run from Lampard, who volleyed emphatically into the net from close range.

DREAM TEAM
STAR MAN — RAMIRES (Chelsea)

WOLVES: Hennessey 6, Stearman 6, Johnson 6, Berra 6, Ward 6, Forde 5 (Jarvis 6), Frimpong 6 (Fletcher 5), Henry 6, Hammill 7, Edwards 5 (Foley 5), Doyle 6. Subs not used: De Vries, Elokobi, Ebanks-Blake, Hunt. Booked: Hammill, Henry, Doyle.

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Bosingwa 6, Luiz 7, Terry 7, Cole 7, Ramires 8, Romeu 7, Meireles 7, Lampard 7, Mata 8 (McEachran 5), Torres 7. Subs not used: Turnbull, Lukaku, Ferreira, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Chalobah. Booked: Lampard, Romeu.
REF: P Walton 5

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

Star:

WOLVES 1 CHELSEA 2: FRANK LAMPARD CUTS UP ROUGH TO SINK WOLVESABOVE:
By Dave Armitage

FRANK LAMPARD took on the role of panto villain and showed he’s still the man Chelsea can rely on.
Nice guy Frank Lampard showed his mean streak with an 89th-minute winner which had Wolves boss Mick McCarthy gnashing his teeth.
Because the burning question for Wolves fans was: should the England midfielder still have been on the pitch?
Lampard was celebrating his return to the team but he could easily have been sent off for a late tackle on Adam Hammill in the 25th minute.
It was so late that the Blues star had a split second to try to pull out of it – and that might just have saved him.
Referee Peter Walton reached for the yellow and the significance of that decision wasn’t to be fully realised until Lampard stole into the box with just over a minute left and snatched the winner.
It certainly eases the pressure on Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, who had seen his side go four games without a win.
He even got the touchline celebration with his players he had asked for when Ramires had fired them into the lead shortly after half-time.
AVB didn’t get such luxury when Lampard pinched it at the death, but no doubt he was too relieved to worry about that.
In between, Stephen Ward looked like he had grabbed Wolves a share of the spoils when he shot home from 12 yards in the 85th minute.
But Lampard seemed determined the have the final say and he answered those doubting him with one of his trademark goals from just inside the six-yard box.
He tucked it home after John Terry had flicked on an Ashley Cole cross when the full-back was sent clear by the impressive Fernando Torres.
The Spaniard might have gone another 90 minutes without getting on the scoresheet, but he turned in an impressive all-round display.
He seems certain to get a bit of a run now as Didier Drogba reports for African Nations Cup duties with the Ivory Coast later this week.
They still had to rely on Petr Cech producing a stunning save in the last second to keep out a Kevin Doyle header, but Villa-Boas’ delight was there for all to see.
Until Ramires put a different slant on the game with his 54th-minute goal, all the talk had been about whether Lampard should have been sent off for scything down ex-Barnsley winger Hammill.
The home crowd were furious that Lampard was only booked and let Mr Walton know how they felt.
Unfortunately, the referee let all the fuss get to him and he seemed to lose control for the rest of the first half. It was all too much for Wolves boss McCarthy, who seemed to spend an awful lot of time chatting with fourth official Howard Webb.
Lampard’s challenge was the catalyst to the five first-half yellow cards shown by the Northants official.
The Chelsea man could have had few complaints if he’d been sent packing, but the referee presumably accepted that he had tried to pull out of the tackle.
Chaos ensued and within a minute Hammill joined him in the book for a clumsy challenge on Cole.
Then it was Karl Henry’s turn when he clipped Torres’ heels as the striker went past him.
Doyle was next after he stupidly tossed the ball at Cole in frustration after the England defender had clattered into
him.
The Wolves crowd were incensed at the referee’s interpretation of things and when Oriol Romeu sent Hammill tumbling, it was inevitable he would join the other four into the book. It was a good job half-time came to take the sting out of things.
And it wasn’t long before Ramires gave the home side more important things to think about.
The Brazilian ripped a shot into the roof of the net nine minutes after the break.
The Londoners had forced a corner down the left which the industrious Juan Mata stepped across to take.
Mata swung it over in the direction of Terry and the England skipper managed to flick it into the mixer with a great glancing header.
Ward got the ball tangled up in his legs as he tried to clear and Ramires pounced to fire home his shot from eight yards.
It was Ward who levelled things up before Lampard ghosted in to show his boss there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet.

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

Express:

WOLVES 1 - CHELSEA 2: OLD SOLDIER LAMPARD RESCUES AVB

Frank Lampard’s 88th-minute goal secured a win for Chelsea
By John Wragg

IT’S the time of year for awards and the OBE, Out Before Easter, was waiting for Andre Villas-Boas before Chelsea got themselves out of their crisis with this win.
The OBE for AVB was on the cards, but the way Chelsea reacted to their problems should cause owner Roman Abramovich to give his young manager more time.
Frank Lampard’s 88th-minute winner does not alter the overall situation. Chelsea will not win the Premier League this season and an ageing team needs surgery, but there is fight in the patient.
When Carlo Ancelotti came to Molineux on January 5 last year and lost 1-0, Chelsea were in a similarly worrying state with only five points from four games and Ancelotti did not survive.
Villas-Boas was on a damaging run of three points from four games before this critical afternoon in Wolverhampton, but his team fought for him and Lampard, one of those earmarked to be part of the radical changes, won it.
The irony of that will be lost on no one. Villas-Boas is 34 and rated as a future superstar of management – Abramovich has his fingers crossed for that anyway – but he needs the old soldiers with experience around him at the moment.
Chelsea, who had not won since beating Manchester City in the first weeks of December, when optimism was high, benefited from the fact that Wolves were so negative for so long against them.
Steven Fletcher, who is so full of goals, did not come off the substitutes’ bench until an hour had gone by, and creative winger Matt Jarvis was not used until the second half.
When Wolves should have been baring their teeth and going for Chelsea they backed off and looked for the visitors to try to beat them. It was a tactic that did not work, Chelsea dominating the majority of the game and regaining confidence with every moment, despite the questionable refereeing of Peter Walton, who took five names in an eight-minute blitz.
What Walton failed to do, though, was send off Lampard for a lunging tackle on Adam Hammill – a decision which, if taken, would have changed the fate of the game.
Given that Nenad Milijas’s red card for a similar tackle on Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta is still annoyingly fresh in Wolves manager Mick McCarthy’s mind, you could understand if he was angry at Walton’s failure to follow FIFA’s directive on the sliding tackle.
If there was red mist, McCarthy kept it under control. “I’m not interested in whether Frank Lampard should have been on the pitch or not. It’s irrelevant,” said McCarthy.
“We should have defended the cross, he shouldn’t have scored. I should have been talking about a one-all. I’m livid with my team over that. I’ve had a right snarl at them.”
Chelsea generally controlled things with Juan Mata, who was to go on to be man of the match, forcing goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey into an early save and looking for holes in Wolves’ defensive cover.
By the 54th minute, Mata had found it. Chelsea were put on the attack by a sloppy Richard Stearman pass and, although Wolves recovered to concede a corner, Mata took it, John Terry attacked it, and whether he managed a slight glancing header or not, the ball fell for Ramires to out-fight Stephen Ward and smash the ball in.
The players’ mad rush to the touchline for a group hug with Villas-Boas and some sheepish- looking backroom staff signified loyalty and concern, and by the 84th minute Chelsea needed those qualities.
Wolves finally managed to do them some damage when Jarvis’s cross was played by Fletcher for Ward to equalise. With Jarvis and Fletcher both involved, who is to say what they might have additionally done to Chelsea if they had been given longer on the pitch? McCarthy said his star men were tired after a busy run of games and focused instead on Lampard’s winner that leaves Wolves without a win for six games. Ashley Cole was allowed to run down the left and get in the cross for Lampard to hit his shot from 12 yards.
There was no AVB group hug this time. But there was a smile.

Wolves (4-4-2): Hennessey; Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward; Forde (Jarvis 46), Frimpong (Fletcher 60), Edwards (Foley 75), Henry; Hammill, Doyle. Booked: Hammill, Henry, Doyle. Goal: Ward 84.

Chelsea (4-5-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Meireles, Romeu, Lampard, Mata (McEachran 70); Torres. Booked: Lampard, Romeu. Goals: Ramires 54, Lampard 88.
Referee: P Walton (Northants).

villa 1-3

2012-01-01T08:17:00.003Z

Independent:

Ireland pulls strings as Chelsea flounder againChelsea 1 Aston Villa 3:

Villas-Boas left with nothing but excuses as Villa's pace quickens decline

STEVE TONGUE STAMFORD BRIDGE

Yet another transitional year in Chelsea's modern history ended in the sort of turmoil hardly unfamiliar to this most dysfunctional of clubs. The early promise of Andre Villas-Boas's tenure having faded some time ago, a recent run of 1-1 draws had provided consistency of only the soggy sort and ended any hope of a serious challenge to regain the Premier League title; and yesterday even a fourth successive stalemate proved beyond them.
The lead provided by Didier Drogba's penalty midway through the first half lasted no more than six minutes and Aston Villa broke out to score twice more and collect their first victory in this ground since Claudio Ranieri's day. Much water and several managers have flown under the Bridge since 2002, yet Chelsea are currently swimming against the tide. An afternoon that began with jeering celebrations at news of Manchester United's defeat ended with one of their own and ejection from the top four places by Arsenal. However much patience may or may not be extended towards the latest manager, a failure to qualify for the Champions' League will hardly be tolerated.
Yesterday the defence again looked horribly vulnerable to the pace that Gabriel Agbonlahor provides, making an agreement on wages with Bolton's Gary Cahill all the more urgent. One of the year's successes, Daniel Sturridge, had possibly his worst game since establishing himself in the side and in consequence Villas-Boas was in the unhappy position of having to look to Fernando Torres for redemption. With Sturridge hauled off, Torres and Drogba spent the last half-hour in their usual uncomfortable tandem, the £50m man hitting the bar with his first touch but unable to improve on a record that reads three League goals in 11 months for Chelsea after scoring four last January before his move from Liverpool.
Meanwhile Villa, with a manager in Alex McLeish whose popularity rating has been well below that of Villas-Boas, is slowly winning friends. It was, he said, his most satisfying game since joining from Birmingham, and with good reason: "A fantastic result going into the new year." His tactics were spot on in sitting back and counter-attacking with the speed of Agbonlahor, who more than compensated for the initial absence of Darren Bent.
James Collins and Richard Dunne headed most things away and Stephen Ireland, such a disappointment since joining the club, was a revelation in between the midfield and Agbonlahor.
Once more, Villas-Boas dwelt on chances missed, although yesterday there were fewer of them than usual. Chelsea had barely created a single one before, to their good fortune, the referee Mark Halsey allowed play to continue as Collins fouled Ramires. The ball ran kindly for Drogba, who was clearly tripped by Dunne.
Drogba was a little lucky with the penalty that brought his 150th Chelsea goal, Brad Guzan almost reaching it before the Ivorian performed the sort of celebration in front of the Shed end that some might have been considered valedictory. But Villas-Boas insists he will not be sold and nor will Salomon Kalou or Florent Malouda.
The home crowd had little time to enjoy the lead. Villa broke out of their shell with a smart move down the left that ended in Charles N'Zogbia cutting a pass back for Ireland. John Terry blocked his first shot, probably with his hand, and could therefore have been sent off had Ireland not knocked the rebound into the net.
The visitors should have gone ahead early in the second half, when N'Zogbia and Marc Albrighton broke with a man spare to send Agbonlahor clear of the defence, only for Petr Cech to save. For 20 minutes as a clutch of substitutes arrived, Chelsea threatened again, with Torres striking the bar and Jose Bosingwa forcing Guzan to turn his drive for a corner. But in the last 10 minutes Ciaran Clark put Stiliyan Petrov through to beat Cech and as the crowd began to stream away, Frank Lampard, initially welcomed as a substitute, lost possession with a careless square pass allowing Ireland to play Bent in for a third goal.
Villas-Boas, who takes his squad to Wolves tomorrow, was left to bemoan having to play two games in 48 hours when others did not. He warned of "career-threatening injuries" that could result, but as Wolves played yesterday as well, it all smacked a little of getting excuses in early. He may need more of them before the season is over.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ferreira (Bosingwa, 75), Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Romeu (Lampard, 57), Meireles; Sturridge (Torres, 62) , Drogba, Mata.

Aston Villa (4-4-1-1): Guzan; Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock; Albrighton (Gardner, 78), Clark, Petrov (Bannan, 84), N'Zogbia (Bent, 78); Ireland; Agbonlahor.

Referee Mark Halsey.
Man of the match Ireland (Aston Villa).
Match rating 6/10.

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

Observer:

Stephen Ireland goal sets up Aston Villa for comeback win at Chelsea
Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea's season continues to unravel around them. André Villas-Boas and his players limp into the new year with the scrutiny intensifying on a young manager and an imbalanced squad with every stumble.
The boos that greeted the final whistle here were an indication the locals have yet to spy much evidence of progress under the new regime. Chelsea already loitered on the fringes of the title race, but now they have even been cast from the top four.
That was not how Villas-Boas was supposed to break new ground. The manager has consistently reminded all-comers that his primary task is to wintrophies for this club.
The minimum requirement, he reiterated last night, remains "first place". Yet, from fifth, such objectives are dots on the horizon. This has become a transitional season while the manager attempts to make this team his own, and with that adjustment will inevitably come performances as painfully slack as this.
There was too much vulnerability at the back, and too much stodginess clogging up their attacking intent, with a desperation to haul themselves back into the contest provoking the same failings that had wrecked their challenges against Arsenal and Liverpool this term. A third home league defeat of the season was played out with panic gripping the home ranks. Aston Villa, who had not won in this arena since 2002, dazzled on the break in comparison. Their victory may have been secured late, but it felt as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
There was an effervescence to the visitors' play on the counterattack that Chelsea could not match, the hosts' desire to heave themselves ahead as the contest lurched into its latter stages leaving them prone. Distance gaped between David Luiz and John Terry, through which Ciaran Clark slid Stilian Petrov to thrust the visitors ahead seven minutes from time. There was more sloppiness to come when Frank Lampard's cross-field pass was intercepted by Stephen Ireland, with Darren Bent eventually converting Villa's third.
Chelsea had been sliced open, the visitors' eager and fleet-footed attackers pouring into the void, but it is damning that the complete lack of defensive surety no longer felt uncharacteristic. They have been undermined too often this season by such failings. This was a fourth game in succession without a win since Manchester City were beaten. December was supposed to be an opportunity, a chance to claw back into the title race. It has proved decisive, though not in the way Villas-Boas had hoped it might.
Villa feel more upwardly mobile. This was an eye-catching success inspired by a player who had been plastered across Twitter earlier in the week smoking a Shisha pipe. Ireland had been rebuked by his manager, Alex McLeish, once the haze had cleared for such ill-judgment. Villa had been waiting for a performance to justify any celebratory behaviour at all since the Irishman's £8m transfer from Manchester City, but this was finally a display to cherish. He had already illuminated the contest by the time Chelsea plucked the lead against the run of play, albeit courtesy of Villa's generosity. Richard Dunne's lunge on Didier Drogba was unnecessary, the Ivorian squeezing the resultant penalty under the diving Bradley Guzan to register his 150th goal for the club. The bow mustered for the Shed in celebration was not, apparently, a farewell with contract negotiations still at an impasse, though this could yet prove to have been a last home appearance until after the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ireland, though, was not to be denied. When the visitors might have been expected to wilt, the midfielder promptly linked up with Charles N'Zogbia, with the Frenchman darting to the byline and cutting back. Ireland's first attempt was blocked by Terry on the goalline, perhaps with an arm, but he kept his composure to slide the rebound through the defender's legs.
Gabriel Agbonlahor might have added a second before Chelsea found some belated urgency – Fernando Torres belting against the bar from distance in his first involvement – only for the hosts to be undone on the break at the death. "This is my most satisfying day at the club so far," McLeish said. For Villas-Boas, the frustration merely intensifies.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Aston Villa 3: match report
By Jonathan Liew, Stamford Bridge

This time last year, Andre Villas-Boas could do no wrong. His Porto side were cruising to the Portuguese title and he was being feted as the finest young manager in Europe.
Now he stands on the verge of ridicule. His Premier League title ambitions are gone, his team are the third best in London and were booed off the pitch by their own supporters. For the first time in his short career, this prodigious talent is meeting with the prospect of disaster.
Stamford Bridge used to be a fortress. Now it lays out the welcome mat. It was Chelsea’s fifth league defeat of the season, but their most humiliating by far. They had their moments going forward, but the ease with which struggling, limited, Aston Villa picked them apart and claimed their first win at this ground since 2002 was truly breathtaking.
The players upon which Villas-Boas has staked both his future and Chelsea’s were nowhere to be seen. Where was Daniel Sturridge? Where was Oriel Romeu?
Where were Ramires and David Luiz? Only Juan Mata and Ashley Cole could be said to have justified their blue shirts on Saturday afternoon. The rest deserved nothing but red faces.
Still Villas-Boas clung steadfastly to his dogma. “I don’t see that performance being only related to defensive problems,” he said. “The opponents were extremely brave in the way they created problems in counter attacks. Their tactics were fantastic.”
Until Chelsea relearn the art of mastering an opposition, they will remain a top-four side on reputation alone. Until their defensive issues are addressed — and the imminent signing of Gary Cahill will not address the team’s structural flaws — the game’s big prizes will continue to elude them.
After this, their fourth straight game without a win, they have slipped to fifth in the Premier League. The club’s objectives this season have been irrevocably realigned. “I think the minimum for a club like this is first place,” Villas-Boas said. “But that is fantasy. Our reality at the moment is a fourth-place finish. We have to pursue a more humble finish for the dimensions of this club. There is no running away or excuses. We have lost massive opportunities. We will have to face our challenges in 2012 in a different way.” Villa taught Chelsea a harsh lesson in how to adapt to the situation of a game.
Their strategy at the outset — organising themselves into tight, disciplined lines behind the ball, lasted just 22 minutes, as first the deft feet and then the stout boot of Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead.
In probably his last home game before leaving for the African Cup of Nations, Drogba jogged the ball into the penalty area, showed just enough of it to Richard Dunne to commit the defender to the challenge and then nudged it delicately beyond him. Dunne’s challenge was grotesquely mistimed, an obvious penalty. Drogba grabbed the ball and found the net with a low finish to Brad Guzan’s left.
Villa ventured forward, getting the ball with more regularity to their forward trio of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland.
They were behind for just five minutes. N’Zogbia produced a sharp burst of pace on the left, sashaying past Paulo Ferreira on the left and cutting the ball back for Ireland. Ireland’s goal-bound shot was blocked by the hand of John Terry on the line, but the rebound was safely converted from close range.
Having left Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard on the bench, Villas-Boas now swallowed his pride in the second half and introduced both. Torres’s first shot, a speculative effort from 20 yards, crashed against the crossbar. For the next few minutes, Chelsea laid siege. Drogba dragged a shot wide. Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea’s final substitute, forced a fingertip save from Guzan.
The force was with the home side. So how did it all go so wrong? It was inattentiveness at the back, that familiar Chelsea failing, that cost them.
A lack of concentration and resolve allowed substitute Darren Bent to hold up a long ball in the area and turn with ease.
Bent was brought down in the area, but as Mark Halsey waved away the penalty appeal, Ciaran Clark slipped the ball to Stiliyan Petrov, who slotted calmly past Cech.
A shocking error from Lampard — reminiscent of Terry’s slip against Arsenal earlier in the season — put the game beyond any doubt. A sideways pass in his own half was intercepted by Ireland, who put Bent in for 3-1.
Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish even claimed that his side had not been at their best. “I think we can play even better than that,” he said. “I did feel that if Chelsea were a couple of per cent off, perhaps there was an opportunity for us. Sometimes you need to get the elite teams slightly off the boil.”
Chastened, abashed, and booed at the final whistle: how swiftly Chelsea’s golden calf is moving towards the abattoir. Villas-Boas brushed off the boos as nonchalantly as he dismissed the speculation over his position.
“This is the most valuable criticism we get,” he said. “Booing is acceptable and we take it on board. The fans have a right to show their disappointment. In Porto it was the same.”
Perhaps, but on this evidence, the similarities between his tenures at Porto and Chelsea end there.

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Mail:

Chelsea 1 Aston Villa 3: Night on the boos gives Villas-Boas a headache

By MALCOLM FOLLEY

Andre Villas-Boas is running out of support — and perhaps time — after his Chelsea team were booed off at Stamford Bridge following their fourth successive Premier League game without a win.
For the first time in a decade, Chelsea enter the New Year outside the League’s top four following an unlikely home defeat by Aston Villa, and Villas-Boas accepted the paying customers were perfectly entitled to express their frustration as a season rich in promise disintegrates in front of his eyes.
‘Booing is the most valuable criticism we get,’ he said. ‘The minimum requirement for this club is to finish in first place but we also have to understand that winning the title for us is now a fantasy.’
For Chelsea, Monday’s match at Wolves has acquire an unnerving importance. Once Stamford Bridge was a fortress, now it resembles a castle on shifting sands after Chelsea’s third home defeat of the season.
Villa outwitted them by playing intelligently on the counter attack, causing disruption tooeasily in Chelsea’s defence.
From four matches in 14 days, Chelsea have taken a paltry three points. Villas-Boas has to hope Abramovich’s closest advisers identify someone has to deal with dismantling a team who have grown old.
Yet Villas-Boas is a man whose confidence borders on arrogance. Before Christmas he had former striker Tommy Langley fired from his role as a pundit on Chelsea TV for making the mildest criticism.
Langley’s loyalty to Chelsea is easily identified as he has four season tickets at the club. A friend of his said last night: ‘Villas-Boas appears to be a paranoid man
Changes are inevitable. Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Paulo Ferreira, Salomon Kalou and captain John Terry are all vulnerable.
Drogba gave a good impression of a man bidding farewell to the club. His 150th goal for Chelsea, placing him in the same exalted company as Roy Bentley and the late Peter Osgood, was struck from the penalty spot after he had been scythed down in the 23rd minute by Richard Dunne.
He was mobbed by his team-mates, but when they ran clear, the big man stood with his arms aloft in front of the crowd behind the Shed End goal.
Drogba has earned the fans’ adulation through his goals that decorated the good years but he will soon be summoned to join the Ivory Coast team at the Africa Cup of Nations, and the odds on him staying at Chelsea appear to have lengthened.
Was that Drogba’s last game, the manager was asked? Unconvincingly, he replied: ‘I don’t think so.’
Lampard’s reduction to giving another cameo performance as a substitute was notable only for the way he gave the ball away for Villa’s third goal four minutes from the end.
In spite of Lampard’s claim he wants to stay at Chelsea, the decision is more likely to be taken from him in the summer.
Terry’s position is no longer assured either, surely. Villas-Boas is still hopeful Chelsea can sign Gary Cahill, even though the Bolton defender is holding out for a bigger salary than the £70,000 a week Chelsea are thought to have offered him. Cahill’s agents obviously know a central defender is imperative for Chelsea.
Then there is the Fernando Torres conundrum. Eleven months after he was signed for £50m from Liverpool, he has scored five goals for the club.
On Saturday, he hit the bar shortly after arriving as a 62nd-minute substitute; but compassion for him is in scant supply around the Bridge.
Torres traipsed from the pitch, alone, wondering when his penury might end. His wealth, estimated at£14million and rising, cannot shelter him from the weekly ridicule.
He was bought on an Abramovich whim, but a goal-shy centre-forward is a luxury that will becomeunaffordable even for a Russian oligarch.
The game slid away from Chelsea shortly after Drogba had given them the lead. Within six minutes,Villa were level through Stephen Ireland’s first goal for the club to crown an outstanding performance.
Villa claimed victory with goals from Stiliyan Petrov in the 83rd minute and substitute Darren Bentin the 86th minute.
‘No doubt this is my most satisfying day as Villa manager,’ said Alex McLeish, who enjoyed a modestHogmanay with his wife as Villas-Boas dealt with an epic hangover.
Latest on AVB revolution: Worst Chelsea in 10 years!
Chelsea’s home defeat by Aston Villa saw them slip to fifth — the first time they have been so lowon New Year’s Eve for 10 years (they were in sixth in 2001).
Chelsea had only lost a combined total of five games at home in seven seasons before Villas-Boastook charge and their defence at home looks weaker than it has ever been in the Premier League years.
Villas-Boas’s side have suffered three home losses already. Chelsea have not fared so badly at Stamford Bridge in an entire campaign since the first season of the Abramovich era, in2003-04.
Chelsea have already conceded 16 goals at Stamford Bridge in the league this term and it is a decade since they let in that many in a full season. They have only kept one clean sheet so far — the fewest they have had in any season since 1992-93 is five.

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fulham 1-1

2011-12-27T06:37:00.003Z

Independent:

Villas-Boas admits title dream over for Chelsea

Chelsea 1 Fulham 1
SAM WALLACE STAMFORD BRIDGE

Given Roman Abramovich's track record of hiring and firing, it is a brave Chelsea manager who concedes the Premier League title in December, but that was exactly what Andre Villas-Boas did yesterday.
Later on in the day, Manchester City's draw at West Bromwich Albion put a different complexion on the top of the table, where Chelsea trail the leaders by 11 points, but the wider point made by the Chelsea manager stands. He said that his team needed six points from this home game and next Saturday's against Aston Villa if they were to stay in contention. It is not what Abramovich will want to hear but full marks for honesty.
This was not the kind of performance of a side capable of winning the title, and when you consider that Manchester United put five goals past Fulham without reply at Craven Cottage six days ago, the problem comes into sharper focus. If Arsenal beat Wolves at home today, they will go above Chelsea into fourth place.
Villas-Boas said there was "no big drama" about his admission and certainly he appears to be a man who has Abramovich's full backing to take his time over remoulding this Chelsea team into something more resembling a Premier League title challenger. "I think it's pretty difficult [to win the title], to be fair," Villas-Boas said. "The distance, by the end of today, will be far to the Manchester clubs for us to challenge for this Premiership.
"A good December for us would have been six points from these two home games, but bearing in mind this draw – if the leading teams do their jobs – it'll be very difficult for us to win it."
Later on in his press conference, when he returned to the subject again, he did not attempt to backtrack. "You assess things as they are. There's no big drama in terms of how we look at things. But you have to be sufficiently real. The difference between us and the top will be big. We had reduced it to seven points recently, but 13 points [it is only 11] would be new for us.
"That is the perspective we have to take at the moment: it's difficult. It's not impossible. You cannot say that. But we have to focus on our position at the moment and make a real assessment. Maybe the Premiership is over for us at the moment.
"We had targeted the December fixtures as an ideal situation to find out what would happen. We continue to do that. There is always tension for you to get results in a massive club like this one. You have to be real. You cannot live under false expectations when the gap is this big."
False expectations? If ever they were evident at Chelsea then it is in Fernando Torres, the £50m man who was given his first start in eight league games yesterday and did not get the goal that his season so desperately requires. He had a good chance saved by Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale in the first half and created Juan Mata's goal, but it was still not enough.
Villas-Boas persisted with Torres for 90 minutes, moving him out to the wing in the end to operate with a "false No 9" in Mata, and the striker faded further. When Didier Drogba came on with 20 minutes left, Torres looked like the natural candidate to come off but instead it was Daniel Sturridge who was summoned and reacted angrily, barging past assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo.
If another game without a goal was not bad enough for Torres, the club only went and made things worse by inviting Jimmy Greaves along as a guest of honour, the man who scored 132 goals in 167 games over four prolific seasons in the first team at Stamford Bridge.
The old rascal was on the pitch waving to the fans at half-time and Villas-Boas later noted that Greaves had been in the dressing room with one of his young grandsons to get autographs. Who knows whether Torres recognised him? The problem for the Chelsea striker is that his goalscoring stats at the club are as bad as Greaves' record is wondrous.
Torres has scored five goals in 11 grim months at Stamford Bridge. In terms of Premier League goals, he has scored one more this calendar year, four, for his former club Liverpool than he has for Chelsea. He left the pitch at full-time with the usual smacked-arse expression.
Fulham? They were a damn sight better organised than the rabble that allowed United to put five goals past them at the Cottage, with Danny Murphy operating behind a midfield quartet that had Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembélé at the centre. Dempsey scored the equaliser on 56 minutes while Dembélé added to his reputation as one of the Premier League's emerging stars.
There was precious little impact from Orlando Sa, alone in attack, but there were excellent performances elsewhere. The Swiss winger Alex Frei had a good Premier League debut and Stockdale kept Fulham in it with a series of saves at the end of the game from Drogba and Florent Malouda.
Martin Jol, the Fulham manager, lost Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson to injuries in training on Friday, he said later, and it will be instructive to see whether the Achilles problem picked up by the former affects his chances of a move away next month.
Even Villas-Boas conceded that his team had been outplayed in the first half when their best chance was a Mata ball taken on Torres' chest. He could not get his shot past Stockdale. Torres set up Mata for the goal two minutes after the break which was crisply struck into the bottom left corner.
The equaliser began with Dempsey heading the ball out to Bryan Ruiz who, in his best moments, is another fine player to watch. He went past Ashley Cole, a rarity, and put in a cross that Dempsey got to just before David Luiz and Petr Cech. Shortly after that, Villas-Boas brought off Frank Lampard. To say the player looked unimpressed by the decision was putting it mildly.
But this is clearly a young manager with a licence to change Chelsea. Afterwards, Villas-Boas admitted the club were in talks over the signing of defender Gary Cahill from Bolton. "We had initial talks, but that doesn't mean a deal will be concluded," he said. He sounded like a man building for the future; not worrying about the present.

Substitutes: Chelsea Malouda 6 (Lampard, 61), Drogba (Sturridge, 70), Ferreira (Bosingwa, 81). Fulham Kasami (Sa, 82).
Booked: Chelsea Bosingwa; Fulham Dempsey.
Man of the match Stockdale.
Match rating 5/10.
Possession: Chelsea 59% Fulham 41%.
Attempts on target: Chelsea 15 Fulham 6.
Referee K Friend (Leicestershire).
Attendance 41,548.

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

Guardian:

Clint Dempsey punishes lethargic Chelsea to gain Fulham deserved point
Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

The admission, when it came, hardly felt revelatory. André Villas-Boas surveyed another costly stalemate and a stalled title pursuit and merely stated the obvious. "It'll be pretty difficult, to be fair," said the Portuguese. "The distance is too far between us and the Manchester clubs for us to challenge for the Premier League." Chelsea no longer consider themselves contenders.
Times really have changed at this club when a manager can declare the team out of the running even before the league campaign has reached its halfway point, but realism is biting in these parts. Villas-Boas has been charged with revitalising and rejuvenating this squad and that process has taken its toll on short-term prospects. The summit is still a distant 11 points away, with rivals closer to challenging. Should Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday, Chelsea will even be out of the top four.
There have been too many occasions such as this, when opponents have merited at least the point they have accrued, already this season. Fulham, thrashed 5-0 at home by Manchester United last week, arrived with a makeshift if bold selection which should have rendered them vulnerable, not least in central midfield where attackers filled in for steelier absentees. A blistering start from Chelsea might have settled the contest, but there were no early inroads to be made. The hosts were lethargic before the break, and sloppy once they had prised out a lead. This felt like an opportunity missed.
Chelsea had followed up inflicting Manchester City's first defeat of the campaign by dropping points at lowly Wigan, so there was always the possibility of stumbling having impressed in drawing at Tottenham Hotspur last week. The late flurry of chances created, and denied by the excellent David Stockdale in the visitors' goal, was deceptive. Fulham might even have won in stoppage time only for Pajtim Kasami's attempt to be stifled. They still departed hugely encouraged while their hosts licked their wounds.
A tally of 34 points in 18 games would normally leave a team such as this in contention. "But with City and United continuing to get the points they are getting at the moment, it'll be difficult," said Villas-Boas. "That is the perspective we have to make at the moment. Difficult. Not impossible. But maybe the Premiership is over for us at the moment. There is always tension for you to get results in a massive club like this one, but you have to be real. You cannot live under false expectations when the gap is this big."
That was delivered before City's draw at the Hawthorns but, even so, there are too many teams in between Chelsea and the top for them to feel close. Rather, the process of evolution will continue. Gary Cahill will arrive in the new year from Bolton Wanderers, with potentially one other signing to follow – more significant reshaping of the squad will have to wait until the summer – with the manager's principal consolation being the excellence of some of the additions he has made at this club. Juan Mata scored his team's goal here, a wonderfully snapped finish from Fernando Torres's strong control and astute lay-off. Raul Meireles and Oriol Romeu, not for the first time, also impressed.
More troubling was the negligible impact made by Frank Lampard, and Torres's inability to engineer himself any personal reward. One smart collection on his chest and volley was blocked by Stockdale, but that was as close as he came on his first start since October. The Spaniard still boasts more league goals for Liverpool (four) in 2011 than for Chelsea (three) since his £50m arrival 11 months ago. Didier Drogba may not be as powerful a presence as he once was but he still offers greater bite and, more significantly, a focal point for this team.
Stockdale denied the Ivorian near the end, a save that typified his excellence throughout. Fulham might have been expected to wilt here, with Danny Murphy their lone defensive-minded midfielder in an area Chelsea should be strong. Instead, they imposed themselves early on when Mousa Dembélé and Orlando Sa might have converted. Once behind, their response was admirably swift: Bryan Ruiz teased space from Ashley Cole to centre, and Clint Dempsey slid in to convert ahead of a tentative Petr Cech and David Luiz.
This draw, a rarity for Fulham at bitter rivals, was achieved without Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, the pair having succumbed to groin and achilles injuries in training on Christmas Eve. The latter is still expected to leave next month and will need to be properly replaced, but this was a display to suggest the loss to United had been an aberration. "We've shown we can take on these good teams," said Martin Jol. "Sometimes you need to take a gamble, and that is what we did today." In contrast, if Villas-Boas is to be believed, nobody should be betting on Chelsea recovering to mount a title challenge.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Fulham 1: match report
By Jason Burt, at Stamford Bridge

Jimmy Greaves went to the Chelsea dressing room after this encounter to share his memories of the club with the players but, hopefully, he also imparted a few words to Fernando Torres to remind him how to score a goal.
One hundred and thirty-two times in 167 matches, between 1957-61, Greaves caressed the ball into the net for Chelsea and, while Torres has also been a great goal-scorer, he still appears a man living on his own memories right now rather than justifying that big reputation and that even bigger, £50m, transfer fee.
Torres has scored more goals for Liverpool in the Premier League this year (four) than Chelsea. And he left Anfield in January.
The Spaniard didn’t play badly but in his first league start since Oct 29 - and the 5-3 home defeat to Arsenal - he simply didnt do enough as Chelsea slid to a third consecutive 1-1 draw that deflated their already flaccid title hopes.
Torres' played a significant part in Chelsea's goal, taking down Ashley Cole's cross but, in truth, it wasn’t a lay-off more a mis-control that then led the ball to run to Juan Mata who struck a whipped, left-foot effort beyond the unsighted David Stockdale.
There was, in the first-half, also a smart chest-down and volley that was clutched by theFulham goalkeeper but, even then, Torres might have been braver had he attempted a header.
Andre Villas-Boas rested Didier Drogba which given his age, 33, and recent workload was no surprise but with the Ivory Coast striker off to the African Cup of Nations soon it was a decision that back-fired. Whichever way Chelsea try and sugar-coat it, Torres was a bitter disappointment although the manager persisted with him – rather than replaced him – throughout 90-plus frustrating minutes.
Greaves, now 71, is a rare visitor to Stamford Bridge and he was presented to the crowd at half-time, alongside his grand-son, but it wasn’t enough to lift a flat atmosphere. Maybe it was the early kick-off, maybe it was a growing sense of apprehension at Chelsea’s chequered campaign, maybe it was the realisation that Fulham were well worthy of their derby draw. By the end there were muted boos from the home support but even those were half-hearted.
It wasn’t a good day for some of Chelsea’s big names with Cole all too easily beaten by Bryan Ruiz – wafting a leg as the Fulham midfielder feinted to cross – for the visitors’ equalizing goal which was turned in from close-range by Clint Dempsey and Frank Lampard a pale shadow of himself as he trudged through 61 miserable minutes before being replaced.
The shape of this ‘new Chelsea’ is becoming clearer by the game and the brutal truth is it doesn’t include Lampard.
Indeed Villas-Boas’s title concession came with the sureness of a man who knows he has a mandate for change as long as he can continue to keep Chelsea in the top four and give the Champions League a go. At least two signings are planned for January – first up is Bolton’s Gary Cahill – but what is more fascinating is who is on the way out.
The major overhaul will wait until the summer but Villas-Boas has to be careful also. Should Arsenal win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers then Chelsea will, once again, drop out of the top four and whatever backing the manager has suddenly comes into sharp focus again. Roman Abramovich wasn’t here – he was partying in the Caribbean – but he will have watched from afar.
In fairness, Fulham played well. Very well. Stockdale pulled off a series of fine saves but he was pipped as man-of-the-match by the skill and physical endeavour of Moussa Dembele. Chelsea attacked relentlessly in the final few minutes, forcing Stockdale into action. He saved from Drogba’s weak shot, he tipped over Raul Meireles’s header and pushed away a stooping nod on from Drogba and then turned away Florent Malouda’s drive before, finally, diverting Drogba’s dipping free-kick.
Fulham manager Martin Jol lost Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson to injury before this match and decided to roll the dice and go for it. That appeared an absurdly attacking side and it carved out the first opening with Orlando Sa heading over Stephen Kelly’s cross before Dembele cross-cum-shot just evaded the diving Ruiz.
Surely, though, Chelsea would exploit such an approach? Daniel Sturridge failed to properly connect with a Bosingwa cross and Torres fired wastefully over but – apart from his volley – it was toothless before, soon after the break, Mata struck. John Arne Riise then blocked a John Terry volley, from a corner, and a curling shot from Sturridge was comfortably tipped over before Malouda flicked the ball goal-wards from inside the six-yard area – only for Stockdale to save again – and was wrongly flagged for offside.
By the end, Fulham could have inflicted more damage - after Chelsea dozed at a free-kick - but Pajtim Kasami shot poorly at Petr Cech when he was given a glimpse of goal. The watching Greaves would have flicked back his memory banks and replayed how he had scored from that position many, many times. But then he would have thought the same from Chelsea’s chances.

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Chelsea 1 Fulham 1: Jim can't fix it... Greaves at Bridge to see Torres fail again
By MATT BARLOW

It is half a century since Jimmy Greaves scored his last Chelsea goal, but when Stamford Bridge needed spirits lifting, they were happy to have the 71-year-old in the building.
Greaves was the club's guest at yesterday's west London derby, a rare return to the stadium where he started his prolific career and scored 132 goals in four years before departing for Italy.
Fans stood to salute the former England striker as he walked around the pitch at halftime and, afterwards, Andre Villas- Boas invited him into the dressing room to talk to his players.
'It is important for this club to feel its history,' said Villas-Boas, as he reflected upon a draw against Fulham which he admits ends any pretensions Chelsea had of winning the title this season.
Juan Mata fired the Blues ahead early in the second half but Clint Dempsey quickly levelled and David Stockdale made a string of saves to preserve a deserved point for the visitors.
Villas-Boas must hope Greaves had a gem of advice for Fernando Torres, who showed no signs of recapturing his sparkle as he started his first Premier League game for two months.
Torres has not scored in the league since a goal in the 4-1 win against Swansea in September, when he was later sent off.
He has netted more Premier League goals for Liverpool (four) in 2011 than he has for Chelsea (three) and next month he will be expected to lead the line when Didier Drogba goes to the Africa Cup of Nations.
The silky footwork of Moussa Dembele and shot-stopping skills of David Stockdale lit up a low-key west London derby for a crowd who managed to reach Stamford Bridge despite the Tube strike.
It was a surprise Villas-Boas left Drogba out yesterday, considering the presence of Philippe Senderos in the Fulham back four. The Ivorian usually terrorises Senderos, but Torres got the nod and had the best chance of the first half, after 15 minutes.
Mata clipped a diagonal pass towards his fellow Spaniard. It was there to be headed but Torres opted to control it on his chest. He did this neatly and volleyed with his right foot but too close to Stockdale, who saved.
'We don't judge our strikers on the score,' said Villas-Boas. 'We are one of the most attacking teams in the country. We have a lot of goals spread out among the team. What is important is that they make an impact. That is what we expect.'
Torres can claim an assist in the opener, fighting down a bouncing cross from Ashley Cole on the left and nursing it to Mata, who lashed home from just inside the area. It was Mata's fifth goal for the club he joined in August, but Fulham equalised within nine minutes.
Bryan Ruiz collected a pass from Senderos, twisted past Cole and whipped the ball across the face of goal. Petr Cech could not reach it and Dempsey slid in ahead of David Luiz to score.
Chelsea dominated after the goals but, without the midfield pace and energy of the suspended Ramires, they found it hard to unsettle a well-organised Fulham.
Still, it was peculiar to see Villas-Boas take off his two leading scorers - Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge - as the team searched for a winner.
Stockdale was busy, making a fine sequence of saves, but many of them were routine and he was well protected by his splendid back four.
The goalkeeper tipped over efforts from Sturridge, Drogba, and a header from Raul Meireles.
The best was perhaps made with his boot as Florent Malouda tried to divert a John Terry header into the net from close range. Stockdale made the block and the rebound hit Malouda before rolling out for a goal-kick.
Fulham substitute Pajtim Kasami was denied a dramatic late winner by Cech in stoppage time, but boss Martin Jol was relieved to see a reaction from his team after they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Manchester United last week.
'I thought we were the better team in the first half,' said Jol.
'It was only against United we didn't have a good result. We had a good result against Liverpool and at the Emirates. We tried to play our football and did that well, particularly in the first half.'
Fulham, who have not won a league game at Stamford Bridge since 1979, went into the game without strikers Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, who both limped out of a training session on Christmas Eve.
Zamora has aggravated the achilles problem which has been nagging him for six weeks, said Jol, and Johnson picked up a groin injury, which makes him doubtful for Saturday's trip to Norwich.
Chelsea's injury problems mount too. Jose Bosingwa was forced off with a hamstring injury and is doubtful for Saturday's game against Aston Villa. He was replaced by Paulo Ferreira, who wore a mask to protect a fractured cheekbone. Villas-Boas confirmed he expects to be without Branislav Ivanovic and John Mikel Obi until mid-January at the earliest.
'We are trying to close the deal on a central defender,' he said with regards to signing Bolton's Gary Cahill. 'I don't think we'll do much more than that, maybe one player more. A central defender will be our priority. We had initial talks with Bolton, but that doesn't mean a deal will be concluded. We will see.'

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

Mirror:
Chelsea 1-1 Fulham:
By Martin Lipton

The mood was resigned, not angry - the fire and fury has gone - just a handful of boos.
It is all about fighting for the minor places now. Seeking to ensure a top four finish.
Chelsea are out of the title race admits Villas-Boas
Not, surely, what Roman Abramovich envisaged when he gave Carlo Ancelotti the push in May and entrusted his club to a relative rookie who promised to bring the good times back.
Yet as a Fulham side taken to the cleaners by Manchester United days before stymied Chelsea with far too much ease, it was a fundamental festive message swirling round south-west London.
Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas knew that beating Manchester City alone was not the key. It was how his Chelsea side kicked on from that victory that mattered.
That response has been three games, three draws, three points, Fulham joining Wigan and Spurs in holding the Blues, City disappearing into the distance as Chelsea face being fifth by close of business on Tuesday.
That was why he gave his concession speech.
When Juan Mata profited from good approach play from the recalled Fernando Torres – wasn’t it supposed to be the other way round? – to smash home, Chelsea should have gone on to win.
Instead, more lax defending was punished by Clint Dempsey, prodding home from close range, Chelsea’s remaining hopes of gate-crashing Manchester’s private title party surely ended for good.
And while there was a late flurry of chances, all denied by David Stockdale, there could be no real complaints either.
Where Chelsea had been full of passionate intensity at White Hart Lane, here they were limp, ponderous and lethargic, only John Terry and David Luiz injecting impetus as they came out with the ball.
Indeed, for all their possession, Chelsea only carved out one real chance in the opening period - one which told both sides of the Torres story.
The Spanish striker’s movement, pulling off Stephen Kelly’s right shoulder as Mata worked space to play the ball in, was excellent, as was the chest control that took the ball into space and the acrobatic volley which followed.
But the shot, well-hit and smashed straight into David Stockdale’s midriff, was grasped easily by the keeper.
Torres was not bad. He did all right. But all right is no longer good enough.
Not after 11 months of staggering under-achievement. Not for £50million.
And while Fulham had far less of the ball – and gave scant support to lone striker Orlando Sa – they threatened to do more with it.
Petr Cech made an uncomfortable early save from Dempsey, Sa headed wide when well-placed, Mousa Dembele created room but shot across the face of goal.
At least the second period was better, starting when Torres teed up Mata to lash home a left-footer from 16 yards.
In other seasons, Chelsea would have put their foot down. But this is not the same Chelsea, and within nine minutes Fulham were level.
Bryan Ruiz sold Ashley Cole an outrageous dummy that was bought hook, line and sinker by the England left-back, and when he rolled perfectly between Terry, Luiz and Cech, Dempsey made the only contact.
Chelsea were stung, Villas-Boas hooking the subdued Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge and sending Didier Drogba on to join Torres.
Yet Stockdale was resolute and inspired, sticking out a leg to keep out Florent Malouda’s close-range back-heel, denying Drogba twice and then, in the frantic final five minutes, thwarting everything that Raul Meireles, Malouda and Drogba threw at him.
The jeers at the final whistle told their own tale - one of Chelsea woe as the fans faced up to the new reality.
No longer standard setters. Now just followers of other people’s fashion.

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

Sun:

Chelsea 1 Fulham 1
By MARK IRWIN

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS might have thrown in the title-race towel but he is still not prepared to give up on Fernando Torres.
The £50million Spaniard made his first Premier League start since October after warming the bench for Chelsea's last seven games.
And he even looked half interested for the first 30 minutes. Which is a start.
But by the end of another disappointing day at the Bridge, it was the same old story of Britain's most expensive player failing to justify his record transfer fee and £9m-a-year contract.
True, he did set up Chelsea's 47th-minute goal when he held off Philippe Senderos for long enough for Juan Mata to shoot home.
He also managed a decent shot on target himself, chesting down from Mata's first-half chip before delivering a volley which was well saved by Fulham keeper David Stockdale.
Yet, surely, Chelsea are entitled to expect more for their money than one shot and one lay-off.
The fact that Torres has still scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool (4) than for Chelsea (3) in 2011 surely says it all.
But maybe Villas-Boas has more patience than his touchline histrionics would suggest. How else can you explain his extraordinary tolerance of such mediocrity?
AVB insisted after a third draw in nine days: "We don't judge our strikers on the goals they score." Which is just as well for Torres.
He added: "We are one of the most attacking teams in the country and we have a lot of goals spread out among the team.
"Didier Drogba has been playing in every recent fixture apart from the Carling Cup game so, today, we decided to bring Fernando in and he worked well for the team.
"He assisted Mata for his goal and he showed the level of commitment he has been showing in training."
Yet even a dressing-room visit from Chelsea legend Jimmy Greaves was unable to provide Torres with the inspiration to get his a*** into gear.
Greaves' 41 league goals in a single season in 1961 is still a Chelsea club record to this day.
On his current scoring rate, Torres should hit that figure somewhere around 2025.
Even allowing for his eagerness to get Torres back into action, Villas-Boas clearly missed a trick by allowing Fulham centre-half Senderos to avoid the confrontation with Drogba he must have been dreading.
The former Arsenal defender probably still has nightmares about his previous encounters with the Drog and could hardly believe his luck when he heard his nemesis would be starting on the bench.
Fulham arrived at the Bridge fresh from a 5-0 home battering by Manchester United just five days earlier and appeared to be there for the taking. Yet Chelsea were unable to pose anything like the same kinds of problems as United managed as they struggled to make an impact on a lethargic Boxing Day crowd.
Mata's 47th-minute strike briefly promised to open the floodgates for Chelsea.
But they were able to hold their lead for only nine minutes before Fulham deservedly levelled.
Just as at Tottenham on Thursday night, they were undone by a dangerous low cross into the six-yard box which Petr Cech and his central defenders were unable to deal with.
This time it was Bryan Ruiz, given far too much room by Ashley Cole, who fired the ball into the danger-zone.
And Clint Dempsey was able to force home ahead of home defenders John Terry and David Luiz.
The introduction of Drogba as a sub for the final 20 minutes prompted a response from a Chelsea team who suddenly seemed to realise their title hopes were disappearing down the plughole.
Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles and Drogba were all denied by important late saves from stand-in Fulham keeper Stockdale.
Daniel Sturridge and skipper Terry also went close in a hectic final half hour.
Yet the visitors had a late opportunity to snatch all three points themselves when Swiss substitute Pajtim Kasami fired straight at Cech deep into stoppage time.

DREAM TEAM
SUN STAR MAN — DAVID STOCKDALE (FULHAM)

CHELSEA: Cech 6, Bosingwa 6 (Ferreira 5), Luiz 7, Terry 7, Cole 6, Meireles 6, Romeu 6, Lampard 5 (Malouda 6), Sturridge 7 (Drogba 6), Torres 6, Mata 7. Subs not used: Turnbull, Lukaku, McEachran, Kalou. Booked: Bosingwa.
FULHAM: Stockdale 8, Kelly 7, Hangeland 7, Senderos 6, JA Riise 6, Dempsey 7, Murphy 6, Frei 6, Dembele 7, Sa 5 (Kasami 5), Ruiz 6. Subs not used: Etheridge, Sidwell, Baird, Hughes, Etuhu, Briggs. Booked: Dempsey.
REF: K Friend 7

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

Express:

CHELSEA 1 - FULHAM 1: FERNANDO TORRES IN NEED OF A JIMMY GREAVES LESSON
Fernando Torres has had a chastening time at Stamford Bridge so far
By Simon Yeend

THERE was one striker at Stamford Bridge getting a standing ovation yesterday.
Sadly for Andre Villas-Boas it was not Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba or Daniel Sturridge. It was Jimmy Greaves – who began his career at Chelsea and banged in 132 goals in 169 games – returning as a guest of honour.
Villas-Boas handpicked this game for Torres – a chance to exploit the lack of pace in the Fulham back line and rediscover his long-lost goal touch. It didn’t happen. To revisit an old quote from Bill Shankly, Torres looks as good as Jimmy Greaves, but then Jimmy is 71 now.
Torres had one decent chance in the first half but volleyed straight at the impressive David Stockdale. He did have a hand in Chelsea’s goal in the 47th minute, but only because he mis-controlled the ball on the edge of the area and it fell invitingly to Juan Mata, who curled it expertly into the corner. That lead lasted just nine minutes, though.
Bryan Ruiz made a fool of Ashley Cole on the left-hand side of the area, selling him a sweet dummy and crossing low. John Terry stretched and missed the ball, Clint Dempsey stretched and poked it home, just ahead of Petr Cech.
Greaves is second to none in this club, which is why he was invited to the dressing room to share those memories
Chelsea poured forward, threw on Drogba for Sturridge and Florent Malouda for a nonplussed Frank Lampard, but could not get the breakthrough.
Stockdale was the main reason, the keeper making great saves from Drogba, Sturridge, Malouda and Raul Meireles. Just two weeks ago Chelsea thought they were back in the title race after they ended Manchester City’s unbeaten run to close the gap to seven points. Three 1-1 draws have followed and the gap to the leaders has stretched back to 11 points, despite City being held at West Brom yesterday.
Villas-Boas admitted this is a bridge too far. He was anticipating a City win when he said: “The distance to the Manchester clubs can be too far to challenge for the title. It will be very difficult for us to win it. We had reduced it to seven points recently, but 13 points would be new for us.
“There’s no big drama in terms of how we look at things. But you have to be sufficiently real. Maybe the Premier League is over for us at the moment. You cannot live under false expectations when the gap is this big.”
Villas-Boas was equally frank in why his side did not win; they ‘weren’t good enough’. This against a side that lost their previous game 5-0 to Manchester United.
He kept Torres on the pitch for the full 90 minutes and praised his attitude. But how he would love a Greaves, who gave a pep-talk in the dressing room after the game.
“I don’t know what kind of impact the United result had on Fulham, but Martin Jol made enough changes to provoke some kind of revolt, and his players played brilliantly well. We had a good second half, had a lot of good opportunities, but always collided with a brave Fulham defence or against Stockdale, who had a fantastic game.
“We’ve just come from a fantastic game against Tottenham. Today we weren’t good enough to get the three points, that was clear.
“We decided to bring Fernando in. He has been working well and he had an impact in the game. He worked well for the team, assisted Mata for his goal, and showed the level of commitment he has shown in training. Greaves is second to none in this club, which is why he was invited to the dressing room to share those memories.”
The Blues will now move for reinforcements in January. With Drogba off to the African Nations Cup and Torres in wretched form, a striker would seem to be a priority. But the first bit of business will be a central defender, with Gary Cahill close to moving in from Bolton.
Fulham had striker problems of their own, with both Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora picking up injuries in a training session on Christmas Eve.
Jol, happy with the way his side responded after the mauling by United, said: “Our two main strikers dropped out so we had to come up with something else. It paid off. We tried to play our football, and we did that, particularly in the first half.”

tottenham 1-1

2011-12-23T08:15:00.001Z

Independent:

Stunning stalemate delights Manchester

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 1

SAM WALLACE

As the latest John Terry turmoil engulfed his club this week, Andre Villas-Boas would have settled for a draw, a decent performance and getting the hell out of White Hart Lane with a team even remotely still in with a chance of the Premier League title come May.

In the end, the Chelsea manager got just that last night: he got a hard-won point from a team that edged it on the night and showed, once again, that there is life in this club yet. They are 11 points behind the leaders Manchester City at Christmas but no-one was shaking their head in disbelief after the match when Villas-Boas declared after the game that Chelsea were still in contention in the title race.

They fought their way back into the match after going behind to Emmanuel Adebayor's goal in the eighth minute and, until a late flurry of chances for Spurs at the end of the game, it was Chelsea who looked most likely to win the match. It was close for most of it, thrillingly so, and it was played out in an intense, charged atmosphere that the players could not avoid being affected by.

Much of the aggression from the stands was directed, as expected, at Terry who was booed and abused in song by the Spurs fans even more than he usually is when he comes here. He left the pitch at the end of the match shirtless and defiant, his jersey thrown to the away supporters, typically a sign that he believes he has had a good game and, on this occasion, there was no disputing that fact.

But this was not just the John Terry show, even though it was the Chelsea captain who slid in behind Petr Cech to clear Adebayor's shot away from goal in the last minute. This was a much more rounded Chelsea performance from the likes of Daniel Sturridge, the goalscorer, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba. A special mention too, to Jose Bosingwa who deputised admirably at centre-back for the second half.

That is not to diminish the performance of Spurs in the first half who hit Chelsea like a hurricane in the early stages and scored within eight minutes. For those early assaults, marking Gareth Bale became the job of three Chelsea players at times and even they were not enough. Harry Redknapp's team would have put in the performance of the season had they sustained it but Chelsea came right back at them.

It was wonderful to watch. One mistake would have decided it either way but there were none from these two impressive sets of players. Cech made some fine saves in the late stages, amending for his error against Wigan. Ramires wasted a great chance to win the game with a free header in the 87th minute. He is, Villas-Boas said, the player who has had the most one-on-one opportunities this season in the whole squad.

Where does it leave both teams? Even further from the two Manchester clubs. The gap between Tottenham in third and Manchester United in second is seven points. This Christmas, the Premier League's two leading teams are pulling away and if Chelsea and Spurs are to get back into it then they will surely have to take points off the Manchester teams in the second half of the season

Redknapp lost Rafael Van der Vaart at half-time to a hamstring injury which undoubtedly reduced his team's capacity to attack Chelsea. The Dutchman was partly culpable in Chelsea's goal which came from Cole on the right side of Spurs' defence but Van der Vaart does offer more than Roman Pavlyuchenko who gave his team little in the second half.

The Tottenham team that began the game was close to the best team at Redknapp's disposal. In full cry they are a fearsome sight. The goal came from the run of Bale who went past Bosingwa as if he had not noticed the full-back. His cross, hit while going at pace, was beautifully placed and Adebayor came onto it perfectly to score.

Chelsea were leaning into a gale. There was a shot from Juan Mata, hit first time, that was saved by Brad Friedel. Sturridge put the rebound over. Then it was back down the other end for Spurs to continue their siege. A goal down, Villas-Boas was under pressure.

It is a times such as these that you wonder whether the young manager feels the brooding presence of Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres in their now customary positions on the substitutes' seats behind him. Torres came on for 13 very forgettable minutes. Lampard did no more than warm-up. This is how it is now at Chelsea.

The equaliser came on 23 minutes. There was a question mark over whether Cole handled the ball as he went past Van der Vaart on the left side, the ball ricocheting up and striking him. Clear of the Spurs man he crossed the ball for Sturridge in the centre to score. Shortly after Drogba, jumping behind Kyle Walker, took Raul Meireles' cross from the right on his chest and struck the ball first time. He hit the post.

Then the injuries started to undermine Chelsea. Both Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel were hobbling and for Villas-Boas there was no obvious replacement for the former. In the end Paulo Ferreira came on at right-back and Bosingwa was moved to centre-half. It was far from ideal but with Alex out the picture there was no option.

Despite that the second half was much better for Chelsea. Terry had a header saved. Sandro, the Spurs midfielder, put a header wide. In the last six minutes of the game, chances started to present themselves. Bale shot over. Cech pushed away a shot from Sandro that took a nasty deflection off Meireles. Then came Ramires' header, wide from Mata's cross.

Terry's clearance behind Cech was the final major act of the game. Villas-Boas was delighted, and given the issues he has had to manage at Chelsea this week, it is little wonder why.

Attendance 36,141.

Referee H Webb (South Yorkshire).

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

Guardian:

Daniel Sturridge earns Chelsea a draw against Tottenham Hotspur

Dominic Fifield at White Hart Lane

John Terry departed the turf here bare-chested and with a trademark salute to the travelling support, his evening transformed from a shaky start into a familiar show of strength. The defender might have arrived vulnerable, confronted by the capital's rising force in Tottenham Hotspur and distracted by the furore that had engulfed him in the build-up, but he grew into this contest in defiance of a din of abuse. In dragging his team with him any lingering frustrations at the end were Spurs' to endure.

A draw may not prove enough in the long-term to revive Chelsea's own interest in the title race – they now trail Manchester City by 11 points – yet they will have been buoyed at resisting Tottenham so impressively. A blip at Stoke recently aside, Spurs had felt irrepressible since the autumn and would have approached this encounter hoping to squeeze further breathing space from local rivals. Yet by weathering their early storm and imposing themselves impressively thereafter Andre Villas-Boas' team rather demonstrated that the balance of power in London has not tipped decidedly just yet.

The Portuguese's giddy reaction at the performance was evidence of satisfaction, though there was so much to admire from both sides in a contest that thrilled from the opening exchanges. Tottenham's start had been blistering, the hosts threatening to run riot for a period while Gareth Bale tore into the visitors' right flank with glee. Chelsea's subsequent recovery was just as admirable, restoring their poise by hauling themselves level against the run of play, then hinting that they might edge ahead with Didier Drogba thudding a half-volley on to the woodwork.

Their dominance was more persuasive after the interval, a fact acknowledged by both managers afterwards, even if the evening was denied a decisive third goal for all the rat-tat of chances created. The script felt somehow prescribed for Terry to block Emmanuel Adebayor's goal-bound attempt deep into stoppage time with his back as he slid in to intercept the Togo forward's shot. Villas-Boas claimed he would not have been dismayed to have lost in the dying seconds, so encouraged was he by the team's display, but the visitors were not to be denied the point they merited. Theirs had arguably been the more coherent attacking threat.

That had felt an unlikely conclusion to have eventually drawn when Chelsea were so tentative and Tottenham briefly untouchable at the start. Bale drove them on, the notion promoted by Harry Redknapp the previous day that the Welshman was "extremely doubtful" for the game at best appearing a deception as Jose Bosingwa and Branislav Ivanovic gasped in his early vapour trail. The Serb would not see out the half, limping livid from the fray with a hamstring strain to be replaced by Paulo Ferreira. A pair of Portuguese right-backs would eventually fare better against Bale but, while his adrenalin was pumping, Chelsea wilted.

For a period Spurs threatened to administer a thrashing. Bale had already veered across the penalty area, opponents shrinking in front of him, before seeing a shot at goal blocked. As it was, Chelsea were still breached by the eighth minute, Sandro Raniere claiming possession from Daniel Sturridge with the ball squirting out to Bale on the flank. Bosingwa was powerless to haul the winger in, with the Wales international's cross beautifully angled as it fizzed across the six-yard box beyond Terry for Adebayor to tap home ahead of a Petr Cech's tentative dive.

Yet, once behind, Chelsea appeared to recover some resolve. Indeed Spurs' better opportunities thereafter – Adebayor being denied a second, first by a linesman's flag and then by Terry's block, or Sandro's deflected shot tipped over the bar by Cech – were chiselled out on the break.

Instead the visitors, encouraged by Brad Friedel's spill from Juan Mata's attempt, found some rhythm. Sturridge had missed from the rebound but he would make amends. The England forward duly converted a ninth league goal of a productive campaign by tapping in Ashley Cole's cross with home players in uproar that the full-back had been waved on after the ball cannoned up kindly on to his arm from Rafael van der Vaart's attempted tackle.

Tottenham's approach was undoubtedly disrupted by the Dutchman's own hamstring strain – his team-mate Younes Kaboul had succumbed to the same problem in the warm-up, while the visitors' John Mikel Obi joined the walking wounded at the break – which prompted a reshuffle. Redknapp bemoaned a lack of options on the right with Aaron Lennon already absent, leaving Spurs to tweak their system and surrender numbers in the centre.

Ramires' rampaging runs from deep should have claimed the game for Chelsea, the Brazilian invariably free to burst forward only to prove profligate in front of goal. But, even if a draw leaves both these teams on the fringes of the title race, there is encouragement to be had.

Third and fourth at Christmas, they retain plenty of incentive.

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

Telegraph:

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 1

By Henry Winter, at White Hart Lane

Even in troubled times there is a remarkable resilience to John Terry. Even with the abuse falling from the skies like acid rain, Chelsea’s captain rescued his team when it mattered most, making an astonishing last-minute clearance. Say what you like about Terry, and Spurs fans certainly did relentlessly, but he never hides.

He finished the game sliding across his six-yard box, somehow getting his body in the way of a goalbound shot from Emmanuel Adebayor.

Moments later, on the safe side of the final whistle, Terry marched across to the away fans congregated in the corner of the Park Lane End. He thumped the lion on his shirt, then removed his top, launching it into the away fans.

“There’s only one England captain,’’ chanted theChelsea fans. On this evidence, and even taking into account the reality that Terry was partly culpable for Adebayor’s goal, it is easy to understand from a footballing perspective why Fabio Capello sticks by him during his journey through the legal system. Like him or loathe him, Terry’s a leader.

Even in a season of transition, there is a seam of mettle running through Chelsea, embodied by Terry. They withstood the early tempest whipped up by Gareth Bale, recovered from Adebayor’s strike and injuries to Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel. They hit back through Daniel Sturridge and produced some splendid chances, two gilt-edged ones missed by Ramires.

Taking a point at the Lane is a fine achievement. Harry Redknapp’s hosts have been in such vibrant form, rising to third in the table, yet the feeling remained that those most pleased by last night’s draw hailed from Manchester. Spurs, who have a game in hand, are seven points adrift of United, themselves two behind City.

Chelsea are two points behind Spurs after this enthralling, end-to-end game ended with honours even, deservedly so. Spurs came flying out of the blocks, seeming to feed on the adrenalin cascading from the terraces on another memorably atmospheric occasion at the Lane. The chants were endless, the Spurs fans targeting Terry with all manner of invective.

Terry, typically, ignored all the barracking in the background. He needed all his concentration dealing with Spurs, who were inspired by Bale, the winger leaving Jose Bosingwa choking on his vapour trails. Taxi for Bosingwa? Almost.

The Portuguese was left standing again when Bale came calling after eight minutes. The excellent Sandro began the move, winning possession with a thunderous tackle on Sturridge. The Brazilian released Bale down the flank and the Welshman was on his bike. Not even Mark Cavendish would have caught him. Bosingwa certainly couldn’t.

For all the low, drilled quality of Bale’s cross, Chelsea should still have prevented its arrival at the feet of Adebayor. Petr Cech, seemingly fallible of late, failed to grab the cross. Terry also erred, responding too slowly to Adebayor’s run, allowing the Spurs striker to exploit Cech’s hesitancy and turn the ball in.

Chelsea responded. Ashley Cole, again excellent, began to push down the left. Sturridge started to move in menacingly from the right, his progress unhindered by Benoît Assou-Ekotto. Juan Mata settled, soon unleashing a drive that Brad Friedel pushed out. Sturridge seized on the loose ball but shot over under pressure from Ledley King.

Belief increasingly filled the blue shirts. Deserved reward soon came for Chelsea. Didier Drogba began the move to the equaliser, playing the ball towards Cole. Rafael van der Vaart, desperately seeking to intervene, simply knocked it on to Cole’s arm. Parker screamed for hand-ball but it was accidental.

Cole darted on, crossing to the far-post where Sturridge had again escaped the intermittent attentions of Assou-Ekotto. Sturridge is making a habit of appearing in these situations and he calmly swept Chelsea level.

The Blues were now in the mood. Raul Meireles had a shot saved. Drogba chested the ball down and almost broke the bar with an effort.

Ivanovic and then Mikel limped off. Paulo Ferreira went to right-back, Bosingwa impressively to centre-half while Oriol Romeu slotted in to deep midfield.

Still Chelsea feared Bale. Ramires was booked for a scissors-tackle on the Welshman. Spurs, having let the initiative slip, at least finished the half on an upbeat note. Assou-Ekotto’s cross was well controlled by Adebayor, who turned and opened a yard of space for himself. Cech was equal to the shot.

Another injury then forced a re-jig, this time for Spurs. Van der Vaart, who had been playing off Adebayor, felt his hamstring and failed to re-appear for the second half. Roman Pavlyuchenko strolled on but made little impact as Spurs lined up in more 4-4-2 mode. With Luka Modric moved to the right, Spurs lost some of their central creativity.

Chelsea still threatened. Drogba teased a pass through the middle for Ramires, whose first touch nudged the ball forward, taking him through one-on-one with Friedel. Ramires shot but Friedel blocked well.

Some controversy ensued as Adebayor, already on a yellow, went in on Terry, leaving the Chelsea fans baying for red. Howard Webb showed leniency.

Andre Villas-Boas made his last change with 14 minutes left, bringing on Fernando Torres. Frank Lampard, who had been warming up, receiving a few compliments from Spurs fans, sat down in the dug-out and removed his boots. He watched intently as Chelsea chased a winner. Sturridge was finding more room, testing Friedel with a drive.

Spurs had some glorious chances to win it through Bale, who shot wildly over, and then Sandro, who was brilliantly denied by Cech.

Still Spurs attacked, William Gallas just failing to score at the near-post.

Chelsea then wasted an even better chance. Ramires had the freedom of White Hart Lane as a free-kick came in. The midfielder was totally unmarked but he steered his header wide. Bad miss. Then Romeu clubbed a shot just wide. Then came that superb piece of defending by Terry.

It was all over bar the shouting at Terry. He shrugged it off.

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

Mail:

Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1: Fair and square at the Lane with honours even in quality game

By MATT LAWTON

Saving his career remains a more serious battle but John Terry certainly saved Chelsea here on Thursday night, putting his body on the line once again to deny Tottenham victory in second-half stoppage time.

It would have been some goal. A move that started with a superb ball from Luka Modric and one that ended at the feet of Emmanuel Adebayor via Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gareth Bale. Suddenly it seemed Adebayor had only Petr Cech to beat. Suddenly it seemed he had beaten him with a curling right-foot shot.

But then, seemingly from nowhere, Terry arrived, launching himself across the face of Chelsea’s goal to divert the ball to safety.

It amounted to a piece of pure sporting theatre on a night when the focus of the cameras as well as the fans was never off the troubled England and Chelsea captain.

His performance, much like the statement he issued after the CPS announced this week that he would face prosecution for those events at Loftus Road in October, was one of defiance and here at White Hart Lane his colleagues followed his example.

A far better way to show their solidarity than a set of ill-advised, entirely inappropriate T-shirts.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas had described this as a must-win match in the context of the title race and his players certainly gave it a go. They conceded an early goal, scored in the eighth minute by Adebayor and in part down to a mistake by Terry.

But they responded with an equaliser from the excellent Daniel Sturridge, overcame yet more injury problems and finished the better side. They had roughly twice as many attempts on goal as their hosts.

Not that Harry Redknapp’s side were poor last night. On the contrary. They had that chance in the dying minutes and a goal disallowed for offside when it seemed Adebayor was onside. That said, he scored with his arm so it probably should not have stood anyway. In the end a draw seemed fair.

The right result for the two Manchester clubs but something that highlighted the quality of those chasing them and the excitement that is sure to come over what remains of the season. With Arsenal and Liverpool also in touch, it promises to be some battle for the minor Champions League places, never mind the championship.

Fast, furious and full of finesse, this was a fine way for the Barclays Premier League to sign off before Christmas, and despite dropping two more points Villas-Boas was quite right to praise his team for some ‘outstanding’ football.

A draw against a Tottenham side capable of challenging for the big prizes this season was a good result. It is more the draw at Wigan last weekend that they should regret, particularly when it followed a fine performance in Europe as well as the Premier League.

Terry appeared more determined than anyone to put that setback behind them, producing another excellent block in the opening couple of minutes to deny Bale.

How much of a distraction the allegations proved is hard to ascertain. But Terry was at fault for losing Adebayor in the seconds before Tottenham’s striker struck. In fairness, he was not helped by the fact that Sturridge lost possession to Sandro and the speed with which Tottenham turned defence into attack.

Bale accelerated down the wing and then delivered a cross that was just perfect for the advancing Adebayor. With Terry half a yard behind him and Cech perhaps a little hesitant in coming forward, Adebayor was left to execute what remained a courageous close-range finish.

Sturridge was presented with a chance to redeem himself almost immediately. When Ledley King misdirected a pass into the path of Juan Mata, the Spaniard responded with a shot Brad Friedel could only parry.

Sturridge got to the rebound but sent his effort over the bar.

The equaliser arrived after 23 minutes. There was a cry for handball, Scott Parker complaining to Howard Webb that Ashley Cole had handled before crossing to Sturridge.

But Parker might have to concede that it was ball to hand as Cole rode the challenge from Rafael van der Vaart. Webb clearly thought so, allowing Sturridge to level with another close-range finish.

It lifted Chelsea and it was not long before they nearly scored a second, Drogba drifting off Kyle Walker to control a Jose Bosingwa cross on his chest before driving a left-foot volley against the post.

But problems began to present themselves for Chelsea, with Villas-Boas losing both Branislav Ivanovic and John Mikel Obi to injury.

A booking for Ramires, for a naughty challenge on Bale, added to Chelsea’s difficulties. And yet it was the visitors who adapted better to the changes despite Fernando Torres making no impression, with Ramires and Raul Meireles outstanding in midfield and Sturridge continuing to press hard for inclusion in Fabio Capello’s plans.

Yes, the final chance fell to Adebayor and it took a fine save from Cech to divert a deflected effort from Sandro to safety. But Ramires missed with a free header and Romeu missed by inches from 30 yards.

Some game. Some finish.

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

Mirror:

Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea: Terry leads Blues in thrilling draw

By Martin Lipton

No winner at the Lane. Not in London at least.

But while Spurs may feel this was a chance wasted, in truth Harry Redknapp will know that being third at Christmas is not a bad place to start.

After all, it is a long time since Tottenham have eaten their turkey as the capital’s top club, two points clear of Chelsea, another ahead of Arsenal, with a game in hand.

That will be some consolation, alongside the knowledge that Spurs can dig deep when needed, even if City and United seem further entrenched in a private battle for the title.

This was not so much a game of two halves as one of four quarters, the first dominated by Spurs, two bossed by the Blues, the final one a coin toss that could have gone either way.

By full-time, it went neither, as Spurs’ six-match winning home league run came to an end and Chelsea’s hopes of a first top-flight victory in N17 since 2005 were also thwarted. Yet this was a game that told us plenty about both teams. That Tottenham, even when they lose their way, are no longer the “soft Spurs” of old.

That Chelsea, with John Terry impervious to the storm raging around him, are not ready to give up the ghost yet either, that Andre Villas-Boas has a firm hand on the tiller.

And, in the final analysis, that probably neither are quite good enough to mix it with the Manchester giants when the big prize is fought over after Christmas.

Of course something had to give last night, although for 20 minutes, as Gareth Bale ran riot on the left, the expectation might have been that it was Chelsea’s challenge that would evaporate.

The Welsh wizard, unsurprisingly cleared to play after his injury scare, terrorised Jose Bosingwa from the start and when Sandro’s superb tackle gave him the chance to run at the Portuguese in the eighth minute, he took it with alacrity.

Bosingwa was destroyed by Bale’s pace and the ball in asked questions Petr Cech failed to answer.

The Chelsea keeper, guilty at Wigan, was too slow to get down and then let the cross through his arms as Adebayor, who had run off Terry, poked home.

Lift off for Spurs? It looked that way, even when Daniel Sturridge, a constant thorn in Tottenham’s side thereafter, spooned over the top after Brad Friedel parried from Juan Mata.

But Chelsea, relentlessly, took a grip, even if the equaliser was slightly fortunate.

Didier Drogba turned round the corner and Rafael van der Vaart’s attempted clearance cannoned against Ashley Cole’s right arm and into space.

Referee Howard Webb rightly ignore the appeals, Cole centred and Sturridge tapped in.

Almost instantly, Drogba slammed against the post on the half-volley and even when injuries to both Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel forced changes before the break, Chelsea, with the extra man in midfield, were dominant. Chances came and went. Ramires, played in by Drogba, missed the best of them, Friedel saved from Terry and Sturridge, and without Ledley King – glass knees notwithstanding – Spurs would have folded.

Then again, Adebayor did have a late goal disallowed while Terry reacted brilliantly to clear his stoppage-time shot off the line.

Luka Modric hit the side-netting and Sandro flashed a header wide at one end, Kyle Walker nearly put through his own net at the other.

Cech made up for his earlier error when Sandro’s shot deflected wildly off Raul Meireles, before Mata’s free-kick gave Ramires a free header which he missed.

Breathless, thrilling, but ultimately frustrating for both bosses, both teams.

Redknapp will know Spurs can play better. Villas-Boas will fear the injury count. But Fergie and Roberto Mancini have most to smile about.

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

Sun:

Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1

By SHAUN CUSTIS

ONLY one race mattered last night — the title race.

And both Tottenham and Chelsea lost vital ground in the battle to catch Manchester City and United at the top.

Daniel Sturridge cancelled out Emmanuel Adebayor's opener.

But incredibly — or perhaps predictably — it was the man at the centre of a race storm, John Terry, who denied Harry Redknapp's side victory.

Adebayor was released in space with the last chance of the match and, as his shot beat Petr Cech, it rolled towards the empty net.

Somehow Chelsea skipper JT slid across to get in a block, the ball struck him on the backside and trickled wide of the post.

At the final whistle, Terry whipped off his shirt and raised his hands to applaud the fans who had cheered him on from start to finish.

He can count on their support at least but it will be a lonely day when he appears in court on February 1.

It was justice Chelsea should get at least a point because they had far more shots at goal than Spurs.

But it is Redknapp's boys who go into Christmas in third place, two points ahead of Andre Villas-Boas' men with a game in hand.

When you think of the horrendous start Spurs made to the season, getting thumped by both United and City, it is a commendable recovery.

Though he finished the night on a high, Terry was partly at fault for the eighth-minute opener — though not as much as keeper Cech.

Sandro crunched in to win the ball off Sturridge and Gareth Bale went haring down the flank. His low cross into the six-yard box was good but Terry let Adebayor go, Cech failed to claim it, and the big striker finished it off.

It was Adebayor's ninth goal in 14 league starts and another poor effort from Cech, who cost his team two points at Wigan on Saturday.

Cech is struggling and it will not get any easier with Chelsea down to the bare bones in defence.

They lost Branislav Ivanovic to injury before half-time and had to employ Jose Bosingwa as a makeshift centre-back alongside Terry.

JT received plenty of abuse from Spurs supporters. He was booed before the game, as he led Chelsea out and every time he touched the ball.

There were chants of "John Terry, you know what you are," which were met by a response from the away fans of "One England captain".

Chelsea should have levelled almost immediately after Spurs scored only for Sturridge to blaze over when Brad Friedel parried Juan Mata's 20-yard strike.

Sturridge though was on the spot when he escaped the attentions of Benoit Assou-Ekotto to bag the 23rd-minute equaliser, albeit a controversial one.

The ball spun off the sliding Rafael van der Vaart and struck Ashley Cole's hand before the left-back crossed for Sturridge to finish in clinical style.

While the handball was not intentional, it had given Chelsea a clear advantage.

Spurs midfield scrapper Scott Parker complained bitterly to ref Howard Webb but he was wasting his breath.

Didier Drogba needed treatment on his left leg in the warm-up but showed no ill-effects in the game.

The striker was desperately unlucky after bringing down Bosingwa's cross.

His control, high on his chest, was exquisite while his shot cannoned back off the angle of post and bar. Chelsea were piling up the injuries and they lost John Obi Mikel too before half-time allowing Oriol Romeu into the action.

It was a surprise Romeu had not started anyway because the youngster, 20, has been a shining light this season.

Spurs had their own problems and had to substitute hamstring-victim Van der Vaart with Roman Pavlyuchenko at the break.

They switched their system to an orthodox 4-4-2 with Chelsea's major transfer target last summer Luka Modric shoved out to the right.

Modric had one of his quieter nights and could not impose himself on his opponents who were enjoying the lion's share of the chances.

Drogba picked out Ramires with a precision defence-splitting pass but the Brazilian failed to beat Friedel who spread himself well.

Then Friedel held Terry's header at a corner. Imagine if that had gone in.

Adebayor put the ball in the net with his upper arm just before the hour.

But it was ruled out for what appeared to be an offside flag against William Gallas after he flicked the ball on to the Togo man from a Modric free-kick.

Fernando Torres came on for Chelsea's final push but made no impact.

Spurs went close when Cech turned away Sandro's deflected shot and Gallas shot wide at the near post from Bale's cross.

But Ramires missed a golden chance to win it at the other end as he headed wide from eight yards out.

He would have felt even worse had Terry not come to the rescue in stoppage time.

DREAM TEAM

STAR MAN — WILLIAM GALLAS (Spurs)

SPURS: Friedel 7, Walker 6, Gallas 8, King 6, Assou-Ekotto 5, Modric 5, Parker 7, Sandro 7, Bale 7, Adebayor 7, Van der Vaart 8. Subs: Pavlyuchenko (Van der Vaart 46) 6. Not used: Gomes, Kaboul, Bassong, Kranjcar, Rose, Livermore. Booked: Adebayor, Bale.

CHELSEA: Cech 5, Bosingwa 6, Ivanovic 6, Terry 7, Cole 7, Ramires 6, Mikel 5, Meireles 7, Sturridge 7, Drogba 7, Mata 7. Subs: Ferreira (Ivanovic 33) 6, Romeu (Mikel 45) 6, Torres (Drogba 78) 6. Not used: Turnbull, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou. Booked: Ivanovic, Ramires.

REF: H Webb

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

wigan 1-1

2011-12-18T08:29:00.003Z

Independent:

Wigan Athletic 1 Chelsea 1: Chelsea lose chance to make up ground on top two after Sturridge's opener scoring
STEVE TONGUE DW STADIUM

On a ground where they won 6-0 last season, Chelsea found the going far harder yesterday evening and were denied a victory that would have cut the gap on second-placed Manchester United to two points and Manchester City to four ahead of today's games involving the leading pair.
Daniel Sturridge further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a well taken goal in the second half before Wigan's late rally brought an equaliser from Jordi Gomez that even Chelsea's manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted they deserved. It leaves Roberto Martinez's team in the bottom three but with the bonus of defeats for Lancastrian rivals in distress Blackburn and Bolton this was a welcome start to a demanding programme that brings games with Liverpool and United next.
From a run that brought nine successive defeats in all competitions, Martinez has reshaped his troops and instilled new belief in them too, leading to successive away victories and now a point against a side he called "one of the elite teams of world football". Chelsea did not live up to that billing and on the long journey home last night must have been bitterly regretting the failure to steal a march on the teams around them.
Villas-Boas was forced to admit that they lacked creativity and penetration, which was why he took off Oriol Romeu at half-time and changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation. It appeared to have paid off with Sturridge's goal, but the gamble to sit back thereafter was flawed, allowing Wigan to gain the initiative for the first time after an ineffective first half.
"We could have gone on for the second goal but decided to hold on and try to exploit the spaces," the manager said. They failed in both objectives and paid a heavy price after a rare lapse by Petr Cech for the equalising goal. Martinez was understandably delighted, all the more so since his team had folded to a 4-0 defeat after conceding the first goal in their last home game against Arsenal. "If you concede like that and accept it then you give the game up" he said. There was never any chance of that and his double substitution in bringing on the strikers Franco Di Santo – against his old club – and Hugo Rodallega proved crucial.
Four successive Chelsea victories appeared to have restored any flagging confidence and early on the visitors flowed forward confidently with Sturridge particularly threatening. That meant that David Jones, nominally one of the wing-backs in Wigan's unusual 3-4-2-1 formation, was forced backwards when he would have wanted to be pushing on. By half-time Chelsea had nevertheless been restricted to shots from distance, mostly by defensive players. Romeu, now established in the holding role, hit the first and Terry the second, both going the wrong side of a post. The same fate befell the closest effort of the opening half, when Raul Meireles crossed for Didier Drogba to stoop for a brave low header from six yards.
Apart from a drive by Mohamed Diamé, also wide – though not by much – Wigan were dependent on the referee Martin Atkinson awarding them a penalty, which to the crowd's fury he was notably reluctant to do. A collision between Ashley Cole and Gomez early on brought the first optimistic shouts and there seemed to be merit in the appeals when Branislav Ivanovic blocked a fierce shot by Victor Moses with his arm just before the interval.
For the second half Villas-Boas brought on Salomon Kalou, moving Frank Lampard – who had returned for the injured Ramires after being dropped – and Meireles deeper. Lampard continued to see plenty of the ball and knock it around intelligentlybut it was further forward that Chelsea needed some inspiration. It came at last when he was off the field having prolonged treatment for a bang in the face. Ashley Cole carried the ball forward to a position just inside the Wigan half then played a perfect diagonal pass over the retreating defence for Sturridge, who took it down with his left foot and shot low across Ali Al Habsi into the far corner.
This time Wigan refused to submit and took control for the first time. Maynor Figueroa, culpable in not tracking Sturridge closely enough for the goal, hit a left-footed shot from 25 yards that Cech had to push round the post for his first save of the night and suddenly the defence were looking vulnerable. They survived one bizarre incident in which Rodallega was foiled by Cech, who was lying on the ground as Di Santo had a follow-up shot headed off the line by Ivanovic. And with two minutes left Cech failed wretchedly to hold a toe-poke from the left by Rodallega, Gomez tapping in for his fourth goal in five games.

Wigan (3-4-2-1): Al Habsi; Caldwell, Alcatraz, Figuero; Stam, Diame, McCarthy, Jones (Rodallega, 72); Moses, Gomez; Sammon (Di Santo, 73).

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Lampard, Romeu (Kalou, h-t), Meireles; Sturridge (Malouda, 80), Drogba, Mata (Mikel, 66).

Referee Martin Atkinson.
Man of the match Sturridge (Chelsea).
Match rating 7/10.

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

Observer:

Jordi Gómez grabs late Wigan Athletic equaliser to foil Chelsea
Paul Wilson at the DW Stadium

A dramatic late equaliser by Jordi Gómez robbed Chelsea of two points just when an efficient if uninspiring performance seemed to have preserved their winning habit. In a pulsating game on a cold night and a wet pitch neither side truly deserved to lose, but Wigan will undoubtedly be more pleased with their point than Chelsea, who played well enough to put suggestions of disunity or unrest to bed but not well enough to close out the victory that Daniel Sturridge's splendid opening goal seemed to have earned.
"We just let it slip in the end," André Villas-Boas acknowledged. "But this is a different Wigan, they have picked up momentum from recent results. It's disappointing, but we have to put it behind us and focus on a massive game against Tottenham on Thursday."
Wigan have been showing signs of life of late, briefly climbing out of the bottom three as a result of back-to-back away wins at Sunderland and West Brom, though they have not won on their own ground since beating a still shaky Queens Park Rangers back in August. Picking up points against a Chelsea side beginning to look lean and businesslike again seemed a tall order.
"We frustrated Chelsea for most of the game," Roberto Martínez said. "It was disappointing to go behind. That was the only real piece of quality they produced and it led to their only shot on target."
Despite their lowly league position, the home side began with confidence and verve. Victor Moses tricked the Chelsea defence in the opening five minutes and Gómez had a penalty appeal against Ashley Cole turned down, probably correctly as he seemed to be seeking a decision rather than threatening the Chelsea goal. Wigan were somewhat oddly set up, with David Jones detailed to follow Daniel Sturridge and Mohamed Diamé only notionally operating on the right wing, leaving only Ronnie Stam regularly covering the flank where Juan Mata and Cole found unexpected freedom.
When Didier Drogba turned up in the wide open spaces on the left in the 12th minute it led to Chelsea's first attack of note, though ideally Drogba would have been in the middle to meet Mata's cross instead of the less imposing Sturridge.
Wigan were managing to keep Chelsea at bay. The visitors' best efforts of the first half-hour were a speculative shot from 25 yards by John Terry that flew narrowly wide and an effort from a similar distance by Oriol Romeu that Ali al-Habsi tipped round a post, though by the mid-point of the first half the home side were being penned in their own half and struggling to get hold of the ball.
For all Chelsea's control of the game they created very few chances, perhaps exhausted after their efforts in defeating Manchester City on Monday. Five minutes before the interval, Wigan were unable to close down Raul Meireles in time to prevent him crossing for Drogba at the far post, but the striker could only manage a stooping header that went the wrong side of the post.
Wigan's conviction that they were not getting any of the marginal decisions from Martin Atkinson increased when Moses saw a shot stopped on the line by Branislav Ivanovic. The referee immediately waved play on, despite a strong suggestion that the ball had hit the defender on the arm. Replays confirmed that it had, though it was not a raised arm and Ivanovic would have had difficulty getting out of the way.
The Wigan main stand gave Atkinson a spontaneous standing ovation when he finally blew for a foul on Moses minutes later. With the same striker narrowly failing to reach a Jones cross on the stroke of the interval in what was probably the first half's clearest chance, the home side could feel more than encouraged by reaching the break level. Moses continued to pose problems for the Chelsea defence in the second half with his control and tricky turns, even if his finishing and decision-making was not always as sound.
At one point he flicked the ball over two Chelsea defenders to leave himself with only Petr Cech to beat from inside the six-yard box, only to fire a volley that went out for a throw-in.
Drogba hit the side-netting with Chelsea's best chance after Salomon Kalou had escaped Antolín Alcaraz to skip to the goal-line, before the visitors finally opened up Wigan with a classy move to take the lead just before the hour mark.
Cole advanced to half way on the left and sent a diagonal ball forward to pick out Sturridge's run into the box from the opposite wing. Simultaneously bringing the ball down and getting goal-side of what little remained of Wigan's defensive cover, Sturridge managed a decisive finish to beat Habsi from a narrow angle.
The goal was all the more remarkable for coming at a stage when Chelsea were down to 10 men, Frank Lampard having temporarily left the field for treatment after being accidentally struck by Diamé.
Wigan kept to their task, Jones sending a shot over the bar and Maynor Figueroa bringing a save from Cech. Villas-Boas was sufficiently concerned to make a defensive substitution to protect what he had, replacing Mata with Mikel John Obi. Martínez responded by throwing on two more attackers in Hugo Rodallega and Franco Di Santo to chase the game, the latter bringing a sensational headed clearance off the line from Ivanovic after Cech had been caught out of position.
Never completely convincing, Cech was at fault again for the late equaliser, allowing Rodallega's shot to squirm out of his grasp for Gómez to sweep home.
It was nothing less than the home side deserved, even if Chelsea must have thought they had done enough to seal a victory. "We could have kept the ball better in the last moments," a resigned but fair Villas-Boas admitted. "But Wigan had the momentum by then and they got the goal and the point they deserved."

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

Telegraph:

Wigan Athletic 1 Chelsea 1
By Duncan White, at DW Stadium

Just when Chelsea had began to build momentum, they found it checked where they least expected it.
In their last three games against Wigan Athletic Chelsea had won with a cumulative score of 15-0 and came up here expecting more generosity of the season. Roberto Martinez’s side had different ideas.
Chelsea had led this game through Daniel Sturridge’s technically accomplished finish – his 19th goal of the calendar year – but Wigan had been more than a match for the visitors throughout.
There was resolve and courage in the way they played and their continued appetite for the fight brought them a late equaliser.
Jordi Gomez prodded in from close range after Hugo Rodallega had forced an error out of Petr Cech. That point could be invaluable when the reckoning is tallied next summer.
Roberto Martinez knew he had to change something if he was to avoid defeat to a Chelsea side buoyant after their victory over Manchester City.
He sent his team out in a robust 5-3-2, starting very deep and hoping to suffocate the space in midfield when Chelsea had the ball and counter-attack quickly when they won it back.
Martinez’s approach was brave and imaginative and, once his players had settled into it, gave a jaded-looking Chelsea plenty of problems.
Without the direct running of Ramires, missing this game through injury, Chelsea struggled to penetrate the Wigan ranks.
They were restricted to moments of individual inspiration. Sturridge was full of twists, tricks and turns on the right but could not quite deliver the right final ball.
John Terry hit a remarkable shot from range that had Ali Al Habsi at full stretch while the Bahrain goalkeeper had to tip Oriol Romeu’s effort around the post at full stretch after Chelsea’s young holding midfielder meet a Wigan clearance with an accurate volley.
Having survived the first half an hour, Wigan began to grow in confidence. Victor Moses, brash and pacy, was starting to look dangerous and Conor Sammon seemed less intimidated after having turned neatly past Terry.
Mohamed Diame even gave Petr Cech a nervous moment when his ferociously struck outswinger whistled past his far post.
Chelsea were swiftly back in possession. Camped outside the Wigan box and allowed the time and space to leisurely pick his pass, Raul Meireles sent a pitching-wedge pass into the six yard box which Drogba met with a diving header, sending the ball just wide of the far post.
Despite the non-appearance of the promised dancing troupe (pitch too muddy), there was plenty of action at the break.
On came a horde of ground staff to try to prod the pitch back into a respectable state while Chelsea’s fitness coach Jose Mario Rocha put Salomon Kalou through a humiliating one-on-one dance routine in anticipation of his arrival.
So we were entertained after all. Romeu was the man to make way as Villas-Boas sought a tactical answer to his team’s frustration, trying to find more width.
The trade-off was that, with out Romeu, Wigan might find space of their own. Gomez hit a shot into the side-netting early into the second half while Moses impudently flicked the ball up for himself not once but twice in the Chelsea box. Shame about the wild effort to finish.
The game was much more lively with Chelsea’s increased intensity and Wigan’s growing ambition.
Kalou did superbly to wriggle down the by-line and find Drogba and the Ivorian’s outside of the boot effort was so close that the ripple of the side-netting deceived the away fans into celebration.
They got to celebrate for real moments later. Chelsea were actually down to 10 men with as Frank Lampard was off the field getting treatment for a bloody lip sustained in a clash with Diame.
Ashley Cole edged forward into the Wigan half and, spying Sturridge’s run, sent a long diagonal ball into the area. Wigan tamed the ball with his first touch and then struck the ball crisply with his – supposedly weaker – right foot low and past Al Habsi from a narrow angle.
It was a compliment to Wigan that Villas-Boas then replaced the subdued Mata with John Obi Mikel to try to tighten things up.
With Maynor Figeroa drawing a good save out of Cech and James McCarthy’s shot swerving wide you could see why he feared the equaliser.
They went even closer with 15 minutes to go. Cech did well to race out and get to the ball ahead of substitute Hugo Rodallega.
The loose ball went to Gomez whose heavy touch denied him the chance to shoot into the empty net. The ball rolled to Franco di Santo, though, and he turned and shot, only for Ivanovic to divert the ball behind with his head.
Wigan, though, carried on pressing and with three minutes left they finally got their goal. Hugo Rodallega got in the wrong side of Jose Bosingwa and his low shot was fumbled by Cech straight into the path of Gomez. He made no mistake.

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

Mail:
Wigan 1 Chelsea 1: Gomez pounces to land late blow on AVB and check Blues revival

Chelsea let relegation favourites Wigan snatch an unlikely 88th-minute equaliser with a comedy of errors at the DW Stadium. Instead of putting Premier League leaders Manchester City under pressure at the top, Andre Villas-Boas must hold a major dressing- room inquest into how Jordi Gomez was allowed to snatch a dramatic leveller.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech was clearly at fault, allowing a tame scuff from Hugo Rodallega to squirm out of his hands and bounce off his knee into Gomez's path. But others were culpable, too. Jose Bosingwa should not have allowed Rodallega to get his shot away in the first place and Ashley Cole seemed to get in his keeper's way as he bent to pick up the ball.
AVB himself will also have to answer questions, having made a negative substitution as soon as Daniel Sturridge had given his side the lead after an hour, taking off his most creative player, Juan Mata, for a holding midfielder John Obi Mikel.
The result was a draw and instead of being only two points behind Manchester United and four behind City this morning, Chelsea could be nine points off the pace by Sunday night.
The feelgood factor garnered by Monday's win against City has evaporated.
'We could have gone for the second goal but we preferred to hang on to what we had,' admitted Villas-Boas candidly.
'It was three points we expected. We won't blame any individual for the equaliser. We had plenty of players back but there was a loss of concentration. We seemed to lose track of our keeper's position.'
Villas-Boas has made big decisions all season but they did not work out for him yesterday.
Frank Lampard was recalled in place of the injured Ramires but was largely anonymous.
Lampard was not even on the pitch when Chelsea scored their goal, receiving treatment on a cut lip when it happened.
Poor Fernando Torres was kept shivering on the bench for 90 minutes, seeing first Salomon Kalou, then Mikel and finally Florent Malouda sent on ahead of him.
In retrospect, perhaps the £50million striker should have been given the chance to score Chelsea's second goal but he has played just 23 minutes for AVB this month.
Chelsea's anguish was Wigan's delight. Nobody gave Roberto Martinez's team a prayer but they might have won it had referee Martin Atkinson ruled Branislav Ivanovic's first-half hand-ball as deliberate.
'We lost eight games in a row earlier in the season, so to come through a test like that shows huge character,' said Martinez.
'It feels like this team are just beginning to know each other and understand each other.'
Wigan narrowly edged the first 45 minutes. In the most contentious moment of the half, a Victor Moses shot struck Ivanovic on the forearm but Atkinson ruled it ball to hand.
Chelsea knew they had to up their game and Villas-Boas threw on Kalou for Oriol Romeu at the interval. Didier Drogba showed urgency and fired into the side netting.
Lampard's evening had not gone as planned and he was off the field receiving treatment for a badly cut mouth when Chelsea went ahead.
The England midfielder was behind Mohamed Diame when the big Wigan player leaned back and accidentally caught him in the face with the back of his head.
The spillage meant the Chelsea man had to come off temporarily to get cleaned up. And while Lampard was indisposed, Chelsea scored a goal that was ruthlessly executed.
Wigan stood off Cole just inside their own half and the England leftback pinged a terrific diagonal pass to Sturridge, just inside the angle of the penalty area.
Sturridge then showed why he is a serious contender for Fabio Capello's Euro 2012 squad. His first touch brought the ball under control and gave him enough room to shoot. His second was an unerring finish across Al-Habsi into the bottom corner. It was Sturridge's ninth goal of the season to make him Chelsea's top scorer this campaign.
In front of the dugout, Cole, Drogba and Terry hugged each other and yelped in celebration. On the bench, Torres shivered. No sooner had Chelsea scored than AVB brought on Mikel to provide extra defensive insurance. But the move backfired as Martinez threw on two strikers, Franco Di Santo and Rodallega, and Chelsea started backpedalling.
Di Santo almost levelled after Cech raced from his goal and needed Ivanovic to head away the striker's goalbound shot. And when Sturridge rolled around soon after, Wigan became convinced their illustrious visitors were using gamesmanship to get over the line.
If that was the plan, and remember Villas-Boas learned at the side of the master of dark arts, Jose Mourinho, it did not work. Chelsea had too many men back and they got in each other's way as Gomez scored.
So the two youngest managers in the Premier League shared the spoils. But while Martinez, 38, may feel he can keep Wigan up, the odds on Villas-Boas, 34, winning the league title are lengthening.

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

Mirror:

Wigan 1-1 Chelsea
By Derick Allsop

Petr Cech was handing out Christmas presents as Chelsea tossed away three points at the DW Stadium.
The visitors were cruising to a win that would have closed the gap on the two Manchester clubs at the summit of the Premier League.
But then the fallibility in the Chelsea defence – so often exposed this season – returned. They failed to block Hugo Rodallega’s run into the penalty area. That was bad enough.
The way Cech fumbled his shot was calamity goalkeeping of the most embarrassing order. And Jordi Gomez popped up to tap home his fourth goal in five games to earn relegation-threatened Wigan a precious point.
Cue a frantic finale in which the home side sensed they might even snatch a momentous victory.
Daniel Sturridge had earlier given Chelsea the lead with a touch of class, but Wigan refused to lie down and came back to regain parity with a stirring finish.
Roberto Martinez’s side felt aggreived they had not been awarded a first-half penalty and eventually a mesaure of justice was one.
After fending off the hounds and reaffirming their Premier League title intentions by ending Manchester City’s unbeaten start to the season, Chelsea arrived here anticipating nothing short of three more points.
They won 6-0 in the corresponding fixture last season and Wigan collapsed in the face of another A-list team, Arsenal, in their last home match.
But Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is nothing if not optimistic and, on the back of consecutive away victories, he insisted that a positive approach – allied to more resilient defending – could ensure them something from this daunting encounter.
Not surprisingly, the Spaniard stuck with side successful at West Brom the previous week, while Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged Frank Lampard’s decisive contribution against City by naming him in Chelsea’s starting line-up for injured Ramires. Out-of-sorts striker Fernando Torres (above) was again on the bench.
Wigan’s revived confidence was evident in the early play, although a hopeful penalty appeal was emphatically rejected by referee Martin Atkinson. Chelsea gradually dominated possession without immediate success and were limited to a long range effort from John Terry, which drifted harmlessly wide of Ali Al Habsi’s goal.
The Wigan goalkeeper had to react to Oriol Romeu’s 30-yard volley and duly turned the ball around his right-hand post.
Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge repeatedly probed the wings and tested Wigan’s back three with their crosses only for Gary Caldwell and Co. to stand defiant.
Victor Moses darted into the Chelsea area to earn a corner and suddenly lift the home support. Mohamed Diame gave the Londoners a little more concern with a shot across goal.
The threat was enough to move Didier Drogba to demand more from his team-mates. For all their poise on the ball and movement off it, they hadn’t offered the big striker a chance on goal. His pleas clearly worked. Rual Meireles swung in a centre from deep on the right and Drogba went close with a lunging header.
Wigan’s response was bold and, they believed, worthy of a penalty. Moses drove the ball on target and it struck Branislav Ivanovic on the arm. But again, referee Atkinson was unmoved.
Villa-Boas brought on Salomon Kalou for Romeu at the start of the second half and he instantly forced a corner with a jinking run.
Wigan survived again and Cech had to field a shot from Maynor Figueroa. Moses threatened again juggling the ball into the six yard box yet ultimately making nothing of the half chance.
The energetic Kalou made more in-roads down the left and picked out Drogba who tried to improvise but stabbed the ball off target.
That miss was soon forgotten, however, when Chelsea produced a goal of the highest order.
Ashley Cole spotted the run of Sturridge, whose control was superb, and his finish even better.
But then David Jones charged through to shoot wide before the ever-adventurous Figueroa brought Cech into action.
But with the clock ticking down the home side got the goal they craved to further dent Chelsea’s title ambitions.
VERDICT: On a day in which both Manchester clubs were out of action, Gomez's late strike for Wigan will have been a real blow for Andre Villas-Boas' attempts to out pressure on the top two.
***
THE BIG ISSUE: Will Roman Abramovich allow Andre Villas-Boas a transitional, trophyless season?
It is always a guessing game when it comes to affairs at the Bridge because the owner’s intentions tend to be leaked only when he feels inclined to do so.
He took a huge gamble when he shipped out an experienced, serial winner and appointed AVB, and time will tell whether it is the second coming of the Special One.
But the Silent One will not relish being proved wrong and logic suggests he will be prepared to give his young manager a minimum of one full season to reshape the Chelsea team in his own image and likeness.
At the very least, the owner will expect his club to secure Champions League qualification and make their presence felt at the business end of the season.
A trophy would simply confirm AVB’s position.

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

Sun:

Wigan 1 Chelsea 1

JORDI GOMEZ pounced on Petr Cech's howler two minutes from time to put the breaks on Chelsea's revival.Daniel Sturridge had given Andre Villas-Boas' men the lead with a stunning 59th-minute strike.But Cech spilt Hugo Rodallega's tame cross in the dying stages to hand Wigan a simple leveller.
Chelsea had put SIX past Wigan here last term — yet the Latics had the edge in the early exchanges.
The home fans were shouting for a penalty when Gomez went down under pressure from Ashley Cole but ref Martin Atkinson waved play away.
Gary Caldwell then blocked a dangerous cross from Sturridge before John Terry tried his luck from 30 yards.
Chelsea were settling in now and almost broke through when Ali Al Habsi saved Oriol Romeu's 23rd-minute volley.
At the other end, a Wigan period of pressure ended with Mohamed Diame gunning a shot narrowly wide.
Didier Drogba had a sniff seven minutes before the break but the veteran hitman nodded Raul Meireles' cross wide.
Wigan had another penalty shout when Branislav Ivanovic blocked Victor Moses' shot with his arm — but Atkinson was once again having none of it.
And Roberto Martinez's men ended the half on the up when Moses just missed David Jones' dangerous low cross.
Villas-Boas threw Salomon Kalou into the mix after the break, with Romeu making way.
And the Ivory Coast star almost made an instant impact with a slalom run and shot that was blocked by Ronnie Stam.
Moses was the main threat to the Blues and his brilliant ball-juggling act was followed with a shot that just crept wide.
Instead, it was Chelsea who broke the deadlock thanks to Sturridge's sizzling effort.
Cole made tracks into Wigan territory and picked out the striker in the Latics' box.
Sturridge brought it down first time, picked his spot and lashed it past Al Habsi.
Maynor Figueroa came close to an instant leveller but Cech tipped his shot wide.
Chelsea then had their hearts in their mouths when Terry went down cluthcing his knee.
However, the magic sponge did the job and the Blues' captain was thrown back into action.
Wigan almost grabbed an equaliser in a nerve-shredding minute following Branislav Ivanovic's blunder.
The defender sent a hospital pass back to Cech, who scrambled the ball clear under pressure from Hugo Rodallega.
With the keeper stranded, Franco di Santo tried his luck — and his shot would have gone in had Ivanovic not redeemed himself with a stunning header behind.
There was time for more drama, however, and Cech's blooper gifted Gomez a leveller.
And Wigan could have even had a late spot-kick after Di Santo tangled with Chelsea's Jose Bosingwa.

Wigan: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Stam, Jones (Rodallega 72), Diame, McCarthy, Moses, Gomez, Sammon (Di Santo 73). Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Gohouri, Crusat, Watson, McArthur.
Goals: Gomez 88.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Romeu (Kalou 46), Lampard, Meireles, Sturridge (Malouda 80),Drogba, Mata (Mikel 66). Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Torres, Ferreira, McEachran.
Goals: Sturridge 59.
Att: 18,320
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).

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

Star:

WIGAN 1 CHELSEA 1: MY SWEET JORD Wigan boss Roberto MartinezI will probably be disappointed tomorrow that we didn’t get three points
By Paul Hetherington

JORDI GOMEZ stunned Chelsea with an equaliser two minutes from time last night.
Daniel Sturridge’s ninth goal of the season looked like giving Chelsea their fourth successive league win.
But when Chelsea keeper Petr Cech failed to hold Hugo Rodallega’s effort, Gomez was on hand to give Wigan a deserved point.
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez admitted: “I will probably be disappointed tomorrow that we didn’t get three points.
“That was a perfect performance from us. We lost eight games in a row and we needed to gain some momentum.
“Now, we have that understanding you need as a team and we played with a real belief.”
The Latics went into battle with their survival hopes lifted by their away form.
While Wigan men have struggled at the DW Stadium, they faced Chelsea having won their last two games on their travels.
Victories at Sunderland and West Brom had lifted Wigan off the bottom of the table. And they felt they had an early case for a penalty, when Gomez went down in the box after being challenged by Ashley Cole.
The well-positioned referee, Martin Atkinson, however, did not agree.
But with Sturridge having joy down the right flank, Chelsea were soon on top.
Skipper John Terry sent a long-range effort across the face of the goal and just wide.
And midfielder Oriol Romeu was denied by Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi, when Chelsea tried again from distance.
Too often, Chelsea’s final ball wasn’t precise enough.
But when Raul Meireles produced a fine delivery from the right, the diving Didier Drogba saw his header travel just wide.
Wigan and their fans weren’t happy with Atkinson’s decision-making.
They felt they had another case for a penalty four minutes from half-time, when a Victor Moses drive hit Branislav Ivanovic on the arm.
But as the Chelsea defender had his arms down, the referee once again ruled it was not a spot-kick. His view, presumably, was that it was a case of ball to arm, rather than hand to ball.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas adopted a positive attacking approach from the beginning of the second half.Striker Salomon Kalou came on to replace defensive midfielder Romeu.
But Moses cleverly created an opportunity for himself, only to waste it by blazing wildly across the face of the goal.
With Frank Lampard – in for the injured Ramires – off the field to receive attention to a facial injury, Chelsea took the lead in the 59th minute.
Cole’s long ball was superbly control- led by Sturridge, who then fired a right- foot shot across Al Habsi and into the far corner.
When Wigan tried to hit back quickly, Maynor Figueroa was denied by Cech’s fine save.
Wigan kept battling to the end and Gomez added the finishing touch.
Villas-Boas insisted: “There were collective mistakes and Wigan made the most of our lack of concentration.
“Our confidence is not affected and it was a fair result.
“We didn’t get the three points we could have got and thought we could get, but we will have to see the other results over the next 24 hours to see where we stand.
“It’s always a battle in the Premier League and we now have a massive game against Tottenham. Wigan fought hard and deserved their equaliser.”

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

People:

Wigan 1 - 1 Chelsea: Cech lets two precious points slip through his fingers
by Alan Nixon

Petr CECH let two precious points slip through his fingers as Chelsea paid a heavy price for complacency.
Keeper Cech made a real hash of stopping sub Hugo Rodallega’s scuffed shot with a couple of minutes left and watched the ball squirm from his grasp.
A hard-earned win vanished asdelighted Spaniard Jordi Gomez stabbed in an equaliser that the lively Latics deserve for a gutsy performance but thought had gone.
The mistake from the Czech – shaken up just before by a tackle on Rodallega – summed up the slipshod show from the Stamford Bridge side who blew their chance and were never on their game.
Until that feeble fumble Chelsea were grateful to Daniel Sturridge.
Sturridge was on his way to the north west as the calendar flicked over, a loanee at Bolton and unsure about where his future lay after a couple of seasons of Stamford Bridge frustration.
But now – as Andre Villas-Boas builds a brave new Chelsea world – there is one lad on the centre stage and dragging some of his senior mates along with him.
Villas-Boas saw that Sturridge was the right stuff when he took over and the way he has put him in from the start is probably the Portugeezer’s biggest triumph so far.
Sturridge paid back that faith with his latest major contribution.
He controlled a fabulous long ball from Ashley Cole with the kind of technique that marks him out from most of his contemporaries.
And the confidence of the kid, who should spend next summer in England’s starting line-up, was there to see with the punishing finish.
The angle was tight and Ali Al Habsi had to be beaten, but a crisp drive flew into the net under the delighted noses of the Chelsea travelling support.
And how Villas-Boas needed that one as his team laboured for so long, looking nothing like the side that ended Manchester City’s unbeaten run.
Chelsea had the air of a side that thought they only had to turn up to collect the points, while the Latics fought for their lives.
These games have been painfullyone-sided of late, but that was not the script this time round as Roberto Martinez’s men made a real go of it.
Wigan yelled for a penalty when Jordi Gomez fell over Ashley Cole but the appeals were met with disdain by referee Martin Atkinson – and a snarl from England’s fesity full-back.
There was more justifiable home indignation when Branoslav Ivanovic tried to behead danger man Victor Moses. The challenge deserved abooking but the Serb got off.
Slackness
Chelsea needed the class of Sturridge to wake them up. He was double-marked but still had the skill to cause chaos with a run and cross.
Young Oriol Romeu hit the target with a controlled and crafty 30-yarder but Al Habsi was alert and turned the shot round the post.
But there was a bit of slackness about Chelsea despite the promptings of Frank Lampard, restored to the starting line-up.
Cech showed signs of complacency with a kick-out that almost handed Moses an early present, but the young forward failed to make him pay.
Cavalier centre-back Antolin Alcaraz was close to heading in a corner before Mohamed Diame flashed a screamer past the far post as Wigan matched their big-name rivals.
Wigan did retreat towards their own box a bit too much, but Chelsea found the midfield too cluttered for their liking and showed a surprise lack of invention.
Juan Mata pinged the odd long ball that promised but it was one of those days when Didier Drogba cried out for more help in the middle.
Drogba’s diving header from Raul Meireles’ astute cross before the break was the big target man’s first real chance to break the deadlock.
Even a side with Wigan’s defensive deficiencies coped quite well with the predictable stuff they faced – as Villas-Boas looked on and wondered what change to make.
It could have got worse as Moses slammed a shot goalwards and Ivanovic blocked the drive with his arm,with Latics denied a penalty on half time.
TV replays showed that ref Atkinson could easily have pointed to the spot and the home fans howled at yet another key call going against them this season.
Danger man Moses was inches from connecting and Gomez hit the side-net as Wigan kept up their surprise bid for one of the results of the campaign.
Villas-Boas went on the front foot to his credit and put on Salomon Kalou, but the home tails were up and the game just got harder.
Chelsea were in real discomfort and nobody more than Lampard who took an accidental blow to the nose from Diame. Sturridge showed why he is the new go-to guy with a quite brilliant finish that made a nonsense of what had gone before.
Cech needed treatment after a collision with Rodallega before gifting Wigan and unlikely point.

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

man city 2-1

2011-12-13T06:38:00.001Z

Independent:

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 1
SAM WALLACE STAMFORD BRIDGE

He may not get from box-to-box as he once did, he may not score 20 goals in a season ever again and these days he does not get in Chelsea's first XI, but when there is a game to be won from the penalty spot at Stamford Bridge that job is still best left to Frank Lampard.
He was a second half substitute last night, sent on by the Chelsea manager who is only just younger than him, and has brought to an end the old rule that Lampard starts every game for Chelsea. But the most significant win of Andre Villas-Boas' nascent Chelsea career was launched from the penalty spot by Lampard and the 178th goal he has scored for the club.
The goal that ended Manchester City's unbeaten run in the Premier League came eight minutes from time but Villas-Boas' team had been on top in this game for some time. Roberto Mancini said that the game changed on the second booking for Gael Clichy before the hour that reduced his team to ten men but to the home team's credit it came a lot earlier than that as they battled back from one goal down.
First it was Newcastle United's home record that was broken at St James' Park nine days ago, then it was Valencia who were beaten at Stamford Bridge a week ago today. Now the league leaders have also been brought to heel by a team who can claim to be the country's form side and go into Saturday's game against Wigan Athletic with a new conviction that they can be serious contenders in this title race.
Villas-Boas dismissed the gap of seven points that now divides his team from City as "nothing" in a league season as unpredictable as the current one. The Chelsea manager has taken on all-comers over the last few days, not least in his one-man campaign against Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, but to give him his due, last night was one of those occasions that can launch a young manager.
There was no sympathy for Roberto Mancini that City were denied a fairly blatant penalty in the first half for Jose Bosingwa's trip on David Silva – Villas-Boas believes he has too many decisions go against him this season to worry about that. Either way, there were complaints from Chelsea that the referee Mark Clattenburg had missed Yaya Toure slapping Juan Mata.
For Villas-Boas, as ever, the real triumph was in his tactical decisions. He picked another team that did not include Lampard or Fernando Torres in the first XI and was rewarded with excellent performances from Daniel Sturridge, Oriol Romeu, Ramires and Raul Meireles.
It was the latter who chipped in with the equaliser after 33 minutes of the first half. It was Ramires who drew the foul for Clichy's second booking. Villas-Boas said after the game that the "medium-low block" – his defensive line that no longer pushes so high up the pitch – was a more natural fit for his team and certainly they looked more comfortable last night keeping the likes of Silva and Sergio Aguero in check.
As for City, the plan, as of last night, was that the players were to stay in London for their Christmas party, complete with a fancy dress theme. Whether the party went ahead or not, it sounded like a night that was made for Mario Balotelli who scored within the first two minutes.
While Mancini regarded his team as unlucky, especially in the award of a penalty that he said could be seen "even outside the stadium", there were other moments in which they were fortunate. Vincent Kompany could easily have been dismissed for a second half foul on Mata having been booked before the break. In those early stages, City had the home side on the rack but they failed to put themselves out of sight.
Although they eventually sorted themselves out to defend deep, as they had against Valencia, the Chelsea defence found itself jumbled up and out of place in the early stages and allowed Sergio Aguero to pushed a beautifully-judged ball through their back line with the outside of his foot. Balotelli took it past Petr Cech and squeezed the ball in with only one minute and 39 seconds elapsed
For Villas-Boas it was a demoralising start with Stamford Bridge quiet and fearful in those early stages. Yet Chelsea hung on and it was not really until the 25 th minute that they forced a proper save out of Joe Hart. Didier Drogba's quick feet down the right channel meant that he had the space to get off a shot, little more than a sidefoot, that the City goalkeeper pushed round the post.
While they did not create a great volume of chances, there was no doubting that Villas-Boas' side had eased their way back into the game when Meireles scored the equaliser. Sturridge, who had given a Clichy a difficult time, crossed from the right and Meireles came onto the ball late, volleying it past Hart.
Clichy had failed to deal with Sturridge in the first half and his tackle after the break on Ramires was inexcusably poor. He took none of the ball, all of the man and left Clattenburg, who had booked Clichy for a foul on Sturridge in the first half, with an easy decision to make.
It forced a major reorganisation from Mancini and the dynamic of the game altered considerably. Now City were hanging on for the point away from home and it was Chelsea who came forward with a desire to win the game.
With Clichy's off, Kolo Toure came on at right-back which allowed Pablo Zabaleta to move over to the left. Later the City manager would sacrifice Silva for Nigel De Jong as he tried to shore up the middle. Villas-Boas went the other way: he sent on Lampard for Meireles to win the game.
It was Sturridge's shot from the right side of Chelsea's area that struck the arm of Joleon Lescott, who foolishly raised his hands, and Clattenburg made the right call. After that all that remained was for Lampard to convince Mata he was the right man for the job and the rest of the story was as familiar as the old days when Chelsea would win games like these as a matter of course.

Substitutes: Chelsea Turnbull (gk), Lampard (Meireles, 73), Torres, Mikel (Sturridge, 88), Malouda (Mata, 84), Ferreira, Kalou. Manchester City Pantilimon (gk), Dzeko (Lescott, 85), Johnson ,Savic, Nasri, K Touré (Aguero 64), De Jong (Silva 85)
Booked: Chelsea Romeu, Ramires, Meirles, Drogba. Manchester City Kompany, Clichy. Sent off: Man City Clichy (58).
Man of the match Sturridge. Match rating 7/10.
Possession: Chelsea 58% Manchester City 42%.
Referee M Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear). Attendance 41,730.

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

Guardian:

Frank Lampard's late penalty for Chelsea bursts Manchester City bubble
Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge

The upper reaches of the Premier League are once more a place of fascination and fallibility. This was Manchester City's first defeat in this competition since last season, when they were overcome at Everton on 7 May. They were hampered by the dismissal of the left-back Gaël Clichy with a second yellow card after he had fouled Ramires in the 58th minute.
City lead the table by a mere two points, much to the satisfaction of a pursuing Manchester United. That, all the same, was an irrelevance to everyone at Stamford Bridge. The gap that Chelsea must close does still stand at a substantial seven points but outcomes of this sort should galvanise the squad and enhance the authority of the manager, André Villas-Boas.
While there is a great deal of interest in seeing just what the Portuguese can achieve with the club, victory came with a penalty converted by a veteran who had been brought on from the bench. That description of Frank Lampard will scarcely please him but his cameo was decisive as he crashed home a spot kick in the 82nd minute that settled the outcome. At 33, he at least had the experience to disregard his failure with a penalty at Newcastle United.
The opportunity for Lampard arose because Joleon Lescott's left arm had been raised as Daniel Sturridge's drive was blocked by it. In struggles between well-matched sides, grievances and complaints are natural. City, who had gone ahead at the outset, should have had an invitation to extend that lead. The referee, Mark Clattenburg, somehow judged the contact insufficient for a penalty to be given after 14 minutes when José Bosingwa connected with David Silva.
City will have difficulty purging that episode from their minds. As it is, Roberto Mancini's team are still in the lead; they will have enough sense to appreciate that they are ahead and will not be going to Old Trafford, where they ran amok, or Stamford Bridge again in the league this season.
It says much for City that Chelsea, with such means, were close to being regarded as underdogs in the buildup to this match. Mancini will have to live with the unavoidable expectations.
Villas-Boas, for his part, has had the type of memorable impact that will strengthen the bond with the Stamford Bridge crowd.
With Chelsea topping their Champions League group while United and City were eliminated from the tournament, there is a sense of status about the Portuguese and his squad. That, in turn, should be enlivening for the Premier League as a whole. Victory over Valencia had been achieved with cunning as Chelsea won with a counterattacking style. Villas-Boas, in his analysis and tactical decisions, can be intriguing.
Even so, he may have felt powerless in the second minute of this encounter. With John Terry pushing up, Sergio Agüero released Mario Balotelli on the right and he resisted a challenge by Branislav Ivanovic before rounding the goalkeeper, Petr Cech, to finish.
But there was nothing tumultuous about the contest then. Chelsea continued to be methodical since most of the match lay before them. The crowd were merely subdued, as if awaiting further clues. When Didier Drogba did let fly from the fringes of the penalty area in the 25th minute the save by the City goalkeeper, Joe Hart, was unremarkable, even if he did concede a corner.
With City relishing their lead, the pressure bore down on the hosts and, to a degree, their manager. His reaction in this instance helps explain why the owner, Roman Abramovich, is content to give the newcomer time and also accounts for the fact that he agreed to pay Porto £13.3m for Villas-Boas.
Another style was demanded in this match to that which succeeded against Valencia. Chelsea drew level in the 34th minute. Terry picked out Sturridge on the right and he easily beat Clichy before his low centre was converted with force on the volley by Raul Meireles. All in all, the occasion had not been prone to hysteria. That may reflect the fact that these are managers at least striving to be measured in their behaviour. Each of them appreciates just how much hyperbole can sweep over them because of public's fascination with the budgets being authorised for this apparent struggle for command of English football.
Despite the intensity, this may be only a little episode in the tale of the clubs. Defeat is scarcely welcome for City but talk of invincibility is a sort of distraction and the side can now get back to a more normal life, even if they cannot find it easy to thank Chelsea for taking away some of that intense focus on them.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 1
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent, at Stamford Bridge

When the moment came, when the opportunity to show his class arrived, Frank Lampard took his chance. He took responsibility for the late penalty, took the ball and drove it with unadulterated venom into the back ofManchester City’s net, bringing Chelsea a momentous victory and reviving their title ambitions.
Rarely has the Bridge sung a player’s name more passionately in recent years. They knew what this goal meant to Lampard and what he means to them.
Some people keep writing Lampard off but he keeps rewriting the script. He was discarded by England but soon returned as captain. He was deemed surplus to Andre Villas-Boas’s requirements, seemingly one of the thirtysomething brigade being guided towards retirement or pastures new. People are foolish to underestimate Lampard, such a driven individual with much more to offer.
What happened in the 82nd minute could have turned Chelsea’s league season around, let alone Lampard’s. It had looked as if City would hold on for a point, but the loss of Gaël Clichy to a deserved red card after 57 minutes ultimately proved too much. Invited on, Chelsea attacked with growing gusto and when Joleon Lescott inexplicably handled a shot from the outstanding Daniel Sturridge, Lampard had his date with destiny. Joe Hart had a date with the back of the net.
This was pure Lampard, pouring all his frustration at being again left on the bench into a constructive act for his club. He could have sulked, could have looked to link himself to another club but Lampard got his head down, remained the true professional, and did himself and his club proud.
The Bridge rocked as it has rarely rocked before this season. From all around the ground came song after song, asking City who they were and what their plans were for Thursday nights, as the visitors slumped to their first defeat in the league since May 7 at Goodison Park. At the final whistle, the speakers almost shook off their hinges to “One Step Beyond”.
This was Madness was all right. This was Premier League football at its dramatic best, a game teeming with movement, incident, enterprise and the obligatory refereeing controversy. There was even noises afterwards: tempers in the tunnel capturing the tempest outside.
If occasions played in a downpour can be sulphurous, this had been one of them, the fireworks begun inevitably by Mario Balotelli. For the man who likes a late night, Balotelli had started early, going to town on Chelsea’s initially wretched defence as City dominated the opening half-hour.
Sergio Agüero, all elegant trickery, made Balotelli’s goal, cutting in from the right with a marvellous run brimming with technique and threat. John Terry tried to keep close but failed, allowing Agüero to slip the ball brilliantly past Branislav Ivanovic for Balotelli.
The striker, justifying his selection ahead of Edin Dzeko, relished the opportunity, enjoying this one on one with Petr Cech. He glided wide, leaving Cech stranded, before calmly rolling the ball into the net. The angle was relatively tight but no problem for Balotelli. Chelsea’s back-pedalling defenders had no chance. Those close to the goalmouth reported a cup of tea thrown at Balotelli.
After the Typhoo, the typhoon. As the rain thundered down, soaking Villas-Boas’s private detective’s mac, making the ball skim across the surface like an ice-puck, City just tore into Chelsea for half an hour. Agüero was a real spinning top, putting Terry and company in a total spin. The Argentine held off Jose Bosingwa effortlessly but shot just wide.
Then Balotelli came calling again, slipping a super little pass across the area to David Silva. The Spaniard darted into the box, his progress stopped by Bosingwa’s illegal challenge. Mark Clattenburg waved to Silva to get up but took no further action. It was either a penalty or a caution for simulation. City’s case appeared strong. Big moment.
Spurred on by their fans, Chelsea began to come alive. Sturridge, looking every inch an England international, led the comeback, creating a chance for Didier Drogba, who was denied when Hart stretched out a hand to save. Sturridge was in the mood, brilliantly fashioning Chelsea’s equaliser. Controlling Terry’s driven pass, Sturridge dribbled past the hapless Clichy before crossing for Raul Meireles to score from close range.
Against the first-half run of play, Chelsea were level and doubts began to seep into the visitors’ minds. Juan Mata was starting to cause problems, twisting City markers this way and that. Sturridge was running at Clichy, who earned his first yellow for a foul on the England attacker. City were in a strange mood, Yaya Touré kicking out at Ramires and Vincent Kompany clattering Mata. Then Clichy, naivety personified, caught Ramires and had to walk.
Chelsea sensed a chance, knowing that their title hopes really required all three points. With 18 minutes left, Meireles was removed for Lampard, who was greeted rapturously by the Chelsea faithful. In truth, Meireles had hardly done badly, even scoring, but Lampard is still a favoured son around these parts, even if not in the manager’s office.
City’s 10 men were sitting deep, absorbing punishment. Roberto Mancini removed Agüero and then Silva, sending on two defensive types, Kolo Touré and Nigel de Jong. City were now 4-3-1-1, with Yaya Touré supporting the front-running Balotelli.
Still Chelsea flooded forward, willed on by their clamorous crowd.And then came that sweetest of moments for Lampard. Mancini was incensed, arguing with fourth official Mark Halsey, but City could really have no complaints. Clichy had cost them. So had Lescott.
The Bridge resounded to “super Chelsea”. This was a super comeback, a sign of Chelsea’s resilience, a reminder that the title race is far from a two-horse chase. And it was a reminder of Lampard’s enduring class.

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Mail:

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 1: Lampard bursts City bubble to throw title race open
By MATT LAWTON

After being dropped for the first time in eight years at Chelsea last week, Frank Lampard was never likely to run to the bench and celebrate his winning goal with the manager.
But Andre Villas-Boas did not seem to care. Not when his side have now become the first team to beat Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League this season and not when they can also taunt them with their superior performances in the Champions League.
‘Thursday night, Channel Five,’ cried Chelsea’s joyous supporters, and after the scrutiny their team has been under in recent weeks that was understandable.
This was an insane game of football. A marvellous piece of sporting theatre but something that was as unpredictable as a Villas-Boas press conference.
After two minutes City were in front thanks to Mario Balotelli. After 30 it seemed they were about to condemn their hosts to another crushing defeat and put Chelsea’s young manager under yet more pressure. From Sergio Aguero there were touches of genius; from City’s midfield another commanding display.
But first came the equaliser from Raul Meireles and then a second half that saw the power shift back to Chelsea, not least because of a second yellow card that meant Gael Clichy was off after 57 minutes.
Only after that was there a sense of inevitability, Lampard’s arrival from the bench pointing to a possible winner from a player so obviously aggrieved at being omitted from the side that faced Valencia last week and apparently heading towards the exit door after a long and distinguished career at Stamford Bridge.
It was Joleon Lescott who finally gave him the opportunity to respond in the 82nd minute, blocking a shot from Daniel Sturridge with his hand and leaving Mark Clattenburg with no option but to point to the penalty spot. Lampard placed the ball on the rain-soaked turf before driving it past Joe Hart.
That he ran away from the bench and towards the crowd was no great surprise. If Villas-Boas did ask his players to acknowledge the bench after scoring, and Chelsea are suggesting the exchange was not quite as has been reported, they almost seemed to over-compensate, barely looking towards the bench never mind running over.
It was a triumphant, less prickly Villas-Boas who emerged afterwards. He has been raging against the world in recent weeks but now his team are beginning to click into gear, this coming on the back of those wins against Valencia and Newcastle.
How they arrived there on Monday night still takes some explaining. For a start, City should have had a penalty soon after Balotelli’s opening goal when Jose Bosingwa brought down David Silva with a clumsy tackle.
Further to that, Meireles could have been sent off for a studs up challenge on Pablo Zabaleta. That said, Yaya Toure could have been dismissed for slapping Juan Mata in the face and Vincent Kompany also flirted dangerously with Clattenburg.
For City, discipline has been a problem. Clichy was their third red card in six games and the fact that they lost after failing to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League presents Mancini with his first major setback of the season. Something that presents him with a different challenge and something that makes the title race that much more interesting.
Presumably City’s Christmas party, due to take place in London last night, was not quite as riotous as it might have been.
Their party-animal-in-chief did his best to kick the evening off on the right note. Late to bed but early to rise, Balotelli gave another demonstration of why he is worth the trouble.
He may have broken a curfew late on Saturday night but he scored a quite brilliant goal that was all the more impressive for the awful conditions.
Aguero was the creator, skipping away from John Terry and two or three other Chelsea players before delivering a perfect through ball.
But it was Balotelli who drifted off Bransilav Ivanovic before dragging the ball wide of an advancing Petr Cech and scoring into an empty net. It was his 11th goal in 14 games and the finest advertisement curry will ever have if it wants to be seen as a health food.
At this stage Chelsea were in trouble; chastened and lacking confidence and almost two goals down when Bosingwa brought down Silva.
But then came a change in approach, Chelsea returning to the deeper defensive approach that worked so well against Valencia and providing their forwards with more security.
Why always him? The Italian striker is mobbed after scoring his eighth Premier League goal of the campaign
The equaliser arrived soon afterwards. In the 34th minute to be exact. It started with a ball forward from Terry and continued when Sturridge, excellent last night, surged past Clichy before inviting Meireles to score with what was a super volley.
Did Chelsea’s players then run to Villas-Boas and his staff on the bench on that occasion? Well no. But they gained in momentum after the break and continued to target Clichy, who having already been booked once for a foul on Sturridge received a second yellow card for a foul on Ramires.
Now Chelsea were in control, solid in defence and strong in midfield. Ramires was impressive, as was Oriol Romeu, and the arrival of Lampard as a 73rd minute replacement for Meireles gave them a freshness in that area of the field.
Mancini responded to by sending on Kolo Toure and Nigel de Jong in the hope of escaping with a draw, but to no avail.
With a penalty came a moment as pleasurable for Lampard as it was for Villas-Boas, even if Chelsea’s players had a group hug at the end without their manager.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 2-1 Man City: Leaders get Lamped
By Martin Lipton

Invincible, no more. Unbeatable, no longer.
Mortal, like the rest. Still top, but with that sense of invulnerability obliterated.
And now the real test of Manchester City's nerve and courage awaits.
For four months, everything had turned to gold for Roberto Mancini and his men. Everything had gone right.
But six days after being evicted from the Champions League, City were sent spinning to a first Premier League defeat of the season, left fuming and flailing by the penalty that never was, far more than the one that Frank Lampard smashed home to send Stamford Bridge wild with delight.
You could understand Mancini's frustrations, too.
A goal up, as Mario Balotelli profited from the brilliance of Sergio Aguero and the trapeze wire of Chelsea's high defensive line, and in total control, the match - perhaps the entire season - turned on Mark Clattenburg's 14th minute decision.
Receiving from Balotelli, David Silva twisted inside, inducing a reckless leg stretch from Jose Bosingwa, contact clear to all inside the Bridge.
Yet not, crucially, to the man who mattered.
Clattenburg was three yards away, with an unobstructed view.
Incredibly, to the utter and righteous disbelief of Mancini and his men, he waved play on.
It was, unquestionably, pivotal.
Had that been given - as it doubtless should have been - and converted, there would have been no way back for Chelsea, and City would have killed off one of their challengers.
But it was not and as City started to nurse a sense of grievance that they have to dispel soon, they allowed Chelsea to first clamber off the floor, next gain parity, then deliver the knock-out blow, kick-starting their own campaign in the process, and possibly giving us the sort of title race we have craved for years.
City had done so much right, their one-touch football a joy to behold as Silva and Aguero tormented the Chelsea back-line.
The opener was a perfect embodiment of that subtle, penetrative passing football.
There seemed little on as Aguero received from Pablo Zabaleta, with John Terry parked up his backside, just inside the Chelsea half.
His half-turn was sublime, the pass with the outside of his right foot even better and Balotelli was away like a hot knife through melted butter, leaving Branislav Ivanovic trailing in his wake as he walked past Petr Cech to pass nonchalantly into the net.
Less than two minutes gone, in control - and City looked for more.
Silva, found by Aguero, shrugged aside Bosingwa's woeful attempt at a tackle but then dragged wide with the goal at his mercy and even after the penalty shout there were moments when Chelsea looked on the brink of destruction.
Yet City, strangely, lost their way, Chelsea started to get a grip in midfield and Juan Mata, utterly overshadowed by former Valencia team-mate Silva in the opening stages, gradually became the most influential Spaniard on the pitch.
Mata's pass saw Didier Drogba test Joe Hart and from Chelsea's next attack, they levelled.
Clichy was culpable, standing off Daniel Sturridge - who providing plenty of evidence for Mancini's contention that City erred horrendously in letting him leave for just £5million - and letting him twist round the outside.
The delivery was excellent and Raul Meireles, who had drifted off the back of a sleeping Yaya Toure, smashed home on the volley from six yards.
Now the game was in the balance, before Clichy's double folly - first bringing down Sturridge, then a wild lunge on Ramires - pitched the equilibrium in Chelsea's direction.
Chelsea now had all the initiative, City were hanging on grimly, hoping the final whistle would come to their salvation, but it was perhaps inevitable that Lampard should be the man to send them to defeat.
Dropped against Valencia last week, omitted again from the starting side here, Lampard remains the man for the big occasion.
When Villas-Boas turned to him with 17 minutes to go, the script was there to be written.
Lampard found Sturridge, whose shot was stopped by Joleon Lescott's raised arms and while Mata initially wanted the ball, Lampard pulled rank.
His finish demonstrated why: drilled down the middle as Hart dived to his left, setting off wild celebrations - probably echoed in front of a certain Scot's fireplace in Alderley Edge - casting the first seeds of doubt in the blue half of Manchester.
Only once before this term, down the road at QPR last month, had City trailed in a league game but this time there was no response.
Suddenly, the plain sailing has been transformed, choppy waters ahead, Arsenal on Sunday another potential iceberg.
City remain the team to beat but with their remorseless momentum stopped in its tracks.
Game on.
For everyone.

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Sun:

Chelsea 2 Man City 1
By SHAUN CUSTIS

WELL, that's Sheik-en things up a bit.
City's billionaire Arab owners must have thought this was going to be another victory chalked up in their quest for a first title triumph.
But despite going ahead within 98 SECONDS through Mario Balotelli, the visitors finished up losing to sub Frank Lampard's late penalty after full-back Gael Clichy was sent off with just over half an hour left.
The end of City's unbeaten Premier League record has put a sizeable spring in the step of their challengers.
No longer are Roberto Mancini's men invincible.
They are beatable after all and the next home game against Arsenal on Sunday will tell us a lot about their resolve, especially with the Gunners powering back into contention.
Having gone out of the Champions League last week, doubts will start creeping in about their ability to stay the course domestically if they do not beat Arsenal.
Mancini had grounds for complaint about this defeat because City were denied a clear first-half penalty which could have given them a 2-0 lead.
David Silva went past Jose Bosingwa and was definitely clipped by the Portuguese defender but referee Mark Clattenburg was unimpressed.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged after looking at replays that his team got lucky there.
The Portuguese chief claims his club has been persecuted while City are the media darlings.
But it is nonsense.
Chelsea had lost four of their previous 14 league games and questions were bound to be asked.
However, fortunes have turned full circle over the last three matches.
A 3-0 win at Newcastle nine days ago was followed by the same score which saw off Valencia and clinched qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League last Tuesday.
Now this latest success has closed the margin between Chelsea and leaders City to seven points.
Defeat would have left the Blues with too much to do to catch City but it's a very different picture today. With the rain driving across the pitch, the wind blowing and the cold biting it didn't seem like a night conducive to much samba football.
But, within two minutes, Sergio Aguero and Balotelli showed they could play in any conditions.
Aguero turned inside from the halfway line and, as Chelsea backed off, he threaded through a gorgeous ball with the outside of his right boot which split the home defence.
Balotelli collected, shrugged off the despairing challenge of Branislav Ivanovic, went round Petr Cech and calmly rolled the ball into an empty net.
It was quite a start and the way City took the game by the scruff of the neck, they looked set to run out easy winners.
But Chelsea got away with the penalty shout when Bosingwa stuck a leg out and caught Silva and the balance shifted.
At last the home side fashioned a chance when Didier Drogba worked an inch of space and his shot towards the near post was turned away by Joe Hart.
Then, having been very much second best, Chelsea were level on 34 minutes after excellent work by City old-boy Daniel Sturridge down the right.
Sturridge cleverly worked his way past Clichy and his pinpoint cross was just begging to be volleyed in from close range by Raul Meireles.
It is one of football's mysteries why City allowed Sturridge to let his contract run down without a fight and leave in the summer of 2009.
This was more evidence for those scratching their heads.
Juan Mata was in imperious form in the second half as he showed his old Valencia pal Silva — one of the Premier League's star players so far — that he too could dominate a match.
From Mata's free-kick, Sturridge chested down and rifled a volley not far over the bar.
Then Mata went about trying to beat everybody. He produced one brilliant turn which did Pablo Zabaleta down the left and another great dribble incredibly took out four City men.
The visitors were not having it their own way any more and the points were up for grabs.
And it got better for Chelsea when Clichy was dismissed following his second booking in the space of 12 minutes.
He had already been cautioned for pulling back Sturridge when Ramires came charging through and Clichy clearly tripped the Brazilian.
Out came another yellow card followed by the inevitable red. City tried to hold on to what they had, bringing on defender Kolo Toure for Aguero and Nigel De Jong for Silva.
But when Sturridge aimed a shot towards the top corner, Joleon Lescott got his arm in the way and the ref immediately pointed to the spot with just eight minutes remaining.
Mata fancied the penalty but Lampard, who had come on for Meireles, wasn't interested in letting go of the ball.
The pressure was on with Lamps having missed his previous spot-kick but he smashed it past Joe Hart in confident style.
Lamps has relit Chelsea's fire and with it the title race.

STAR MAN - DANIEL STURRIDGE (Chelsea)
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Bosingwa 5, Ivanovic 7, Terry 6, Cole 6, Ramires 6, Romeu 7, Meireles 7 (Lampard 7), Sturridge 9 (Mikel 5), Drogba 6, Mata 7 (Malouda 5). Subs not used:Turnbull, Torres, Ferreira, Kalou. Booked: Meireles, Romeu, Ramires, Drogba.
MAN CITY: Hart 6, Zabaleta 6, Lescott 6 (Dzeko 5), Kompany 7, Clichy 5, Milner 6, Y Toure 7, Barry 7, Silva 6 (De Jong 5), Aguero 6 (Toure 5), Balotelli 6. Subs not used: Pantilimon, Johnson, Savic, Nasri. Sent off: Clichy. Booked: Kompany, Clichy.

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Star:

CHELSEA 2 - MANCHESTER CITY 1: CHAMPS TO CHUMPS
By Danny Fullbrook

MANCHESTER CITY went from likely champs to chumps as they suffered their first Premier League defeat last night.
Leading from an early Mario Balotelli strike, they wasted a host of chances before Raul Meireles equalised against the run of play in the 34th minute.
It got worse for City when left-back Gael Clichy was sent off in the 57th minute for a second booking.
Then Chelsea substitute Frank Lampard kept his cool to convert a penalty eight minutes from time, awarded by ref Mark Clattenburg when a Daniel Sturridge shot hit Joleon Lescott on the arm.
Lampard, who had been on the pitch only 10 minutes, rammed the spot-kick past Joe Hart to earn a vital three points.
Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas had made it clear that he felt defeat to City would mean his side would be out of the title race.
It was a huge admission, but maybe an honest one given that they would be 13 points behind City.
So you can just imagine the reaction to falling behind so quickly, Balotelli finding the net in less than two minutes.
The madcap Italian continued his eccentric antics at the weekend.
On Saturday night he was caught out at a Manchester curry house, breaking his club curfew. He was using a rolling pin as a Lightsabre as he got in a mock fight and ended up being fined for that yesterday.
But it did not effect him as he hit the target in lightning speed.
Sergio Aguero was the creator as he drew John Terry away from goal. The Argentinian turned the big defender and then hit a delicious ball with the outside of his foot into the path of Balotelli and beyond the outstretched leg of Branislav Ivanovic, playing at centre-half because David Luiz was suspended.
Balotelli typically held his nerve, rounded Petr Cech and slid the ball home from a tight angle.
It was a stunning opening and City then dominated for 25 minutes and really should have put the game to bed.
Chelsea were all over the place with their players just giving the ball away. Next it was Oriol Romeu who was nearly punished for his mistake by Aguero.
It was Ashley Cole’s turn next and City should have scored their second.
His loose pass found Yaya Toure in space on the edge of the area. He slipped the ball into Aguero, who danced along the edge of the penalty box and with the goal gaping somehow managed to drag his effort wide when he should have done much better.
Chelsea just could not cope and at that point the result looked like a landslide.
Referee Clattenburg was the next to make a big mistake as somehow he waved away a blatant penalty shout.
David Silva had the ball on the edge of the area and drove inwards towards Jose Bosingwa. For some reason, the Portuguese defender stuck his leg out and caught Silva on the knee, only for the ref to tell him to get up.
He should have pointed straight to the spot. But if he did not think it was a penalty, Silva should have been booked, however wrong that was. But nothing happened, which was simply wrong.
For some reason, City then started to lose their heads and Toure was in danger when he kicked Juan Mata, while he was on the floor, then pushed the Spanish midfielder in the face. And the balance of the game was suddenly changing. Didier Drogba finally got into the game and had a shot saved by Hart.
And then Chelsea struck. The 34th minute goal was started by Terry, who swept the ball out to Sturridge the right.
The young attacker beat Clichy all ends up and crossed for Meireles, who evaded the efforts of Toure and volleyed his shot home brilliantly for the equaliser.
Meireles had been dreadful until then and you could not see why he was playing – particularly as for the second game in a row he was preferred to Lampard, who had been in fine form until he was dropped.
Mancini must have had words with his team at half-time, given the way they had started to play. But they were rocked just before the hour when they were reduced to 10 men.
Clichy had already been booked in the first half, but then he was caught out by a surging run from Ramires.
The French full-back tackled with the wrong foot and Clattenburg had little choice but to show a second yellow.
That altered the balance of the match – and Chelsea cashed in.