The Times
Chelsea go back to the top of the Premier League
Chelsea 3 Birmingham 0
Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent
Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent
If this is how their players respond, Chelsea would not object were the Africa Cup of Nations to be held every January.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League with a victory as comfortable as it was predictable and they are likely to have stretched their lead to four points by the time Arsenal meet Manchester United on Sunday. The fact that United came close to exhaustion as a result of a little local difficulty last night was a bonus for them.
Any team finishing above Chelsea in May will surely be crowned champions. The impact of the Cup of Nations on a squad containing four Africans always looked to have been exaggerated by those hoping that they would flounder and in effect it has been minimal, other than the knee surgery that Michael Essien will have tomorrow. Chelsea have scored 17 goals and conceded only two in four matches this month, hardly the form of a side looking forlornly to Angola for inspiration.
If anything Chelsea’s position has been strengthened, because Ancelotti has developed a new way of playing in the absence of Didier Drogba, with Nicolas Anelka leading the line on his own and Joe Cole and Florent Malouda providing the width that has given them an added dimension. The France winger opened the scoring, but Cole missed several chances before Frank Lampard showed him how it should be done with a well-taken brace.
Lampard has been the main beneficiary of Ancelotti’s move to a five-man midfield, which has given him the freedom to run into space on the edge of the penalty area, and the manager may stick with the same system even when Drogba returns.
The Ivory Coast striker will be available for Saturday’s trip to Burnley, but may not be needed, because he was not required against a Birmingham City side who got going only in the second half. A first Premier League defeat since a similarly below-par performance away to Arsenal in October seemed inevitable from the moment that Malouda opened the scoring in the fifth minute.
“Our philosophy and aims won’t change: to play good football and win,” Ancelotti said. “We need Drogba back as he’s a fantastic player, but we will maintain the same system.
“We use all the pitch to attack and so Frank is able to run into the box and can score. I think he’s the best running midfielder in the world. He has this fantastic quality to time his run into the box.”
Chelsea’s movement was too much for Birmingham from the outset, with their 15-match unbeaten run coming to an abrupt end. The opening goal could scarcely have been more straightforward, a fact that made Alex McLeish’s face turn an even ruddier shade of crimson than usual.
Cole received the ball on the right flank, used his pace and skill to beat Scott Dann and Lee Bowyer before crossing from the right byline for Malouda to score his seventh goal of the season with a free header.
Birmingham improved thereafter, but unfortunately for the visiting team so did Chelsea. With Deco enjoying the freedom afforded by being employed at the base of a five-man midfield to spray the ball around at will, Chelsea were in complete control. Cole was particularly menacing as he swapped wings in the manner of Damien Duff in his pomp, but will have been disappointed with his end product, particularly because Ancelotti’s pre-match instructions had been for him to do more damage to opponents with the ball at his feet.
The England midfield player had a shot deflected wide off Stephen Carr, was denied by a good save from Joe Hart and won the corner that Ricardo Carvalho headed on to the post. As he seeks to prove he is worthy of a new contract paying £120,000 a week, Cole could not be faulted for effort.
Cole began the build-up to Chelsea’s second in the 32nd minute from the right and was in a prime position to witness a perfect demonstration of the art of scoring goals from midfield by Lampard. Michael Ballack helped Cole’s ball on to Lampard, with the England midfield player controlling it with his left foot before beating Hart first time with his right. If Cole could finish as clinically from the edge of the box, Chelsea would pay him anything he wanted.
Chelsea’s second-half dominance was even more pronounced. By the time that Lampard scored his thirteenth goal of the season from a ball by Malouda in injury time, only poor finishing had prevented a repeat of this month’s 7-2 rout of Sunderland. Ballack was the main culprit, sending a poor header straight at Hart and volleying wide from close range, but Cole also failed to capitalise on the many chances that came his way, much to Ancelotti’s frustration.
Ancelotti gave Cole his hand when he was substituted in the 81st minute and offered him praise afterwards, although he is likely to be sacrificed for Drogba when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in ten days’ time.
This frozen winter has been so kind to Chelsea that after five successive victories, they can begin to contemplate making changes.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — Deco — J Cole (sub: Y Zhirkov, 81min), M Ballack, F Lampard, F Malouda — N Anelka (sub: D Sturridge, 89). Substitutes not used: R Turnbull, P Ferreira, N Matic, Alex, F Borini.
Birmingham City (4-4-2): J Hart — S Carr, R Johnson, S Dann, L Ridgewell — S Larsson, L Bowyer, B Ferguson, J McFadden (sub: Michel, 73) — C Jerome (sub: K Fahey, 56), C Benítez. Substitutes not used: Maik Taylor, G McSheffrey, F Queudrue, D Johnson, G Vignal.
Referee: S Bennett.
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Telegraph:
Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 0By Jason Burt
Birmingham City arrived at the Bridge with a painstakingly, proudly constructed record of 15 unbeaten matches. A wall of formidable resistance, surely? It met a wrecking ball.
Chelsea smashed them and, once more, sit handsomely on top of the Premier League pile. Lords of the manor. It was like a house of cards being disdainfully cuffed. And Joe Cole, dancing, jinking Joe on this form, was Chelsea’s ace in the pack. A diamond performance.
That will have pleased Franco Baldini, the watching England general manager, who had come to watch Joe Hart press his claim to an international call-up, only for him to be beaten twice.
That’s for the future. For now, it’s domestic matters and Chelsea are looking at home. The real deal. The December blues have gone. A new year, a new hope. And all this, all these goals – 16 in four matches - confidence and belief are being achieved without Didier Drogba.
Almost as remarkable as Birmingham’s run going into this encounter is the eyebrow-raising fact that manager Alex McLeish has been able to name the
same, unchanged starting XI for the last 10 of those games. This is a battle-hardened, well-drilled unit and one which, prior to the contest,
Carlo Ancelotti had expressed his concern about breaking down. “Compact” is the word often used to describe such teams but they were not that when, on six minutes, Chelsea struck.
The goal owed much to the skill of Joe Cole, working his way to the by-line down the right flank, easily past Lee Bowyer and standing the ball up precisely inside the six yard area for Florent
Malouda to simply head back across Hart and into the net. So much for fretting about breaking Birmingham down.
It was an all-too-easy concession for a team with their defensive resilience to permit.
Maybe it was too easy for Chelsea. For, then, three times Deco surrendered possession before Ashley Cole, returning from injury, did so only for Cameron Jerome’s shot to deflect off his strike partner Christian Benitez. With Petr Cech wrong-footed the ball, only just, cleared the crossbar.
Chelsea then went even closer. John Terry released Joe Cole and after his cross was blocked, the corner was swung in by Malouda. Terry met it, beating Roger Johnson to the ball at the far post, but his header struck the frame of the goal and the rebound was hooked away.
Soon after and Frank Lampard forced an alert save from Joe Hart with a first-time shot before the goalkeeper was diving to cover Joe Cole’s deflected drive.
By now, Chelsea were rampant. Ancelotti, understandably, had barely alerted his team from the one which had demolished Sunderland so comprehensively in their last home league game save for Ashley Cole’s return and Juliano Belletti injury.
On injuries, there was also a confirmation from Chelsea that Michael Essien will undergo an operation on his damaged knee ligaments in Paris on Thursday, although it does not alter his predicted return time of four-six weeks.
However, Ancelotti had altered his formation, back to a more fluid ‘box’ in midfield, with greater movement to try and drag Birmingham out of position.
It was working and, again, Hart was forced into a save, comfortably holding another Joe Cole effort. But it was wave after wave of attack.
The pressure told. And Joe Cole was, again, involved, skipping down the right before turning the ball inside to Michael Ballack who swept it on to Lampard.
The Birmingham midfield had stood off. Big mistake. Lampard steadied himself and fired a crisp, low shot across Hart and into the corner of the goal. Hart would have been disappointed to be beaten in that fashion, he appeared slow to react, even on such a greasy surface.
McLeish stood, shaking his head. His team had been unpicked, albeit by a team in rampant, relentless form and there own efforts at forward momentum were ponderous, hesitant. They had been ransacked inside the first-half.
It must have hurt McLeish. Certainly his team returned to the fray, after the interval, with more purpose but it was Chelsea threatening when, after a flowing sequence of passes Ashley Cole crossed for Ballack to head goalwards. There was direction but no power and Hart easily held on.
Ballack went closer, reaching a corner, and delicately lifting the ball goalwards only for it to sweep over the bar before Ashley Cole stubbed his shot weakly at Hart and Malouda fired wide with the goalkeeper stranded before Anelka’s curling effort struck Malouda.
Birmingham, however, sensed the opportunity to haul themselves back into contention and a gilt-edged chance fell to James McFadden. Clear on goal, he dragged his low drive wide.
They pushed on. A horrendous clearance by Ricardo Carvalho led to a rising toe-poke by Keith Fahey, which Cech clawed over. Chelsea had the final say.
Malouda broke away and slipped a pass to the onrushing Lampard who, easily, beat Hart with another low, assured shot. It was some display.
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Independent:
Lampard cuts loose and sends Chelsea top
Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 0
By Mark Fleming
January was supposed to be a troublesome time for Chelsea with the absence of four key players at the Africa Cup of Nations but instead it has proved to be the perfect month for Carlo Ancelotti's side.
A dismissive victory over Birmingham City last night gave the Blues of London four wins out of four in 2010, and put them back on top of the Premier League table, one point ahead of Manchester United with a game in hand. The club have also refrained from signing any new players, which means Ancelotti will not have to come good on his promise to run naked around the club's training ground if any new players arrive. The only streak at Chelsea is a winning one.
A header from Florent Malouda and two strikes by Frank Lampard were enough to end Birmingham's remarkable run of 15 games unbeaten, which had stretched back to October.
Lampard took his tally to five goals from the four games since Ancelotti tinkered with his formation to accommodate the loss of Didier Drogba. Freed from his role on the left of a midfield diamond, Lampard has recaptured his form thanks to Ancelotti's decision to give the side greater width, in the form of Malouda and Joe Cole.
This was the Lampard of old, the man who has scored 143 goals for the club. With Malouda and Joe Cole rampaging down the flanks, the space has opened up for Lampard to take centre stage again. His two goals were vintage strikes from the edge of the area, his first teed up by Michael Ballack and the second following a pass by Malouda. One with his left, the other with his right. Lampard's rediscovered touch is good news for Fabio Capello, the England manager, in World Cup year; not so good for Chelsea's title rivals.
Chelsea's free-flowing style in the past month, which produced 17 goals in four games, has convinced Ancelotti not to change his formation when Drogba returns to the side for Saturday's trip to Burnley. "We need to have Drogba because he's a fantastic player and, with him, we can play the same football," Ancelotti said. "Our philosophy and aims won't change: to play good football and win. We'll maintain the same system."
A key part of that system was Deco, reinvented as the holding midfielder. Deco looks set to have a decisive role in the coming month, as Michael Essien is to have an operation in Paris tomorrow on a torn meniscus in his left knee and is unlikely to return before March. Deco may lack defensive stature but here he more than made up for it with his ability to maintain the pace of Chelsea's relentless attacks.
Joe Cole and Malouda also flourished against Birmingham, combining in the fifth minute to set Chelsea on their way with a goal of elegant simplicity. Cole dodged past Lee Bowyer down the right wing and lofted a cross to the goalmouth where Malouda rose to head in from three yards. Chelsea battered Birmingham for the majority of the game, hitting the post with a Ricardo Carvalho header before Lampard scored from Michael Ballack's pass in the 32nd minute.
Birmingham rallied late and James McFadden should have scored after 71 minutes, pulling his shot wide. In the dying moments Chelsea tore into Birmingham for a third goal. Deco found Malouda and the Frenchman moved the ball on to Lampard, who swung his left boot to complete another impressive victory.
Chelsea (4-3-2-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Ballack, Deco, Lampard; J Cole (Zhirkov, 81), Malouda; Anelka (Sturridge, 88). Substitutes not used: Turnbull (gk), Ferreira, Matic, Alex, Borini.
Birmingham City (4-4-2): Hart; Carr, R Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell; Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden (Michel, 72); Benitez (Fahey, 56), Jerome. Substitutes not used: Taylor (gk), McSheffrey, Queudrue, D Johnson, Vignal.
Referee: S Bennett (Kent).
Man of the match: Deco.
Attendance: 41,293.
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Guardian:
Lampard takes Chelsea back to top after ending Birmingham City's run
Chelsea 3 Malouda 5, Lampard 32, Lampard 90 Birmingham City 0
Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge
Until now beating Birmingham City in a Premier League contest would not have constituted a statement of intent but, with this victory , Chelsea sent out a deafening message to their title rivals. Carlo Ancelotti's side returned to the top of the division, edging a point ahead of Manchester United and two of Arsenal, having barely broken sweat against the top flight's form team.
Chelsea's 35th successive unbeaten game at Stamford Bridge ended, in some style, Birmingham's 15-match undefeated sequence, which had stretched back to mid-October. The home supporters' only complaint was that, even at 3-0, the scoreline hardly reflected Chelsea's dominance, with Petr Cech redundant until the substitute Keith Fahey forced him into a fine save 13 minutes from time. A degree of profligacy was the hosts' only failing.
Ancelotti had pointed to a need to move the ball quickly, dragging opponents from their comfort zone in pursuit of possession, with his game plan reliant on the width provided by Florent Malouda and Joe Cole on either flank.
That much was achieved and Chelsea's attacking play was as exhilarating as it had been in the recent 7-2 demolition of Sunderland. Birmingham have more backbone at present than the Wearsiders, yet even they struggled to contain a rampant Chelsea. "There's no disgrace losing here," Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, said. "We were playing against a world-class side who have battered better teams than us."
Chelsea were a blur of subtle passing as they advanced into the attacking third and, when pressed, they used the long ball expertly to switch play. By the interval the visitors' unbeaten run was already condemned with the home side untouchable and enjoying a comfortable two-goal advantage.
The dynamism usually provided by Michael Essien, who will travel to Paris later this week to undergo exploratory surgery on his left knee, was not missed. The thrust was provided by a fluid midfield, the goals increasing the team's tally to 17 in the last four games.
There was encouragement to be had in the displays of the wingers. Malouda has flourished since his dismissal at St Andrew's in December, and it was the Frenchman who slid Frank Lampard away in stoppage time at the end to add gloss to the night with a thumped finish beyond the Birmingham goalkeeper Joe Hart. On the other wing, Ancelotti had urged Joe Cole to "show more quality on the ball" and was cheered to see the England international accelerate away from Lee Bowyer and beyond Scott Dann after five minutes before crafting an inviting cross that Malouda, peeling away from Stephen Carr, planted beyond the exposed Hart.
Cole's performance faded slightly as the game progressed – "He started well, but his performance was very good," Ancelotti said – but Chelsea were still irresistible. Lampard had proved as much with their second goal, cushioning Michael Ballack's squared pass some 20 yards out before firing a wonderfully precise shot that skimmed beyond the sprawling Hart, who was uncharacteristically slow to react, and into the far corner. Ancelotti said Lampard was "the best midfielder in the world at timing those runs into the box", with his personal goal tally now standing at 13 for the campaign.
Birmingham strained to disrupt Chelsea's rhythm, hope only flaring briefly when Fahey forced Cech to touch over the bar. Just for a fleeting moment Chelsea had appeared vulnerable. City have not endured a beating like this since the first few days of the Carson Yeung regime – their previous defeat had been at Arsenal at a time when it had appeared their priority this season would be a battle against relegation – and they will need to recover swiftly at home to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
McLeish hopes to add more strikers to his squad before next Monday's deadline, and Rangers' Kris Boyd could yet move to the Premier League. Chelsea's forward strength is also likely to be increased at the weekend, but from inside their own ranks. Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba could return to the squad against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday. However, given this display, even Drogba, the club's leading scorer with 19, may find his selection far from certain.
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Mail:
Chelsea 3 Birmingham 0: Carlo Ancelotti trades in diamond and hits the jackpot with three points
By Laura Williamson
If this was about making a statement of intent, Chelsea certainly delivered. Carlo Ancelotti’s side returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League table by ending Birmingham’s club record 15-match unbeaten run in emphatic style.
Birmingham may have held Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City to draws and can claim to have been the only side to have stopped Chelsea scoring in a game this season — in the 0-0 draw at St Andrew’s on Boxing Day — but there was no shame in the manner of Wednesday night’s defeat.
As Arsenal stumbled at Aston Villa, Chelsea were a team on a mission; intent on reclaiming the top spot after Manchester United sneaked, almost unnoticed, to the summit of the Premier League on Saturday.
In his programme notes, Ancelotti stressed Chelsea had ‘the opportunity to show why we were top of the league before Arsenal and Manchester United played their extra games’, emphasising ‘it is important that we return to the top as quickly as possible’.
The manager also disclosed he has joined in the table tennis tournament at the club’s training ground. It seems pool, the squad’s other pastime of choice at Cobham, isn’t quite to Ancelotti’s taste.
Back with the serious business, captain John Terry wasn’t shirking the pressure, either. ‘We need to show the mettle of champions,’ he declared in the programme.
With coach and captain making their intentions clear, it was no surprise that Chelsea began with such purpose.
Joe Cole and Florent Malouda, instrumental in providing width in the 7-2 mauling of Sunderland 11 days ago, returned to the starting line-up and combined to put the hosts ahead after just six minutes. Cole drove down the right wing to the by-line and crossed to Malouda, who headed in, unmarked, to give Chelsea the lead.
With Deco in a holding role, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack just in front and Malouda and Cole hugging their respective touchlines, Chelsea gave Birmingham’s four-man midfield the runaround.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish reverted to a five-man midfield when James McFadden was taken off in the second half, but the damage had been well and truly done.
McLeish said: ‘We were caught a little bit flat-footed and the first goal was too easy. But we played against a world-class side. They’ve battered better teams than us and we had chances at 2-0.
‘Chelsea are one of the favourites, never mind for the Premier League, but for the Champions League. It’s no disgrace for us to lose. I’m not disappointed with my players at all. They deserve enormous credit for the run they’ve been on.’
With Ashley Cole overlapping on the left, Nicolas Anelka dropping deep to win the ball and Joe Cole and Malouda exchanging flanks at will, you can understand Ancelotti’swillingness to abandon his favoured diamond formation for a style that encourages width.
Didier Drogba returns from Africa Cup of Nations duty today to find Chelsea have flourished without him and Ancelotti acknowledged: ‘We’ve done very well in January and I want to thank my team. They have done a fantastic job without the African players.’
Joe Cole was the orchestrator for his side’s second goal, charging once again to the right corner flag and cutting the ball back to Ballack, who squared it to Lampard.The England midfielder dispatched a right-foot shot into the bottom left-hand corner.
Ancelotti, again hinting Chelsea will continue in their more fluid formation, added: ‘Lampard is using good movement because we use all the pitch to attack. He’s the best running midfielder in the world — he can just run into the box at the right time to score.’
With half an hour gone and showing little attacking threat, Birmingham must have feared they would go the same way as Sunderland. But the visitors did not concede again until the final minute of the match, when Lampard scored his 12th goal of the season with a cool finish from Malouda’s pass.
The move had been started by Deco, who performed his more defensive role with great composure and discipline, just as he had in the FA Cup win at Preston last Saturday. Michael Essien, who has torn the medial ligament in his left knee and will be out for up to six weeks, will perhaps not be such a great loss after all.
Ballack went close at the beginning of the second half, aiming a tame header at Joe Hart after a deep cross from Ashley Cole, and the Germany captain then shot over from a Malouda cross.
McLeish was fuming when a Sebastian Larsson cross-field pass went out for a Chelsea throw-in, but could only fold his arms in frustration as Joe Cole surged past three Birmingham players to create an opportunity for Malouda to cut in from the right and shoot wide of the left post.
It was that sort of evening for the City manager. Barry Ferguson forced an acrobaticsave from Petr Cech late on, but Chelsea’s 17 attempts at goal — compared to just three for Birmingham — told their own story.
With Chelsea in this mood, one fears for their next Premier League opponents at Stamford Bridge. That is third-placed Arsenal, who visit on February 7. What a match that promises to be.
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Sun:
Chelsea 3 Birmingham 0
IAN McGARRY at Stamford Bridge
Manchester and the Carling Cup may have stolen centre stage last night but it was Chelsea who roared into the Premier League spotlight.
The charge was led by midfield dynamo Frank Lampard, whose two goals helped take Carlo Ancelotti's side back to the top of the table.
A 3-0 victory over in-form Birmingham made progress look easy but this was a win built on hard work and forged from experience.
In the engine room, Lampard and Florent Malouda fuelled Chelsea's title tilt and provided the cutting edge.
They now lead United by a point and Arsenal by two - with a game in hand over both. It puts the Stamford Bridge team firmly in the driving seat.
More impressive, though, was a win which ended the country's best unbeaten run of the season.
Manager Alex McLeish had guided Birmingham to 15 games without defeat prior to last night's clash.
Furthermore, they were unlucky to take only a point from both United and Chelsea at St Andrew's.
So everything pointed to an uneasy evening for the home side but that did not account for the way in which the visitors defended.
After just five minutes, Joe Cole was allowed too much space on the right side by Lee Bowyer and his cross was inch-perfect.
Malouda was more than happy to collect the pass at the back post and his header was as comfortable as an old pair of slippers as it hit the back of the net. It was the perfect start and McLeish's side were visibly stung by the shock of conceding.
The combination of Scott Dann and Roger Johnson, which had withstood greater attacks than Chelsea's, looked unsure.
As Cole and Deco buzzed outside their area, the middle men screamed at their full-backs Stephen Carr and Liam Ridgewell
It didn't make a lot of difference.
Chelsea persisted and their desire to get back to the top of the league was even more evident just after the half hour.
Branislav Ivanovic carried the ball on the right before laying it back to Michael Ballack.
The Germany captain squared inside to Lampard, who picked his spot with brilliant precision to claim the second goal.
On the bench, McLeish held his head in his hands. Clearly everything he had told his team about defending had failed to make an impact.
Around Stamford Bridge, the shouts of frustration from the visitors' bench were audible over the cheers of the home fans.
Despite being the form team of the division, Birmingham seemed to leave their recent performances behind.
McLeish had a right to expect more from a team that beat Everton at Goodison in the FA Cup last weekend.
Unfortunately, all he got was more disappointment. James McFadden slashed a shot wide when he could have made a game of it. And Chelsea did not let up much in the second half either.
As much as Birmingham tried to break out, they always seemed to end up in their own half.
Joe Cole and Deco pressed on and passed the ball from the back with dangerous precision.
With so much quality throughout the team, making possession count was barely a chore for Chelsea.
And, just after half-time, Ashley Cole found himself with the kind of space and time most players only dream of.
He opted to lob a deep cross towards Ballack at the far post but keeper Joe Hart was in the mood to make this a contest over 90 minutes.
New midfield signing Michel came on and showed that he can bring some vision as Birmingham go forward - but there was no holding Chelsea back.
Lamps tapped in the third from Malouda's pass when the contest was already over to bring his own personal tally to four in his last three games.
On this form, trips to the North West to face Burnley and Hull over the next week look far less daunting than they might.
And the fact that Arsenal failed to capitalise in the first game of their crucial two-week period by drawing at Aston Villa made this result all the sweeter.
United can brag about reaching Wembley all they like but the cold truth tells a tale of Chelsea in the lead where it really counts.
No drama, no fuss, no problem. Chelsea are top - and on this form they look like they can stay there.
