man city 2-1

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.


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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.

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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.

valencia 3-0

Independent:

Chelsea win group with canny demolition of Valencia

Chelsea 3 Valencia 0
SAM WALLACE STAMFORD BRIDGE

There are some occasions upon which only a vintage performance from Didier Drogba will do, and fortunately for Andre Villas-Boas last night, in his hour of direst need, Chelsea's young manager got one from his battle-scarred centre-forward.
This was, in the end, a return to the sledgehammer Drogba of his golden years, the sledgehammer with the gossamer touch, who can take defences on single-handedly and make opponents shrink with self-doubt. His first goal after three minutes calmed Stamford Bridge's mood, his second – Chelsea's third – put the game beyond doubt, and in between he led the line alone as only he can.
At times we were back in the golden Drogba years, from 2005 onwards, when defenders bounced off him and goals came easy, so much so that it was easy to forget that this is a player who is out of contract at the end of the season and, seemingly, heading towards the exit after more than seven years at the club.
From a night that began fraught with tension, Bayer Leverkusen's unexpected draw with Genk in Belgium meant Chelsea eventually finished Group E as winners and so avoid some of the more daunting opponents in the first knockout round in February. The club's young manager has survived his first serious crisis, although there will be more, you feel, before this white-knuckle ride of a season is over.
Villas-Boas then embarked on a post-match spleen venting at what he referred to as the "persecution" of his team and various other claims against critical newspapers and Gary Neville in particular that Chelsea were the victims of a conspiracy. "We've given everyone, those critics, a slap in the face," he said. Later he went for it again: "It's unfortunate for you guys because you'll have to write about Chelsea finishing first [in the group]."
Actually, there were many present who have chronicled the spectacular achievements of Chelsea over the last seven years and lauded them just as much as they will do with Drogba today. The emotions were running high for Villas-Boas last night and this is fresh territory for him but he should bear in mind that at Chelsea the tone is set by the regular sacking of the manager by the owner. That is what makes the club such a highly charged place to work.
For now, Villas-Boas can relax in the knowledge that he will not become the first Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era who fails to navigate the group stages of the competition and can put that challenge aside until the knockout round begins. Among the teams who have already finished second in their groups are Marseilles, Zenit St Petersburg and Milan, all of whom Chelsea could be drawn against a week on Friday.
In an ideal world for Villas-Boas and Abramovich, it would have been Fernando Torres who scored the goals for Chelsea last night, not the 33-year-old striker who is almost out of contract. In moments of crisis, Chelsea can never quite leave behind the legacy of Jose Mourinho and the striker he brought to the club back in 2004.
Nevertheless, Villas-Boas did abandon one old rule of Chelsea last night when he left Frank Lampard out of the side and did not even summon the midfielder from the bench, a big call that worked out in the end. Not since the early days of the Abramovich regime, when Lampard was left out of the team for a Champions League game against Sparta Prague in 2003, has he been omitted from such a big game.
That Torres was also left out barely merits a mention these days. As for Lampard's omission, Villas-Boas would have preferred to focus on the tactical switch he masterminded last night where Chelsea sat back – farewell to the "high line" – and let Valencia have much of the possession. The away team came away with 66 per cent of the ball but could find no way through a Chelsea defence that was reassuringly solid.
All the statistics pointed to Valencia's dominance including their 612 passes completed to Chelsea's 258 but the home team were lethal on the counter-attack and no one was more crucial than Drogba. There were also impressive performances from the midfield three of Raul Meireles, Oriol Romeu and Ramires, who scored Chelsea's second goal.
Drogba was on his game from the start and scored the first of his two goals, both made by Juan Mata, within three minutes. The Spanish winger pulled down Daniel Sturridge's cross from the right wing and cut the ball back to Drogba who switched it from his right foot to his left and struck it low past Diego Alves.
"We made changes to the way we played," Villas-Boas said. "We tried it at Newcastle. We kept our block further down the pitch, a 'medium-low compact block' with not a lot of space between the lines. We gave Valencia a lot of possession. That was tremendous [for them], but nobody has given us credit for keeping possession [and not winning games]."
Although they never broke through, Valencia were superb at times. They hit the post two minutes after Drogba's first goal with a shot from the left-back Jordi Alba. The midfielder David Albelda, crucial in the middle for his team, forced a fine save out of Petr Cech on 10 minutes.
It was on the counter-attack once more that Chelsea scored their second. Drogba slipped the ball through to Ramires who made a run angled from right to left and forced his way past Victor Ruiz who, unforgivably, allowed himself to be out-muscled, and the Brazilian midfielder squeezed the ball in at the near post.
It fell to Drogba to see out the game. First he bounced the centre-half Adil Rami out the way and ran on goal but put his shot wide. Then he scored Chelsea's third from Mata's through ball.
Only then did Torres enter the game, waiting on the touchline while the home support applauded Drogba off. The old soldier had come through again. Villas-Boas had his say. It had been quite a night.

Man of the match Drogba.
Match rating 7/10.
Referee G Rocchi (Italy).
Attendance 41,109.


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

Guardian:
Chelsea see off Valencia to advance comfortably in Champions League
Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge

This may be the night that constituted the true start of André Villas-Boas's reign as manager. By the close, there was surely no Chelsea fan could who could even recall the unease they had felt before kick-off. The jubilation is all the more intense since the side have vaulted over Bayer Leverkusen to enter the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners.
That status, valuable as it is, will not be recalled for many seasons to come, unlike the forward who did so much to deliver it. Age, on this showing, is simply honing Didier Drogba. If he is conserving energy it makes him all the more lethal in the penalty area and here the Ivorian claimed two of the three goals against Valencia.
There were other aspects of the occasion that speak of the manager's impact. Villas-Boas put Frank Lampard on the bench and left him there. Perhaps one outfield player in Drogba's age group was all that could be afforded. Lampard himself had seemed disgruntled when taken off against Newcastle United at the weekend but the manager saw cause to reassure only a single 33-year-old, Drogba.
This is how people in Villas-Boas's line of work establish themselves. Necessary cruelty to loyal servants is unavoidable in the long-run when the needs of the club as a whole take precedence. There was balance to the manager's conception of the game since Chelsea attacked sufficiently but also had the numbers to check a good Valencia line-up.
That conservatism might induce the odd bout of nostalgia. José Mourinho, after all, was the epitome of the manager prepared to do whatever is required. Villas-Boas does not bear all that great a resemblance to him, but there were overtones of his predecessor's gift for setting out a strategy and schooling his squad to implement it.
Defending and, in particular, fine goalkeeping by Petr Cech were crucial, but the whole team had tenacity whenever technique wobbled. The match may have looked as if it could be overcome by anxiety, but each side behaved initially as if they would relieve the tension by launching themselves into attacks.
Chelsea were ahead after three minutes but even that goal felt delayed since Diego Alves had made a save from Raul Meireles shortly before. Drogba struck as he converted a cut-back from Juan Mata with a left-footed finish after eluding the right-back Antonio Barragan.
There had been vivacious attacks by both sides, but Chelsea were the more precise. With 22 minutes gone, Drogba assumed the role of orchestrator as he released Ramires on the left to go clear of the centre-half Victor Ruiz and extend the advantage with a low shot.
The score spoke more of ruthlessness than overwhelming superiority. There was no lack of verve in Unai Emery's line-up. Cech, for instance, needed to stretch to divert a long-range attempt by David Albelda in the 10th minute that could easily have tied the score at 1-1. Emery has an appealing side and it seemed in their nature to mount attacks, even if Chelsea's early impact had left them with scant choice in the matter.
There had even been a prospect of Daniel Sturridge adding a third goal, but the attempt was turned away by the goalkeeper Alves in the 28th minute. Chelsea had impact in the first half that is not demanded regularly of the Premier League's representatives. The group phase of the tournament has often been akin to a waiting room for the English teams.
They fidget and get a little bored but know virtually for certain that their journey will begin in earnest soon enough as they stride into the last 16. This season has been different for everyone other than Arsenal. Given Chelsea's expectations, there was almost an indignity in hearing people discuss the arithmetical calculations that could have been called for if the sides went on being so difficult to disentangle from one another.
It would have been foolish of Chelsea to assume that they would defeat team from La Liga when Villas-Boas's side had lost three times at home in all competitions since late October. Valencia must have sensed an opportunity but Chelsea altered the mood with that impact before the interval.
The contest did not retain its full intensity since the hosts then began to be more studied. Chelsea may have been told to take care, but it was also true that Valencia had shed inhibitions by then. There was nothing left to fear when they were already in such a plight.
The vibrancy of the contest dimmed, with Chelsea priding themselves on discipline and concentration. Valencia therefore had more of the action and there was animation among the visiting supporters. They would have been conscious, too, of the difference one goal could have made.
The Stamford Bridge side does not resemble the impregnable line-up of days gone by and it was no mystery that Villas-Boas should resort to conservatism when replacing Ramires with the specialist holding midfielder Mikel John Obi
Chelsea were in a strong position, but they do not have the aura of invincibility that once cloaked them. Drogba would have been adored all the sooner if he had lifted the tension as he thundered away from Adil Rami in the 73rd minute but the ensuing drive was miscued. Even so, the striker, set up by Mata, was not to be denied three minutes later as he slipped home a neat shot that epitomised Chelsea's control of events.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 Valencia 0:
By Henry Winter, Stamford Bridge

It’s time to call the dogs off. It’s time to give Andre Villas-Boas some credit. It’s time to forget the Special One and simply note that the new Portuguese in town is the Right One. Chelsea’s manager got his tactics right on Tuesday night, got his team-sheet right and suddenly the future looks bright.
Such is the fickle, high-stakes nature of modern football that a crisis is often only a corner-kick away. Two back-to-back 3-0 wins do not a season make, and Villas-Boas must plot the right ambush of Manchester City, but Chelsea have silenced the sirens. Winning at Newcastle United settled some domestic nerves. Tuesday night in Europe was even better, even more significant.
At 7.45pm, Chelsea flirted with the Europa League but shortly after 9.30, their unrequited love affair with the Champions League burned as intensely as ever. Playing with determination and discipline, Chelsea cruised through to the knock-out stages as group winners, so ensuring they avoid the likes of Barcelona.
For Villas-Boas, it must have felt like Chelsea flower show: everything he did came up smelling of roses. All his decisions on the team’s approach worked, from ordering the defence to play deep to having wide players drop back to help out to looking for quick incisive breaks. All his decisions on personnel were vindicated from omitting Frank Lampard to starting Didier Drogba, who scored twice and made the other for Ramires.
Drogba was immense, two thirds broadsword to one third rapier, cutting Valencia’s defence to shreds. He looked hungry, athletic, strong: a mobile battering ram that kept crashing against weak Spanish barricades. With Daniel Sturridge and particularly Juan Mata giving support from the flanks, Drogba was back to his unplayable best. He rolled back the years as easily as he rolled Valencia’s shell-shocked centre-halves.
Call after big call, Villas-Boas called it right. He kept faith in David Luiz, who was the model of defensive discipline and defiance, proving more Butcher than Barnum. Luiz made blocks and aerial interceptions, restricting himself to only one of his famous forays. Villas-Boas has to juggle the relentless demand for victory while rejuvenating Chelsea, triumphing while in transition. It’s a difficult balancing act but he’ll get there if he continues to coax accomplished performances from young and old alike.
The headlines will scream about Villas-Boas “Teaching An Old Drog New Tricks” but others deserve equal mention in the inky and digital despatches. Villas-Boas threw a Spaniard in the visitors’ works, Oriol Romeu disrupting the visitors’ usually smooth rhythm.
Two of Romeu’s first-half dispossessions, nicking the ball off Jonas and Sofiane Feghouli, were acts of pure pickpocketing that Fagin would have admired. Nobody can replace Claude Makelele, the master at breaking up attacks, but Romeu makes a hugely promising apprentice.
Mata was similarly good, creating Drogba’s brace, causing constant pain to his old club. It’s a measure of his popularity and character that Valencia fans applauded him when he took corners. Starting on the left, never forgetting his responsibilities to track back to cover Ashley Cole, Mata also roamed inside to real effect. Mata embodies the fluidity of movement Villas-Boas seeks to instil in Chelsea.
Villas-Boas is certainly confident, breaking up the old squad, clearing out some of the players, and also taking on his media critics. It seemed an unnecessary fight to pick. He’d already won the argument. Villas-Boas highly entertaining post-match pyrotechnics probably betrayed the anxiety coursing through him before kick-off.
He had known how the critics were watching closely, some of them debating his future. Villas-Boas needed a strong start. He certainly got it. Scarcely had the home fans finished debating Lampard’s omission when his replacement, Raul Meireles, darted on to Drogba’s lay-off and forced a save from Diego Alves. Scarcely had Fernando Torres settled into the dug-out in front of Lampard then Drogba struck.
The goal was superbly created by Mata who dribbled down the inside-left channel, turned and found Drogba. There was still much to do, still a lock to be unpicked. Calmness personified, Drogba employed the minimum of back-lift in transferring the ball past Alves. The clock showed three minutes. Villas-Boas’ face showed relief.
Valencia showed intent. In good form recently, the Spaniards began demonstrating the class in their midst but struggled to break through. Jordi Alba advanced from the left and almost snapped a post in two. David Albelda tested Cech from range.
Valencia were enjoying plenty of possession but Chelsea weathered the storm, dispelling any doubts by doubling their advantage after 22 minutes. Drogba took control of the situation, poacher turning goalmaker. His pass down the inside-left channel should have been simple for Victor Ruiz to cut out. Valencia’s centre-back froze, allowing the quick-thinking Ramires to nip in and slip the ball past poor Alves. Victor Ruiz? Victor Meldrew would have moved quicker.
Valencia fans couldn’t believe it. Nor, probably, could some of Chelsea’s supporters. Luiz looked solidity personified at the back. Daniel Sturridge still has much to learn. Released by Mata, Sturridge decided to shoot rather than square to the unmarked Meireles. Sturridge went for glory at the near-post. Alves saved. Wasted opportunity. Villas-Boas threw up his hands in frustration.
Chelsea had still to be beware Valencia’s threat. Cech again impressed, diving to push away Feghouli’s shot. Yet for all Valencia’s 66 per cent possession, Chelsea were on the right route. Just after the 70-minute mark, Drogba embarked on a storming run, all muscular endeavour, and he almost scored but dragged his shot wide.
He soon scored a deserved second, Chelsea’s third, from a terrific counter-attack. Romeu began it, heading a loose ball accurately to Mata. The rest was a blur of blue, Mata sending Drogba through with a neat left-footed pass. Drogba finished with a flick of his right boot. He soon departed to a standing ovation, having some warm words with Torres, his replacement. Drogba then gave Lampard a hug. Class.
For all his delight at Chelsea’s victory, Lampard must have been deeply frustrated by playing no part in this. Florent Malouda arrived, replacing the superb Mata. Sadly, there were some unscheduled arrivals on to the pitch, two idiotic fans who held up play. One took the ball off a Valencia player. Everyone thought that was Romeu’s job.
The life went out of Valencia. At the final whistle, Villas-Boas permitted himself a small smile at a big victory. Chelsea march on. The baying hounds are called off.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 3 Valencia 0:
Top Drog fires Blues through and AVB can breathe a little easier
By MATT LAWTON

This felt like more than a result; more than Chelsea’s progression to the next stage of the Champions League; more even than something that buys Andre Villas-Boas a bit more time.
It felt like a pivotal moment. A glimpse into a future that might just involve a man who must have shock absorbers in his knees and the smallest waist in football management.
Beneath that ludicrously tight Dolce & Gabbana rain mac, however, is a resolve big enough to drop Frank Lampard on what, let’s face it, was the most crucial encounter of his time at Stamford Bridge.
It was, Villas-Boas admitted, a ‘life and death’ clash with the third best team in Spain who came here on the back of a fine run of results.
To respond as he did to that kind of pressure was to the considerable credit of this 34-year-old Portuguese, his selection of a new team and new tactics securing a fine victory thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and Ramires.
It saw them finish, ‘against all the odds’, as Villas-Boas put it, as group winners, which should enable them to avoid the best teams in the last 16 while also leaving the club with a renewed sense of optimism.
Villas-Boas called it a victory for solidarity and these new players do seem to be getting behind their manager. But it was more than that. It was a victory for strong management and for courage.
In axing Lampard and so ending the era of Jose Mourinho’s ‘untouchables’, he might have just made himself untouchable. For a while, at least.
Drogba aside, it is a new front six that has emerged. A three-man midfield that has been built around Oriol Romeu, the young Spaniard whose class and composure in the holding role would have left John Mikel Obi feeling as uncomfortable as Lampard on the bench.
Confident in the knowledge that the boy from Barcelona had matters very much in hand, Ramires and Raul Meireles were able to provide support for Drogba, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge.
But it was also hugely successful in containing the classy Spaniards, and the dangerous Roberto Soldado managed only one effort on target.
It must have made the evening all the more satisfying for Drogba at a time when his future is shrouded in uncertainty. Not for the first time, a forward who has seen off all-comers over the years has proved himself indispensable; Chelsea’s man for the big occasion, even at 33.
Lampard used to be that man. This was the first time since 2003 that he had not started an important fixture for Chelsea when available. But if he paid, in part, for his insolence at St James’ Park on Saturday, he might also have been the victim of the team’s urgent need to evolve.
Even Villas-Boas seemed to evolve a bit on Tuesday night, the switch to a more cautious, continental counter-attacking style revealing a level of maturity we had not seen from him before.
The strategy worked beautifully, and the fact that this comes after that victory at Newcastle left Villas-Boas feeling justified in hitting back at those who suspected his days might be numbered if he did not turn things around quickly. It was fair enough, even if words like ‘persecution’ were a bit strong. But he does need to remember he works for a man who sacked a guy for finishing second in the Barclays Premier League a year after winning the Double.
For now he should focus instead on the positives, on the fact that a goal arrived after only three minutes, from the player who led the calls for the dressing room to get behind their beleaguered boss.
Villas-Boas jumped for joy when Drogba struck, the goal coming thanks to a marvellous finish that exploited the space created by a neat transfer of the ball from one foot to the other. In suddenly switching on to his left, Drogba wrong-footed the defence, making the most of what was a fine cross from Sturridge and a super touch by Mata.
At that stage Valencia were bruised but far from beaten, the Spaniards knowing full well that a goal would still put them through to the last 16. They almost equalised little more than a minute after the restart when Jordi Alba collected a long ball from David Albelda before driving a shot against Petr Cech’s right-hand post. Albelda then forced a fine save from Cech with a long-range effort.
It proved all the more important when Chelsea scored their second as Ramires pounced in the 22nd minute thanks to a combination of fine attacking football and some truly awful defending.
It started with Drogba picking the ball up in midfield and skipping past one opponent with a trademark surge of strength and pace before inviting Ramires to have a race with Victor Ruiz.
That the Brazilian won it as easily as he did, having started half a yard down, was something the Valencia defender should be ashamed of. It was pathetic. But Ramires still did well not only to get himself between the ball and the man but also to slot his finish past Diego Alves.
That Chelsea increased their lead after the break was also impressive, Drogba accelerating on to a pass from Mata in the 76th minute before finishing in some style with the outside of his right boot.
While Villas-Boas considered it ‘a slap in the face’ for some, there were only hugs for Drogba.


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

Mirror:

Chelsea 3-0 Valencia: Drogba rolls back the years to blast Blues through
By Martin Lipton

Just like the old days, with one notable exception.
Solid and deep at the back, with John Terry a bulwark in front of Petr Cech.
Determined in the middle, where Oriol Romeu looked the most natural holding fit since Claude Makelele packed his boots away.
Above all, where it really mattered, a one-man African tornado rolling back the years to blow apart the Valencia back division, a simply unstoppable force of nature.
And while Frank Lampard, unwanted and probably disconsolate, was forced to watch it all from the bench, vindication and justification for Andre Villas-Boas.
In the final analysis, too, normal service resumed. A clean sheet, the customary qualification as group winners, heading into the last 16 with glory back in their sights.
Crisis? What Chelsea crisis? Not in SW6 last night.
Villas-Boas, the apostle of attacking football, took a large page out of the Special One's tactics book, sitting deep and hitting with pace and numbers, backing his own judgement at the moment of greatest need.
The initial spotlight, of course, fell on the man who was missing, Lampard omitted as Villas-Boas turned to deadline day signing Raul Meireles to bring the energy and midfield thrust he required.
Yet, in truth, this was a night determined by another of the remaining towers of the Jose Mourinho era.
Didier Drogba's Chelsea future may be in doubt with the club refusing to commit to offering the Ivorian a further two-year extension when his contract runs out in the summer.
Drogba, though, remains everything £50million flop Fernando Torres has not been for the Blues - physically remorseless, a bully in the finest sense, resilient and deadly.
As on so many occasions since he arrived from Marseilles in 2004 - but maybe not for much of the past nine months - Drogba was simply unplayable, from setting up Meireles right at the start to the sublime finish that finally killed off Valencia 14 minutes from time.
Villas-Boas' tactical line-up, more a Fabio Capello-style "9-1" than 4-3-3, meant Drogba ploughed a lonely furrow, the isolated blue shirt against a sea of white.
But there was not a battle he did not win, dominate, destroy, making mincemeat of Adil Rami and Victor Ruiz, a standard the whole Chelsea team could rally towards.
With a killer instinct, too, his 30th and 31st Champions League goals for the club in 63 appearances - setting up Ramires' vital goal in between for good measure - making this, emphatically, Drogba's day as much as it was the combative, feisty Villas-Boas'.
Long ball, at times, it might have been, more of the blueprint that Mourinho's Inter Milan utilised to conquer Europe in 2009.
Yet this was all about the result, the outcome, the end-game - and in every department that counted, Chelsea got it right.
Admittedly, it helped that they scored almost before the game had started, the quickest Champions League goal in the club's history, in fact.
Only three minutes had elapsed when Daniel Sturridge crossed from the right and while Drogba collided into Juan Mata he regained his feet as the Spaniard recovered to pull back.
A twist one way, a decisive move the other were followed by a left-footer that squirmed through Valencia gloveman Diego Alves and Drogba was already celebrating before the ball hit the net.
Time for Villas-Boas' Zebedee act as he jumped into the technical area, although Valencia responded, Jordi Alba smashing against the outside of the post before Petr Cech saved superbly from veteran David Albelda.
But when Drogba brought down on his chest, turned and left Albelda for dead as he surged 50 yards before sliding through to Ramires, what followed was pivotal.
It should have been easy for Ruiz. Instead, he halted, letting Ramires to accept the offered gift for his fifth - and by far most important - goal of the season.
The die was cast. Sturridge squandered chances either side of the break and while Valencia had most of the ball before Romeu's many interventions, the only threat saw Cech diving to deny Sofiane Feghouli's left-footer.
Valencia had punched themselves out. Drogba shrugged aside Rama but missed before delivering the knock-out blow as he poked Mata's slide-rule pass beyond Alves.
There was time for a cameo from Torres, although not Lampard. That issue will rumble. Last night, though, Villas-Boas' players delivered. He lives on, they live on.


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

Sun:

Chelsea 3 Valencia 0
By SHAUN CUSTIS

THERE'S life in the old Drog yet — and he has resuscitated the managerial career of Andre Villas-Boas.
Didier Drogba, the veteran striker who keeps getting written off, powered the Blues into the knockout stages of the Champions League by scoring twice and setting up another goal for Ramires.
The hitman's magic helped produce a result which lifted a huge amount of pressure off Villas-Boas as Chelsea amazingly ended up topping Group E, when there were fears they might not even qualify.
It is said that Drogba might be sold in January after he rejected a one-year contract offer because he thought he was worth two years.
But can boss Villas-Boas really afford to be without him, especially with £50million Fernando Torres having lost his way completely?
When fully fit, which 33-year-old Drogba has not always been over the last couple of seasons, he remains one of the most fearsome strikers in Europe.
Here the Drog reminded us that he still possesses a ferocious bite and, in doing so, he gave the poodle Torres a lesson in desire and determination.
This game, last weekend's Premier League clash at Newcastle and next Monday's showdown against Manchester City were seen as three defining matches for Villas-Boas.
The dangers of coming up short were obvious with the possibility that owner Roman Abramovich might wield the axe.
But the young Portuguese boss is coming through with flying colours, winning two with one to go.
Villas-Boas made the big decision to dump Frank Lampard on to the bench last night and it paid off as Raul Meireles ran his socks off in midfield, supported by 20-year-old Spaniard Oriol Romeu, who is quickly making his mark.
There were other towering performances from oldies like John Terry, 31 today, keeper Petr Cech and Ashley Cole, while another youngster, 22-year-old Daniel Sturridge, also caught the eye.
This was a comprehensive demolition job on a Valencia team which arrived as slight favourites.
Chelsea had to win to be absolutely certain of going through and both Villas-Boas and Terry had called on the home fans to lift the roof off Stamford Bridge.
But any tension around the place dissipated within three minutes.
Meireles had already tested keeper Diego Alves from the edge of the box before Drogba struck.
Sturridge, a real handful on the right of the attack, launched a long ball towards the far post where Juan Mata controlled and laid it back for Drogba.
The Ivorian switched the ball from his right foot to his left before hooking a shot towards the far corner.
Alves should have got it really but he was slow getting down and managed only to parry it in off the post.
Villas-Boas went into his usual manic celebration and the home side were off and running.
The Spaniards were not ready to curl up and die just yet, however.
Jordi Alaba's shot from a tight angle came back off the outside of the post and then David Albelda's crisp right-footer from 30 yards was tipped away by the flying Cech.
But Chelsea's chances of going through improved greatly when they grabbed a second on 22 minutes.
Drogba's strong run and pass down the left seemed just a little too strong for Ramires, with Victor Ruiz shepherding it back towards his keeper.
But Ramires did not give up and, as Ruiz hesitated, the Brazilian nipped past him and tucked the ball home.
The Bridge was bouncing. This was more like it and it was more than the fist-pumping Villas-Boas could have dreamed of.
Valencia were on the floor and they never seriously threatened to barge Chelsea off course from that point on.
Sturridge nearly made it three before and after the break but was twice thwarted by Alves.
Chelsea were in control but could not afford to let their concentration slip and Cech was alert again to save well from the left boot of Sofiane Feghouli, ensuring there would be no late concerns.
Then Drogba, after first shooting wide when one-on-one with the keeper, wrapped it up 14 minutes from time, collecting a through ball from Mata and coolly tucking it in the corner.
Drogba was subbed to a standing ovation and slapped hands with Torres, who came on to general indifference.
The Spaniard must hope some of that Drogba magic rubbed off in the process.
Now the baton passes to the two Manchester clubs, City and United this evening while the Blues — and especially AVB — can relax knowing they have got the job done.
And with Leverkusen held in Genk, Chelsea even finished top of the group.
Simple... in the end.
With Arsenal successfully through to the last 16 as well, the pressure is all on the northern boys now.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - DIDIER DROGBA

CHELSEA: Cech 8, Ivanovic 8, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 6, Meireles 6, Romeu 7, Ramires 8, Sturridge 7, Drogba 9, Mata 7. Subs: Mikel (Ramires 65) 5, Torres (Drogba 77) 5, Malouda (Mata 83) 5. Not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Lampard, Kalou. Booked: Romeu.

VALENCIA: Alves 6, Barragan 6, Rami 6, Ruiz 5, Alba 6 (Aduriz 5), Albelda 8, Costa 7 (Parejo 5), Feghouli 5 (Hernandez 5), Mathieu 6, Jonas 6, Soldado 5. Subs not used: Guaita, Topal, Piatti, Dealbert. Booked: Costa.
REF: G Rocchi (Italy) 7.


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

Express:

CHELSEA 3 VALENCIA 0: DAZZLER DIDIER DROGBA DOES THE TRICK

By Tony Banks

THEY said he was too old, too slow. They said his future lay in the backwaters of the Major League Soccer, the Middle East or Russia. But last night Didier Drogba proved that there is life in the old dog yet.
Two priceless goals saved Chelsea’s Chelsea’sChampions League campaign last night, as 33-year-old Drogba made it a personal crusade to turn their season around.
Knowing they face the humiliation of elimination if they lost, the unstoppable Drogba crashed Chelsea ahead in only the third minute, set up Ramires for the crucial second goal – and near the end grabbed his second and his 31st goal in a remarkable 63 Champions Leaguegames to wrap victory up.
It meant that manager Andre Villas-Boas’s huge gamble in leaving out Frank Lampard and playing a defensive, careful game had paid off.
Villas-Boas’s decision to leave Lampard out of his starting line-up was a massive call by the young Chelsea coach in such a huge game.
He has sidelined 33-year-old Lampard several times this season since taking over, but in a match as critical as this one, it was unprecedented, certainly in recent times.
The last time Lampard was fit and absent from a key European game was when Claudio Ranieri left him on the bench for their opening group encounter at Sparta Prague in 2003.
Clearly in opting to play Raul Meireles, Villas-Boas was going for more pace and tackling power in midfield. But he was sacrificing the finishing power and calm passing of Lampard and that was a huge gamble.
It was though once again a sign that young Portuguese Villas-Boas, raw though he may be, is determined to do things his way. The old guard are under threat at Chelsea.
Chelsea went into the game with the less than convincing record of having won four of their last 10 games. Valencia by stark contrast had won seven out of their last eight and had walloped Genk 7-0 in their last Champions League outing.
No Chelsea manager had failed to make the knockout stages in eight previous seasons in the competition. Villas-Boas in the build up had refused to even contemplate failure. Because although he insisted that his job was safe even if the unthinkable happened, he could not be sure with Roman Abramovich.
But he got off to the best possible start. Just three minutes in Daniel Sturridge crossed from the right. Ex-Valencia hero Juan Mata was inexplicably given acres of space to bring the ball down and feed Drogba, who jinked past his man and buried his low left-foot shot, although goalkeeper Diego Alves did get a hand to it. It was Drogba’s third goal in four games – and exactly what Villas-Boas needed. Valencia almost hit back straight away as David Albelda found Jordi Alba sneaking behind Branislav Ivanovic, and Stamford Bridge breathed a huge sigh of relief as his shot hit the outside of the post. Then Albelda let fly from 30 yards – and Petr Cech pulled off a brilliant save to tip the ball around the post.
But then Drogba took a hand again. Taking the ball on his chest, the Ivorian burst past his man and fed Ramires. Astonishingly, Victor Ruiz let the Brazilian run round him, to slot the ball inside the post.
The sigh of relief could be heard all across West London. Chelsea, belying Villas-Boas’s claim before the game that they were going to take the initiative and would not change their philosophy, instead played a cagey, deep-lying counter-attacking game.
Drogba was on his own up front for long periods – but it was working. The Spaniards had plenty of the ball, but kept meeting an impenetrable wall of blue every time they got near the penalty area. It was almost Mourinho-esque – but more Jose when he was in charge at Inter Milan rather than Chelsea.
The idea was to hit Valencia on the break with the pace he had in the team – and it worked. Another attack faltered, and Oriol Romeu sent Sturridge racing away to force another save out of Alves.
But Drogba was simply unstoppable. Holding the ball, brushing off defenders, linking up play. It was the Drog of old.
Then Sturridge put Drogba away with another superb ball. The big man shrugged off Victor Ruiz, but then curled his shot an inch past the far post. No matter. Five minutes later Mata slipped Drogba through with a lovely little ball and the big man slid his second goal of the night past Alves with consummate ease.
The Drog had saved the day. The old guard are not quite ready to be pensioned off just yet.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires (Mikel 65), Romeu, Meireles; Sturridge, Drogba (Torres 77), Mata (Malouda 83). Booked: Romeu. Goals: Drogba 3, 76, Ramires 22.

Valencia (4-2-3-1): Alves; Barragan, Rami, Ruiz, Mathieu; Alba (Aduriz 54), Feghouli (Pablo 64); Albelda, Tino Costa (Parejo 76), Oliveira; Soldado. Booked: Tino Costa.
Referee: G Rocchi

newcastle 3-0

Independent:

Sturridge power puts Chelsea back in gear

Newcastle United 0 Chelsea 3: Winger drives Blues but Newcastle are furious after David Luiz avoids red
STEVE TONGUE SPORTS DIRECT ARENA

lAt the end of a breathless game, "Chelsea are back" rang down from way up in the gods where visiting supporters are housed at what used to be called St James' Park. Not yet back to the dominant force of Jose Mourinho's day, of course, or anything like it, but his protégé Andre Villas-Boas was insistent that they are over the worst with this second successive 3-0 League victory. Back too in the Champions' League places by vaulting over Newcastle by an admittedly flattering margin and in controversial circumstances.
Villas-Boas was honest enough to admit that his erratic Brazilian defender David Luiz could easily have walked for bringing down Demba Ba as the forward chased a through ball in only the fourth minute. The referee Mike Dean apparently decided he did not have control of the ball – but the point was that he surely would have done had David Luiz not fouled him.
"I was really angry," Newcastle's manager, Alan Pardew, said. "It was the fourth minute but it doesn't matter when it arrives and I couldn't understand why he stayed on." As it was, his team hit the bar twice, lost two centre-halves to injury and will now have to make changes at last to the defence that has been unchanged all season. The captain, Fabricio Coloccini, lasted only 27 minutes, and Steven Taylor could be out for some time as he has an achilles problem. Despite showing up well against Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, Newcastle have emerged with only one point, gained in last weekend's defiant performance at Old Trafford when Taylor and Tim Krul in goal were the heroes. Yesterday Krul was outstanding again, and as Pardew said, it must have been "really galling" for him to have been beaten three times.
The young Dutchman was let down, however, by some of the defending in front of him. In a game that was open from start to finish the most wide open spaces of all were down Newcastle's left flank, where Ryan Taylor gave Daniel Sturridge all the room he wanted. That resulted in countless chances, including a penalty in the 13th minute that led to Krul pushing Frank Lampard's kick on to a post for the first of several outstanding saves.
Repeatedly Sturridge bore down on him, cutting in from the right on his favoured left foot, and mostly leaving his manager furious at his profligacy. Only right at the end did Sturridge at last locate the net, as Chelsea ran in two goals in the final few minutes to distort the scoreline.
Overall they had the better of the chances, mainly on the counter-attack, but there was injustice in the air from the moment that David Luiz was shown only a yellow card as Ba went down while chasing a pass by Peter Lovenkrands. The penalty to Chelsea was a correct decision after Yohan Cabaye's unwise tackle on Sturridge but Krul's save from it did not dismay the visitors, Sturridge soon hitting a post and the side-net as well as forcing Krul to thwart him, all in the space of seven minutes.
Not that the home side were overwhelmed. After heading Chelsea into the lead from a cross by the excellent Juan Mata, Didier Drogba, defending a corner, headed just as firmly against his own bar. A different sort of Ba – Demba – hit a post before half-time and after Pardew threw on the Ameobi brothers, Shola struck the bar and Sammy hit a shot with power that would not be expected from those spindly legs, forcing John Terry to clear from right on the goalline.
Their team continued to look highly vulnerable to almost every Chelsea counter-attack, however. Krul kept foiling Sturridge, but in the last few minutes even he could not prevent two further goals set up by the fresh legs of substitutes. Fernando Torres, on for the exhausted Drogba, could have scored one of them himself but delayed his shot and was fortunate that the ball ran for him to set up Salomon Kalou's deflected drive. It was cruel that Kalou should then make a third for Sturridge, if only right that the winger should score at last.
His recent performances have been the principal reason why Chelsea can dispense with Nicolas Anelka, who along with the defender Alex has had a transfer request accepted and been left to train on his own after what Villas-Boas, in his always interesting use of English, called "a frontal conversation".

Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul; Simpson, S Taylor, Coloccini (Perch, 27), R Taylor; Obertan, Cabaye, Guthrie, Lovenkrands (Sammy Ameobi, 71); Ben Arfa (Shola Ameobi, h-t), Ba.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Romeu, Lampard (Meireles, 60); Sturridge, Drogba (Torres, 79), Mata (Kalou, 74).

Referee Mike Dean.
Man of the match Mata (Chelsea).
Match rating 8/10.


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

Observer:

Daniel Sturridge goal seals controversial Chelsea win at Newcastle
Paul Wilson at St James' Park

Beating Newcastle is no mean feat these days and Chelsea returned to something like their fluent best in becoming the first visiting team to win on Tyneside this season. Their defence stood solid against some enterprising home attacks, with Oriol Romeu looking assured in front of the back four and Daniel Sturridge, Juan Mata and Ramires all showing speed of thought as well as movement. Newcastle were unhappy with a couple of refereeing decisions, and had every right to be, though there was no denying that, with slightly calmer finishing, Chelsea could have scored a hatful of goals.
"You could say 3-0 was excessive, but it was the fairest of results because of the number of times we were one on one with the goalkeeper," André Villas-Boas said. Alan Pardew agreed with that. "Tim Krul was outstanding," he said. "His penalty save alone was fantastic and he didn't deserve to be beaten three times." The Newcastle manager did not agree with Villas-Boas's assertion that it was about time a refereeing decision went in Chelsea's favour, however. Pardew felt David Luiz should have been dismissed right at the start. "I can't understand why the referee didn't send him off," he said. "It could have been a very different afternoon."
The controversy arrived in the fifth minute, when Peter Lovenkrands split the Chelsea defence with an alert through-ball and Demba Ba stole a march on David Luiz, obliging the Brazilian defender to haul him down on the edge of the area. It could only be regarded as a professional foul: Willie Young himself could hardly have acted more cynically. David Luiz was the last defender and as Ba was about to stride into an empty penalty area it was clearly a goalscoring opportunity – yet, to the disgust of the home crowd, Mike Dean produced only a yellow. What going down to 10 men so early would have done for Chelsea's confidence can only be guessed at, but the referee spared them that. Dean was not spared from Pardew making his feelings known at the earliest opportunity.
So the Newcastle fans were not best pleased when Jones awarded Chelsea a penalty a mere seven minutes later, though there could be little argument that Yohan Cabaye had fouled Sturridge after the forward had sprinted easily past Ryan Taylor and into the area. Krul dived to his left to make a fine stop from Frank Lampard's effort from the spot. But when the goalkeeper was called upon again, to tip a Sturridge shot onto his post from Chelsea's next attack, it was clear that the visitors had the pace to cause Newcastle problems and Ryan Taylor, in particular, was in for a busy day.
Sturridge was breaking clear almost at will by the mid-point of the first half, and should have put his side ahead from a couple of decent shooting opportunities instead of finding Krul's arms and then the side-netting. It was not quite all Chelsea, though. Petr Cech had to make a sharp save to deny Ba when Lovenkrands crossed from the left. Then, after Mata had bamboozled Danny Simpson with the deftest of flicks to set up a chance for Didier Drogba, it was Newcastle's turn to hit the woodwork after a patient buildup, Ba heading Danny Guthrie's cross against a post.
All a lively game needed was a goal and it arrived seven minutes before the interval in a slightly contentious manner. The referee awarded Chelsea a throw-in near the corner flag after Branislav Ivanovic's cross seemed to have flown straight into touch: Dean indicated to puzzled Newcastle players that the ball had come off Ryan Taylor's forehead. Evidently too aggrieved to take up their defensive positions properly, Newcastle's markers simply watched as Mata collected Ashley Cole's throw and crossed for Drogba to beat Krul with a free header.
Newcastle's hopes of getting back into the game seemed to recede when Fabricio Coloccini withdrew before the interval and Hatem Ben Arfa failed to appear for the second half, though both sides came close to scoring in the 55th minute. First Drogba crashed a header against his own crossbar while trying to prevent Ba from reaching a Cabaye corner, then, straight from the rebound, Mata sent Sturridge racing clear to put Ramires one on one with Krul, only for the keeper to collect a hesitant finish.
The nearest thing to an equaliser came when Sammy Ameobi beat Cech, but found John Terry standing on the line, and the moment most deserving of one arrived 10 minutes from time, when Shola Ameobi took Simpson's pass and hit a terrific shot against the bar from the edge of the area. If Newcastle were unlucky, Sturridge should have killed the contest six minutes from the end, when Raul Meireles and Salomon Kalou left him with only Krul to beat. Again, the goalkeeper stood up to him. Krul must have been feeling invincible at close range by the end.
In the 89th minute, however, Kalou finally scored the second. Sturridge's stoppage-time third was just cruel, making it appear that Newcastle had been trounced. That was far from the case, though Chelsea had missed an awful lot of chances. "It was a very difficult game," Drogba confirmed. "We have not been in our best moment recently and we were glad to get the three points."

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

Telegraph:

Newcastle United 0 Chelsea 3
By Luke Edwards

A Didier Drogba header and two late strikes from Soloman Kalou and Daniel Sturridge gave Chelsea a much-needed win at Newcastle United who hit the woodwork three times while trailing by just one goal.
Chelsea also hit the post twice in the first half in a thoroughly entertaining game both sides should have scored more in.
Newcastle had been asked to put Chelsea on the back foot as soon as the game started and they rose to that challenge from manager Alan Pardew in a frantic opening few minutes.
Indeed, had referee Mike Dean not taken such a lenient view of the last defender rule, David Luiz would have been sent off after just four minutes.
With Demba Ba lurking behind him, Peter Lovenkrands played the ball through for the Senegal international to run on to. Luiz realised he was in trouble, stuck an arm out to block his run and sent the striker tumbling to the floor.
He was punished with a yellow card as St James’ Park screamed for a red, but Chelsea took little notice.
Playing with speed and precision on the break, the visitors should have been in front in the 13th minute when Daniel Sturridge was brought down in the area by Yohan Cabaye, but Frank Lampard’s penalty was turned on to the post by Tim Krul.
Sturridge rattled the same part of the goal frame moments later and was also denied by another good save from Krul as Chelsea exposed Ryan Taylor’s limitations at left-back.
Not that it was all Chelsea. Demba Ba hit the post with a header from Danny Guthrie’s clever cross and Petr Cech made a smart reaction save to keep out a flick from the same player before half-time.
Chelsea, though, took the lead with seven minutes remaining in the half when Drogba got in front of James Perch – on for the injured Fabricio Coloccini – to head in Juan Mata's cross.
The loss of the Newcastle captain further weakened a defence in constant trouble from Chelsea’s rapid counter-attacks and when Drogba, under pressure from Ba, headed against his own crossbar, Krul needed to make another impressive block to keep out Ramires as Villas-Boas’ side broke again.
Still Newcastle searched for an equaliser, substitute Sammy Ameobi’s volley cleared off the line by John Terry before his older brother Shola rattled the crossbar with a ferocious effort from the edge of the area.
More good goalkeeping from Krul kept out Sturridge as Newcastle left gaps at the back, but Chelsea deserved the win that eases the pressure on Villas-Boas ahead of the crucial Champions League meeting with Valencia.
Kalou and Sturridge made the game safe in the closing stages as Newcastle finished the game with ten men following an injury to their other first-choice centre-back Steven Taylor.

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

Mail:

Newcastle 0 Chelsea 3: Drogba, Kalou and Sturridge on target but Toon fume at ref Dean
By BOB CASS

Chelsea got their domestic season back on track with a much-needed victory - aided by a healthy slice of good fortune - as Andre Villas-Boas's men leapfrogged Newcastle into the Premier League's top four.
Yet it all could have been so much different if referee Mike Dean had been stricter with his interpretation of the 'last man' rule.
There were barely four minutes on the clock when Demba Ba broke clear through the heart of the Chelsea defence, with Brazilian centre-back David Luiz trailing.
Just as the sprinting Newcastle hit-man was about to enter the penalty area he was sent tumbling but, to home disbelief - and Chelsea's great relief - Dean decided Luiz was not denying the raider a goalscoring opportunity, so the card produced was just yellow and not the expected red.
Afterwards, an angry Alan Pardew slammed Dean for not sending off the defender, claiming the Wirral official's decision was a major factor in a result that was nowhere near as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
Pardew said: 'I thought he was going to get sent off. Luiz was the last man and Demba was in behind him. The keeper wasn't going to get to the ball so it was a goalscoring opportunity.
'I was really angry about it. If that had happened at, say, Old Trafford, I think one of my players would have walked.
'I went in to see the referee at halftime and he said Ba didn't have control of the ball. I need to get the rulebook out and have a look at it.
'With the atmosphere and the crowd here, Chelsea would have struggled if Luiz had gone off.'
Chelsea certainly made the most of their reprieve, even shrugging off Tim Krul's brilliant save of a Frank Lampard penalty, awarded when Dean reckoned Yohan Cabaye's foul on Daniel Sturridge was illegal.
The Stamford Bridge side, with five defeats in their previous nine games and needing a boost ahead of their crucial Champions League clash with Valencia on Tuesday, went on to dominate the rest of the first half, with Juan Mata particularly prominent.
And it was Mata who set up Chelsea's deserved opener, crossing from the left for Didier Drogba to take advantage of Fabricio Coloccini's injury-enforced absence and head powerfully past Krul. Following on from the Holland goalkeeper's impressive showing at Old Trafford seven days earlier, it seemed the only way he was going to be beaten.
It had been an entertaining first half, with both sides rattling the woodwork, and the game resumed in equally lively fashion, with Drogba shooting wide from close range and Sturridge again frustrated by Krul's brilliance within 10 minutes of the restart.
Newcastle had their moments, too, particularly when Drogba headed against his own bar and Shola Ameobi, a half-time replacement for Hatem Ben Arfa, cracked a right-footer against the bar 10 minutes from the end. But, having used all three substitutes, they were reduced to 10 men when Steven Taylor was forced off with an Achilles tendon problem near the end, leaving Krul exposed.
Fernando Torres emerged from substitute-bench anonymity to involve himself in the move which ended with Salomon Kalou doubling Chelsea's advantage in the 89th minute and Sturridge, belatedly, found a way past Krul with a wellplaced left-foot shot in the second minute of added time.
Andre Villas-Boas, for once, welcomed the opportunity to praise his team's efforts. 'This was a solid performance,' he said. 'The players were able to find a lot of belief, especially after results haven't gone our way recently.
'Coming to one of the best stadiums in the Premier League against one of the best defences was a difficult challenge but the players deserve some applause for what they have achieved.
'We scored two goals late on but could have had a few more when you consider the number of times we were one on one with their keeper.' And, referring to the Luiz escape, he added: 'It was a major incident early on. Maybe the decision went our way. But we have had a tremendous number of decisions against us this season.'
After their quickfire test against last season's top three - Manchester United, City and Chelsea - which yielded just one point after their impressive start to the season, they will find themselves facing lesser mortals like Norwich City at Carrow Road next weekend without the recognised central defensive pair of Coloccini and Steven Taylor.
But Pardew is relishing the challenge. He added: 'The players have shown great character against the top sides in the Premier League. Now we must show the same kind of attitude in the week ahead.'


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

Mirror:

Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea
By Brian McNally

Andre Villas-Boas, supposedly under intense pressure, kept his emotions in check at a passionate St James’ Park as Chelsea eventually ground out a comfortable and crucial victory.
A first-half headed effort from Didier Drogba and late strikes from Saloman Kalou and Daniel Sturridge appear to indicate a stroll in the park for the visitors.
But the Geordies in the 52,305 sell-out crowd were left seething over referee Mike Dean’s failure to ­reduce the Londoners to ten men when David Luiz hauled down Demba Ba on the edge of the box with only four minutes on the clock.
Luiz looked to have denied Ba a clear scoring chance but referee Dean thought otherwise and only cautioned the Brazilian centre-back.
It was perhaps the pivotal moment in a thrilling contest because with the Toon Army fired up by a memorable pre-match salute to Gary Speed, Chelsea would have found it difficult to have played for 86 minutes with ten men.
Toon boss Alan Pardew went to Dean’s dressing room at half-time for an explanation, but was left perplexed by the answer.
He said: “I thought Luiz was going to be sent off. Demba Ba was in on goal and there was no cover. I was really angry about it.
“The referee said at half-time that Ba didn’t have ­control of the ball. But I don’t understand that – he was in on goal and bundled over.”
Villas-Boas said: “It was a major incident. Maybe Mike Dean’s decision went for us and Alan Pardew and his players weren’t happy.
“But we have had a lot of decisions go against Chelsea this season and no one has made a fuss.
“My players showed fantastic team spirit. We took a long time to get the second goal but a lot of that was down to Newcastle keeper Tim Krul, who had a fantastic game.”
Chelsea had gone into the game on a poor run of form but despite scorning several good first-half chances always looked the slicker side.
Frank Lampard missed the chance to give them the lead from the spot on 14 minutes after Yohan Cabaye brought down Sturridge in the box.
The England midfielder’s shot was weak and allowed Krul to get down smartly to his left to keep the ball out.
The home side went close when Ba hit the woodwork on 34 minutes after being supplied by Danny Guthrie.
But United switched off at an Ashley Cole throw-in on 38 minutes to allow Juan Mata to provide a pinpoint cross for Drogba to head home.
Sturridge, who also struck the post, had a stack of chances and was denied several times by the brilliance of Krul.
But Newcastle had plenty of opportunities of their own and Drogba even managed to head against his own bar in a frenetic spell of home pressure.
Substitute Shola Ameobi smashed one drive against the woodwork and his brother Sammy was denied by a John Terry goal-line clearance.
Kalou was set up by substitute Fernando Torres after a quick break for a routine finish on 89 minutes before Sturridge finally got the goal he deserved in injury time.
Sturridge danced around a Sammy Ameobi challenge in the box before smashing in a shot that was diverted into the net by the outstretched hand of the gallant Krul.
Newcastle, who lost Fabricio Coloccini to injury in the first half, had finally folded when their other centre-back Steven Taylor was taken off with a suspected Achilles injury.
AVB admitted that it will give his side a massive
boost before the do-or-die Champions League clash with Valencia on Tuesday.
But Newcastle were left agonising over Dean’s decision not to send off Luiz on a day when they finally surrendered their proud unbeaten home record.

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

People:

Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea: AVB sings sweet Toon as Blues seal win

by Dave Kidd, The People

WHEN Andre Villas-Boas was appointed Chelsea manager in the summer, one of his old scouting reports for Jose Mourinho found its way into the Press.
The words were a devastating trashing job on the Newcastle team of Graeme Souness – with Jean-Alain Boumsong singled out for particularly scathing criticism.
This current Newcastle side are not so easy to pull apart, either in a dossier or out on the pitch at the stadium which Cockneys refer to as the Sports Direct Arena.
But when Villas-Boas needed it most, Chelsea proved their manager still has an eye for a Geordie flaw as they recorded what was, undoubtedly, the best result of his brief reign.
Sure, two late goals made the result flattering. And certainly, referee Mike Dean should have sent off David Luiz for a clear red-card offence in the fourth minute – a decision which would have made this a very different match.
Class
We can only assume that Dean considered Luiz such a liability that he felt Newcastle would be better off with the Brazilian on the pitch.
The visitors played with class and composure, belying the pressure that had been heaped on their shoulders by recent defeats.
Goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and the vibrant young England star Daniel Sturridge ended Newcastle’s unbeaten home record and meant that Chelsea leapfrog them back into the Champions League places.
Chelsea hit the woodwork twice, Newcastle three times, in a match which crackled and fizzed with attacking intent.
At times it developed into a personal duel ­between Newcastle’s magnificent keeper Tim Krul and Sturridge, who forced seven saves from the Dutchman before finally beating him in injury-time.
The Blues still need a victory or score-draw against Valencia on Tuesday to secure ­qualification for the Champions League knock-out stages and put AVB’s crisis behind him. Alan Pardew’s shock troops, the surprise packets of the Premier League season, have performed creditably in three successive games against top-four clubs – yet they have taken just a single point and their squad is looking worryingly thin.
Injuries to centre-backs Fabrizio Coloccini and Steven Taylor will stretch Pardew’s men to the limits in the coming weeks but they do, at least, have a substantial cushion to fall back upon thanks to their early-season heroics.
The very idea that the Magpies should have gone into this match above Chelsea in the table, a third of the way through the season, was a stunning achievement in itself. But the heartfelt pre-match tributes to Gary Speed had barely subsided when ref Dean bottled the biggest decision of the day.
Luiz lost a challenge with Demba Ba, then hauled down the striker when he was ­undoubtedly the last defender.
It was difficult to argue with Pardew’s claim that, had one of his players committed the same offence at Old Trafford, he would have walked.
Chelsea took full advantage of their reprieve, though, with Sturridge turning in a high-voltage attacking display.The England man teased Yohan Cabaye into a trip which earned Chelsea a 14th-minute penalty – but Krul dived full-stretch to save Frank Lampard’s spot-kick.
Sturridge skinned Coloccini to rattle the post soon after and was thwarted twice by Krul before Petr Cech made an athletic save of his own to deny Ba.
Ba then headed against the inside of a post, Luiz almost scoring an own goal from the rebound.
Coloccini limped off with a thigh injury and Newcastle soon paid the price when Drogba leapt to head home Juan Mata’s centre, beating the ineffective sub James Perch, six minutes before the break.
Sturridge forced another wonderful stop from Krul and, early in the second period, Drogba headed against his own bar under pressure from Ba.
Pardew sent on both Ameobis – and when Cech dropped a Simpson cross, the outstanding John Terry cleared off the line from younger brother Sammy. Shola then crashed a shot against the bar, with Sammy’s shot saved from the rebound.
Rebukes
But Sturridge squandered two more chances before Chelsea wrapped up the points a minute from time.
Fernando Torres cut back for fellow sub Kalou to drill home, this time Krul only helping it into the net.
Chelsea’s volatile fitness coach Jose Mario Rocha wound up the home bench with some over-zealous celebrations - earning him rebukes from both managers.
But his excitement was justified. This was a big moment in a crucial victory after a thorough test from Newcastle.
Sturridge finally thumped home the goal he richly deserved, deep into stoppage time.
“Chelsea are back,” sang the travelling supporters, “Chelsea are back.”

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

Sun:

Drog on The Tyne

DIDIER DROGBA and Co eased the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas as Chelsea beat an emotionally-charged Newcastle.
The Toon faithful were mourning the passing of Gary Speed but were up in arms after four minutes when last-man David Luiz upended Demba Ba — only to be shown a yellow card.
The Blues made the most of their good fortune and dominated large parts of the game with Drogba heading home a pinpoint cross from the excellent Juan Mata.
The Ivory Coast hitman's effort came after Tim Krul had saved Frank Lampard's penalty and Chelsea had missed a hatful of chances.
Newcastle, playing their first game at the newly-named Sports Direct Arena, pressed for an equaliser and hit the woodwork on three separate occasions.
But Chelsea held on and ensured the points when Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge fired in late on to the AVB's relief.
The game was played at an electric pace from the outset and the volume was turned right up when Luiz was caught out by a through ball from Yohan Cabaye.
Ba ran past the Brazilian and was through on goal. So when Luiz brought him down, the whole ground expected red card to be shown.
But bizarrely referee Mike Dean only booked the young centre-back, enraging Pardew and his players.
The Toon boss blasted: ""I am going to have to look at the rule book. It's a sending-off, it's as simple as that. It changed the game.
"He's in on goal and he brings him down. I do not understand the logic of referees when that happens. I genuinely believe that the referee got that wrong."
AVB agreed his side had been fortunate.
The Portuguese said: "We have been treated unfairly for quite some time as well and maybe today the decision fell our way.
"I'm sure Alan will not be happy."
To make matters worse, Cabaye conceded a penalty when he brought down Sturridge on 13 minutes.
Up stepped Lampard but the Chelsea midfielder couldn't find a way past Krul who tipped the ball around the post in spectacular style.
But it only delayed the inevitable as Mata and Sturridge ran rings around Newcastle's back four.
England Under-21 striker Sturridge rattled the post and threatened from distance as the Toon's problems got worse with talisman Fabricio Coloccini coming off injured.
Chelsea finally made the breakthrough on 38 minutes as Mata left Cabaye in his wake and crossed the ball in for Drogba to power in from six yards out.
Ba then hit the post from Guthrie's superb centre, giving Pardew's men optimism going into half-time.
The Toon came out and upped the tempo and crashed the bar through Drogba's inadvertent flick and substitute Shola Ameobi's thunderous effort.
But Chelsea continued to look like getting a second and with two minutes to go they had it as substitute Salomon Kalou tapped home Fernando Torres's pass.
Sturridge finally had his name on the scoresheet in stoppage time as he curled past Krul to add some gloss to the scoreline.
The win sets Villas-Boas's men up perfectly for their crunch Champions League match with Valencia in midweek.
AVB said: "Even if we had a bad result we still have to win the game in the Champions League.
"It's good to approach the game with three points."

Newcastle (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 3
Newcastle: Krul,Simpson,Steven Taylor,Coloccini (Perch 27), Ryan Taylor,Lovenkrands (Sammy Ameobi 71),Guthrie,Cabaye, Obertan,Ben Arfa (Shola Ameobi 46),Ba.Subs Not Used: Harper,Santon,Gosling,Best.
Booked: Simpson,Ryan Taylor.

Chelsea: Cech,Ivanovic,Luiz,Terry,Cole,Ramires,Romeu, Lampard (Meireles 60),Sturridge,Drogba (Torres 79), Mata (Kalou 74). Subs Not Used:Turnbull,Malouda,Bosingwa,Bertrand.
Booked: Luiz,Sturridge,Terry.
Goals: Drogba 38,Kalou 89,Sturridge 90.

Att: 52,305
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).


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

Star:

NEWCASTLE 0 - CHELSEA 3: DIDIER DROGBA ON THE TYNE
By Clive Hetherington

IT was Newcastle legend Sir Bobby Robson who helped Andre Villas-Boas take his baby steps in football when he gave him a scouting job at Porto.
The Chelsea boss is a big boy now, and needs to be, with his future already the subject of intense debate short of six months into his reign.
This win, though, after his side had lost five of their previous nine League and Cup games, eased the pressure on the Portuguese boss.
Luck was on the side of the visitors.
In only the fourth minute, David Luiz, the Blues’ last defender, should have been sent off by referee Mike Dean for a foul on Demba Ba.
Newcastle also saw the woodwork deny them three times.
But Chelsea twice suffered similar frustration – the first occasion being when keeper Tim Krul saved Frank Lampard’s poor 14th-minute penalty.
Didier Drogba headed Chelsea into a 38th-minute lead with only his third goal this season, but almost brought the Geordies level when he nodded against his own bar early in the second half. It was substitute Salomon Kalou and the outstanding Daniel Sturridge who put the game beyond Newcastle in the closing minutes.
This was the first match here since Toon owner Mike Ashley’s hugely-controversial decision to rename the ground the Sports Direct Arena, after his sportswear empire.
But it will always be St James’ Park to the fans, who were soon booing referee Dean for showing astonishing leniency towards Luiz.
The Brazilian was clearly the last man when he brought down Ba as the Toon striker tried to latch on to Peter Lovenkrands’ ball.
But to Newcastle’s fury and disbelief, Dean only raised a yellow card. They couldn’t complain in the 13th minute, however, when Yohan Cabaye tripped Sturridge in the box.
But Krul – understood to be a Tottenham target – turned Lampard’s spot-kick on to his left-hand post.
Dutchman Krul then faced a one-man onslaught from Sturridge. The England new boy smacked a shot against the near post, pulled one wide, fired straight at Krul – and then drove into the side-netting.
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech executed a save of breathtaking brilliance on 24 minutes to foil Ba, tipping over with razor-sharp reactions.
Ba was out of luck again tenminutes later when his header hit a post. But the Blues finally struck, though not without some controversy.
The home fans weren’t happy but Branislav Ivanovic’s cross clipped Ryan Taylor’s head to go for a throw on the left.
Ashley Cole took it and Juan Mata lifted the ball in for Drogba to strike.
Sturridge threatened a second five minutes before half-time but Krul was equal to him again.
Fortune favoured Drogba when he challenged Ba for Cabaye’s corner – and headed against his own bar.
The visitors broke straight away, Sturridge setting up Ramires who was superbly denied by Krul.
Sammy Ameobi nearly equalised only three minutes after coming on when Terry cleared his shot off the line.
Brother and fellow sub Shola then shook the bar with a thundering effort. But on 89 minutes, Fernando Torres set up Kalou, whose shot was helped in by Krul. And Sturridge finally beat Krul with an angled effort in stoppage time.
After the game Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was still furious at the decision not to send off David Luiz for his fourth-minute foul.
Pardew, whose side lost their unbeaten home record for the season, said: “I thought he was going to get sent off.
“He was the last man and Demba was in behind him.
“The keeper wasn’t going to get to the ball so it was a goalscoring opportunity.
“I was really angry about it. If that had happened at Old Trafford, I think one of my players would have walked.”
There had been applause at the beginning of the day when fans remembered Gary Speed.
A planned official tribute to the Wales manager was postponed by Newcastle at the request of his widow, Louise.
She wanted to attend but was yesterday at Leeds, Speed’s first club, for a similar memorial.
Newcastle will now stage their tribute in her presence when Swansea visit on December 17.