Everton 1-3

Independent:

Steven Naismith scores perfect hat-trick as Blues fall to yet another awful defeat at Goodison Park
 
Everton 3 Chelsea 1
Simon Hart  

This was billed as the day that Chelsea were reacquainted with John Stones, the one that got away, yet for Jose Mourinho and his troubled players it ended up being about a season threatening to slip away.

In falling to their third defeat in five League games here, Chelsea looked as far removed as imaginable from the side that won 6-3 at Goodison Park in the early days of last season to underline their title credentials. They are leaking goals and they lack a cutting edge in attack, and a hungrier-looking Everton side took full advantage as Steven Naismith struck a superb hat-trick. “Going down” chanted a gleeful Glwadys Street and while it would be wrong to write off the London side just yet, Chelsea’s problems were writ large.
Not since Blackburn in 1995 have the defending champions managed only four points from their opening five matches and while they had plenty of possession – 62 per cent – they did not carry enough threat.  Defensively, the introduction of John Obi Mikel to provide extra cover for a central defence of Terry and Kurt Zouma made no difference and the result was back-to-back League defeats for Chelsea for only the second time under Mourinho.
“The biggest concern is that everything goes against us,” said the Portuguese. “We know we are making mistakes but for every mistake we are punished immediately.”
That was certainly the case with the opening goal, scored by a player, Naismith, who was only on the pitch because of an early injury to Muhamed Besic. Neither Nemanja Matic nor Mikel followed him into the box after he had pulled away from them and released Brendan Galloway down the left. When the young left-back drilled a cross across the six-yard box, Naismith was free to meet it with a bullet header. Steven Naismith celebrates scoring for Everton Steven Naismith celebrates scoring the opening goal for Everton 
Amid all the talk about Everton resisting Chelsea’s three bids for Stones in the summer, they also rejected a deadline-day £8m bid from Norwich for Naismith and yesterday the wisdom of that decision was underlined. The spiky Scot is a tireless team player with a knack of scoring in the big games.
It was on this weekend two years ago that his goal against Chelsea gave Roberto Martinez his first win as Everton manager and yesterday he was at it again, adding a second goal five minutes after the first.  Naismith fires in an long-range effort past Asmir Begovic 
Arouna Koné, Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley combined to work the ball across the pitch and Naismith picked it up in the inside-left channel and an arrowed a low shot across Asmir Begovic from 25 yards. It was a terrific strike, although Mourinho cannot have enjoyed the sight of Branislav Ivanovic standing off and turning his back to the ball.
Chelsea had a lifeline when Matic picked up the ball 30 yards out and unleashed a superb shot high to Tim Howard’s right. Mourinho described Chelsea’s ensuing spell of pressure as a “fantastic reaction” yet Terry headed over and Eden Hazard’s deflected shot whistled wide. It does not help Chelsea that Diego Costa looked half the player who had bullied Everton’s defence last August.  Nemanja Matic scored with a brilliant strike to bring Chelsea back into the game 
To rub salt in the wound, Mourinho witnessed a wonderfully composed performance from Stones. He served up a Cruyff turn that took him away from Pedro and did his defensive duties, showing the power to hold off Costa and getting in a crucial deflection to divert a Cesar Azpilicueta shot. “Today he showed he is going to be a future England captain,” said Martinez.
Mourinho shuffled his pack in the second half, sending on the young Brazilian Kenedy in place of Mikel, and later throwing on Falcao and Willian, the latter providing the energy lacking in Cesc Fabregas’s game.  After some great build-up play, Naismith was on hand to score his hat-trick and secure the points 
Everton were just as likely scorers. Lukaku tested Begovic more than once and with eight minutes remaning, Chelsea’s defence cracked again. Naismith timed his run on to Barkley’s pass behind the Chelsea defence and from an angle on the right drilled the ball under Begovic. It was, Martinez noted, the “perfect hat-trick – header, right [foot], left [foot]”. The Spaniard added that his team had “restricted Chelsea to two shots on target” although that says as much about the champions’ failings.  Everton's Roberto Martinez celebrates in front of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho 

Everton (4-3-2-1): Howard; Coleman (Funes Mori, 77), Stones, Jagielka, Galloway; McCarthy, Barry, Besic (Naismith, 9); Koné (Lennon, 72), Barkley; Lukaku.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel (Kenedy, 55), Matic; Pedro (Falcao,  70), Fabregas (Willian, 74), Hazard; Costa.

Referee: Andre Marriner
Man of the match: Naismith (Everton)
Match rating: 7/10

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Observer:

Steven Naismith hat-trick gives Everton victory and piles pressure on Chelsea
Paul Wilson

Chelsea have made an unexpectedly terrible start to the season but credit to their supporters for maintaining a sense of humour. “We are staying up,” they chanted as their side slumped to a third defeat in five games. Things are probably not quite that bad, though as with José Mourinho being reminded to check his employment status in the morning or the league table that reveals Chelsea to be the first team to concede a dozen goals this season, this is not a situation anyone anticipated a few weeks ago.
A sizzling hat-trick by Steven Naismith, who was not even on the pitch at the start of the game, earned Everton a deserved victory in a fixture they lost 6-3 last season. Everton were excellent without being scintillating; it was the sluggishness and passivity of their opponents that was the most surprising feature of the game.
The side that hit six here last season appears to have disappeared. Despite the wealth of attacking talent at Mourinho’s disposal Chelsea might not have got on to the scoresheet at all but for an opportunist strike from considerable distance by a defensive midfielder.
The game came crackling to life a quarter of an hour in when John Stones overhit a back-pass to Tim Howard. The goalkeeper dealt with it comfortably enough but it resembled a shot and a Stones own goal against Chelsea would have been some story.
Within a minute Everton had taken the lead at the other end through a delightful combination of two of their squad players. Brendan Galloway, enjoying a run at left-back through injury to Leighton Baines, whipped in the most inviting of crosses that Naismith could hardly miss. The substitute, on after eight minutes when Muhamed Besic pulled up with a hamstring problem, met the ball perfectly on the six-yard line for a header that flew past the Chelsea No2 goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic.
If that was a bright start the afternoon got steadily better for the home side in the next few minutes. Begovic had to be alert to keep out a header from Arouna Koné after Séamus Coleman crossed from the left, then the goalkeeper saved again when James McCarthy sent in a shot from distance.
Within five minutes of the opening goal Naismith and Everton had a second. Good work by Koné and Romelu Lukaku by the right touchline led to Ross Barkley finding Naismith in space in the centre of the pitch, and spotting an opportunity the Scot beat Begovic with a cleanly struck left-foot shot that found the goalkeeper’s bottom-left corner.
With Coleman winning his sometimes physical duel with Diego Costa, Stones exuding grace under pressure as he calmly took on and beat opponents in his own penalty area and Mourinho subjected to chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”, Everton fans probably suspected it was too good to last.
So it was. After a largely unproductive first half-hour that had seen Costa living off scraps of possession and neither Eden Hazard nor Pedro making any impression on the game, Chelsea suddenly pulled a goal back with a bolt from the blue from Nemanja Matic. Everton could have closed the midfielder down more quickly, but as he was at least 30 yards out there seemed no immediate danger. Matic changed that perception with one imperious swing of his left boot, sending the ball arrowing into Howard’s top corner with a shot that was still rising as it crossed the line.

From a position of complete dominance, Everton spent the remainder of the first half on the back foot, defending too deep and inviting Chelsea to come at them. They made it to the interval without further mishap, though Chelsea went close on a couple of occasions, notably when John Terry headed narrowly over the bar and Hazard sent a shot through a crowded penalty area.
Lukaku had a chance to restore a two-goal cushion early in the second half but shot straight at Begovic, who needed two attempts to claim the ball and was aided by a surreptitious touch from Terry that the officials generously chose not to interpret as a back pass. Everton were duly incensed, though it would have been academic had Lukaku done better with the shot or looked across to see Koné arriving in support.
It turned out not to matter, Chelsea had by now misplaced the energy and goal threat that they managed to demonstrate in the period before half-time and with Stones treating his London admirers to a masterclass of defending with and without the ball Everton held out quite comfortably.
They were even able to bring on Aaron Lennon and Ramiro Funes Mori towards the end, before Naismith had made the game safe with his third goal, slotted home from a narrow angle from a pass by Barkley. A right-foot shot made it a perfect hat-trick and completed a perfect Everton afternoon, and Roberto Martínez still believes his side can play better. That remains to be seen – Chelsea are at present making all their opponents look good.

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Telegraph:

Everton 3 Chelsea 1
Steven Naismith scores hat-trick to pile misery on Jose Mourinho's men
Defending champions suffer third defeat of season for worst start to campaign since 1988
By Si Hughes

So when does a stumble become a crisis? Chelsea have made their worst start to a top flight campaign since 1986. It is early September and they have already conceded 12 goals, a number reached only in December last season. Another three and they will have equaled the total they finished with during José Mourinho’s first in charge, all those years ago.

Chelsea are redefining history. Yet with this victory, so did Everton. Steven Naismith became the first Everton player to score a hat-trick against Chelsea since Dixie Dean in 1931. His – a perfect one: a header, a second with his left foot and a third with his right - was the first achieved by any player against any of Mourinho’s Chelsea teams. Remarkably, Naismith began the day as a substitute.

Defeat here means Chelsea have lost two in a row in the league. The last time that happened under Mourinho in 2006, they’d already won the title. Mourinho is adamant that Chelsea’s run and position is down to luck and confidence.

Only the deluded would believe that fortune played a significant role in the outcome of this result.

With Everton deservedly ahead by two goals and Chelsea utterly wretched, John Stones inspired an image that should plague Mourinho for some time and summed up the attitude of the sides.
Under reasonable but not as acute pressure as he should have been inside his own six yard box, with Pedro – a winner of Champions Leagues and international tournaments - the only one confronting him, Stones executed a Cruyff turn in an area where lesser beings would have thumped it as far away as possible and with that, Everton began another wave of attack.
Everton’s were comfortable and Chelsea, worryingly lethargic ahead of an intensely scheduled set of fixtures.
In another world, of course, one where Bill Kenwright submitted to temptation, Stones would have been making his Chelsea debut here.
Chelsea’s protracted public summer pursuit of the defender has created antipathy from all sides. Before the game had even started, the ill feeling was clear. When asked about Stones in an interview conducted in the Main Stand's tunnel with BT Sport, Mourinho responded by terminating the conversation abruptly. The public address system played You Can’t Buy Me Love by the Beatles, a song Evertonians have adopted, where Stones stands for love and outside the stadium, special scarves were sold in Stones’s name. When the teams were read out, his name was cheered the loudest. Roberto Martínez later claimed Stones’s display proved why one day, “he will be an England captain.”

The recent past meant Everton were highly motivated. On a blustery afternoon, this was one of those occasions where the visiting team’s players are made to feel like prisoners and Goodison Park portrays the charm of a medieval dungeon.
Everton were 2-0 up inside 21 minutes and the lead could have been greater. Naismith was meant to be sitting on the substitutes’ bench through this period but Muhamed Bešić pulled up with a hamstring injury and an early introduction was necessary.

It did not seem to register with Chelsea’s defence and, indeed, midfield, that Naismith was capable of scoring winning goals against them even though he did so around this time of year two seasons ago. His opener was a classic; from a delicately guided Brendan Galloway cross, Naismith stampeded into the six-yard box unmarked and flung himself into its path, forcing a header into the top corner by sheer will.
Goodison’s ancient buttresses soon shuddered again. Asmir Begović had already saved spectacularly from Arouna Koné and James McCarthy by the time Naismith struck his second from distance.
It was difficult to tell whether there was any frustration in this Chelsea team. The only reaction initially was visible through Diego Costa, who swatted his forearm across Seamus Coleman’s face and was fortunate not to get sent off.

It was embarrassingly easy for Everton and Chelsea needed something extraordinary to happen for the flow to alter. Their response came out of nothing: Nemanja Matić rifling a glorious goal at the Gwladys Street end from 30-yards.
Curiously, considering what had gone before, Chelsea may have been ahead by half-time. There was an Eden Hazard shot that took a huge deflection and removed Tim Howard from the game that bobbled just wide and a John Terry header that lacked the direction for an equaliser at least.
That moment would never arrive. Chelsea were just as bad in the second half and Everton, just as committed and the result was made secure seven minutes before the end when Naismith seized on Ross Barkley’s pass to inflict the ultimate punishment.
For Everton, victory was theirs. “Sometimes you play against the champions and you can beat them and you look at lucky breaks,” Martínez said. “But for 90 minute we restricted Chelsea to two shots on target. We thoroughly deserved it.” And Martínez, not Mourinho, was right.

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Mail:

Everton 3-1 Chelsea:
Steven Naismith perfect hat-trick piles more pressure on stuttering champions despite Nemanja Matic screamer

By Oliver Holt

Mourinho was right, of course. Pressure is comparative but, in the context of managing a club like Chelsea and working for a man like owner Roman Abramovich, this loss felt like an ominous one.
Mourinho had a meeting with Abramovich at the club’s training ground on Friday. Abramovich is not a patient man and, even though Mourinho has a special place in the hearts of Chelsea fans, his position may be growing precarious.
He does not appear to be spoiling for a fight as he did the last time he left the club in 2007. ‘It is a pleasure, it is an honour and it is a happiness every day to work for this club,’ he said on Saturday night. But if Chelsea do not beat Arsenal next Saturday, Mourinho will be in deep trouble.
He said on Friday that he was not a quitter but he must do something now that he has never done before. Mourinho has to prove he can rebuild a club. He has to prove that he can turn things around mid-term. He has to prove that he can hang in there. His challenge is to show that he is more than a very successful shock-jockey, a guy who comes in like a whirlwind, wins big and then blows himself out after a couple of years. Can he build again like Sir Alex Ferguson did so often? Can he fix a Chelsea team that seems to be falling apart?
Mourinho has always been a front runner. When he starts to tire, he starts to tire fast and does not get back into the race. It feels as if that is what is happening here. Many interpreted his falling out with club doctor Eva Carneiro as a tell-tale sign that his focus was fading and nothing has happened since to change that view.
His situation was made to look more parlous on Saturday by the fact that Chelsea appeared old, tired, lost and vulnerable next to an Everton team full of the youth, verve and resilience Mourinho’s side lacked.
He walked out of a pre-match interview on Saturday when asked about Chelsea’s summer transfer target John Stones, it is easy to see why it remains such a painful subject. Just as much as the perfect hat-trick from substitute Steven Naismith — a header, left-foot drive and a right-foot cross-shot — Everton’s victory was built on a sumptuous defensive performance by Stones.
He gave Chelsea’s misfiring forwards a masterclass on Saturday. He did a Cruyff turn in his own box in the first half. In the second half, with Everton under pressure and Radamel Falcao threatening to pounce on a loose ball, Stones fooled the Colombian by dropping his shoulder and allowing it to run through to Tim Howard.
It was no surprise when Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who fought so hard to keep him from Chelsea’s clutches, tipped him as a future England captain after the game. It was hard to disagree. Chelsea now have only four points from their first five games and star players like Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas look shadows of the men they were last season.
Mourinho suddenly looks powerless. His team faces Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and those who fear for him will remember that the first time he was in charge of the club, he left after a disappointing opening European game at home to Rosenborg. The omens are not good.
Chelsea had begun the game well. Eden Hazard, in particular, looked back to his best, wriggling away from Ross Barkley and James McCarthy and curling a lofted ball down the wing to Branislav Ivanovic. Everton chased shadows and gave the ball away as soon as they got it.
Chelsea, with John Obi Mikel drafted in ahead of Willian to try to provide extra solidity at the base of midfield, looked comfortable and in control. Mourinho prowled the touchline, occasionally giving a thumbs up. It seemed that order was about to be restored. Then, with their first proper attack of the afternoon, Everton scored. With just over a quarter of an hour gone, they targeted Ivanovic and it paid off.
Naismith, an early substitute for the injured Muhamed Besic, took the ball deep in Chelsea territory, turned and laid it off to Brendan Galloway, who was given time and space to cross. He hit it with curl and pace and Naismith powered it into the roof of the net.
Everton fans, still exultant about Chelsea’s failure to prise away Stones, taunted Mourinho anew. ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning,’ they yelled.
The game was transformed. Everton looked irresistible. Seamus Coleman drilled in a cross from the right that Arouna Kone glanced goalwards. It took a brilliant diving save from Asmir Begovic, the replacement for the injured Thibaut Courtois, to keep it out.
Seconds later, Begovic was in action again, diving to his right to push a stinging shot from McCarthy round the post. But he could not hold back the blue tide and, when Barkley played a short, square pass to Naismith, he lashed it low past the goalkeeper’s left from 20 yards.
Chelsea were stunned. Their vulnerability this season has taken everyone by surprise, not least them. So has their impotence in front of goal. Costa was a largely anonymous presence again here. Even in his petulant arguments with defenders and a Goodison Park ballboy, his heart does not seem to be in it.
But just as it looked as if the match was spiralling out of their control, they regained a foothold. Nemanja Matic had not scored in the Premier League since he got one in a 6-3 Chelsea win at Goodison at the start of last season.
Ten minutes before half-time, he picked up the ball 30 yards out and caressed a curling left-foot shot past Howard. It was struck so cleanly and placed so perfectly that the Everton goalkeeper had no chance.
Chelsea glimpsed salvation. Their fans were encouraged enough to poke fun at themselves and their league position. ‘We are staying up,’ they sang. The goal breathed confidence into their team, too. They forced a series of corners. John Terry stole ahead of a defender but headed a Hazard cross just over.
Chelsea continued to press for an equaliser but the Everton defence stood firm. But the game remained in the balance until the 83rd minute when some brilliant interplay between Barkley and Naismith ended with the Scot driving a shot past Begovic to seal Everton’s win.

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

Mirror:

Everton 3-1 Chelsea: 5 things we learned as Steven Naismith slammed home a hat-trick
John Cross

The Scotland forward came off the bench early on and struck three times as John Stones showed Jose Mourinho what he's missing out on
Chelsea's disastrous start to their Premier League title defence took another turn for the worse as they fell to a Steven Naismith treble at a rambunctious Goodison Park.
The Everton forward came off the bench in the ninth minute following an injury to Mo Besic, and proceeded to score twice in the first half to put the Toffees two goals to the good.
Nemanja Matic fired a tremendous reply before the break, but after a dogged second-half performance from the home side, Naismith drilled home right-footed to make the game safe.
That made it three defeats in five games for Jose Mourinho's men and continued their awful start to the season.
Here's five things we learned from proceedings on Merseyside:

1. John Stones is worth all the fuss
Stones is so comfortable on the ball that he even did a Cruyff turn in his own six yard box.
Memo to Stones: if you do join Chelsea in the future, that won’t be allowed.
Diego Costa nutmegged him in the first couple of minutes, but he quickly recovered and brought the ball away.
But Stones showed mental strength as well as being an outstanding defender. Everton did well to hold onto him - and possibly hold out for more.
2. Jose Mourinho is not a happy camper
The Special One walked out of a pre-match TV interview with BT Sport when asked about John Stones.
A happy, content Mourinho just shrugs that off and makes a quip to the interviewer. But this is not a happy and content Mourinho.
It’s early days but I was expecting a response from Chelsea today to announce they were back. And all we got was a reminder that they’ve got problems across the pitch with under-performing players and that’s why Mourinho is unhappy.
3. Cesc Fabregas is a bigger worry than Diego Costa
Costa is a million miles away from the snarling, annoying and unstoppable force who scored twice in a thumping Chelsea victory at Goodison last season.
There can be no doubt that Costa’s form is a big concern and an even bigger concern is that they’ve got no-one of the required standard to come in and take his place. Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao aren’t good enough back-up for a club like Chelsea.
But an even bigger problem is the form of Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas at his best is a dream: brilliant passer, dictates the game and is constantly looking to play in the striker. At the moment, Fabregas is struggling as much as anyone in this team.
4. Steven Naismith must start more regularly
Everton turned down £8million from Norwich on deadline day and that proved to be as important as keeping John Stones.
He’s such a valuable player for Everton, he added pace, power and strength to Everton’s display after coming off the bench.
Surely a better option than Arouna Kone wide or out of position.
This was also a perfect hat trick - right foot, left foot and header.
5. Ross Barkley must improve his all round game
I’m a huge fan of Barkley and it’s great to see him getting a chance with England now.
But for Barkley to become more of a regular for England a more consistent force for Everton, then his all round game must improve.
Barkley is one of the most exciting and dangerous players in the Premier League when space opens up in front of him and he can forward.
Barkley is an offensive player by nature but if he can add more to his game then he will be the complete midfield player.

Player Ratings

Everton: Howard 6; Coleman 7, Stones 8, Jagielka 7, Galloway 7; McCarthy 7, Barry 6, Besic 5; Barkley 7; Kone 6, Lukaku 6
Subs: Naismith 9 MOTM, Lennon 6, Funes Mori 6.

Chelsea: Begovic 7; Ivanovic 6, Zouma 6, Terry 6, Azpilicueta 6; Matic 8, Mikel 5; Pedro 5, Fabregas 5, Hazard 7; Costa 6.
Subs: Kenedy 6, Falcao 6, Willian 6.

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Express:

Everton 3 - Chelsea 1

STEVEN NAISMITH scored a perfect hat-trick after coming off the bench to heap further pressure on Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at Goodison Park.
By Liam Spence

After five minutes the game was brought to a halt after Mohamed Besic went down clutching his hamstring, which he failed to shake off as he made way for Naismith.
Besic's injury momentarily disrupted Everton's flow with Pedro's pace and trickery causing the Toffees a host of problems as they looked to exploit the vulnerability of Galloway.
However, Roberto Martinez's men quelled the danger and launched an attack of their own on 17 minutes which resulted in the first goal with substitute Naismith powerfully heading into the net and past Asmir Begovic after a precise cross from Galloway.

This goal spurred Everton on and saw them launch a flurry of attacks with Arouna Kone and James McCarthy testing the reflexes of Begovic who was deputising for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
Everton's relentless attacking then lead to their second goal on 22 minutes with Naismith smashing home his second from 25-yards with a left-footed drive.
Despite Everton's dominance, Chelsea managed to pull on back before the break with Nemanja Matic hitting a 25-yard thunderbolt past Joel Robles.

After the break Chelsea tried to assert themselves with Costa firing wide and Eden Hazard threatening, but Everton frustrated them.
Everton put the final nail in the coffin after 83 minutes with Naismith clinching the match ball and scoring his third with a right-footed finish.
This victory sees Everton go third while the defending Premier League champions Chelsea drop to 15th.

Starting line-ups:
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Galloway; Barry, McCarthy, Besic Barkley; Kone, Lukaku.
Chelsea: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry (c), Azpilicueta, Matic, Mikel, Fabregas, Hazard, Pedro, Costa.

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Star:

Everton 3 Chelsea 1: Steven Naismith hat-trick piles pressure on Jose Mourinho
MONEY, the Goodison Park faithful insist, cannot buy you Stones.


By John Richardson

While the John Stones to Chelsea transfer saga dominated the summer headlines the fact the Merseysiders rejected an £8million deadline-day offer from Norwich for the Scot largely went under the radar.
But Jose Mourinho and Chelsea certainly know all about the ex-Rangers player who regularly invites the unemployed to home games. Mourinho’s opposite number Roberto Martinez paid tribute to his hat-trick hero and England defender Stones.
He said: “It would have been all too easy for Naisy not to be ready and not to be happy to not be in the starting eleven but he gave us a real example of focus, concentration and the real standard of this dressing room.
“John has been heavily tested but we never had a doubt in the way he would perform and he never let the team down. “Today he showed he is going to be a future England captain.”
Whether Naismith’s amazing hat-trick moves a rather forlorn-looking Stamford Bridge boss towards the dole queue remains to be seen.
But the fact is the Portuguese is facing a battle to survive following Chelsea’s worst start to a season since 1986 – and a so far horrendous defence of their league title.
Asked if he was under pressure Mourinho said: “No, no. I think the refugees are under big pressure.”
And he went on to insist he is happy as Chelsea boss. “It is a pleasure, an honour and it is happiness every day,” he said.

Owner Roman Abramovich is becoming twitchy and last week’s visit to the training ground could be a forerunner to a less amicable meeting if there is not a sudden turnaround in Chelsea’s fortunes.
The bookies have drastically shortened the odds on Mourinho becoming the first Premier League departure of a still embryonic season.
As the Everton storm erupted around Chelsea, the home faithful joyfully serenaded Mourinho with the Beatles-inspired song “Money can’t buy you Stones”.
The fading Premier League champions can’t even buy a point right now with their manager looking more like a hassled chemistry professor desperately searching for the right formula.
Chelsea have lost three of their last four games but Mourinho put the result down to bad luck.
He said: “We don’t deserve this result. It is too heavy for the way the players started the game, finished the game and played during the game.
“The biggest concern is everything goes against us. We know we’re making mistakes but for every mistake we are punished immediately. We need to win a couple of consecutive matches. We need the players to smile again. We need confidence.”
Asked if his side could still win the title, Mourinho said:
“I don’t know. Chelsea can win the next match against Arsenal for sure but to win the title, I don’t know.”

The Chelsea line-up, with John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic posted in front of a back four which contained returning skipper John Terry, suggested Mourinho had been intent on parking the bus.
And the bus had barely emerged from the garage before Everton’s endeavour and energy had been translated into a two-goal lead.
The fact Naismith got those goals was slightly fortunate – the Scot had started on the bench before being summoned into action following an early injury to Muhamed Besic.
His first goal came from a smart link-up with young full-back Brendan Galloway whose cross was expertly headed beyond keeper Asmir Begovic.
The second arrived after Begovic, who will now enjoy an extended run following an injury to Thibaut Courtois, had made a wonder save from an Arouna Kone header and diverted a stinging drive from James McCarthy around the post.
This time there was no escape from the Everton pressure as Naismith collected a short pass from Ross Barkley before firing low into the corner.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning”, sang the Everton fans.

This was redemption time and they wanted Mourinho to know it – and to suffer. Chelsea were on the ropes with the only fight coming from Diego Costa whose short fuse was in danger of igniting.
A running battle with Seamus Coleman could and probably should have been ended with a red card for the Spain international when he flicked an arm into the Everton defender’s face.
But it was not spotted by referee Andre Marriner who had earlier warned the fiery striker.
Thankfully for Chelsea, Matic retained a sense of purpose and out of nowhere the Serb launched an exocet missile from 30 yards which flew past Tim Howard to hand the visitors a lifeline.
Everton suddenly found themselves under the cosh and were glad to reach the interval still ahead.
In previous seasons under Mourinho, you would have backed Chelsea all the way for an equaliser but although there was greater possession it did not arrive.
The greater danger came from Everton and the inspirational Barkley.
It was his brilliant assist that set up Naismith for his hat-trick in the 82nd minute, the Scot driving low to complete Chelsea’s misery and send Evertonians into ecstasy.

Crystal Palace 1-2

Independent:

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

Michael Calvin

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

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

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

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

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

Guardian:

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

Barney Ronay

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


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

Telegraph:

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

Jim White

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

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

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

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

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

Mail:

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

By Oliver Holt

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

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

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

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

Mirror:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Express:

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

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

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

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

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

Star:

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

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

WBA 3-2

Independent:

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

West Brom 2 Chelsea 3




Sam Wallace  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Booked: West Brom McClean, Olsson, McManaman Chelsea Matic

Sent off: Terry

Referee: M Clattenburg    



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


Guardian:

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

West Brom 2 - 3 Chelsea


Stuart James at The Hawthorns

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man of the match Pedro (Chelsea)


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


Telegraph:


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

West Brom 2 Chelsea 3

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

Jason Burt

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


Mail:


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

By Martin Samuel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Subs not used: Chester, Lescott, Anichebe, Rose

Booked: McClean, McManaman

Goals: Morrison (35, 59)

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

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

Booked: Matic

Sent off: Terry (54)

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

MOTM: Pedro

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)

Ratings by Laurie Whitwell at The Hawthorns
.


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


Express:


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

IT has been the week from hell for John Terry.

By Tony Banks


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was, though, after a dodgy start.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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

Star:


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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