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The Sunday Times:
Chelsea 5 Bolton 1: Chelsea burst shatters BoltonJoe Lovejoy at Stamford Bridge
FOR THE second season in succession, Bolton had the audicity to pull the tiger’s tail, but this time they paid a painful price. Stelios Giannakopoulos put them ahead in the fourth minute, but the League leaders bit back savagely, scoring four times in a second-half purple patch to maintain that 100% start to their title defence. Nine played, nine won and 23 goals scored. Boring Chelsea indeed.
“Stand Up For The Special One” the delirious home crowd chanted in appreciation of the managerial expertise of Jose Mourinho, whose substitutions at half-time transformed the game. With his team in arrears and struggling to break down obdurate opponents, Mourinho switched from 4-3-3 to 3-3-4, and was rewarded for his more adventurous approach.
Didier Drogba quickly restored equality on the resumption, then he and Frank Lampard rattled in three more goals by the 61st minute to leave poor Bolton out for the count.
Ricardo Gardner, only on because Henrik Pedersen had been getting such a chasing from Shaun Wright-Phillips, was sent off for deliberate handball after 57 minutes, but although his dismissal affected the scoreline, Chelsea had the bit between their teeth, and that familiar winning look about them, before his departure.
Their first-choice wingers, Arjen Robben and Damien Duff, were both absent, injured on international duty, so there was a welcome chance for the pair who played for England in midweek, Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole. It was the pacy £21m recruit from Manchester City who made the most of the opportunity. By the 42nd minute, Wright-Phillips had embarrassed Pedersen so much that he was withdrawn in favour of Gardner.
In the match programme, Mourinho had insisted that his team deserved “total respect”, but Bolton respect nobody’s reputation. Just three minutes and 50 seconds had elapsed when El-Hadji Diouf took the ball on his chest and turned inside William Gallas before crossing low from the left. Asier Del Horno failed to cut out the danger, and Giannakopoulos was left to steer his shot, from eight yards, into Petr Cech’s right-hand corner.
Bolton went into what-we-have-we-hold mode. Chelsea might have equalised after 10 minutes, but Del Horno headed wide from Wright-Phillips’s cross. They thought they were level after 32 minutes when Lampard supplied Wright-Phillips, who drove the ball low towards goal. Drogba diverted it past Jussi Jaaskelainen, only to be flagged offside.
John Terry had one of his less impressive afternoons and was absent when Gary Speed headed on to the roof of the net. When the Welsh veteran tried his luck again, his 25-yard drive rattled Cech’s right post.
One goal down at half-time, Chelsea were fortunate not to be a man down too. Michael Essien’s late and dangerously high tackle on Tal Ben Haim earned a yellow card but warranted red and his challenge will surely be examined further by the Football Association.
Mourinho reorganised at half-time and sent his charges out to resume in 3-3-4 formation. Withdrawing Del Horno and sending on Eidur Gudjohnsen, he deployed Gallas, Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the back, with Gudjohnsen reinforcing the attack.
The transformation was all he hoped it would be and more. In the 52nd minute Gudjohnsen rolled a 25-yard free kick to Lampard, whose shot was parried by Jaaskelainen. The loose ball fell obligingly for Drogba to lash home. Little more than two minutes later Chelsea were in profit when Gudjohnsen supplied Drogba, who cleverly played in Lampard to shoot in low from 12 yards.
Bolton’s hopes of repeating last season’s comeback, from 0-2 to 2-2, were fatally undermined after 57 minutes when Gardner misjudged a through ball from Claude Makelele and, with Joe Cole threatening, the defender was panicked into handling on the 18-yard line.
Gardner was sent off and from the consequent free kick Lampard drilled in his second. Chelsea’s fourth soon followed. Lampard sent a corner low to the near post where Drogba arrived to volley in his fifth goal of the season.
Four goals in 10 minutes. Even by the standards Chelsea are setting, it was some comeback, but they were not finished. Gudjohnsen broke away in pursuit of Makelele’s long pass and finished with characteristic aplomb, left to right. Who can stop the Londoners now?
STAR MAN: Frank Lampard (Chelsea) Player ratings. Chelsea: Cech 7, Gallas 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 6, Del Horno 6 (Gudjohnsen h-t, 7), Makelele 7, J Cole 7 (Ferreira 59min, 6), Lampard 8, Essien 6, Wright-Phillips 7 (C Cole 74min, 6), Drogba 7
Bolton: Jaaskelainen 6, Faye 6, Ben Haim 5, N’Gotty 5, Jaidi 5, Giannakopoulos 7, Speed 7 (Nakata h-t, 5), Nolan 5, Diouf 5, Davies 5 (Fernandes 75min, 5), Pedersen 4 (Gardner 42min, 5)
Scorers: Chelsea: Drogba 52 61, Lampard 55 59, Gudjohnsen 74
Bolton: Giannakopoulos 4
Referee: R Styles
Attendance: 41,775
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Observer :
Mourinho's gamble pays off gloriously
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday October 16, 2005The Observer
Before the match Sam Allardyce, perhaps jokingly, had hinted that Jose Mourinho had copied his 4-5-1 system from Bolton. Whether true or not, while both sides were playing that formation it was Bolton who had the edge over their supposed imitators. But it is the genius of Mourinho and his team that they are so mutable. Finding themselves behind, they went all in with 3-3-4 and ended up with a royal flush. It was a second-half performance of extraordinary power and elan. They have now played nine, won nine, and if this level is maintained all records are within their reach.Big Sam having noted that Claude Makelele enjoyed approaching a hundred 'possessions' in a match deputed Kevin Nolan to man-mark him. It didn't appear to be a conspicuous success when as early as the second minute it was Makelele who produced the pass which set up a half-chance for Didier Drogba.
Bolton's response was immediate. El-Hadji Diouf received the ball from a throw, turned William Gallas and crossed for an unmarked Stelios Giannakopoulos to pass the ball past Petr Cech from close range.
It had been one day shy of a year since Chelsea had last lost in the Premiership and then it had been by a solitary goal, away at Manchester City.
A man who had been on the winning side that day led the fightback as a cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips was headed wide by Aiser del Horno. On the quarter-hour mark Cech appeared a bit flappy, palming a ball needlessly away for a corner. At the other end, a shot from outside the area by Joe Cole, similar to the one that opened the scoring against Poland, failed to find a deflection and was saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
John Terry looked uncharacteristically hesitant and a missed header from him almost allowed Giannakopoulos a chance to double the lead. His England team-mate Frank Lampard was equally out of sorts. The Chelsea machine, which was expected to cruise through the season, was stuttering. Unable to find any space in which to pick up speed. And when they did they were flagged, as Drogba was rightly deemed to be offside after he converted a Wright-Phillips cross.
Bolton continued to impress as a Gary Speed half-volley from the corner of the area rattled against the apex of bar and post. The 10-1 against shots before play started were looking favourites.
For Chelsea, Wright-Phillips so consistently bamboozled Henrik Pedersen that the Bolton man was replaced by Ricardo Gardner before half-time. It was a wise call, Gardner within a minute doing something Pedersen had conspicuously failed to do when he tackled the smallest man on the pitch. Mourinho disappeared down the tunnel to work on his half-time speech.
After which he decided to risk all on a 3-3-4 system, with Eidur Gudjohnsen coming on for Del Horno. Inevitably, it worked. Radhi Jaidi conceded a free-kick, Gudjohnsen rolled it to Lampard, his shot was parried by Jaaskelainen and Drogba buried the rebound. Mourinho gave a calm and composed punch of the air.
A minute later Drogba nearly bundled his way through. Mourinho, manager turned conductor, used his arms to encourage the crowd to greater efforts. Drogba broke through again, back-heeled the ball and Lampard swept in the chance. It had been a scintillating passage of play spearheaded by a resurgent Drogba.
Four minutes later, Gardner misjudged a bounce on the edge of the area, flailed at the ball with his hand and was sent off. Lampard scored from the free-kick. Having scored three goals in eight minutes, Mourinho replaced Joe Cole with Paulo Ferreira and reverted to 4-4-2. He would have done it after the second goal, but the third came too quickly.
It had been an object lesson in how to gamble. Make your play, take the money, shut up shop. Or not. Two minutes later Wright-Phillips won a corner, it was whipped in and Drogba scored at the near post. Four goals in 10 minutes. It was a Bon Accord pace. If they kept it up for a whole match they would win 36-0. And Bolton hadn't really done much wrong. They were simply overwhelmed by a team who, with the guile of Gudjohnsen being added to the strength of Drogba, were unstoppable. Bolton had appeared to be an immovable object, but they were no match for this unstoppable force.
Gudjohnsen, without breaking into a trot, created a chance for Gallas. And then, with equal calm, drifted through on the left and lifted the ball over Jaaskelainen. 5-1 up, Chelsea brought on another striker, Carlton Cole.
Chelsea might have had half-a-dozen if Gudjohnsen had not strayed offside before putting the ball in the net.
Man of the match: Didier Drogba - playing with a strength and pace that makes Chelsea unstoppable.
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Telegraph:
Bolton blown away by record-chasing BluesBy Roy Collins at Stamford Bridge (Filed: 16/10/2005)
Chelsea (0) 5 Bolton (1) 1
He continually bangs on about his brilliance as a manager, insisting only recently that he would be the ideal man to restore the fortunes of Real Madrid before taking over as manager of England and winning the World Cup.
Despite his lack of modesty, Bolton's Sam Allardyce was on course, at least for 50 minutes, to make himself the most popular manager in the Premiership by interrupting what threatens to be a season-long victory march by Chelsea and their manager Jose Mourinho, who does not even need to ask the mirror who is the fairest of them all.
In the end, Bolton's early lead and their challenge to a Chelsea team who last lost a year ago today turned out to be just a trick of the light, a mirage created by the heat haze that covered the Stamford Bridge pitch on an afternoon that started in brilliant sunshine. After it disappeared, Bolton were dazzled not so much by the brilliance of Chelsea's football but by the thought of what they were about to accomplish.
After sloppily conceding an equaliser when Jussi Jaaskelainen knocked out a Frank Lampard free-kick and Didier Drogba beat everyone to the rebound to drive home, they simply fell apart.
Chelsea, on the other hand, were like a dog that had just been thrown a bone with Drogba again turning into a second half rottweiler, just as he had at Anfield during another high-scoring romp. He neatly laid off a ball for Lampard to score the second and thumped the fourth from Lampard's corner.
Between those goals, any hopes of a Bolton revival were ended by the sending off of substitute Ricardo Gardner for a blatant handball on the edge of his box, Lampard sinking the free-kick with a kiss off the wall. Although Gardner could have no complaints, Bolton would have been aggrieved that Chelsea's Michael Essien was allowed to stay on after a violent first-half challenge.
If Chelsea are hard to break down, they are almost impossible to stop once they are in front, Eidur Gudjohnsen effortlessly curling the fifth past Jaaskelainen after Claude Makelele rolled the ball into his path. That was the cherry on a ninth successive victory, leaving Chelsea only two short of the record start of 11 wins by the Tottenham Double-winning side of 1960-61.
Allardyce had said that you can often feel 1-0 down before you kick off against teams like Chelsea, so he would have been delighted that his side managed to get their equaliser in first, scoring the first goal of the match before it was four minutes old.
El-Hadji Diouf, normally a controversy waiting to happen, found a pass that neatly dissected Aiser Del Horno and John Terry with Stelios Giannakopolous waiting to apply the scalpel in the middle.
Big Sam was so excited that he came straight down from the directors' box, forgetting to take off his taxi controller's earpiece and comically using it to communicate with assistant Sammy Lee, who was standing two feet behind him. In his confusion, he also kept waving his troops forward in search of a second. Surely some mistake.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, beaten only once before at Stamford Bridge this season, must have expected to spend the afternoon sunning himself. But for once, Terry and his team-mates looked as wobbly as every other Premiership defence and Cech was beaten by a Stelios effort that thumped into the angle of post and crossbar.
Mourinho maintained an air of calm as he observed by the side of the pitch, perhaps encouraged by the manner in which England's Shaun Wright-Phillips was destroying makeshift left-back Henrik Pedersen. Allardyce stood for it for 42 minutes before replacing the tormented Pedersen with Ricardo Gardner.
Mourinho, who warned his players before the match that he would drop anyone who allowed their minds to wander towards next summer's World Cup, contained himself until half-time when he yanked off Del Horno for Gudjohnsen.
His tinkering would have been made far more complicated, however, if Essien had been rightly sent off just before the interval for an absolutely shocking challenge on Tal Ben Haim. But referee Rob Styles decided it was worth only a yellow card.
Although Chelsea won the title at the Reebok last season, Bolton, who came back from 2-0 down to force a draw at the Bridge, are regarded as a bogey team. Let us face it, Bolton, the punk rockers of the Premiership who continually spit at the Establishment, sometimes literally so in Diouf's case, are everyone's bogey side.
Their biting tackles and all-action style in the first half looked as though it might earn them another point or even all three. But all the big ambitions of their manager disappeared as soon as Chelsea drew level and when the home fans burst into a late chant of "Stand up for the Special One", Allardyce stayed firmly in his seat.
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Independent:
Chelsea 5 Bolton Wanderers 1
Take five as Chelsea hit the right notes
By Steve Tongue at Stamford Bridge
Boring, boring Chelsea? Nine goals in the last two games and 23 from nine straight wins suggest not, although there was a strange tale to be told in west London yesterday, when Bolton Wanderers were ahead from the fourth minute until the 52nd before collapsing as Jose Mourinho made a decisive attacking substitution. Sending on Eidur Gudjohnsen for his left-back, Asier Del Horno, at half-time, he was rewarded with such a rush of goals that the game was over by the hour. So no famous comeback this time for Bolton, their chaotic defending further exposed by the red card shown to Ricardo Gardner a quarter of an hour after he came on.
Last beaten by Manchester City exactly a year ago, the champions have now completed the equivalent of a Premiership season - 38 games - without defeat. It is too early to talk about the possibility of matching Arsenal's unbeaten campaign of two years ago, but Tottenham's record of 11 straight wins from the off in 1960 would be equalled with victories over Everton and Blackburn in the next fortnight.
Like the Spurs Double team, they are a class above the rest, a fact acknowledged by Bolton's Sam Allardyce, whose team had achieved a 2-2 draw here last autumn. "To get a result here you need a slice of luck," he said. "If you score first, you might have a chance, but in the last five minutes, not the first. They're a great team with a great manager, but they're still human."
Allardyce, torn between playing up to the stereotype of Big Fat Sam the long-ball man, or acknowledging something more sophisticated, had looked forward to the challenge of mixing it with Mourinho again. He was even bold enough to reveal before the game that a key to playing Chelsea was to clamp down on Claude Makelele, whom he had once recorded having possession 98 times in a match.
Kevin Nolan or Gary Speed were upon the Frenchman as soon as he received the ball, which went some way to explaining why Chelsea initially struggled in the sunshine. Keeping Stelios Giannakopoulos and El Hadji Diouf out wide to pump crosses in worked equally well in the first half and brought a goal within four minutes. Henrik Pedersen, a fish out of water at left-back, made his one positive contribution by feeding Diouf, who clipped a clever low ball between John Terry and Del Horno. The Spaniard appeared to slip, allowing Giannakopoulos to collect the ball six yards out and guide it calmly past Petr Cech. It might have been worse by half-time, the ageless Speed hitting a fizzing drive from way out that beat Cech and struck the frame of the goal.
Didier Drogba was rightly given offside after tapping in a cross by Shaun Wright-Phillips and the subdued home crowd's displeasure was reflected at the interval when the 71-year-old former England winger Frank Blunstone, a star of the 1955 championship side, was introduced to them. "Bring him on" was the chant. Instead, Mourinho turned to Gudjohnsen, taking Del Horno off, briefly settling for three men at the back and reaping a dramatic reward. Six minutes after the resumption, Michael Essien was fouled by Rahdi Jaidi, and when Jussi Jaaskelainen could only parry Frank Lampard's fierce free-kick, Drogba reacted fastest and knocked in the rebound.
Drogba was suddenly on fire and Bolton felt the heat again two minutes later. As Gudjohnsen laid off Makelele's pass to him, the Ivorian found Lampard well placed to strike his seventh goal of the season. Three more minutes and the visitors committed suicide. Gardner, brought on for the hapless Pedersen before half-time, jumped like a basketball player to handle, preventing Wright-Phillips from stealing in behind him, and was rightly dismissed. Worse, from the free-kick, there was a huge gap on the left of the defensive wall, which Lampard exploited to curl his shot into the half of the goal not covered by a perplexed Jaaskelainen.
Next it was Drogba again, meeting Lampard's corner with a half-volley for the fourth goal in nine minutes. It was a full 13 minutes more before Gudjohnsen, sent clear by Makelele, scored the fifth, and Bolton kept it to that. The crowd, meanwhile, had changed their tune to: "Stand up for the Special One." For once, the great man looked almost embarrassed. "I did my work, but you win matches on the pitch," he said later.
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morning papers liverpool away

Times: Benitez put in his place by Chelsea By Matt Dickinson Liverpool 1 Chelsea 4 RAFAEL BENÍTEZ’S SUGGESTION IN midweek that Chelsea might be “afraid” of Liverpool sounded unusually boastful at the time. By the end of a torrid afternoon yesterday, his remark could be described as wishful thinking (if you were being kind) or, bluntly, as utterly ludicrous. Benítez and his players had picked a fight with the biggest bully in the playground and, at Anfield, Chelsea meted out painful punishment. They did not outplay them — they rarely do — but they totally overwhelmed them in the end; first with goals, then with their celebrations and, lastly, with a barrage of statistics. “Gerrard, Gerrard, what’s the score?” the Chelsea fans sang, throwing some humiliation into the mix. The goals came from Frank Lampard, from the penalty spot, Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Geremi. The celebrations involved every one of Jose Mourinho’s players as they demonstrated the value of an eighth consecutive victory in the Barclays Premiership by gathering in a huddle in the centre circle. Their delight was not just in putting Liverpool back in their place (currently below Newcastle United) but in retaining one of their biggest weapons, the air of invincibility. As for the statistics, Mourinho deploys them like Didier Drogba to batter his team’s opponents. This was their 37th league match unbeaten (of which 31 have been won) and they remain on course to match the best ever start to a top-flight campaign of 11 consecutive victories. “We have more points, more victories, more goals than anybody else,” the Chelsea manager said. The question was, presumably, rhetorical so do not tell Mourinho that the country will not have been swooning at his team’s performance. They will have admired the ceaseless endeavour of the midfield, in which Michael Essien threatens to make even the indefatigable Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele look like slouches. They will have been impressed by the bravery of John Terry who, even at 3-1, was using his head to win tackles against other people’s feet. They will even have conceded that Didier Drogba can, despite appearances, turn games with moments of deftness but they will also have pointed out that this was another low-quality game between the English and European champions — worse on the eye, indeed, than the goalless draw in the Champions League in midweek — and one that was decided as much by Liverpool’s mistakes as by Chelsea’s ability. At least there were goals — five of them — and any criticism of Chelsea, the champions-elect with almost eight months of the season left, can be regarded as nit-picking. You did not have to be a perfectionist to find flaws in a Liverpool team whose European Cup triumph is becoming even more extraordinary with every mediocre performance. The Kop almost sounded embarrassed when, in response to some crowing from the Chelsea end, they burst into a chorus of “champions of Europe”. What, Liverpool? Really? There was dejection for Sami Hyypia, anonymity for Luis García and embarassment for Djimi Traoré. As for Peter Crouch, it is as if Benítez seems determined to highlight his limitations by ensuring that there is never anyone close enough, or quick enough, to receive his knockdowns and flicks. After 26 minutes of feisty but inconsequential combat, it was Traoré who stepped forward to give Chelsea a helping hand. Having hoofed a clearance straight into Drogba’s chest, his idea of making amends was to scythe down the forward in the area. Despite some helpful advice from Jamie Carragher about where to put the ball, Lampard kept his composure to bury his penalty under José Manuel Reina. He was so delighted that he ran past the home fans kissing his badge and raising his finger to his lips in a “shushing” gesture. No doubt they would have recovered from the trauma but Graham Poll, a referee broad-minded enough to have tolerated a torrent of four-letter abuse from Wayne Rooney, decided to book him. Liverpool roused themselves and responded within 11 minutes when Steven Gerrard met a corner at the far post with a powerful drive, but parity lasted only another six minutes. With by far the afternoon’s most memorable piece of skill, Drogba beat Hyypia with a neat turn. Duff was the beneficiary, taking Drogba’s pass and then sliding the ball past Reina for a 2-1 lead. With Crouch being mugged by several Chelsea players every time he received the ball, Liverpool’s efforts to put Mourinho’s defence under sustained pressure were never convincing. Benítez’s refusal to introduce Djibril Cissé until the 81st minute was baffling. And the more Liverpool pushed forward, the more Mourinho will have fancied his team’s chances on the counter-attack which is just what happened in the 63rd minute. Asier Del Horno stole the ball from García and knocked the ball forward to Drogba. His attempt to go for goal alone was thwarted but the ball squirmed free for Cole to finish. Eight minutes from time, Gérémi, on as a substitute, added the fourth when a now disorganised defence failed to react to a quick throw-in. Drogba crossed, Arjen Robben miscued and Geremi was at the far post to ensure Chelsea’s biggest victory at Anfield since 1907. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Telegraph: Chelsea scale new heights By Henry Winter at Anfield Liverpool (1) 1 Chelsea (2) 4 Clear blue water, as wide as the ocean, now separates Chelsea from the rest of the Premiership fleet. Nine points clear, brimming with intelligence and industry, Jose Mourinho's record-breaking Uncatchables are truly a class apart. The Romanovs were the talk of Russia, not Roman Abramovich, the last time Chelsea enjoyed a victory as large as this at Liverpool. Anfield's DJ had played U2's Vertigo before kick-off. Wishful thinking. Chelsea's head for heights is strong indeed, particularly with Frank Lampard dominant from box to box, John Terry a leader by loud word and stirring deed in defence and Didier Drogba a muscular destroyer of Liverpool's back-line. If Mourinho might have preferred Rhapsody in Blue as the accompaniment for Chelsea's exertions, Feel the Force would have been more accurate. Far from a creature of beguiling beauty, Chelsea are more a fast-moving beast of a team who prey mercilessly on opponent's weaknesses. No wonder they wear a menacing lion on their crest. Drogba had a field day running at Sami Hyypia and Djimi Traore, the weak links in Liverpool's defence, helping to create goals for Lampard (a penalty), Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Geremi. Chelsea's increasing control, which resembled a slip-knot being tightened as Liverpool slumped to their heaviest home defeat since 1969, was also rooted in Mourinho's canny tactics. Aware that Liverpool would launch long balls to Peter Crouch, Mourinho stationed Claude Makelele in front of the target man. Despite the disparity in heights, Makelele leapt and blocked prodigiously, often frustrating Crouch. At one point, the 6ft 7in Crouch complained to Graham Poll that the diminutive Makelele was short-pulling. In possession, Chelsea kept pulling fast ones, beginning in the 25th minute when Drogba's pace drew a foul from Traore. Classic gamesmanship followed Poll's award of a spot-kick. Jamie Carragher sought to psyche out Lampard, even whispering "good luck" as he ran in to address the penalty. Pepe Reina guessed correctly, but Lampard's kick was too quick and it skidded under the Spaniard's despairing body. Having bizarrely had his weight questioned by the Kop in midweek, the lean machine that is Lampard clearly enjoyed reminding Liverpool fans of his heavyweight talent. His badge-kissing, finger-pointing dance of celebration along the front of the Kop brought inevitable sanction from Poll. Lampard was not the only England international in flying form. Steven Gerrard was magnificent, raging against the fading of the red light in the Premiership, willing his team to believe they could live with Chelsea. Within 10 minutes of Lampard's goal, Gerrard was supplying an emphatic riposte, sprinting in to finish off John Arne Riise's corner with a powerful drive from right to left. Game on. For a while. Briefly, Liverpool dreamt that they could handle Chelsea. Gerrard executed a wonderful challenge on Terry. Xabi Alonso piled into Michael Essien. But Liverpool's back door was never securely fastened, and once again Hyypia was caught out. When Asier Del Horno's delivery found Drogba, the striker deceived Hyypia to race into the area. His cutback was placed for Duff, who comfortably swept the ball home. A game high on tempo, soon became higher on temperature when Alonso and Drogba squared up, Carragher joined in and Poll brandished some yellows to cool the reds and blues. Tested physically, technically or tactically, Chelsea are equal to any challenge. They certainly outwitted Liverpool, who must be kicking themselves for failing to land a run-through striker like Michael Owen. Crouch spends so long with his back to goal that he looks almost startled when finally facing the opponents' net. Just after the hour, the day darkened further for Liverpool. Del Horno again ushered Drogba down the left, and again he made good ground, rounded Reina and moved the ball across. Joe Cole applied the coup de grace. As Mourinho danced like a Latin David Pleat on the pitch, Benitez was also up out of his dug-out, screaming at the officials that Cole must have been offside. Liverpool's complaints rang hollow. With nine minutes remaining the queues for the exits thickened. Del Horno again released Drogba, whose centre was missed by Arjen Robben but not Geremi: 4-1 to the Chelsea and didn't their fans revel in the moment. "Gerrard, Gerrard, what's the score?" they inquired of the midfielder who spurned their advances last summer. "Boring, boring Chelsea," they reprised, managing to sing with tongues firmly in cheek. Boring? No. Catchable? Definitely no. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guardian: Stunning Chelsea in a league of their own Kevin McCarra at Anfield Monday October 3, 2005 Managers can snipe and disagree but only a football team itself can settle an argument. Chelsea left no room at all for bickering yesterday and barely allowed Liverpool a speaking part on their own Anfield stage. Rafael Bentez, manager of the losers here, has talked freely about the defects in his side but surely can never have guessed that they would be exposed so brutally. He was unable to sign a midfielder for the right flank or, crucially in this match, a new centre-half. Didier Drogba, with no one to check him, went on a rampage that strewed four goals for others in its wake and he was never as isolated as he had been last Wednesday in the 0-0 draw in the Champions League. Chelsea poured greater energy into this game and they will probably exercise themselves as strenuously to deny that there was any malice behind their attitude. Nonetheless they performed like men who were seething over the suggestion that Liverpool, their nemesis in the European Cup semi-final in May, do have some sort of hold of them. Bentez's team had no grip at all on this fixture. After the interval expert counter-attackers ransacked Liverpool on the break. It was the club's worst result at home since Manchester United trounced them by the same margin in December 1969. The Anfield side are now 17 points behind Chelsea, although they do have two games in hand. In all likelihood they may not be much worse than any of the supposed challengers and the reigning champions already have a nine-point lead in the Premiership. This match had a different character from Wednesday's encounter from the start. Chelsea had clearly resolved not to concede territory as they had then and the midfield engaged with Liverpool early and often. Michael Essien, somewhat bemused in the Champions League fixture, left others in a daze with his bulldozer tackling. While Peter Crouch had some telling moments, such as the chest control and flick that bamboozled Ricardo Carvalho before he lashed over in the 73rd minute, he was usually isolated. It appeared that only Steven Gerrard could be counted upon to put pressure on Chelsea and, with so little assistance, he eventually wearied. Events were going far too well for Chelsea to get tired and Drogba, in particular, has a boundless power. Djimi Traore, with a lapse into the waywardness that Bentez must have thought had been purged, hit a clearance at the Ivory Coast forward and then, in a folly spawned by his panic, lunged into a tackle that brought down Drogba inside the penalty area. Jamie Carragher, disregarding the fellowship of men who will meet up in the England squad on Tuesday, yapped at Frank Lampard but did not prevent the midfielder from converting the spot-kick with a finish that went under the torso of the diving Jose Reina. For all their endeavour it was still a surprise that Liverpool should equalise nine minutes later. Carragher flicked on a John Arne Riise corner and Gerrard rifled home a drive from a tight angle on the right. The Chelsea left-back Asier del Horno instinctively turned away as Liverpool's captain let fly but he can revel in the recollection of most other incidents that involved him. It was the Spaniard's header down the left, two minutes from the interval, that triggered the move that cracked the match open. Drogba pounced, beat the struggling Sami Hyypia with a turn and neat touch before laying the ball back to Damien Duff. Reina hesitated and the Irishman controlled before finishing a second before Xabi Alonso could challenge. The game continued to be heated but a desperate Liverpool made all the mistakes. In the 63rd minute Del Horno dispossesed Luis Garca to release Drogba and the latter stubbed the ball into the goalmouth where Joe Cole waited to score. Eight minutes from the end, to the ignominy of Liverpool and the inattentive Steve Finnan, the Chelsea left-back released Drogba with a mere throw-in. One substitute, Arjen Robben, failed to connect properly with the cut-back but the other, Geremi, did not. The dream of parity with Chelsea, which Bentez has maintained so resourcefully, had vanished. The Liverpool manager is left with a rather cold reality. Those shortcomings that he recognises cannot always be borne and the suspicions grow that he did require another striker far more than he would concede when the club was engaged in its attempt to re-sign the unaffordable Michael Owen. Liverpool cannot compete for the league unless there are improvements to the squad and they will depend for glory on the defence, with all its obvious hazards, of the European Cup. By contrast Paulo Ferreira and Shaun Wright-Phillips did not even make Jose Mourinho's squad here. This was Chelsea's biggest win at Anfield since 1907 but, if the club's history has had long lacklustre passages, the future looks spellbinding. Man of the match: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Independent: Drogba leads the rout as last bastion of resistance crumbles Liverpool 1 Chelsea 4 By Sam Wallace at Anfield Published: 03 October 2005 As an act of vengeance for that European Cup semi-final defeat that still lives on in the memory of Jose Mourinho, there could scarcely have been a Chelsea victory as punitive as this. On Wednesday night, Anfield again represented the last football outpost of this country to resist the domination of the blue empire with proud defiance; by yesterday evening, the old ground had been sacked in the most savage style. Four goals, the evisceration of Liverpool and suddenly the memories of last season's European Cup semi-final second-leg victory, when Anfield turned back what seemed like English football's inevitable tide, felt more like a piece of history. Led by an outstanding performance from Didier Drogba, Mourinho's Chelsea controlled in a manner they were never permitted to in the Champions' League match on Wednesday and extended their own lead at the top of the Premiership to nine points. As first Frank Lampard, then Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Geremi scored the goals that extinguished Anfield's frail hope, all the discussion of Chelsea's style and of their value as entertainers was rendered meaningless. What matters about them is that they are, for the moment at least, unstoppable. And Rafael Benitez, the man who so skilfully unpicked their Champions' League dream last season, is no closer to beating them this time than his humble neighbours at Wigan. Respect for his team, for their achievements was what Mourinho demanded in the aftermath, and as the Chelsea manager punched the air with every goal you sensed that this one counted more than most. The Kop's pre-match banner proclaiming "This is the Special One" was quietly rolled up and taken away as the away support mockingly asked whether they could play Liverpool every week. After two meetings in five days it has felt like they have of late, but yesterday there was no disputing who has emerged from the two games on top. Liverpool's defeat was about their failure to contain the awkward, truculent presence of Drogba and an old problem concerning their own goalscoring. They have just four goals in six Premiership games and for all the neat flicks of Peter Crouch, they would have exchanged all for just one goal from the England striker in waiting. Liverpool finally gave way in the 26th minute and for blame you needed to look no further than Djimi Traore. Dawdling down the left flank he cleared the ball against Drogba and allowed the Chelsea striker to go past him before offering a challenge so imprecise that it was bound to draw a penalty decision from the referee Graham Poll. Frank Lampard drilled his shot low past Jose Reina. Liverpool's equaliser came on 36 minutes and Chelsea will not be breached the same way too often this season. There was a corner from John Arne Riise on the left, a flick by Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard stole in at the back post to lash the ball into the far corner. Asier Del Horno won no awards for bravery with his shrinking attempt at a block, and Petr Cech brushed the ball as it went past, but the old stadium thrilled to the sense of parity. Not for long. It was removed before the end as Benitez committed to attack, but Sami Hyypia will not remember this day with any fondness. The old Finnish centre-half was reduced to his trundling worst for Chelsea's second: beaten by a flick from Drogba down the left wing, he could only watch as the striker crossed for Damien Duff at the near post to take one touch and score. Five minutes after the interval Hyypia was panicked into heading Duff's long ball straight to Drogba and he should have beaten Reina. That miss, and Drogba's fortune to have been only booked for a confrontation with Alonso in which he seemed to throw a punch, were the only flaws in an unimpeachable performance from the Ivory Coast striker and his role in the third goal was crucial. Settling on to a through ball from Lampard he cut in front of the pursuing Liverpool defenders and went round Reina. When his weak shot found Cole alone in the penalty area, the winger appeared to have drifted offside but there was no argument offered by Poll as Cole rolled the ball into the unguarded goal and ended any hope Liverpool might have had of a reward from the game. The fourth belonged to substitute Geremi, who converted a Drogba cross that Robben had not been able to reach on 82 minutes. Before then Crouch had turned Ricardo Carvalho with the most delicate of touches and then rattled his shot into the Kop. Upon such moments are the destiny of seasons decided; the problem for the rest is that, with eight successive victories, Chelsea appear to be deciding their own without toleration of any intervention. Goals: Lampard (26) 0-1; Gerrard (36) 1-1; Duff (43) 1-2; Cole (63) 1-3, Geremi (82) 1-4. Liverpool (4-1-3-1-1): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia (Sinama-Pongolle 71), Carragher, Traore (Cisse, 82); Hamann (Sissoko, 67); Alonso, Gerrard, Riise; Garcia; Crouch. Substitutes not used: Carson (gk), Josemi. Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Del Horno (Huth, 84); Makelele; Cole (Robben, 67), Essien, Lampard, Duff (Geremi, 76); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Crespo. Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire). Booked: Liverpool Carragher; Chelsea Cole, Lampard, Drogba. Man of the match: Drogba. Attendance: 44,235. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sun; Liverpool 1 Chelsea 4 CHELSEA sent shockwaves through the rest of the Premiership by doing a demolition job on Liverpool at Anfield. Jose Mourinho's men had been criticised for their dour display in the Champions League clash between these two sides on Wednesday. They hit back in sensational style with a clinical exhibition of counter-attacking football to become the first team to hit four past the Kop in the Premiership. Man of the match Didier Drogba had a hand in all four of the Blues goals. He won the penalty converted by Frank Lampard just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard smashed an equaliser nine minutes later from a John Arne Riise corner and it looked like the game had the makings of a classic. But the Kop were caught out by a sucker punch two minutes before the break when Drogba's surging run set up Duff. Goals from Joe Cole and Geremi humiliated the Reds late on. Rafa Benitez and Mourinho made minor changes to the teams which drew in midweek. The Anfield chief left out Djibril Cisse and included John Arne Riise down the left, with Luis Garcia moved to the right. His plan was aimed at getting Gerrard further forward to support Peter Crouch. Asier Del Horno returned to take over at left-back for Chelsea, with William Gallas moving to the right and Paulo Ferreira dropping out, while Joe Cole took over from Arjen Robben. The visitors were content to sit deep and draw Liverpool on to them. Even so, Drogba had the first real chance of the match, firing in a low shot which Jose Reina saved comfortably. The Ivory Coast international then won his side a 27th-minute penalty. Djimi Traore tried to play the ball out of his own box but it rebounded back off Drogba's chest into the danger zone. Off balance and out of position, Traore lost his cool and hacked down the former Marseille ace. Despite some choice words of discouragement in his ear from England team-mate Jamie Carragher, Lampard stepped up and fired an unconvincing spot-kick which somehow found its way under Reina. Liverpool gathered themselves and surged back at the champions. Carragher flicked on Riise's header and Gerrard was there to smash a right-footed drive across Petr Cech and into the far corner. Less than three minutes from half-time Chelsea were back in front. Drogba battled his way down the left and shook off Steve Finnan and Sami Hyypia before laying the ball back for Duff to guide in off the far post. Drogba could have virtually finished things when a poor Hyypia header left him clear early in the second half. But he fired wastefully wide from the edge of the box. Chelsea made it 3-1 on 63 minutes as Drogba’s surging run ended with a pass for Cole to tap in at the far post. Riise fired over from 25 yards and Crouch produced a clever turn and flick over a defender but then blazed his 12-yard shot high into the Kop. Liverpool took off Hyypia and sent on Florent Sinama-Pongolle in attack, while Mourinho sent on Geremi for Duff. Drogba grabbed his fourth assist of the match eight minutes from time. He sprinted unmarked onto a long throw and threaded a ball to the back post where Geremi was there to stab home. CHELSEA DREAM TEAM RATINGS PETR CECH 6 ASIER DEL HORNO 7 RICARDO CARVALHO 6 MICHAEL ESSIEN 8 WILLIAM GALLAS 6 JOHN TERRY 8 DAMIEN DUFF 7 FRANK LAMPARD. Booked. 7 CLAUDE MAKELELE 6 JOE COLE. Booked. 7 DIDIER DROGBA. Booked. DREAM TEAM STAR MAN 9 SUBS Geremi (for Duff) 6, Huth (Del Horno) 5, Robben (Cole) 6. Not used: Cudicini, Crespo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirror: NOW WHO'S BORING? CHAMPS v CHAMPS: PART 2 LIVERPOOL CHELSEA FROM ANFIELD Blues batter Rafa's Reds ..and their critics Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer THEY MIGHT lack dignity, but they don't lack class, they don't lack desire, and they don't lack the killer instinct. And listening to the Chelsea fans celebrating at Anfield last night, it was hard to disagree with the sentiment: "That's why we're champions." Insults had flown back and forth for a week, with Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez suggesting Jose Mourinho's team were scared of them. Some fear. Some response. Mourinho's men simply annihilated Liverpool, embarrassing them in front of their own shocked supporters. Tormentor-in-chief was Didier Drogba, who smashed Sami Hyypia into pieces, trampled all over Djimi Traore, and shook Jamie Carragher out of his poise and confidence. Drogba has been criticised even by Chelsea supporters, but his sheer physical power created all four goals as Blues rubbed Liverpool out the championship equation. Only Steven Gerrard looked capable of holding the Blue tide at bay. But Gerrard alone could not deny the elemental force of nature that is Mourinho's team, so rock-solid from back to front, so quick and incisive, so sharp, above all so full of determination. Even at the start, as Liverpool took the route-one option of throwing everything towards Peter Crouch, there was a sense of destiny about what was to follow. For all that possession, for all the high balls launched in the direction of the towering Crouch, Liverpool had created nothing by the time Chelsea went ahead. Drogba fired a warning shot moments earlier when, first to react to the rugged Michael Essien's knock-down, he let fly with a left-footer that had Jose Reina scrambling to stop. And the breakthrough came after 26 minutes as Drogba, having slipped the ball beyond Hyypia, charged down Traore's attempted clearance. The bounce was fortunate for the Chelsea man but catastrophic for the Liverpool defender, whose reckless, scything lunge on the African represented the most blatant penalty offence seen at Anfield since... last Wednesday. Unlike Massimo De Santis, though, Graham Poll does not miss them, or the potentially inciting "shush" gesture Lampard gave to the Liverpool fans as he wheeled away in celebration after slotting underneath Reina's dive. Given that Chelsea had conceded only one goal so far this season, that looked as if it might prove the decisive moment of the game. But with Gerrard and his desire pumping the blood through Liverpool veins, the Reds were back on terms within 10 minutes. John Arne Riise's corner was flicked on by Carragher and, while the angle was tight, Asier Del Horno's decision to turn his back rather than attempt to block Gerrard's fierce shot proved fatal as even Petr Cech's right hand was unable to keep the ball out. It was Gerrard's eighth of the season, but his first Premiership strike since he spurned Chelsea at the 11th hour this summer. Anfield hailed its native son yet Chelsea have not built their reputation without an iron resolve and the ability to come up with something special in their hour of need. So it proved again two minutes before the break when Drogba's adroit turn left Hyypia looking like a man in need of a pension book as he powered into the box. Damien Duff's first touch gave Xabi Alonso hope of closing him down, but the second was sufficiently directed to slip past Reina and into the net - although if Joe Cole had been successful in producing the touch to make certain, he would have been offside. But while Liverpool came again at the start of the second period, there was only one winner in this one. Drogba, who wasted a chance gifted to him by Hyypia's error, made amends for his miss just after the hour, stealing in after Del Horno robbed Luis Garcia, with the ball running loose for Cole to mark his first start in more than a month by slotting home. And while Riise and Crouch - after expertly turning Ricardo Carvalho - both went close, the fourth goal was inevitable. Del Horno's throw sent Drogba deep into Liverpool territory and the unmarked Geremi converted at the far post after fellow substitute Arjen Robben had miskicked. It was as emphatic and unarguable as the scoreline suggested. Benitez's claims to the contrary were meaningless. Lacking dignity? Perhaps.But they don't lack much else. LIVERPOOL: Reina 5; Finnan 5, Hyypia 4 (Sinama-Pongole 71, 5), Carragher 6, Traore 4 (Cisse 82, 5); Luis Garcia 5, Hamann 6 (Sissoko 67), Gerrard 8, Xabi Alonso 7, Riise 7; Crouch 6. CHELSEA: Cech 7; Gallas 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 8, Del Horno 7 (Huth 84, 5); Essien 8, Makelele 7, Lampard 7; Cole 7 (Robben 67, 7), DROGBA 9, Duff 7 (Geremi 76, 7)60% POSSESSION 40% 3 SHOTS ON TARGET 6 5 SHOTS OFF TARGET 4 0 OFFSIDES 7 4 CORNERS 2 16 FOULS 18 1 YELLOW 3 0 RED CARDS 0 ATTENDANCE: 44,235 MAN OF THE MATCH: Drogba

morning papers liverpool away in europe

Guardian: Reds denied as referee spares Chelsea Kevin McCarra at Anfield Thursday September 29, 2005 The Guardian Even if Liverpool had to share the points they held fast to their reputation as the one English team who can regularly unnerve Chelsea. Jose Mourinho's side did duck a repeat of the defeat at Anfield that nailed them in their European Cup semi-final last season, but their general anxiety was far greater here last night. Though they guarded the goalkeeper Petr Cech well, it took the Italian referee Massimo de Santis to spare Chelsea a penalty. The kindest thing to be said is that he is certainly not the kind of official to let a bellowing Kop make up his mind for him. Unfortunately, he really should have this time. De Santis was unresponsive on three occasions, diregarding in particular the handball with which William Gallas blocked Jamie Carragher's header in the second half. Despite that, the home crowd could be satisfied by the maturity with which their team avoided being picked off on the break and by the manner in which they dominated the second half. "Boring, boring Chelsea," sang those fans at the end, gleefully contradicting Mourinho's pre-match assertion that it is Liverpool who "do not play with an open heart". A goalless draw had been widely predicted and the sort of passion that might have brought a second booking for Xabi Alonso or Frank Lampard was no surprise either, but Rafael Benítez's team must have shocked Chelsea with their sustained tempo and adventure. The fierceness compensated for the scrappiness and it must have taken a while before either team could recover the calm to reflect on the significance elsewhere in Group G of Real Betis's valuable win at Anderlecht. Minds will soon sweep on to the next clash between Liverpool and Chelsea, at Anfield in the Premiership on Sunday. By then Mourinho must come up with a way of preventing the opposition from developing the momentum that might just have rushed his team to defeat last night. Chelsea did have an impressive performer in Didier Drogba, who waged a solitary battle in attack, but it was telling that Ricardo Carvalho, called upon to defuse many attacks, was the best player on the field. Despite all the sophisticated scheming, a match can always humble a manager. This was a meeting of the European Cup holders and the reigning Premiership champions, but a heavy disguise was standard issue. The talent of the footballers went unrecognised before the interval and the carefully prepared strategies tended to malfunction. The crowd was more likely to be exercised then by bookings than by artistry. The sight of the refined Alonso first letting Michael Essien steal the ball from him and then, at the cost of a yellow card, snatching the Chelsea midfielder's jersey showed that even the most poised footballer could tumble into error. Each side cared far too much about this game for the good of their composure. Chelsea did stumble across a little fluency afer 32 minutes, as Drogba shielded the ball, turned and released Arjen Robben for a run checked only by Alonso's excellent challenge. The Dutch winger was temporarily heartened and when he veered inside Sami Hyypia moments later it took a good save from José Reina to put his shot over the bar. A goal then would have been a reward for breakaway football, though, and the gusto had largely been Liverpool's. Though each manager used a formation that can pack five footballers in midfield at a moment's notice, it was Benítez's players who were more geared to advance. They were not ashamed either to resort to the obvious. Everyone knew that the ball would be launched for the 6ft 7in Peter Crouch and, without resorting to the panic measure of starting with the towering Robert Huth, Mourinho had no simple answer. When the Liverpool striker headed down after 19 minutes the alarmed Drogba lunged at the lurking Hyypia in the area. The Chelsea striker certainly made no contact with the ball and must have had De Santis pondering the award of a penalty. But none was given. Chances were rare and neither Steven Gerrard nor Lampard powered the play reliably. When Hyypia accidentally chested a long ball into the path of the Chelsea midfielder after 18 minutes, Lampard skewed a drive from the edge of the area, misplacing his usual searing precision. It ought to have been Liverpool who made the breakthrough. Luis García, soon after the interval, might have dissuaded De Santis from granting a penalty because he shook off Paulo Ferreira's pull on his arm and kept on pursuing a through-ball that was collected by Cech. Chelsea's luck held in the 56th minute when Carragher jumped for a corner and Gallas, conscious of Djibril Cissé beside him, met the Liverpool defender's header with an extended arm. The referee somehow believed the contact had been legitimate. Three penalty appeals should have amounted to at least one spot-kick, but there were small, crucial satisfactions for Mourinho and Chelsea last night. Cech had not made a save of note and the team, reprieved by De Santis, remembered how to survive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Independent; Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0 Chelsea forced on defensive as stylish Liverpool make a point By Sam Wallace at Anfield Published: 29 September 2005 The first act of a compelling drama in at least four parts this season and the pre-eminence of Rafael Benitez's European champions continues to nag at the Premiership empire of Jose Mourinho. More adventurous, more risky and just the whim of the referee away from victory, Liverpool began where they finished last season: giving hope to those who seek to unlock the secret of Chelsea's domination. It was not the fire-breathing classic that these two sides contested in the second leg of the European Cup semi-final last season but then we may never witness the noise and the tension of that occasion again. Instead Liverpool, who had two convincing penalty appeals turned down by the Italian referee, forced Chelsea deeper and deeper back into their own half as the game developed, inflicting upon Mourinho's side the stifling restrictions that they have imposed on the rest of the Premiership. Where Liverpool failed was in dealing the final, decisive blow to Chelsea who were held together by John Terry in his typically inspirational manner. The noise of the Kop, their songs about Istanbul and the replica tinfoil European Cups that were waved in the direction of the away end were a reminder of the supremacy that this club, above all others in the Premiership, still feels it holds over the league's runaway leaders. In Europe, Liverpool are still Chelsea's masters; come Sunday, the roles will be exchanged. When Chelsea return to Anfield in three days' time the imperative to win will be much more serious for Liverpool if they are to maintain a viable Premiership title challenge. Then they will have to gamble a greater stake on victory, although Benitez was by no means cautious last night. His team's ceaseless possession forced Mourinho to change formation, reinforce his defence and endure a nervous finale to an uncomfortable evening. Yet so many waves of Liverpool attacks produced so few genuine attempts upon Petr Cech's goal. Liverpool's most promising chances to score were their two penalty appeals rejected by the referee, Massimo De Santis. The first, on 52 minutes, came when Luis Garcia burst between Paulo Ferreira and Terry towards the same end where he scored his controversial winning goal in last season's semi-final second leg. Dragged back by the Portuguese full-back just enough to allow Cech to claim the ball, Garcia was denied a penalty. The second appeal was much less doubtful and came three minutes before the hour when Jamie Carragher powered a header from Steven Gerrard's corner towards goal and William Gallas, who had just shoved Djibril Cissé out of his path, handled the ball. The decision to reject it was, in Benitez's words, "unbelievable", from a Spanish coach who buries his opinions and emotions deep, that is as severe a condemnation of an official as we are likely to hear. At the start of the evening, as the two sides warmed up, Benitez and Mourinho had stood on the touchline together - hands in pockets, expensive shoes toeing the slick green turf - deep in conversation. Like two ambitious young dukes discussing the division of an empire it was a remarkably amicable conversation, given the doubt that Mourinho had earlier poured on Liverpool's legitimacy as European champions. Unusually for him, Mourinho seemed to be doing most of the listening. No team, up until now, has quite matched his Chelsea side like Benitez's Liverpool on the big occasion and the same was the case this time. Peter Crouch's battle with Terry was absorbing - the reach and touch of those long legs against the sheer force of the Chelsea captain's will - while Gerrard and Frank Lampard both seized on any loose possession. Only in the directors' box did the comparison seem unfair - the old money of the personal fortune of the Liverpool chairman, David Moores, rendered measly compared with the £7.6bn Roman Abramovich banked yesterday for the sale of his oil company. Liverpool could take comfort from the absence of a significant contribution from either Damien Duff or Arjen Robben. In the first half, the Irishman was caught by an unpleasant studs-raised challenge from Garcia, not a midfield enforcer in anyone's book, but he failed to turn two lofted balls over the head of Djimi Traoré into meaningful attacks Similarly, Robben came to life just once, running at Sami Hyypia before stepping effortlessly past the centre-half and driving in a shot that Jose Reina did well to touch over the bar. Liverpool's best chance came on 19 minutes when Crouch headed down a cross into Hyypia's stride and the defender appeared to have been subjected to the slightest of trips by Didier Drogba as he miscued his shot. In the second half, Mourinho switched to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation with the introduction of Hernan Crespo, but Chelsea found themselves clamped back in their own half and controlled in a manner that no other team has been able to force upon them this season. Xabi Alonso was outstanding in his distribution and managed one dangerous shot in the 82nd minute when Florent Sinama-Pongolle's cross was recycled to the Spanish midfielder on the edge of the area. The game's last act was Gerrard's free-kick over the bar. By then Liverpool were encamped in the Chelsea half and whether they can occupy the same territory come Sunday will have a serious effect on how this Premiership season unfolds. Liverpool (4-1-3-1-1): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Traoré; Hamann; Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso; Cissé (Sinama-Pongolle, 7; Crouch. Substitutes not used: Carson (gk), Riise, Josemi, Warnock, Zenden, Potter. Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Gallas; Makelele; Robben (Wright-Phillips, 65), Lampard, Essien, Duff (Crespo, 75); Drogba (Huth, 90). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Cole, Geremi, Gudjohnsen. Referee: M De Santis (Italy). Man-for-man marking: How they rated at Anfield last night. By Glenn Moore Liverpool * JOSE REINA Flapped at Chelsea's first corner but brave punched clearance from Essien and decent save from Robben drive restored confidence. 6/10 * STEVE FINNAN Dealt so effectively with Robben's threat the Dutch flyer was substituted with 25 minutes remaining. 8 * SAMI HYYPIA Poor header gifted Lampard early chance but should immediately have won penalty when felled by Drogba. 6 * JAMIE CARRAGHER One lapse apart, he gave his customary sound defensive display and strong 55th-minute header might have brought a penalty when it struck Gallas's arm. 7 * DJIMI TRAORE Impressive in defence and on the ball. Snuffed out Duff and was untroubled by Wright-Phillips. 8 * DIETMAR HAMANN Competent if uninspiring. Held position well and proved a good foil for Alonso and Gerrard. 5 * LUIS GARCIA Anonymous for 51 minutes then eased past Ferreira but too easily tugged back. Reverted back into the shadows. 3 * STEVEN GERRARD Quiet by his usual standards. Makelele kept a close watch and a series of ankle taps may have dulled his edge. 5 * XABI ALONSO Caught in possession and booked after seven minutes. Thereafter classy as he switched the play. Never shirked a tackle despite yellow card, though perhaps lucky not to get another. 8 * DJIBRIL CISSE Utterly wasted on the flank where Gallas was equal to his pace. Withdrawn. 4. * PETER CROUCH Fine lay-off for Hyypia's penalty shout but otherwise well marshalled by Terry and Carvalho. 5 SUBSTITUTE * FLORENT SINAMA-PONGOLLE (for Cissé, 7 Little time to shine but turned Lampard beautifully to illustrate potential. Chelsea * PETR CECH Hard to judge as Liverpool so rarely penetrated defence. His composure always has a positive effect though. 6/10 * PAULO FERREIRA Escaped censure when he pulled back Garcia the one time he threatened to outwit him. Did not go forward often. 7 * RICARDO CARVALHO Committed a string of fouls but managed to avoid a yellow card. Otherwise good defensively. 6 * JOHN TERRY Missed header led to Hyypia penalty claim. Then impressive as ever as Crouch was kept well shackled. 7 * WILLIAM GALLAS Relieved at escaping punishment when his arm got in the way of Carragher's header. Had Cissé under control. 6 * CLAUDE MAKELELE Booked for clattering Gerrard. More careful after that but just as effective as England's action man was kept quiet. Distribution not as effective as usual. 7 * ARJEN ROBBEN Only once threatened, when he escaped full-backs to ghost by Hyypia, but he shot too close to Reina. Booked for dissent. 4 * FRANK LAMPARD Booked for poor challenge on Cissé. Quiet night and was outshone by Alonso. Embarrassingly beaten by Sinama-Pongolle late on. Poor free-kicks. 5 * MICHAEL ESSIEN A powerful presence but never remotely justified £24m fee. 6 * DAMIEN DUFF Wasted clever Drogba flick early on and it did not get any better. 3 * DIDIER DROGBA Willing but too often careless in possession and should have con-ceded a 20th-minute penalty. 3 SUBSTITUTES * SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS (for Robben, 65) Energetic, but little impact 5. * HERNAN CRESPO (for Duff, 75) Offside only time he saw ball. * ROBERT HUTH (for Drogba, 90) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun: Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0 By SUN ONLINE REPORTER JOSE MOURINHO and Rafa Benitez will not care less - but this was another waste of 90 minutes. Two of the Premiership's best teams going head-to-head in a crunch Champions League match. But all we got was a repeat of last season's semi-final which was separated by a single goal over 180 minutes. What we would have done for a goal at Anfield... True, there was some thunderous challenges to excite the crowd. But Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso failed to live up to their reputations with a series of pot-shots that peppered the fans behind both goals. Mourinho and Benitez will both happily take the point which keeps them joint-top of Group G. But the abysmal display will only aid those complaining that football supporters are getting a poor return for their money. These sides face each other again in the league on Sunday - we can only hope they don't serve up another bore draw. They struggled to turn decent possession into anything of real substance in front of goal for the opening 45 minutes. Lampard's opening free-kick, after Alonso was cautioned for pulling Michael Essien, forced Jose Reina into a low save to his right. Gerrard and Lampard then exchanged inaccurate long shots, while Didi Hamann's inviting ball across the face of the Chelsea goal could not find a team-mate. Sami Hyypia went down in the box under pressure from Didier Drogba but referee Massimo de Santis waved away penalty appeals. Claude Makelele was next in the book after a foul on Gerrard before Alonso's curling cross tested Petr Cech. On 33 minutes the best chance of the game arrived for Arjen Robben who cut inside Hyypia before forcing Reina into a fingertip save over the bar. The second half did not provide much more in the way of goalmouth action although home fans believed they should have been awarded two penalties. First Luis Garcia's burst into the box was thwarted by Paulo Ferreira's tug on his arm. De Santis rightly waved away the appeals although Williams Gallas' handball from Jamie Carragher's header soon after should have been given. Robben and Lampard were both cautioned for careless tackles but the most dramatic incident of the half came when Carragher and Hyypia collided going for the same ball on the edge of the their own box. Damien Duff sensed a chance to pounce but Reina just managed to get his fingertips to the ball to clear the danger. Alonso twice tried his luck from distance in the final 15 minutes - his first effort well wide before Cech comfortably kept out his volley. Lampard and Gerrard summed up the night with another shot from distance apiece - which, you guessed it, missed their target comfortably. CHELSEA DREAM TEAM RATINGS PETR CECH HAD little to do but when called into action demonstrated why he is rated the best in the country. Composed. 7 PAULO FERREIRA STEADY, accomplished display but Liverpool’s lack of width made it a comfortable night for the Portuguese defender. 7 JOHN TERRY WILL not have an easier evening than this. With nobody to mark, he just did the tidying up when necessary. Booked. 8 RICARDO CARVALHO DID not have it all his own way as he man-marked Crouch but never looked in any serious difficulty. 7 WILLIAM GALLAS HAD Cisse in his pocket right from the start. Even matched French striker for pace, which not many are capable of. 8 CLAUDE MAKELELE AS ever, totally reliable protecting the Chelsea back four but he was kept busy by Gerrard. Booked. 8 MICHAEL ESSIEN A SUBDUED figure despite the big price tag. Drifted in and out of the game without making any real impression. 6 FRANK LAMPARD NOT at his commanding best but still had moments when he looked a real threat. Booked. 7 ARJEN ROBBEN ANOTHER Chelsea star unable to get into the game apart from a first-half effort that Reina tipped over. Booked. 6 DAMIEN DUFF DID not make the impact Chelsea were hoping for — much to Liverpool’s relief. Replaced after a quiet performance. 6 DIDIER DROGBA ALWAYS a nuisance but his histrionics did the big striker no favours. Went to ground far too easily. 7 SUBS: Wright-Phillips (Robben) 6, Crespo (Duff) 6, Huth (Drogba) 5. Not used: Cudicini, J Cole, Geremi, Gudjohnsen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Telegraph: Lively Liverpool suffer stalemate By Henry Winter Liverpool (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 0 Liverpool won the Champions League final on penalties and last night should really have won this intriguing, if unfulfilling Group G tie on spot-kicks. Three times they appealed for legitimatelooking penalties but three times their pleas were ignored by the Italian referee, Massimo De Santis. Close contest: Djibril Cisse and William Gallas at Anfield If all draws are equal, this one seemed more equal for Chelsea. Away from home, and constantly under pressure from a fired-up Liverpool, Jose Mourinho's side were clearly delighted with the point and even brought on Robert Huth for Didier Drogba, centre-half for centre-forward late on as they shut up shop. Inevitably in a spat between the champions of Europe and the champions of England, few niceties were observed when loose balls were contested. Frank Lampard, John Terry, Claude Makelele and Xabi Alonso were all cautioned for nasty lunges. But the real offences, the penalty-box fouls on Sami Hyypia, Luis Garcia and then a hand-ball by William Gallas, went unpunished. Liverpool, who stay top of the group, take can take great pride from their performance, and their fans saluted Steven Gerrard and company at the final whistle, while deriding De Santis. South versus North, cash versus cachet, this absorbing collision of contrasting cultures unfolded into a fascinating tactical duel embodied in the battle between Makelele's defiance and Gerrard's adrenalin-fuelled ambition. As Liverpool kept a high line and a high tempo, as Gerrard kept running at Makelele, the hosts' enterprise made a mockery of Mourinho's belief that Benitez's side would sit deep and play on the counter. "They don't play with an open heart," insisted Mourinho as he walked into Anfield last night. "They wait for the opponents' mistake." Cautious? Liverpool? No chance here. Not with the Kop in full voice. Not with Gerrard so determined to pile into last night's visitors "because of the speculation about me and Chelsea for two years". With the outstanding Alonso and Didi Hamann the mobile holding men, Liverpool were set up tactically and temperamentally to flow forward. Gerrard played the advance clearing house behind the willowy and willing Peter Crouch while Garcia and Djibril Cisse attempted to insinuate themselves behind Chelsea's fleet full-backs. It was Mourinho's team who were prepared to wait and wait for a mistake, and they always exuded the menace of a breakaway goal. Following an Alonso foul, Lampard drilled in a free kick that Pepe Reina pushed away. Then Liverpool seized control, moving the ball around a pitch made perfect for passing football by a late-afternoon monsoon by the Mersey. Liverpool's commitment to attack saw Djimi Traore forsaking his left-back station after 16 minutes, gliding upfield and squeezing a good pass through to Gerrard. Liverpool's captain controlled the ball well but then, leaning back, lifted the ball badly over Petr Cech's bar. The force continued to be with the European champions, whose fans kept waving cardboard-and-foil models of the famous trophy at Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's smiling benefactor. Every art class in every Huyton and Croxteth school yesterday must have been taken over by boys making copies of the European Cup. Liverpool banner-makers had been typically busy as well, with one sign detailing the five European Cups won by Liverpool with the words "You Can Only Envy Us". But for the poor positioning of the referee, Liverpool should have had a penalty after 18 minutes when Drogba felled Hyypia from behind. Crouch screamed his disbelief at De Santis as the official ignored the offence. Nip and tuck, pace and parrying, neither side could find a way through. Chelsea have been constructed into a formidable machine by Mourinho, with the smoothest of midfield engines pumping through the industrious limbs and minds of Lampard, Makelele and Michael Essien. With Drogba struggling to win the physical battle against the stout-hearted Jamie Carragher, Chelsea lacked a high-class outlet, though Arjen Robben made inroads down the flanks. Racing on to one Lampard pass, Robben cut inside Hyypia and let fly venomously. Reina, reacting brilliantly, flicked the ball over into a relieved Kop. Liverpool's frustration with De Santis intensified after the break. Attacking the Kop, where legend had it they were so often awarded spot-kicks, they twice had appeals rejected by the Italian. First Paulo Ferreira appeared to pull back Garcia as he raced in on Cech. Then William Gallas clearly handled Carragher's header following a clever corner routine. With 17 minutes remaining, a mix-up between Carragher and Hyypia sent the ball skidding free across the Liverpool area. As Damien Duff darted in to exploit the mistake, Reina responded well, dashing out to flick the ball away. The moment encapsulated the night. Promise but no finish. Match details Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Hamann, Alonso; Cisse (Sinama-Pongolle 77), Gerrard, Garcia; Crouch. Subs: Carson (g), Riise, Josemi, Warnock, Zenden, Potter. Booked: Alonso. Chelsea (4-1-2-2-1): Cech; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Gallas; Makelele; Essien, Lampard; Duff (Crespo, 74), Robben (Wright-Phillips, 64); Drogba (Huth, 90). Subs: Cudicini (g), J Cole, Geremi. Booked: Makelele, Lampard, Terry. Referee: M De Santis (Italy). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Times: The Times Chelsea given a helping hand By Matt Dickinson, Chief Football Correspondent THE rivalry between Chelsea and Liverpool is still a long way short of the malevolence between, say, Arsenal and Manchester United, but the more they face each other, the more they seem to be discovering that they do not like each other very much. Familiarity may not be breeding contempt, but after last night’s 0-0 draw in the Champions League at Anfield there was an accusation from Jamie Carragher that Chelsea lack dignity. The Liverpool defender had been riled by pre-match comments from José Mourinho and he was even more annoyed when he was denied a penalty after a clear handball by William Gallas “It was a definite penalty, a certain penalty,” Carragher said. “Before the game there was a lot of crying coming from their camp. They were crying about various things from last season and there were some sour grapes. But we have a little bit more dignity about this club than that and we will not cry too much about obvious decisions going against us.” Carragher was referring to Chelsea’s complaints after last season’s semi-final, when Mourinho argued that his team had been beaten by a phantom goal from Luis García. Last night he was the beneficiary of a large slice of good fortune in the first of several rematches, a feisty one, but there was never much hope of him holding up his hands and saying that luck had evened itself out. “I didn’t see it,” was all he would say of the 56th-minute incident when Gallas used an arm to block Carragher’s goal-bound header. Whether or not the ball would have ended up in the Chelsea net, it was a clear penalty. Liverpool’s immediate and vigorous protests suggested as much. Video replays bore them out. “It was clear and, watching the TV, it was unbelievable,” Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, said. “When you play against a big team, the small details are the difference. And that was a big detail.” He claimed that Gallas was fortunate not to have been sent off. Mourinho had said that the whole world was united against Chelsea and, after eight wins in a row this season, to see them chasing such an intense, high-tempo game would have been fascinating. As it was, they held on to a draw, but not with any comfort. Liverpool had played with dynamism and they will hope to provide a similarly rigorous test on Sunday, when Chelsea return in the Barclays Premiership. “We were better than them,” Ben ítez said. Although a draw was perfectly acceptable for both teams at kick-off, the history of last season, including the Carling Cup final and Steven Gerrard’s on-off transfer, dictated that there would be more to it than that. John Terry had admitted that he would feel a cold shiver walking back into the dressing-room where, five months ago, he had sat in tears after Chelsea’s failure to reach the Champions League final. It would, he said, be like returning to a room full of ghosts. There was no smiling, no chatting to Gerrard when the captains and England team-mates exchanged handshakes and when Frank Lampard injured Gerrard with a late tackle in the first half, the mood was set for a full- blooded, although frustratingly goalless, night. “It was a game for men,” Mourinho said. The players are developing a rivalry that could make life interesting if there is still something to play for when they meet at Stamford Bridge for the final match in group G in December. That seems unlikely as they sit tied at the top on four points, although Liverpool will believe that they should be outright leaders. They had two other claims to a penalty, but, on the day that Roman Abramovich put £5.1 billion into his savings account by selling his stake in Sibneft, the oil company, it seems that some guys have all the luck.

sunday papers villa home

The Sunday Times
Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 1: Lampard settles score for ChelseaRob Hughes at Stamford Bridge THE scoreline tells the truth. Chelsea were marginally better and the winners, albeit courtesy of a penalty 15 minutes from the end. But other statistics mask the performance: this win, their seventh in the seventh game of the new term, makes Chelsea the all-time best starters to a Premiership season. It also makes this Aston Villa team apparently the worst starters to a season in this division in their history. But statistics are bunkum because this was a tense and combative encounter, and it was not decided by the £200m of supposed extra value in blue, but by organisation, tenacity, fitness and hunger.
It is not Chelsea’s fault if this kind of mediocrity, or at least this pursuit of physical strength and organisation over entertainment, is running away with the Premiership.
The defeated manager, David O’Leary, praised the “character of the lads”, but said he did not buy into the thesis that sheer money and nothing else is transcending the Premiership.
“It’s down to the rest of us to take up the challenge that Chelsea have set,” he said.
That challenge, sadly, already has Manchester United 10 points adrift of Chelsea and Arsenal 11.
The interminable wait for somebody, anybody, to put the ball into the Chelsea net was finally over shortly before half-time. Poor Chelsea — which is a contradiction in terms. They were broken by a route one designer goal, very much on the principles that Jose Mourinho had built his five years in management, at Porto and Stamford Bridge.
It came after 44 minutes of chess football, high on work-rate but woefully low on improvisation. Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen had made a routine save from a speculative 30-yard shot from Frank Lampard, waited for at least two men in claret and blue to get into the Chelsea half and then launched the ball out of his hands three-quarters of the length of the field.
Juan Pablo Angel directed his header from Sorensen’s clearance down into the penalty area and towards Luke Moore. Moore, a teenager schooled in the Villa academy and usually waiting for one of the foreigners to pull a muscle, had had a torrid time, being beaten in the air and on the ground by the force, the timing and the experience of John Terry. But this time young Moore’s perseverance paid off.
Terry if anything tackled with such venom that he caught not only the ball but also his teammate Paulo Ferreira. The two defenders fell to earth, the ball spun just a few feet away to the left and Moore, scarcely believing his luck, was quickly to it and from an acute angle produced a shot that beat Petr Cech, even though the goalkeeper got a hand to it.
The ball nestled inside the far post and The Sun newspaper, which had promised £10,000 to the first player to score against Chelsea this season, will be required to pay up.
Alas, for those who hoped that Chelsea might at last be about to be tested in nerve as well as skill, barely one minute elapsed before Villa had tossed away their hard-won advantage.
Lampard lined up a free kick 25 yards out, the defensive wall was inept and inadequate, and the England midfielder has scored more difficult free kick goals on the training ground.
With his right foot, Lampard stroked the ball through a yawning gap to the left of the wall, and straight through it went, beyond the unsighted, immobile Sorensen.
Before that? Organised tedium. Chelsea had appealed for a penalty when Gareth Barry tackled Terry in the area, but despite the histrionics by Mourinho which ignited a mass and mocking chorus from 40,000 who follow every move the puppeteer makes from the touchline, referee Barry Knight was unmoved.
There would be one more opportunity for Villa, squandered by Angel who, on the half-volley, missed the target from the edge of the penalty area. Very soon after that, Mourinho lost patience with his team and, with barely an hour gone, made all of his three substitutions.
It injected some urgency, not least because the darting Shaun Wright-Phillips was infinitely more “up for it” than Arjen Robben, whose sole contribution had been to draw a yellow card for a dive. Damien Duff, after 70 minutes, forced a reflex save from Sorensen and five minutes later the game was won and lost. Wright-Phillips began the move, Lampard took his pass and threaded the ball through the middle, and Didier Drogba, all menacing muscularity, stole a yard on Olof Mellberg.
The bearded Villa captain tried to tackle from behind but missed the ball. Drogba sprawled over Mellberg’s leg and a penalty was the only possible outcome. Lampard thrashed it into the net.
Villa were beaten, and their supporters chimed up with a pitiable chorus of “That’s why you’re champions!”
STAR MAN: John Terry (Chelsea)
Player ratings. Chelsea: Cech 6, Ferreira 6, Terry 7, Carvalho 6 (Wright-Phillips 57min, 6), Gallas 6, Makelele 7, Duff 5, Lampard 7, Essien 6, Robben 4 (Gudjohnsen 62min, 6), Crespo 5 (Drogba 62min, 5)
Aston Villa: Sorensen 6, Hughes 6, Mellberg 5, Ridgewell 7, Bouma 5 (Djemba-Djemba 73min, 5), Milner 5, Davis 7, Barry 6 (Hendrie 85min, 4), Berger 5 (Samuel 67min, 5), Moore 6, Angel 6
Scorers: Chelsea: Lampard 45, 75 pen
Aston Villa: Moore 44
Referee: B Knight
Attendance: 42,146
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People:
FOOTBALL: FRANK YOU & GOODNIGHT Chealsea 2 Aston Villa 1 Lamps snuffs out title race after Blues concede shock goal Frank Wiechula THE TEAM that had forgotten what it was like to concede a goal remembered just in time exactly why they are champions.
And Frank Lampard - the goalscoring heartbeat of Jose Mourinho's imperious outfit - weighed in with another dynamic double to extend Chelsea's mammoth lead over their chief rivals at the top of the Premiership.
Critics had vilified Chelsea, and the top division as a whole, for boring, safety-first football, but after this 90 minutes of theatre we want Moore, Moore, Moore.
Villa youngster Luke Moore had the temerity to breach Chelsea's Fort Knox defence - the first goal Blues had conceded all season - but that merely woke them from their slumbers.
Lampard popped up for a quick-fire equaliser and then coolly fired home a second-half penalty to make it seven straight wins for the champions.
Lamps is really lighting up Chelsea's season - again. Slow to recapture the form that made him player of the season last term, the England midfielder is now back to his best.
The victory means Chelsea have beaten Newcastle's record start to the 1994-95 season. And at this rate bookies will be paying out on a Chelsea title triumph by Christmas.
Counting the victory over Arsenal in the Community Shield, and the Champions League triumph over Anderlecht, Blues have now registered nine straight wins - a club record.
So who cares whether they let a goal in for the first time since an own goal from Geremi in May?
Villa striker Moore was the man who gave fresh hope, if only fleetingly, to the rest of the Premiership by breaching that seemingly impregnable Chelsea rearguard.
There were just 90 seconds left before the break when Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen's long kick was nodded on by Juan Pablo Angel.
Moore picked up the ball and Chelsea skipper John Terry initially made a fine tackle on him.
But Moore got a second bite when Chelsea right-back Paulo Ferreira fell over and collided with Terry.
With both Blues men on the deck Moore, from a tight angle, turned and shot and although Petr Cech got a hand to it, he couldn't prevent the ball going into the net.
Manager David O'Leary and the rest of the Villa bench jumped for joy as if they'd won a cup final. But the joy was short-lived. Less than a minute later Chelsea's Michael Essien won a free-kick on the edge of the box and up stepped Mr Dependable Lampard to curl in a low right-foot leveller.
Sorensen will be mad when he sees how the right-hand side of Villa's defensive wall - namely Patrik Berger and Angel - appeared to dissolve.
It was a frantic finish to a half which had begun quietly, although both Chelsea new boy Essien and Lampard had gone close in that opening spell.
Mourinho looked stunned when flying winger Arjen Robben was booked for diving by referee Barry Knight after the Dutchman's ankles were clipped on a typically mazy 16th-minute run into the box.
Other officials may well have pointed to the spot. Soon afterwards Mourinho was even more incensed when skipper Terry had his legs taken just inside the Villa penalty area.
England centre-half Terry, who'd collected Robben's pass, was shaping to shoot right-footed when Gareth Barry intervened from behind. The TV replays showed Chelsea had a strong case for a penalty but referee Knight waved play on.
That decision left Mourinho leaping up and down on the touchline as if he'd been attacked by a swarm of bees.
After being stung by Villa's opener and then equalising, Chelsea spurned several fine opportunities after the restart. Defender William Gallas headed a fine chance over from Robben's free-kick and sub Didier Drogba should have done better with a 67th-minute header from Ferreira's cross.
It was mostly one-way traffic and Sorensen did well to tip over from Damien Duff on 70 minutes.
But Drogba's strength and persistence paid dividends with just under a quarter of an hour to go when, from Lampard's clever chipped ball, the big striker burst into the box.
Villa captain Olof Mellberg was all over Drogba like a cheap suit and not even Knight could fail to award the spot-kick. Sorensen has gained a reputation for saving penalties - 11 of the last 15 he's faced have been fluffed - but not for a minute did you doubt Lampard would convert for his fifth goal of the season.
With Manchester United losing at home to Blackburn, and Arsenal and Liverpool both dropping points away from home, Chelsea have now put daylight between themselves and the rest. As short as 1-4 with bookies to retain their title before kick-off yesterday, they will be virtually unbackable now.
And if they beat Liverpool at Anfield next week it's surely goodnight Vienna for the rest. There's still a week before September is out but already they're all playing for second place. First place? It's already been wrapped up.
CHELSEA: Cech 7 - Ferreira 6, Gallas 6, Carvalho 6 (Wright-Phillips 57mins, 6), Terry 7 - Duff 6, Essien 6, *LAMPARD 8, Makelele 6, Robben 6 (Gudjohnsen 62mins, 6) - Crespo 5 (Drogba 57mins, 5).
ASTON VILLA: *SORENSEN 7 - Hughes 6, Bouma 6 (Djemba-Djemba 73mins, 5), Ridgewell 7, Mellberg 7 - Milner 6, Davis 7, Barry 6 (Hendrie 85mins), Berger 6 (Samuel 67mins, 6) - Moore 7, Angel 6. Ref: B Knight 6.
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Observer:
Wake and smell the coffee - Chelsea are entertaining
Will Buckley at Stamford BridgeSunday September 25, 2005The Observer
While it is difficult to feel sympathy for Chelsea FC - other than congratulating them for demonstrating to so many people who once voted for Thatcher the iniquities inherent upon unfettered capitalism - times are hard on their fans.They wait half a century to win the league, do so in some style, and are promptly informed they've ruined the game. Last season, Arsenal put together an unbeaten run and were hailed as the The Incredibles. This season Chelsea compile a better record and are called The Intolerables. It is a thin line between success and success.
Football, meanwhile, is a victim of its own excess.
The extent of the malaise illustrated by the fact that adherents had to point to the Carling Cup second round to show the game was in rude health. Which is rather like a supporter of the British Empire muttering 'Gibraltar' into his brandy.
The majority, however, feel the game is ailing. So ill, indeed, as to be almost unwatchable. Was it possible to stay awake for an entire Chelsea match? I resolved to do my best.
The opening five minutes were quiet, dangerously quiet. The game looked very 1-0.
On seven minutes Michael Essien stampeded through on the right and Thomas Sorensen nearly fumbled an easy save. On nine minutes nifty work from Arjen Robben set up a rather hesitant Frank Lampard.
Time passed. Robben was booked for diving. Jose Mourinho took to his feet and stayed there, perhaps he too was having difficulty staying awake. His system was so nearly right, but whatever was slightly wrong was sufficient to make it malfunction. And the suspicion was that the flaw in the machine was Lampard. Passes are going awry, runs are being mistimed, fatherhood has unbalanced him.
When Aston Villa attacked, which was rarely, they were offside.
Your correspondent was then nearly hit on the head by a miscued clearance. Just the jolt that was needed to make it through the tricky half-hour mark. Ricardo Carvalho to Hernan Crespo to Damien Duff. A extraordinary one-touch move conducted at such pace that the deftness of the artistry on show was disguised. But the shot went wide.
John Terry might have had a penalty. The home crowd awoke to shout abuse at referee Barry Knight. It was like a football match again. More poor refereeing and this staying awake would be a doddle. Maybe that's what the game needs - a bunch of David Ellerays.
What it got, and this was even more astonishing, was a goal from Luke Moore, who snaked through a sleeping Chelsea central defence and wriggled the ball past Petr Cech. What a sharpener.
It certainly had an effect on Lampard, who had obviously decided to wait for someone to score against his team before deigning to start his season.
In the 45th minute he was curling a free-kick into the net. And he should have made it two in the two minutes of added time but duffed his volley wide. After the goal-caffeine-nicotine rush the second half did not appear to present a problem.
William Gallas should have scored early on. Juan Pablo Angel might have taken advantage of sloppy Chelsea defending.
By replacing Carvalho with Shaun Wright-Philips and asking Essien to fill in as an ultra attacking left-back, Mourinho opened the game up. The gamble nearly paid off when Didier Drogba headed just over and, with the cards re-jigged, Chelsea were electrifying. Duff had an effort palmed over. The indomitable Essien popped up everywhere. Their efforts were rewarded with a penalty after Olof Mellberg fouled Drogba. Lampard scored. And for the rest of the match Chelsea played high-tempo perfect pitch football.
The gap at the top is bigger than ever and the top team have found their rhythm. It might be predictable, but it isn't boring.
Man of the match: Michael Essien - Indomitable in any position. Better for this team than Gerrard
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Telegraph:
Chelsea asked questions but come up with answers By Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (1) 2 Aston Villa (1) 1
David O'Leary had promised to take Chelsea on and "ask questions'' of them. Aston Villa, responding to what you might call the Chris Tarrant style of management, did just as he requested of them and the champions' search for the answers proved entertaining. In the end, Jose Mourinho had to ask the audience - if his bench could be thus described - and one of three substitutes, Didier Drogba, duly earned the penalty that continued Chelsea's perfect start to the season.
Perfect, that is, in terms of each of their seven matches being won. They did let in a goal, the 20-year-old Luke Moore vindicating O'Leary's decision to pick him by putting Villa in front, albeit briefly, before the interval.
It had been 756 minutes since an opponent - Ruud van Nistelrooy - breached Chelsea in the Premiership, though Geremi's own-goal at Newcastle had come 88 minutes later, in the concluding match of last season. Frank Lampard cushioned some of the shock by equalising with a free-kick and it was Lampard who also hit the winner from the spot.
But Villa left with credit. All the talk had been fatalism in the Premiership, of teams arriving at Stamford Bridge bent on damage-limitation through caution. O'Leary got the balance right and there was no shame in an outcome decided by the difference in class between his resources and those of Mourinho, as demonstrated by the latter's use of substitutes who cost £50 million.
Lacking Milan Baros, who had been injured during the 8-3 victory at Wycombe Wanderers in the Carling Cup last midweek, O'Leary brought in Moore and went at Chelsea with two strikers. Moore and Juan Pablo Angel were under instruction that one should always pick up Claude Makelele in front of the back four. It was an attempt to disrupt Chelsea's rhythm - and it worked. For seven minutes. While Chelsea were warming up.
Villa did well not to lose heart during the ensuing phase, beginning with a burst of Michael Essien. The Ghanaian - surely the ultimate box-to-box player - needed a bit of help and smoothly it came as William Gallas, John Terry and Lampard eased the ball out of defence, Lampard feeding Arjen Robben, on to whose pass Essien, having covered half the pitch, strode. Thomas Sorensen required two touches to tame his shot.
Essien helped Lampard to earn a corner before rising to the kick and heading wide. While Chelsea's support were admiring the £24 million newcomer from Lyon, the travellers could only watch anxiously. Little or nothing stuck to Moore or Angel at this stage. Villa's mundane efforts to relieve the pressure on their defence with forward balls merely gave Chelsea a supply that Mourinho's men were quick to exploit. A fine example of this came when Ricardo Carvalho brought the ball down and struck it long for Hernan Crespo, whose backheeled flick let Damien Duff edge in front of Wilfred Bouma, where he stayed until Bouma's dogged attentions contributed to an inaccurate shot. Though the finish might have been better, the move had been direct football of the highest quality.
Against this, Villa did muster a glimmer of a chance, after Paulo Ferreira had failed to cut out Gareth Barry's pass down the line, but, although Angel seized upon the ball and crossed early for Moore, the youngster was stifled by Terry's tackle as he shot. Same old Chelsea, we thought. Yet their reputation for impregnability was only minutes from destruction. Sorensen cleared long, Angel rose to win the aerial challenge and Moore, reacting quicker than any of three surrounding defenders after Carvalho had tackled him, wheeled to shoot; Petr Cech got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
If only Villa could have preserved their lead to the interval. They had two minutes to survive. But in such situations it is unhelpful to concede a free-kick a few yards outside your penalty area, as Liam Ridgewell did in fouling Essien, especially if it is in a central position, and even more so when Lampard is available to take it. The England midfielder had already brought a smart save from Sorensen with one of these - only 30 seconds before Villa scored - and he went one better with a drive that, compounding Villa's culpability, went through the wall.
The floodgates, though, stayed closed and, 11 minutes into the second half, Mourinho made changes, sending on Drogba for Crespo and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Carvalho, the latter switch directing Duff to left-back. He was there for a mere six minutes. After Eidur Gudjohnsen had replaced the limping Robben and Mourinho opted for 4-4-2, the role fell to Essien. But Chelsea persisted and got their reward Drogba turned on Lampard's chip too nimbly for Olof Mellberg and Barry Knight gave the decisive penalty.
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Independent;
Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 1 Lampard weaves his magic to set a new Blue standard By Jason Burt at Stamford Bridge Published: 25 September 2005 Chelsea are the spider. They suck teams in, let them expend their energy as they get caught in the web - and then kill them off. Here they got tangled up themselves against an Aston Villa side who would not bite on that. Not one bit.
In the end it was the sheer belligerence and astonishing desire of Chelsea that won through with two goals from the relentless Frank Lampard earning a seventh straight Premiership victory - and with it a record at the start of a campaign, surpassing the six wins of Newcastle United in 1994. In addition they earned a club record of nine consecutive victories.
For once there was no clean sheet with the impressive Luke Moore, after 43 minutes and 20 seconds, becoming the first player to beat Petr Cech this season. The defeat was tough on Villa, especially as they had taken the lead. It also consigned them to their worst-ever start in the Premiership.
Their manager, David O'Leary, summed up the thoughts of everyone. "Did Manchester United get beat today?" he asked. "And Arsenal draw. What a beautiful day for Chelsea." Is there any way they can be stopped? "They would have to lose a lot of players and Mr Abramovich go skint in January," he said.
O'Leary's comments were the only ones offered to the press. Even though this was Jose Mourinho's fifth anniversary since he became a manager, an arrestingly short period of time given his amazing achievements, he would not speak outside the television studio. His self-imposed, whipped-up temporary vow of omerta - because he feels he has been misrepresented - does not do any favours. But it may just fuel that passion in his players. And he knows that.
There were his programme notes and he weighed into the debate about football's value - at a time when Chelsea are apologising for over-charging. "Entertainment is about two things," Mourinho wrote with disdain. "It's about quality of the game, and about competitiveness. If a game is 8-0, is this a beautiful game? Not for me."
By the same token he probably wrinkled his nose at Villa's 8-3 Carling Cup victory over Wycombe Wanderers while O'Leary himself weighed in with "my mentality is in no way to let everyone go out there and have a go and win 6-5 and all that crap". Fair enough, although O'Leary was a bit more thoughtful in saying of Chelsea's supremacy: "It's not their fault. It is down to the rest of us to take the challenge to them."
And to his credit, Villa did. With two strikers - despite the absence of Milan Baros and Kevin Phillips - they came to win. Mourinho, speaking to television later, acknowledged as much. "It's a difficult game to celebrate," he said. "It was a difficult game. They defended well but they did not come to defend. They came to play."
It took Chelsea time to wrestle possession and when they did there was a powerful shot from that bull of a player Michael Essien, which he followed up with a header while Damien Duff latched on to a punt forward. He was probably fouled in the area by Wilfred Bouma before shooting. A sense of injustice was heightened when Gareth Barry appeared to clip John Terry's heels. Again no penalty.
Moore then struck. He ran on to a flick-on from Juan Pablo Angel and as Terry challenged, and Paulo Ferreira slipped, and Cech ran from goal, only then to hesitate, Moore was a cool-hand Luke and rattled his shot into the net. Everyone was stunned. Unfortunately, so were Villa.
A free-kick was immediately won by Chelsea and Angel turned to sinner by breaking from the wall, lifting his foot and allowing Lampard's low shot to beat Thomas Sorensen. "The biggest thing is that it's not easy to score against them but we did not ask the question long enough by holding on to the lead," said O'Leary. Indeed, Chelsea levelled in first-half injury time.
After the break Chelsea pressed. William Gallas, unmarked, headed over while Duff half-volleyed a snap-shot which Sorensen tipped away. Mourinho, who throughout the contest had demanded greater tempo, and showed increased irritation, decided to shake it up. He shuffled his pack. On came Shaun Wright-Phillips, with first Duff, and then Essien, going to left-back. It looked chaotic, with Arjen Robben limping off with an apparent dead leg which may rule him out of the Champions' League tie against Liverpool.
Into that confusion finally stepped the substitute Didier Drogba, on for the ineffective Hernan Crespo. He burst through, and was caught by Olof Mellberg. This time it was a penalty. O'Leary protested that Eidur Gudjohnsen had handled in the build-up but Lampard, with that unerring manner of his, slammed the penalty into the corner of the net. Once more the spider had snared its prey. But, this time, only just.