palace 1-0

Independent:

Ancelotti: 'Torres will not be coming and Cole isn't going'
Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 1
By Alistair Grant at Selhurst Park

Ashley Cole will not be leaving Chelsea and Fernando Torres will not be joining them, according to the west London club's manager. After watching his side wrap up a straightforward 1-0 victory in a low-key friendly at Crystal Palace, Carlo Ancelotti tried to put an end to rumours about Cole that stemmed from the full-back's message to friends before he headed to South Africa for a disappointing World Cup suggesting that he "hated England" and wanted to leave.
But Ancelotti insists that the 29-year-old will not be linking up again with Jose Mourinho, the man who took him from Arsenal to Chelsea and who is now settling in at Real Madrid. "I don't need to speak with him [Cole] and he doesn't need to speak to me. He's a Chelsea player and had a fantastic season last season," the manager said. "He will be an important player for us next season, 100 per cent."
Liverpool's failure to qualify for the Champions' League sparked speculation that Torres would be moving on, with Chelsea thought to be preparing a £50 million bid for the Spain striker.
Barcelona and Manchester City are also keeping tabs on Torres, who has scored 56 goals in 79 Premier League games for the Reds, but Ancelotti said: "Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka come back in the next days, and we also have Daniel Sturridge – so I don't think we need other strikers. I'm happy because this team won the Premier League and FA Cup. I don't know what will happen until the end of the [transfer] market, but I'm happy to have this squad at the moment."
Torres suffered a thigh pull during the World Cup final, but will be fully fit within a month.
Chelsea, who face Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley on 8 August, enjoyed a treble fitness boost at Crystal Palace, where at least 10 of the Double winners' big names were missing. England's World Cup trio John Terry, Frank Lampard and Cole were absent, as were Drogba, Anelka, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou.
But Michael Essien, who had not pulled on a Blues shirt since December, made a man-of-the-match return from his six-month layoff after a knee ligament injury suffered with Ghana during the African Cup of Nations in January. The midfielder started and played for 61 minutes, scoring with his final kick.
Essien, who had earlier hit the bar, played a smart one-two with Joshua McEachran before sweeping the ball into the bottom-left corner from 18 yards.
Ancelotti said: "It was important Essien returned. He played very well and is a fantastic player. We missed him last season and hope he can do the best for us this season."
Nigeria's John Obi Mikel, who like Essien missed the World Cup, made a successful return after minor knee surgery in May. He was less effective than Essien, but a welcome sight for Ancelotti nevertheless.
The giant centre-back Alex also completed his return from summer knee surgery, starting and impressing in defence for just over an hour.
One Chelsea player not present was Yossi Benayoun. Signed from Liverpool for £5.5m to replace the released Joe Cole, the Israeli playmaker has a slight groin niggle and must wait until Friday's friendly at Ajax to make his Blues debut.
One headache for Ancelotti, who has pledged to fast-track his youngsters into the first team, was the sloppy performance of his young strikers Sturridge and Franco Di Santo. Neither impressed against a makeshift Crystal Palace side.
The 21,345 crowd was a money- spinner for Palace, who were deducted 10 points last season after falling into administration, before being saved from liquidation by the CPFC 2010 consortium in June and only just avoiding relegation to League One.
George Burley, their new manager, said: "It was great of Chelsea to come down, and almost a full house."

****************************************************

Mail:
Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 1: Michael Essien toasts his comeback with a winner for the Blues
By Alistair Grant
Michael Essien celebrated his return from a six-month knee injury lay-off by smacking the Chelsea winner in yesterday's friendly at Crystal Palace.
The Ghana midfielder, who missed the World Cup because of the injury, hit the bar in the first half and slotted home the only goal of the game after 61 minutes after exchanging passes with Joshua McEachran.
Most of the Double-winners' big names were missing, including England's World Cup trio of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. But Essien was the man of the match as he wore the Chelsea jersey for first time since injuring knee ligaments during January's Africa Cup of Nations.
The midfielder, 27, was substituted merely as a precaution after his goal.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti said: 'It was important Essien returned. He played very well and is a fantastic player. We missed him last season and hope he can do the best for us this season.'
Nigeria's John Obi Mikel, who, like Essien, missed the World Cup through injury, played for the first time since his knee surgery in May.
Central defender Alex also completed his comeback after summer knee surgery.
Ancelotti said: 'We had a good performance and played good football. 'We have a lot of young players ready to play in our team. Three, four or five young players can be with us in the squad for next season.'
But, based on yesterday's performance, forwards Daniel Sturridge and Franco Di Santo are far short of the standard for Premier League regulars.
Neither impressed against a makeshift Crystal Palace side, who avoided dropping into League One only on the final day of last season.
Sturridge in particular looked nervous about shooting. Yossi Benayoun, signed for £5.5million from Liverpool to replace the released Joe Cole, missed the game with a slight groin niggle but will make his Chelsea bow in Friday's friendly at Ajax.
The 21,345 crowd was a money-spinner for Palace, who were saved from liquidation by the CPFC 2010 consortium in June.
***************************************
Express:
CHELSEA BOSS CARLO ANCELOTTI LOCKS-IN ASHLEY COLE AND FERNANDO TORRES

Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti has said Ashley Cole and Fernando Torres are going nowhere
By Colin Mafham
CHELSEA boss Carlo Ancelotti last night appeared to slam the door shut on speculation linking Fernando Torres with a £50million move to Stamford Bridge, and rumours that Ashley Cole is seeking a reunion with Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.
Even though owner Roman Abramovich is reportedly keen on Torres, Ancelotti insisted: “Nothing has changed. We don’t need him. We have Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou coming back so we don’t need any more strikers.”
And on Cole he added: “He will be a Chelsea player next season. That is definite. I don’t need to speak to him about this because he is a Chelsea player and 100 per cent he will be with us next season.”
Ancelotti tried to put the record straight after a Chelsea side that included Michael Essien, Petr Cech and Alex beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park.
The Chelsea boss welcomed the match-winning return of Essien after injury kept him out of Ghana’s World Cup campaign.
“He is a fantastic player and we missed him last season. Now we hope he will be back to his best this season.
“I am happy with this squad. They won the Premier League and the FA Cup last season and I am very happy to keep this team.
“I don’t know what will happen between now and the end of August but I think we can do well again in the Premier League and also the Champions League. I don’t think we need to change.
“We have a lot of young players ready to come into the team – at least four or five – and I am confident we will do well.”
Ancelotti added that he had no worries about John Terry and Frank Lampard after their disappointing World Cup. “The past was not good for the national team and the World Cup. But the past is the past and it is a different story for the club.”
For Palace fans, there was plenty to cheer about yesterday. Like still having a club to support, for instance.
And around 10,000 have already bought season tickets in anticipation of a bright new dawn.
Some of the names might have been unfamiliar, but they still had last season’s top scorer Darren Ambrose and the highly rated Neil Danns to provide hope eternal.
Not that they had much joy in a first half which ended goalless ... if not exactly lifeless.
That really should have changed soon after the restart. Sturridge did his immediate prospects no favours at all when Essien put him clean through with only Julian Speroni to beat, only to fluff his lines.
But Essien put all that to rights on the hour with the sweetest of goals after a delightful one-two with the impressive Josh McEachran.
And to make it a bit of a fairytale, Chelsea brought on Nathaniel Chalobah in the second half ...five months short of his 16th birthday.

****************************************