ipswich 7-0

Independent:

Chelsea thrash Ipswich to earn brief respite
Chelsea 7 Ipswich Town 0

By Mark Fleming at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea could hardly have been more convincing but there was no mood for crowing afterwards. Chelsea's dismal run of late has instilled a sense of humility in the Double winners and manager Carlo Ancelotti's demeanour after the final whistle was remarkably subdued for a man who has just seen his team rattle in seven goals.
No one at the club was foolish enough to suggest this victory – over a team 19th in the Championship, who have just sacked their manager – means Chelsea's horror run has come to an end. It will take more than this mauling of poor Ipswich, who now entertain Arsenal in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday. However, there is nothing better than seeing the goals fly in, and the supporters inside Stamford Bridge sang the name of manager Ancelotti as loudly as ever.
There were also several encouraging signs in the team's display, all the more so as injury had ruled out Ashley Cole, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba. The brightest performance came from 17-year-old Josh McEachran in the centre of midfield, in only his third start for the club.
Chelsea's passing has been all over the place in recent weeks but, with McEachran occupying the key playmaking role in front of the back four, Ancelotti's side rediscovered the ability to find a team-mate with the ball. The teenager looks a slight player, but he showed strength enough to hassle the opposition and rarely gave up possession.
Daniel Sturridge also showed greater energy and invention, and scored twice on his 40th appearance for the club, a milestone that triggers a payment of £500,000 to Manchester City, the club he left in 2009. A return of nine goals from those 40 games is not particularly impressive, but Sturridge is still only 21 and Ancelotti will be heartened by his scoring form.
Of far greater importance still for the club's prospects of turning their season around was the return to scoring form of midfielder Frank Lampard, who scored twice in his sixth game since returning from injury; his performances in the coming weeks may well determine how Chelsea recover from their current crisis.
Ancelotti said: "The result was good and we did a lot of things well in this game but we don't have to be excited. We have to give the same performance next week against Blackburn.
"I think everyone has a better feeling, a better sensation, after this victory. But nothing's changed. We have to keep going. We have possibilities to be competitive. Nobody's happy at the moment. We hope this moment has gone, but now we have to wait."
In the end, it proved to be men against Tractor Boys as Chelsea, aiming to become the first team since Blackburn Rovers in 1886 to win a hat-trick of FA Cups, took out their frustrations on Ipswich, who were led by caretaker manager Ian McParland.
Salomon Kalou put Chelsea ahead after 32 minutes, although all the credit must go to Nicolas Anelka, whose shot was saved by Ipswich goalkeeper Marton Fulop but was dribbling goalwards only for Kalou to make certain from a yard out. A minute later, Sturridge met Jose Bosingwa's cross with a brilliant back-heel finish, and Chelsea were away.
Carlos Edwards headed a Lampard free-kick into his own goal to leave Ipswich 3-0 down at half-time, and after the interval it did not get any better for the visitors as Anelka finished well from a tight angle and Sturridge then curled in his second as Chelsea vented the frustrations of the past few months.
They were important goals for Sturridge, whose request for a loan move has been turned down by Chelsea. Ancelotti said: "Every player has to be ready when the moment arrives. In the future he'll have opportunities. We have a lot of games in this period coming up. I think he has to fight with the other strikers, but everyone has to fight."
Ancelotti's side, who drew Everton away in the fourth round, showed no mercy for Ipswich as Lampard scored twice in the closing minutes after the result was beyond doubt. He added Chelsea's sixth when Ipswich failed to clear Gaël Kakuta's poorly hit corner, and the England midfielder scored his third goal since returning from injury when he met Branislav Ivanovic's low cross in the 79th minute.
The scoreline was particularly harsh on goalkeeper Marton Fulop, who was on duty for Sunderland last season when they lost 7-2 on this ground. The Hungarian has now let in 14 goals in two trips to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Van Aanholt (Bruma, 71); Ramires, McEachran, Lampard; Sturridge, Anelka, Kalou (Kakuta, 55).

Substitutes not used Hilario (gk), Essien, Drogba, Malouda, Ferreira

.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Fulop; Brown, McAuley, O,Dea, Kennedy; Edwards, Norris, Healy, Peters; Scotland (Murray, 49), Wickham (Priskin, 64).

Substitutes not used Lee-Barrett (gk), Delaney, Smith, Eastman, Civelli.

Booked Norris.
Referee A D'Urso (Essex).

Possession Chelsea 60% Ipswich 40%
Shots on target Chelsea 20 Ipswich 2
Man of the match Lampard.

Match rating 7/10. Attendance 41,654.

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Mail:

Chelsea 7 Ipswich 0:

Tractor ride - relief for Carlo Ancelotti as Cup holders smash seven

By Matt Barlow

As the son of a farmer, Carlo Ancelotti will know all about the relief a tractor can offer to those sinking deeper into the mire.For Chelsea, the Tractor Boys appeared in the nick of time.
Managerless and beleaguered, Ipswich rolled into Stamford Bridge and rolled over, inviting Ancelotti's team to restore some confidence after two rotten months.
For the Italian on the touchline, it must have felt like summertime again as the sun shone down and seven goals flew in. The expression remained glum but he waved to the fans who sang his name.Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge banged in a couple each, Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka found the target while Ipswich's agony was compounded by an own goal from Carlos Edwards.Chelsea, unbeaten in the FA Cup for nearly three years, go to Everton in the fourth round.'We needed this kind of performance,' said Ancelotti. 'The result was good and we did a lot of things well, the strikers are scoring again, but we don't have to be excited. We have to wait before we can say everything is OK. There are still some things we can do better but it was important to play well. Our confidence will improve.'
Ancelotti also pointed out how, for the first 20 minutes, it had seemed destined to be another day of frustration. Sturridge missed good early chances and Troy Brown cleared brilliantly off the line to deny Anelka.But once Kalou struck from an inch, with a goal resembling David Nugent's for England against Andorra, the pressure dissolved.Anelka was released by Sturridge after a mistake by Colin Healy only for Marton Fulop to drop a heavy hand on his low shot. The ball bobbled on towards the net and Kalou came crashing in to claim the final touch.
Fulop, who conceded seven playing for Sunderland at Stamford Bridge last January, was beaten again within a minute when Sturridge stole ahead of Darren O'Dea to divert a low Jose Bosingwa cross into the net with a neat backheel.It was 3-0 at the interval after Edwards glanced a header past his own keeper as he tried to clear Lampard's inswinging free-kick. Anelka slid in the fourth, his first in more than two months, and Sturridge curled his second into the top corner.It was a personal success for Sturridge on his 40th appearance for the club, a landmark which means another £500,000 will be paid to Manchester City, taking his transfer fee, set by a tribunal, up to £5.5million.
With his £60,000-a-week wages, this means the 21-year-old striker has cost £10m and has nine goals, six of them in the FA Cup against the might of Preston, Watford, Cardiff and Ipswich.Two came in the Champions League against Slovak champions Zilina and his only Barclays Premier League goal since moving from City was the sixth in a 7-0 thrashing of Stoke. Understandably, Ancelotti resisted the temptation to get carried away and promise him another start against Blackburn on Saturday.'In the future he will have opportunities,' said the Chelsea boss. 'We have a lot of games coming up. He has to fight with the other strikers.'
Having scored 11 goals in their previous 13 games, Chelsea blitzed five in 20 minutes, either side of half-time. Lampard helped himself to the last two and, despite his subdued reaction, Ancelotti can at last consider some of those selection headaches managers apparently crave. Does he recall Drogba or allow Anelka a run as the spearhead, flanking him with the boundless energy of Kalou and the boundless confidence of Sturridge?Does he keep Josh McEachran and Ramires in his midfield trio with Lampard ahead of an out-of-sorts Michael Essien?McEachran, at 17, is slightly built but his football is fluent, he has rarely looked out of place this season and he was terrific again. Ramires looks better with every game and threatened to break his Chelsea duck with a 25-yarder.
For Ipswich it was painful. Caretaker boss Ian McParland is not expected to survive when Paul Jewell is named manager today. Jewell will arrive with his own backroom team and the task of lifting a dejected camp after Roy Keane's sacking ahead of Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final against Arsenal.'I live in the real world,' said McParland. 'I knew what was going to happen. The boys were a bit shell-shocked with the manager going. Even with our strongest team, I knew we could have a struggle down here.'Ipswich's day was made worse when the coach home broke down.

MATCH FACTS

CHELSEA (4-3-2-1): Cech 6; Bosingwa 6, Ivanovic 6, Terry 6, Van Aanholt 6(Bruma 71, 6); Ramires 8, McEachran8, Lampard 8; Kalou 7 (Kakuta 55, 6),Sturridge 7; Anelka 7.

Subs not used: Hilario, Ferreira, Essien, Malouda, Drogba.

IPSWICH (4-4-2): Fulop 5; Peters 5,Brown 5, O’Dea 4, Kennedy 5;Edwards 5, Norris 6, Healy 4, Peters5; Wickham 5 (Priskin 63), Scotland 5(Murray 49).

Subs not used: Lee-Barrett, Delaney, Smith, Eastman, Civelli.

Booked: Norris.

Man of the match: Frank Lampard.
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Guardian:

Chelsea goal spree against Ipswich lightens Carlo Ancelotti's mood
FA Cup Third Round

Chelsea 7 Kalou 33, Sturridge 33, Edwards (og) 41, Anelka 49, Sturridge 52, Lampard 78, Lampard 79

Ipswich Town 0

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea have their light relief. Some two months of mounting frustration were taken out on Ipswich to offer the defending Premier League champions and FA Cup holders a reminder that their scintillating early-season form can still be replicated. There was no manic celebration from Carlo Ancelotti on the sidelines but a playful wave to those in the Matthew Harding stand chanting his name. It was not one of farewell.
This was a walkover from the moment that managerless Ipswich were breached. Their resistance evaporated, the locals delighting in the ease of a welcome victory that was secured initially with much needed energy and later at a stroll. Five goals were scored in a 20-minute period either side of the interval, the most eye-catching involving the often under-used Daniel Sturridge. Confidence flowed back into the system with each reward. Blackburn Rovers will arrive here wary on Saturday.
Sturridge's appearance, his 40th for the club, will trigger a final instalment of £500,000 due to Manchester City – the striker has now cost Chelsea £5.5m, with a further £1m to come if he represents his country – but Roman Abramovich will consider that a minor expense if this team have been shrugged out of their malaise. The 21-year-old has been a bit-part player for too long. Five goals for the reserves in midweek in front of the manager, some 24 hours after the first-team had lost dismally to Wolves, and a knock to Didier Drogba presented him with an opportunity he took gleefully.
Chelsea were already ahead by then through Salomon Kalou's tap-in after Nicolas Anelka's shot had dribbled through Marton Fulop when, some 60 seconds later, Sturridge stole space ahead of Darren O'Dea and back-healed José Bosingwa's centre beyond the goalkeeper. His second, curled home brilliantly from just inside the area, capped the frenzy of Chelsea goals around the interval.
Sturridge has now scored nine times for this club, albeit always against lower-end or demoralised opponents and rarely at critical moments, but he may now earn the opportunity to make his mark against better rivals. "Every player has to be ready when the moment arrives," said Ancelotti. "Daniel deserved to play and did well. In the future he'll have opportunities."
Just as pleasing were Anelka's first goal after 10 scoreless matches and the brace by Frank Lampard. Chelsea had managed 11 goals in the previous 13 matches. The glut will have reminded them of their quality.
Ipswich were outclassed, their caretaker manager Ian McParland helpless on the touchline. They had arrived with confidence shredded after a solitary win in nine league games that has dragged them towards the Championship's relegation zone. Roy Keane's departure last Thursday, on the same day that Chelsea were reiterating their backing for Ancelotti, has left them rudderless. "I live in the real world," said McParland. "The boys are a bit shell-shocked after the manager went, so we were either going to give a good account of ourselves or take a right thrashing. Unfortunately it was the latter."
Paul Jewell's appointment as successor should be confirmed within the next 24 hours, with the former Wigan manager attempting to lure Wally Downes from West Ham as his assistant. Jewell will watch Wednesday's daunting visit of Arsenal in the Carling Cup semi-final from the relative safety of the stands. "Whoever comes in has a very tough job," added McParland, whose own future at the club is inevitably in considerable doubt. "I just hope he's in by Wednesday."
The team Jewell inherits will need reviving, even if this was not the occasion to judge them fairly. Theyhad caused flutters of anxiety in the opening half-hour but, once two behind, they disintegrated. Carlos Edwards inadvertently flicked Lampard's free-kick into the corner, with Anelka converting his first goal since 3 November just after the break. Fulop was motionless as Lampard scored from outside the area 12 minutes from time and was exposed again as the midfielder prodded in his second moments later.
The goalkeeper had done well to prevent the hosts' tally stretching into double figures. The Hungarian had conceded seven on his last visit here, with Sunderland a year ago, and must wonder what all this talk of Chelsea enduring a slump actually means. Not that Ancelotti will relax just yet.
Abramovich is due back in the country this week after the Russian holiday and will speak to his manager, with all parties aware that Chelsea's momentum must now be transferred to the league. "We are all feeling better but nothing's changed," said Ancelotti. "We hope the bad moment has gone but we have to wait to see or not." This has to be the start of the recovery.

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Sun:

Chelsea 7 Ipswich 0
By ROB BEASLEY

GOALS six and seven would have pleased Carlo Ancelotti the most.
Yes, the first five must have given the under-fire Chelsea boss an over-whelming sense of relief.
But the last two provided an uplifting feeling of hope - because they were scored by the club's amazing talisman Frank Lampard.
And history tells us that when Super Frank is in business, then the Blues are in business.
If anyone needed any further proof of that - other than three league titles, three FA Cups, two Carling Cups and 161 goals - then this season has delivered it in huge capital letters.
Frank has been sidelined for 3½ months this season and boy has he been missed.
The England star, 32, helped Chelsea get off to a flier in August before he tore a tendon in his groin.
Then he had to sit back and, along with the rest of us, watch in amazement as the Double winners imploded.
Remember this was only Chelsea's third win in 12 games - the Blues' worst run of results for 15 years.
That's no blip, that's a full-blown crisis.
It has seen the Londoners slump alarmingly from five points clear at the top to fifth in the table and out of the Champions League places.
Had the Cup holders suffered a humiliating defeat at home to managerless Ipswich, it could have ended with Ancelotti following Roys, Keane and Hodgson, through the managerial exit door.
Now it may be the first step to recovery - with Lampard leading, as always, from the front.
For once this term, it was a day when just about everything went right for Ancelotti.
He promoted Daniel Sturridge to the starting line-up and the youngster performed well and scored twice.
He played Nicolas Anelka through the middle and he responded with a goal and an assist. And he kept faith with the infuriatingly inconsistent Salomon Kalou - and even he scored.
For the first 30 minutes, it appeared as if this might be yet another uncomfortable afternoon for Chelsea.
Ipswich actually started brightly before capitulating spectacularly.
Two goals in a minute shattered the Tractor Boys and it was the impressive Anelka who unlocked the door.
He dribbled into the box and unleashed a low shot that keeper Marton Fulop managed to get a hand to but could not stop rolling towards goal.
Just for good measure, Kalou slid in to nudge the ball over the line. The home fans were still celebrating when the lively Sturridge cleverly flicked home Jose Bosingwa's low cross from the right.
And when the unfortunate Carlos Edwards nodded a Lampard free-kick into his own net just before the break this tie was all over as a contest - with Chelsea heading to Everton in the fourth round.
Anelka made it four with a fine shot across Fulop into the far corner of the net and, moments later, Sturridge was on hand to seize his second.
The icing on the cake was a late double from Lampard.
With 12 minutes to go, he crashed home from inside the box and his huge grin told the world how much that meant to him.
Soon afterwards he was guiding in a driven cross from Branislav Ivanovic to show he is back in full flow and - just maybe - the champions are back on track.

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Star:

CHELSEA 7 - IPSWICH 0 - CARLO ANCELOTTI'S STILL PICK OF CROP
By David Woods

IT WAS men against ­Tractor Boys as Chelsea harvested seven goals to help lift Carlo Ancelotti out of the muck.
Ipswich – 19th in the ­Championship and without a manager following Thursday’s axeing of Roy Keane – proved the perfect lambs to the slaughter for the son of a farmer.
Doubles from Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard, strikes from ­Salomon Kalou and Nicolas ­Anelka and a Carlos Edwards own-goal boosted the worried west ­Londoners.
Prior to this clash, the Blues had won just two out of 11 matches, with Ancelotti, not surprisingly, ­declining to say this Sunday stroll meant all his problems were over.
“We have to give the same ­performance next week against Blackburn,” said the Italian.
“We have some things we can do better. There were differences in the first 30 minutes to the other 60. We were a bit worried, less ­confident in that first period.
“When we scored the first goal, everything was OK, but we have to play more games to say the bad moment has gone.”
You had to pity Ipswich keeper Marton Fulop. ­Yesterday’s match came just a week shy of a year since he last played at Stamford Bridge – a 7-2 mauling with ­Sunderland.
That he was the visitors’ best player said something about the performances of those in front of him!
It had looked like another ­dubious day for Double ­winners Chelsea when ­out-of-sorts Anelka leaned back too far and lofted over with the goal gaping.
But the Frenchman was hugely instrumental in the opening goal in the 32nd minute, surging into the box after a pass from ­Sturridge ­before producing a low ­sidefooted shot which Fulop ­managed to half-stop.
However, Kalou was alert enough to follow up and tap into the ­unguarded net.
A minute later Sturridge burst in front of Darren O’Dea at the near post to flick home Jose Bosingwa’s cross before Edwards glanced a Lampard free-kick into his own net.
In the 49th minute Anelka at last got in on the act, arrowing a low shot into the far corner after ­Sturridge had set him up in the box.
It was the former Arsenal ­striker’s first goal since he notched, also in the same minute, against Spartak Moscow on November 3, though that strike was followed by 10 blanks.
Sturridge claimed his second in the 52nd minute when Ipswich’s ­defenders stood off him, allowing the hitman to send a dipping drive over the unprotected Fulop. They did exactly the same in the 78th minute, giving Lampard bags of room to rifle high into the net from the edge of the box following a Bosingwa corner.
A minute later Lampard claimed his second, this time poking home from close range after Branislav Ivanovic’s ball across the box.
Fulop did well late on to keep out a close-range effort from Gael Kakuta and a fierce drive from Anelka.
Ipswich face Arsenal in the first leg of their Carling Cup ­semi-­final on Wednesday, with Paul Jewell ­expected to be in charge by then.
“The new manager’s got a very tough job and I hope he’s in by Wednesday,” said caretaker boss Ian McParland.
Ancelotti’s job got a bit easier ­yesterday … but not by much.

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