sunderland 2-1

Independent :

Sturridge takes his chance after Torres is dropped
Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2

By Simon Hart at the Stadium of Light

Andre Villas-Boas showed he is not afraid to make tough decisions by dropping Fernando Torres for this match, and Chelsea's Portuguese coach was rewarded with his side's best display of his reign.
Although it was Nicolas Anelka who replaced Torres in the central striking role, the decisive contribution came from Daniel Sturridge. Playing wide right, he marked his first Chelsea League start in 18 months by setting up John Terry's opener and scoring the second with a cute backheeled finish, six minutes after the break.
It was enough to consign Sunderland to a fourth successive home loss, despite Ji Dong-Won's late finish.
This was an afternoon dominated by strikers, absent and present. Torres had scored once in 21 Chelsea appearances before his demotion but Villas-Boas played down the decision.
"I don't feel brave regarding this situation," he said. "We have four wonderful strikers and all of them compete highly for the forward position, all of them offer different kinds of things because they have different talent and today the choice fell to Anelka."
Chelsea are not alone in having an underperforming star striker but in Sunderland's case, attempts to get the best out of Asamoah Gyan ended with the announcement yesterday that their record £13m signing would be moving on loan to the UAE club Al Ain for the rest of the season.
This followed Bruce's claim that the striker had had his head turned by "parasites". The Sunderland manager suggested money was the motivating factor. "To go and leave the Premier League for the United Arab Emirates, I will let you make your own conclusions."
Bruce now has Nicklas Bendtner to lead the line, after his deadline day loan signing from Arsenal, but the Dane spurned the chance of a dream start when directing wide a free header from Sebastian Larsson's free-kick.
Sunderland could have done with an early goal. Instead they fell behind. After Anelka's exaggerated fall under a Lee Cattermole challenge had won a free-kick, Juan Mata – lively on his first start – curled a shot against the post. With the defence failing to clear, Sturridge flighted the ball across to Terry at the far post. After seeing one attempt blocked, he drove home the follow-up, the ball flying in off Phil Bardsley on the line.
Chelsea were in control and Anelka threatened a second, flashing a shot wide before being foiled by Simon Mignolet and, soon after, by a Wes Brown tackle. Petr Cech, returning after a knee ligament injury, was not called into action until the stroke of half-time, Stéphane Sessègnon testing him after a sharp turn and shot.
The contest was effectively over six minutes after the restart. Beating Brown to the debutant Raul Meireles' through-ball, Sturridge appeared to be taking the ball wide to round Mignolet, only to flick it past him with his right heel. Brown rushed back to try to halt its trickle goalwards but did so in vain.
Sunderland had only scored once this season before yesterday and they finished with three strikers on the pitch. One substitute, Connor Wickham, headed over but Ji scored his first goal in English football. The Korean slid a neat finish under Cech at the death, after Bendtner's heavy touch had inadvertently turned a Larsson cross into his path.

Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Bardsley (Elmohamady, 62), Bramble, Brown, Richardson; Cattermole (Wickham, 65), Colback; Larsson, Gardner, Sessègnon (Ji, 82); Bendtner.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Meireles (Malouda, 62), Lampard; Sturridge (Malouda, 62), Anelka (Romeu, 79), Mata (Torres, 74).

Referee Lee Probert.
Man of the match Cole (Chelsea).
Match rating 6/10.

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Telegraph:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2
By Luke Edwards at Stadium of Light

A comfortable away win and a crucial second goal from the striker brought in to replace Fernando Torres, things could not have worked out much better for André Villas-Boas atSunderland.
The decision to drop Torres would either make Chelsea’s new manager look very brave or very foolish. Daniel Sturridge ensured it was the former.
It is a bold man who drops a £50 million World Cup winner and replaces him with a youngster who spent the end of last season on loan atBolton Wanderers, but having warned his star names none are safe in midweek, Villas-Boas proved he does not make idle threats.
It was the sort of call that could shatter a new manager’s reputation. Lose at the Stadium of Light and tough questions would have been asked, but after a win and a moment of individual brilliance from Sturridge, Villas-Boas’s standing soared.
A star of Chelsea’s pre-season he may have been, but Sturridge’s inclusion over the most expensive player in English football was undoubtedly a gamble.
“I did not feel brave,” Villas-Boas said. “We have four great strikers who offer different things and that is all. Fernando has to compete for a place like everyone else. Nicolas [Anelka] and Daniel have shown what they can do and I’m very happy because we played how we want to play.”
Torres was not missed, in fact he was rarely thought of until he appeared as a second-half substitute, particularly as Sturridge had given the contest its standout moment at the start of the second half.
Running on to a Raul Meireles through ball, Sturridge beat Wes Brown for pace and when goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, came out, he twisted his body and back-heeled the ball into the bottom corner.
Chelsea started well, although their first goal came slightly against the run of play. Sunderland had just begun to gain a foothold and Nicklas Bendtner should have put the Black Cats in front after 12 minutes when he was left unmarked to meet Sebastian Larsson’s free kick.
Five minutes later, Chelsea opened the scoring. The dangerous Juan Mata hit a post with a free-kick, but Sunderland failed to clear and John Terry had the space to stab the ball in at the second attempt when it came back into the area.
Sunderland tried to get back into it, but their lack of firepower is a worry, particularly given the news hours before kick off that record signing Asamoah Gyan has been allowed to join Al-Ain in the UAE on a season’s loan.
Bruce warned the Ghana international to stop listening to “nonsense” from the “parasites” around him on Friday, but it seems his patience had snapped long before that press conference. “He has no future here,” Sunderland’s manager said after the game. “We shook hands and he said he wanted to stay 48 hours ago, then it changed.
“Anyone who has seen Asamoah play will know he hasn’t been himself in recent months.”
The home side did eventually pull one back, Ji Dong-Wong finishing well after Bendtner and Larsson had combined, but Chelsea never looked like throwing victory away in the remaining minutes of injury time.


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Observer:

Daniel Sturridge turns on the magic as Chelsea cruise past Sunderland

• Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea

• Ji 90; Terry 18, Sturridge 51

Jason Mellor at the Stadium of Light

Another uncomfortable evening at his local restaurant awaits for Fernando Torres, after the out-of-sorts Spaniard was perhaps given a glimpse of Chelsea's future that will have made for less than pleasant viewing.Torres, now with one goal in 22 appearances for the club, was dropped to the substitutes' bench, and the decision by André Villas-Boas to discard the club's £50m record signing was fully vindicated, as Daniel Sturridge scored a sublime goal. His strike, added to John Terry's opener, gave the visitors their seventh consecutive victory at the Stadium of Light, against a Sunderland team who remain without a victory this season and who have lost eight of their last nine games at home."Someone asked me if it was a brave decision to go with Fernando on the bench," Villas-Boas said. "I don't feel brave, no. This situation is nothing to do with that." The Chelsea manager claimed he opted to go with Nicolas Anelka due to the French forward's under-employment during the international break – though Torres was hardly rushed off his feet with Spain.Villas-Boas added: "We have four wonderful strikers and they all compete for the forward positions. They all offer a different threat and today the choice fell to Anelka. There's nothing special about that."Torres has admitted to hearing whispers from fellow diners discussing his problems in front of goal since his move from Liverpool at the start of the year. Given his demotion, he can expect rather more small talk at his expense on the menu this week. He at least made it on for the final 15 minutes, but by then the visitors were simply going through the motions, conserving valuable energy for tougher tests to come as they comfortably stretched their unbeaten start to the season.If anyone can match Torres for their troubles at present, it is Steve Bruce. If he thought the sudden departure of Asamoah Gyan, despatched on a season's loan to cash-rich Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, was the low point of his day – the move coming just 24 hours after the Sunderland manager insisted his record signing was staying put – then it plumbed new depths in the ensuing 90 minutes of this utterly one-sided encounter.The substitute Ji Dong-won swept home an injury-time consolation from Seb Larsson's cross, but a second goal of the season from his side was scant consolation for Bruce. "For a player to leave the Premier League to go over there? No disrespect to the UAE, but I'll leave you to make your own conclusions about his motives," he said. "I can't see him coming back."Chelsea rarely looked back once Terry had been afforded two bites at the cherry from a narrow angle to open the scoring after 18 minutes. Sunderland collectively froze when a Juan Mata free-kick came off the post and Sturridge picked out his unmarked captain in the area.Anelka came close to doubling the advantage when his shot grazed the bar before the interval. Sunderland bookended the first half with their two clearest openings, the debutant forward Nicklas Bendtner heading wastefully wide from another inviting Larsson free-kick, then returning goalkeeper Petr Cech doing well to beat out a shot from Stéphane Sessègnon, but they were rare forays from the hosts.Sturridge sealed victory shortly after the interval, outsmarting Wes Brown to meet a pass from Anelka, before cheekily backheeling the ball past the advancing keeper Simon Mignolet. Asked what Torres must do to force his way back into the side, the reply from Villas-Boas was succinct. "Nothing special," he insisted. Given Sturridge's special moment here, Torres will have do more than that.


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Mail:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2:
Terry and Sturridge net as Blues continue unbeaten start

By BOB CASS

Steve Bruce could gain consolation from the injury-time goal that heralded Ji-Dong Won's arrival in the Premier League.
It made no difference to the destiny of the three points but at least it erased one of a collection of uncomfortable statistics involving his Sunderland team.
A little known US college professor Aaron Levenstein once intoned: 'Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive but what they conceal is vital.'
Well, Sunderland's vital statistics hardly make encouraging reading.
This was their eighth defeat in the last nine league matches at the Stadium Of Light, including four in succession.
This was Chelsea's seventh successive win on Wearside.
At least South Korean Ji maintaining a scoring run which included two for his country during the week prevented four on the trot without a Sunderland goal.
It also sparked a hectic final three minutes which, it must be said, disturbed Chelsea's composure for the first time in the match.
But to draw optimism from such a token flurry would be to paper over undoubted cracks. And yet for all of Chelsea's territorial command, they still should have been a goal down in the 12th minute when Nicklas Bendtner wasted a great opportunity to endear himself to his new band of followers.
Bendtner has undoubted assets which will aid Sunderland in his season's loan from Arsenal, but his big weakness is his consistent failure to profit from his ability not only to take up good positions but also to out-jump even the most formidable central defensive opponent.
Cue the inswinging free-kick from Seb Larsson which Bendtner got on the end of with such effect that he only had Petr Cech to beat.
The goalkeeper, back in action after a knee ligament injury, was mightily relieved when the striker guided the ball wide of his right-hand post.
'Nick had a great chance and you have to take chances like that against Chelsea,' said Bruce.
That was the sum total of Cech's anxiety for all but the last minute of the first half, when he reacted quickly to deal with a shot on the turn from Stephane Sessegnon.
The time in between was a reflection of the enormous chasm which stretches between the Steve Bruce could gain consolation from the injury-time goal that yesterday heralded Ji-Dong Won's arrival in the Premier League. A Chelsea goal seemed inevitable. It came in the 17th minute when Lee Cattermole, never the shrinking violet, dived in on Nicolas Anelka and brought him down.
Anelka made the most of it but there was no doubt about the contact.
Juan Mata cracked the 25-yard free-kick against a post but Chelsea's reactions to the rebound were far more positive and, after John Terry's first cross was blocked, when the ball came back to him he squeezed it in from an acute angle, with Phil Bardsley succeeding only in making sure it went over the line.
Six minutes after half-time Daniel Sturridge made it two with a goal of superb individual talent.
First, he worried Wes Brown out of a long ball from Ramires and then, with Simon Mignolet also trying to crowd him, the striker's kind of side-footed backheel rolled into an empty net.
Bruce tried all manner of permutations and players without ever threatening until the late burst sparked by Ji's low right-footer after Bendtner had helped on a Larsson pass.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas said: 'It went very well for us in terms of what you want to achieve.'
He is clearly aware of the demands of owner Roman Abramovich as far as a big prize is concerned and added: 'I just have to focus on what the owner has told me. One of his obsessions is to play well and that's what we try to do.
'We have only two days to rest before the Leverkusen game in the Champions League, with Bayer having one day extra to rest. And we have to focus on getting the three points before going on to Valencia.'
Bruce said: 'It was very difficult against a very good Chelsea team. They had terrific possession of the ball and we used up a lot of energy trying to get it back.
'The pity was we didn't make the most of what we had.'

MATCH FACTS

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley (Elmohamady 62 mins), Bramble, Brown, Richardson, Larsson, Cattermole (Wickham 65 mins), Gardner, Colback, Sessegnon (Ji 82 mins), Bendtner.
Subs not used: Westwood, Vaughan, Turner, McClean.
Booked: Colback.
Scorer: Ji 90+1.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Mata (Torres 74 mins), Lampard, Ramires, Meireles, Sturridge (Malouda 62 mins), Anelka (Romeu 79 mins).
Subs not used: Hilario, Luiz, Kalou, McEachran.
Booked: Bosingwa.
Scorers: Terry 18, Sturridge 51.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).
Attendance: 36,699.

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Mirror:

Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea

By Brian McNally

Classy Daniel Sturridge drove another nail into Fernando Torres’ Chelsea coffin.
Sturridge’s second-half strike added to a first-half opener from man-of-the-match John Terry and not even a stoppage-time consolation from Ji Dong-Won could take the shine off Chelsea’s comfortable victory.
But Chelsea’s seventh successive win at the Stadium of Light has also heaped the pressure on Black Cats boss Steve Bruce.
Toothless Sunderland have now lost four successive home games – and eight in their last nine games on Wearside.
Both managers had striking issues before kick-off. Andre Villas-Boas sprang a surprise by relegating record buy Torres to the bench in a side that showed five changes, while Sunderland announced that their record buy Asamoah Gyan had been surprisingly allowed to go to on loan to UAE club Al -Ain.
Spanish striker Torres has scored just one goal in 21 games since his £50million move from Liverpool in January.
And Villas-Boas now has a big dilemma on his hands as Sturridge, making his first start of the season, set up Terry’s goal and scored the second with sublime skill.
But Villas-Boas insisted he didn’t need to be brave to drop Torres – and it is now up to the striker to win back his place.
He said: “We have four wonderful strikers and they all compete for places. They all offer a different threat and talents and today the choice fell to Anelka.
“Fernando has been playing magnificently for the last three games as well but Nicolas showed what he can do. Fernando just has to keep competing for a place like all good players.”
Chelsea went ahead after 18 minutes.
It all stemmed from a free kick given away cheaply by Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole’s foul on Nicolas Anelka a couple of yards outside the box.
Juan Mata rattled Simon Mignolet’s left-hand post with a thundering free kick, but the Sunderland defence were slow to react to the loose ball.
Sturridge floated an inch-perfect pass to Terry who was totally unmarked on the left side of the box.
The Chelsea skipper’s first effort was blocked but he squeezed home the rebound from a tight angle.
It was a lapse that cost the Black Cats dearly after on-loan Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner almost grabbed a 12th minute debut goal.
Seb Larsson’s free kick picked out the Dane, making his 100th Premier League appearance, but he sent his header wide.
The game was effectively killed off as a contest in the 51st minute when Sturridge produced a superb finish.
Anelka was the architect with a glorious diagonal ball that allowed the rampaging Sturridge to get on the wrong side of Wes Brown.
Sturridge showed strength and composure before finding sending a clever backheel flick past Mignolet that evaded Brown’s desperate attempt to block on the line.
Torres finally had a run-out for the last 17 minutes.
Substitute Ji pulled a goal back after Bendtner had flicked on Larsson’s cross.
But it was too little, and far too late from a Sunderland side who on this evidence look to have a long, hard winter ahead of them.
VERDICT: Chelsea were simply a class above lacklustre Sunderland and were comfortable winners despite the closeness of the scoreline. Terry, Mata and Sturridge were superb but Torres did little when he came on.
***
THE BIG ISSUE: Will Fernando Torres survive at Chelsea?
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas proved that he is very much his own man by leaving £50million record buy Fernando Torres on the bench here.
The young Portuguese manager is not influenced by reputations or huge price tags.
He promised that he would give Daniel Sturridge his chance and has been as good as his word.
Villas-Boas has thrown down the gauntlet to Torres, who frankly has been an embarrassment since his move from Liverpool.
Fifty million quid’s worth of bench-warmer is not a situation Roman Abramovich will tolerate long-term. Torres could well find himself back in La Liga in 2012.


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Star:

CHELSEA starlet Daniel Sturridge showed Fernando Torres exactly how to do it with an outrageous strike at Sunderland.

With the £50million man sitting on the bench, Sturridge produced an outrageous back-heeled finish to wrap up a comfortable victory at the Stadium of Light.
Skipper John Terry had opened the scoring with an 18th-minute shot after Juan Mata's free-kick had hit the woodwork, but it was left to the former Manchester City man to complete the job in style six minutes after the break with substitute Ji Dong-won's injury-time strike counting for little.
The win extended the Blues' uneaten start to the season and left Sunderland still looking for their first victory and having scored only two goals in five games.
That statistic will not have been lost on the club's fans as news of Asamoah Gyan's loan move to United Arab Emirates club Al-Ain emerged shortly before kick-off, although they will have been buoyed by Nicklas Bendtner's performance on his debut in front of a crowd of 36,699.
All the talk in the hours immediately prior to the game was about strikers and in particular, two who were not involved this afternoon.
Gyan's departure will no doubt have been a topic of conversation between Steve Bruce, Niall Quinn and Ellis Short as manager, chairman and owner met on the pitch before kick-off, and when the team-sheet arrived, Torres, who had scored just once in his previous 21 appearances for Chelsea, was named only among the substitutes.
The upshot was that Bendtner made his first appearance for the Black Cats playing as a lone striker and not alongside the Ghana international, while Juan Mata, Nicolas Anelka and Sturridge lined up in attack for the visitors, for whom Raul Meireles made his debut.
Sunderland might have got off to the perfect start with just 12 minutes gone when Bendtner got his header to a Sebastian Larsson free-kick, but glanced the ball agonisingly wide with keeper Petr Cech rooted to the spot.
However, that proved a rare excursion into enemy territory until a late flurry as Chelsea dominated possession and created a series of chances.
Mata was a livewire as he and full-back Ashley Cole exploited space down the left with Meireles and Frank Lampard prompting from the middle.
The opening goal arrived with 18 minutes gone, although it did so in slightly controversial circumstances with Lee Cattermole unhappy with Anelka's reaction to his challenge 20 yards out.
Mata curled the free-kick over the wall and saw it come back off the post with keeper Simon Mignolet beaten.
But the Black Cats failed to make the most of their escape and when the ball was eventually recycled to Terry beyond the far post, he fired in a shot which was blocked, but Phil Bardsley could only help his follow-up into the roof of the net.
Anelka and Ramires both went close as the Londoners eased into top gear, and it took good blocks from Mignolet and Wes Brown to deny the Frenchman.
Bardsley was fortunate to escape without punishment after he appeared to stamp on Mata as the clock ran down and may yet have to face the repercussions, although his side finished the half in positive fashion.
Stephane Sessegnon forced Cech to beat away a well-struck shot at his near post and Larsson mistimed a header from Kieran Richardson's injury-time cross to at least suggest the contest was not over.
Craig Gardner headed tamely at Cech from another Richardson cross as Sunderland resumed in determined fashion, but the game was effectively over within six minutes as Chelsea hit back.
Anelka had already fired wide after running away from Titus Bramble and Cattermole was relieved to see a volleyed clearance from Cole's cross fly over his own crossbar when the visitors doubled their lead.
Meireles' ball over the top allowed Sturridge to run away from Brown and as Mignolet came to meet him, he audaciously back-heeled his shot past him and into the bottom corner with the former Manchester United defender's efforts to keep it out coming to nothing.
Sunderland might have reduced the deficit with 25 minutes to play when Branislav Ivanovic made a mess of clearing Jack Colback's left-wing cross and the ball fell to Bendtner, but Terry was on hand to block his shot at source.
Anelka forced a 73rd-minute save from Mignolet as the visitors eased into cruise control, and although Ji side-footed home at the death to give the home side some reward for their efforts, the points were safe.


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Express:

SUNDERLAND 1 CHELSEA 2
By Clive Hetherington

JOHN TERRY is hardly a Chelsea pensioner but he is one of the Blues’ Thirtysomethings who Fernando Torres suggests might be too slow these days.
Well, England centre-back Terry, 31 in December, was pretty quick off the mark yesterday – and at least he can score.
Torres, 27, paid the price for his failure to score in the opening three games this season by being dropped to the bench by new boss Andre Villas-Boas.
The misfiring Spaniard has struck only once in 22 appearances since his British record £50million January move from Liverpool.
And to add to his discomfort it was a player preferred to him – 22-year-old Daniel Sturridge – who scored Chelsea’s second yesterday with a sublime 50th-minute finish.
South Korean substitute Ji Dong-Won grabbed a consolation goal for Sunderland in stoppage time, his first for the club.
But pressure is mounting on boss Steve Bruce. His side are without a win in five league and cup games this season and have scored only twice.
Bruce admitted: “We must arrest our home form because we’ve lost both games here already this season, and today we gave away the ball too cheaply.’’
Sturridge – back from suspension – stepped in for his first Chelsea appearance since January, when he joined Bolton for a loan spell that yielded eight goals in 12 games.
Nicklas Bendtner, 23, made his 100th career Premier League appearance. The Denmark marksman, who scored the goals in his country’s 2-0 Euro 2012 qualifying win over Norway in midweek, signed for Sunderland on a season’s loan from Arsenal on deadline day.
Bendtner glanced Sebastian Larsson’s right-wing free-kick just wide in the 11th minute. It was an early scare for visiting keeper Petr Cech on his return from injury, but Chelsea went ahead when Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole fouled Nicolas Anelka.
Spain winger Juan Mata, in his first start following his £26m arrival from Valencia, curled the free-kick against a post.
But the danger wasn’t cleared. Titus Bramble’s weak clearance was knocked across by Sturridge for Terry on the left. His first effort was blocked but his second went in off right-back Phil Bardsley.
Chelsea went two up soon after the restart when Sturridge held off Wes Brown to execute a brilliant back-heel flick after Anelka’s through-ball.
Ji’s late strike was hardly consolation.
Villas-Boas insisted it wasn’t a “brave’’ decision to restrict Torres to a late substitute appearance.
He said: “I don’t feel brave – it was nothing to do with that. We have wonderful strikers and they all compete for the forward position.’’
Asked what Torres has to do to win back his place, Villas-Boas added: “He just has to compete.’’

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