Sunderland 3-1

Independent:

Fernando Torres shows evidence that Rafael Benitez effect is working for Chelsea with win at Sunderland

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3: Under-fire striker scores twice to silence critics after confidence boost from his new manager

Martin Hardy

Four minutes before half-time, Fernando Torres misplaced a pass. There were no embarrassed groans from the Chelsea fans sat high behind the Sunderland goal. There were no jeers or catcalls from the home fans, who were angry at just about everything else. There were no songs mocking the amount Torres has cost, and there have been plenty of them since he moved from Anfield to Stamford Bridge for £50 million nearly two years ago.

It was as big an indication as there has been that the soundtrack to his Chelsea career is beginning to change. He scored twice against Nordsjaelland on Wednesday but again, the backdrop was to failure; failure to mount a reasonable defence of their Champions' League title, the failure of Nordsjaelland to be any good. Only in the stat count from Rafa Benitez, Chelsea's manager, was there any indication that they had played well, more than 30 shots he stated.
They were really good again yesterday. Torres was really good as well. Benitez put three Chelsea players alongside Torres and it worked. At times they really were 4-2-4.
Torres has had support from the boardroom since his move, he has had varying degrees of support from inside the Chelsea dugout, but yesterday he had support on the pitch, in the structure of the team.
The theory has been that he needs to be isolated to play well, to have the freedom to play on the last defender, but that argument looked nonsense against Sunderland. Victor Moses was just about a right winger, Juan Mata his strike partner and Eden Hazard a left winger. Every single Sunderland defender was occupied from the first minute, when Seb Larsson grabbed hold of the shirt of Hazard following a superb pass from Mata. It should have been a penalty, but it was a sign of intention.
The 3,000 Chelsea fans repeatedly sang their new manager's name: "We don't care about Rafa, he don't care about us." It rang from the 10th minute right through to the final, closing stages of the game.
Torres was the most clinical player on the pitch. His opening goal, which came after 11 minutes, was excellent. It was also indicative of Chelsea at their most fluent. Moses played a fine pass down the Chelsea left to Hazard. The Belgian had the time to bring the ball back on to his right foot and he crossed perfectly for Torres, who arrived at pace to volley cleverly into Simon Mignolet's goal.
Chelsea were then excellent but Sunderland fought well. For a period during the first half, Adam Johnson gave glimpses of the sort of qualities he was signed to produce. It roused the crowd, a point Martin O'Neill, the hosts' managers, referred to after a defeat that moved his side into the bottom three.
But Chelsea showed a lot of the characteristics that could yet make the challenge for the Premier League title an affair that exists outside of Manchester. They stood strong and, in the second of the two minutes of first-half injury time, Torres scored again. Benitez must have said the word confidence about 10 times after this victory. When Larsson needlessly slid in and fouled Ramires on the corner of the Sunderland penalty area, there were three possible penalty takers for Chelsea – David Luiz, Hazard and Torres. Intriguingly, revealed Benitez, it is the players' choice whenever a penalty is awarded as to who takes it.
Hazard had missed one in mid-week which moved him off top spot, but it was still a sign of his growing belief that Torres took hold of the ball to calmly stroke the penalty into the Sunderland goal. The Spaniard had previously never taken a penalty for an English side. Three minutes into the second half, when Phil Bardsley's heavy touch took the ball into the path of Torres, 18 yards from Mignolet's goal, Torres immediately cracked a shot off the Sunderland crossbar and, from the rebound, Mata scored Chelsea's third.
"I have said before if the team played well and create chances for Fernando he will score goals," said Benitez. "The team were doing really well in the first half.
"We showed the character and we can create chances. Yes, you could see players with confidence, he was one of those players. He knows the movement I want from him. We are watching a Fernando with more confidence.
"The team are more confident, with the quality we have, we will win more games. We need to show on the pitch what we are showing on the training pitch. We are creating a lot of chances. That is positive for the future. We will create chances and score goals."
Sunderland did score, in the 66th minute, when Johnson smashed a shot past Petr Cech. They rallied and the players were applauded off by their supporters despite the defeat. They will need that kind of backing on Tuesday night, when they face fellow strugglers Reading.
"We played very strongly," said O'Neill. "The players put a in a big effort and it was appreciated by the crowd. We were defeated but it feels like we've taken something from the game to take into Tuesday's game."

Sunderland (4-4-1-1): Mignolet; Bardsley (Colback, 67), O'Shea, Cuellar, Rose; Johnson, Larsson (Saha, 82), Gardner, McClean; Sessegnon; Wickham.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Ramires, Romeu (Oscar, 20); Moses (Bertrand, 62), Mata, Hazard (Lampard, 79); Torres.

Referee: Mark Halsey.
Man of the match: Torres (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10


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Observer

Chelsea's Fernando Torres rediscovers form to see off Sunderland
Louise Taylor at the Stadium of Light

Sunderland is not renowned as a holiday resort but Chelsea must have found their trip to Wearside as restorative and reinvigorating as any visit to a swanky health spa.
If Fernando Torres's game remains in convalescence, powerful hints of a full recovery were contained in the two goals scored by the Spain striker and the other he created for Juan Mata.
By the time Adam Johnson finally answered back for Sunderland and Martin O'Neill prompted a mini-revival by moving the excellent Danny Rose from left-back into central midfield, it was far too late to spoil Rafael Benítez's evening.
Chelsea's latest manager headed to Newcastle airport to catch the team's charter flight to the World Club Championship in Japan, celebrating the first Premier League win of a hitherto extremely uncomfortable Stamford Bridge tenure.
While this was far from a vintage Chelsea performance – Sunderland have won only two of their past 23 Premier League games and appear destined for a relegation battle – he and Torres suggested they are not exactly the busted flushes of popular imagination. On Saturday morning Torres was described as about one thousand times worse a striker than his former Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba. The Sunderland defence might have begged to differ after he expertly volleyed Chelsea into an early lead following a sublime move featuring Victor Moses's pass and an Eden Hazard cross.
Admittedly this could be described as a mixed 90 minutes from Torres but, quite apart from his first league goals since early October, there were definite purple patches replete with exhilarating movement, acceleration and shooting. With a little more luck, he could easily have completed a treble.
It may be too early to talk confidently about "Fernando's rebirth" but his performance can certainly be interpreted as that of a forward emerging from a lengthy hibernation.
Benítez's believes he will once again coax the best out of the striker he turned into a £50m player at Liverpool but the task is complicated by Chelsea's lack of through-ball specialists in the Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard moulds.
Oriol Romeu's audition for the role ended abruptly when the midfielder limped off with knee trouble. With well under a quarter of the game gone it was too early to liberate the newly fit-again Frank Lampard from the bench so Oscar jogged on and into an unfamiliar holding role alongside Ramires in the visiting 4-2-3-1 formation.
It took nearly half an hour for Petr Cech to be forced into his first real save but it was a good one, involving the diversion of Stéphane Sessègnon's stinging shot for a corner. If O'Neill felt a brief glimmer of optimism it was erased shortly before half-time when Sebastian Larsson's awkward, needless tackle on Ramires resulted in a penalty. Torres, suddenly exuding confidence from every pore, stepped forward to send Simon Mignolet the wrong way.
The Spain striker very nearly completed a hat-trick shortly after half-time. Connecting with the ball after Moses's cross bounced off Phil Bardsley's knee, he unleashed a brilliant, high velocity volley that hit the junction of post and bar. With Mignolet wrong-footed, the excellent Mata stroked the rebound into the back of the net.
If Mata's art is making exceptionally difficult manoeuvres look simple – not to mention ensuring there is a point to everything he does – Sunderland's Johnson has spent the past few months making heavy weather of the most straightforward situations but he offered a few hints that, like Torres, he may be on the road to recovery. Johnson at least made the scoresheet, shooting from a tight angle.
Chelsea's defence seemed to read it initially as a cross and so, unwisely, did Cech, who watched the ball fly into the top corner. Perhaps even more encouraging than this spot of deficit reduction, Johnson's willingness to run at players, Ashley Cole in particular, suggested that maybe, just maybe, the £10m handed to Manchester City in exchange for his services last summer was not wasted.
O'Neill's cause still looked pretty hopeless but his tactical rejig proved so inspired that Chelsea experienced a few wobbles. Rose, on loan from Tottenham, has been Sunderland's best player this season and his relocation to the hub of the action was integral to the home team's suddenly much-improved possession. With Rose pulling the strings, Sunderland were finally able to keep the ball and use it incisively. So much so that Cech was required to be at his best to save Johnson's free-kick and, then Connor Wickham's shot. Maybe the dynamic midfielder they have been missing all term was hiding at full back all along.
Sensing danger, Benítez replaced Hazard, who had faded with Lampard and the thoughts of Sunderland supporters began drifting towards Tuesday night's home game with Reading. Lose that one and O'Neill will face some extremely serious questions.


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Telegraph:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3
By Luke Edwards

With Chelsea stepping up their efforts to sign a new striker in the new year this was the timeliest reminder of what Fernando Torres can do. At long last.
Four goals in two appearances in four days is an impressive return although it is a moot point as to which team he faced were worse: Danish champions FC Nordsjaelland in the Champions League or the ragbag of Sunderland who dropped into the bottom three with this defeat.
Martin O’Neill’s men were subjected to a Spanish inquisition. Two goals from Torres and another from Juan Mata resulted in a first Premier League victory, at the fourth attempt, for interim manager Rafael Benítez. Who knows, he may even outlast O’Neill.
The Sunderland manager will cling to the effort his players put in but they are desperately short of belief, quality and without the injured Steven Fletcher, a cutting edge. They flickered into life only when they fell behind.
At the Stadium of Light their deficiencies were illuminated – although Adam Johnson, at least, had his best game since joining Sunderland for £10  million in the summer.
Tuesday’s meeting with Reading is now a hugely significant fixture. Failure to win that and it will be an undeniable crisis, underlined in neon.
“It’s a really tough fight,” O’Neill said. “We got some fantastic results last season and it seemed by mid-February we had calmly taken ourselves out of relegation problems. I never saw it like that, every game was a fight and it’s like that now for us. We will fight our way out of it and we’ve got enough talent and enough self-belief.”
Benítez also spoke of belief. “If the team plays well and creates chances then Fernando will score goals,” he said, claiming that “confidence” is returning both individually and collectively. “You can see players with more confidence and they know what to do. Fernando is one of those players. Little by little we are adjusting things and we have more confidence we will win more games.”
Torres even took — and scored — a penalty. Remarkably it was his first ever in the Premier League and the sight of him wanting to take the ball and beat the keeper was another indicator, according to Benítez, that he is rediscovering his mojo. “The positive thing is he wanted to take it,” he said.
For Chelsea there was the boon of not just Torres’s goals but, as they flew out to Japan last night for the Club World Cup, the return of Frank Lampard after his six-week injury absence. However, yesterday Oriol Romeu was sidelined with a damaged knee.
How things changed in Lampard’s absence as Chelsea endured their worst league run for 18 years. This was their first win in eight. Even the venom towards Benítez subsided a little yesterday. There were chants for Roberto Di Matteo and a new one from the travelling Chelsea fans. “We don’t care about Rafa, we don’t care about us. All we care about is Chelsea FC,” they repeatedly sang.
“In this column I’m not going to dwell on the football. We all know we should be higher up the table,” Sunderland owner Ellis Short wrote in his programme notes, sounding an ominously defeatist note before his club were indeed defeated. They have lost 15 of their last 16 meetings with Chelsea. Maybe those Chelsea fans should be singing “can we play you every week”.
Torres would concur. But then not all Premier League defences rely on as lumbering a pair as John O’Shea and Carlos Cuéllar, who set the tone for the defensive chaos that ensued as early as the sixth minute when the former’s header cannoned off the latter, only for the rebound to land straight at Torres’s feet. Clear on goal he tried to go around Simon Mignolet but was dispossessed.
Another opportunity wasted by Torres. But then he scored a fine goal. Chelsea broke rapidly with Torres outmuscling Cuéllar before Victor Moses found Eden Hazard down the left. He cut inside and picked out Torres who stole in at the near post to steer his volley past Mignolet. It was over in a blue blur.
Sunderland finally gathered a head of steam and Petr Cech had to push out Stephane Sessegnon’s shot from distance but, on the stroke of half-time, Chelsea added a second. Ramires burst into the area but was running out of pitch — only for Sebastian Larsson to launch himself, needlessly, at the midfielder, bringing him down.
Hazard had missed a penalty in midweek, David Luiz had scored one but this time Torres stepped up and coolly sidefooted home his second goal.
He also had a significant role in Chelsea’s third, which owed more to defensive disorganisation with Phil Bardsley making a hash of clearing Moses’s cross. Torres’s snapshot was powerful, it rattled the bar and the rebound dropped to Mata who easily beat Mignolet with a low shot.
Despite the brio of Chelsea’s attacking play, they remained flaky in defence. Sunderland sensed this and the ball was ferried out wide to Johnson. His cross-shot was misjudged by Cech, who pulled his hands away, only for the ball to end up in the net.
Chelsea were then indebted to Cech for sharp saves – pushing away Johnson’s free-kick as it arrowed towards the top corner and then turning Connor Wickham’s low shot away.
In injury-time another free-kick, this time from Craig Gardner, struck the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten. A goal then would have distorted the scoreline.


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Times:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3: Torres at the double
Ron Clarke

 THE Chelsea brand has been battered and bruised in recent days but here they had the luxury of passing the baton of gloom on to a woeful Wearside.
 For interim manager Rafael Benitez it was a sweet interval in what has been a sour start to his short tenure. He was able to taste a league victory for the first time in four attempts, coupled with the rare sight of Fernando Torres in free-scoring mode.
 Yes, the striker who had not scored in his previous eight Premier League games — more than 750 goalless minutes — had hit the net twice by the interval and then saw his shot rebound off the bar for Juan Mata to slam home the third immediately after the restart. And it was game over. Benitez’s first win was in the bag long before his team left the North East last night for the Far East.

The Chelsea interim manager said: “Fernando Torres is now playing with confidence and belief and the same can be said of the team. We are now more compact and more a unit and creating a lot more chances.”
 They now have a temporary diversion from domestic duties as they compete in the World Club Championsip in Japan. How Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill would relish similar respite. This week is the first anniversary of his taking charge. When he arrived Sunderland were one point above the relegation zone. One year on the dreaded drop looks even nearer as they are now in the bottom three. Progress? What progress ?
 It started badly even before kick-off with top scorer Steven Fletcher withdrawn through injury and replaced by teenager Connor Wickham. They were also without captain Lee Cattermole, sidelined for at least a couple of months. Chelsea were unchanged from that hollow 6-1 demolition of Nordsjaelland, not enough to save them from being the first holders to be dumped out the Champions League at the group stage.
 The early action gave a hint of what was to come. In the opening seconds Eden Hazard appeared to be pulled back inside the area and then seconds later Mata pulled a cross across goal rather than go for a direct shot.
 It was only a momentary lapse as on 12 minutes Hazard sent in the ball from the left flank for Torres to divert a side-foot volley straight into the net. David Luiz fired a free kick over and Oscar, on for the limping Oriol Romeu, volleyed just off target as the pressure continued. A scrambled clearance from a Carlos Cuellar shot was the closest the hosts came.
 Then, with virtually the last kick of the half, they conceded again. Sebastian Larsson slid into Ramires and Torres slotted home the resulting penalty.
 Any chance of a comeback was extinquished within seconds of the restart with Mata driving home the rebound from Torres’s shot. The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, Chelsea sitting back and Sunderland lacking the creativity or cutting edge to find a way through.
 The Wearsiders did have the consolation of the game’s outstanding goal on 66 minutes. From long range, Adam Johnson, at last showing glimpses of the form that won him selection to the England team, delivered a thunderous long range drive that swerved past Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal. Craig Grardner also crashed a free-kick against the bar in injury time. For Chelsea, Frank Lampard made a late appearance.
 O’Neill said afterwards: “It is tough but we will fight our way out of it. We have enough talent and, more importantly, self belief to pull through this. It is frustrating. Every game is a fight for us but when it comes to a football match we have to make it count. We need to get some points and we need to get a win.”

Sunderland: Mignolet 6, Bardsley 6 (Colback 66min), O’Shea 6, Cuellar 6, Rose 5, Larsson 6 (Saha 81min), Gardner 6, Johnson 7, McClean 6, Sessegnon 6, Wickham 5

Chelsea: Cech 6, Ivanovic 6, Cole 6, Luiz 6, Cahill 6, Romeu 6 (Oscar 20min 6), Ramires 6, Mata 7, Moses 7 (Bertrand 61min), Hazard 8 (Lampard 79min), Torres 7


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Mail:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3: Smiling Torres at the double as Benitez wins first league game

By Rob Draper

It was always all about Fernando. When Rafa Benitez was appointed Chelsea manager, to outright hostility from supporters, there was plenty on his CV to suggest that it was a rational decision, but none of it more compelling than his work with Torres at Liverpool.
And while there is more to Benitez than the ability to get the best out of his compatriot, if he can spare one of the world's richest men's the humiliation of seeing a £50million investment diminish to nothing, there may well be a job for life at Chelsea. Or a few months, at least.

Because this was a throwback, to the Torres who was once feared around the Premier League. At times he even smiled. It might be said he appeared to be enjoying the game.
And if four goals and a happy Torres is the result of two weeks with Benitez, then the gloom after the new manager's appointment by Roman Abramovich may clear yet.

'It's fair to say we are now watching a Fernando with more confidence and more belief,' said Benitez. 'I said before that if the team play well and create chances, Fernando would score. He knows the movements that I want from him, and the rest of the team know each other well. Little by little we are adjusting things. We have more confidence, and if we have that, with the quality we have, we will win games.'
Indeed. And within two weeks Chelsea could be world champions - they flew to Japan last night immediately after this game - and in the Capital One Cup semi-finals. Life would feel a whole lot better.

While support for former manager Roberto Di Matteo and opposition to Benitez was still vociferous from their fans, the abuse has become laced with a degree of civility. 'We don't care about Rafa … we just care about Chelsea,' they sang.
Equivocation has to be a step up from vilification.That said, one manager's reprieve is another man's condemnation.

While Benitez was spared the worst, Martin O'Neill's Sunderland side slipped into the bottom three.
One victory in nine and the last home win back in late summer tells its own story.
A resilient second-half performance might be enough to give the club, and O'Neill himself, some hope for now.
Certainly the applause at the end from the Stadium of Light was supportive. But defeat by Reading on Tuesday would surely puncture any optimism.

'It's a big game on Tuesday night, and was always going to be,' said O'Neill. 'But we played very, very strongly at times and the players put a big effort in, which was appreciated by the crowd, even though we were defeated.'
From the first minute - when Eden Hazard fed Juan Mata, who appeared to be held back by Sebastian Larsson in the penalty area - this match had the look of a Chelsea win.

Benitez's team were dominant early and it was Torres who shone. Not just the goals, either.
Here was a player making runs, spinning off his man and eager to link up.

On 12 minutes a counter-attack saw Victor Moses making ground, releasing Hazard, who delivered a fine cross from close to the byline, hanging just in front of Torres.
It was an ideal ball to attack and the Spaniard stuck out a foot and directed it into the net with a degree of balance and precision hard to match.
It was his first Premier League goal since October 6. The second was more straightforward.

A needless challenge by Larsson on Ramires, who was heading away from goal and hemmed in, meant an inevitable penalty … and Torres sidefooted it home.
While it is hard to read too much into that, Torres has never been a regular penalty-taker at Chelsea. David Luiz, Hazard or Mata might have been expected to take it.
'For me, the positive thing was that he had confidence to take it,' said Benitez. 'He was saying, "Yeah, I will take it".'

The third goal built the case that here was a player rediscovering his love of the game.

When Phil Bardsley miscontrolled a Moses cross on 47 minutes, Torres pounced, striking instinctively where he has recently dallied.

That the ball struck a post and Mata put in the rebound was immaterial. Here was Torres actually enjoying playing for Chelsea and a broad smile graced his face as he celebrated with his fellow Spaniard.
Chelsea, however, remain fragile, especially in the final half-hour.
Adam Johnson was given too much space by Branislav Ivanovic and his strike on 66 minutes from the edge of the box beat Petr Cech too easily.
Another then might have seen Chelsea wobble, as they did last week at West Ham. But Cech met Johnson's superb free-kick on 76 minutes with a diving save.
In injury-time, Connor Wickham hit a decent strike just wide before Cech touched away Craig Gardner's freekick. But there would be no capitulation this week.
Instead, it was all about Fernando.


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Mirror:

Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea

By Brian McNally

Two-up Torres: Spaniard in the goals as Chelsea record first league win of Rafa's reign at Sunderland

Will two victories and nine goals in the space of four days turn the tide Rafa Benitez’s way at Chelsea?
Certainly the first Premier League win of the Benitez era seemed to mute many of his critics in the Blues’ 2,700 travelling support and spread belief throughout a side without a league success since beating Tottenham on October 20. A comfortable victory at the Stadium of Light ended that miserable seven-game run and definitely seems to have given two-goal Fernando Torres a visible confidence boost.
Coming on top of a 6-1 Champions League success over Nordsjaelland – where Torres bagged another brace – it has also clearly done wonders for the side.
Juan Mata added a third early in the second half after the impressive Torres had smashed a shot against the bar.
Adam Johnson’s fine angled effort gave Sunderland a consolation goal before Craig Gardner hit the bar late on.
Benitez says back-to-back wins will give his side great belief when they fly out for the Club World Cup in Japan this week.
He hailed the two-goal contribution of fellow countryman Torres, citing improved confidence as the key to the mini-revival.
Benitez said: “We showed character, more confidence and our movement was much better. It was a convincing display.
“Fernando Torres showed more belief and that was a big help to us. He took his first goal superbly and showed his desire by wanting to take the penalty.
“Now we have a break for the Club World Cup and that will give me a chance to work more closely with the players. It is not ideal to have this break but we must handle it positively.”
Black Cats boss Martin O’Neill felt his side had shown plenty of battling qualities but admits Tuesday’s game with second bottom Reading is now a big relegation battle.
O’Neill, who has seen his side win just twice in 23 games, said: “We had some good spells today but have dropped into the bottom three and now it’s a really tough fight. It is vital we beat Reading.”
With Chelsea now having won 15 of the last 16 clashes against the Wearsiders, history was very much on their side going into the game – and that was the way it worked out.
Chelsea began impressively and went ahead after 11 minutes. Torres evaded Carlos Cuellar before switching the ball to Victor Moses. He quickly fed Eden Hazard, whose cross was volleyed home exquisitely by the Spaniard.
It was his first Premier League goal since early October.
Sunderland responded positively and Stephane Sessegnon fired in a sizzling drive that was turned away by the diving Petr Cech.
But right on the stroke of half-time Chelsea dented their resistance. Seb Larsson should have simply shepherded the ball out of play as Ramires chased it but the Swede slid in when there was no need to and sent his opponent tumbling.
Torres confidently beat Simon Mignolet from the spot. The fact he demanded to take the kick after showing no interest in the two Chelsea were awarded in their midweek Champions League romp was a clear indication his confidence is beginning to return.
The game was effectively over as a contest in the 49th minute when Mata knocked the ball home after Torres rattled the bar when Phil Bardsley made a hash of clearing a Ramires cross.
But Sunderland grabbed a 66th-minute consolation when Johnson received the ball from James McClean on the left edge of the area and blasted a swerving, angled shot beyond the bemused Cech.
Cech then stopped a Johnson thunderbolt and Gardner struck the bar. But it was too little, too late and Chelsea were able to give Frank Lampard a run-out off the bench after six weeks’ absence with a calf injury.


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Sun:

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3

By STEVE BRENNER

IT HAS not taken long for Rafa Benitez to achieve something at Chelsea.

After all, getting consistent goalscoring performances out of Fernando Torres is surely the stuff of miracles, all things considered.

Owner Roman Abramovich demanded Benitez get the best out of his beloved £50million flop.

And following on from a Champions League double against Danish no-hopers Nordsjaelland on Wednesday, Spanish hitman Torres was back in the goals again yesterday with his first league goals for over 12 HOURS.

Fellow Spaniard Juan Mata put the icing on the cake in the 49th minute but this was encouraging stuff from Torres.

Is he finally back in the blistering groove of old?

Well, he had a hand in all three goals and led the line well.

Make no mistake, we will probably never again see the Torres who used to skin defenders alive back in his Liverpool days.

Even Rafa would fancy his chances against sides as poor as Sunderland.

But Torres remains a threat nagging away on the shoulder of the last defender — and as long as that is the case in Roman’s mad, mad world, the interim Chelsea boss will remain in the hotseat.
Benitez now heads to Japan for the World Club Championship with a spring in his step after Blues embarrassingly crashed out of the Champions League.

But despite being 3-0 up and coasting early in the second half, the travelling fans were still singing about their obvious dislike for the Spanish chief.

But all he can do is win matches. That is his job.

Abramovich decided to sack blokes who win the Champions League. And it is also the owner who insists Torres must be an integral part of any glory charge.

It had been an arduous, morale sapping, headscratching league drought for the striker.

Torres arrived on Wearside without a top-flight goal since Norwich on October 6 — an excruciating 12hr 19min to be precise.

Yesterday, with 11 minutes on the clock, the Stadium of Light was greeted to a glimpse of the Torres who used to scare defences stiff. The movement, the finish, the striker’s instinct were back with a bang.
Torres looked pretty lively from the off. And so did Chelsea.

The Blues were already dominating a Sunderland side who right now have relegation plastered all over their sorry faces. And when Torres struck, no one could say it was not coming. Eden Hazard found himself on the right and his cross was a beauty.

Torres’ finish was even better.

The ball arrived at waist height but he coolly adjusted himself to stab home.
Benitez was overjoyed for his old amigo. And so were the travelling Blues. A wonderfully ironic rendition of ‘Fernando Torres, he scores when he wants’ was followed by the current Stamford Bridge chart topper ‘One Di Matteo’.

Stephane Sessegnon let rip from 18 yards out, forcing Chelsea’s Petr Cech into a smart stop before Adam Johnson got the bit between his teeth and started to really have a go at Ashley Cole.
Chelsea were starting to rock. Problem is for Sunderland, they have not got the quality to make it count. It is not that Rafa’s men were brilliant in the first half. They were solid and effective without really ripping them apart.

As the first half ticked towards stoppage time, Martin O’Neill would have been relatively happy.

Then disaster struck.

Only Seb Larsson knows why he tried to tackle Ramires from behind in the area rather than just shepherd him out of touch. It was a numbskull moment and Torres made him pay from the spot.

In the 49th minute it was game well and truly over.

Victor Moses’ cross was appallingly controlled by Phil Bardsley and after Torres smacked the bar, Mata gobbled up the rebound.

Johnson pulled one back with a sweet 66th-minute strike. It was a cracker too, a left-foot curler which left Cech with no chance. Local lad Johnson nearly nabbed another with 15 minutes left, only for Cech to brilliantly claw away a swirling free-kick.
But it was too little, too late, yet again for O’Neill’s men, who have a pathetic two wins from 23 Premier League games.

For Rafa, his first trip back to the scene of Darren Bent’s infamous beachball winner in October 2009 worked out well.

Problem is, life is anything but a beach in the Chelsea hotseat.

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley (Colback 66), Cuellar, O'Shea, Rose, Johnson, Gardner, Larsson (Saha 81), McClean, Sessegnon, Wickham. Subs Not Used: Westwood, Campbell, Kilgallon, Vaughan, Bramble. Booked: Gardner. Goals: Johnson 66.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Ramires, Romeu (Oscar 20), Mata, Moses (Bertrand 61), Hazard (Lampard 79), Torres. Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Marin, Azpilicueta. Booked: Ivanovic, Ramires, Mata. Goals: Torres 11, 45 pen, Mata 49.
Att: 39,273
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).

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Express:

SUNDERLAND 1 - CHELSEA 3: TWO-GOAL FERNANDO TORRES STARTS UP RAFA BENITEZ'S CHELSEA REVIVAL

By Clive Hetherington


FERNANDO TORRES ended his Premier League goal famine as he rode to the rescue of Rafa Benitez, who celebrated his first top-flight victory as Chelsea boss.
Popular opinion suggests that Spaniard Benitez was chosen as the replacement for the sacked Roberto Di Matteo to get the best out of £50million flop Torres.
 And the signs are it is having the desired effect after the Spain striker came up with two first-half goals – the second a penalty just before the break – before fellow countryman Juan Mata struck three minutes into the second period.
 Torres, who also scored twice in Wednesday’s ultimately useless 6-1 Champions League annihilation of Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge, grabbed his first top-flight goal for 12-and-a-half hours and took his season’s haul to ten, as did Mata.
 Chelsea had failed to win in their previous seven league matches, the club’s worst run since season 1994-95 when Glenn Hoddle’s side endured a ten-game streak without winning
This was Benitez’s first top-flight success at the fourth attempt.
 England winger Adam Johnson pulled one back for Sunderland on 65 minutes with a superb left-foot strike that deceived keeper Petr Cech.
 But pressure is building on Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill, whose side has won only twice in 23 Premier League games.
 They are now in the bottom three and defeat at home to Reading on Tuesday is not an option.
 This was a game Chelsea didn’t want, but they won’t be complaining now after beating Sunderland for the 15th time in 16 meetings
The Blues failed in a bid to get their visit to Wearside called off to give them more time to prepare for the Club World Cup in Japan next week.
 But, after becoming the first Champions League holders to fall at the fi rst hurdle, this was the boost Chelsea needed. They began brightly but spurned two chances in the opening four minutes. Eden Hazard was through on goal from Mata’s measured pass, but the Belgian miscontrolled the ball and Simon Mignolet snuffed out the danger.
 Hazard then returned the compliment with a ball to Mata on the right, but when it was delivered across goal, Torres was out of range.
 Torres was then denied by a point-blank stop from Mignolet after John O’Shea’s attempted headed clearance ricocheted back off central defensive partner Carlos Cuellar.
But Torres was in the right place at the right time in the 11th minute.
Victor Moses found Hazard on the left and, when he curled in the cross, Torres reacted first to volley home.
 It didn’t stop the travelling fans from chanting “One Di Matteo’’ as Chelsea maintained the pressure on a Sunderland side clearly missing injured top scorer Steven Fletcher.
 Sunderland gained momentum during a lively first-half spell. Their best opportunity in that period fell to Stephane Sessegnon, whose stinging shot was parried by Cech.
But Torres struck again from the spot, sending Mignolet the wrong way after Sebastian Larsson brought down Ramires.
 Torres and Ramires were instrumental when Mata added a third. Ramires swept in a right-wing centre, Sunderland right-back Phil Bardsley was guilty of a horrible touch and, after Torres’ shot crashed back off the bar, Mata hit home.
 Johnson’s late effort was hardly consolation for the Cats.


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

Nordsjaelland 6-1

Independent:

Torres fires but Chelsea complete humiliating comedown
Chelsea 6 Nordsjaelland  1

Sam Wallace

Somewhere much warmer than west London in December, they will be recalibrating the satellite on Roman Abramovich's favourite yacht to make sure that they can get a decent signal for the broadcasting backwater that is ITV4. Relax, Mr Abramovich, your Thursday-night viewing is all taken care of.

From the glory of May to the Europa League in less than seven months, it has been one hell of a comedown for a club where the celebration murals from the Champions League final in Munich still adorn the outside of the stadium. As it turned out, Chelsea finally hit their stride last night with six goals and a first win under Rafael Benitez while their fate was being sealed in Donetsk with Juventus' 1-0 win over Shakhtar.

The Europa League is not what Abramovich planned for, but then this has been a chaotic calendar year: two managers sacked, two trophies won, Champions League group stage elimination for the first time in the club's history and they may yet reach Christmas as the official champions of the world. Welcome to Chelsea, where despair comes hot on the heels of triumph.

The roots of Chelsea's demise in the Champions League stretch back to the home draw in the first group game against Juventus when they threw away a two-goal lead, a significant moment that Petr Cech acknowledged after the game. This European campaign has become Benitez's problem, but it began under the regime of Roberto Di Matteo when crucial points were dropped against both Shakhtar and Juventus.

Two of the goals tonight came from Fernando Torres, the first time he has scored more than one in a game since his hat-trick against Queen's Park Rangers in April. Yet there were two first-half penalties awarded to Chelsea, both for handball, and the Spanish striker declined to take either. History has it that Torres just does not do penalties. With his current strike-rate he can hardly afford not to.

It was a good performance from Chelsea but given that their opponents took around £1m in transfer fees to assemble it really should have been. Asked what his experience of the Champions League had been, the Nordsjaelland coach, Kasper Hjulmand, replied: "A lot of beatings".

Benitez was understandably relieved to get his first win in spite of the bad news from Ukraine. It all starts again on Saturday away at Sunderland where he needs his first league victory to smooth the way for the trip to Japan where Chelsea could be playing the Fifa Club World Cup final a week on Sunday. It was a rocky start tonight.

Much of it was down to the Dutch referee Bas Nijhuis, who, with his winter tan, and slicked-back hair, got himself in rather a pickle in the first half. He awarded three penalties for handball, all of them dubious, the first of them to Nordsjaelland which Petr Cech saved. Had that one gone in then the pressure would have been on Chelsea.

Victor Moses was a threat on the right wing in the first half in particular, and Nordsjaelland lost their Croatian defender Ivan Runje to injury in the first 10 minutes. They held out nonetheless, for almost 40 minutes, sometimes with a little fortune. Their captain Nicolai Stokholm deflected a cross from Moses against his own bar.

With Chelsea in control, but jittery in front of goal, the home side conceded the first of Mr Nijhuis's dodgy penalties when Gary Cahill was judged to have handled Anders Christiansen's shot. His feet were outside the area when the shot struck him and his arm almost certainly was. It was Stokholm who took the penalty and Cech, as he has done so often, dug Chelsea out of a hole with a great save to his right

Three minutes later, Chelsea had a penalty of their own when Cahill's downward header was judged to have struck the arm of the substitute Mikkel Beckmann. Again, it was a questionable decision. Eden Hazard, in place of the regular penalty-taker Frank Lampard, struck a poor shot, Jesper Hansen saved and 35 minutes in there was still no goal.

When the third penalty for handball arrived it seemed like Nijhuis might have some kind of obsessive disorder. This time it was Patrick Mtiliga who was judged to have handled Juan Mata's shot. Again it was questionable. Enter David Luiz, who put the ball on the spot and proceeded to embark on the kind of run-up that a medium-fast bowler might favour, before drilling a shot past Hansen.

Chelsea deserved their lead and they had another in injury-time at the end of the half. Moses slipped in Torres and although his first shot hit Hansen he nimbly skipped over the goalkeeper, kept his feet, and tidied up with a neat finish.

There was a major embarrassment within 20 seconds of the start of the second half when Kasper Lorentzen picked up the ball in midfield from the kick-off and cut Chelsea's defence in two with a ball into the space behind Branislav Ivanovic. Running on to it was the Dutch 24-year-old Joshua John who did a nice job of beating Cech.

It was five minutes after Chelsea scored their third – a header by Cahill from Mata's free-kick from the right – that news came in of Oleksandr Kucher's own-goal in Donetsk that eventually gave Juventus their win over Shakhtar. Benitez's side scored a fourth around that time, a sequence of passes between Hazard and Torres opening up a run down the left for the Belgian. His cross was finished at the near post by Torres.

Hazard combined with Mata who scored the fifth after his first shot was saved by Hansen. Oscar, on for Ramires, scored a sixth; a goal made by Mata. Torres had a couple of chances to score his hat-trick and Nijhuis should have given him a penalty when he was pushed in the box. By the end of the game, Chelsea had made 20 attempts on goal and Nordsjaelland were willing the final whistle, but the atmosphere was muted.

They are out of a competition that the Chelsea support have taken great pleasure in declaring their supremacy over the three months or so of the season so far. The song goes, "We know what we are, champions of Europe, we know what we are." Chelsea in the Europa League? That sounds like an identity crisis in the making.

Man of the match Mata.

Match rating 6/10.

Referee B Nijhuis (Neth).

Attendance 40,084.


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


Observer:

Fernando Torres scores two but Chelsea thrash Nordsjaelland in vain
Daniel Taylor

The death knell sounded shortly before 9pm. Gary Cahill had just made it 3-1 when the news filtered through that Juventus had taken the lead against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Donbass Arena. It was the news Chelsea had been dreading and though Rafael Benítez can reflect on his first victory, the goal-fest felt almost incongruous considering the significance of what it ultimately meant.
The celebrations had to be subdued when the club currently in ownership of the most prized trophy in European football had been plonked into the Europa League, with its ongoing identity crisis and Thursday-night-Sunday-afternoon rota. Fernando Torres at least reminded himself of what it is like to find the goal, scoring in each half and visibly growing in confidence. Yet the joys of old were drastically diminished. It was a clutching-at-straws kind of night, even if bagging half a dozen goals did spare Benítez the prospect of another mauling from the crowd.
David Luiz's penalty started the rout during an eccentric seven-minute spell featuring three spot-kicks, two misses and one whistle-happy referee. After that, the scoring continued at a rate of a goal every five-and-a-half minutes until Oscar, a second-half substitute, completed the rout in the 71st minute. What a pity for Chelsea that they could not have been this prolific when they played Shakhtar. In the end, they have gone out on the basis of their head-to-head record against the Ukraine team. Both sides won on their own ground but Shakhtar scored twice at Stamford Bridge whereas Chelsea managed only one in Donetsk.
Everyone knew the ramifications of that Juventus goal, with the Italians also qualifying from Group E, and that made it a strange second-half, with plenty of enjoyable football mixing with a sense of wider failure. Chelsea seemed capable of scoring every time they broke forward but the celebrations became more subdued with each goal and the backdrop was another reminder for Benítez about his unpopularity in these parts.
The Spaniard was booed as soon as he walked out of the tunnel before kick-off. Within four minutes the crowd were singing in support of Roberto Di Matteo. Banners were thrust to the skies proclaiming their backing for the sacked Italian. A José Mourinho fan with a spare bedsheet and tin of blue paint had created the message "Bring back the Special One", flapping in the wind from the Shed End.
Yet Nordsjaelland were obliging opponents for a manager looking for his first win. The team currently nine points adrift from the top of Denmark's Superliga arrived with the worst defensive record in the competition and no win in Europe since beating Queen of the South in a qualifying round of the 2008 Uefa Cup. Chelsea had thumped them 4-0 in October. Nordsjaelland were, in short, about as easy as it gets at this level. "Just to put it in perspective," their manager, Kasper Hjulmand, said afterwards, "we were formed 10 years ago and we have spent £1m on this squad."
Torres certainly relished the kind of space that better opponents would not afford him. "We helped to get him back on track," as Hjulmand put it. At one point Torres was emboldened enough to try to cross the ball with a kick from behind his standing leg. The old Torres might have taken Nordsjaelland to the cleaners but, at the risk of ushering in another false dawn, these goals might still have therapeutic effects.
The first was setup by Victor Moses, driving forward on the right and then spotting Torres's run inside the defender. The striker's first effort came back off the goalkeeper, Jesper Hansen, but the ricochet was kind and his follow-up attempt exhibited none of the awkwardness that has made it feel recently as though he were playing in a straightjacket. Torres took his chance with something bordering on coolness and, after that, played with much greater penetration and effect. His second, created by Eden Hazard's fine run and cross, was a splendid piece of six-yard area poaching.
By the end Chelsea had accumulated 32 efforts at goal, including 18 on target. Cahill scored with a header from Juan Mata's free-kick and the Spaniard also set up Oscar to stroke in the sixth as well as scoring the one that came before it, following up his own rebound after Hansen's initial save.
Benítez, full of praise for his team, could also reflect on Hazard's miss during that freakish spell when the Dutch referee, Bas Nijhuis, awarded three penalties for handballs by, in order, Cahill, Mikkel Beckmann and Patrick Mtiliga. Of those, only Beckmann's seemed legitimate. Cahill had been outside the area and Mtiliga was simply in the way of Mata's shot. Petr Cech, diving to his right, saved the first of them, denying Nicolai Stokholm and sparing Benítez the possibility of another mutinous reaction. Hazard's was struck with a strange lack of confidence, not seen in his general play.
Chelsea did wobble, briefly, at the start of the second-half when Kasper Lorentzen's pass behind the home defence was weighted beautifully and Joshua John had the pace to elude Branislav Ivanovic and prod the ball past Cech. The decisive blow, however, arrived in Donetsk and Chelsea are the first team to win the competition then go out at the first stage the following year. The delirium in Munich on 19 May feels a long time ago.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea and Fernando Torres finally hit their stride but lose Champions League crown despite 6-1 thrashing of Nordsjaelland
This was a wake of a win. Chelsea fought hard against the dying of their Champions League light, recording their biggest-ever success in the competition but this was the most mournful, hollow and Pyrrhic of victories. Chelsea’s fate was decided 1,700 miles away in Donetsk.

By Henry Winter, at Stamford Bridge

The first holders to fall at the group stage of club football’s leading drama, Chelsea were condemned to the Thursday night sideshow of the Europa League because of events at the Donbass Arena. Juventus beat Shakhtar Donetsk, who finished with 10 points like Chelsea but progressed in second place because of their superior away-goals head-to-head record against Chelsea.
The Stamford Bridge crowd reacted with only a whimper, with barely a whiff of protest or rancour. Fans had briefly voiced their dissent towards Rafael Benítez, repeating their support for the dismissed Roberto Di Matteo, but there seemed a resigned acceptance of their re-routing along Continental B-roads even before news filtered through of Olexandr Kucher’s own-goal in Ukraine.
Even when Fernando Torres’ goals came along like local buses, two in quick succession after a long wait, the fans remained subdued. They seem trapped in a bad dream, managed by somebody they do not respect, unwilling to express too much criticism of their benefactor owner, and now heading into a competition that some view as an embarrassment.
While Manchester United, Arsenal and Celtic will enjoy the glamour of continued involvement in the Champions League, the team that lifted the trophy only seven months ago are off to modest pastures new. Munich seems an age away, as does all that unity and resilience that accounted for Bayern Munich in the final.
These are the strangest of times at Chelsea: the defensive obduracy that helped them become champions of Europe has ebbed, and they went out as group-stage top scorers with 16 goals but having conceded an expensive 10 goals. Accentuating the sense of the bizarre is the reality that within 10 days Chelsea could be crowned world champions. After this weekend’s Premier League game at Sunderland, Chelsea fly out to Yokohama for the Fifa World Club Cup.
When European football resumes after its winter hibernation, Benítez must decide how he approaches the Europa League, whether he really goes for it and drives down the road to Amsterdam or rests his key players and focuses on the Premier League.
Some of the stars impressed here, albeit against modest opponents whose £1million investment on players this year is roughly what John Terry earns in six weeks.
Juan Mata again graced the field of play, gliding forward, creating and scoring. In troubled times, the No10 has been a joy to watch and a source of comfort. Another Spaniard, Torres, transferred his training-ground expertise to the real testing ground, finding the net for the first time since Nov 7. David Luiz showed the errant Eden Hazard how to convert a penalty. Petr Cech showed again how to save them. Victor Moses and Hazard were lively at times.
The players at least went down with a fight. Echoing Benítez’s call for Chelsea to show more hunger, Terry wrote in the programme that the players needed “to stand up and be counted”, although he himself was sitting down, still recovering from his knee problem. “Let’s show some fight and desire for our club and for the shirt,” he urged his team-mates, who began as if on a mission, a contrast to the largely hushed audience.
The fans did remind the players that they were still “champions of Europe” while also sending a message to owner Roman Abramovich and Benítez that “there’s only one Di Matteo”. Having been billed as “interim first-team coach” in Premier League team-sheets, Benítez was at least promoted to “coach” by Uefa.
Benítez set Chelsea up in familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. Oriol Romeu came in for John Obi Mikel, who does not seem to have fully convinced Benítez. Abramovich clearly rates Mikel, awarding him a five-year contract.
Chelsea survived a scare just after the half-hour. When Gary Cahill handled, the referee Bas Nijhuis took advice from his additional assistant referee and pointed to the spot. The offence seemed fractionally outside the area and justice was soon done. Cech anticipated Nicolai Stokholm’s intentions, diving to his right to save.
The penalties kept coming. Mikkel Beckmann handled Cahill’s header after 35 minutes, Hazard had his chance from the spot but Jesper Hansen saved well. The third arrived four minutes later when Mata’s shot was ruled to have been handled by Joshua John. Luiz took responsibility and almost took the net off with his powerful kick.
Then came that moment of nirvana for Torres on the cusp of half-time. Racing on to Moses’ pass, Torres held off Michael Parkhurst and tried to dink the ball over Hansen. The ball clipped the keeper, Torres pounced and swept a shot past Parkhurst and in.
The goals continued to flow after the break. Nordsjaelland recorded their consolation when John ran through and beat Cech. Chelsea responded vigorously. Mata lifted in a free-kick from the right and Cahill climbed highest, sending a powerful header past Hansen for Chelsea’s 200th goal in all European competitions. Their 201st swiftly arrived, following brilliant work by Hazard, who glided along the goal-line before touching the ball on to Torres, who applied the coup de grace.
The update from the Donbass turned the mood funereal. Some cheers ensued when Mata made it 5-1, deserved reward as he followed up when Hansen saved his initial shot. Mata then released the substitute Oscar, who made it a tennis score.
Chelsea were so in control that Benítez could remove Mata, who departed to a standing ovation, and allow Luiz to roam around midfield. But then came the final whistle, sounding the Last Post on Chelsea’s Champions League season.

Team details:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole (Bertrand 60), Romeu, Ramires (Oscar 65), Hazard, Mata (Ferreira 74), Moses, Torres.
Subs: Turnbull, Mikel, Marin, Azpilicueta.
Booked: Luiz.
Goals: Luiz 39 pen, Torres 45, 56, Cahill 51, Torres 56, Mata 63, Oscar 71.

Nordsjaelland: Hansen, Ticinovic (Issah 64), Parkhurst, Runje (Beckmann 10), Mtiliga, Gundelach, Stokholm, Adu, Christiansen (Kildentoft 61), John, Lorentzen.
Subs: Jensen, Laudrup, Lindberg, Maxso.
Booked: Christiansen, Parkhurst, Mtiliga.
Goal: John 46.

Att: 40,084
Referee: B Nijhuis (Holland).


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

Mail:

Chelsea 6 Nordsjaelland 1: Rafa's first win tarnished as Blues crash out of Europe
By Martin Samuel

The new curse for Fernando Torres is to be the scorer of goals that don't matter.
He can add two from Wednesday night, as Chelsea slipped into the Europa League and out of the Champions League, to his one against Barcelona in the Nou Camp in last season's semi-final: also irrelevant, once the dust had settled.
Yet, if the worst defence of the title in tournament history - out at the group stage - can have a positive gloss, it is that Torres at last found his touch in the penalty area again.
Goals either side of half-time gave the first inkling that Rafael Benitez may be the man to get the best from the striker, as hoped.
Then again, the opposition was Nordsjaelland, group whipping boys and significantly inferior to the European champions.

If there was any match that Chelsea could win in style under Benitez, and any in which Torres could make hay, it was here.

So it proved. This was Chelsea's biggest Champions League victory, eclipsing 5-0 wins over Galatasaray and Genk.

A pity it was rendered meaningless by events in Ukraine. Just a point would have suited Juventus against Shakhtar Donetsk and they got all three.
Updates from the east suggested a largely one-sided affair and the frisson of tension - as Nordsjaelland were awarded a first-half penalty and later pulled a goal back at the start of the second hal f - was short-lived.
Chelsea were in control here once David Luiz had broken the deadlock and the second half was a mismatch of the kind that does the competition little credit. Imagine the jeers if Chelsea had messed up.

Just breaking even with a big win and two goals was enough for Benitez and Torres. Events in Donetsk were beyond the manager's control, the damage already done with two defeats and a draw in the matches against the qualified teams.
The last time Torres got on the scoresheet this season was in Europe, courtesy of a handy deflection against Shakhtar Donetsk, and he rode his luck a little for the first here, too.
Victor Moses put the ball just where he likes it and Torres strode on, getting a neat rebound from floored goalkeeper Jesper Hansen before finishing with a flourish into an unguarded goal.

The deployment of Moses is arguably the second tactical triumph of the Benitez reign - a more disciplined David Luiz at the back is the first - and brought in to take some of the heat off the striker, he did just that.
It is unlikely we will see Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar operating together again. Oscar made way at the start last night and Benitez could be preparing to rotate his supporting forwards while keeping Moses as Torres's hard-working foil - a blue-shirted Dirk Kuyt.
It certainly worked last night, but will the Premier League clubs find the combination similarly irresistible? Torres's second - Chelsea's fourth - came after a superb run by Hazard along the left, his cutback cross met by Torres at the near post to end any wild fantasies of a Danish revival.

Yet it could easily have been first blood to the Danes - a bizarre exchange of penalties in the firsthalf the prelude to an otherwise uncomplicated evening.

It was left to Dutch referee Bas Nijhuis, perhaps as bored with Champions League matchday six as the rest of us - Glasgow aside - to enliven proceedings with three penalties, split in Chelsea's favour, in the space of seven minutes.
That the score after this little exchange was only 1-0 to Chelsea is to the credit of goalkeepers Petr Cech and Hansen.

There were two saves before Luiz scored and why they didn't give it to the Brazilian from the off, who knows?
A samba option was unavailable to Nordsjaelland, who were first to feel the benefit of Nijhuis's largesse after 31 minutes when a shot from Anders Christiansen struck the outstretched arm of Gary Cahill.

It looked harsh on the defender, whose feet were certainly planted outside the area and whose arm only travelled to its borders from the force of the ball.
Captain Nicolai Stokholm stepped up but his effort was too near Cech, who parried it confidently. Justice was done. From the next attack, Torres forced a corner, taken by Hazard and met by Cahill in the air.
Nordsjaelland substitute Mikkel Beckmann appeared to get the ball trapped between an arm and his body, to huge Chelsea appeals.
Nijhuis was unsighted but his linesman was not and a second penalty was awarded. Hazard assumed the position and while his shot was an upgrade on that of Stokholm, it was not hit with sufficient venom and goalkeeper Hansen kept it out.

And so it was left to the much maligned Luiz to do the job after a Juan Mata shot was handled by Patrick Mtiliga and Nijhuis passed sentence again. This time there was no mistake.
Luiz began his run just outside Fulham Broadway station, hit Mach 1 by the time he arrived at the ball and planted it in the top right corner with the confidence of a man applying for the job permanently in the knowledge he had all the qualifications, three top class references and was going out with the boss's daughter.
He doesn't do things by halves, that boy. From there, Chelsea should have been coasting. Yet this is still a damaged club and strange, random things happen to it.
From the second- half kick off, an angled ball into Joshua John caught Branislav Ivanovic napping. Cech dashed from his area, suddenly vulnerable, John teased the ball past him and Ivanovic lost his footing trying to recover on the goal-line, the final indignity.
With scores still tied in Donetsk, some feared the worst: the Ukrainians would do their job, but Chelsea would not. Instead, it unfolded all too predictably.
Chelsea won, but so did Juventus and Nordsjaelland collapsed in a sorry heap. The two-goal advantage taken into half time was quickly restored by a looping Cahill header from a Hazard free-kick, Nordsjaelland's spirit waning with each fresh wave of attack.

Torres added the fourth, then Mata played a one-two with Hazard before hitting a shot which Hansen saved, only for the Spaniard to snaffle the rebound.
The sixth came after Oscar had been introduced, running onto a perfect ball from Mata. It was impressive stuff, even if it had a little of the flat-track bully about it.
Given a sterner test by Sam Allardyce's West Ham United last Saturday, Chelsea's courage failed them. It is Sunderland next; even in crisis, they will provide grittier opposition than Chelsea faced here.

On Saturday, a Torres goal could be vital.


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

Mirror:

Chelsea 6-1 Nordsjaelland

The Only Way is Europa: Chelsea crash out of Champions League despite thrashing Nordsjaelland
by Martin Lipton

Juventus beat Shakhtar Donetsk to send holders out


Poor old Rafa Benitez. Even when he wins, he loses.
Even when he sees his side smash a Champions League club record, it counts for absolutely nothing, only makes the size of the failure more obvious.
And no matter what happens, it is crystal clear the Chelsea fans are just not having him, will not accept the sight of the Spaniard in THEIR dug-out.
Last night, as Stamford Bridge emptied within seconds of the final whistle, long aware that events in Donetsk made it all redundant, the response said everything.
Five months ago, on an unforgettable Munich evening, Chelsea were masters of the footballing universe.
Now they are also-rans, out of the European elite when the business end of kicks off in February, the first winners not to reach the knock-out phase of their defence.
That is a humiliation for Roman Abramovich. It can be nothing less.
Abramovich will pin the blame on the manager whose name was chanted last night, Roberto Di Matteo, rather than the one whose appearance was greeted by a few, muted, boos.
But even though Benitez got off the mark at the fourth time of asking, while Fernando Torres for once looked like he might be a striker worth taking note of, it was all to no avail.
Beating the hapless Danish minnows may have put a sticking plaster over the gaping wound of the worst campaign by any Champions League holder.
That, though, was all it was. A balm, no more, the fatal blows already sustained in Donetsk and Turin, only confirmed by the dreaded news spreading from the Donbass Arena, salt poured on the open wound as it became clear Juventus' winner came from Olexandr Kucher's own goal.
Then again, Chelsea have been scoring own goals since September, squandering a two-goal lead against Juve, woeful in Donetsk, humbled by the Italian champions two weeks ago.
When a side scores six - and could have scored as many again - even against opponents as hapless as Nordsjaelland, they normally might expect some acclaim.
Not last night, a brief round of applause soon stilled, the reality seeping home, sullen faces all round.
The positives were in the scoreline and the attacking, vibrant football Chelsea produced.
David Luiz' spot-kick - after each side had squandered a chance from 12 yards in an astonishing seven minute spell - was followed by Torres' first of the night.
Despite a shoddy start to the second half, when Joshua John scored for the Danish minnows, strikes from Gary Cahill, Torres again, Juan Mata and Oscar, put Nordsjaelland to the sword.
But as Di Matteo's name remained the one on the lips of the home supporters and flag called for the return of Jose Mourinho, it all added up to a big fat zero, no "miracle" to rescue the Blues.
The diligent Victor Moses, Torres and Eden Hazard could all have scored in the opening spell as Chelsea laid siege to Jesper Hansen's goal.
Despite carving out a host of chances, though, they should have been behind on 31 minutes as the penalty spree began.
Cahill, arm out but outside the line, was penalised after blocking a shot by Anders Christiansen.
Luckily for Chelsea - and Benitez - Petr Cech was more than equal to Stokholm's weak effort.
Had it gone in, the mood, already querulous, might have turned mutinous.
Then Cahill's header, clearly handled by early substitute Michael Beckham, was spotted by the extra assistant behind the goal, only for Hansen to foil Hazard.
But when Mata's shot was stopped by John - who seemed decidedly unfortunate - Luiz finally buried the ball in the back of the net.
In added time, the second as Moses played forward and Torres got the rub of the green to convert after two ricochets left him an empty net.
Just 20 seconds after the interval, Nordsjaelland pulled one back, John taking advantage as Branislav Ivanovic switched off.
But soon Chelsea were in complete command, Cahill netting with a soaring header, Torres prodding in a second, Mata converting when the keeper saved his initial effort.
Oscar, on for Ramires, danced through to score his fifth Champions League goal, completing Chelsea's biggest win in the competition.
There will be no more, though, not until next season - if Benitez can keep his side in the top four.
That is the reality, harsh and bitter. Chelsea, from Champions of Europe to also-rans, failures, flops. You can't spin it any bother way.
Not your fault, Rafa. But that is a "fact


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

Sun:

Chelsea 6 Nordsjaelland 1

By SHAUN CUSTIS

HOW typical of this season at Chelsea.

Fernando Torres gets back on the scoresheet at last — not once but twice — and it does not matter a jot.

Victory for the European champions was not enough to get them into the last 16 as Juventus, who only needed a point at Shakhtar Donetsk to go through at the Blues’ expense, earned a 1-0 win in Ukraine.

Rarely can a 6-1 success have ever felt so flat. It was the first time the Champions League holders had ever failed to reach the knockout phase.

But that was not new manager Rafa Benitez’s fault as even disgruntled Chelsea fans would have to accept.

Now they have to make do with the Europa League which starts on February 14. Don’t expect a romance between the fans and Rafa to have been forged by then, though.

They made it clear again that they do not want Benitez as boss. There were more boos and songs of praise for the sacked Roberto Di Matteo, who guided the club to the European crown just seven months ago.

There was also a large banner proclaiming ‘Bring back the Special One’ and how they would all welcome the return of Jose Mourinho to The Bridge.

After all, it is not as if he is making it a secret that he might be available at the end of the season.

At least this first win for Benitez in four attempts should restore some confidence with a vital Premier League game at Sunderland coming up on Saturday before the trip to Japan for the World Club Championship.

That said, Nordsjaelland, with one point from their entire campaign, were pretty awful.

Skipper John Terry, still out injured, had argued in his programme notes that it was time for Chelsea’s players to stand up and take responsibility.

It was an acknowledgement they should not be hiding behind the turmoil of Di Matteo being sacked and replaced with such an unpopular boss.

The Danish visitors were there for the taking and Torres had one disallowed for offside as well as being denied by keeper Jesper Hansen.

There then followed a crazy seven minutes in which three penalties were given.

Having been battered for half an hour, the visitors were awarded the first spot-kick when Gary Cahill blocked a shot with his arm.

It was a definite handball but it was also outside the box.

However, Petr Cech kept his concentration and saved Nicolai Stokholm’s kick.

Cahill must have felt justice was done as his header from a corner was handled by sub Mikkel Beckmann and Dutch ref Bas Nijhuis pointed for a penalty at the other end.

Up stepped Eden Hazard but his low kick was horrible and Hansen pushed it way.

Unbelievably, another penalty came when Juan Mata’s shot hit Patrick Mtiliga’s arm as the defender turned away.

It was a harsh one and this time the task fell to David Luiz who coolly slammed his kick into the right side of the goal.

Right on half-time Torres got the second when he ran on to a Victor Moses through-ball.

His first shot was blocked by the keeper but the ball bounced back off his body and he was able to finish it off.

It was Torres’ first goal for 562 minutes since he had netted against Shakhtar almost a month ago.

Nordsjaelland pulled one back within 20 seconds of the second half starting as Joshua John collected a gorgeous pass from Kasper Lorentzen and dinked it past Cech.

But Cahill restored the two-goal advantage with a 51st- minute header from the impressive Mata’s free-kick.

Soon came news Juventus had scored in Donetsk and that was the end of that.

Credit to Chelsea, though, for pushing on for more goals and Hazard set up Torres for No 4 on 56 minutes.

Mata got a fifth, following up after Hansen saved his initial shot, and substitute Oscar made it six from Mata’s pass.

Torres probably should have had a penalty late on when he was shoved over.

It made no difference whether Chelsea had got seven or 17, it was not going to save them from Champions League elimination.

But, as Cech admitted afterwards, it is no use crying about it — they only have themselves to blame.

DREAM TEAM
STAR MAN - JUAN MATA (Chelsea)

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Ivanovic 6, Luiz 7, Cahill 7, Cole 7, Moses 7, Mata 8, Romeu 6, Ramires 6, Hazard 7, Torres 7. Subs: Bertrand (Cole 60) 6, Oscar (Ramires 65) 6, Ferreira (Mata 74) 6. Not used: Turnbull, Mikel, Marin, Azpilicueta. Booked: Luiz.

NORDSJAELLAND: J Hansen 6, Ticinovic 6, Parkhurst 6, Runje 6, Mtiliga 6, Stokholm 5, Adu 6, Christiansen 6, Gundelach 6, Lorentzen 6, John 6. Subs: Beckmann (Runje 10) 6, Kildentoft (Christiansen 61) 5, Issah (Ticinovic 64) 5. Not used: Jensen, Laudrup, Lindberg, Maxso. Booked: Christiansen, Parkhurst, Mtiliga.


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

Star:

RAFA BENITEZ FAILS TO PRODUCE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MIRACLE AS CHELSEA FANS CALL FOR MOURINHO

Chelsea 6 Nordsjaelland 1
By Paul Brown

RAFA BENITEZ does not believe in miracles - and it was not to be for Chelsea last night.

Benitez may have the golden touch in the Champions League after masterminding the Miracle of Istanbul while Liverpool boss in 2005.
 But preventing Chelsea from becoming the first holders to go out in the group stage proved beyond him.
 A flood of goals against Group E whipping boys Nordsjaelland in the end meant nothing after a surprise win by Juventus against Shakhtar in Donetsk sent those two teams through at Chelsea's expense.
 It's the dreaded Europa League instead for the Blues and they will start their campaign on Valentine's Day.
 Will Benitez have won the affections of Chelsea fans by then?
 They booed him before kick-off and held up banners calling for Chelsea to bring back Jose Mourinho.
 It was miracle enough that Fernando Torres scored twice in this crazy win after going a whole month without finding the net.
 But it was not enough, even after David Luiz scored a penalty and Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Oscar added goals to give Benitez his first win as interim manager.
 At least Chelsea's players responded after being told they lacked character and leadership by Benitez in the wake of Saturday's 3-1 thumping at West Ham.
 But this is the first time in the Roman Abramovich era that they have failed to get out of the group stage - and that is not good enough.
 Benitez made two changes from the side that lost at Upton Park, putting Luiz back in after suspension and moving Branislav Ivanovic to right-back.
 He also dumped John Obi Mikel on the bench despite the midfielder having just signed a new, five-year contract.
 But Chelsea didn't exactly get off to the best of starts on one of the most important nights in their history as the fans once again turned on Benitez.
 They usually wait until the 16th minute to sing for Roberto Di Matteo, in honour of his old shirt number. Last night it took them only four to sing his name.
 Chelsea had a stroke of good luck when their opponents had centre-back Ivan Runje carried off early on. It certainly seemed to unsettle Nordsjaelland.
Victor Moses tested Jesper Hansen on the volley and Torres had a shot saved before starting a move which ended with Eden Hazard firing straight at the keeper.
 They even hit the bar when a cross from Moses deflected off Nicolai Stokholm. But despite the changes at the back they continued to look vulnerable.
 Never more so than when Cahill foolishly gave away a penalty in the 31st minute. He was right on the line when the ball bounced up off Anders Christiansen.
 His arm was raised when it struck him and Dutch referee Bas Nijhuis pointed to the spot. But Petr Cech came to the rescue, guessing the right way to save Stokholm's effort.
 Within three minutes Chelsea had a penalty.
 Cahill was involved again, heading the ball into the danger area. It struck Mikkel Beckmann on the chest at first, but did hit his hand on the way down.
 Hazard stepped up but Hansen followed Cech's lead and got down well to save his effort.
 More drama followed when Nijhuis pointed to the spot for the third time in minutes. Juan Mata twisted and turned before firing in a shot which hit Patrick Mtiliga on the hand.
 This was the harshest one of the lot as his arm was practically by his side.
 Luiz made no mistake from the spot to fire Chelsea in front and just when you thought he was never going to do it, Torres scored!
 Moses played him in and he rode his luck with Hansen saving his initial shot, which rebounded up and may have hit his arm before he slotted it home.
 Chelsea wobbled 20 seconds into the second half when Joshua John raced on to a through ball from Kasper Lorentzen and chipped Cech to pull one back.
 But Cahill's header from a Mata freekick restored the two-goal cushion. Torres then grabbed his second after a cutback from Hazard.
 The Belgian laid on another for Mata and Oscar had only been on the pitch six minutes when he made it 6-1. But by then the crowd knew the Donetsk score and an air of gloom had settled over the Bridge.

CHELSEA: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole (Bertrand 60), Romeu, Ramires (Oscar 65), Hazard, Mata (Ferreira 74), Moses, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Mikel, Marin, Azpilicueta.

NORDSJAELLAND: Hansen, Ticinovic (Issah 64), Parkhurst, Runje (Beckmann 10), Mtiliga, Gundelach, Stokholm, Adu, Christiansen (Kildentoft 61), John, Lorentzen. Subs: Jensen, Laudrup, Lindberg, Maxso.
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Holland).


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

west ham 1-3

Independent:

Rafa Benitez is hammered by foes and fans alike
West Ham United 3 Chelsea 1

Steve Tongue Upton Park

It gets worse. After successive goalless draws, Rafa Benitez concluded his third game at Chelsea with the club’s first defeat in London’s East End since 2002.
Notonly that but the new manager was outwitted by his old adversary Sam Allardyce,whose two substitutions at the interval changed the game after West Ham had gone in one-nil down.

Allardyce, once sarcastically derided by Benitez as making  Bolton the team whose style everyone would want to emulate, brought on Matt Taylor and Mohamed Diame, both of whom made excellent contributions. Diame in particular was the dynamic force needed to break up the rhythm of Chelsea’s three attacking midfielders.
Benitez, concerned by a glut of fixtures that continues  with the decisive Champions’ League game against Nordsjaelland on Wednesday, gave Oscar  a rest this time with Victor Moses starting, but the latter was like most of his team-mates: fading badly when the home team finally applied some pressure towards half-time and then throughout the second period. Fernando Torres was another, having neatly set up Juan Mata for the opening goal. Just as alarming was how the defence – the one encouraging feature of those first two Benitez matches against Manchester City and Fulham - caved in near the end.
True, the equalising goal by the excellent Carlton Cole should have been disallowed for a push on Branislav Ivanovic but against that West Ham ought to  have been level earlier when James Collins was wrongly penalised for a far more negligible challenge. The only blot on their day had come before kick-off, when it was confirmed that Andy Carroll has ligament damage and will be out for another six to eight weeks. OPT CUT He will stay with West Ham although his parent club Liverpool have been kept fully informed of developments.END CUT
  “We have to improve on the pitch and the fans will be happy,  Benitez insisted. “It will take time maybe.” That, of course, is the one commodity that Chelsea managers are rarely given. It is surely inconceivable that even Roman Abramovich would contemplate another change so soon, though the odds against Benitez going before Christmas  are down to 12-1 and falling.
 Asked if he was 100 per cent convinced he could see things through he replied: “I know100 per cent that we didn’t win it today.” The reason for that, he rightly declared, was that Chelsea’s improved first-half performance did not produce enough goals and then suddenly and dramatically deteriorated.
“When you are controlling the game like we were in the first half you have to score more,” he said. “We deserved to score more. It’s difficult to explain [the change] when you are so good first half.”
Allardyce had the explanation, in the change of both personnel and tactics. Convinced that his team were playing through midfield too much, he ordered better service into Cole and more use of the flanks, getting the ball behind Chelsea’s adventurous full-backs. Each of the three goals came from one or other of those methods.
 “We over-complicated things first half and they really should have finished us off,” Allardyce admitted. “They were much better than we were. But we’ve ended up beating them fair and square.”
 Chelsea had certainly made almost all the chances in a misleading first half-an-hour and were ahead after only 12 minutes.  From a throw-in on the right, Moses sent Torres to the byline to cut back a perfectly placed and weighted pass for Mata to drive in his eighth goal of the season.  It was Chelsea’s first for almost six hours and did not prevent the ritual outbreak of chants for the deposed Roberto di Matteo four minutes later. There should have been more goals. Moses miscued a cross from Ramires and when the visitors broke  with four men against two, Torres clipped the pass from Ramires over the bar. Then Moses fooled Guy Demel utterly and Jussi Jaaskelainen had to make a fine save from Mata, unmarked again.
 Not for half an hour did West Ham threaten, at which point they were harshly denied a goal, Martin Atkinson ruling that Collins had pushed Ivanovic in the build-up. The referee upset the home support again just before the interval by showing Petr Cech only a red card for handling outside the penalty area, the goalkeeper staying on the pitch to save well from Kevin Nolan’s header following the subsequent free-kick.
 It was a sign of things to come. Nolan and Diame had fierce shots blocked before, just after the hour, a cross from Jarvis looped up and Cole leant all over Ivanovic to head his first goal of the campaign. In a rare piece of retaliation Mata struck a free-kick against the inside of a post but the flow of the game was in the other direction. Ashley Cole had to head off the line from Winston Reid and five minutes from the end Cole held the ball up neatly for Diame  to beat Cech with a low drive.
The young Malian Modibo Maiga immediately replaced the scorer and in added time he picked up on Ashley Cole’s mistake and Nolan’s shot to score the third. The last word off the pitch was equally emphatic, Allardyce warning Benitez: “ You can’t do it if the fans are not behind you. And the only way to get that is to win.”


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

Observer:
West Ham's Modibo Maïga makes Chelsea and Rafael Benítez suffer
Dominic Fifield at Upton Park

Chelsea's retreat into the chasing pack continues apace. Rafael Benítez's side surrendered a grip on this derby and contrived to end up overwhelmed, overrun and utterly embarrassed, with all the disillusion that has festered over recent weeks erupting again in a show of open revolt in the stands. All four sides of the arena united in a chorus of "You're getting sacked in the morning" spat at the Spaniard, though that represented one of the kinder chants aimed his way by the disgruntled visiting support. At present, it is hard to see this marriage of convenience working out and Benítez admitted as much.
Asked if he could be certain he would be granted that opportunity to ride out the early storm, Benítez said: "No, I am not 100% certain. But we didn't win and if we had won the game we would be happy now. We have to win games to change things. My concern is improving the team and if we do that and start winning games, we'll be able to turn things around. The main thing for me is to improve the team. I'm not thinking about anything else. And if we improve on the pitch, the fans will be happy."
The European champions feel diminished these days, their gloss long gone, with too many in their number stripped of confidence. The winless league run extends to seven matches, their worst sequence since February 1995, with even the vague promise generated by successive clean sheets in the new manager's first two matches wrecked by this collapse. The stand-in was always fighting an uphill battle off the pitch but his team are far too brittle on it. Only three visiting players approached their fans on the final whistle to acknowledge the support, the rest shuffling off with the weight of the world on their shoulders. On this evidence, to consider them as title contenders feels like folly.
What made this all the more disturbing was the reality that the game should have been over, in Chelsea's favour, by the interval, when their lead stood at a single goal but might have been swollen by considerably more. Chances had been missed on the counterattack, with Sam Allardyce conceding as much. "They should have finished us off, they were so much better than we were," he said. "But they ended up paying the price."
The introduction of Mohamed Diamé – tired after his midweek exertions at Manchester United – and Matt Taylor that provided the spark, the former driving Ramires into his shell and West Ham forward with a vengeance. The hosts swarmed all over panicked opponents and Chelsea duly fell to pieces.
By the end this felt like a thrashing, with Benítez acknowledging even the suspect nature of Carlton Cole's equaliser – the forward having clambered all over Branislav Ivanovic on the edge of the six-yard box to head in Matt Jarvis's deflected delivery – could not be used as an excuse. Benítez described the award as "unlucky", a comment dripping with sarcasm, but it had been coming.
His side had at least hinted at a response, Juan Mata belting a free-kick on to the inside of a post, but still imploded at the last. Diamé thundered in a shot from the edge of the area that careered beyond Petr Cech four minutes from time to establish the lead, with another substitute, Modibo Maïga, adding a third after Ashley Cole had offered up possession with the visitors over-committed up-field.
Chelsea's limp finish was damning, that of a team who simply could not cope. Cue the unfurling of a banner in the away end that read: "Di Matteo Chelsea legend. Fact. Rafa Chelsea reject". Benítez had been subjected to worse, whether it was chants calling for a "table for two" or the now customary chorus for his predecessor in the 16th minute. His team had still been celebrating their first goal under his stewardship at that point, Mata having benefited from Victor Moses's fine pass beyond Winston Reid and Fernando Torres's neat pullback to steer in the opening goal.
That was Torres's first direct involvement in a Chelsea goal for 11 hours and two minutes, though his wait for personal reward goes on. His best chance came in the dying seconds, a point-blank header planted straight at Jussi Jaaskelainen, even if, by then, the contest had veered away. Within moments the final whistle prompted gleeful pandemonium among the home side's support.
This first victory over Chelsea in nine years meant everything and was achieved in the absence of Andy Carroll, who will be sidelined into the new year with a damaged lateral ligament in his knee, news that made Carlton Cole's performance all the more timely. The forward had laid off the ball for Diamé's goal as well as wrestling above Ivanovic to nod in his equaliser.
"The news on Andy is sweetened by that performance," said Allardyce. "And Maïga scoring, too, because we'll need him now more than ever to adjust to the Premier League. We've contacted Liverpool on Andy, and they have had all the information and sent down a medical representative to look at him. He's visited a specialist and will stay with us."
Carroll's absence could stretch to eight weeks, in which time much might change at both of these clubs. Certainly, everything at Chelsea feels horribly temporary. The week ahead is likely to see their Champions League defence peter out, even if they manage to defeat Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Asked if the challenge he had taken on after two years out of the game was proving more difficult than he had imagined, Benítez said: "It could be, yes. This is a top side in the middle of the season but things aren't the best. We'll try and improve things but it will take time.
"It's difficult to explain the turnaround today. We could have finished the game in the first half, but it was totally different after that. They were on top of us and we couldn't manage: we gave the ball away easily, weren't comfortable in possession, they were in control, not winning the first or second balls ... we have to improve, and the players are desperate to improve. I'm here because I want to be here. This is a top side who can compete for trophies but we need to work to get back towards that."
Their crisis merely deepens by the game.


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


Telegraph:

West Ham United 3 Chelsea 1
By Jason Burt, Upton Park

Three matches into his reign as Chelsea manager Rafael Benítez is, quite rightly, being asked if he can survive the season. Such is the craziness of the club he has joined that he can’t say yes.
“No, I am not 100 per cent,” Benítez said after this hammer blow of a defeat. “But we didn’t win today.”
He couldn’t say anything else. Every move he makes is met with scalding hot derision from the Chelsea supporters. Team selection, tactical changes, substitutions – even tie selection (although he wore a sober blue number on Saturday).
The only cry that goes up — the only cry that is repeatable anyway — is “you don’t know what you are doing”.
For all of his tactical acumen, his impressive CV, the wholly understandable reasons why he took the post, albeit on a temporary basis following the irrational sacking of Roberto Di Matteo, Benítez is in danger of drowning here in a sea of bile and invective.
Sam Allardyce picked up on it. You can’t survive, he said, if the fans don’t want you. No way. “The only way you can get the fans behind you is to win,” the West Ham manager added.
“You have to win. It’s all you can do.”
Benítez concurred. Asked again whether he feared for his job he said: “The main thing for me is to improve the team. I don’t think about anything else.”
Fernando Torres may be going down with Benítez. Finally the focus has fallen more sharply on the striker whose career at Chelsea has been wretched, disruptive and appears doomed to failure.
His refusal, as a £45 million asset, to take responsibility is grating. His body language is of a man who would rather be anywhere else in the world than straight-jacked in a Chelsea shirt.
It’s more than 12 hours now for him without a Premier League goal; it’s seven matches for Chelsea without a victory. November is traditionally the month in which they struggle but they are taking those troubles into December.
But dwelling on Chelsea’s troubles might be doing a disservice to West Ham who produced a rousing second-half comeback. “It was all about belief and desire,” Allardyce said. “We continued until they cracked.”
And crack Chelsea did. The sight of Ashley Cole — of all people — gifting West Ham the final goal was incredible. The way in which both central defenders were pummeled by Carlton Cole — playing after it was confirmed Andy Carroll will be out for up to eight weeks through injury – was equally so.
Having made much play of the defensive organisation and two clean sheets — without, of course, a goal being scored either — that Benítez claimed he had brought to Chelsea before yesterday then this was a sorry capitulation in a capital derby.
Three matches; two points; no wins; one goal scored and three conceded for Benítez. He likes his stats and facts but that makes brutal reading for the European champions who spent £80 million in the summer only to be told last week by their new manager that the squad isn’t fit enough and probably isn’t big enough.
And yet it should have been so different. A game of two halves? You betcha. Chelsea were rampant, guided superbly by the delightful talents of Juan Mata, in an opening 45 minutes that they utterly dominated.
It was summed up perfectly by their goal — which included Torres’s one impressive contribution as he ran cleverly behind Winston Reid to collect Victor Moses’s pass and cut the ball back
into Mata’s path. The midfielder guided his side-footed shot into the net.
West Ham were in disarray, lethargic and maybe leggy. Ramires found Moses — he sliced wide; Ramires then picked out Torres — he snatched at it and shot over.
Torres then broke clear — and fired a pass far too hard at Eden Hazard when he should have shot before Mata’s powerful effort was beaten out by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Surely Chelsea would score? But they didn’t and there was a taste of what was to come on the stroke of half-time as Petr Cech tipped over Kevin Nolan’s header.
The impetus changed and the introduction of Mohamed Diamé — in particular – and Matt Taylor made all the difference as West Ham pushed up the pitch, pushed wide and applied some pressure.
Still, Chelsea resisted — and then a moment of controversy for Benítez as Matt Jarvis crossed, the ball flicked up off Gary Cahill and Carlton Cole challenged Branislav Ivanovic to the header.
Except Ivanovic didn’t attempt to head the ball — which is why referee Martin Atkinson probably allowed Cole to wrap himself around the defender and nod into the net.
Chelsea were furious; West Ham delighted and both teams went to try and win it. Torres erred again — shooting straight at Jaaskelainen when the goalkeeper’s block from Hazard’s shot fell at his feet before Mata’s free-kick thumped off a post.
Then another breakthrough and, again, the defending was indefensible as John Obi Mikel allowed Carlton Cole to turn and lay the ball back to Diamé who was unmarked. The midfielder simply drove his shot fiercely past Cech.
Chelsea panicked and after Ashley Cole was closed down he inexplicably passed infield and straight to substitute Modibo Maiga, who found Taylor whose low shot was parried by Cech. It fell to the onrushing Maiga who gleefully scored.
“I couldn’t control my emotions,” Allardyce said. Benítez appeared to be struggling also.


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

Mail:

West Ham 3 Chelsea 1: Rafa's revolution in tatters as Blues' winless streak extends to seven games
By Rob Draper

This is a protest movement that will not be going away for some time.

When West Ham completed victory at Upton Park with Modibo Maiga scoring their third, a banner was unfurled in the Chelsea end in support of Roberto di Matteo which also suggested that Rafa Benitez was already a Chelsea reject.
And when the West Ham fans had gleefully chanted that Benitez would be sacked in the morning - and with Roman Abramovich's steady hand on the tiller you could not be sure whether this was dark humour or simply a reasonable assessment of the apposite facts - many Chelsea fans joined in.
All of which might have been expected given the depth of the hostility among Chelsea fans to the appointment of Benitez.

What was more significant, it took place in the first half when Chelsea were superb.

Their players' movement mirrored those late summer games under Di Matteo, when Chelsea were hailed as this season's team to watch.
Juan Mata was imperious; Eden Hazard had moments when he looked sublime; and Victor Moses was hitting levels previously unseen in his career.
Yet even then, at 1-0 up, as Chelsea toyed with their opponents, a small knot of Chelsea supporters abused Benitez and made it clear he is not wanted.

In those circumstances, Sam Allardyce was perhaps the last manager Benitez wanted to encounter at this fragile, embryonic stage of his Chelsea stewardship given their long-standing enmity.
'We don't have sympathy for each other, do we?' said Allardyce afterwards. 'We compete against each other, we toil against each other, we play mind games against each other, we tactically have to outweigh each other, and in the end we came out on top today.'
At the end of it, Chelsea haven't won in six matches and a season is slipping away. It was as dramatic a turnaround as you could imagine.

'I wouldn't say we were dead and buried in the first half but we looked like we were going to find it difficult to get back into the game,' said Allardyce. 'A lot of people had said that the Chelsea players were probably relieved to play away from home and I told my players to make sure it wasn't the case. I have to say in the first half it probably was. They really should have finished us off. They were much, much better. But because they didn't, they paid the price.'
For that, credit Allardyce for his tactical switch at half-time and, specifically, Mohamed Diame, whose role in midfield changed the game.
Without Diame, Chelsea had the run of Upton Park.
Their goal on 13 minutes was a fine example of their neat interchanges that had West Ham baffled. Moses played an exquisite ball for Fernando Torres, who chased it down and crossed it directly for his compatriot Mata to sidefoot into the bottom left-hand corner.

A period of utter domination followed.

Moses should have scored the second from Ramires' pull back on 21 minutes; Ramires should have released Branislav Ivanovic on 26 minutes, who would surely have scored, but instead opted for Torres in a worse position; and Hazard shot just over on 33 minutes.

There was, though, a glimpse of what was to come, when Kevin Nolan squeezed in an 'equaliser' on 34 minutes, only to see it disallowed for a James Collins foul on Ivanovic.
He was climbing, but nothing like as badly as Carlton Cole would later for the equaliser, which was not penalised.

Still, it needed a fantastic Jussi Jaaskelainen save on 44 minutes from Mata to keep West Ham in the game.

Yet almost directly from the off in the second half, West Ham were transformed, with Diame and Matt Taylor on and Nolan playing a bit closer to Carlton Cole.
Gary Cahill had already blocked a fierce Diame shot and Ivanovic had scrambled away a Nolan shot that had beaten Petr Cech shortly before the equaliser came.

True, Carlton Cole was clambering all over Ivanovic as he headed in on 62 minutes.

'You can say that we were unlucky,' said Benitez, with a wry smile.

He did, however, add: 'I know that we didn't do well in the second half, so I don't want to use any excuse.'
Chelsea rallied briefly. Hazard's deflected shot fell to Torres eight yards out but his strike into Jaaskelainen's hands was lame. Mata then had a delightful free-kick that hit the post.

But thereafter West Ham were in the ascendant, with Ashley Cole having to clear desperately off the line on 83 minutes.
When Joey O'Brien dinked a cross into Carlton Cole on 86 minutes and the striker held the ball up before playing in Diame, it was little surprise that the Senegalese drove the ball into the net.
And when, on 90 minutes, Ashley Cole played the ball directly to Maiga, there was a sense of inevitability about the end result.
He played in Taylor, whose shot rebounded off Cech to Maiga, who completed the victory and reignited the protests.


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

Mirror:

West Ham 3-1 Chelsea

Hammer blow: West Ham come from behind to leave Chelsea boss Benitez singing the Blues
by Matt Law

Mata gave the away side the lead but three second-half goals sealed amazing Hammers comeback

Sam Allardyce might have been forgiven for making his own “game over” hand ­gesture when West Ham’s third goal hit the net.
But West Ham boss ­Allardyce was content in the knowledge he had gained sweet revenge on old foe Rafa Benitez and the Chelsea fans were doing his talking for him.
Allardyce first fell out with Benitez in 2009, when the Spaniard appeared to signal that it was game over after Liverpool had gone two goals up on Blackburn.
But the crucial second goal never came for Benitez’s new club in a first-half they­ ­dominated and Allardyce and West Ham took full ­advantage.
Allardyce made a double change at the break, sending on Mohamed Diame and Matt Taylor, and it proved to be ­inspired.
His third substitute Modibo Maiga scored the clinching goal.
There were no hand gestures from Allardyce, but both sets of fans chanted “You’re getting sacked in the morning” to ­beleaguered Benitez.
Crucially, the West Ham team fought for their manager and showed the spirit he has created in the dressing room.
Chelsea’s stars, however, looked as confused as the fans who want sacked ­Roberto Di Matteo back and went missing in a disastrous second-half.
Allardyce has never liked Benitez.
The West Ham fans don’t like him much, either, and the Chelsea supporters are ­certainly not keen.
But as much as this game was about the battle that ­interim boss Benitez faces to win around the Chelsea fans and players, it was also about the way in which Allardyce has silenced his West Ham doubters.
There are still Hammers fans who complain about the style of football under ­Allardyce, but that number is dwindling swiftly, thanks to results like this.
It did not look good for West Ham in the first half, ­especially when they fell ­behind to ­Chelsea’s first goal under ­Benitez after just 13 minutes.
Victor Moses played the ball down the right for Fernando Torres and the striker squared the ball for the brilliant Juan Mata to score.
Torres then skied the ball over the bar and Eden Hazard went close before Mata almost doubled Chelsea’s lead.
Moses crossed low from the left and Mata’s first goalbound shot was well saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen before his ­follow-up effort was blocked by Joey O’Brien.
West Ham had seen a Kevin Nolan goal rightly disallowed for pushing by centre-back James Collins and the ­midfielder forced Petr Cech into a great save on the stroke of half-time.
But it looked a matter of how many Chelsea would win by, rather than whether West Ham could fight their way back into the game.
Allardyce, though, changed the course of the match by sending on Diame and Taylor, and West Ham quickly took over.
Diame, who has already had an impressive season so far, was superb in ­midfield and had a shot blocked before the home team forced an ­equaliser in ­controversial ­circumstances.
A Matt Jarvis cross ­ballooned into the air and striker Carlton Cole climbed all over the back of Branislav Ivanovic to steer his header past Cech.
But the goal stood and ­Chelsea crumbled.
Jarvis wasted a good ­opportunity by delaying his shot too long after being sent through by Nolan.
Rightly sensing their ­London rivals were there for the taking, West Ham ­continued to push forwards and Diame was rewarded for his vital impact.
With just four minutes ­remaining, Cole chested the ball down and laid it off for Diame to smash a shot past the helpless Cech.
The defending from Mikel and Ivanovic had been ­terrible.
But the majority of people inside Upton Park did not care as they ­celebrated ­wildly.
And it got even better for West Ham and Allardyce in time added on for stoppages, as substitute Maiga netted the home side’s ­emphatic third.
Ashley Cole carelessly gave the ball away, Cech saved Taylor’s shot, but Maiga was on hand to secure all three points for the ­Hammers in what had by then become a famous ­victory.
Allardyce didn’t need to give a hand signal – it was game over for Chelsea and Benitez.


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

Sun:

West Ham 3 Chelsea 1

By MARK IRWIN

SAM ALLARDYCE knows that he will probably never feature on Roman Abramovich’s wanted list when the Chelsea owner begins his search for yet another new boss.

So it was hardly surprising that the man derided as a managerial throwback to the days of blood and thunder took so much satisfaction from this well-deserved Hammers victory.

For 45 minutes yesterday Allardyce could only stand and squirm as his team were taken apart by Chelsea’s ball-playing sophisticates.
Yet Big Sam did not panic and he did not get out the half-time hairdryer.

Instead, he made a couple of tactical changes to his team, cranked up the pressure on his opponents’ egg-shell confidence and watched in satisfaction as every one of his second-half decisions paid dividends.

Key to the dramatic turn-around was the introduction of midfield enforcer Mohamed Diame as a half-time replacement for the out-of-sorts James Tomkins.
 Suddenly Juan Mata was denied the space he had revelled in during the first 45 minutes as the hungry Hammers swarmed all over a team who do not know where their next win is coming from their visitors.

And the minute Carlton Cole climbed all over Branislav Ivanovic to head home West Ham’s controversial 63rd- minute equaliser, you knew there was only going to be one winner.

It was West Ham’s first win over their London rivals in 14 attempts and Allardyce said: “I wouldn’t say we were dead and buried at half-time but the second half was all about our belief, our desire and our quality.

“We upped our level from the first minute of the second half and we kept going until they cracked.

“We over-complicated things in the first half but we changed it tactically and all three of our substitutes made a big contribution to what was an outstanding victory.”

While Allardyce was left to celebrate three crucial points, Abramovich must be asking himself just what the hell is going on at Chelsea. The trigger-happy Russian might have given this one a swerve but could probably still have heard the howls of protest from the other side of London.

And his team haven’t hit rock bottom yet. That comes on Wednesday night when they go out of the Champions League and surrender the crown they fought so long and hard for.

If Chelsea play anything like this against Danish minnows Nordsjaelland in midweek, the result of Juventus’ trip to Donetsk will be immaterial.
This is their worst run of form since February 1995. Not since the days of Glenn Hoddle, 11 managers ago, have the Blues gone seven Premier League games without a win.

And, the way things are going right now, you would not bet against Rafa Benitez soon joining them.

It would be ludicrous to lay all of the blame for Chelsea’s collapse at the door of an interim manager who has been in the job for only 11 days.
But none of the travelling fans were prepared to give the Spaniard the benefit of the doubt as they joined in with the West Ham taunts of “you’re getting sacked in the morning’.

And that overwhelming mood of negativity has quickly spread to a “team’ of players who showed neither character nor fighting spirit to resist West Ham’s impressive second-half comeback. Even without the injured John Terry and Frank Lampard, the lack of leadership in the Chelsea ranks was alarming.

Benitez had complained before this game that his players were exhausted because the squad was too small and Roberto Di Matteo hadn’t rotated enough. Yet he still didn’t have the courage to leave out Fernando Torres, who has started more games than any other outfield player this season yet contributed less than most of them.

To be fair to Torres — and that’s not a phrase we’ve used too often in the last couple of years — he did set up the first goal of Benitez’s reign when he teed up Mata’s emphatic 13th-minute finish.

But that was to be his last meaningful contribution of an afternoon in which Chelsea’s lack of spine came home to haunt them.

And they have no-one but themselves to blame for their failure to take advantage of their overwhelming first-half dominance.

Yet as dreadful as West Ham were during those first 45 minutes, they were superior in every department following Allardyce’s tactical tinkering.
Cole’s 63rd-minute equaliser from Matt Jarvis’ deflected cross was confirmation that the tide had turned.

Benitez desperately tried to shore things up by hauling off Eden Hazard to chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from the travelling Blues fans.
But there was no stopping West Ham now and they deservedly took the lead in the 86th minute when Cole held off John Obi Mikel to tee up Diame for an unstoppable low shot.

And any thoughts of an unlikely Chelsea comeback were extinguished when Ashley Cole gifted the hosts a third when his terrible pass allowed Matt Taylor to set up fellow sub Modibo Maiga deep into stoppage time.


DREAM TEAM

SUN STAR MAN - NOLAN (WEST HAM)

West Ham: Jaaskelainen 7, Demel 6, Collins 7, Reid 6, O'Brien 6, Tomkins 5 (Taylor 46), Noble 7, O'Neil 5 (Diame 46), Nolan 8, Jarvis 6, Cole 7 (Maiga 87). Subs Not Used: Spiegel, Spence, Fanimo, Moncur. Booked: Noble. Goals: Cole 63, Diame 86, Maiga 90.

Chelsea: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 5, Cahill 6, Cole 5, Mikel 6, Ramires 6, Moses 7 (Marin 78), Hazard 6 (Oscar 73), Mata 8, Torres 5. Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Bertrand, Romeu, Piazon. Booked: Cech, Mikel. Goals: Mata 13.

Att: 35,005
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).

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

Express:

WEST HAM 3 - CHELSEA 1: RAFA BENITEZ FINDS IT TOUGH
Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez will have a tough time winning over the fans

By Colin Mafham

BELEAGURED Rafa Benitez was left clinging to his ‘interim’ job last night – after just three games in charge without a win.

 Yesterday’s disastrous 3-1 defeat at West Ham saw him taunted cruelly by BOTH sets of fans with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning.”
They might just have had a point.
 Other chants of “there’s only one Di Matteo” and “you don’t know what you’re doing” were virtually unprecedented for someone so new in the job.
 They will not have been lost on Roman Abramovich, the ruthless Russian who installed Benitez after sacking Roberto Di Matteo, despite the Italian winning the FA Cup and the Champions League with Chelsea last season.
 And he could well step up efforts to persuade his first choice, Pep Guardiola, to prematurely end his 12-month sabbatical and come to Chelsea’s rescue sooner rather than later.
 Even Benitez, looking understandably glum at last night’s post-match inquest, could not guarantee that he will keep the job he has been given only until the end of what is looking like a long, hard season.

“No, I am not 100 per cent sure,” he admitted. “But I am 100 per cent certain that we lost this game.”
Benitez tried to play down the hostile reception Chelsea fans, upset at the way he replaced Di Matteo, again gave him throughout yesterday’s game.
 Despite taking the lead with a stunning goal after just 12 minutes, they voiced their united support for the Spaniard’s predecessor for a full uninterrupted 60 seconds.
 They followed that up with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he replaced Eden Hazard with the Brazilian playmaker, Oscar, in the second half.

The final insult came when they joined rival West Ham fans in taunting him with cries of “you’re getting sacked in the morning!” And even West Ham’s Sam Allardyce expressed doubt that Benitez can turn things around at Chelsea if the fans continue to vilify him.
“It is not possible to do it without the fans behind you,” he said last night. “And the only way to get that is to win games,” he added.
Combined with Chelsea’s feeble second-half performance, that must have come as a bitter blow for Benitez, who is still waiting for his fi rst win in charge and facing a potential early exit on Wednesday from the Champions League that Di Matteo conquered.
“The fans were expecting us to win and they were disappointed,” he said. “But we are disappointed as well.”
Benitez, whose hopes of delivering the Premier League title for Abramovich look increasingly unlikely after this, must now hope Shakhtar Donetsk beat Juventus on Wednesday to have any hope of staying among Europe’s elite as well.
“The only thing we can do is keep on working and try to see what is wrong,” he said. “At this level you have to take your chances.”
If he fails to manage that before next Saturday’s match against struggling Sunderland, Abramovich might decide he needs someone else to take Chelsea to Japan for the FIFA World Club Cup in less than a fortnight’s time.


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

Star:

WEST HAM 3 - CHELSEA 1: RAFA BENITEZ FACING SACK AS BLUE BOYS FLOP AGAIN
By Harry Pratt

NINE days into the job and Rafa Benitez must already fear the worst.
Or at the very least be bracing himself for one of those dreaded, unannounced visits to the Chelsea training ground by the club’s ruthless owner Roman Abramovich – with the firing squad just behind.
When the Russian billionaire pitches up at Cobham without warning, it usually spells trouble – just ask Roberto Di Matteo, Andre Villas-Boas and the rest of Benitez’s sacked Stamford Bridge predecessors.
Sure, the Blues interim boss Benitez, who only took over the reins a week last Thursday, can probably expect to be cut some slack – given he was very much Roman’s appointment.
But after this crushing derby defeat to West Ham – when his team collapsed and conceded three times in a shocking second half – it is safe to assume the Spaniard will be having more sleepless nights.
In three games under his ill-fated watch, Chelsea have failed to win, picking up just two points in the process and sliding ever further away from a serious title challenge.
Rafa’s Blues were already certain to be seven points adrift of the leaders last night. But a win for Man United at Reading in the late game stretched the deficit to a thumping TEN points.
Which is clearly not what owner Abramovich ordered when he stunned football and everyone connected to the south-west Londoners by removing Champions League winner Di Matteo and replacing him with the former Liverpool boss.
Unwanted and unloved before he even took to the Chelsea dugout, Benitez’s unpopularity is plumbing new depths.
“We don’t want you here, f*** off’, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘There’s only one Di Matteo’ were among the chants coming out of the away end yesterday.
And Chelsea were leading at the time of those songs – through Spaniard Juan Mata’s stunning 13th-minute strike. If ever Rafa, Roman and the board needed proof he will not be accepted by the club’s hardcore, that was surely it.
Yet afterwards Benitez said: “I am not thinking about these other things. We have to improve on the pitch and then the fans will be happy.
“The next game is in the Champions League. That is all I am concerned with. Today we were better offensively and created chances but we were not so good at the back.
“How do we turn things around? By working hard. I’m not looking at the league table.
“I thought we were unlucky to concede the equaliser but I can’t use that as en excuse because we weren’t good enough in the second half.”
To be fair, Chelsea could have been out of sight at the interval had Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and Eden Hazard not wasted glorious chances. But a half-time substitution by Sam Allardyce, changing James Tomkins for Mohamed Diame, totally swung the game in West Ham’s favour.
The Senegal star was everywhere and the Hammers’ relentless pressure was rewarded in the 62nd minute as Carlton Cole headed in the equaliser, despite climbing all over Branislav Ivanovic.
And that was the signal for Chelsea’s under-the-cosh rearguard to wobble and then crumble in the closing stages.
Firstly, Diame fired the Hammers ahead with four minutes left – rifling in from the edge of the area. And then, as Chelsea attempted to reply, they were hit on the counter-attack.
Ashley Cole’s misplaced pass was intercepted by Modibo Maiga and, after Petr Cech had kept out Matt Taylor’s effort, the Mali striker tucked in the killer third.
That had Allardyce, who has a history of grudge clashes with Benitez, leaping as if he had just won the League and FA Cup all at once. Big Sam, whose side moved up to seventh in the table before the rest of the afternoon’s matches, beamed: “I couldn’t control my emotions – we’d just beaten our rivals in a big derby. This is one of the outstanding moments of the season.
“To turn it around in the second half was quite fantastic because Chelsea were a lot better than us in the first half.
“But they failed to finish us off and then we went for them in the second half until they cracked – and they did crack.
“I don’t have any sympathy for any manager. We compete, we play mind games and we toil against each other – and today I won.”
West Ham’s on-loan striker Andy Carroll has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury.
Boss Allardyce said: “We didn’t expect it to be quite as severe.
“It’s going to be about six to eight weeks. It’s a blow for us and Andy.”



=========

Times:

West Ham 3 Chelsea 1: Blues are hammered

David Walsh

A KINDLY man who owns an electrical shop across the road from Upton Park Tube station said it would kill the area. The move to the Olympic Park, he was talking about. An hour or so later a match that started slowly rose to the kind of pulsating contest you expect when coming to a London derby at this old ground. If ever it goes, it will be missed.
West Ham trailed by a goal at half-time but were a different team in the second half, timidity replaced by aggression, the desire to contain overtaken by an eagerness to confront. Chelsea preferred the first-half Hammers. It made for a terrific contest, one of those lovely football days when determination counted for more than technical ability. Team spirit, remember that? It decided this game.
What was remarkable was the dominance West Ham achieved at the end, their third goal coming when a stray pass from Ashley Cole was intercepted by the substitute, Modibo Maiga, who sent Kevin Nolan through on goal. His shot was parried by Petr Cech and there was Maiga, dancing on Chelsea’s grave, rifling the ball into the back of the net.

Gary Cahill had got back but couldn’t prevent the goal and, instead, he kicked a goalpost in frustration. That show of anger wasn’t unwelcome because too many of Cahill’s teammates seemed unaffected yesterday, disappointed to have been beaten but not much more than that. Cole’s listlessness was startling because it was so unlike him. At the end his heart wasn’t in it.
Yet Chelsea had started well and controlled the play for most of the first half. It wasn’t that they were better than their rivals but that the difference in class was so apparent. “They should have finished us and because they didn’t, they paid the price,” said West Ham’s manager, Sam Allardyce.
Central to the turnaround was the introduction of Mohamed Diame in the second half because he had a terrific influence on the match and a terrifying influence on Chelsea’s midfield. It was entirely appropriate he should have scored the goal that put his team 2-1 up with seven minutes remaining after good work by Carlton Cole.
How different it had all been in the first half. Chelsea’s opening goal came after 13 minutes and was an ode to simplicity. Juan Mata made a simple pass to Victor Moses who saw Fernando Torres make a short diagonal run inside the penalty area. The pass gave Torres the chance to do something and he angled a delightful cut-back for Mata to sidefoot the ball into the far corner. It seemed too easy.
It was interesting to watch Chelsea celebrate as players arrived to hail Torres for his pass, not neglecting Mata but they wanted their out-of-sorts centre forward to know they still believed, or were still professing to believe. But Torres still seems the ashes of the former fire and when Ramires picked him out in a scoring position, you willed him to do something positive.
But he lifted his shot well over the crossbar. It was a miss that spoke of lost confidence and a couple of minutes later he pulled a ball for Eden Hazard that had far too much pace and another chance was lost.
At first the wastefulness didn’t seem to matter much, such was Chelsea’s dominance. They were too good for a team forever chasing the game but never quite catching it. But in control, Chelsea were content to cruise. Hazard’s fine shot flew just over and then West Ham keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen made a fine save from Mata but what did it matter, Chelsea seemed to believe the pattern would never change. But Nolan got the ball in the Chelsea net only for referee Martin Atkinson to penalise James Collins for a push on Branislav Ivanovic. Then in the last minute of the half, a rebound from a Collins free-kick was headed towards goal by Matt Jarvis and on again by Nolan, who drew a fine save from Cech.
One is inclined to believe that even if Chelsea had expected the West Ham fightback, they didn’t have the personnel to react. No John Terry, no Frank Lampard, and on a day like yesterday you also recall what Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack used to do for the team. Rafael Benitez, the under-siege manager, put it rather gently.
“With the kind of players we have, you have to be in possession,” he said, meaning that his team can play with the ball but are not good at fighting for it. West Ham might have scored three times in the second half before Jarvis’ cross was deflected upwards off Cahill and Carlton Cole rose high above Ivanovic to head the equaliser.
Cole’s arms were all over the centre-half’s back but having penalised Collins for a similar push on Ivanovic in the first half, it seemed referee Atkinson had grown tired of the centre-back not jumping for crosses, perhaps hoping for another free. Isolated and outplayed in the first half, Cole was outstanding in the second half.
Chelsea did react well to the goal. Hazard struck a decent shot that Jaaskelained blocked and Torres, inevitably, headed into the keeper’s arms.
Then Mata struck the inside of the post with a fine free-kick. But that was it for Chelsea. The rest of the game belonged to West Ham. Diame’s goal was a deserved reward for he single-handedly turned the game West Ham’s way and it killed Chelsea.
Maiga’s goal would have driven a stake through Chelsea’s heart, if they’d had one.

West Ham United: Jaaskelainen 7, Demel 6, Collins 6, Reid 6, O’Brien 6, Tomkins 5 (Taylor h-t, 6), Noble 6, O’Neil 5 (Diame h-t, 9), Nolan 6, Jarvis 7, C Cole 7 (Maiga 87min)
Chelsea: Cech 6, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 5, Cahill 6, A Cole 4, Mikel 6, Ramires 7, Moses 6 (Marin 78min), Hazard 6 (Oscar 73min), Mata 6, Torres 5