Premier League - Anelka puts Chelsea top

Eurosport - Mon, 10 Nov 08:58:00 2008

Nicolas Anelka struck twice as Chelsea went back to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Chelsea Nicolas Anelka - 0

A torrential downpour made conditions almost unplayable in Lancashire but Anelka overcame the elements to find the net in each half and fire Chelsea back above Liverpool on goal difference.

Anelka broke the deadlock on 39 minutes, deflecting a long-range Alex shot past Paul Robinson, before adding a second in the 68th minute with a cool dinked finish over the otherwise excellent Rovers keeper.

The win - on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's 60th birthday - was Chelsea's sixth out of six on the road so far this season and did much to make amends for their Champions League defeat to Roma in midweek.

Despite the appalling playing conditions, the visitors flew out of the blocks and went on to dominate the first half, even though it took them the majority of the opening period to find a way through the Rovers defence.

That the deadlock lasted so long had much to do with the form of Robinson, who pulled off a string of fine saves to deny Anelka two headed efforts, a John Obi Mikel header and Frank Lampard's bouncing strike before even 20 minutes were on the clock.

Chelsea had earlier seen a loud penalty shout waved away by referee Chris Foy when Anelka tumbled to the ground under a challenge from Robinson after having latched onto a suicidal Keith Andrews back pass. Replays showed there was minimal contact between the two.

Terry saw a header fly over the bar before Anelka and Lampard were again thwarted by Robinson as Chelsea pressed for an opener.

The pressure finally told as Anelka netted his first of the day six minutes before the half-time whistle; the goal stood despite loud calls from Robinson for handball against the Frenchman.

During the break, the skies cleared and by the time the second half kicked off the weather were far more clement - Blackburn capitalised and began to work their way back into the game as Chelsea eased off the gas.

During the opening period, Blackburn had just a Carlos Villanueva shot on the break to shout about - an effort which brought a fine save out of Petr Cech - but once the rain had stopped, Paul Ince's side looked far more threatening.

The hosts could have equalised soon after the restart when Jason Roberts - asked to play as a lone striker due to Blackburn's injury problems - turned John Terry with some neat control on his chest to make space for a shot. Only a fine save by Cech foiled him.

Blackburn continued to press for an equaliser, but Chelsea hit them on the break on 68 minutes to effectively seal all three points.

Anelka registered his sixth goal in the last three league games when he reacted sharply to pounce on a loose ball in the box ahead of Robinson, clipping it over the keeper and into the back of the net.

At 2-0 up, Chelsea were able to cruise for the remainder of the game, and they should have added to their tally, Lampard rattling the cross bar with a terrific free-kick moments before Terry missed his kick from close range with eight minutes left.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

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  1. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS OF PREMIER­ LEAGUE MATCHES

    From go to www.premiership.altervista.org, on Mon 10 Nov 4:25PM

  2. them scousers will struggle to make 4th spot this­ year.its only penalties that have put them in 2nd at­ the moment.they keep spending money but nobody says­ they are buying the title because they aint never gonna­ win it.up the chels

    From marc e, on Mon 10 Nov 4:23PM

  3. johnnywns THERE A LOT OF FUDGE PACKERS IN SCOUSELAND,­ MOST OF THEM ARE LIVERPOOL FANS , SEE YOU AT THE END OF­ THE SEASON WHEN LIVERPOOL ARE STRUGGLING TO MAKE 4TH­ PLACE YET AGAIN.

    From derek, on Mon 10 Nov 2:21PM

  4. WE did it boys welldone ,WE PRAISE GOD ,we are­ greatfull ,may the LORD continue to bless us we are on­ the right track letus keep our heads up and keep up the­ good form ,we are the best ,viva CHELSEA viva­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Leo, on Mon 10 Nov 1:40PM

  5. CHELSEA 4 LIFE.

    From henry, on Mon 10 Nov 1:36PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Chelsea fans take it up the Gary Glitter,Filthy manure­ potato head Rooney thugs stink,
    Arsenal are gonners,and­ Liverpool are gonna pisss on you.

    From e=mc squared, on Mon 10 Nov 12:40PM

  7. chelsea are the best come rain or shine so stick it up­ your arses gooners.scousers bubble will burst soon and­ you mancs just aint got it this year.goodnight and god­ bless.lol

    From marc e, on Mon 10 Nov 12:07PM

  8. chelsea 7-1 man u

    From joddownloadabletunes, on Mon 10 Nov 10:56AM

  9. MAN U beter think on what to do na cos my boy [ronaldo]­ will soon leave to madrid i hate that goat ferguson

    From spiffpally, on Mon 10 Nov 10:29AM

  10. big fergu big fool i hate everything about man u­ including the stpid coach so they call useless ferguson­ on his refuser for cristiano ronaldo not to go to­ madrid u are a fool
    if ronaldo dont want to go to­ madrid u should be a scape goat is better 4 u to go my­ boy leave stupid fergu he will kilkl ur carier i love u­ that is why am saying all this,

    From spiffpally, on Mon 10 Nov 10:20AM

  11. hi there am blues for life we are the best in england ­ ilove what arsenal did to man u,my able coach kindly­ see to what i have for you sign taiye taiwo to replace­ ashley cole in case of injury and peter osazee to­ replace anelka,obasi ogbuke to replace joe cole in case­ of injury

    From spiffpally, on Mon 10 Nov 10:04AM

  12. hi there am blues for life we are the best in england ­ ilove what arsenal did to man u,my able coach kindly­ see to what i have for you sign taiye taiwo to replace­ ashley cole in case of injury and peter osazee to­ replace anelka,obasi ogbuke to replace joe cole in case­ of injury

    From spiffpally, on Mon 10 Nov 10:04AM

  13. LF scolari should sign me,am better than those players­ you said pally4nice.

    From yagmurdan_sonra, on Mon 10 Nov 9:26AM

  14. blues is the best am proud to be a blues fan. i want to­ send this to my great coach big phil pls since u said ­ that you want to sign chinedu obasi ogboke plz sign him­ to avoid snatching from othere club. plz see to taiye­ taiwo exploit to replace ashley cole in case of injury.­ and also sign peter osazee to replace anelka plz

    From pally, on Mon 10 Nov 9:15AM

  15. Whats wrong with Deco guys?i dunno he was doing will­ but what happend to him,he was very good at the­ begining of the season.

    From yagmurdan_sonra, on Mon 10 Nov 9:12AM

  16. let me tell ya just one word my chelsea mates, it's­ only the arrogance of the french that can be behind a­ useful Anelka sometimes but never think you can rely on­ him in all matches; he might be good in one game or two­ as he might be the source of dísasters for our beloved­ team in its long journey to be crwoned champion.

    From irabit23, on Mon 10 Nov 8:30AM

  17. Chelsea are local Hero.I bet you Blackburn can beat­ Roma even in Rome. Who can bet it?

    From Michael, on Mon 10 Nov 7:36AM

  18. Umm, my one concern is Anelka. He's like Ronaldo,­ never shows up when the chips are down, runs up his­ stats against bad teams. I think for Chelsea to be­ really dangerous they need Drogba and Essien at full­ speed.

    From tom h, on Mon 10 Nov 7:02AM

  19. too bad arsenal going down the drain, they wanna beat­ chelsea at home, too bad, before u guys can do that,­ you need to go beat, stoke, fullam and hull

    From fundler, on Mon 10 Nov 7:00AM

  20. good performance

    From SaMiR NaSRi, on Mon 10 Nov 6:40AM
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