FOOTBALL Live

Friday December 26, 2008 Finished Stamford Bridge

2 - 0

Chelsea

  • Drogba 3’
  • Lampard 45’

West Bromwich

  1. Chelsea back on track

    Chelsea back on track

    Luiz Felipe Scolari was rewared for pairing Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in attack with a dominant 2-0 win over West Brom. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Chelsea
    • West Bromwich
    • 90+3 FULL-TIME: Chelsea absolutely dominate and might have won by a hatful; 2-0 is more than enough to get them back on track though.
    • 90+1 Late corner for Chelsea...headed clear by Bednar.
    • 89 There will be three additional minutes.
    • 87 WIDE! Malouda drags an effort wide of the near post after Anelka's shot had been deflected to him at a tight angle. Should have gone cross-goal.
    • 86 Cech comes to his penalty spot to collect another cross thrown into the box from deep; he has barely been tested at all this afternoon.
    • 85 Gianni Zuiverloon is down needing treatment after just being caught by Ballack.
    • 84 Substitute Bednar has the ball in the Chelsea goal, although the attempt is correctly ruled out for a foul.
    • 82 The home side are continuing to push for a third; they deserve one. Anelka drives from distance, straight at Carson, who collects comfortably.
    • 81 Deco's first contribution is to try to slide Anelka in down the channel; read by the defender, who hooks clear.
    • 79 West Brom win a corner out on the left...the ball is half-cleared to the edge of the box...Greening strikes it...GREAT BLOCK BY ALEX ON THE SIX-YARD BOX!
    • 78 DECO is brought into the Chelsea fray, replacing Joe Cole for the final ten minutes or so.
    • 75 Chelsea win a corner as they continue to press for a third...Alex throws himself at the ball through a crowd, but the ball is deflected and cleared.
    • 74 Ballack and Brunt are involved in a bit of shoving out on the left; either the referee didn't see it or he wasn't too concerned.
    • 72 Tony Mowbray is looking on concerned from the touchline, but he can have no complaints; he can't have expected anything other than a defeat at Stamford Bridge.
    • 70 The game is still very open; WBA are coming into it slightly more over the last few minutes, but all Cech has been called on to do is collect some crosses.
    • 68 BLOCK! Ivanovic slides in to block Moore's shot on goal
    • 67 With Manchester United currently only drawing at Stoke, this could be a good day for Chelsea...
    • 65 Drogba is replaced by Malouda; two shocking misses, and the Ivorian is hauled off.
    • 63 ANOTHER CHANCE! Drogba really should do better when the ball breaks to him eight yards out after a good run from Anelka, but the striker plants his shot straight at Carson.
    • 62 QUITE DREADFUL! Drogba is picked out inside the box after drifting out to the right to find space...but his blast on goal is one of the most shocking efforts you are likely to see.
    • 60 Beattie is replaced by Moore for the Baggies; they had an option of going two-up front for the final half-hour as they try to get back into the match, but it is a straight swap.
    • 58 POOR FINISH! Anelka slips in Lampard...faced one-on-one with Carson...attempted chip...straight into the hands of the keeper.
    • 57 Chelsea are knocking the ball about with purpose, still; the game is safe, but there is no sign of taking it easy with half and hour to play.
    • 56 ...Brunt sends the set-piece into the near post...easily cleared.
    • 55 Some promise from WBA as Kim clips a nice ball thruogh to Beattie, who wins a corner off Alex...
    • 54 Drogba his a shot straight at Carson from a tight angle after superbly breaking into the box through a couple of half-hearted tackles.
    • 53 Chelsea are in complete control of their game here; WBA have no chance of getting back into it.
    • 52 Cole gets down the right-edge of the box...but his cross drifts behind for a goalkick.
    • 51 WASTED! Belletti combines with Ballack and breaks into the box...he is faced down with the keeper, but his ambitious chip drifts harmlessly wide and over. Poor effort - he should have blasted it.
    • 49 Ivanovic shows good ambition to break down the left and send over a low cross...unfortunately, none of his team-mates have kept pace and Carson collects easily.
    • 47 Chelsea win an early corner when Belletti's cross from the right is deflected behind...taken short, and defended well by WBA.
    • 46 OFF WE GO! SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
    • 45+2 HALF-TIME: Good half from the home side, who are playing with a nice confidence and verve following that early goal. They might be wondering how they have failed to double their advantage.
    • 45 GOAL! 2-0! The two Coles combine wel down the left, Joe releasing Ashley...the full-back breaks into the box, the ball bobbles to Lampard, who chips the diving Carson from close range to double the lead!
    • 44 Lampard frees Drogba down the left...but his cross is overhit.
    • 43 West Brom break after Chelsea's attack breaks down on the edge of their box...only for Brunt's attempted pass into the run of Kim fly out of play without even nearly finding his man.
    • 41 SO CLOSE! Ashley Cole comes within a whisker of doubling the lead but he just can't turn home Lampard's low cross...although the linesman has his flag up anyway.
    • 39 West Brom have a rare spell with the ball in the Chelsea half, but the home side have got plenty of men back behind the ball and easily snuff out any threat.
    • 37 ALMOST! Bosingwa is having a stormer! He easily beats his marker for pace before firing over another low cross...this time cut out at the near post with Drogba waiting to turn the ball home.
    • 35 POST! Cole thrashes a shot in on goal after being picked out in space inside the box...looked like Carson got a crucial fingertip to it...Cole then hits the rebound straight at the keeper.
    • 34 Beattie is completely isolated up front for the Baggies; when they do get the ball, they are attempting to ping it into his feet, but he is surrounded by defenders.
    • 32 Ballack bring a low save out of Carson with a drive from 25 yards; good handling from the keeper.
    • 30 POOR! More excellent play down the right from Bosingwa, who beats his man before clipping a low cross into the middle to Lampard...who sweeps a shot well wide of the near post from a great position.
    • 29 OOH! Nice link-up down the right gets Bosingwa to the by-line...his cross flashes across the face of goal...no Chelsea man is able to get a foot to it.
    • 27 WBA are forced into a change, replacing the injured Meite with Barnett.
    • 26 Now Greening is down after landing heavily in clearing the ball at the near post at a corner.
    • 25 Meite holds his hamstring after his slip allowed Lampard into the area; the midfielder should have done better, but delayed on the ball allowing a defender to get back and block.
    • 24 OFFSIDE! Drogba is caught a foot offside as he tries to get on Cole's through-ball...close decision, that one.
    • 23 ALERT! Ivanovic has to be on his toes to cut out a decent pass through to Beattie.
    • 22 Ashley Cole is holding his jaw; looked like he got caught by a stray arm in the face.
    • 21 OVER! Ballack blasts a left-foot effort high over the bar after the ball rebounded to him as Drogba attempted to barge his way through his marker on the edge of the box.
    • 20 CHANCE! Lampard is picked out in the box after making a ghosting run...but his left-foot finish is screwed hopelessly wide of the near post.
    • 19 ...and the defender clouts his shot straight into the wall.
    • 18 Ballack draws a cheap free-kick from Greening...Alex stands over the set-piece, 40 yards out...
    • 17 Shoddy control in the box from Ballack after Bosingwa had picked him out with an inside pass.
    • 16 Beattie is set free down the left-channel...his first-time cross is cleared by Alex before it reaches Do-heon Kim.
    • 15 Do-heon Kim brings a save out of Cech at his near post after getting in down the left...he might have done better shooting across the keeper there.
    • 14 Shocking cross from Cole from the left, with a whole penalty area full of team-mates waiting in the middle.
    • 13 Ivanovic and Cech almost get in a pickle when the defender nods a bouncing ball back to his keeper, not knowing that Cech has come out of his box...thankfully, the keeper does well to clear first time.
    • 12 This is the first time this season that Scolari has started Anelka and Drogba up front; they have got their partnership off to a fine start with that early goal.
    • 10 Meite is warned for a foul on Ballack, 40 yards out...chance for Chelsea to throw a dangerous ball into the box...but Carson collects easily.
    • 8 Some fine defending from Alex as he calmly flicks the ball to Ivanovic, under pressure from Beattie.
    • 7 Chelsea are so narrow today; they are completely reliant on their full-backs for width.
    • 6 Joe Cole tries - and almost succeeds - in dribbling his way through a very congested final third, but he is robbed 20 yards out.
    • 4 Drogba ensures praise for boss Scolari's selection with an early goal to get Chelsea up and running. Tough work for WBA now.
    • 3 GOAL! DROGBA! A deep cross from the right-hand flank is met by a great leap from Drogba, and a header planted back across the face of goal and into the far corner!
    • 2 Brunt fires in the first meaningful effort of the match, but his left-foot effort from 20 yards bounces a few yards wide of Cech's goal.
    • 1 OFF WE GO!
    • 0 Here come the teams; beautiful winter's day in London.
    • - West Brom captain Jonathan Greening is passed fit after suffering a bout of double vision last time out against Manchester City, but playmaker and record signing Borja Valero has to be content with a place on the bench along with striker Roman Bednar.
    • - Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has also dropped midfielder Deco to the substitute's bench.
    • - Chelsea pair Anelka and Drogba up front in a rare two-man strikeforce as they bid to ram home their superiority against the Baggies at Stamford Bridge.
    • - Hi there; welcome to our coverage of Chelsea's home clash against basement club WBA...

  • Team Stats

    Chelsea Stats West Bromwich
    64% Possession 35%
    25 Shots 10
    12 Shots on target 2
    1 Saves 6
    7 Corners 5
    8 Fouls 5
    4 Offsides 3
    1 Yellow cards 0
    0 Red cards 0
    20 Tackles 30
    531 Accurate passes 249
    61 Bad passes 55

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Chelsea
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Petr Cech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
      33 Alex da Dias Costa 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 46 0 5
      3 Ashley Cole 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 52 15 3
      17 José Bosingwa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 2 2
      2 Branislav Ivanovic 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 57 9 1
      10 Joe Cole 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 40 4 0
      12 John Obi Mikel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 74 6 4
      8 Frank Lampard 1 7 3 0 0 1 0 60 7 0
      13 Michael Ballack 0 3 2 1 2 0 0 63 7 2
      11 Didier Drogba 1 5 3 1 2 1 0 18 4 1
      39 Nicolas Anelka 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 41 6 1
      20 Anderson Deco 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 1 1
      35 Juliano Belletti 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 27 0 0
      19 Paulo Ferreira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Carlos da Silva Mineiro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Florent Malouda 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 10 0 0
      23 Carlo Cudicini 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Salomon Kalou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • West Bromwich
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      19 Scott Carson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 8 0
      23 Abdoulaye Meite 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 2
      3 Paul Robinson 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 29 9 4
      22 Gianni Zuiverloon 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 18 1 9
      26 Jonas Olsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2 2
      8 Jonathan Greening 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 44 9 2
      7 Robert Koren 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 35 6 3
      14 Do-Heon Kim 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 28 6 0
      27 James Morrison 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 30 1 6
      11 Chris Brunt 0 4 1 0 1 1 0 31 10 1
      12 Craig Beattie 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 9 2 0
      5 Leon Barnett 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0
      28 Borja Valero 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Marek Cech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Graeme Dorrans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Dean Kiely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Luke Moore 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      9 Roman Bednar 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

  • Summary

    • 87 WIDE! Malouda drags an effort wide of the near post after Anelka's shot had been deflected to him at a tight angle. Should have gone cross-goal.
    • 63 ANOTHER CHANCE! Drogba really should do better when the ball breaks to him eight yards out after a good run from Anelka, but the striker plants his shot straight at Carson.
    • 62 QUITE DREADFUL! Drogba is picked out inside the box after drifting out to the right to find space...but his blast on goal is one of the most shocking efforts you are likely to see.
    • 58 POOR FINISH! Anelka slips in Lampard...faced one-on-one with Carson...attempted chip...straight into the hands of the keeper.
    • 51 WASTED! Belletti combines with Ballack and breaks into the box...he is faced down with the keeper, but his ambitious chip drifts harmlessly wide and over. Poor effort - he should have blasted it.
    • 45 GOAL! 2-0! The two Coles combine wel down the left, Joe releasing Ashley...the full-back breaks into the box, the ball bobbles to Lampard, who chips the diving Carson from close range to double the lead!
    • 41 SO CLOSE! Ashley Cole comes within a whisker of doubling the lead but he just can't turn home Lampard's low cross...although the linesman has his flag up anyway.
    • 37 ALMOST! Bosingwa is having a stormer! He easily beats his marker for pace before firing over another low cross...this time cut out at the near post with Drogba waiting to turn the ball home.
    • 35 POST! Cole thrashes a shot in on goal after being picked out in space inside the box...looked like Carson got a crucial fingertip to it...Cole then hits the rebound straight at the keeper.
    • 30 POOR! More excellent play down the right from Bosingwa, who beats his man before clipping a low cross into the middle to Lampard...who sweeps a shot well wide of the near post from a great position.
    • 29 OOH! Nice link-up down the right gets Bosingwa to the by-line...his cross flashes across the face of goal...no Chelsea man is able to get a foot to it.
    • 20 CHANCE! Lampard is picked out in the box after making a ghosting run...but his left-foot finish is screwed hopelessly wide of the near post.
    • 3 GOAL! DROGBA! A deep cross from the right-hand flank is met by a great leap from Drogba, and a header planted back across the face of goal and into the far corner!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Chelsea

    Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari

    Captain: Frank Lampard

    Starting line-up

    • P. Cech
    • J. Bosingwa Substitution Out (46′)
    • .. Alex
    • B. Ivanovic
    • A. Cole
    • J. Mikel
    • F. Lampard Goal
    • J. Cole Substitution Out (80′)
    • M. Ballack
    • D. Drogba Goal Substitution Out (65′)
    • N. Anelka

    Subs

    • F. Malouda Substitution In65′
    • C. Cudicini
    • .. Deco Substitution In79′
    • P. Ferreira
    • J. Belletti Substitution In46′
    • S. Kalou
    • .. Mineiro

    Injured

    • M. Essien
    • F. Di Santo

    Suspended

    • J. Terry

  • West Bromwich

    Manager: Tony Mowbray

    Captain: Paul Robinson

    Starting line-up

    • S. Carson
    • G. Zuiverloon
    • A. Meite Substitution Out (26′)
    • J. Olsson
    • P. Robinson
    • J. Morrison
    • R. Koren
    • D. Kim
    • C. Brunt
    • J. Greening
    • C. Beattie Substitution Out (60′)

    Subs

    • D. Kiely
    • L. Moore Substitution In60′
    • R. Bednar
    • M. Cech
    • V. Borja
    • L. Barnett Substitution In26′
    • G. Dorrans

    Injured

    • N. Clement
    • I. Miller

    Suspended

    None