Football.co.uk Web
skip to content
Full time at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea ease out a 2-0 win against a hard working Sunderland outfit
Didier Drogba rises at the far post to head home a Damien Duff cross
Chelsea in control as the game continues to be played in the middle of the park, Chelsea seem happy with the one goal
William Gallas and Ndjitap Geremi shut up shop as Andy Gray tries to wriggle his way through
Nyron Nosworthy Heads clear as Frank Lampard delivers another quality cross which just eludes Didier Drogba
Chelsea continue to press forward as Sundeland cannot seem to get any real possesion
Joe Cole breaks and unleashes a fierce shot which Kelvin Davis can only parry to safety
Arjen Robben catches Julio Arca late and brings the Sunderland man down
Kelvin Davis spills a good strike from Frank Lampard as Chelsea begin to dictate the pace
Chelsea rampant as they continue to pepper the Sundeland area with shots and crosses
Ndjitap Geremi opens the scoring for chelsea as he fires under the body of Kelvin Davis
Chelsea begin to pur forward and find that elusive first goal
Good work from Arjen Robben produces a fine strike from Frank Lampard who crashes the ball against the underside of the bar and out to safety
Andy Gray and John Terry challenge in the Chelsea area with Terry coming out the winner with a towering header
The second-half is underway at Stamford Bridge
Half time at Stamford bridge in an eventful first hald in which Sunderland will be the happier of the two sides as they continue to hurry and harrass the chelsea millionaires
Frank Lampard caught offside in Chelsea first attacking move for a while
Frank Lampard floats a lovely ball into the box but Hernan Crespo is unable to get anything on it. Goal kick to Sunderland
Sunderland concede the corner as Shaun Wright-Phillips gets to the byline but is unable to get the the ball past the first defender
Nyron Nosworthy makes yet another impressive challenge to disposess
Julio Arca and Justin Hoyte link up well in the middle of the park but the game is still lacking any real attacking edge
John Terry rises to win a great header which pings off the crossbar. Unfortunately it would not have counted as the referees assistant had his flag raised
Jonathan Stead with his first strike of the game from 18 yards only finds Petr Cech
Both teams seem happy to play the game out in the middle of the park with neither team threatening
Michael Essien fouled on the left hand side of midfield after good work with Frank Lampard
Tommy Miller turns William Gallas and breaks forward, the Chelsea man brings him down and concedes the foul midway into his own half
Poor corner from Arjen Robben results in a easy clearance by Gary Breen
Hernan Crespo with a nice flick with the inside of his right foot nearly opens the scoring for Chelsea
Shaun Wright-Phillips breaks once again down the left but a well-timed tackle from Gary Breen releives him of the ball
An Up and under from Frank Lampard leaves Nyron Nosworthy out of position but makes up for it with a fine chalenge to disposess Shaun Wright-Phillips
Nyron Nosworthy is handling the threat of Arjen Robben comfortably up till now as Chelsea try to bring the Dutchman into the game
great save from Kelvin Davis as Chelsea break with Eidur Gudjohnsen who found Asier del Horno on the edge of the area, who struck a firm shot into the hands of the Sunderland shot-stopper
Shaun Wright-Phillips breaks down the line but Christian Bassila intervenes to make a good challenge
Asier del Horno felled in his own half by a wreckless challenge from Julio Arca
Good start by Sunderland results in a corner
Mike Dean is the referee for todays game. He gets the game underway with a sharp blast of the whistle
Geremi scored only his second goal for Chelsea to break the dogged resistance of lowly Sunderland. Add to that the fine counter-attacking strike by Didier Drogba and the Premiership champions remain top of the league. Sunderland, with the unenviable record of 19 straight Premiership defeats either side of a stint in the Championship came to defend, defend and defend. They had two weeks to prepare to outfight the champions and for the best part of the game they did just that. Chelsea had the look of a team searching for rhythm this season and they can count themselves lucky to face the bottom-placed side in the league following the midweek World Cup qualifiers. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho rested full-back Paulo Ferreira and replaced him with Cameroon midfielder Geremi, while with Claude Makelele suffering a knee injury, Michael Essien was given the holding midfielder role. Both players produced admirable performances with Geremi taking more of the plaudits by virtue of his fine strike. But in true Chelsea form, they could have taken the lead after six minutes. Spanish left-back Asier Del Horno, a constant threat, unleashed a wonderful left footer, from 20 yards out. The ball swerved in flight, fooling goalkeeper Kelvin Davis. But fortunately for the shot-stopper, he managed to get his right arm to the ball, deflecting it back into play but, crucially, away from goal. In truth, that was the best it got for the champions in the first half. Sunderland must have taken hope from the midweek performance by Northern Ireland in their win over England. Man for man, the visitors could not hope to match their opponents, but in terms of grit and defensive awareness, they more than matched Chelsea. The Wearsiders' only effort on goal in the first period was a limp, left-foot drive by Jon Stead from just outside the penalty area in the 27th minute. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was almost too embarrassed to pick it up. A Shaun Wright-Phillips chest and volley on 35 minutes, which saw the ball sail over the Sunderland bar, was the last of the first-half action. Mourinho, changed his formation for the second-half. On came Damien Duff for the ineffectual Eidur Gudjohnsen, leaving Arjen Robben to play just behind lone striker Hernan Crespo. The breakthrough, when it finally came, was predictably from an error - in fact it was two errors. Two minutes after Frank Lampard crashed a 20-yard drive off the crossbar on 51 minutes, Sunderland goalkeeper Davis threw the ball out to substitute Andy Welsh, who made a hash of controlling it. His fluff allowed Geremi to race past him and drive a low shot towards goal, which Davis let skid under his body and into the net. Chelsea secured victory with a fine counter-attack involving Joe Cole, Essien and Duff, who flighted a perfect left-wing, byline cross to the far post. Drogba rose highest and produced a powerful downward header past Davis and in at the near post. Man of the Match: Geremi The Cameroon midfielder made the most of his rare first-team appearance, producing a composed display and scoring the crucial opening goal.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
advertisement
football.co.uk
Leagues & CompetitionsLeagues & CompetitionsPremier LeagueFootball League ChampionshipFootball League OneFootball League TwoScottish Premier DivisionInternational
TeamsTeamsPremier LeagueArsenalAston VillaBlackburn RoversBolton WanderersChelseaEvertonFulhamHull CityLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedMiddlesbroughNewcastle UnitedPortsmouthStoke CitySunderlandTottenham HotspurWest Bromwich AlbionWest Ham UnitedWigan AthleticFootball League ChampionshipBarnsleyBirmingham CityBlackpoolBristol CityBurnleyCardiff CityCharlton AthleticCoventry CityCrystal PalaceDerby CountyDoncaster RoversIpswich TownNorwich CityNottingham ForestPlymouth ArgylePreston North EndQueens Park RangersReadingSheffield UnitedSheffield WednesdaySouthamptonSwansea CityWatfordWolverhampton WanderersFootball League OneBrighton and Hove AlbionBristol RoversCarlisle UnitedCheltenham TownColchester UnitedCrewe AlexandraHartlepool UnitedHereford UnitedHuddersfield TownLeeds UnitedLeicester CityLeyton OrientMillwallMilton Keynes DonsNorthampton TownOldham AthleticPeterborough UnitedScunthorpe UnitedSouthend UnitedStockport CountySwindon TownTranmere RoversWalsallYeovil TownFootball League TwoAccrington StanleyAldershot TownBarnetBournemouthBradford CityBrentfordBuryChester CityChesterfieldDagenham RedbridgeDarlingtonExeter CityGillinghamGrimsby TownLincoln CityLuton TownMacclesfield TownMorecambeNotts CountyPort ValeRochdaleRotherham UnitedShrewsbury TownWycombe Wanderers