Chelsea 5 Watford 0: match report

There are ways and means of expressing your desire for first-team football. Having begun the weekend with an outspoken interview in which he made a pointed reference to the ease of finding another club, Florent Malouda found a rather more constructive way of making his point in this 5-0 rout of Watford. Alex excited by Guus Hiddink arrival at ChelseaChelseas Frank Lampard waits on FAs verdict on red card against LiverpoolActions speak rather louder than words and, despite venting his frustrations direct to Carlo Ancelotti, it can be safely assumed that the Italian will have taken rather more notice of Malouda's instinctive finish to put Chelsea 3-0 ahead as well as an all-round performance of consistent menace. With Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and Job-Obi Mikel all now potentially on duty at the African Cup of Nations until the beginning of February, this is actually the ideal moment for Malouda to finally provide rather more value both for his talent and a transfer fee of some £13.5 million. Having consistently stressed that there is no need for further reinforcements in January, Ancelotti will also have taken particular satisfaction from the performance of Daniel Sturridge. Playing as the main central striker in place of Drogba, Sturridge provided pace, movement and also a cool head to score his first goals since joining the FA Cup holders. Ancelotti began with a slight surprise by switching from the diamond formation that has generally served him so well this season, with Juliano Belletti playing the holding position in front of the defence while Florent Malouda and Joe Cole were the most advanced midfielders in support of Sturridge. With Nicolas Anelka absent with a hamstring injury, it took just five minutes for Sturridge to provide hope that he really could be a plausible short-term replacement. Frank Lampard floated a corner towards Alex, whose header was diverted by John Terry into the path of Sturridge. It looked like a straightforward finish, but the ball was travelling at a considerable speed and Sturridge's finish was clinical. Even at such an early stage in the game, the goal seemed to utterly deflate Watford and, for the rest of the match, Henrique Hilario was a spectator in the Chelsea goal as his team launched wave upon wave of attacks. The second goal had a hint of the farcical but was just reward for Chelsea's dominance. Joe Cole had volleyed Malouda's cross into the Watford penalty area and triggered an extraordinary but involuntary game of pinball. The ball cannoned between Adrian Mariappa, Frank Lampard, Scott Loach before finally bouncing off John Eustace for an own-goal. There was also slice of luck about Chelsea's third goal when Zhirkov's shot deflected off Malouda and beyond Loach. Having missed several other chances, Sturridge calmly converted Ashley Cole's cross for his second before being substituted to a standing ovation and a hug from Ancelotti. Chelsea, though, were still not finished and Lampard saved the best until last to shoot from outside the penalty area and seal an emphatic win. With Alex, Belletti and Terry missing further chances, the full-time whistle was nothing less than an act of mercy for Watford.

Source: Telegraph