Blackburn Rovers 0 - 2 Chelsea

Chelsea travelled to Ewood Park eager to blow away the memories of that night in Rome last Tuesday. The fixture, against Blackburn, also gave Chelsea the ideal opportunity to return to the top of the Premier League.

And that is exactly what they did with a decent performance on a drenched Ewood Park pitch.

Team News - The starting eleven was very much the same as that which had underperformed against AS Roma. The only change being the introduction of Salomon Kalou in place of Joe Cole. Interestingly, there was also no sign of Joe on the bench suggesting he`d picked up a knock prior to the game.

Prior to the game it had also been suggested that Mineiro and Drogba would start. As it turned out Mineiro was on the bench whilst Drogba, like Cole was conspicuous by his absence.

For the opposition Santa Cruz didn`t recover from his knock and Paul Ince selected ex-Chelsea schoolboy, Jason Roberts, as his sole striker.

First Half - After a minutes silence in honour of Remembrance Sunday it was Blackburn who got the action underway with Andrews firing over in their first attack.

With just five minutes on the clock Chelsea should have had a penalty. Anelka raced on to a lose ball and as he rounded Robinson he appeared to get caught and went down, inexplicably Chris Foy waved play on.

Anelka then saw his flicked header, from a Lampard free kick, turned over the bar by Robinson as the weather conditions continued to deteriorate. As Chelsea forced Blackburn back, playing some neat football, Anelka then saw Robinson save his header after he`d latched on to a great cross from Bosingwa.

The action continued in the right half of the pitch and Terry saw his header go narrowly wide. Malouda was the next to pepper the goal when he latched on to a lose ball, spun and fired wide. The same player then saw his shot deflected over the bar as it appeared only a matter of time until Chelsea opened the scoring.

However, with the rain still pouring down, puddles of water were beginning to form on the pitch and it was becoming noticeable that the ball was not running normally.

The pressure continued and Lampard saw a shot from twenty-two yards turned past the post by Robinson. Cech had to react swiftly to pull of a good save from Villanueva as Blackburn threatened. It was a rare threat though as Chelsea continued to push forward.
Robinson produced another good save as Anelka cut inside a defender and unleashed a shot, Lampard saw a shot parried away and Alex hit the wall with a solid free kick before that breakthrough finally came in the thirty-ninth minute.

It was, to be honest, a fortunate goal. Alex unleashed a shot from all of forty yards that Anelka deflected, with his thigh, past Robinson. Strangely enough, Robinson stopped and appealed for something when he could quite possibly have turned around and stopped the ball as it trickled towards the line on the water-sodden turf.

Second Half - The second half saw Blackburn start with a more positive attitude. Paul Ince swapped Derbyshire for Andrews and the home side started to create a few chances.

A Pedersen free kick, from twenty-five yards out, was expertly blocked by Terry before Roberts lost Terry with a great turn only for Cech to react smartly and smother the shot. Villaneuva then fired over from distance before Scolari took the decision to try and change events by introducing Belletti for Kalou.

Six minutes later the game was over as a contest when Anelka scored his second of the game. Lampard won the ball on the edge of the box and threaded a great ball through for Anelka to lift over the advancing Robinson.

After that goal Blackburn wilted and Anelka could have scored a third when he was played clean through down the right channel, however Robinson got a leg to his shot and the chance was gone. Before that we were treated to a majestic Lampard free kick that Robinson tipped onto the cross bar.

Chelsea, thanks to Anelka`s brace return to the top of the Premier League, on goal difference.

Chelsea - Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Bridge, Mikel, Lampard, Deco (Ferreira - 92), Kalou (Belletti - 62), Anelka, Malouda

Unused Subs - Cudicini, Ivanovic, Mineiro, Di Santo, Sinclair

Chelsea Scorers - Anelka (2)

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Malouda

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil