[ 2011-11-27 ]

Chelsea 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Chelsea returned to winning ways with a
comfortable victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers
to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Andre
Villas-Boas.

Recent losses to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen
had piled the pressure on the 34-year-old Blues
manager, but the tension at Stamford Bridge eased
in the sixth minute of today's match when John
Terry capitalised on some poor marking to head
home Juan Mata's cross.

Daniel Sturridge slipped his marker to tap home
Mata's cross just before the half hour and the
Spaniard added the hosts' third in the last minute
of the first half when he was given plenty of
space to convert Ashley Cole's centre from 12
yards.

The result could have been a rout had it not been
for a series of excellent stops from Wolves
goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, the highlight of which
was a double-save from Sturridge and Mata halfway
through the second period.

The performance was hardly vintage Chelsea, and
they will come up against much tougher opponents
in the coming weeks, but the result will ensure
Villas-Boas sleeps easier tonight, even though his
team remained fifth after Manchester United's draw
with Newcastle United.

Villas-Boas, whose team had gone into the match
having lost two of their last three league
matches, cut a defiant figure on Friday, insisting
he was the man to lead Chelsea out of their
current slump.

And the match provided him with a perfect chance
to restore some belief among the club's hierarchy
and support.

TAPPED HOME
Wolves, who had won just one of their last 10
matches prior to the encounter, were there for the
taking, and after a cagey opening five minutes,
Chelsea took hold of the match thanks to Terry's
opener.

Ramires stole the ball off a dallying Nenad
Milijas and fired goalwards only to see Hennessey
tip the Brazilian's effort wide with a brilliant
save.

Stamford Bridge was sent into uproar from the
resulting corner as Terry lost his marker to head
Mata's cross home from eight yards to give the
Blues the lead.

Despite taking the lead Chelsea, still lacked
confidence and instead of pushing for an immediate
second, they allowed Wolves time to settle.

The midlanders lacked creativity, however, and
their only real chance of the opening quarter came
when Stephen Ward's header looped over the bar.

The Blues were cautious in possession and appeared
to lack the confidence to turn the screw on their
opponents, but they suddenly sprung to life to
double their lead in the 29th minute.

Ronald Zubar attempted to bail Mata over, but the
Spaniard kept his footing and sent over a low
cross that Sturridge tapped home from close range
after muscling past his marker.

David Edwards headed wide from eight yards after
Chelsea failed to clear a Wolves corner as the
visitors looked for an immediate reply, but Mick
McCarthy's vocal attempt to inject some life into
his team failed.

Instead, the Wolves boss looked to change things
around with Milijas coming off for striker Sylvan
Ebanks-Blake in the 38th minute.

Hennessey spilled Sturridge's powerful shot over
the bar just before the break and Mata made it 3-0
on the stroke of half-time when he was given room
to beat Hennessey from 12 yards.

Hennessey pulled off a top-drawer save to stop
Ramires' powerful volley after the break as
Chelsea looked to start the second half in the
same way they had ended the first.

DOUBLE SAVE
Wolves looked a much more confident outfit in the
second half, however, and almost pulled one back
when Ebanks-Blake threaded Ward through, but the
Irishman's shot trickled a couple of yards wide.

Karl Henry's cross whistled just over the heads of
a posse of Wolves attackers before Chelsea came
close to adding a fourth on the counter.

Sturridge slipped into the Wolves box after
getting on the end of Ramires' pass and sneaked
past Christophe Berra but saw his cross cleared by
Johnson when he should have shot at Hennessey.

Didier Drogba, who had been anonymous for most of
the match, then hammered a powerful drive just
wide while Hennessey was scrambling across his
goal-line.

Frank Lampard, dropped for Oriol Romeu, received a
huge welcome when he came on in the 69th minute in
the place of Raul Meireles.

Hennessey then pulled off an excellent double save
from point-blank range to deny Sturridge and then
Mata.

The home crowd demanded Fernando Torres'
introduction, and Villas-Boas finally unleashed
the former Liverpool man in the place of Drogba.

The Spaniard darted in to the Wolves box, keen to
make an impact, but his fierce shot was deflected
wide.

Torres once again stormed the Wolves penalty area
but failed in his audacious attempt to lob
Hennessey from 18 yards as the clock ticked
towards 90 minutes.

Wolves had one last push for a consolation, but
Ebanks-Blake's weak injury-time header was the
closest they came and the final whistle came,
bringing a big smile to the face of Villas-Boas as
he went down the tunnel.

Source - Barclays Premiere League

... go Back