FA Premiership/Chelsea 3 Blackburn 0:Jose Mourinho's pleasure at Chelsea's victory will have been tempered by concern at an injury suffered by Ashley Cole last night. The left-back departed on a stretcher with what looked a potentially serious left knee problem after catching first one foot and then the other in the turf as he chased the ball.
Cole collapsed in agony and the club doctor appeared to suggest to Mourinho the left-back had felt something pop in his knee.
Frank Lampard was central to a deserved Chelsea win. Having set up the first goal for Didier Drogba, he gave a fine move a thunderous end to make it 2-0 after the home team had been denied by poor finishing, notably by Andriy Shevchenko, and good goalkeeping by Brad Friedel.
A sweeping Chelsea move from deep in their own half ended with Lampard picking out John Obi Mikel and running on to the return to thump a shot over Friedel from well outside the area. Blackburn were fortunate not to have Brett Emerton sent off for a kick at Claude Makelele that went unnoticed before Salomon Kalou ran on to a Michael Ballack header and scored with ease.
John Terry was again absent injured and there were moments when Chelsea looked vulnerable without him but an entertaining first half saw the home team open up their visitors on a regular basis. Overall Chelsea were dominant in terms of possession and territory. Only six minutes had gone when they took the lead through Drogba and for just over quarter of an hour after that Mourinho's team could have put the game beyond Blackburn.
Lampard was at the hub of Chelsea's best moments with clever passing and he set up Drogba to put them ahead. A perfect pass sent Drogba towards goal and he showed too much strength and pace for Stephane Henchoz before rolling a shot into the far corner.
With Lampard continuing to look sharp and the passing fluent, further opportunities came for Chelsea. Shevchenko's movement and desire could hardly be faulted, and his contribution was decent, but in front of goal a killer touch was lacking and, when he did look to have scored, Friedel pulled off a fine instinctive save.
That opening came from a cross by Michael Ballack, who received almost constant abuse from one supporter situated near the Chelsea dug-out. Ballack was not as bad as that and set up another chance for Shevchenko with a header only for the Ukrainian to be let down by his touch. Friedel gathered and made a more testing save from Drogba before half-time.
With Chelsea playing without wingers much of their play was narrow but it was tidy enough to trouble Blackburn.
After Benni McCarthy had headed wide from a David Bentley free-kick, two vital defensive interventions denied Blackburn. Stephen Warnock looked set to score after bursting between two players and swerving past Cole only for Michael Essien to get a toe on the ball to concede a corner.
Mark Hughes, certain a penalty was merited, threw a water bottle on to the field. His frustration was heightened shortly afterwards when Matt Derbyshire seized on a poor header by Essien and poked a shot beyond Petr Cech only for Ricardo Carvalho to clear from near the goalline.
Chelsea ought to have made the game safe early in the second half when a cross by Lassana Diarra found Ballack unmarked at the far post but the German's header was too close to Friedel. There was a grimace from Mourinho just after the hour when Shevchenko failed when one on one. Friedel was once more too much of a barrier.
CHELSEA:Cech; Diarra, Carvalho, Essien, A Cole (Bridge 55); Makelele; Mikel (Ferreira 86), Lampard; Ballack; Shevchenko (Kalou 84), Drogba. Subs not used: Wright-Phillips, Hilário.
BLACKBURN ROVERS:Friedel; Emerton, Henchoz (Samba 78), Nelson, Warnock; Tugay; Bentley, Pedersen; Gallagher (Nonda 62); McCarthy, Derbyshire (Jeffers 78). Subs not used: Enckelman, Mokoena. Booked: Samba.
Referee:G Poll (Hertfordshire).
