Chelsea 2 Fulham 1:THERE WAS no sophistication to a Chelsea victory in which the uncontainable individualism of Didier Drogba brought an equaliser and the winner arrived through an own goal from Chris Smalling. This type of win will not have been what Roman Abramovich had in mind when he hired Carlo Ancelotti as manager, but it was still a heartening recovery.
A discordant Chelsea line-up who were booed at half-time were not really brought into tune by tactical tweaks. Whatever took place, the seemingly composed Ancelotti contrived to bring an irresistible fury out of men who had seemed harmless. The reward is a five-point lead although Manchester United, in second place, have a game in hand.
There will be no surprise Drogba epitomised the mercurial nature of the Chelsea display. The Ivorian put his moodiness on show at first, but subsequently collected himself to become a one-man onslaught.
Fulham could not afford the little piece of ill-fortune that afflicted them. Right back John Pantsil was taken off with a knee injury and even more harm was done in the reshuffle. Chris Baird took over and so went from telling midfield presence to uneasy defender. There were gaps at last and Drogba was full of intent. The substitute Branislav Ivanovic crossed deep and Drogba headed vigorously past Brad Friedel in the 73rd minute.
Only five members of the line-up who had drawn at Birmingham City on St Stephen’s Day started here. Such a sweeping reconstruction suggested Chelsea had the means to take such grand decisions with confidence. In practice, regulars such as Ivanovic and, later, Ashley Cole, could not be left to conserve their energies on the bench. Ultimately, a piece of luck was as important to Ancelotti as the adjustments he made.
Two minutes after the equaliser, Chelsea went ahead through an own goal. Salomon Kalou crossed and substitute Daniel Sturridge’s effort was beaten out by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer only for the ball to bounce off Smalling and into the net.
Chelsea were entitled to claim, in the second half, their pressure had altered the nature of the game.
The ball was in the vicinity of the Fulham goalmouth more often, with Schwarzer having to parry after Drogba struck a shot on the turn in the 59th minute.
The Ivorian will be gravely missed while he is at the African Cup of Nations next month. Chelsea will hope Nicolas Anelka’s return to fitness can be rapid, but Drogba is like no other footballer on the club books. The attacker’s gift to the club is that five-point lead. Chelsea’s programme is not all that severe, on the face of it, although the degree of difficulty will be connected to the side’s capacity to maintain form.
They have not looked intimidating since their 3-0 win at the Emirates on November 29th. They have lacked zest and, on occasion, they have looked like an ensemble in which too many members are feeling their age or sensing the lingering damage of past battles. They cannot count any longer on fortitude in defence.
Yesterday’s visitors had the lead after four minutes. Clint Dempsey found Paul Konchesky and his delivery was laid off by Bobby Zamora to Zoltan Gera. The Hungarian flicked the ball up to hook a finish beyond Petr Cech on the turn. If any criticism is to be made of Chelsea it was they did not generate enough attacks thereafter to keep the opposition off balance.
Should anything have disturbed the watching Jose Mourinho it can only have been the unsettling lack of initial impact by his old team. The Internazionale coach would have found it impossible to believe Chelsea can be so bland again when the two clubs meet in the last 16 of the Champions League. He would not have been surprised when his adversaries revealed their true character as the afternoon developed.
CHELSEA: Cech, Carvalho, Ferreira (Ivanovic 64), Terry, Lampard, J Cole, Mikel (Sturridge 70), Ballack, Zhirkov (A Cole 84), Drogba, Kalou Booked: Drogba. Subs not used: Hilario, Alex, Belletti, Kakuta.
FULHAM: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Pantsil (Etuhu 66), Baird, Hughes, Smalling, Gera (Johnson 71), Murphy, Duff (Riise 85), Dempsey, Zamora. Subs not used: Zuberbuhler, Kallio, Greening, Nevland. Booked: Baird.
Referee: A Marriner
