Sky’s Man Utd bias came to the fore with a laughable decision to make Wayne Rooney their man of the match simply for scoring two penalties. To be honest he wasn’t even Man U’s best player. What cannot be hidden though was the fact that we let a comfortable three goal lead slip after 55 minutes.

Having weathered an early storm when Sir Alex berated his favourite referee after he had the cheek to turn down a penalty, Chelsea eased into gear and dominated our friends from the north. An own goal from the hapless Evans started our scoring nine minutes before the break after good work by young Danny Sturridge.

After the break Nando set up Mata for a crashing drive into the net for our second with the third being a header from David Luiz which deflected off of ‘the other Ferdinand’ into the net. At that stage it looked like the game was home and hosed. The first of Mr Webb’s interventions came when he alleged that Sturridge barged into everyone’s favourite full back Evra and awarded the pen. The second ‘penalty’ was given for a ‘foul’ by Branner on Danny Welbeck, The third goal came from Hernandez who nodded in a pinpoint cross from ‘family man’ Giggs. Mata nearly won it for Chels with a free kick which De Gea saved. So a disappointing result after holding such a commanding lead.

With no JT, Ash and Lamps in the starting line up it was a very strange looking line up. The decision to play Boswinga at left back rather then the promising Bertrand was slightly controversial but the return to the starting line up of Bison Essien was a great lift, especially with Ramires being injured.

Gary Cahill made his much awaited debut and looked reasonably solid in handling his England team mates Welbeck and Rooney. With regards to the Premier League, this result leaves us one point ahead of Newcastle and six behind the Spuds who are third. Unless Spurs self implode, which is possible of ‘Arry goes down, then we seem to be in a battle for fourth with Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool.

With a tricky trip to Everton coming up next the two points dropped today were essential for us to retain Champions League status for next season. Hopefully our English trio will be back next match so that’s something to be thankful for. As for today’s bench, was that the youngest we’ve had in a Premiership match. Other than the old boy Paulo the others were in their teens or early 20′s. So another frustrating day for the blue faithful, onwards and upwards for us all and keep the faith.

Jose Boswinga, Newcastle United

A Jose Bosingwa deflected equaliser denied former reserve team coach Brendan Rogers’s Swansea team a famous victory , on our first trip to Wales for a top flight league clash for over fifty years, and our first outing at the Liberty Stadium.

With the Blue’s two longest serving players Terry and Lampard both out, Petr Cech took the captains armband. There was still no place for new signing Gary Cahill as Bosingwa was recalled and Ivanovic moved to centre back. Romeu was selected to replace the injured Ramires in the only other change from the 1-0 win at QPR on Saturday. The front three of Mata, Torres and Sturridge was unchanged for a fourth consecutive game, while Brazilian forward Piazon was on the bench for the first time, just days after his 18th birthday, where he sat alongside fellow youngsters Bertrand and Lukaku. Swansea were unchanged from their previous league game. Chelsea loanee Josh McEachran was ineligible under the terms of the deal.

There was a late referee replacement, with Andre Marriner replacing Kevin Friend.

Swansea came out of the traps the quickest, making a positive, confident start, as they usually do at home, where only Manchester United have taken three points. The first chance of the game fell to Danny Graham, who hit a shot a few feet out from a free kick after a foul by Romeu.

Chelsea didn’t have a real attack until around the 10 minute mark, although Bosinwa, using his pace to make a run down the right on his 100th start for the Blues, was dispossessed by Sinclair, a former blue with a point to prove. Danger returned at the other end moments later, although it was prevented due to Graham being flagged offside.

Chelsea were at this stage careless in possession, particularly Meireles who misplaced a couple of easy passes. Then suddenly, from nothing Chelsea nearly went ahead, Sturridge coming so close from the edge of box. Sturridge was looking the liveliest of our forward players, and after getting the better of Sinclair, was caught by Neil Taylor, who could have no complaints about a deserved booking.

There was panic in the Chelsea rearguard as Sigurdsson had a shot blocked, Luiz hit a Graham effort on the line as Chelsea backs were to the wall. Swansea were certainly asking most of questions in opening 20 minutes and having most of play.

Chelsea’s best option looked to be on the break, although Vorm comfortably saved Sturridge’s shot, whilst Torres, a year to the day after signing for the Blues for £50m(more than the whole Swansea squad is worth) was left a frustrated figure in centre, and was then constantly taunted with “what a waste of money” chants that he is now accustomed to.

Chelsea then settled, came more into game and had more possession. Meireles was denied by Swansea captain Ashley Williams in the box, and Luiz was denied by two defenders after a barnstorming run down the left hand side. Torres couldn’t quite find Sturridge, when a tentative pass with not enough conviction was blocked by Williams, a big chance missed. Just after, Mata tried to dink a cunning shot over Vorm to no avail.

At the other end, a Dyer shot was held by Cech, before Romeu shot through bodys but had his attempt saved by Vorm at the near post, this was followed by a succession of Chelsea corners, although Swansea cunningly continued to clear the danger.

Scott Sinclair then put Swansea 1-0 up by remarkably looping the ball into net over Cech, the lack of celebration, despite being bombared by his team-mates, shows he still has feelings for the club that educated him. His 27goals in the Championship last season, including a hat-trick in the play-off final and 7 so far this season, would suggest to many he shouldn’t have been sold.

The half finished with Chelsea failing to create any clear cut opportunities to equalize, while Cole and Malouda were both booked.

Chelsea started stronger after the interval. Rangel impeded Malouda and became the second Swansea full back to be cautioned. Romeu on the half volley, dragged a shot wide, as Chelsea upped the pressure. Torres was unselfish in the box when he could have and probably should of shot.

A change in shape with Malouda going left, Sturridge right and Mata behind Torres, to provide him with more support, was clear to see and seemed to be fairly effective, as the away sides good spell saw them have 75% of the possession in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Cole will have been disappointed when he put too much on a cross with bodies waiting in danger zone.

The first change of the game saw Essien replace Romeu on 65mins.

A Mata corner saw an Ivanovic header deflected for another, before an Essien strike, reminiscent of him in his prime, hit with severe power rose just over. Aguestien replaced the hard working Sigurdsson for the Welsh side.

Essien’s next strike was not quite as impressive, a wayward shot spinning well off target.

Bosingwa was getting forward regularly, his cross to the dead ball line headed away by Rangel. His next cross saw Sturridge shoot just wide in a crowded box.
Andre looked to the physical presence of Lukaku, bringing him on for Malouda, who’s poor crossing, control and passing during much of the game made him look like a shadow of his former self, on the 80th minute. Luke Moore came on for Sinclair for Swansea, whose defence stayed stubborn and continued to thwart Chelsea’s attacking attempts. The impressive Dyer stretched the Blues defence and hit just wide on break in what was a rare attack for the home side in the second half.
Bosingwa couldn’t keep his shot down as Chelsea were worryingly starting to run out of time.

A frustrated Ashley Cole was sent off for a second bookable offence on the 86mins, just before Luiz clattered Dyer and was lucky not be booked. Chelsea tempers looked frail at this late stage, as the board signified four minutes stoppage time.

A Lukaku shot was collected well by Vorm before Bosingwa equalised, with a shot that deflected off the thigh of Taylor. The Welsh side may feel hard done by after the cruel blow, but statistics point towards a game slightly dominated by Chelsea, despite the fact their seemed to be a lack of conviction and creativity as has been the case so often lately.

Next, we face Manchester United at home on Sunday.

John Terry

A controversial Juan Mata penalty was the difference between Chelsea and QPR during a largely uneventful match that saw Chelsea progress to the 5th round of the FA Cup.

FA intervention meant the customary handshakes between the clubs did not happen but it did nothing to quell the ill feeling towards John Terry from QPR, with every touch booed and countless songs mentioning him sung. The pre-match intensity certainly overshadowed the intensity of the game and in truth, the match lacked pace and creativity throughout with the most eventful parts being fan related.

The only real chance of the first half came after Mata broke from a QPR free kick, seizing on a Luke Young slip he found space but could only fire straight into Paddy Kenny. Mata was once again involved in the only other memorable first half action when a delicate backheel found Ramires but his fired cross went unmet by any Chelsea players.

The second half began with half chances from Mata and Sturridge but neither threatened Paddy Kenny’s goal sufficiently. QPR’s first real attack of the game came in front of the emptiest of QPR stands on 60minutes, when Shaun Wright-Phillips flashed the ball across the box forcing Cech into a save. Straight from the save a swift Chelsea attack ended with a Clint Hill foul on Daniel Sturridge and Mike Dean awarding a penalty. Juan Mata stepped up and confidently placed the ball into the bottom right corner, sending Paddy Kenny the wrong way.

From then on the game gradually began to fade into an match that will surely be a strong contender for the last slot on MOTD. Ramires was probably the most exciting Chelsea player until his injury which saw him stretchered off after charging down a Clint Hill shot, early reports say he has sustained medial ligament damage. In the 7 minutes added on due to Ramires’ injury Luke Young forced the first meaningful save from Cech after his half volley from the edge of the box.

Overall a fairly routine victory but it would have been nice to have beaten them comfortably. The FA Cup is probably our most realistic trophy chance so a generous 5th round draw would be nice, Terry lifting the FA Cup has become quite an enjoyable sight over the last few years.

Ramires, Swansea

But in the end, it was a late brace from Ramires that sealed the deal, with Frank Lampard adding a late goal in the dying moments of stoppage time.

Things didn’t get off to a very good start for the Blues when just 30 seconds in, Dave Kitson found himself in space, only to see his shot flash wide of the post. 18 minutes in, Portsmouth’s lone member of the squad that lost the FA Cup to Chelsea in 2010, Aaron Mokoena found himself free to meet Liam Lawrence’s corner, but could only head over the bar.

Chelsea showed much promise in their dominance in possession, but the first half was more notable for how many times they didn’t challenge Portsmouth goalkeeper Stephen Henderson. Chelsea’s lone chance fell to struggling striker Fernando Torres, but his header from a Florent Malouda cross was saved.

Torres struggled for service throughout the match, and those struggles were shown in a first half where neither team really threatened their opponents.

The second half proved much different as Chelsea finally took the lead two minutes after the restart.

Florent Malouda’s cross from the byline found Juan Mata unmarked in the six-yard box, and the Spaniard’s side footed effort gave the Blues a one goal lead.

Portsmouth had their opportunity five minutes later when David Luiz’ misplaced pass opened a hole in the defence. Pompey stormed through, only for the Blues to weather the storm thanks to a brilliant double save from Petr Cech to deny Marko Futacs and David Norris, and John Terry heading off the line from Ricardo Rocha’s free header.

Seven minutes from the end, Ramires would pop up and provide the inspiration for Chelsea’s second. Juan Mata’s cross found Torres in the box, and the striker’s header fell into the path of Ramires, who stabbed it home from six yards.

The Brazilian provided his second of the game as Chelsea broke through Frank Lampard. Lampard’s initial ball found Torres on the left, and Torres pass freed Ramires to advance on Henderson and chip home on the run.

The final goal came from Frank Lampard from just inside the Portsmouth box. Oriol Romeu provided the pass to Lampard after Portsmouth scrambled away a corner, and Lampard provided a trademark strike into the far corner for Chelsea’s 4th and Lampard’s 10th goal of the season.

Frank lampard, Bolton Wanderers

Chelsea got back to winning ways, securing a first win in five, by defeating Wolves 2-1 at Molineux on bank holiday Monday, in a game that almost once again resulted in dropped points before Frank Lampard got the winner with a mere couple of minutes remaining.

The result enabled the Blues to regain their place in the top four, on a day where Arsenal later lost away to Fulham.

Chelsea started in a slightly different formation, in what looked like a 4-4-1-1 with a diamond midfield of Romeu, Ramires, Lampard and Meireles, with Mata tucking in behind Torres. Sturridge’s hip problem and Drogba’s calf injury ruled both of them out. The old 4-3-3 was seen on occasions though, as Ramires ventured out to the right a lot, linking up well with Torres, who had a good game and whose contribution shouldn’t be understated, and Mata. The only change to the back five was Bosingwa replacing Ferreira at right back. Chelsea’s bench, consisting of Turnbull, Ferreira, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Chalobah, McEachran and Lukaku had a slightly youthful look to it and maybe a sign of things to come before Sunday’s FA Cup game against Portsmouth. McEachran was the only one who managed to get any game time though, when he replaced Mata on the 83rd minute. This was the first league game in which Andre failed to make all three substitutes.

The start was cagey and tedious, both sides seemingly desperate not to make an early mistake having both suffered poor form in recent times. Chelsea had the first real chance on the 8th minute, when a lovely through ball from Torres was raced on to by Mata but he couldn’t quite find the target when dipping the ball over Hennessey. Chelsea were now starting to make the most of their possession and were creating, Ramires hit the side netting and Lampard had a shot blocked by Stearman.

The game then started to become feisty, as both teams made reckless challenges and tested the patience of Peter Walton, who booked three players in just over three minutes, Lampard after a challenge on Hammill, and then Hammill himself and Henry for Wolves. Many of the Wolves faithful felt Cole should have at least been booked if not sent off when he kicked out at Doyle, but it would be Romeu who would be the next name in Walton’s book.

Wolves started to have chances of their own as the half drew to a close, Johnson, a self-confessed Chelsea fan, came close from a header and Ward shot wide from a Hammill cross. After those chances, Chelsea attacked nicely but couldn’t create any openings and the last chance of the half fell to Kevin Doyle at the other end, but he shot just wide.

McCarthy brought on Jarvis for Forde at half time, and he immediately looked dangerous, making a blissful run in behind the Chelsea defence, but his cross to Hammill in the end fortunately came to nothing. Chelsea tried to step it up at the other end, with Torres looking lively. It was him who won the corner from which Ramires buried the ball high into the top corner from eight yards to put us 1-0 up. The celebration and show of unity when running to Andre after the goal, something he recently requested, was a delight to see, despite the fact Terry and Lampard didn’t quite make the huddle on time.

McCarthy reacted to the goal by bringing Fletcher on for Arsenal loanee Frimpong, who had a fairly quiet debut. Chelsea went forward looking for a second, Torres hit a Ramires cross over on the volley and Ramires himself hit a shot straight at Hennessey from a tight angle. Mata then hit the side netting as Chelsea started to control the game.

McEachran then came on for Mata, right before we were left cursing our luck again as Fletcher successfully kept the ball in play and played it on to Ward whose finish beat Cech and levelled the score. Andre’s face said it all, disappointingly we found ourselves level in a game we should have sewn up and it felt all too much like Wigan all over again. The lack of options on the bench and the fact Mata, one of our main creative sparks, must have worried him but cometh the hour, cometh the man and Frank Lampard the Chelsea legend’s 179th goal vitally gave us the three points and propelled us back into the top four.

There was however still time for one more worrying moment, as Cech was the hour at the other end in tipping away a close-range header from a long throw in what was to be the last action of the game. The Chelsea faithful that had travelled to the Midlands went away smiling hoping the tide had finally changed in our favour.

Calling it a defeat is an understatement, actually. It was a reality check, a humbling, a display of weakness. It was a middle of the road, under-performing, generally mediocre Aston Villa side using their guile to completely catch supposed title challengers Chelsea unawares. It was a team who wanted the win against a side which has forgotten how to win.

Goals from Stephen Ireland – a man left in the cold for most of his Villa career due to what often appears to be a general sense of apathy towards the game, who nevertheless felt that this particular game would be the one in which he could show what he is really made of – Stiliyan Petrov and Darren Bent poured scorn upon what was supposed to be the foundation for a Chelsea win, a first-half Didier Drogba penalty. Drogba had been the victim of a clumsy Richard Dunne trip, and his spot-kick was neatly dispatched past Villa ‘keeper Brad Guzan.

But frustration was the theme of the day for all in blue, and matches both home and away seem to be following the same lacklustre pattern. Juan Mata will happily run with the ball into the danger area, look up, and find absolutely no support in the middle; Drogba will line up a free-kick outside of the box, but blaze his shot high and wide over the bar; someone will make a ridiculous defensive error which lets an opposition player through for a one-on-one with Petr Cech; Fernando Torres…whatever.

All of this happened again at the Bridge. Charles N’Zogbia’s direct run down the left-hand side troubled the Chelsea defence, and he was able to pick out Ireland in the middle who saw his initial shot blocked on the line by John Terry. Inexplicably, in a crowded box, Ireland was the first to react to the rebound, slotting past Terry for the equaliser.

After Gabby Agbonlahor had an aforementioned one-on-one saved after being allowed the freedom of Chelsea’s half, more gaps appeared at the back as the home side pushed forward in the hope for a second goal. Petrov was afforded to much space and did what Agbonlahor couldn’t do, firing past Cech. Then, just minutes later, and with five minutes left of the match, Ireland broke through the transparent Chelsea defence and unselfishly squared for a similarly unmarked Bent whose weak shot was able to evade Cech, despite the ‘keeper getting his legs in the way.

And this is a Premier League side, making the same mistakes game upon game, relying on the same tired tactics and finding themselves now continually falling short of success. Finding themselves unable to break through and create clear-cut chances against the likes of Villa, Fulham and most likely Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. Finding themselves picked off on the counter-attack by the exact same clubs and conceding as many goals at home as 18th placed Wigan Athletic.

Following the match, Chelsea dropped down to 5th place in the Premier League, overtaken by Arsenal and on the same number of points as Liverpool. Happy new year? Time will tell.

Chelsea slumped to a disappointing 1-1 draw with local rivals Fulham on Boxing Day, leaving them 11 points adrift of Manchesters City and United at the top of the Premier League table.

After the home side took the lead through Juan Mata two minutes after half-time, Fulham deservedly pegged a goal on 56 minutes through Clint Dempsey. The Cottagers, more specifically goalkeeper David Stockdale, then somehow managed to hold on for the point despite total domination from the hosts during the last 30 minutes of the match.

Along with the returns of David Luiz and Oriol Romeu to the starting line-up, Andre Villas-Boas also brought Frank Lampard back into the side, and rested Didier Drogba for Fernando Torres, who was making his first league start in two months.

After a lethargic, tedious start to the match, the game kicked into life, if only briefly, with 14 minutes gone.

After Mata had failed to test the goalkeeper from a back-post volley, Fulham carved out their first chance of the game. Portuguese striker Orlando Sa, coming into the Cottagers side in place of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, headed over from eight yards when he really should have done better.

Then it was Chelsea’s turn again as Mata’s floating ball was controlled superbly on the chest by Torres only for the Spaniard to blast his shot straight as Stockdale from seven yards.

The only other notable chance of the half fell to Dempsey who dragged his shot wide; AVB’s men were restricted to long-range efforts by a good defensive display from Martin Jol’s side.

Chelsea, however, started the second-half in rejuvenated fashion, taking the lead on 47 minutes. Ashley Cole’s cross was controlled by Torres and struck well by Mata from just inside the box.

The lead came as a great relief to supporters and players alike, but didn’t last long. Brian Ruiz, gathering the ball on the right less than 10 minutes later, breezed past a flailing Ashley Cole before drilling the ball in for Dempsey, squeezed between John Terry and Luiz, to poke the ball into the net.

The only question for the rest of the game was whether the home side could reclaim their lead.

Florent Malouda was brought on for the ineffective Lampard and came close to scoring soon afterwards. Daniel Sturridge’s cross from the right was flicked on well by Terry to Malouda whose back-heel was well saved by Stockdale.

Despite his threat, having also come close with a curling shot of his own, Sturridge was taken off for Drogba with 20 minutes to go as Villas-Boas sought a crucial goal.

Good late chances fell to Drogba, Malouda and Raul Meireles but Stockdale was superb and earned Fulham a valuable point.

After a great start to the month, the last three games have been extremely disappointing as a whole. Despite being the better side in each game, three 1-1 draws, six dropped points, means, in the words of AVB, “the title will be pretty difficult now”.

Jon Obi Mikel, Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs had the best of the opening stages of the game and took the lead when Gareth Bale crossed from the left for Adebayor to poke then ball in from close range. Some pundits blamed Cech for the goal but the ball from Bale was perfect and virtually indefensible. Spurs knocked the ball around a bit and flattered to deceive whilst not really threatening our goal. Then, almost against the run of play, Chelsea equalised through the in form Sturridge who volleyed in an excellent cross from Ashley Cole despite futile handball pleas from the Spurs fans and defence.

The goal inspired Chelsea who were then the team most likely to score before the interval. This was perfectly illustrated when Drogs hit the woodwork with Friedel well beaten.

Chelsea’s cause was not helped by injuries to both Branner and Mikel, both before half time. Spurs suffered their own injury woe when Van de Vaart failed to appear for the second half and the second period became a war of attrition with both teams having chances to win with Ramires missing a one on one with Friedel and then JT missing with a header from the resulting corner. Adebayor had the ball in the net after shouldering the ball in from six yards only to be ruled offside by the linesman.

Both sides had chances to win the game with Ramires missing with a header from Mata’s cross and Adebayor missing when JT saved his shot on the line. Both managers would be probably be happy with a point although a draw didn’t really help either team with the two Manchester teams winning again the previous night. With Branners injured and Alex out of favour we can only hope that ‘the Curly One’ is fit again for the visit of our friends from Putney on Boxing Day where three points is a must.

With rumours about Gary Cahill now being confirmed it seems that AVBs reshaping is beginning and it will be fascinating to see who else pitches up at the Bridge in January. With Drog and Kalou away at the ridiculously timed African Nations Cup it would be the perfect opportunity to bring in some more firepower up front. Let’s hope that Nando gets some game time and we begin to see the best of our Spanish number 9.

Petr Cech has received some stupid criticism lately with lazy pundits bringing up the old chestnut of his head injury as a reason for some goals conceded. The late equaliser against Wigan was an error, there’s no doubt about that, but Adebayor’s goal was down to an excellent ball by Bale not a mistake by our custodian. Cech continues to be one of the Premier Leagues best goalkeepers and I personally wouldn’t swap him for anybody.

Anyway a merry Christmas to you all, enjoy the holiday and don’t eat or drink too much.

Daniel Sturridge

Andre was left to rue what might have been, after expressing how it was vital to build on the win at Man City and stay close to our title rivals before the game.

Andre lined his side up in the usual 4-3-3 formation and made just one change from Monday’s win over Man City, with Lampard coming in for Ramires, who picked up a bruised leg. Luiz was not quite fit enough to return, but both Luiz and Ramires should be back for Thursday’s crunch encounter against London rivals Tottenham.

Chelsea kicked off in their black away shirt, defending the goal behind which their fans were based in the first half. Wigan kept possession well in the first few minutes without creating any noteworthy openings, until a neat through ball was nearly spilled outside his area by Cech. Wigan continued to pile the pressure on and won the first corner of the game, which led to a quick footed Gomez unjustly demanding a penalty after being fouled by Bosingwa.

The home side held back a bit after that and allowed Chelsea to come at them, a Sturridge pass to Mata was intercepted on the edge of the area before a poor shot/cross from Bosingwa was held well by Al Habsi. Chelsea’s flurry of attacking intent continued with a Cole cross being headed away and a John Terry shot on the edge of box being hit wide. Chelsea improved as the half went on, Sturridge went on some lively runs jinxing through the Wigan defence but at best only won a corner as many attempted balls into Drogba were thwarted by Caldwell and Figueroa.

Some neat passing by Meireles and Mata looked to carve open some chances, but again the Wigan backline remained firm. A Romeu shot was saved well by Al Habsi, as the Chelsea faithful behind the opposite goal were surely thinking it was only a matter of time before they opened the scoring.

Chelsea were dominating possession at this stage, although the majority of which was conducted in the middle of the park. An at this stage rare Wigan attack, after being hemmed in for long spells beforehand, nearly led to something, as a Cech dodgy pass almost proved costly and Diame latter headed wide from a corner. Wigan felt they could have had another penalty when Moses went down under an Ivanovic challenge, before the most controversial moment of the game when it looked as if Ivanovic could have handled in the box, referee Martin Atkinson again said no to the frustration of the Wigan fans at a typically partially empty DW stadium. Wigan were so annoyed and incensed at the decision they later ironically cheered any decision Atkinson gave in their favour.

Chelsea’s best chance of the first half came in the 38^th minute, when a Meireles cross was headed wide by Drogba, after he lost his marker on one of the only occasions in the half. At the other end the half closed out with Moses almost connected to a Jones cross.

Andre signalled his attacking intentions by bringing on Kalou for Romeu at half time; however Wigan had the first chance of the second period, with Gomez hitting the side netting from an acute angle. Kalou started to make some weaving runs, looking to exploit a team he had scored against in 4 of his last 9 appearances, but could only win a corner which came to nothing. Torres, who must have been slightly mystified with the decision to being Kalou on instead of him, was hastily warming up hoping to soon become part of the action, although he in the end never did.

Chelsea’s attacks were continually mainly coming from the right-hand side. Bosingwa was putting a plentiful array of balls in, but Caldwell and the rest of the Wigan defence stood firm. The home side still had attacks of their own, and Moses could have done better after hitting a shot out for a thrown in after his skill evaded Cole and Terry, albeit from a fairly tight angle. At the other end, Drogba hit it wide at the near post from a Kalou cross, using his right foot when it may have been more advantageous to use his left.

The breakthrough finally came on the 59^th minute when 10 men Chelsea, Lampard was off dealing with a chipped tooth, took the lead when a fantastic ball from Cole found Sturridge in space and he slotted the ball home underneath Al Habsi to score his 9^th goal of the season.

Wigan looked to assert themselves on the game after going behind, a Jones shot was hit over and wayward, and a Diame attempt was saved well by Cech. Andre then reacted apprehensively by bringing Mikel on for Mata on the 66^th minute, a change counteracted by Martinez when he brought on attackers Rodallega and former blue Di Santo for Jones and Sammon not long after. It was then end to end stuff for a while as a mediocre game became more exciting. McCarthy hit it just wide from a Wigan corner, Kalou had a decent cross intercepted but Wigan were indeed having the better of the chances at this point.

Di Santo looked the most dangerous, with John Terry going down awkwardly after challenging him in the air. Fortunately he regained his composure and continued. A mess at the back left Wigan rueing what might have been after Cech tackled Moses, the ball fell to Rodallega and then Di Santo, who hit it wide in a goalmouth scramble that left both Cech and Cole down. Wigan had certainly stepped it up and Villas Boas made his final change on the 80^th minute with Malouda replacing Sturridge, keeping our record of being the only Premier League side to make three changes in every game intact.

The hammer blow for Chelsea came on the 87^th minute as Cech made a pig’s ear of a dangerous ball and palmed the ball into the feet of Jordi Gomez who tapped it in and slotted home. A nightmare moment which inevitably cost the Blues two precious points! Wigan could even have won it, but Di Santo headed wide and was moments later suspected brought down by Bosingwa just outside the box to which nothing was given. Chelsea’s last attack finished with a weak Kalou shot held, and the game finished with a disappointing draw for the Blues. Many will blame Andre’s tactics and substitions, but the performance of many players were not up to standard and statistics such as Wigan having both more shots and shots on target than us prove that. Fingers crossed for a better performance on Thursday.