Our form is stodgy at best, with fairly comfortably league wins against Wolves and West Ham surrounded by a trio of defeats, two to Jose’s Inter and the home capitulation at the hands of Manchester City three weeks ago. Still, if we win both our next two fixtures, at Blackburn and Portsmouth, we go back to the top of the league irrespective of how United and Arsenal get on.

The Blues’ record at Blackburn has been pretty strong in recent years, winning 7 of our last 9 trips there and winning our last three without conceding. Last year a Nicolas Anelka brace in the pouring Lancashire rain saw us run out comfortable winners. We have of course already travelled to Ewood Park this campaign. It was the venue for our Carling Cup exit at the beginning of December (and seemingly the start of a wobble which still hasn’t really finished) when we lost on penalties following a dramatic 3-3 draw.

With the exception of long-term absentees Jose Bosingwa, Michael Essien and Ashley Cole, Chelsea’s squad should be at full strength. Petr Cech and Ricardo Carvalho are rumoured to be making a return to the line-up following injury, although the height of Alex would certainly come in handy to counter the barrage of high balls and well delivered set-pieces we will inevitably face. Rovers will be missing Paul Robinson, so often exceptional against us, whilst on-loan Franco di Santo is ineligible. Blackburn’s home form has been nothing short of exceptional this season, losing only twice, and winning four of their last five, but visits from the top three loom large.

The referee for the game will be the weary Steve Bennett (who has overseen two of our finest performances of the season, at Sunderland and at home to Birmingham). We will be wearing our away shirt for this fixture, which doesn’t bode well; we have lost every time we have worn it this season.

Remarkably, we’re only three points better off than we were at this stage last season. Thankfully, both Manchester United and Arsenal have had similarly mediocre spells during the campaign. We are three goals short of equaling the most we have ever scored in the Premier League era (72 in 04/05 and 05/06), but we have also conceded the most goals in the league since 2003/04, averaging almost one a game.

Our exit from the Champions League on Tuesday night was undoubtedly disappointing, but it could yet prove a blessing in disguise. With the prospect of only one more midweek of football this season (and that’s this coming Wednesday at Fratton Park) Chelsea have the prospect of remaining fresher than our rivals at the top of the table, with our minds focused solely on the league campaign and one FA Cup Semi Final. In a season of shocks and surprises, no fixture seems easy before kick-off any more, especially away from the Bridge. But a couple of wins in four days could swing the balance of power back in our favour, simultaneously giving us some momentum before games against Aston Villa and forthcoming trips to the three Premier League grounds we lost at last season, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane, and Anfield. Tuesday’s defeat proved the end of our challenge on the European front but a win on Sunday could just ignite our fight for England’s coveted title.

Reserve team boss Steve Holland elaborates on the problem, and it’s a big one:

‘Carl’s injury is a bit of a disaster I’m afraid. We are still awaiting results of the scans but the early assessment is that he has damaged his anterior cruciate ligament, and that there is damage to the medial collateral ligament, and an issue with a cracked kneecap also, so that’s a really nasty injury.’

Essentially, his knee has completely collapsed and will require an extensive reconstrucion and recuperation, before even contemplating rehabilitation. A ’simple’ ACL injury is usually rehabbed in 6-9 months, with some taking a little longer and the player often requiring 6-8 weeks to return to full match sharpness. Damaging the MCL will mean further problems, whilst the kneecap being broken presents all sorts of problems, as it’s an injury which will require a cast for six weeks. With ligament damage as well, it’s a whole world of problems for the medical team, not to mention poor Carl.

A conservative estimate would see him out for no less than a year, with eighteen months more likely. It’s another setback for a player who has suffered his fair share of problems, including knee and back trouble, and has seen his progress stunted by problems for the last year and a half. His contract was due to expire at the end of this season with no news apparently forthcoming as to the potential of an extension, and whilst Chelsea have shown in the past that they will remain loyal to injury victims who are approaching the end of a deal (Sam Hutchinson, Ricardo Fernandes and others), it also creates a conundrum of whether Carl will be the same player, or even able to return from this catastrophic turn of events.

Whatever happens, the best wishes of all at CFCnet are with Carl for a quick recovery free from setbacks, and hope to see him back in a Chelsea shirt as soon as possible.

Gokhan Tore was the only short-term injury doubt ahead of the game after picking up an injury against Birmingham at the weekend but was fit to start, meaning Milan Lalkovic was the one to make way for Josh McEachran’s return. Daniel Mills Pappoe was joined at centre-back by Jeffrey Bruma, who was on the bench for last night’s European clash with Inter, and arrived in Lancashire at 4am. It all meant Dermot Drummy was able to name his first choice team.

In front of a healthy crowd at Ewood Park the game got off to a bustling start, with Jason Banton looking to make early endeavour. For Chelsea, Gokhan was showing no sign of injury and saw the ball early and often, engaging Jackson Ramm in battle early. Blackburn’s aim was to play through the channels whilst the visitors were looking wide at every opportunity, although it was captain Conor Clifford who had the first effort in anger, a rather tame effort from distance.

As Chelsea took a hold of the game, chances started to fall to Marko Mitrovic. He set his sights with a header and then had a shot at goal, before his third go, another header, was unlucky to come back off the outside of the post. Nevertheless, the Blues were in control and midway through the first half grabbed a deserved opener. Gokhan swung a corner towards a dangerous area and it went in off the unfortunate Tom Hitchcock. Tom is the son of former Chelsea goalkeeper Kevin Hitchcock but certainly won’t have meant to do his dad’s old club any favours, but 1-0 it was.

Captain Clifford was causing concern for Chelsea fans after picking up two knocks inside half an hour, both as the result of combative play in the midfield. However, whilst the second incident left him struggling, the Irishman was able to resume playing to near full capacity.

As the first half reached its conclusion Blackburn became more confident and looked a smarter, more competent team than the first twenty minutes or so had shown. Still, they had been unable to worry Sam Walker much, and only came close from set pieces, where some aggressive play from Anthony O’Connor earned a talking to. Chelsea went into the break with a one goal advantage, but in the knowledge there was still a lot of football to be played.

As if encouraged by their upbeat end to the first half, Blackburn came out for the second half all guns blazing and penned their guests back early. Captain Grant Hanley had displayed his physical prowess earlier in the match and went as close as anyone to levelling things up, his header cleared off the line by Kaby. However, the Portuguese was about to go from hero to villain.

The match grew a little spiky as Morris appealed for a home penalty before everything kicked off. Jacopo Sala made a poor challenge on Michael Potts, and handbags ensued, with a mass brawl developing. In and amongst the crowd, Kaby was seen to have thrown a punch, and received his marching orders for the second time this season. For his part in the fracas, Potts was also shown the red card, and so the match was ten a-side.

Blackburn’s tails were well and truly up and Walker was forced into a superb save by Hanley again from a corner. The same man went close from the following delivery and was proving a real handful. Morris had another penalty shout turned down, this time for handball, whilst Billy Clifford found himself in the referee’s book alongside Sala.

Whilst the hosts had the better of the game, Chelsea had the best chance to score the game’s second goal. A swift break opened space for Mitrovic, but his shot across goal missed by a foot at most. It was a gilt-edged opportunity and the Swedish hitman knew it. Blackburn brought on Yamen Osawe, who scored the goal to get his team past Everton in the Quarter Finals, in hope of him repeating his previous antics.

It was Drummy’s boys who carved out further chances though, but Sala and McEachran were unable to test goalkeeper Swann to any great degree. McEachran made way for Milan Lalkovic with ten minutes remaining, leaving Conor Clifford as the only recognisable central midfielder on the pitch for Chelsea. Despite the extra attacking shape, Blackburn weren’t able to use the space available to them and spent most of the closing stages in their own end, defending a series of set pieces as their opponents ate up the clock.

Five minutes of stoppage time caused Blue hearts to flutter, but at the same time Lalkovic had a glorious chance to take a two goal lead on the break, but rather rushed his effort from distance, wasting the moment. Mills Pappoe then was able to force Swann into a save, whilst Ben Sampayo saw a brief cameo to shore up at the back, replacing the hard working Mitrovic.

Osawe had the final go for Rovers but Chelsea were able to prevail, and will go into Monday night’s second leg in the driving seat. Blackburn showed that it won’t be an easy game at Stamford Bridge, but it’s certainly a position they’d rather be in than not. What price a second win for the club at Ewood Park in a week on Sunday too? Now that would be nice.

Team: Walker, B.Clifford, Mills Pappoe, Bruma, Deen-Conteh, C.Clifford (c), Kaby, McEachran (Lalkovic 82), Sala, Gokhan Tore, Mitrovic

Goals: Hitchcock ’23 og
Booked: Sala, B.Clifford
Sent Off: Kaby

It was the third campaign running that Didier Drogba left the Champions League in disgrace as he was sent off late on for a stamp on Thiago Motta, who’d already spent most of the evening rolling on the deck.

That was Inter’s tactic, to frustrate and provoke Chelsea, and it couldn’t have worked any better.

Carlo Ancelotti was completely outmanoeuvred, and for all but the last 10 minutes of the first half, Chelsea were comfortably second best.

Ballack shot just wide and Motta cleared an Anelka effort off the line, but that was all the home side could muster.

Wesley Snijder was exceptional and created a handful of chances for his strikers, but until the goal Eto’o and Milito failed to add the finish his service deserved.

On the other hand Drogba cut a frustrated figure at the other end, bullied by Lucio and co, the Ivorian couldn’t force his presence upon the game, and ultimately his frustration boiled over with his late dismissal.

Large parts of the game were taken up by the ongoing war of attrition between the two sets of players, with yellow cards and tellings off being handed out regularly. Clearly it was all part of the Inter plan to break up the play and slow the pace, and once again Jose got it spot on.

Chelsea’s cause also wasn’t helped by more dodgy referring, how Walter Samuel hauling Drogba to the ground from a corner wasn’t a spot kick is beyond me, and anyone else inside Stamford Bridge.

But perhaps the biggest worry of the night is not UEFA’s official recruitment policy, but the ease in which Inter disposed of one of the competition’s supposed favourites.

Questions will be asked of Ancelotti’s tactics, and his substitutions. All of who failed to have any positive impact.

Despite Mourinho often signalling his side to exploit Zhirkov down the left, the Russian’s removal signalled the start of Chelsea’s demise as the only natural pace at the back left the field.

Joe Cole again struggled, but the Chelsea Manager’s reputation is also on the rocks, with his side unable to open up a significant lead in the league despite rival slips up, Ancelotti knows that he must secure at least the Premier League to prevent the season being labelled a failure.

Tonight could also mark the end of several senior players European adventures with Chelsea. The likes of Ballack, Anelka, Alex and even Drogba failed to have the desired impression against a supposed weaker side, but of course everything seems worse in the immediate aftermath.

We have to also accept the Mourinho factor, but putting this aside, this game could be a turning point in Chelsea’s season, the big question now is, where will it go?

Congratulations must go to our ex-manager, Jose Mourinho, for being the first manager in 27 attempts to win at the Bridge in the Champions League. That’s no small task. As the Inter crowd chanted ‘Jose Mourinho’ and ‘Bye Bye Carlito’ in both homage and hatred respectively, our eyes misted up with memories of our most successful-ever manager. We’ve missed him.

Jose set his team up as we remember him setting up ours – Terminator style – with tough, big men cemented in a well-organised structure. We had no answer to it, just as Fergie and Wenger had no answer to it and we spent most of the game pinging high balls to Drogba which were safely mopped up by Motta and co.

Jose’s an enigma to CFCnet. We can think of 10 fans off the top of our heads who hated his ‘grind ‘em’ down style of football. You could multiply that figure by 2,000 because in Jose’s last game in charge there were 20,000 spare tickets for the Champions League first leg against Rosenborg. We remember sitting in the Shed Upper embarrassed at the empty seats and wondered how our greatest-ever team and manager could be so unloved, even by its own fans. What other answer could there be? Yes, the £50 tickets never helped but didn’t some of our 120,000 members fancy an evening out to see their heroes? Obviously not, even in September.

The elephant in the room with Mourinho, and we whisper it quietly, is that his teams have never been pretty on the eye. Whilst CFCnet would have him back in a flash, we can think of dozens of fans who hated his brand of football especially when he closed a game down once we were one or two nil up. By half-time you could almost go home in the safe knowledge that the score wouldn’t budge and the ball would remain like a pinball in midfield. Jose hated humiliating the opposition with heavy defeats and would slowly strangle the game to death.

This was Mourinho’s big problem and the men upstairs, obviously with one eye on Barcelona and the beautiful game, decided to end his reign in a bid to become the Barca of England. 31 months and four managers later we can see the result. The bottom line is that we’ve only got ourselves to blame – both the stay-away fans & Roman – for his removal and now we’ve made our bed, we’ve got to lie in it. Chin up.

As for Ancelotti, we feel sorry that he’s been left with the dying embers of Jose’s great era. Perhaps that harsh and we mean no disrespect to our players, yet there’s a creeping feeling that our squad is too old and whilst every year we’ve been tweaking it, surely what’s needed now is a wholesale restructuring. It’s time to bury the Mourinho era, just as Fergie had to change the Bruce/Pallister/Ince/Hughes era, and refresh our squad from top to bottom. It’s not for us to say what areas need to be changed but the lack of youth, dynamism and pace is glaring even to our eyes.

Whether Ancelotti gets time is altogether a different matter but we’d politely point out that Wenger’s been given five trophy-less years and counting, whilst Fergie was given three in the mid-noughties. Carlito, as the Inter fans not so affectionately call him, needs to create a team in his own image. Will the fans be patient? CFCnet will. After all we waited 27 years for our first trophy.

As is the case before any major tournament we are currently experiencing the ‘uh-oh zone’, that weird time when any threatening tackle on an England player results in the whole stadium sucking air in through their teeth and tutting “I say hang on a minute old chap, no disrespect to your team’s battle for eleventh place but there’s a world cup coming up don’t you know?” Or words to that effect.

Rooney’s current form is the single solitary thing that puts us in any contention for the World Cup in South Africa. Take that away and we’ve got ‘also ran’ written all over us. No goalkeeper, no left back, a shaky right back, a captain with barely any practice and a first choice striker who’s scored five times in thirty seven league appearances. And now we don’t even have international man of glitz Beckham to schmooze the opposition into letting a few crosses by in exchange for his shirt at the end of the game.

Don’t get me wrong, Lampard and Terry are integral to England success and the loss of Ashley Cole would hurt any nation, but they are not by themselves match changers, and the truth is we don’t stand a chance without Rooney. Hey, I’m not trying to start fights here, I’m just thinking about my summer drinking, okay? Maybe I’m alone in this, but now when I hear news of a Rooney brace and a Man U win I am automatically put in two minds. On the one hand I’m cheesed off because it’s a Man U win which (is intrinsically annoying and) makes our title run-in unnecessarily nerve-wracking. But on the other hand, I think well at least Rooney’s on form for the World Cup. So how do we cope with this dichotomy of thought? I want Man U to lose, but I don’t want Rooney injured. I tell you what, if this were horse racing we’d be able to sort it out no problems. Hang around the changing room, wait for Rooney to trot down the tunnel, spray a little diuretic into his nostril when the cameras are turned and he’ll be pissing so much he’s not even coming in for a place, I don’t care what the going is. That’s how we did it in the old days. On the plus side, at least with three months left on the clock we’ve got plenty of time for Brazil, Spain and Italy to self-destruct too. (Although hats off to Argentina who have stolen a match on us all in that respect).

World Cup woes aside, tonight is Chelsea’s acid test, not least for Ross ‘Prime Cow’ Turnbull. (I don’t know… ‘Grab Horns’? ‘Open China Shop Door’?) He put in a solid performance on Saturday, keeping vocal with his back four and spending a lot of time high fiving an impressive Paulo Ferreira. Perhaps he didn’t have too many saves to make, but I see that as a good thing, indicating good communication in defence. Much as I recognise the hard work Hilario has put in for us over the last two years, I just don’t like the way our defence plays in front of him. He’s brave and he’ll put his beautiful face in the way of a fast moving object with applaudable disregard for his beautiful face, but he just never inspires confidence in the back four, and most of all he doesn’t have Cech’s vision to ping out a counter attack before the opposition know what’s hit them. After his performance against West Ham, many will say Malouda holds the key, but Inter are a different proposition altogether and knowing Jose as we do I think we can expect a closed shop at the Bridge. If this is the case it looks like being a nervous night where the final result may boil down to a bit of muscle up front and most critically, behind the solid pairing of Terry and Alex, the rise of the Turnbullator.

Hopefully we get off to a better start then three weeks ago, in which Milito fired the Nerazurri into a third minute lead, the stats were on our side but the score told a different story, as for all the pressure we exerted couldn’t find a second away goal. Kalou was denied a stonewall penalty near the end of the first half but in the second half his curling long ranger found it’s way into the corner of the net thus giving us a vital away goal. The scores stayed level for just four minutes, before Ivanovic’s clearance fell to Cambiasso who found the back of the net with his own long shot. For all our efforts, the truth is a lot were from outside the box and most never looked to trouble the keeper, the best of the lot being Drogba’s free kick that came back off the bar, and Ballacks long ranger that Cesar could only parry.

Since the last encounter we’ve let slip at home to Man City, beaten Stoke in the F.A Cup and most recently destroyed West Ham 4-1, after a lacklustre first half. Florent Malouda was the man all the plaudits warmed to on Saturday, putting in a series of decent crosses and taking his goal well too, hopefully he will turn in a similar display later.

Ancelotti has announced that Petr Cech and Hilario are still out, whether he is being as truthful as Mourinho in Barca ’05 remains to be seen, although such deceit is unlikely. This leaves Ross Turnbull in goal, and should are keeper crisis deepen during the match, Rhys Taylor may find himself between the sticks.

Carvalho is back, giving Ancelotti a centre back selection headache, having the Portugeezer, Terry, Alex and Ivanovic to choose from. At a guess Ivanovic will fill in the right back slot and Zhirkov will replace the ineligible Ferriera at left back, with Malouda being allowed to play his preferred midfield role he was partly deprived of in the first leg.

In midfield Mikel has often been preferred to start in the holding midfield role, with Lampard sure to start in the middle of the diamond, whether it’s alongside Malouda or Ballack is the bigger question, perhaps Carlo start them both, with Ballack at the top of the diamond. Or perhaps Ballack will play at the bottom and Mikel will be rested, but with Joey Cole seemingly out of favour this option doesn’t seem likely.

The attack writes itself, Drogba and Anelka. Drogba grabbed another two goals on the weekend and the Ivorian will be fired up for a clash against one of his biggest admirers. Sturridge and Kalou are sure to be waiting in the wings.

Inter’s league form has also been patchy, they have recently let slip in the league, with their lead at the top reduced to just one point. A 3-1 loss away to Catania was their latest slip up, drawing 0-0 with Genoa at the start of March and ending February with a 3-2 away win against Udinese. Inter are reportedly without Balotteli, Motta and Arnautovic.

Mourinho decided to decline the offer of being able to train on the Stamford Bridge turf, reportedly to stop anyone spying on him, something he used to allegedly do whilst in the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

There’ll be mixed feelings at Stamford Bridge this evening, Jose was the man who delivered us our first league titles in half a century and was loved by the Chelsea faithful, he has been surprisingly quiet in the build up to the match, possibly out of respect for his former club, a more likely reason then out of any respect for the man in the opposite dugout. His only real words ahead of it were pointing out that he doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge, his only defeat being at home to Barcelona in the Champions League in the 05/06 season. Hopefully, his next defeat at Stamford Bridge will also come in the Champions League.

Predicted team: Turnbull, Zhirkov, Terry, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka.

Predicted score: A Jose special, 1-0 to Chelsea – Carvalho with the goal.

Tuesday promises to be an epic Champions league encounter for many reasons. Of course the Bridge will be welcoming back a former hero and our most successful manager in history. Jose will deserve all of the applause and rightful recognition of his work at Chelsea before kickoff. From then on though they’ll be no mistake from the players or the fans were our loyalties lie. Inter looked a mediocre team for much of the first tie and a more ruthless approach in front of goal will see us through. For all of the media’s talk about the return of the special one the truth is that Chelsea are a far stronger outfit and should progress. The main reason for that? Experience.

For all of the pain we’ve had to endure in the past few seasons in this competition it pales in comparison to the mental strength shown by the current squad. They too have had to take disappointment on the chin, brush themselves off and then come back stronger each year. The desire in the squad to lift the European Cup is huge and, when two sides are evenly matched, could make all the difference. JT apparently still keeps his shirt from that final in full view, he has to walk by it as painful reminder to himself about what’s missing from Chelsea’s history. Drogba has talked about the obsession in the dressing room for winning the elusive tin pot. The players aren’t interested in having a good run in the completion, they’ve done that and are bored by it. They want to kick on, show their quality and lift the trophy in Madrid come May, nothing else will do. The likes of Lampard, Ballack, Carvalho, Anelka – they’ve all played in huge games and have the medals to prove it. A one goal deficit at this stage of the competition won’t cause many sleepless nights and we should be full of confidence to overcome Inter.

Inter will want to keep things tight and sneak a goal on the break. What Chelsea need is patience and to move the ball quickly. If the likes of Anelka and Malouda can commit players and create space for others that will help us find the back of the net. Carlo will not want to be hit on the counter but at the same time we have to be focused on producing a vibrant attacking display. Defences won’t come much more stubborn in the competition and quick, one touch passing could be key. The slick triangles involving the midfield and attack that we’ve seen many a time at the Bridge this season can cause serious damage. For cameos it might suit the trickery of Joe Cole and Deco rather than the pace of Kalou or Sturridge.

There are some great match-ups all over the pitch, it should be an exciting tactical battle but this game won’t be reliant on the managers. The pre-match focus and media frenzy will be on the dugout. No one in this Chelsea side will be interested in that. Once the players cross the white line it is all about who has the best quality and the most desire to succeed. Regardless of the first leg score line it is the experience of the Chelsea players that can give us the advantage.

Asked about press interest in footballers’ private lives in the Times on Saturday he said: “Of course, it’s normal that people are interested, but in England you are killing the national team with the level of intrusion. You are doing this to the team [he stamps his foot on the floor]. Everyone wants England to become world champions, but you are destroying them at the same time. Give it a few more weeks and they will put a camera in a footballer’s pants in order to get a story. I think you should leave your stars alone and give them the freedom to be human.”

The Arsenal striker is clearly a thoughtful and eloquent footballer. Putting the lie to those who waffle about footballers’ responsibilities he said: “All through my career I have heard people say, ‘You must set an example. Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t swear, otherwise the children will copy you. They want you to be like a monk. But this is impossible. Everybody has a right to live in the way they want to. That is what it is to be human.”

“Of course, I understand we have responsibilities. But it is no good doing something because you are scared of what people will say. You should do it because that is what you want to do. The problem is not fame and money, because if you have a good education and good parents, these things will not corrupt you. It is about having the right values.”

Arshavin grew up in St Petersburg when it was still Leningrad and, like Michael Ballack, his grounded behaviour and opinions might stem from his experience of a different regime. Until the mid 80s sport in soviet states was encouraged for the benefit of the community and footballers were regarded far less as superstars and far more as ordinary workers. It encouraged the same feeling of connection that many here complain has been missing since the days when players got the same bus to the ground as the fans and earned the same wage.

Clearly things have changed but Arshavin appears to have a sensible and balanced view of the current situation he said that there is nothing to be ashamed of in earning money from their sport: “If you are not involved in professional football, it is easy to say it is crazy that we get paid so much for just kicking a ball around a pitch. But I say to the critics, ‘Put on some boots, take a shot and show us something.’ If you think it is easy, come and have a go.”

“It is not our fault we earn big money. We should not be made to feel like criminals. If the clubs pay us, it is because they know that they will earn more money because we are there. Sometimes I get it in the neck from other sportsmen. You know, an Olympic champion skier will complain that he is earning half as much as a footballer who is only rated 30th in the world.”

“But what can we do? Football is the best and most competitive sport in the world. Sometimes it is better to be the tenth best player in the biggest sport than the very best in a smaller sport. Football pays well because everyone is interested in our game.”

Arshavin is probably pissing in the wind because many will continue to criticise the perceived excess in footballers’ lives without really understanding them as people. Footballers will always be fair game for opposition supporters, you wouldn’t have it any other way. John Terry will have to live with boos for a while and put up with songs about his private life, Beckham put up with chants about his wife’s anal predilections for years with barely a murmur, but as fans and especially as consumers of newspapers perhaps we should stand up for footballers’ rights a little more.

As someone once wrote in the Chelsea Independent: “if 42,000 people turned up to watch you at your work, you’d expect a cut of the gate.” Underneath footballers are all people just like me and you and a handful of West Ham supporters.

Florent Malouda was the star of the show for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as he made two and scored one as the Blues’ overpowered Gianfranco Zola’s strugglers.

It was from the Frenchmen’s cross from which Alex headed home after 16 minutes after being left unmarked on the edge of the six yard box.

The goal came at a good time for the Blues;, just two minutes after Hammers striker Ilan had wasted a great opportunity to give the visitors a shock lead.

After Paulo Ferreria had failed to clear, the ball ran across the box to the Brazilian who somehow managed to fire over Ross Turnbull’s crossbar.

Chelsea responded by taking the lead, and could’ve doubled it just moments later when Malouda again caused problems with a cross, Matthew Upson and Didier Drogba tussled for the incoming ball, and it ended up coming back off the West Ham bar.

With Chelsea looking dangerous, and Malouda giving Spector a torrid time down the left it looked as if the visitors were in for a very long afternoon.

Scott Parker stunned Stamford Bridge on the half hour though, when he struck a dipping half volley over the stranded Turnbull to level things up.

There was some controversy about the goal though, as Kieron Dyer’s throw in, which was flicked on by Jon Obi Mikel into the path of Parker, wasn’t legal as the winger’s foot was clearly over the touchline, and his back foot in the air.

An air of frustration hung around Stamford Bridge going into the break, as the home side failed to turn their dominance into goals, but whatever Carlo Ancelotti said to his players at the interval had the desired effect, as 11 minutes into the second period the Blues were back in front.

John Terry surged forward from the back before finding Drogba, who laid it out wide to that man Malouda. The Frenchman then returning the ball to the head of the Ivorian for Drogba’s 20^th league goal of the season.

Then it was roles reversed as Drogba controlled a high ball and found Malouda who danced into the West Ham box before passing it beyond Rob Green.

Frank Lampard was denied a goal against his former club as he hit a post from another cross from Malouda, before Drogba added his second in injury time, firing home after Green had failed to hold Lampard’s initial shot.

Joe Cole came on for an impressive cameo to boost his confidence amidst more rumours of contract breakdowns and missing out on the World Cup squad.

Stand in keeper Ross Turnbull had a quiet day, but did make a good save in injury time to boost his confidence ahead of the biggest night of his career on Tuesday.

After a commanding performance like this, and the news that Inter were beaten on Friday night means Ancelotti and co will be relishing the return of the Special One this week.

Chelsea: Turnbull, Ivanovic (Zhirkov 80), Ferreria, Terry, Alex, Lampard, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda (Kalou 87), Drogba, Anelka (J Cole 66).
Subs not used: Taylor, Bruma, Deco, Sturridge

West Ham: Green, Gabbidon, Upson, Spector, Daprela, Dyer (Stanislas 68), Parker, Kovac, Behrami, Ilan (Diamanti 83), Mido (Cole 67)
Subs not used: Stech, Tomkins, Collison, McCarthy.

Man of the Match: Florent Malouda