Cole keeps Blues in title hunt
Joe Cole struck the winner midway through the first half to keep the Blues six points behind leaders Arsenal.
Also In The News
|
England captain Michael Vaughan admitted his side deserved to drop to fifth in the world Test rankings after the series loss to Sri Lanka. |  |
Sunday, 23, Dec 2007 08:03
Chelsea have kept their title dreams alive with a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
Joe Cole struck the winner midway through the first half to keep the Blues six points behind leaders Arsenal.
The defeat for Rovers, who have just one Premier League victory in their last eight games, sees them slip into ninth spot.
Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, and Shaun Wright-Phillips returned for Chelsea, while Zurab Khizanishvili, Brett Emerton, and Tugay started for Rovers.
Carvalho showed his value to the Blues with a stunning block from Roque Santa Cruz's strike on four minutes.
Blackburn continued to put the Blues under intense pressure with David Bentley unlucky not to score twice in the space of three minutes.
First the England midfielder cut inside and fired a venomous drive which went narrowly over the crossbar on seven minutes.
Three minutes later, Bentley rattled the crossbar with a free-kick from 20 yards out.
Santa Cruz was then sent clear on goal three minutes later, but the Paraguayan decided to shoot early and dragged his shot wide from 18 yards out.
Against the run of play the Blues took the lead when Salomon Kalou found Cole with a fine pass and the England midfielder drilled the ball into the corner on 32 minutes.
The goal fired up Avram Grant's side and Essien was denied by a stunning save at his feet by Brad Friedel.
Petr Cech then saved his side with a sensational stop to tip Stephen Reid's strike onto the crossbar.
Three minutes later, it was Chelsea's turn to hit the woodwork with Frank Lampard's long-range strike palmed onto the post by Friedel.
The second half in comparison was less entertaining with the visitors happy to cling onto their 1-0 lead.
There was a scare for Chelsea fans when Cech collapsed with a stomach injury after a collision, with the Czech stopper eventually substituted for Hilario.
Rovers had David Dunn to thank for keeping the scoreline the same after the midfielder blocked Essien's goal-bound shot.
Hilario, the Blues' sub keeper because Carlo Cudicini is out injured, nearly gifted Rovers an equaliser after making a mess of punching a corner before the ball was cleared away to safety.
After missing another cross which Santa Cruz put wide with a header, Hilario then palmed away another header from the striker to concede a corner.
Mark Hughes surprisingly brought on Jason Roberts for Tugay in the closing minutes instead of Benni McCarthy.
Chelsea's only clear-cut chance of the half fell to Lampard with the midfielder's low shot well saved by Friedel.