If Chelsea are to mount a belated
defence of their Premier League
title, they will have to play a lot
better than they did at Blackpool.
But crucially Carlo Ancelotti's side
showed they can still win without
hitting top gear.- Jolly: Odd couple
still struggling- Holloway hits out
at penaltyJanuary's £50 million
transfer Fernando Torres may
have drawn yet another blank in
his fifth match since joining from
Liverpool, but fortunately for the
Blues they did not need his goals.
There will come a time in the run-
in when the Spain striker will
have to produce the goods if
they are to have a chance of
reeling in Manchester United's
nine-point advantage, even with
a match in hand.
But at Bloomfield Road it was
Chelsea's tried and tested players
who did the job, with Frank
Lampard scoring twice in the
second half after captain John
Terry had given them the lead
before the interval.
Jason Puncheon's late goal caused
a few wobbles in the visitors
defence, but the Stamford Bridge
side had enough experience to
ensure there were no slip-ups.
The scoreline may have looked
comfortable for Chelsea but, like
many visitors to the seaside this
season, they found themselves on
the back foot for long periods in
the first half.
David Carney, on his first
appearance for almost a month,
had a productive 45 minutes
down the left wing as Jose
Bosingwa found himself turned
inside-out on several occasions.
The Australian tried to test Petr
Cech early on, cutting the ball
back on to his right foot, but
could only curl a shot straight at
the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Minutes later he found himself
clear in the area after Bosingwa
failed to win possession but opted
not to shoot, mis-placed his pass
and the opportunity was lost.
Blackpool looked far more the
inventive team, with Chelsea's
front two of Didier Drogba and
Torres - still to open his account
for his new club after 406
goalless minutes of action - again
failing to impress as a
partnership.
However, the hosts could not
make their early possession tell
and Seasiders manager Ian
Holloway would have been fuming
with the manner in which his side
conceded the opening goal
against the run of play.
When Lampard swung over a
20th-minute right-wing corner,
Terry easily slipped his marker to
head home the simplest of
chances.
The visitors briefly threatened to
press home the advantage, with
Bosingwa forcing Richard Kingson
into a fingertip save with a left-
footed shot from the right angle
of the penalty area, but it was
not long before Blackpool
resumed control.
They were almost gifted an
equaliser in the 33rd minute when
Puncheon found space in the
inside-right channel to skip past
David Luiz and shoot low at Cech,
who let the ball slip through his
fingers and was relieved to see it
bounce off a post.
The Czech goalkeeper was only
slightly more convincing when he
just managed to get a fingertip
on Ian Evatt's cross-shot to help
it over the crossbar.
Chelsea finished the half as they
had started it, under pressure,
although Ramires' long-range
effort had Kingson diving to his
right to palm his shot behind in
added time.
Drogba lasted less than ten
minutes of the second half before
he fell under a challenge from
James Beattie in the Chelsea
penalty area and was replaced by
Solomon Kalou.
More by luck than invention the
substitution provided the visitors
the spark which they had been
missing for most of the game.
Within seven minutes of coming
on, Kalou won a penalty when
Evatt felled him in the box,
allowing Lampard to put his side
in the comfort zone from the
spot.
Four minutes later the England
midfielder slotted home his fourth
goal in as many matches after
Kalou again provided the
through-ball. As if things were
not bad enough for Blackpool,
Kingson then had to go off
injured and be replaced by Mark
Halstead.
With nine minutes to go,
substitute Matt Phillips should
have reduced the deficit when
sent racing clear by Keith
Southern, but he flashed a shot
wide of Cech's far post.
Puncheon succeeded where his
team-mate had failed from a
similar position in the 86th
minute, but it did nothing to ease
Blackpool's growing worries.
They have won only once in the
last nine matches and have been
sucked into a relegation battle,
just two points above the bottom
three.