WEST BROM 0-3 CHELSEA

With our home record done and dusted it’s starting to look as if Chelsea are ready to concentrate on picking up as many points away from Stamford Bridge as possible – an effort they managed to sustain against The Baggies yesterday.

It was a slow build up in the first half, with West Brom applying their own pressure and Chelsea needing some effort to break them down. Mind you, once we did get on top of the game, 3 goals in the space of 11 minutes saw the game just about decided going into the break.

The first goal took it’s time to come although you kind of knew it was only a matter of time the longer the game went on, and when it did come, the sweet strike from Jose Bosingwa was well worth the wait. Nicolas Anelka, who continues to defy his critics, popped up with two more, and that was that as far as the scoreline was concerned.

Chelsea played out the second half efficiently, if a little less urgently, and Scolari’s frustration on the touchline probably reflected the feelings of many. Not that Chelsea have a god given right to batter teams by a five goal margin every week, and their performance in the second half was certainly professional enough, but it just felt a little ‘comfortable’.

Mind you, maybe our ability to put sides like West Brom to bed is pretty much expected this season and the plus 28 goal difference has placed a new expectation on our games? And maybe the reason a comfortable 3-0 win over this sort of side feels less satisfying is because questions remain about our ability to demonstrate the same sort of dominance consistently, particularly against tougher opposition?

Anyway, back to the game and the positives. Most notable had to be the performance of Nicolas Anelka because not only did the Frenchman bag another couple of goals but he put in another very convincing performance, highlighted even more so when subbed for Didier Drogba. The Ivorian received the sort of welcome you’d have expected and his sulky disinterest in the game did nothing to suggest he should be starting ahead of Anelka any time soon. Deco was another one who stood out, not that he set the world alight or anything, but his performance showed the first concrete signs of him being on the road to recovering some of his early season form.

But of course the game wouldn’t have been complete without the obligatory injury, which this week saw John Terry limp off towards the end with a foot injury.

So, all pretty predictable really.

Filed under: Match report