Match Review - Chelsea (h)

[Jourdan]

Derby 0-2 Chelsea
By Jourdan Rhule

Chelsea cruised to victory at Pride Park thanks to goals from Salomon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The visiting side had it all too easy in the first half as the Rams showed their illustrious opponents far too much respect.

The Derby defence were left dazed on 16 minutes as Salomon Kalou seized on Steve Sidwell’s neat pass to poke the ball past Stephen Bywater from close range.

The hosts tried to fight back but their lack of quality and cutting edge up front was painfully evident, as Carlo Cudicini never had a save to make in the opening 45 minutes.

Instead, it was Chelsea who looked more likely to extend their lead but Kalou wasted their best opportunity. Claude Davis’ headed clearance from Shaun Wright-Phillips’ cross fell kindly for the striker but he managed to blaze over and wide of goal from 6 yards out.

The second half began with both sides unchanged and Derby desperate for an equaliser. Giles Barnes broke from midfield and played in Craig Fagan down the right and the utility man drilled the ball across goal but there was no Derby player able to put the finishing touches to the move.

And after Bywater kept out Lampard’s fierce free kick, Derby came even closer. Giles Barnes collected Darren Moore’s pinpoint pass from deep before picking out fellow midfielder David Jones who found Fagan in space but the former Hull player was denied his first Premier League goal as Cudicini flung himself down to his left to push away the close range effort.

The Rams were showing a lot more gusto but were still unable to grab the equaliser as Kenny Miller’s lob was ruled out for offside. But Chelsea soon put the game beyond doubt with a controversial second goal. Barnes was hauled down in midfield by a clumsy challenge from Andriy Shevchenko. Despite seeing the youngster writhing in pain on the floor, the visitors continued play. Frank Lampard muscled his way into the 18-yard box and blasted the ball against the post. The rebound fell gratefully into the path of Wright-Phillips who was left with a simple tap-in.

Steve Howard was introduced for Giles Barnes who went off injured, meanwhile Chelsea also made a change with Michael Essien replacing Steve Sidwell. Despite conceding a second, Derby continued to press for of a goal of their own. But Tal Ben Haim hacked away Miller’s shot from an acute angle after the Scot rounded Carlo Cudicini. Miller was involved once more as his right wing cross was met by substitute Howard who screwed his header well wide.

Benny Feilhaber and Rob Earnshaw were both brought on with Feilhaber replacing captain Matt Oakley and Earnshaw swapping places with Fagan with less than 10 minutes remaining and it was the substitute Feilhaber who had the Rams’ last chance but his 20 yard shot flashed wide of goal. This was moments after Michael Essien was needlessly but rightfully dismissed for a careless swipe at Miller with his arm deep into injury time.

So the Rams fell to their fourth consecutive defeat and will need to pick themselves up ahead of their crunch game with fellow strugglers Sunderland next Saturday, as a loss could prove fatal to their hopes of survival.

Player Ratings

Bywater – 6 – Made a few good saves and looks to be growing in confidence

Griffin – 5 – Isn’t doing enough to justify his place in the side

Moore – 5 – For a player with such a lack of pace & mobility, he battled bravely against the strike force of Kalou & Shevchenko

Davis – 6 – Looks our most assured defender but on occasions he can put his team in trouble with clumsy clearances

McEveley – 5 – Struggled due to absence of natural left sided midfielder

Fagan – 5 – Full marks for effort, but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of end product

Oakley – 5 – Seemed to be in awe of the opposition and really struggled to hold his own

Leacock – 6 – Showed opposition too much respect early on but improved in the second half

Jones – 5 – Failed to impress with an anonymous performance in midfield

Barnes – 6 – Showed glimpses of his best with a few encouraging forward runs

Miller – 7 – MOTM - Looked isolated early on but was Derby’s biggest threat in the second half

Subs.:

Howard – 4 – Still struggling for confidence as shown by his glaring miss late on

Feilhaber – 4 – Saw plenty of the balls but seems to be prone to mistakes

Earnshaw – 4 – Didn’t have enough time to make an impact