Chelsea 3 West Ham Utd 0:CHELSEA'S LATE season surge continues and, despite Manchester United still heading them by six points, part of the message from Carlo Ancelotti's side is Fernando Torres has finally scored, and may continue to do so until the title is decided.
The Spaniard’s first goal since the second of a pair scored for Liverpool against Wolves in late January suggested his sharpness has returned. On the rain-soaked Stamford Bridge turf the ball held up behind the striker but he was able to nonchalantly pirouette before delivering the sweetest of finishes with his left foot, eight minutes after coming on.
Ancelotti said: “It was an important moment for him and for all the fans who waited for Fernando to score. It was a fantastic moment and now his future will be fantastic here, (at) this club, with his team-mates.”
Asked if the goal was a relief, Ancelotti said: “Obviously for him. He needed to score to move from this moment. The next game for him will be really better. (The finish) was good movement, a fantastic goal.”
Torres said: “It was not the beginning I was expecting when I signed, but it’s not easy to go in January or February. I kept working and it’s thanks to all my team-mates I scored. There’s less pressure for me now – now I can enjoy it. Today the pitch was not the best (due to heavy rain) to score the goal, but football is like this.”
After Florent Malouda smashed home in added time to confirm a 3-0 win that was a touch unfair on West Ham, Ancelotti was asked of his team’s ability to retain their title. He said: “We have less possibility because we are one game less (as) now there are just four games (and) the gap is the same (to Manchester United). So it will be more difficult but we have to keep trying to believe.”
West Ham had begun this game rooted to the bottom, two points off 17th. Avram Grant lined his side up in a 4-3-3 that matched Ancelotti’s formation, and it was Chelsea who had the best of the chances during the first half.
Throughout the opening period Ancelotti had been waving at his side to slide balls in behind Lars Jacobsen, the visiting right back. After 43 minutes Chelsea finally did, and they took the lead.
Didier Drogba, who had been the focus of most of Ancelotti’s glowering but would end the contest as its best performer, twisted a pass that released Ashley Cole into a gallop. The left back zipped over a cross that allowed Frank Lampard to bury a finish beyond Robert Green.
For a frantic period before Torres’s intervention the drenched pitch levelled the contest as Drogba and company hurtled forward.
Drogba played in Lampard but the midfielder could not finish, then the striker appeared in West Ham’s area but his chested control proved too heavy. A David Luiz 20-yard drive crashed off Green’s crossbar but this presaged West Ham moving into their opponents’ territory as Demba Ba stung Peter Cech’s hands, then Robbie Keane – on for Mark Noble – failed to finish.
While Grant said the knee injury Noble sustained could be serious, Ancelotti was unsure about the muscle problem that caused Michael Essien’s removal.
Ancelotti now has to decide whether Torres will start in Chelsea’s next outing, which is next Saturday when Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to Stamford Bridge. “Considering the performance of Didier today, considering that Fernando scored, we have to try and put both together. We have one week to train and then I will make the decision,” he said.
Grant could at least console himself that Scott Parker should return immediately, after the newly crowned Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year missed this one with an Achilles problem.
Of West Ham’s hopes of avoiding the drop Grant said: “We need to do what we need to do.” Yes, and quickly.
Guardian Service
