Premier League: Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion full time report
Chelsea 6 West Brom 0
Didier Drogba scored a hat-trick as reigning champions Chelsea cruised to a six-goal opening day victory.
Florent Malouda smashed the Blues in front after only six minutes following a Scott Carson error from Drogba’s free kick, and Carson couldn’t get anywhere near a Drogba free kick that made it 2-0 shortly before half time.
The Ivorian profited from a goalmouth scramble to make it three at the start of the second period, before Frank Lampard finished off a fine team move and Drogba’s long range effort deflected in off Gabriel Tamaş.
Malouda rounded off the scoring with a cool finish off a post after being played in by Nicolas Anelka.
Chelsea never really had to get out of second gear, as they crushed the Baggies in a similar manner to their victories at the tail end of last season.
It looked ominous for the Baggies from the beginning, and after James Morrison ended a good West Brom move by shooting wide, Chelsea eased into the game.
Carson saved well from Nicolas Anelka, but his moment to forget was just around the corner, as he spilled Drogba’s free kick straight into the path of Mikel, before recovering to block the Nigerian’s effort only to see the ball reach Malouda, who made no mistake from close range.
West Brom rallied though, and continued to play their slick, incisive passing game through the driving rain at Stamford Bridge. Roman Bednář finished well when played through, but he was rightly ruled offside.
At the other end, Malouda was his side’s most dangerous attacker, albeit with a maddening desire to be offside.
He brought an excellent save out of Carson and later hit the post, but both times was denied by the flag, before he headed over a rebound after the West Brom goalkeeper had kept out Frank Lampard’s stinging free kick.
But it was another free kick that was to lead to another Chelsea goal just before half time.
After Essien had been fouled, Drogba stepped up and curled a low 30 yard effort past a weak West Brom wall and into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of Carson.
It was the second goal that the Baggies had gifted their hosts, but the visitors started the second half in a better fashion, and after Jerome Thomas had robbed Paulo Ferreira, Graham Dorrans’ long range effort was deflected wide off Bednář. Soon after, Dorrans’ free kick went just over Petr Čech’s crossbar, but the difference between the two sides appeared to be that Chelsea could almost play within themselves, looking like they could afford to score at will, and they felt like a third in the 55th minute.
Lampard’s corner was flicked goalwards by John Terry, and after Youssuf Mulumbu cleared the ball off the line, Drogba, the top scorer in the Premier League last season with 29 goals, smashed in his second of this campaign following a goalmouth scramble. The strike took the Ivorian above Jimmy Greaves and into sixth on Chelsea’s all-time top goalscorer list.
It was now a procession, and good work from Anelka and Ashley Cole soon set up Lampard, who delivered the most precise of finishes into the bottom corner for the fourth. It would prove to be the England man’s swansong, and he was almost instantly replaced by Yossi Benayoun, on for his Chelsea league debut.
The Israeli would get a good view of the next goal as, after good perseverance from Cole, the ball reached Drogba wide on the left side, and the forward cut inside and hit an effort that took a big deflection off West Brom’s Gabriel Tamaş and wrongfooted Carson. No matter about the deflection, it was Drogba’s goal, and he was soon replaced by Salomon Kalou to a standing ovation.
After ending the last season with a hat-trick in an 8-0 win over Wigan, Drogba had started the new one with another treble. Another eight goal victory was looking on the cards too, if Chelsea could be bothered.
Carson did well to block Anelka, and Malouda curled a free kick over, but in truth they were just going through the motions now.
Chris Brunt’s effort was blocked by Alex, before Chelsea decided to go forward and score a sixth, when Malouda latched onto Anelka’s pass, rounded Carson and scored off the post.
An evening’s party at Stamford Bridge that was started by Malouda ended with the same man, and with the Blues on this kind of form there appears to be only one team to stop in the Premier League this season.
Or try to stop at any rate.
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