Mail:

Not much is missing as Chelsea march on
Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0

By IAN RIDLEY

Going to Chelsea at the moment is a bit like arriving in a famous old
city. Locals will tell you how much is missing from the glory days
while visitors are often surprised at how much remains.

Without a clutch of players away at the African Cup of Nations, and
with the injured John Terry and Frank Lampard continuing to watch from
the stands, Chelsea were still too strong for a strangely limp
Tottenham, whose recovery under Juande Ramos remains fitful.

Though never outstandingly impressive, Chelsea were comfortable
enough, driven shots from Juliano Belletti and Shaun Wright-Phillips
in either half bare reflection of a routine superiority that was
almost Mourinho-esque.

Chelsea fans also got an extended glimpse of Nicolas Anelka, their
£15million signing from Bolton, who came close to a debut goal after
coming on as a substitute when he forced Radek Cerny, selected once
again in place of England keeper Paul Robinson, into a good save and
hit the crossbar in the last minute.

It is now 74 games since Chelsea were beaten in a Premier League game
at Stamford Bridge, and 21 matches dating back to 1990 since they lost
to Tottenham here. If they can continue to eke out results until the
cavalry return, they could yet disturb the apparent two-horse title
race between Manchester United and Arsenal.

They can draw only encouragement, too, from Arsenal and Liverpool
dropping points, cementing them in third position and taking them
closer to second as they themselves continued a run that has now seen
them win seven and draw one of their last eight league matches.

Avram Grant is determined to change the style established by his
predecessor as manager.

"We don't play long balls and always try to pass the ball," he said.
"We play a lot of combinations and in 90 per cent of matches we create
two or three times more chances than the other teams."

It certainly suits Joe Cole, who revelled in the freedom yesterday,
and should suit Anelka, Grant believes.

It was the first week that Chelsea had to do without Didier Drogba,
Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Mikel Obi, along with Terry and
Lampard.

It meant Grant having to blood Anelka following a later injury to
Claudio Pizarro when he would have preferred to hold him back. The
consolation for them, though, was that Petr Cech was fit to resume in
goal. And still they had a potent central midfield, featuring Claude
Makelele, Cole and Michael Ballack, which was too good for
Tottenham's. Spurs had to field youngsters Kevin Prince Boateng and
Jamie O'Hara there in the absence through suspension of Jermaine Jenas
and Tom Huddlestone and were often outplayed.

So much did Boateng, in particular, struggle with the pace of the game
that he was booked early on for hauling back Cole with an
effectiveness that might interest England rugby union coach Brian
Ashton. As they sought to cope, only Aaron Lennon shone, and only in
patches, offering an energetic outlet on the right.

One of Lennon's crosses glanced off Dimitar Berbatov, largely
anonymous, another found Steed Malbranque at the far post, Cech saving
the Frenchman's volley in what would be Spurs' only shot on target.

But for all their control, Chelsea toiled to create clear-cut chances,
the goal that gave them the lead coming out of the blue in the 19th
minute. Brazilian Belletti strode forward with the ball from the
right-back position and, with the crowd urging him to shoot,obliged by
letting fly from more than 30 yards and finding the top left corner of
Cerny's goal.

Anelka arrived on the scene 12 minutes into the second half and almost
had a goal to celebrate within two minutes. From Wright-Phillips'
back-heel, Anelka swivelled to send in a shot from 12 yards that Cerny
turned away low to his right.

Spurs made their own change, bringing on unpredictable French teenager
Adel Taarabt and, for a while, Chelsea laboured. When Ballack fouled
Lennon on the edge of their penalty area, Berbatov shot inches over
the bar.

But Tottenham's revival never looked like lasting and Chelsea sealed
the game 10 minutes from time. Joe Cole wriggled his way through a
couple of half-hearted Tottenham tackles and laid the ball into the
path of Wright-Phillips, who drilled a low shot into the net.

"It was an evenly balanced game which was not reflected in the score,"
said Ramos. It was a glossy verdict and one that Tottenham's
enduringly inconsistent players would do well not to take comfort in.


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The Sunday Times
January 13, 2008

Nicolas Anelka sees how it's done
Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0

Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge

Eagerly awaited, rapturously received, Nicolas Anelka twice came
within an ace of a goal and looked well capable of adding to the many
he has scored in numerous cities.

This, of course, is his second sojourn in London. As a teenager he was
whisked away for nothing by Arsenal, exploiting the rules then in
force, from an infuriated Paris Saint-Germain. Later, the Gunners
casually threw PSG £500,000, subsequently pocketing £22.3m when they
sold a dissident Anelka to Real Madrid. Now, aged 28, he cost Chelsea
£15m; mere chicken feed to their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

Anelka seems a much calmer figure now he is no longer handled, as he
was at Highbury, by his two belligerent brothers as agents. In north
London he had clashes with club and colleagues. And over the years,
despite such splendid performances as that against England at Wembley
in 1999 when he scored the goals for France in a 2-0 victory and had
another dubiously disallowed, he has been in and out of the France
team; all too often in conflict with the managers. Now Chelsea have
become his fifth English club after spells at Manchester City,
Liverpool and, somewhat surprisingly, Bolton.

Yesterday, after 58 minutes, he replaced the Peru international
striker Claudio Pizarro, who had been playing a good deal more
effectively than in recent games. Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager,
said afterwards that Pizarro was injured. "We didn't plan to use him
[Anelka] because he didn't train with the team but it's good to have
him." Indeed it was; whether or not he had trained, he looked as sharp
and incisive an opportunist as ever.

Scarcely had he taken the field when the always exuberant and
effective Chelsea right-back Juliano Belletti found Shaun
Wright-Phillips. On it went to Anelka, who shot hard and low only for
the Spurs keeper, Radek Cerny, preferred for the second time in a week
to the erratic England international Paul Robinson, to hurl himself at
the ball to make the save.

On 90 minutes, Anelka had a higher shot which came back from the
underside of the bar after an attempt by Wright-Phillips was only half
cleared by Spurs. Anelka could scarcely have come closer to a goal.

Wright-Phillips, highly praised by Grant for his performance in
central midfield and, in the last 10 minutes, up front, deserved to
score the second goal on 80 minutes. This time, it was a throw-in by
Belletti that Joe Cole neatly and expertly moved on to
Wright-Phillips, who shot past Cerny and inside the left-hand post.

Chelsea's first goal, after 19 minutes, was spectacular. A glorious
right-footed shot from 35 yards by Belletti, who had already looked
sprightly and adventurous, ripped past a hapless Cerny and into the
Tottenham net.

Spurs, despite the presence at one time or another of so many noted
strikers, seldom seemed likely to score but 10 minutes after the first
Chelsea goal, they almost did so. When Aaron Lennon crossed incisively
from the right, the other Spurs flank man, Steed Malbranque, closed in
from the left to hit a ferocious shot that Petr Cech did well to reach
at full stretch.

Malbranque, alas, did not survive the whole match. Prone as he
sometimes is to rash tackles, he perpetrated one in the second half
that gained him a yellow card that might even have merited a darker
colour. When in the second half he seemed likely to receive a second
yellow but escaped with a lecture from the referee, Tottenham pulled
him off and substituted him with his fellow Frenchman, the rangy and
committed Adel Taarabt.

With so many players off to take part in the African Cup of Nations,
including Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast, who still insists he wants
to leave Chelsea, Grant had to make a number of enforced changes. As
he pointed out, his Ukraine international striker Andriy Shevkenko,
after seeming at long last to recover something of his old form, will
be out for some time. Certainly the acquisition of Anelka will be of
enormous benefit, even when Drogba returns, and whether or not he
stays.

Tottenham were conspicuously lacking two regular, suspended, midfield
players in Tom Huddlestone and the gifted and elusive England
international Jermaine Jenas. Their replacements, young Kevin-Prince
Boateng and Jamie O'Hara, did what they could, but against such a
populous and talented Chelsea midfield that was inevitably limited.

Shortly before he was substituted, Boateng did, from the right, put
over a high insidious cross that was missed by friend and foe.

O'Hara, whose substitution preceded that of Boateng by seven minutes,
had just been booked and was quite properly taken off for his own
protection, not to mention the team's.

Tottenham's Spanish manager, Juande Ramos, felt it was "a very
balanced game" and that Tottenham had been unfortunate to lose. Both
Chelsea goals, he emphasised, had been scored from outside the area,
though this hardly seemed sufficient mitigation. As for Grant, he told
us how happy he was that Chelsea were now playing positive football,
passing the ball successfully rather than hitting it long. Rather like
the usual criticism of his more flamboyant and voluble predecessor,
Jose Mourinho.

Almost at the end, Joe Cole, busy and effective all afternoon in a
right-flank position, with the fit-again Frenchman Florent Malouda on
the left, had a low shot which Cerny dived to turn past the right-hand
post. By then, the game was emphatically lost and won. And Anelka
looked as if he could and would win Chelsea many others.

Player ratings

Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 8, Carvalho 6, Alex 6, A Cole 6, Malouda 6
(Bridge 84min), Makelele 6, Ballack 6, Wright-Phillips 7 (Sidwell
90min), J Cole 7, Pizarro 7 (Anelka 58min, 7)

Tottenham: Cerny 7, Chimbonda 6, Dawson 6, King 7, Lee 6, Lennon 6,
O'Hara 6 (Defoe 77min), Boateng 6 (Kaboul 84min), Malbranque 6
(Taarabt 59min, 6), Keane 6, Berbatov 6

Star man: Juliano Belletti (Chelsea)
Scorers: Chelsea: Belletti 19, Wright-Phillips 80

Referee: A Wiley
Attendance: 41,777
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Telegraph:

Chelsea still stalk Man Utd and Arsenal
By Patrick Barclay at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea (1) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0

Doggedly, Chelsea continue to stalk the Premier League's leading pair.
Arsenal and Manchester United may be the only teams to have beaten
Chelsea under Avram Grant, but they cannot pull away from the
erstwhile champions, despite the absence from action of (to name but a
few) John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien.

Due partly to the African Cup of Nations, Drogba and Essien will not
be back in a hurry, and nor will John Obi Mikel or Salomon Kalou. Yet
the signs are that Grant's squad contains enough quality and spirit to
cope and keep the challenge alive until the return matches with the
top two are staged here in March and April. The arrival of Nicolas
Anelka, whom only a magnificent save from Pavel Cerny and a centimetre
of crossbar denied a couple of goals on his debut as a £15?million
substitute, serves only to enhance the impression that the third horse
can stay in the race.

A Chelsea defence screened by Claude Makelele so restricted
Tottenham's threat that Petr Cech had only one tricky task: to block
Steed Malbranque's volley in the first half. In attack, meanwhile,
Grant had devised an interesting formation which was almost like the
old W-shaped forward line, with Claudio Pizarro (later Anelka) at
centre forward, Joe Cole and Florent Malouda on the wings and Shaun
Wright-Phillips and Michael Ballack acting as sort of inside forwards.
It produced some bright stuff, especially in a second half during
which Wright-Phillips sparkled and scored, if less spectacularly than
Juliano Belletti had done in the first.

At Wigan in November, the Brazilian right-back had run from the
halfway line before lashing the ball home and this has encouraged
Chelsea's fans to yell "Shoot!" whenever he takes possession, even if
the range is demanding. Here it was 30 yards, but he obliged them,
letting fly with one that moved a bit but essentially beat Cerny, who
had seen it all the way, through pace. Amid an explosion of blue glee,
Spurs' deposed England goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, watched from the
bench.

Cerny's attempt to stop Wright-Phillips's shot also caused some
comment, albeit not from Juande Ramos; the Spurs manager merely said
goals were conceded by the team as a whole. He also deflected
questions about whether a goalkeeper was top of his shopping list for
the rest of the winter window. Unless something was lost in the
translation from Spanish, his general impression of the match was
sheer twaddle.

"It was evenly balanced," said Ramos, "with dominance passing from one
side to the other." The only difference had been that Chelsea struck
twice from outside the penalty area.
Grant made more sense, saying he was pleased with his team's results
and also the manner in which they were playing. Asked to elaborate, he
said: "We don't play long balls but pass in a more organised way, with
plenty of combinations."

He was also delighted to have overcome a side as good tactically as
Ramos's, praising Wright-Phillips for not only his contribution in
midfield but his adaptability in moving forward late to claim his
"fantastic" goal, the opportunity for which was expertly fashioned by
a lively Joe Cole.

Anelka, Grant observed, would not have appeared but for an injury to
Pizarro. "Normally he would not have been in the squad because he had
not trained with the team [after signing from Bolton only on Friday
night]. But despite that he got used to the style of the team very
quickly." Indeed. Within 90 seconds the Frenchman was receiving a
cleverly backheeled reverse ball from Wright-Phillips on his chest,
turning and, with a smooth low shot, bringing the very best from a
diving Cerny. In the last few minutes, he seized on a slip by Michael
Dawson and belted a left-footer against the underside of the crossbar:
a vibrant end to another good Stamford Bridge day.

For all the tactical expertise to which Grant referred, Spurs had been
unimpressive, notably at the front, where Ricardo Carvalho and Alex
prevented Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov from exhibiting their
often splendid partnership. Berbatov did have one chance in the first
half, when he needed to make firmer contact with a cross from Aaron
Lennon, but for most of the afternoon Chelsea gave an excellent
demonstration of how to defend as a team. No wonder Grant was happy.
"Even without so many players, and with some of those we do have
playing out of their normal position, we are playing good football and
winning."

The most pleasing sight for Ramos must have been the form of his
captain, Ledley King, without whose class the match might have been
lost by half-time. There is so much talk of the future of Berbatov,
but the fitness of King is just as pertinent to Spurs's fortunes.

Man of the match
Juliano Belletti (Chelsea) 8

• Scored with only shot on goal
• Won 86 per cent of tackles
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Indy:

Chelsea 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0: Anelka cameo puts Chelsea in good heart
for title challenge

Debutant only defied by crossbar as Blues cruise to keep step with United
By Nick Townsend at Stamford Bridge

A match as much about one man as the remainder on parade, even though
he sat hunched in woolly hat and protective gear for nearly an hour.
And for once that individual was not Dimitar Berbatov, but another
master of predatory skills. After 53 minutes, he began warming up.

The crowd rose to applaud the player given the squad number 39. That
opportunity was something of a rarity for them yesterday, because up
until then there had been precious little else to persuade them to do
so.

By the 58th minute he was on, and though Nicolas Anelka did not quite
open his Chelsea career with a goal – though so nearly did when
following a superb back-heel from Shaun Wright-Phillips, he swivelled
and forced a splendid save from Radek Cerny and later hit the bar – he
did enough to confirm just why he is here.

"You could not ask for more," was the succinct observation of his
manager, Avram Grant. However, the Israeli admitted that his pricey
acquisition, signed from Bolton Wanderers on Friday for £15m, and
whose aggregate transfer fees of around £85m make him the most
expensive player ever, was only on the bench because of the shortage
of forwards available to him – Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are at
the African Nations Cup and Andriy Shevchenko is injured.

"Normally, he [Anelka] wouldn't have been in the squad because he
hasn't trained with the players. But he adapted very quickly to the
style of this team."

After a match comfortably won with goals in each half, from Juliano
Belletti and Wright-Phillips, who is thriving in a more central
midfield role, no one should rule out Chelsea's claim to the
championship.

It had all been a decidedly sedate opening for a London derby. Claudio
Pizarro, supported wide by Florent Malouda and Joe Cole, and with
Michael Ballack and Wright-Phillips tucked in behind, worked hard to
breach a Spurs rearguard which still appears fragile at times, even
with the return of captain Ledley King. But it was all to no avail
until, after 18 minutes, Belletti decided to turn the heat up.

The defender advanced into the visitors' half, Tottenham obligingly
retreated before him, and from 30 yards he struck a devilish shot high
and wide of Cerny, playing in place of Paul Robinson. The England
goalkeeper, with his Spurs' future clearly in doubt, was again dropped
to the substitutes' bench by the manager, Juande Ramos, who refused to
attribute that opener to Cerny.

"Goals are conceded by the team as a whole," he said. It is becoming a
familiar refrain. Spurs, who had not won in 20 League and Cup visits
here, had their moments, though you struggle to recall them. Aaron
Lennon looked particularly threatening against his fellow England
team-mate, Ashley Cole and it was the midfielder, who fashioned an
opportunity for Steed Malbranque with a deep cross. Cerny's
compatriot, Petr Cech, returning after recovering from a hip injury,
saved well.

We had to wait for the spice anticipated from a fixture of this nature
until after the interval, though Kevin-Prince Boateng stirred the home
crowd after an attempted rugby tackle on Joe Cole for which he was
cautioned.

By the end, Malbranque, Jamie O'Hara and Lennon had also been
yellow-carded for Spurs and Claude Makelele and captain Ballack for
the hosts. The last-named had brought down Lennon inches outside the
area, only for Berbatov to dispatch the free-kick over Cech's bar. It
was that kind of afternoon for the Bulgarian and Spurs. This was a
poor exhibition from Ramos's men, and his claim that it was "very
evenly balanced" was a refusal to recognise reality.

Ten minutes from time, the Blues confirmed their win. Joe Cole took a
throw-in from Belletti in his stride, and teased the Tottenham defence
before feeding Wright-Phillips, who unhesitatingly drove the ball home
from just outside the area. In the closing minutes, Anelka pounced on
an error, to thump the ball against the bar. He could afford to smile.
As Grant and Chelsea could last night.
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Observer:

Belletti capitalises on Cerny blunder

Duncan Castles at Stamford Bridge
Sunday January 13, 2008

When Tottenham Hotspur were seeking a new goalkeeper three years ago
the brief was simple: get someone who would be good support for Paul
Robinson and not place excessive pressure on the occasionally fragile
No 1.
But here, as a speculative shot flew 35 yards through Radek Cerny's
poorly positioned arms, Juande Ramos may have realised the folly of
that policy - and paid cutting Robinson's legs from under him the
previous Wednesday.

If Robinson has suffered his share of calamities this season it is
hard to imagine him conceding that goal. Culled by England ahead of
the loss to Croatia, Robinson has now been told that he is surplus to
Tottenham requirements. Surplus, perhaps, but the club had best find a
sounder replacement fast.
Not that Ramos would publicly admit as much. 'Goals are conceded by
the team as a whole and it's not a question of doling out
responsibility to one player or another,' he said.

'We've conceded two goals and lost the game. It's just a bad result.
We are working with a squad of happy players at the moment. We were in
a very complicated position in the league table but we are very happy
with the players we've got."

Is Robinson happy with his lot? A broad grin spread across Ramos'
face. 'That's a question he would have to answer.'

Cerny's failure to deal with Juliano Belletti's long-distance punt set
the tone of this match. Tight and evenly balanced until that point,
Tottenham were a goal down and chasing a team that rarely cedes an
advantage. When Shaun Wright-Phillips embellished Chelsea's lead late
in the second half, the visitors were back to a familiar scenario - a
poor performance following an impressive one.

At Ashburton Grove on Wednesday, Ramos wore a small smile, a sign of
satisfaction at the tactical triumph that almost earned a rare
victory. If the Spaniard's first months at Tottenham have not provided
quite the radical transformation he's been credited with, his
authority has been steadily underlined.

Of all the boardroom machinations that undermined his predecessor
Martin Jol, the relationship with the sporting director Damien Comolli
was especially damaging. Jol was repeatedly denied signings, Comolli
instead providing new recruits who proved over-priced and ill-judged.
With Comolli's future at the club tied to his own, Ramos should not
suffer the same fate.

Chairman Daniel Levy has been informed that Ramos would exchange all
but a handful of the squad. In an impromptu training-ground meeting,
Jermain Defoe was told to toe the disciplinary line or find another
club. By Wednesday evening, Ramos was dropping Robinson without a word
of warning. At least the goalkeeper deigned to warm up yesterday.

As Avram Grant continued his policy of partial rotation, he took no
account of Ashley Cole's perennial problems with Aaron Lennon. The
winger underlined them early, shimmying past a prostrate left-back to
draw a corner. He delivered Spurs' best chances, placing a cross on
Dimitar Berbatov's head and a second on to Steed Malbranque's boot,
whose volley was well met by Petr Cech.

By then Tottenham were chasing the game. As Belletti wandered forward
from the halfway line, there should have been nothing on but a pass.
Instead the Brazilian aimed for goal and from a distance and height
that should have been parried his shot swerved slightly and
comfortably through Cerny's hands. 'You're worse than Robinson,'
taunted the Chelsea fans.

Tottenham started treading water, lacking the energy or insight that
characterised their play against Arsenal until Adel Taarabt took over
on the left wing, spreading crosses and passes around. Lennon drew a
free-kick that Berbatov lifted fractionally over.

An unusually irate Grant introduced Nicolas Anelka and claimed almost
instant reward when Wright-Phillips played the £15million striker into
position for a finely executed spin and left-foot shot that Cerny
touched away.

'He played without training even once but got used very quickly to the
style of the team,' said Grant. 'You cannot ask more from the first
performance.'

The game grew more ill-tempered and yellow cards were shown with
regularity until Wright-Phillips settled it. Joe Cole was provider,
collecting a throw-in, gliding through tacklers and squaring for a
shot that travelled low through Ledley King's legs and into the net.

Anelka all but added a third, crashing a shot off underside of bar,
but the game was up. Next time these sides meet Tottenham might
consider employing a goalkeeper they trust.

THE FANS' VERDICT

James Aidan, Observer reader It was a lovely performance, but the game
swung on our being able to control their strikers, and them not
controlling ours. Keane and Berbatov didn't get much supply, though
when Berbatov did get anything Alex had him in his pocket.
Wright-Phillips was man of the match and is finally being played in
his proper position as an inside forward, not on the wing. Belletti's
goal was a Brazilian wonder-shot, with a massive swerve on it, and I
don't think any keeper would have saved it. Anelka's arrival brings a
subtlety to the forward line. Spurs worked very hard - O'Hara looked
very good - and in the first 20 minutes of the second half they were
all over us and could have equalised from a set piece. But once we
scored the second it was over.

Player ratings Cech 8; Belletti 9, Alex 8, Carvalho 8, A Cole 7;
Makelele 7; Wright-Phillips 9, (Sidwell N/A), Ballack 8; J Cole 7,
Pizarro 7 (Anelka 8), Malouda 5 (Bridge 6)

Dave Mason, Observer reader I was confident going into the game, based
on Wednesday, but we didn't have the quality to break them down. In
midfield we missed Jenas and it showed how stupid two-ton Tommy was
getting sent off last week. We needed more effort from everybody -
Keane, Berbatov and Lennon showed none at all. Cerny had to come in,
but the first goal was eminently stoppable and for the second Lee
showed their player the inside. Basic, basic poor defending. We
pressed in the second half and had a couple of threatening corners,
but Cech was great.

Player ratings Cerny 6; Chimbonda 6, Dawson 6, King 7, Lee 5; Lennon
5, Boateng 5 (Kaboul 5), O'Hara 6 (Defoe 5), Malbranque 6 (Taarabt 5);
Keane 4, Berbatov 6
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NOTW :

Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0

By ROB BEASLEY at Stamford Bridge

AVRAM GRANT had to choose between the two incredible sulks — and
judged it perfectly.

He opted for naughty Nic ahead of the brooding Berbatov and got it spot on.

Not to mention saving himself £20million in the process.

New £15m signing Nicolas Anelka had to be content with a place on the
bench, while £35m-rated Dimitar Berbatov started for Spurs.

Yet for the best part of an hour it was difficult to say who was
making the greater contribution.

The Bulgarian probably just about edged it — but then Anelka actually
came on in the 58th minute. After that, it was no contest.

Quick, lively, alert and dangerous. The French ace was everything that
Berbatov wasn't.

And remember, Anelka only signed for Chelsea late on Friday night and
had not trained with his new team-mates.

In fact, Blues boss Avram Grant revealed the former Bolton hitman
would have been sitting up in the stands if Chelsea were not suffering
a striker crisis.

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are away at the African Cup of
Nations, Andriy Shevchenko is injured and Claudio Pizarro was forced
to lead the line carrying a knock.

Grant admitted: "We had to use Anelka because we are so short of
strikers. But ideally he would not even have been in the squad."

Anelka went oh so close to scoring just minutes into his debut.

His fourth touch of the afternoon produced an instant shot on the turn
from a clever Shaun Wright-Phillips back-heel that Tottenham keeper
Radek Cerny did well to push away.

We had to wait another couple of minutes for Berbatov's first
meaningful moment.

A wreckless foul by Chelsea captain Michael Ballack finally presented
the Bulgarian with his opportunity. Central position, just outside the
box and not an opponent within 10 yards.

He still couldn't hit the target, though, as he curled his effort high
and wide.

Spurs tested Blues keeper Petr Cech just once in the entire match,
when Steed Malbranque fired in a rasping volley just on the half-hour.

But the ball flew straight at Cech, who managed to bat it away and
protect Chelsea's early lead.

And what an opener it was. Right-back Juliano Belletti scored a
long-range screamer at Wigan in November. Until yesterday, that had
been regarded as a fluke.

The Brazilian proved otherwise at Stamford Bridge.

He was just inside the Spurs half alongside the centre circle when he
picked up a sideways pass from the fit-again Claude Makelele.

Belletti took a couple of paces forward and then hammered an
unstoppable rocket of a shot into the top corner.

Cerny couldn't get anywhere near it. Paul Robinson wouldn't have
either. It was a classic.

Tottenham never looked like coming back and Chelsea were always the
more threatening.

But Spurs boss Juande Ramos insisted: "It was a very evenly-balanced game.

"Chelsea grabbed two goals from outside the penalty area but in terms
of domination of the game, it wasn't reflected in the scoreline."

Ballack had a goal rightly ruled out for offside just before the break.

But midway through the second half, the home side had still failed to
add to Belletti's brilliant opener.

One chance, one mistake and Spurs could be level. That opportunity
came with less than 15 minutes to go.

Kevin-Prince Boateng crossed from the right, centre-half Alex missed
his header and Robbie Keane ghosted in at the far post yet failed to
apply the killer touch.

Tottenham's slim hopes of salvaging the day evaporated moments later
when a rejuvenated Wright-Phillips drilled Chelsea further in front.

Belletti's throw down the line released Joe Cole, who tormented
full-back Lee Young Pyo before squaring a low ball to Wright-Phillips.

The England winger reacted in an instant, flashing a first-time effort
beyond Cerny's dive for 2-0. A fine finish from a player brimming full
of confidence at last.

With three minutes to go, Wright-Phillips was put in the clear by Joe
Cole but dragged his shot wide.

Anelka hit the underside of the bar with a rising, close-range shot in
the 90th minute.

And in injury-time, Joe Cole forced Cerny into a fingertip save.

Anelka has insisted: "I want this to be my last club, I don't want to
go anywhere else any more."

Anyone reckon Berbatov is thinking along the same lines? Doubtful.

Berbatov trudged off at the end having had one meaningful moment.

Curling a rasping free kick just beyond the angle after a wreckless
foul on the edge of the box by Michael Ballack.