The Sunday Times
January 27, 2008

Thoroughbred Nicolas Anelka gets off the mark
Wigan 1 Chelsea 2Jonathan Northcroft at JJB stadium

HERE WAS the case against video evidence. That Chelsea, kings of the
cups, ruled in another knock-out tie is hardly a talking point, but
two incidents en route to them winning certainly were. The first was
the goal by which Nicolas Anelka, that £15m stopgap, set up the
victory, the second involved an off-the-ball incident between Michael
Brown and Claude Makelele that had Chelsea manager Avram Grant and his
minions shooting to their feet as if an electric current had just
passed through their seats. Wigan's outrage concerning the first
instance matched Chelsea's over the second, though action replays,
both times, provided confusion, not clarification.

The one certain thing about Anelka's goal was that his finish was that
of a thoroughbred. On a day when the defending was good and the pitch
as rutted as a corrugated iron roof, chances were difficult to create
and what was needed were ruthless scorers. Anelka, filling in for
Didier Drogba and already looking brilliant business by Grant, again
proved to be one. Juliano Belletti lofted a pass and Anelka ran beyond
Wigan's backline to beat Chris Kirkland to the ball. On the volley and
with a beautifully judged touch he toed it past the goalkeeper, but
had he been offside? The pictures appeared to show that he was level
with Paul Scharner, the last defender, and therefore legal and Steve
Bruce did not demur. But the cameras were at the wrong angle to be
conclusive. Scharner was probably wrong to berate the linesman, but it
was just possible that he was not.

That made it 1-0 to Chelsea, which became 2-0 when Shaun
Wright-Phillips converted a breakaway and 2-1 thanks to Antoine
Sibierski's late but brilliant riposte. Brown and Makelele tangled
just after Anelka scored. The Wigan midfielder moved to block off his
opponent as Chelsea were moving upfield. Brown put an arm out and the
Frenchman ran into it, taking a blow on the chin, but was Brown's
action a deliberate effort to elbow someone or was the contact
acciden-tal? Once more, replays left matters open to interpretation.
Why ask the cameras questions if they cannot provide answers? The
brigade who want football to become like an American sport, with
constant interruptions so TV can pass judgement, should think
carefully. Grant seemed a little embarrassed, in hindsight, at how his
bench had reacted over Makelele, claiming it was because Uriah Rennie,
the referee, did not stop the game quickly and they were concerned
Makelele might have sustained an injury, having just returned from
nasal surgery.

"There was no incident as far as I'm concerned. I asked everyone on
their bench individually: did you see it? None of them had," Bruce
scoffed. As for Anelka's goal, his opinion was "he wasn't offside. For
three days we'd been talking about how Anelka always plays on the
shoulder of the last defender, always on the brink of offside and it
was our own fault. You can't take risks with him".

Where television's influence was discernable and definitive was in the
size of the crowd.

Even by Wigan's standards, 14,166 was poor given admission prices were
reduced and the FA Cup holders were in town. The lack of interest was
a pity as for once two Premier League managers treated a cup tie with
absolute seriousness. Bruce and Grant used their strongest XIs, Grant
declining to rest any of the side who overcame Everton in Wednesday's
Carling Cup semi-final.

Wigan limited Chelsea through their workrate and pressing. While Grant
may have had Shaun Wright-Phillips in the hole and Joe Cole pushed so
far up he was sometimes Anelka's strike partner, but his players never
forgot their defensive duties.

How Bruce needs his new arrival, Marlon King, because Emile Heskey had
to shoulder too far much in Wigan's attack. Until Anelka scored,
Heskey had produced the most penetrating moment, turning Alex and
angling a pass through to Mar-cus Bent, who reacted slowly and Wayne
Bridge cleared. At 1-0 down, Bruce brought on Jason Koumas and
Sibierski in search of greater creativity and the pair combined for a
glorious goal, Sibierski swivelling and beating Petr Cech with a
volley.

It would have been worthy of saving any game but this was now beyond
Wigan. As Wigan pressed at 1-0, Anelka found Wright-Phillips after
Kevin Kilbane's slip and he converted calmly. Three goals, two
controversies, one winner - and no help from the TV cameras.

Player ratings: Wigan: Kirkland 6, Melchiot 7, Bramble 6, Scharner 6,
Kilbane 6, Valencia 7, Brown 6, Palacios 7 (Sibierski 77min), Taylor 6
(Koumas 58min, 6), Heskey 7 (Aghahowa 84min), Bent 5

Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 7, Alex 6, Carvalho 7, Bridge 7, Sidwell 6,
Makelele 6, Cole 6, Wright-Phillips 6, Malouda 5 (Ferreira 80min),
Anelka 7 (Pizarro 90min)

Star man: Wilson Palacios (Wigan)

Scorers: Wigan: Sibierski 87

Chelsea: Anelka 53, Wright-Phillips 82

Yellow cards: Wigan: Bramble, Scharner, Palacios, Aghahowa

Chelsea: Alex, Carvalho

Referee: U Rennie

Attendance: 14,166
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Telegraph:

Nicolas Anelka keeps Chelsea's double alive
By William Johnson at the JJB Stadium

Wigan (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 2

Nicolas Anelka, after several agonising near misses since his recent
£15 million transfer from Bolton, finally opened his Chelsea account
and then set up the clinching second for Shaun Wright-Phillips against
Wigan to keep Avram Grant's team on course for a Wembley cup double.

Anelka, predatory in the North West playing at Liverpool, Manchester
City and Bolton, broke the deadlock eight minutes into the second half
of what had been until then a desperately disappointing tie which only
belatedly rose to the standard expected of one of the plums selected
for live television.

The French striker displayed all the sharpness he showed as an Arsenal
youngster to propel the holders into the last 16. Firstly, he was
alert to time his darting run on to Juliano Belletti's chip to meet it
on the volley just before the advancing Chris Kirkland to steer the
ball into an unguarded net. He then showed commendable unselfishness
by refusing the chance of a second for himself by teeing up
Wright-Phillips for a much simpler finish - a tap-in which reduced the
ensuing goal of the match from Wigan substitute Antoine Sibierski to
consolation status.

"Anelka is a proven striker and he showed his class today," Grant
said. "We need him more than ever at the moment because we are short
of players in attack."

Anelka's goal rescued a contest which had threatened to be the dampest
of squibs. Wigan's defenders felt aggrieved that he was allowed to
execute a clinical finish and Paul Scharner sprinted 40 yards to make
the assistant referee aware of his complaint - an over-reaction which
brought a yellow card.

The official had been spot on and a disappointed Wigan manager Steve
Bruce agreed by suggesting his players' attempts to lay the offside
trip had cost them dearly.

Eight minutes from time Anelka was through again after eluding the
challenge of Kevin Kilbane to burst clear and tee up Wright-Phillips
10 yards out to the delight of the Chelsea faithful who were in the
area on cup duty for the second time in four days, having watched them
account for Everton in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.

Chelsea deserved their latest success under the astute guidance of
Grant, who is steadily reducing his predecessor Jose Mourinho to a
distant memory.

They were hardly threatened by hosts whose priority is Premiership
survival until Sibierski chested the ball down just outside the
penalty area and unleashed a terrific shot on the turn.

Until then, Cech was called into action only twice, to save with his
feet from Emile Heskey and then gather a Sharner free kick, but he was
almost beaten a second time in stoppage time when Marcus Bent struck
the top of the crossbar with a fierce drive from a tight angle.

The excitement of the second half contrasted sharply with a first
which would have stretched the patience of the armchair audience at
tea time and it was a hard slog for those who occupied the half-full
JJB Stadium as they watched the highly paid players from both teams
struggle to cope with a pitch not conducive to producing flowing
football.

If Joe Cole, whose goal secured Chelsea's Carling Cup final place, had
scored after 47 seconds with his side's best chance of that opening
period it might have turned into a more appealing spectacle.

Similarly, if Bent had profited from his Wigan strike partner Emile
Heskey's splendid through ball at the other end and not allowed Wayne
Bridge to recover and clear, his side might have forced the holders
out of their comfort zone.

Man of the match
Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
Great goal and unselfish lay-off for the winner.



Match details

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Kilbane, Valencia,
Brown, Palacios, Taylor, Bent, Heskey
Booked: Bramble, Scharner, Palacios, Aghahowa.
Subs: Sibierski, Koumas, Aghahowa
Chelsea: Cech, Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge, Malouda, Makelele,
Sidwell, Wright-Phillips, Joe Cole, Anelka
Booked: Alex, Carvalho.
Goals: Anelka 53, Wright-Phillips 82.
Subs: Ferreira, Pizarro
Referee: Uriah Rennie
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Independent:

Wigan Athletic 1 Chelsea 2: Anelka delivers knockout punch
Dave Hadfield at the JJB Stadium
Sunday, 27 January 2008


Nicholas Anelka's first goal for Chelsea set up the Carling Cup
finalists for progress on another front. Anelka broke his duck with a
brilliantly taken if hotly disputed goal after 53 minutes of an
undistinguished FA Cup fourth-round tie.

He then turned unselfish provider eight minutes from the end to
present Shaun Wright-Phillips with his side's second, effectively
settling a match which Chelsea had always struggled to dominate.

In the time remaining, the Wigan substitute Antoine Sibierski pulled
one back when he took the ball on his chest and volleyed in on the
turn and Marcus Bent skimmed the bar when threatening an equaliser. In
the final analysis, however, Chelsea and Anelka had done just enough
to stay in the running for four trophies.

"One goal and one assist," said Anelka's manager Avram Grant about his
most eye-catching contribution so far. "He was very, very good today
and it's not easy to play football on this pitch."

The Frenchman made it look easy enough when he timed his run to
perfection to claim his first strike for his new club. Ryan Taylor,
who had been brought in by Wigan for the transferred Denny Landzaat,
lost possession in midfield and Juliano Belletti played in what looked
merely a hopeful long ball.

Anelka, lurking just onside, arrived in time to meet the ball and
guide it over the head of the advancing Chris Kirkland. Paul Scharner
was booked for leading the protests that insisted he had been offside,
but replays suggested that he had been level with the last man,
Scharner himself, at worst and had thus got it exactly right. That was
the view of the Wigan manager, Steve Bruce. "If we've tried to play
offside, we're at fault," he said. "You can't take that risk with
someone like Anelka.

"It's the one thing we've talked about for the last three days. He's
always on your shoulder, always on the verge of being offside. It's
another individual error and it's cost us the game."

It did not help their cause that Wigan were opened up so easily for a
second. Again it was an optimistic long punt that paved the way, this
time from the substitute, Paulo Ferreira. Anelka got rid of his
markers rather too easily and rolled the ball square to give
Wright-Phillips a tap-in when he could probably have scored himself.

Wigan's surge came too late, but they had been the better side for the
middle section of a game in which the football never quite mastered
the deteriorating playing surface.

Chelsea had started brightly enough, with Joe Cole missing a
reasonable chance in the first minute, but gradually the game came to
be played more and more in the air. The major excitement came when
both benches got into a heated debate after Michael Brown appeared to
floor Claude Makelele with a stray arm.

Grant and Bruce yelled across the no-man's land separating the
technical areas, but the Chelsea manager explained afterwards that he
had not seen the incident and was angry because Uriah Rennie was
allowing play to go on while Makelele was injured on the ground.

It was the end of a very satisfactory week for Chelsea, especially in
view of how depleted their squad is at the moment.

"This week has told me what I thought before," said Grant. "The
players have developed very well in the last two or three months."

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Mail:

Anelka bridges Chelsea class gap at Wigan
Wigan 1 Chelsea 2

By JOE BERNSTEIN

Nicolas Anelka showed why Chelsea invested £15million in him as he
kept the London club in the running for four competitions.

Anelka's debut goal for his new club was a beauty, quite out of
keeping with the rest of an awful game on an awful pitch. For good
measure, he set up a late second for Shaun Wright- Phillips — and even
displayed a broad smile no one expected from a player who used to have
a sulky image.

The FA Cup-holders fancy a double return to Wembley, having already
booked their place in the Carling Cup final, and this was Avram
Grant's side's eighth win in a row.

Even more impressive is the fact that Chelsea won yesterday without
nine key players. Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and
Salomon Kalou are on African Cup of Nations duty, while John Terry,
Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko are injured and
Ashley Cole was absent after a week in which there have been lurid
allegations regarding his private life.

Without so many big players, Grant needed his first big-money signing
to shine. Anelka did not let him down. The former Arsenal, Real Madrid
and Liverpool striker, taken from Bolton during the transfer window,
showed his class with the crucial opening goal after 53 minutes.

Juliano Belletti chipped a 60-yard pass with backswing and Anelka's
clever run saw him advance past Titus Bramble from an onside position.
If that was good, the finish was truly great. The France striker noted
Chris Kirkland rushing out from goal and deftly extended his right leg
to divert the ball past him as it dropped over his shoulder.

"Nicolas played very well on a pitch that wasn't easy and shouldn't be
allowed at a Premier League club," said Grant. "He scored one goal and
made one assist. But he is a proven striker. I think my judgment on
him is right, not only because of this game."

Wigan manager Steve Bruce complained: "We spoke for three days about
Anelka playing on the shoulder of the last defender — and we still let
him do it.

"Chelsea's biggest strength remains their resilience. Alex has come in
and the greatest thing you can say is that John Terry hasn't been
missed."

Anelka's moment of class separated Chelsea from Bruce's honest
grafters. The Wigan boss won the FA Cup twice as a player with
Manchester United but is unlikely to get to Wembley as a manager
unless he upgrades his squad.

Wigan huffed and puffed but were always hanging on. The dreadful pitch
restricted Chelsea's chances to a curled effort from Joe Cole and a
penalty appeal after Anelka went down when challenged by Kevin
Kilbane.

At least Bruce can unveil new striker Marlon King for Tuesday's
relegation six-pointer against Middlesbrough, although another
signing, full-back Erik Edman, has suffered a calf injury.

Anelka's strike effectively settled the tie. Wigan had a chance to
level moments after they fell behind, but Emile Heskey slammed his
shot into Petr Cech's midriff.

The dugouts shouted and glared at each other when Michael Brown
challenged Claude Makelele with a forearm and the Frenchman went down
clutching his face, but the Wigan midfielder escaped any punishment.

Grant said: "I was only concerned because I thought it might be a head
injury and the referee should stop play." But Bruce insisted: "There
was no incident, handbags. I asked every one of their bench if they
had seen what happened and none of them had."

Chelsea's second goal arrived seven minutes from time. Anelka shook
off Kilbane and unselfishly squared to Shaun Wright-Phillips to slot
home.

Antoine Sibierski hooked in a consolation strike three minutes from
time and there was some late excitement when Marcus Bent skimmed the
top of the crossbar in injury-time.

But Chelsea march on. Grant may not have the charisma of the Special
One, but his record is beginning to look pretty special.

"We have developed spirit in our play over the last three months," he
said. "We have so many players missing but Steve Sidwell, Shaun and
others have come in and done a great job."

As for Bruce, the move from Birmingham seems to have stopped his
serial whingeing. His view of the JJB pitch? "It's difficult. The
rugby league starts in two weeks. That's really going to help!"

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Observer:

Anelka finds welcome finesse in the gloom


Paul Wilson at the JJB Stadium
Sunday January 27, 2008
The Observer


A Chelsea spokesman before the game said Ashley Cole was unavailable.
Then Avram Grant said afterwards he was available, but he thought
Wayne Bridge deserved a run. One way or another, Cole's availability
has been the story of the week.
Sorry about the cheap gags, but you really don't want to know too much
about the game, which was the sort of Cup tie that gives the BBC a bad
name for screening it when there was a seven-goal thriller on offer at
Anfield.

Perhaps that is a little unfair. Wigan made the last few minutes
moderately exciting and there were three goals by the end, the first
and last both excellent. There was also a masterful contribution from
Nicolas Anelka, who scored his first Chelsea goal, made another and
added some much needed finesse to another impressively workmanlike win
by a team who have won eight in a row.
'I can only admire Chelsea's resilience,' Steve Bruce said. 'They have
lost all those players and switched manager and they are as hard to
beat as ever. Nothing has changed. I can only commend them.'

Chelsea passed their way around Wigan easily enough, it was the
surface they found difficult to master. Lumpy, bald in places and
uneven of bounce everywhere, the pitch confounded both teams' attempts
at control and the Warriors have not started playing rugby on it yet.

Add in a blustery wind and the fact that Chelsea had played in midweek
and you could say the conditions were ripe for an upset, though Wigan
did not seem to possess Havant & Waterlooville's have-a-go attitude.
Their defence was split open after barely a minute, only for Joe Cole
to shoot wastefully wide when he had effortlessly rounded the last
defender. Then again, Cole's shot might have been a miscue caused by
one of a million bobbles. They might also explain why Kevin Kilbane
soon overhit a back-pass to concede a corner and why Shaun
Wright-Phillips sent a cross straight into the crowd.

Mainly due to Kilbane surviving an optimistic penalty appeal from
Anelka, the home side survived a shaky first few minutes, finding to
their relief that Chelsea could not keep up their initial pressure.
Marcus Bent was given space and a clear sight of goal from Emile
Heskey's pass, but waited too long to shoot and was brushed off the
ball by Wayne Bridge. Then Michael Brown had a chance to slip a ball
through to Bent but opted to crash into Alex instead, conning Uriah
Rennie into booking the Chelsea player.

Someone hit the bar at the first attempt during the half-time
entertainment, and the host was not lying when he said it produced the
biggest cheer of the night. So it was something of a relief when
Anelka stole in at the start of the second half to stun Wigan, since
the prospect of a replay was too numbingly awful to imagine.

The goal was Anelka at his lethal best. Paul Scharner was booked for
furiously protesting that Anelka had strayed offside, though replays
suggested he had timed his run to perfection as Juliano Belletti
launched his pass over the defence. While Scharner and Titus Bramble
maintained their line expecting Chris Kirkland to collect the ball,
Anelka simply ran in behind them to scoop the ball over the goalkeeper
at the last moment. 'It wasn't offside, it was our individual error,'
Bruce admitted. 'You can't take a chance with Anelka, he's always on
your shoulder, and we have spent most of the week working on that. I
thought we had a chance in this Cup tie, but we made mistakes.'

The game took an unsavoury turn when Brown felled an unsuspecting
Claude Makelele with an elbow to the face. The incident occurred when
the ball was elsewhere, so Rennie could not be blamed for missing it,
though he must have been aware something serious had taken place as
the technical area was suddenly filled with men gesticulating angrily.
Brown may face retrospective disciplinary action once the video has
been reviewed, though Grant accepted the contact might have been
accidental and said the main concern of his bench was that the referee
let the play go on with Makelele lying on the floor.

Wigan had their moments after going behind, Petr Cech producing a good
save to deny Heskey from close range then a more routine one to
prevent Scharner equalising from a free-kick, though as plenty more
teams have discovered this season Chelsea are not easy to break down.
The Cup holders added a second goal eight minutes from time just to
confirm their superiority, Anelka chasing down another long ball and
beating an out-of-position Kilbane before rolling a pass across the
face of goal for Wright-Phillips to finish.

The home fans who left after that will have missed a late consolation
goal, a terrific shot on the turn from Antoine Sibierski on the edge
of the area and arguably the game's best strike. It would have graced
Wembley, but that will not be happening, thank goodness, despite Bent
hitting the bar in stoppage time. Chelsea versus Manchester United was
bad enough.

Man of the match

Nicolas Anelka Just what you expect from a £15m signing. Anelka ran
cleverly, took his goal well just after half time and made another for
Shaun Wright-Phillips near the end. Altogether he was too much for the
Wigan defence to handle.

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