The Times

Chelsea maintain 100 per cent start to Premier League season

Fulham 0 Chelsea 2

Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent



In terms of euphoria and intensity, the celebrations could not begin
to match those down the Embankment and over the river at the Brit
Oval, but, as a glorious afternoon turned to a balmy evening in
London, there was a growing feeling in the pubs around Craven Cottage,
too, that this might be 2005 all over again.

As news filtered through in the final moments of this one-sided West
London derby that England’s cricketers had regained the Ashes, there
were quaint, if muted, chants of “Eng-er-lund” and even God Save the
Queen, but, by the time the referee blew his whistle and John Terry
and his victorious team-mates marched towards the Putney End in
celebration, the focus of the Chelsea supporters was firmly on the
Barclays Premier League title.

With the league campaign barely a week old, this is no time to be
jumping to conclusions about any team’s prospects, good or bad, but
there is something about Chelsea’s manner that will inspire confidence
among their supporters and at least trepidation among their rivals.

Yes, the same was said in the early stages of last season, when Luiz
Felipe Scolari briefly had them playing the kind of football that
Roman Abramovich envisaged when he first dreamt of Chelsea as
“Barcelona in blue shirts”. However, under Carlo Ancelotti, they look
like they mean business, building on the kind of firm foundations that
his predecessor, now in charge of Bunyodkor, in Uzbekistan, did not
begin to establish.

With every game that goes by, the dire final weeks of the Scolari
regime look more like a trick of the imagination. Scolari refused to
play Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in tandem, but Ancelotti, in
almost no time, has got them dovetailing beautifully.

Both scored a goal here to earn a deserved victory over an organised
but uninspired Fulham, and Ancelotti was left drooling over how they
set each other up for two extremely well-worked goals: Anelka doing
the spadework for Drogba in the 39th minute before the compliment was
returned with 14 minutes remaining.

“I was sure that they [Drogba and Anelka] could play together,”
Ancelotti said. “They are fantastic strikers. They have different
qualities, but I am happy because with the first goal Anelka made a
fantastic pass to Drogba and then for the second goal Drogba made a
fantastic pass to Anelka. It depends on the system a coach wants to
use on the pitch, but Nicolas is a very complete striker.”

Anelka a complete striker? His former colleagues at Manchester City
and Bolton Wanderers might disagree, but, at the age of 30, he has
developed an appreciation of his team-mates and of his role. Here it
was slightly different, dropping into a deeper position behind Drogba
when Chelsea did not have the ball, but he adapted to it superbly —
the result, Ancelotti said, adding another feather to his cap, of five
days’ intensive work on the training ground.

This was not quite Chelsea at their marauding best, but they had some
of the steamroller-like qualities that characterised their best
moments when cruising to their first league title under José Mourinho
in 2004-05. This team have a different shape — playing almost
exclusively through the middle, whereas Mourinho’s team, in that first
season at least, relied heavily on the wing play of Damien Duff and
Arjen Robben — but, if anything, the modern version have a stronger
spine, with Drogba a far more dominant centre forward.

Previous visits to Craven Cottage have brought all kinds of results in
recent seasons, but here Chelsea barely gave Roy Hodgson’s team a
glimmer of hope. Clinton Dempsey, turning sharply away from Ricardo
Carvalho, had a glorious chance to open the scoring in the second
minute, but, with more time than perhaps he realised, he shot high and
wide. With Terry and — it should be noted — Ashley Cole in dominant
form, Fulham did not get a real look-in after that.

The goals were similar in their conception, both coming from Fulham
mistakes, after which Chelsea passed methodically but purposefully
through the middle of the pitch before the final Anelka-Drogba
combination. For the first, the ball was passed between Carvalho and
Michael Ballack to Frank Lampard, who slipped away from Dickson Etuhu
and played the ball through to Anelka, who in turn sent Drogba clear.
Mark Schwarzer came out of his goal, but Drogba finished calmly inside
the near post.

For the second, Drogba controlled a high ball into the path of Ballack
and sped towards goal in anticipation of the return. Drogba then
clipped the ball between Fulham’s central defenders, allowing Anelka
to prove that he retains something of the pace that made him such a
fearsome proposition in his teens. The France forward skipped around
Schwarzer’s challenge and nonchalantly rolled the ball into the net.
Job done.

Hodgson was honest enough to concede that Fulham had not come close to
threatening Chelsea after falling behind, with Duff fading after
making an encouraging start on his debut against his former club, but
much of that was because of the way Chelsea defended. This was
Chelsea’s first clean sheet under Ancelotti and, while Carvalho had
the odd uncomfortable moment against Dempsey, it was ultimately
achieved with ease. As an Italian, Ancelotti will of course be happier
at that than anything else.

Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 6 J Paintsil 7 A Hughes 6 B Hangeland 6 P
Konchesky 5 Z Gera 5 D Etuhu 6 D Murphy 6 D Duff 5 C Dempsey 6 R
Zamora 4 Substitutes: D Kamara 4 (for Gera, 64min), C Baird 4 (for
Murphy, 70), E Nevland (for Zamora, 75).Not used: P Zuberbühler, S
Kelly, B H Riise, Seol Ki Hyeon. Next: Aston Villa (a).

Chelsea (4-3-1-2): P Cech 6 J Bosingwa 7 R Carvalho 6 J Terry 8 A Cole
8 M Ballack 7 J O Mikel 7 F Malouda 7 F Lampard 7 N Anelka 8 D Drogba
8 Substitutes: Deco (for Lampard, 81min), S Hutchinson (for Bosingwa,
86). Not used: R Turnbull, M Essien, B Ivanovic, S Kalou, D Sturridge.
Next: Burnley (h).

Referee: A Marriner Attendance: 25,404



-------------------------------------------



Telegraph:


Fulham 0 Chelsea 2:

Goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka have moved Chelsea into
second place in the Premier League as they enjoyed a comfortable win
over neighbours Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Drogba put Chelsea in front when he latched onto an Anelka pass to
score in the 38th minute.

The Ivory Coast striker then turned provider in the 76th minute as he
put Anelka through for Chelsea's second to preserve their 100 per cent
start to the season.

Fulham immediately took the game to their neighbours and Clint Dempsey
should have done better when he wriggled free of the Chelsea defence
in the opening minute.

However, the American striker, playing in a more forward role in the
absence of injured Andrew Johnson, shot high over the bar.

Chelsea wasted a chance to punish Fulham in the 12th minute when
Drogba was brought down on the edge of the penalty area by Fulham
captain Danny Murphy.

Michael Ballack elected to try his luck with the free-kick from
25-yards out in a central position but put his effort a yard over the
bar.

Chelsea continued to press for an opening goal but their final ball
was a disappointment on numerous occasions.

Captain John Terry was an example of their growing frustration when he
tried his luck from 25 yards - but it soared over the bar.

Chelsea, though, finally broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when a
fine three-man move left Fulham floored.

Frank Lampard slipped the ball through to Anelka, who in turn put
Drogba in the clear with a clever pass.

The Ivory Coast international made no mistake as he slipped the ball
beyond the advancing Mark Schwarzer for his third goal of the season.

It was just reward for Chelsea's first-half domination and a perfect
example of how to pass the ball through an opposing defence.

Drogba managed to get clear of the Fulham defence again moments later
but he was ruled marginally offside.

Fulham almost fluked an equaliser in the 50th minute when Murphy's
deep cross into the penalty area was headed over his own goal by
Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho.

But Chelsea's domination was soon restored and Drogba almost grabbed a
second in the 54th minute when he latched onto a clever lob by Anelka.

This time, however, the Ivory Coast striker was denied at the second
attempt by Australian keeper Schwarzer.

Chelsea went two in front in the 76th minute when Drogba turned
supplier for Anelka.

The France international rounded Schwarzer and coolly slotted the ball
home to give Chelsea all three points.




----------------------------------------------


Mail:


Fulham 0 Chelsea 2:

Carlo's cruise - another easy ride for Blues' new boss


Not every Chelsea team are having such an easy ride this season, if
the events at their Cobham training ground are anything to go by.
While the reserves found themselves caught up in a karate kicking
scrap in midweek, the first team have so far encountered no meaningful
resistance, brushing aside their nearest neighbours here in a Barclays
Premier League contest that produced not a single booking.
For Carlo Ancelotti, it has been a relatively gentle introduction to
English football. He started with Hull, followed that with a trip to
Sunderland and has now continued what amounts to a perfect start here
at Craven Cottage.
By the time Burnley have been to Stamford Bridge and he has sampled
the delights of Stoke, the Italian might be wondering what all the
fuss is about. The toughest league in the world? Not on the evidence
that has been presented to the Italian.
But here's the thing: the success Ancelotti has tasted to date is not
just down to the obvious flaws in the opposition. It owes as much to
the quality of a Chelsea side looking every bit as formidable as they
were under Jose Mourinho.


Chelsea have, of course, been here before. Luiz Felipe Scolari started
with 20 points from a possible 24 last season before the team began to
stutter and Roman Abramovich hit the panic button.
But Ancelotti appears to have continued where Scolari's interim
successor Guus Hiddink left off and turned Chelsea into a side who
look capable of just about anything this season.
They are a team boasting that deadly combination of fluency and
athleticism which, in the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, made them so
impressively consistent when they won consecutive titles under the
self-anointed Special One.
While we will get a more accurate measure of their ability when they
meet Tottenham at Stamford Bridge next month, the echoes of their time
under Mourinho were inescapable yesterday.

They were so superior to their hosts. Strong, powerful and fast, they
cut through Fulham's defence with terrific one-touch football and
scored excellent goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.
Can they play together? Definitely. Asked what Chelsea's secret is
this season, John Terry noted the importance of keeping the core of
the team together in a transfer window that has seen their main rivals
haemorrhaging top players.
'Didier has been our best signing of the summer,' said the captain,
and convincing Drogba to stay, when it seemed he was intent on
leaving, and sign a new contract has been hugely important.
As he again demonstrated yesterday, Drogba is still among the finest
strikers in the world - an immense athlete and, as Terry knows only
too well after encountering him a million times on the training pitch,
'unplayable' when he performs like this.
His speed and his finishing ability enabled him to open the scoring
six minutes before the interval, timing his run to perfection and
beating Fulham's offside trap before guiding his shot past Mark
Schwarzer.
Anelka had provided the perfectly-weighted pass that allowed Drogba to
score and he returned the favour in the 77th minute when Anelka put
the points beyond Fulham's reach.

It was a move that was breathtaking in its execution, started at one
end of the field by Petr Cech and finished as quickly, seemingly, as
it would have taken Usain Bolt to cover the distance.
The balled moved from Cech to Ricardo Carvalho, Drogba, Michael
Ballack, Drogba and then Anelka, who accelerated past Schwarzer before
scoring into an empty net. Again the final ball was terrific, Anelka
and Drogba showing Ancelotti just how effective a partnership they
could become. Fulham offered little in response.

The absence of Andy Johnson weakened their attack, while an injury to
Danny Murphy midway through the second half made it that much more
difficult for Roy Hodgson's side to cope with Chelsea's
physically-imposing midfield, so dominant even without the rested
Michael Essien.
If Ancelotti left Craven Cottage with any concerns, they might have
centred on his deployment of Frank Lampard. The England midfielder
says he is comfortable playing in a more advanced role and he still
had a decent game yesterday. But is he as influential as he has been
in the deeper position he has occupied in previous seasons? So far it
would seem not.
The answer might be to play with less rigidity. Ancelotti will not
want to make too many changes when his team has started so well. Even
Florent Malouda is performing with consistency and emphasising the
real strength in depth Chelsea now possess.
Yesterday, as well as Essien, they had Deco, Salomon Kalou and Daniel
Sturridge on the bench and they still have Yuri Zhirkov and Joe Cole
to return from injury. No wonder Ancelotti remains calm about the
club's failure to secure so many of their transfer targets.



----------------------------------------------


Independent:


Drogba puts Chelsea in total control

Fulham 0 Chelsea 2

By Sam Wallace


Sometimes it is the power of Didier Drogba that wins Chelsea games,
sometimes it is his pace. Yesterday, Fulham just seemed to capitulate
on the basis of his reputation alone. This was the old warhorse at his
very best, sweeping aside a defence, winning a game, all on his own.

Drogba scored the first, Nicolas Anelka the second and the pair of
them were just too much to handle for a woeful Fulham. The biggest
cheer of the day from the home fans was for England's victory in the
Ashes, hastily announced at the end of the game. This was a good day
to bury bad news and for Fulham there was lots of it.

For Carlo Ancelotti, with three victories in his first three games,
this is turning into a dream start, although previous Chelsea managers
have seen such dreams become cold-sweat nightmares by January. In the
sunshine, with their travelling fans buoyant, Chelsea swept the other
club in Fulham away just as aggressively as they did in the glory
years under Jose Mourinho.

John Terry said afterwards that Chelsea have the advantage over the
rest of the big four. "I'm delighted we kept our squad together unlike
the other two," said the Chelsea captain, which was a bit rich coming
from the man who did so little to discourage the intense interest from
Manchester City this summer. By the "two" he could easily mean any
pair from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool but you get his
point.

Ancelotti finds himself in the unusual position of being second place
in the Premier League only to Tottenham Hotspur, which is not
something any Chelsea manager in recent history has experienced. "It
is a great start," he said. "We wanted to do this. It's a good moment
for the team. We have trust in our potential. It's a very good moment.
The most important thing is that the players have good motivation."

Last season it took Drogba until 26 December to score his first goal
in the Premier League. This time round he has three already and has
been unplayable at times. Yesterday the striker said that there was
"never any doubt" that he and Anelka could play together. "We are
intelligent people and we know how to play together. We just need some
time."

For now, Ancelotti is happy to look like the genius who has managed to
get two of the moodiest strikers around to work together. He said
yesterday: "I was sure the two of them could play together. They are
fantastic strikers. They have different qualities: Anelka made a
fantastic pass to Drogba for the first goal and Drogba made the second
for Anelka."

Before anyone gets too carried away, Chelsea under Ancelotti are
fundamentally no different in formation to Chelsea under Guus Hiddink,
Scolari or Avram Grant: they have all lined up the team in the 4-1-4-1
formation created by Jose Mourinho. There has been the occasional
attempt to adapt the system, some with more success than others, but
Ancelotti is showing little chance of deviating too radically.

Anelka had started nominally on the right side of midfield yesterday
which Ancelotti said he changed at half-time by encouraging Anelka to
push on and support Drogba in a variation on 4-1-4-1. It looked good
when they went forward but with this system there is the nagging sense
that with Anelka pushed forward, Chelsea's right side looks a bit
under-clubbed.

Anelka's pass was the one that sent Drogba free of the Fulham
back-line in the 39th minute, timing his run beautifully to get away
from a home defence that looked ponderous. The Chelsea striker does
that so well, and he finished even better, rolling the ball past Mark
Schwarzer.

Ancelotti's team were completely dominant save for one period before
their first goal when Fulham actually looked confident enough to
emerge from their own half and apply some pressure. Otherwise they
looked star-struck in the presence of their illustrious neighbours.

The dissatisfaction amid the Fulham support at their team's general
lethargy found its focus with Zoltan Gera who was having a dreadful
time of it on the right side of midfield. One too many bad touches and
the groans turned to outright hostility. The placid folk from down by
the Thames have got it in for Gera and there were cheers when he was
substituted.

Drogba made the second goal exquisitely, taking the ball on his chest
before slipping it through to Anelka. He walked the ball around
Schwarzer for the perfect finish and the game was over with time to
spare.

Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager, bemoaned Jonathan Greening's agent
Mel Stein taking so long on Friday to negotiate his fee that the
midfielder on loan from West Bromwich Albion was not registered in
time to play yesterday. Greening cannot come soon enough with Danny
Murphy injured yesterday. The boos for Fulham from their fans at
full-time showed the ludicrously-inflated expectation that last year's
seventh place has encouraged

Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky; Gera
(Kamara, 62), Etuhu, Murphy (Baird, 70), Duff; Zamora (Nevland, 75),
Dempsey. Substitutes not used: Zuberbuhler (gk), Kelly, Seol, Riise.

Chelsea (4-1-3-2): Cech; Bosingwa (Hutchinson, 82), Carvalho, Terry, A
Cole; Mikel; Ballack, Lampard (Deco, 81), Malouda; Drogba, Anelka.
Substitutes not used: Turnbull (gk), Ivanovic, Essien, Kalou,
Sturridge.

Referee: A Marriner (West Midlands)

Man of the match: Drogba

Attendance: 25,404


----------------------------------------------------


Guardian:


Drogba makes the difference as Chelsea play it by numbers

Fulham 0
Chelsea 2 Drogba 39, Anelka 76

Kevin McCarra at Craven Cottage

Chelsea's opener will be disputed, but there is no questioning the
outcome. If Didier Drogba was offside when he finished off a fine move
six minutes from the interval, the margin was too fine for any Fulham
player to launch into furious dissent. Not long afterwards, another
tight call went against the Ivorian.

The first goal had been smooth. Frank Lampard fed Nicolas Anelka on
the right and his pass set up Drogba to shoot low into the far corner
of the net. Although Anelka eventually added a second, this was a
somewhat dull contest as Chelsea took great care in their work. With a
first clean sheet on his record, Carlo Ancelotti will approve.

In the first half there might as well have been some sort of agreement
about the respective responsibilities. Fulham were ready to defend at
length and the visitors were mostly preoccupied with probing attacks.
The contrast was unavoidable. Fulham's means are limited and now they
are obliged to do without their striker Andrew Johnson, who will be
out for two months with a shoulder injury.

It was no surprise to find the Craven Cottage manager Roy Hodgson, in
his programme notes, again decrying the challenge, during Thursday's
Europa League qualifier with Amkar Perm, that did the damage. Given
Fulham's unhappy record, which now extends to one win in the last 26
meetings with Chelsea, the loss of Johnson may really be more telling
against lesser opponents.

Hodgson's side lacked the means to keep the match in the balance. In
the 76th minute, Drogba delivered a sharp pass and Anelka rounded the
goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer before easing the ball into the net.




----------------------------------------------------



Sun:


Fulham 0 Chelsea 2


CARLO ANCELOTTI insists he will keep on tinkering with his Chelsea
squad after watching them despatch west London neighbours Fulham 2-0
with consummate ease.
Chelsea made four changes from the side that defeated Sunderland last
Tuesday but it made little difference to the cohesion as goals from
Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka fired them to a 2-0 victory at Craven
Cottage.

Ancelotti left midfielders Deco and Michael Essien on the bench along
with centre-half Branislav Ivanovic and striker Salomon Kalou and
promised that his rotation policy will continue.

"Deco was out and Essien was out for this game," said Ancelotti. "But
it was a good line-up. Essien has played all the games so far, so I
wanted to give him a rest.

"He will play the next game. We have to follow this line."

Ancelotti was also left drooling at the Drogba-Anelka combination in attack.

The pair were untouchable against the Cottagers even though Anelka was
playing in behind lone striker Drogba instead of alongside him.

They both created goals for each other and Fulham had no answer to
their power, pace and trickery.

"I am sure they can play together because they are fantastic strikers
and have different qualities," said Ancelotti.

"For the first goal, Nicolas put a fantastic pass through for Didier
and for the second goal, Didier put a fantastic pass through for
Nicolas. They did a very good job together.

"Nicolas is a very complete striker. He can play in the centre and on
the right and left, he can play behind the striker.

"Our idea today for Nicolas was that he would stay a little bit behind Didier.

In the first-half he played a little bit on the right and our play was
not so good but it improved in the second half because he took a
position more in the centre."

Chelsea are now second in the Barclays Premier League with a 100%
record from three games and Ancelotti admitted it had been the perfect
start to his reign at Stamford Bridge.

"It is a great start," said Ancelotti. "We wanted to do this. It is a
good moment for the team. We have to maintain this now.

"The players have a good motivation and no problems. It is very good.

"It is the first time we have not conceded and that is good. The
defensive line played very well. They had very good concentration and
movement. They played a fantastic match."

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson accepted that Chelsea had been the better side
and revealed how Jonathan Greening's agent prevented him from signing
in time to play any part in the game.

Greening has joined the club on a season-long loan from West Bromwich
Albion but Hodgson said the deal was held-up for six hours while the
player's agent waited for his own fee to be agreed.

Hodgson also hinted that his side looked tired after their midweek
Europa League victory over Russian side Amkar Perm.

"We certainly played like we were tired," said Hodgson. "I thought our
energy levels were low. We kept Chelsea at bay for long periods by
keeping a decent shape but we never got close enough to disturb them
as much as we would have liked to have done.

"In the end we lost and deservedly so. Looking at this game over 90
minutes I thought Chelsea deserved to win it. Both their goals came
from clearances that bounced back to them.

"We didn't look like conceding a hatful of goals but on the other hand
I didn't think we had anything near enough like the possession we
would have needed to cause them more problems.

"They have the technique and pace to cause problems for the opposition
and they caused problems for us today and we lost the game.

"They didn't pepper our goal with shots but they had control of the
game after half-time and we didn't have enough in our locker."

As for Greening's situation, Hodgson added: "His agent took six hours
to agree the agency fees so between 12.30 and 6.30pm, the agent was
refusing to let him sign because his fee had not been agreed.

"When he eventually signed at 6.30pm it was an hour-and-a-half too late."



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