Chelsea Edge The Battle Of Blues
After an exciting first half finished 2-2 despite good dominance from Chelsea, a goal just after break from Michael Essien gave Jose Mourinho a much deserved win, albeit over a very brave Birmingham City side.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, the diminutive winger who has been on the sidelines for so long, was the star of the show even though he did not score, but Steve Bruce's boys did themselves very proud with their tenacity.
The kept coming at Chelsea despite being clearly inferior in terms of quality, and will believe now that they belong in the Premiership. For Mourinho's boys, it was a good work-out, a really good test, and they came through after putting aside their injury concerns.
Chelsea started strong, and immediately had Birmighman City on the back foot through some superb movement from Claudio Pizarro, Wright-Phillips, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda.
Despite being weak (compared to last season) on the defensive side, even Frank Lampard had been permitted to get forward as often as he could, and the effect was telling as they had one go after another during the first fifteen minutes.
In isolated incidents, Steve Bruce's boys suggested that a brittle Chelsea defence could be exploited, but there had hardly been any real threat. And then there was, as Birmingham took a shock lead through former Chelsea man Mikael Forsell.
A free-kick was headed on by Ridgewell and Forssell instinctively heads it goalwards, wrong-footing Cech to score against his old club.
Chelsea were stung, but it only provoked yet another strong response. And it was an emphatic one as Claudio Pizarro scored on his Premiership debut to bring Chelsea back level just two minutes later.
Wright-Phillips collected a long ball from the back out on the right wing, played an astute one-two and cut the return back for Pizarro to clip into the net.
Mourinho's boys began building on that, and it looked like business as usual when Florent Malouda also got himself a debut goal. Kalou dinked the ball through to the Frenchman, who slotted it into the net from ten yards out in a manner that would make any centre-forward proud. What a buy he is already turning out to be!
One feared that this was the end of Birmingham's challenge, but defensive frailties returned to cost Chelsea. This time it was Glen Johnson who was left for dead by Olivier Kapo, the former Levante man then firing a scorching shot from the left, that flew past Cech into the right of the net. Unstoppable!
Chelsea had dominated the game, but Birmingham were level having scored twice before the break. Could they just spring a surprise?
Unlikely as it was, it started looking almost impossible given the way Chelsea started the second half. Mourinho sent his boys back out all fired up, and Michael Essien duly restored Chelsea's lead just four minutes later. A left wing cross gave Lampard a free header, but the ball was knocked wide to SWP on the right. The young winnger duly sent it back in to Michael Essien, who side-footed into the roof of the net from 15 yards out.
That settled Chelsea down, finally, and they started going about their game in a more organized manner, Pizarro and Wright-Phillips continued to look ominous, and it was only some desperate defending that prevented Mou's boys from sealing the win.
Birmingham City lived to fight, and fight they did in the final ten minutes, putting up a very brave effort in an attempt to find what would have been a shock equaliser. They came close, but there was no cigar as Chelsea picked up three points to get their season off to a perfect start.
And they did so with some flair, having gone about their business looking to outscore their opponents. Could we be seeing more of that this season?
The kept coming at Chelsea despite being clearly inferior in terms of quality, and will believe now that they belong in the Premiership. For Mourinho's boys, it was a good work-out, a really good test, and they came through after putting aside their injury concerns.
Chelsea started strong, and immediately had Birmighman City on the back foot through some superb movement from Claudio Pizarro, Wright-Phillips, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda.
Despite being weak (compared to last season) on the defensive side, even Frank Lampard had been permitted to get forward as often as he could, and the effect was telling as they had one go after another during the first fifteen minutes.
In isolated incidents, Steve Bruce's boys suggested that a brittle Chelsea defence could be exploited, but there had hardly been any real threat. And then there was, as Birmingham took a shock lead through former Chelsea man Mikael Forsell.
A free-kick was headed on by Ridgewell and Forssell instinctively heads it goalwards, wrong-footing Cech to score against his old club.
Chelsea were stung, but it only provoked yet another strong response. And it was an emphatic one as Claudio Pizarro scored on his Premiership debut to bring Chelsea back level just two minutes later.
Wright-Phillips collected a long ball from the back out on the right wing, played an astute one-two and cut the return back for Pizarro to clip into the net.
Mourinho's boys began building on that, and it looked like business as usual when Florent Malouda also got himself a debut goal. Kalou dinked the ball through to the Frenchman, who slotted it into the net from ten yards out in a manner that would make any centre-forward proud. What a buy he is already turning out to be!
One feared that this was the end of Birmingham's challenge, but defensive frailties returned to cost Chelsea. This time it was Glen Johnson who was left for dead by Olivier Kapo, the former Levante man then firing a scorching shot from the left, that flew past Cech into the right of the net. Unstoppable!
Chelsea had dominated the game, but Birmingham were level having scored twice before the break. Could they just spring a surprise?
Unlikely as it was, it started looking almost impossible given the way Chelsea started the second half. Mourinho sent his boys back out all fired up, and Michael Essien duly restored Chelsea's lead just four minutes later. A left wing cross gave Lampard a free header, but the ball was knocked wide to SWP on the right. The young winnger duly sent it back in to Michael Essien, who side-footed into the roof of the net from 15 yards out.
That settled Chelsea down, finally, and they started going about their game in a more organized manner, Pizarro and Wright-Phillips continued to look ominous, and it was only some desperate defending that prevented Mou's boys from sealing the win.
Birmingham City lived to fight, and fight they did in the final ten minutes, putting up a very brave effort in an attempt to find what would have been a shock equaliser. They came close, but there was no cigar as Chelsea picked up three points to get their season off to a perfect start.
And they did so with some flair, having gone about their business looking to outscore their opponents. Could we be seeing more of that this season?
