Chelsea too good for Birmingham
December 31, 2005

Chelsea strolled to victory against struggling Birmingham to end a momentous 2005 for the club in style.

First-half goals from Hernan Crespo and Arjen Robben briefly put Chelsea 14 points clear at the top of the Barclays Premiership table with rivals Manchester United and Liverpool kicking off two hours later than the reigning champions.

Crespo should have scored a first-half hat-trick such was Chelsea's dominance of a game where the result heaped more pressure on Birmingham's beleaguered boss Steve Bruce.

City, hampered further by the loss of the injured central defender Matthew Upson within the opening quarter of an hour, had little answer to Chelsea's precision passing game and relentless search for goals.

Manager Jose Mourinho started with Claude Makelele on the bench, and fit-again Ricardo Carvalho was recalled to partner John Terry at the heart of the defence.

The home side tested the agility of Maik Taylor in the fifth minute when Michael Essien tried his luck from 20 yards. The Ghana international's thunderbolt required Taylor to dive low to his right to prevent a goal.

Chelsea forced a succession of corners as Birmingham found it difficult to cope with the trickery of Robben on the left.

The visitors were dealt a major blow when Upson succumbed to injury and was replaced by Olivier Tebily after 11 minutes.

However, they almost took a surprise lead six minutes later when Stephen Clemence was left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.

The former Tottenham midfielder controlled Nicky Butt's free-kick before squeezing the ball under Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, but left-back William Gallas hacked the ball to safety off the line.

Chelsea took the lead in the 24th minute through Hernan Crespo. Joe Cole put Robben clear and when Taylor parried the Dutchman's shot, Crespo was on hand to slot the ball home.

They should have been 2-0 up after half an hour but Cole and Crespo blundered when the goal was beckoning.

A mistake by Martin Taylor allowed Cole to seize the ball and run unchallenged towards the Birmingham goal, but rather than shoot himself, the England midfielder opted for a pass to Crespo.

Before Crespo could find the empty net, Julian Gray ran back to dispossess him and concede a corner.

The comical miss was met with displeasure from Mourinho who flung his arms in the air and kicked the dugout wall in frustration.

Seconds later, Crespo was put through by Robben, only to see Taylor produce a sensational save.

In the 33rd minute, Crespo climbed to meet a left-wing cross from William Gallas but his header struck the crossbar as Chelsea threatened to run riot.

Chelsea increased their advantage through Robben three minutes before the interval.

The Dutchman, making his 50th appearance for the club, finished off a pass from Eidur Gudjohnsen as Chelsea made City pay for some sloppy defending.

Mourinho made no changes at the break and Birmingham found there was to be no respite from Chelsea's pursuit of more goals.

Within two minutes of the re-start, Gudjohnsen had brought another fine save from Taylor with a vicious 25-yard volley.

The Birmingham 'keeper could only parry the stinging shot into the path of Crespo who thought his header had gone over the line when it came down off the underside of the bar, however the linesman flagged him offside.

There was a chance for the away team in the 51st minute when Gudjohnsen on the goal-line prevented Damien Johnson's downward header from reaching the net.

Three minutes later, Crespo wasted another glorious chance to score Chelsea's third when he found himself with just Taylor to beat.

Gudjohnsen's superb through-ball, delivered with the outside of his right boot, put the Argentinean clean through and Taylor blocked with his feet.

The year had brought Chelsea their first top-flight title for 50 years and ended with Mourinho's side enjoying a healthy lead at the top of the league.

No wonder the Portuguese coach could afford a big smile as he disappeared down the tunnel at the final whistle.

Source : Sporting Life

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