Anelka Double Downs Rovers

Controversy came quickly at Ewood Park - just five minutes into a scrappy opneing exchange, as a matter of fact. Nicolas Anelka latched onto an underhit backpass from Keith Andrews, and seemed to be brought down by Paul Robinson as he skipped towards an open goal - but no penalty, or sending off, was given.

Anelka made a bright start and found the ball in dangerous areas a couple of times over the next two minutes. A flicked on header drifted over the bar, while soon after his attempted turn in the box was thwarted by his marker.

Blackburn broke quickly on a number of occasions in the first 10 minutes, exploiting Chelsea's inability to keep the ball in the rain. But the hosts had their own problems controlling the wet ball and nothing came of their initial thrusts.

Another chance for Anelka came in the 13th minute. A beatifully weighted cross from the right found the Frenchman
unmarked at the far post, but his downward header was blocked by the 'keeper. The following corner was nodded over
by John Terry.

Robinson was again forced into action when Mikel charged forward to meet Deco's free-kick at the back stick, but the England shot-stopper blocked the header with his foot. The Blues were controlling the game at this point, keeping the hosts pegged into their own half.

The deteriorating conditions made passing difficult, but a nice Chelsea move saw Wayne Bridge fire in a low ball from the left and find Malouda, whose snap shot sailed safely out of play. The winger had another chance moments later when Anelka crossed from the right, but his shot was blocked.

But the best of the early chances fell to Blackburn. A quick, slick passing move ended up with Carlos Villanueva, who had time to set the ball and shoot from 12 yards out. But Petr Cech made a strong save to keep the scores level.

There might have been fears that the match would be postponed due to the weather, but that didn't stop Chelsea playing samba football. Deco and Frank Lampard had no hesitation pulling out the backheels and party tricks. But defenders were having more trouble moving the ball, and the waterlogged pitch made backpasses a game of Russian roulette.

Blackburn had worked their way into the game by the half-hour mark, keeping the ball for decent stretches and doing their best to play along the deck despite the treacherous conditions. It was role reversal as Chelsea started playing on the break, and again it was Anelka causing the problems up top. The former Arsenal man received the ball in the box, cut onto his left foot and blasted goalward - but again Robinson was on hand to palm away.

Robinson, arguably the most impressive performer of the first half, was forced to defend his goal several times yet before the break. A Lampard effort needed dealing with, as did as wickedly curling cross from Jose Bosingwa. But not even he could prevent the Anelka getting on the score-sheet - through no intention of the striker, it must be said.

A swerving effort from Alex ricocheted off the back-peddling Anelka, completely wrong-footing the Blackburn 'keeper
and trickling over the goal-line. Robinson appealed for a handball, and television replays suggested that the hosts were very hard done by.

Blackburn's woes were compounded when they had a penalty shout turned down shortly after. Pedersen burst into the Chelsea area near the byline and was pulled off the ball by Bosingwa, but the referee waved play on. Again, the replays indicate that luck was on the visitors' side.

Vince Grella, just returning from injury, limped off just before half-time to cap a miserable end to the first period for Rovers. Andrews was hooked at the interval to complete Ince's midfield reshuffle, with Matt Derbyshire coming on. The move had a positive effect from the get-go, as the home side kept the ball well and frustrated Chelsea in the first stanza of the second half.

Jason Roberts worked himself a glorious chance in the 54th minute, taking a great touch and turn from Pedersen's chip - but Cech, largely a spectator in the first half, charged out to make a vital stop.

Chelsea struggled to get hold of the ball at all during the first 15 minutes of the second term, and Rovers continued to pepper the box. Roberts continued to lurk on the last line, while Pedersen and Villanueva began to get more invlolved in attack.

And yet Rovers were struggling to string much together through midfield; the rain had stopped and the pitch appeared to be recovering, but too many passes were being cut out or simply going astray. And they paid for their wastefulness in possession in the 68th minute.

Against it was Anelka, and again it was lucky. Malouda's cut-out pass was charged into the box by an onrushing Lampard; the bouncing ball eventually fell to Anelka, who pounced in typical fashion and made no mistake with the dinked finish.

The Londoners were happy to camp in their own half after increasing doubling their lead and, in truth, they had few problems dealing with Blackburn's hopeful long-balls during that spell. Chelsea gradually began venturing forward once more on the counter, and Robinson's work certainly wasn't done yet.

Lampard came periously close to netting a free-kick from 30 yards, crashing his curler into the crossbar. Anelka should have completed his hat-trick after being played in on goal in the 89th minute, but again he was thwarted by Robinson.

Three points and a clean sheet for Chelsea, who are back on top of the Premier League standings once more.

Blackburn Rovers - 0
Chelsea - 2 (Anelka 40', 68')

Line-ups

Blackburn: Robinson, Simpson, Nelsen, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Warnock, Grella (Mokoena), Villanueva, Andrews (Derbyshire), Pedersen, Roberts (Fowler).

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Bridge, Mikel, Lampard, Deco (Ferreira), Malouda, Anelka, Kalou (Belletti).

Mike Maguire