photo from
BBCSport
CHELSEA 2-0
BIRMINGHAM
Chelsea strolled to a comfortable 2-0 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 16 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,
however left-back William Gallas hacked the ball away 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 in the right place 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 Argentinian 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.
- credit:
ESPNsoccernet
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE &
ALL!!!! 
