After wins for Arsenal, with ten men against London rivals West
Ham, and Manchester United, against their fiercest of foes, it was
expected by many that Carlo Ancelotti's side would follow suit.
But there is a fragility to this Blues line-up that was never
apparent in Jose Mourinho's tenure.
Injuries aren't helping Ancelotti's cause and, if Branislav
Ivanovic had still be on the pitch, maybe Diouf wouldn't have been
able to climb so impressively to nod home Michel Salgado's deep
cross - as he did against Paulo Ferreira.
But there was no blame attached for the goal to Ross Turnbull,
who is still deputising for Petr Cech and Hilario.
And Chelsea looked every inch title challengers inside the
opening few minutes and the entire duration of the first half.
Didier Drogba had already shot wide when an incisive move cut
Rovers apart after a move for the home side broke down on the left
wing. Nicolas Anelka galloped away, profited from some naive
defending by Phil Jones, and laid the ball back to Drogba, who was
lurking with intent.
The Ivorian needed no second invitation to guide a classy
left-footed finish wide of Jason Brown.
Salomon Kalou headed over the top and Florent Malouda tested
Brown as Chelsea looked comfortable but Jones, only 18 and compared
to a young John Terry afterwards by Sam Allardyce, grew in stature
as the game wore on and is a decent prospect.
Morten Gamst Pedersen mustered a couple of attempts for
Blackburn, one from a free-kick, and the visitors lost Ivanovic
after he was hurt by a challenge by Diouf.
Allardyce got into his side at half-time and there was an
increased air of expectation around the stadium once the action
restarted.
Blackburn are in good form at the moment and only a goalline
intervention from substitute Yuri Zhirkov denied Chris Samba from a
Pedersen throw-in and spared Turnbull's blushes as he looked less
than convincing.
Frank Lampard burst into life to blast a 25-yard drive just off
target but Chelsea started to show a worrying lack of conviction as
the hosts asked more questions of their own.
With 20 minutes remaining, Salgado's cross was despatched quite
brilliantly by Diouf, who towered above Ferreira to show his desire
to meet the ball.
There was an inevitable late spell of pressure from Ancelotti's
team but Samba and Jones were excellent in restricting the amount
of work Brown needed to do.
Lampard did have a half-hearted penalty shout waved away after a
decent tackle by Pedersen and the home fans, who jeered their
manager when he took off Nikola Kalinic, celebrated wildly at
securing a point against their aristocratic opponents.
The damage to Chelsea's title assault is still repairable but
they cannot afford another slip-up against doomed Portsmouth in
midweek.
