Frank Lampard leads Chelsea rout of Derby
By John Ley
Sport.Telegraph, 13th March 2008
Frank Lampard ensured normal service was resumed at Stamford Bridge last
night, when Chelsea forgot their FA Cup pain to lead the Rams to their
latest slaughter. Lampard's four goals took Chelsea to within five points
of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a game in hand, and three points
behind second-placed Manchester United.
Both teams must visit Stamford Bridge, so those who believe Chelsea could
finish the season without a trophy count them out of the title race only
at their peril. As for Derby, they are in danger of becoming the worst
ever team in the Premier League; with just nine games to go they have 10
points and a goal difference of minus 49.
Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, made five changes from the team humiliated
at Barnsley with Paulo Ferreira, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou
and Claude Makelele all returning. But, surprisingly, there was no place
for Didier Drogba.
The Ivory Coast striker, rested on Saturday with a slight knock, was on the
bench, but again Grant decided he could not start with both Drogba and Nicolas
Anelka, fuelling more speculation that the former's days at Stamford Bridge
are coming to an end.
Drogba has started only three games since early December, so his fitness may
be a contributing factor to his place as a substitute, alongside the returning
Andrei Shevchenko, back on the bench for only the second time since Boxing Day.
John Terry, the Chelsea captain, warned before the game that the club had to
respond to the defeat at Oakwell. He wrote in the programme: "The result
and the performance weren't acceptable and everyone in the team must take
responsibility. Everyone needs to perform when selected. We can't have any
more days like Saturday. Losing [in] the FA Cup was horrible."
Derby arrived with Robbie Savage back in midfield, as captain, after being
left out of the goalless draw against Sunderland. With 10 defeats and four
draws under Paul Jewell, they started at odds of 20-1 to become the first
team to win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League for more than four years.
Chelsea offered early signs that they would dispatch Derby in merciless
fashion. They forced their first corner within 48 seconds, while only the
right post prevented an opening goal in the third minute. Anelka and Kalou
combined for Lampard, who was allowed to waltz through white shirts before
sending his effort against woodwork.
When Derby were offered a chance, Kenny Miller avoiding the offside trap, he
shot like a striker whose side do not know how to score, the ball arriving
closer to the corner flag than the target.
Working on the theory that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, Derby
had to make a defensive change after just 16 minutes when the experienced
Alan Stubbs, following a tangle with Anelka, had to be replaced by Dean
Leacock.
Despite their possession - the ball rarely left Derby's half in the opening
45 minutes - Chelsea were struggling to atone for their poor performance at
Barnsley. Michael Ballack had the ball in the net after 20 minutes but was
ruled offside while Joe Cole had one effort saved and hit another wide.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute but it took a penalty to
split the two very different sides. Joe Cole's clever pass was chased into
the area by Lampard, but he had his ankles tapped by Leacock and dispatched
the kick to the right of Roy Carroll for his 14th goal of the season.
The second goal, in the 42nd minute, was a comedy of errors; Carroll slid on
his backside outside his area, in an attempt to clear from the feet of Anelka
and the ball fell to Kalou, who had the simple task of turning the ball into
an unguarded net.
Derby's second-half resistance, while commendable, was limited and in the
57th minute Joe Cole exchanged passes with Anelka, resisted a challenge
from Stephen Pearson and rolled the ball across goal for Lampard to tap
in his second of the night.
In the 64th minute Chelsea added their fourth with Anelka's shot parried
by Roy Carroll and Joe Cole converting the rebound.
Lampard's hat-trick was completed in the 66th minute. His fourth, and best,
came seven minutes later when he met Ferreira's pass before forcing his way
into the area and finishing well.
Derby responded a minute later, when David Jones capitalised on Chelsea's
celebrations to claim only their sixth away goal of the campaign.
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