FOOTBALL Live

Sunday August 17, 2008 Finished Stamford Bridge

Logo 4 - Logo 0

Chelsea

  • Cole 12’
  • Anelka 26’
  • Lampard 45’ (pen.)
  • Deco 89’

Portsmouth

  1. Perfect start for Scolari's Chelsea

    Perfect start for Scolari's Chelsea

    Chelsea were rampant 4-0 victors in Luiz Felipe Scolari's first Premier League game in charge against Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Chelsea
    • Portsmouth
    • - Coming up at 16:00 UK time we have commentary of Manchester United's opener against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. LIVE NOW is Manchester City's visit to Aston Villa.
    • 90+2' The final whistle ends their misery and concludes Chelsea's great start. I did say four goals in the first half, didn't I?
    • 90+1' Kaboul through on goal... can he finish... no! Cech makes the save. No joy for Pompey today.
    • 89' He picked up the ball on the right and laid it off. When it came back, he thought: 'why not?' and struck it with power towards goal. James should have kept it out, diverting the ball into the top corner, but take nothing away from the little man. He has been great today.
    • 89' DECO WITH A STUNNER FOR CHELSEA!!!
    • 86' Johnson attacks down the left, looking to curl a ball to Crouch at the back stick... it is too long.
    • 84' Chelsea with one more change: Paulo Ferreira on for Cole (A).
    • 82' Laurence Fishburne lookalike Kaboul clumps a shot well wide of Cech's left-hand post.
    • 78' Chelsea change: Joseph Cole leaves to a standing ovation, with Shaun Wright-Phillips coming on.
    • 78' Portsmouth almost grab a consolation when Crouch rises to flick on to Defoe, but he cannot find the net from inside the penalty area.
    • 76' Crouch feeds Defoe, who is shoved over by Terry. No foul - it should have been.
    • 73' Pompey change number two: Jerome Thomas on for Kranjcar. He joined on loan from Charlton on Friday.
    • 70' Mikel with a shocking effort that runs well wide.
    • 68' Portsmouth make a change: Arnold Mvuemba on for Diarra. Pompey should have had a penalty from a corner not long ago: Carvalho grabbed Hreidarsson's shirt.
    • 67' Defoe loses the ball. He's not had a chance to show Capello what he can do today. Crouch has been slightly more impressive, but that's not saying much.
    • 65' Pompey have awoken. They have a penalty claim turned down when Distin's cross, knocked back by Crouch, is hit by Kranjcar and a diving Ricardo Carvalho blocks with what looks a combination of his arm and his chest. Another dangerous corner is cleared to Sol Campbell, whose chipped pass straight to Cech is woeful.
    • 63' What's this? Pompey have a corner? And they nearly score too - Hermann Hreidarsson heading the ball back across goal where Crouch tries to cock a leg and backheel home, but cannot send it the right way. Unlucky.
    • 62' Anelka involved in further japes in attack, winning a corner then almost finding a colleague with a cross. Chelseaare having fun - and it is all at Portsmouth's expense.
    • 60' Anelka to the byline but unable to turn it back to a team-mate. Moments later Deco smacks a shot off a Pompey defender and wins a corner.
    • 58' Deco again finding the right pass - he's not bad, you know - before Lampard dinks one through that just runs to James as Mikel spins around on a diagonal run. Very close to a great goal.
    • 57' Mikel strikes... into the top tier of the stand behind the goal!!
    • 55' Deco wins the ball in midfield. It falls to Lampard, who picks out Cole (J) on the prowl... the offside flag goes up.
    • 52' Joseph Cole could be in again here... he takes on the dipping pass over the top and shoots a yard wide of the far post!!! There was pressure behind him but he should hit the target from there.
    • 52' Poor defending by Portsmouth leads to the ball falling to Anelka 20 yards out... again he crashes a shot just over the top. Big Phil is in his element on the touchline, throwing his arms about.
    • 48' Coming up at 16:00 UK time we have Manchester United v Newcastle. The Red Devils will be under pressure to win at home after victories for Liverpool, Arsenal and now - I'm sure I'm safe in saying this - Chelsea.
    • 46' The second half begins in west London. Anelka hits an early shot that dips just over, not unlike an effort from Drogba.
    • 45+3' Referee Mike Dean blows up to send the two sets of players back to the changing rooms. Redknapp will not be a happy man, but as has been said before, how can you compete with a squad like Chelsea's?
    • 45+2' Lampard will take it... FIRED TO JAMES'S LEFT!!! 3-0 on the stroke of half-time.
    • 45' PENALTY FOR CHELSEA! Distin blocked a Cole (J) cross clearly with his forearm and the linesman flagged for a spot kick.
    • 43' Niko Kranjcar hits a long-range shot that Cech cannot hold and Crouch is there... his rebound is blocked by the goalie and the ball drops to Johnson on the corner of the box... he strikes it well but it is blocked.
    • 42' So close to a third goal! Lampard picked out a quality penetrative pass to the left where Cole (A) crashed across an immediate square ball... and the diving Anelka just failed to connect between goalkeeper and defence.
    • 41' Deco feeds Cole (J) with a sexy pass, but he is challenged and forced back into midfield. This is like a training session.
    • 38' Chelsea are forced into a change: Ballack, who has picked up a knock, is replaced by Florent Malouda.
    • 36' Deco plays a short corner to Cole (J) and receives it back before bending a ball just past the far post. That is where they are missing a second striker - there was no one on the end of it.
    • 34' Despite the absence of one of the world's best strikers in Drogba this match has gone swimmingly for Chelsea. They have been fluid, quick to the ball while not allowing their opponents to play. Does Roman Abramovich finally have a man in charge capable of bringing regular sexy football to Stamford Bridge?
    • 31' Anelka races through the Pompey backline, leaving Sylvain Distin for dead, and pokes past James... he cannot catch the ball as it runs past the post. Hard luck.
    • 30' Kaboul lines up a free-kick 30 yards out... it is touched to the right and he lets fly... well wide. The away side should have sought the head of Crouch with a ball in.
    • 28' I'm afraid it's a matter of 'how many' today. I reckon Chelsea will score four, although it could be more.
    • 26' Joseph Cole attacked the right byline and crossed deep to the far side of the six-yard box where Deco and Ballack sort of both made contact with the ball. It looped up and over James and Anelka leapt to nod home from a yard out.
    • 26' A SECOND GOAL FOR CHELSEA! ANELKA!!
    • 24' Portsmouth with a rare attack, Cech caught out of his goal as Crouchy leaps to head... Chelsea relatively comfortable as John Terry throws himself into a do-or-die clearance with his head.
    • 23' Lampard hits a trademark drive straight at James, who deals with it. Still all Chelsea.
    • 21' Anelka again a danger on the right, latching on to this ball through - but James advances to narrow the angle and block with his legs. Anelka will be disappointed.
    • 19' Anelka almost on the end of a ball through but James is on hand to race out and head away. He's had to do that a couple of times - and for someone with a pretty poor record of judging such ventures, Pompey would do best to avoid them.
    • 17' Jermain Defoe, unlike Crouch in the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Czech Republic, fouled by Mikel. Fabio Capello is in the crowd today.
    • 15' Chelsea have dominated these opening exchanges while Portsmouth have not been at the races. Peter Crouch's lanky frame, back at the south coast club, has hardly had a sniff of the ball.
    • 12' Ballack curled a delightful ball through into the attacking midfielder's path with the outside of his right foot and Cole made no mistake, beating James low down with a firm strike. The opening goal of the reign of Luiz Felipe Scolari.
    • 12' GOAL FOR CHELSEA!!! JOSEPH COLE FINISHES IT OFF!!
    • 10' Nicky Anelka with a surge down the left. He doesn't take the ball with him and is forced in on to his right foot... he passes to Lampard on the right, who backheels back to the Frenchman - and his first-time shot is panicky and wayward!!
    • 9' After Portsmouth dare to attack - Petr Cech claiming on the edge of his box - Chelsea counter and Lampard cracks a volley at goal. David James stands tall to claim.
    • 6' Deco's kick is headed away. Chelsea looking good in the early minutes. Ashley Cole brought down by Johnson out wide level with the edge of the box... again Pompey keep their opponents at bay when the ball in arrives.
    • 4' Deco spreads play to the right and Portugal team-mate Bosingwa, whose ball into the danger area is headed on by Sol Campbell for a corner.
    • 3' Kaboul starts in midfield, helping screen the back four. They may be looking to park the team bus on the goal-line this afternoon.
    • 2' Deco leaves an early mark upon his Blues career with a shall we say hefty challenge on Lassana Diarra. Studs to the knee - ouch. Diarra will continue.
    • 1' Chelsea kicking from right to left in this first period.
    • - The teams are out in the Bridge sunshine and preparing for kick off.
    • - Or will Kaboul play in the middle of the park, with Papa Bouba Diop on the right and Johnson at right-back? We'll have to wait and see. Deco also makes his Chelsea bow, in a midfield containing Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, John Obi Mikel and Joe Cole. Whoopee.
    • - Pompey manager Harry Redknapp has opted to start with Younes Kaboul, newly-arrived from Tottenham, but where will he play? We reckon right-back with Glen Johnson in front of him in midfield.
    • - Nicolas Anelka starts alone up front for new Chelsea boss Big Phil Scolari as there are knocks to Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba. Jose Bosingwa has recovered from an injury to make his first competitive start.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.co.uk's LIVE text commentary on Chelsea's opening match of the Premier League campaign at home to Portsmouth.

  • Team Stats

    Chelsea Stats Portsmouth
    69% Possession 30%
    20 Shots 10
    9 Shots on target 4
    3 Saves 1
    8 Corners 3
    6 Fouls 11
    6 Offsides 1
    0 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    26 Tackles 21
    624 Accurate passes 227
    80 Bad passes 29

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Chelsea
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Petr Cech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
      6 Ricardo Carvalho 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 56 0 1
      3 Ashley Cole 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 56 17 2
      17 José Bosingwa 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 63 0 4
      26 John Terry 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 57 7 3
      8 Frank Lampard 1 5 4 0 0 1 0 82 11 2
      12 John Obi Mikel 0 2 0 3 1 0 0 94 15 3
      13 Michael Ballack 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 29 2 1
      20 Anderson Deco 1 3 1 2 1 0 1 81 9 5
      10 Joe Cole 1 3 2 1 0 1 0 37 3 2
      39 Nicolas Anelka 1 5 2 1 0 2 0 21 2 0
      18 Wayne Bridge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Shaun Wright-Phillips 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 1
      15 Florent Malouda 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 31 14 1
      40 Henrique Hilário 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Franco Di Santo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      33 Alex da Dias Costa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Paulo Ferreira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 16 1 0
      5 Glen Johnson 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 21 1 2
      3 Younes Kaboul 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 35 6 5
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 4 1
      6 Lassana Diarra 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 23 2 4
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 27 0 3
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 34 9 0
      9 Peter Crouch 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 24 2 0
      14 Jermain Defoe 0 2 1 1 3 1 0 9 4 4
      17 John Utaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Djimi Traore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Jerome Thomas 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Bisan Lauren 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      20 Martin Cranie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Arnold Mvuemba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0

  • Summary

    • - Coming up at 16:00 UK time we have commentary of Manchester United's opener against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. LIVE NOW is Manchester City's visit to Aston Villa.
    • 89' He picked up the ball on the right and laid it off. When it came back, he thought: 'why not?' and struck it with power towards goal. James should have kept it out, diverting the ball into the top corner, but take nothing away from the little man. He has been great today.
    • 89' DECO WITH A STUNNER FOR CHELSEA!!!
    • 65' Pompey have awoken. They have a penalty claim turned down when Distin's cross, knocked back by Crouch, is hit by Kranjcar and a diving Ricardo Carvalho blocks with what looks a combination of his arm and his chest. Another dangerous corner is cleared to Sol Campbell, whose chipped pass straight to Cech is woeful.
    • 63' What's this? Pompey have a corner? And they nearly score too - Hermann Hreidarsson heading the ball back across goal where Crouch tries to cock a leg and backheel home, but cannot send it the right way. Unlucky.
    • 52' Joseph Cole could be in again here... he takes on the dipping pass over the top and shoots a yard wide of the far post!!! There was pressure behind him but he should hit the target from there.
    • 48' Coming up at 16:00 UK time we have Manchester United v Newcastle. The Red Devils will be under pressure to win at home after victories for Liverpool, Arsenal and now - I'm sure I'm safe in saying this - Chelsea.
    • 45+2' Lampard will take it... FIRED TO JAMES'S LEFT!!! 3-0 on the stroke of half-time.
    • 45' PENALTY FOR CHELSEA! Distin blocked a Cole (J) cross clearly with his forearm and the linesman flagged for a spot kick.
    • 43' Niko Kranjcar hits a long-range shot that Cech cannot hold and Crouch is there... his rebound is blocked by the goalie and the ball drops to Johnson on the corner of the box... he strikes it well but it is blocked.
    • 42' So close to a third goal! Lampard picked out a quality penetrative pass to the left where Cole (A) crashed across an immediate square ball... and the diving Anelka just failed to connect between goalkeeper and defence.
    • 31' Anelka races through the Pompey backline, leaving Sylvain Distin for dead, and pokes past James... he cannot catch the ball as it runs past the post. Hard luck.
    • 26' A SECOND GOAL FOR CHELSEA! ANELKA!!
    • 21' Anelka again a danger on the right, latching on to this ball through - but James advances to narrow the angle and block with his legs. Anelka will be disappointed.
    • 12' GOAL FOR CHELSEA!!! JOSEPH COLE FINISHES IT OFF!!
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.co.uk's LIVE text commentary on Chelsea's opening match of the Premier League campaign at home to Portsmouth.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Dean

  • Chelsea

    Manager: Luis Felipe Scolari

    Captain: John Terry

    Starting line-up

    • P. Cech
    • J. Bosingwa
    • R. Carvalho
    • J. Terry
    • A. Cole Substitution Out (84′)
    • M. Ballack Substitution Out (38′)
    • F. Lampard
    • .. Deco Goal
    • J. Mikel
    • J. Cole Goal Substitution Out (78′)
    • N. Anelka Goal

    Subs

    • F. Malouda Substitution In38′
    • S. Wright-Phillips Substitution In78′
    • W. Bridge
    • .. Alex
    • P. Ferreira Substitution In84′
    • H. Hilario
    • S. Di Santo

    Injured

    • D. Drogba
    • A. Shevchenko

    Suspended

    None

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    Starting line-up

    • D. James
    • G. Johnson
    • S. Campbell
    • S. Distin
    • H. Hreidarsson
    • Y. Kaboul
    • L. Diarra Substitution Out (68′)
    • P. Bouba Diop
    • N. Kranjcar Substitution Out (73′)
    • P. Crouch
    • J. Defoe

    Subs

    • E. Lauren
    • D. Traoré
    • J. Ashdown
    • J. Utaka
    • J. Thomas Substitution In73′
    • A. Mvuemba Substitution In68′
    • M. Cranie

    Injured

    • N. Pamarot

    Suspended

    None