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Chelsea won only their second Premier League game in 10 as second-half set-pieces helped them to a 2-0 victory at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Florent Malouda was the architect with his pin-point corners, the first resulting in a goal for Branislav Ivanovic and the second helping Nicolas Anelka break a nine-game goalless streak that ran concurrently with Chelsea’s slump.

The victory moves Chelsea into the top four, although Tottenham Hotspur would leapfrog them if they beat leaders Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea’s worst run of league form for a decade saw them lose to Wolves last time out, but they were coming off the back of a 7-0 Cup win over Ipswich so - for the most part - were the controlling force.

Still, in the first half it was not saying much, Ramires’s rising drive off the bar on two minutes the only action of note as Rovers parked the bus in front of their goal for the first half hour.

Afterwards it opened up a touch as, with Rovers midfielder David Dunn off injured, the hosts were able to find more killer passes in midfield.

Didier Drogba was denied a free run at goal by a wonderful Gael Givet tackle, Anelka fired just wide after cutting in from the right flank and Frank Lampard headed over after Jose Bosingwa’s excellent cross capped off a slick passing move.

For their part Rovers - who had left under-fire forward El-Hadji Diouf as an unused substitute - managed one effort that truly tested Petr Cech when the Chelsea defence inexplicably parted for David Hoilett, whose low drive was well-saved by the Czech goalkeeper.

The best chance fell three minutes before the break and it fell to Chelsea as Anelka, meeting a low Bosingwa cross on the run, flicked an inventive finish over Paul Robinson but off the angle of post and bar.

Chelsea continued to apply the pressure in the second half, Anelka again shooting just wide, this time beyond the far post from a tight angle on the right.

Rovers occasionally threatened, with Mame Biram Diouf off target after Ryan Nelsen and Ivanovic collided at a corner, but the hosts took a deserved if unstylish lead just before the hour mark.

Malouda’s left-wing corner was flicked on by John Terry and Morten Gamst Pedersen’s failed attempt to clear allowed Ivanovic to pick the ball up on the right: with Nelsen, Michel Salgado and Robinson in his way, the Serbia defender squeezed out a low finish that trickled past the defenders and in off the keeper’s hand.

Despite the presence of new re-signing Roque Santa Cruz, Rovers were barely able to cross halfway as Chelsea went close through Anelka, Terry and Lampard.

Santa Cruz, on as a half-time sub for Nikola Kalinic, looked well short of match-sharpness and barely got a touch as Blackburn struggled to leave their own half.

Any nerves Chelsea were softened with a quarter of an hour left as, after Robinson spared Chris Samba’s blushes following a dreadful backpass into Drogba’s path, the corner that followed was met by a powerful Ivanovic header that Anelka flicked over the line.

Blackburn had all-but given up the ghost as Chelsea went through the motions, tentatively seeking a third but content with the win.

Chelsea slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Birmingham as Lee Bowyer's goal condemned the Premier League champions to defeat at St Andrew's.

Birmingham scored after 17 minutes courtesy of Bowyer's composed finish and from that point on goalkeeper Ben Foster kept Chelsea at bay

Time and again the visitors got close but an exceptional day's work from Foster kept them ahead and on the one occasion he was beaten by Didier Drogba, the post came to his rescue.

Chelsea began brightly and Salomon Kalou nearly found the opener within a minute, latching on to Drogba's chest-down and poking a shot through Foster's legs but wide of the post.

Drogba forced a sharp save from the onrushing Foster five minutes into the match as the visitors dominating possession.

But a slick move from the home side provided the goal with Sebastian Larsson's cross expertly met by Cameron Jerome who put a precise header into Bowyer's path. With two men sucked towards the striker, Bowyer was left one-on-one with Petr Cech and struck the ball crisply past the goalkeeper.

Only a quite exceptional save from Foster, tipping the ball away low to his left prevented Drogba from levelling the scores with a header.

Another good save denied Ashley Cole after the full-back linked up with Kalou who played several incisive through balls.

Still the equaliser did not come and when Drogba finally connected with a header that was too good for Foster, the Ivorian saw his effort come back off the post. Ramires got on to the loose ball, but missed the target with his follow-up.

The second-half continued in the same pattern as the first with Chelsea having as much as two-thirds of the possession in their search for a goal.

Birmingham fought magnificently, exemplified by a superb sliding tackle from Roger Johnson to dispossess Ramires as the Brazilian surged into the box.

Kalou then had a gilt-edged chance, turning Foster before a howling miss as he placed his shot over the crossbar.

It looked almost certain that the leveller would eventually arrive as Birmingham failed to add another effort to their single shot on target.

But time continued to trickle away and Birmingham managed to negotiate four minutes of injury time before sealing a famous and determined win.

Chelsea remain top of the table despite their third defeat in four Premier League games but Manchester United join them on 28 points after their victory against Wigan.

Carlo Ancelotti will be left to ponder how his side could come away empty-handed from a match they dominated.

Premier League leaders Chelsea came from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1 in a pulsating encounter at Ewood Park, Branislav Ivanovic's late header the difference between the sides.

Benjani headed Rovers in front in the 21st minute to stun the visitors but six minutes before the break Carlo Ancelotti's side were back level thanks to Nicolas Anelka's close-range finish.

Both sides traded chances in a second half full of energy and endeavour, but it was Chelsea who were the more clinical as a galling miss from substitute Jason Roberts was immediately followed by a fine finish from Ivanovic six minutes from time.

A minute's silence was impeccably observed in remembrance of former England and Blackburn Rovers captain Ronnie Clayton, who died earlier this week at the age of 76, and a vociferous atmosphere followed it at kick-off.

Rovers boss Sam Allardyce welcomed back Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen in defence, while Alex returned for the visitors after missing the win over Wolves with a thigh strain and Ivanovic was preferred to Jose Bosingwa at right-back.

Chelsea began the game the brighter, and the visitors could have been in front inside seven minutes had an unmarked Didier Drogba not mistimed his leap after a sublime delivery was whipped over by Ivanovic from out on the right.

Two minutes later Blackburn had a golden opportunity to net the opener: Brett Emerton raced clear beyond Alex, but the Australian lacked conviction and dallied on the ball to allow the defender to make a timely intervention.

Petr Cech then came into his own with two stunning saves in as many minutes. The first of them spared the goalkeeper's blushes after he slipped before managing to tip Mame Diouf's tantalising effort wide. The 28-year-old followed that with a fine reflex block to deny Benjani after the forward had hurtled through on goal.

Chelsea had gone 301 minutes without conceding a Premier League goal when they failed to clear a corner and El-Hadji Diouf dinked a delightful delivery back into the box for Benjani to rise and beat Cech with a precise header.

Gael Givet sustained an ankle injury following a clash with Drogba midway through the first half, and his replacement Martin Olsson was partly culpable for Chelsea's equaliser in the 39th minute. The visitors produced a sweeping move as a long ball from Cech was taken down by Malouda, whose raking diagonal pass was headed into the path of Anelka by Drogba - and the Frenchman duly finished with aplomb from 12 yards.

The injured Benjani was replaced by Roberts at the break. A very scrappy opening to the second half followed as both sides failed to settle into their rhythm.

Fabio Capello sat alongside Blackburn chairman John Williams for the second half, and the England boss would have been more impressed with Phil Jones's robust challenges in midfield than the fluidity of either side's play.

But Chelsea sprung into action on the hour mark as Michael Essien found Yuri Zhirkov, who hurtled into the Blackburn box from the left and fired a low, fizzing shot towards the near corner of the net only for Paul Robinson to parry the ball wide superbly.

Two minutes later Mame Diouf inexplicably failed to turn the ball into the net at the back post as the midfielder latched on to Morten Gamst Pedersen's exquisite delivery from the left - deflecting the ball wide with Cech stranded.

Ancelotti introduced Daniel Sturridge at the expense of Malouda late on, but it was at the other end that the best chance fell late on: Mame Diouf picked out Roberts with an unerring delivery, but somehow the forward fired wide with just Cech to beat.

Chelsea made Roberts and Blackburn pay for such profligacy as Ivanovic ghosted in at the back post to head past Robinson from Zhirkov's dinked delivery out on the left, and the finish was clinical.

The three points see Ancelotti's side assume a five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League table, as Arsenal moved second with a win while Manchester City lost to Wolves.

Chelsea went five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Florent Malouda joined Carlos Tevez at the top of the scoring charts after he netted his seventh league goal of the season midway through the first half, before Salomon Kalou came off the bench to make sure of the win.

With second-placed Manchester City playing Arsenal on Sunday, the Blues know they will at least retain the two-point advantage they went into the weekend once the rest of this round of fixtures is completed.

The champions seemed content for Wolves to keep the ball and hit them on the break. Although it was a tactic that paid off, they could have gone behind on six minutes when Matt Jarvis's cross was diverted goalwards, but John Terry was on hand to block it.

Jose Bosingwa completed his return from a long-term injury lay-off by making his first start for Chelsea in a year, and he made his presence felt.

The Portuguese full-back played a neat one-two with Didier Drogba - also returning after missing Chelsea's last two matches through an illness - and he fired in a low strike that Marcus Hahnemann blocked well with his feet.

Terry headed wide from a Drogba free-kick delivery, but the offside flag was already up, before David Edwards could only head a tame effort at Petr Cech from Jarvis's cross.

Jelle van Damme rose to meet another good Jarvis ball but could not get sufficient power on it, and Chelsea raced right up the other end and scored.

Nicolas Anelka charged up the left wing before feeding Yuri Zhirkov, who pulled his pass back from the by-line to tee up Malouda for a simple finish.

The home crowd made it a debut to remember for Stephen Hunt. The Ireland winger collided with Cech while playing for Reading four years ago, with the scrum cap the Czech keeper still wears today a reminder of the skull injury he received in that notorious incident.

Hunt is well used to the abuse from the Blues faithful, having scored at the Bridge on his debut for Hull City last season, and he almost repeated the trick just moments after replacing Van Damme for the second half.

Richard Stearman flicked on a corner at the near post and Hunt dived in to meet the ball with a header that was blocked on the line by Michael Essien.

Not long afterwards, Kevin Doyle forced a good low save at the near post from Cech as Wolves continued to press in the knowledge that, as long as Chelsea's lead was still just the odd goal, they had a chance of levelling.

However, for all the chances they created, they were not able to test Cech sufficiently, with Nenad Milijas firing a pair of strikes too close to the keeper, and Doyle glancing a header from a corner right at him.

In the midst of all this, the threat of a killer second from Carlo Ancelotti's side was ever-present. Malouda fired an effort wide while Hahnemann had to come out of his area to block at the feet of Drogba.

Kalou finally put the result beyond doubt when he capped off a flowing move which saw Drogba find Essien with his back to goal. Essien played a first-time pass into Kalou's path, and the Ivorian swept the ball through the legs of Hahnemann.

I think we demonstrated on Saturday that you can play well and lose the match.

The Chelsea game should have been over within a minute - we had the first two chances and we missed that header from six yards. I think Koscielny was too much turned towards the corner instead of turning his body and facing the goal. He did not adjust to the ball.

I think we were a bit unfortunate as well because there was a foul on Song from Ramieres in the build-up to Chelsea's first goal. After that we made a mistake that should not happen at the near post and Drogba took advantage of it.

For much of the second half it was one-way traffic and in the last 10 to 15 minutes Chelsea were counter-attacking. But we missed too many chances at that level and in the final third you need to be more clinical offensively and defensively.

We had a great team performance and great energy. But we have to be more clinical to win titles - we can't lose a game like that.

We are a team that wants to have the ball and doesn't hide away from home. Any side who goes to Stamford Bridge and sits back gets punished. If you allow them to play in your half they have the quality with their strikers and take advantage of mistakes.

So I decided to play in their half and overall I think we did it very well. You want to be rewarded when you produce a game of that quality and when you go home with no points we have to analyse why and be more clinical. The basis is there, the collective team quality is there but we have to transform that into points.

I wasn't angry with my team. I felt sorry for them because they had an outstanding attitude and an outstanding display. You can only congratulate them for that attitude. I feel sorry for the fact that they have not been rewarded but we live in a realistic world and when you don't score and don't take your chances then you don't win big games.

Jack Wilshere showed once again that he is a big-game player. He finished a bit tired because he gave everything but he's 18 years of age. You can only say 'Congratulations Jack' and keep going.

Abou Diaby also played well in midfield but he has a bad ankle and looks to be a doubt for the French national team.

Braces from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda helped Chelsea thrash Portsmouth 5-0 at Fratton Park as the Blues move to within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Torrential rain on the South Coast provided conditions not conducive to good football: Pompey goalkeeper David James was the first victim as he swished his foot wildly at a ball outside his box, only to see it bounce beyond his air-shot and leave Drogba with a simple tap-in after 32 minutes.

That calamitous mistake from the England hopeful was followed by a more conventional goal in the 50th minute as Malouda lashed home an emphatic finish from a tight angle, and a third swiftly followed as the Frenchman followed up Frank Lampard's rasping strike on the hour mark.

Drogba drilled the fourth past James with a clinical finish in the 77th minute, and the instrumental Lampard deservedly capped off the emphatic victory with a close-range header in stoppage time.

Carlo Ancelotti inevitably welcomed back goalkeeper Petr Cech, while Daniel Sturridge was handed a starting berth alongside Drogba as the impotent of late Nicolas Anelka was confined to the bench.

Chelsea dictated the play in the early stages, Drogba muscling his way through on goal in belligerent fashion only to drag his shot wide of James's far post in the sixth minute.

Yuri Zhirkov was an enterprising presence down the left, and the full-back burst into the Portsmouth penalty area at pace five minutes later, but could not steady himself to pick out a clinical finish.

It looked like Chelsea were bracing themselves for a frustrating evening before James hurtled off his line and took a wild swipe at Deco's through ball - then had to look back in horror as Drogba jogged in to tap the ball into an empty net just after the half-hour mark.

The beleaguered Pompey keeper made a stunning reflex save to deny Lampard in the 36th minute and make partial atonement for his aberration after the Chelsea midfielder drove a low shot towards the near post, only to see it tipped wide at the last second.

The Portsmouth supporters were irate in the 40th minute as Malouda was only shown a booking for unceremoniously flooring Ricardo Rocha with a high elbow. The defender was stretchered off, and Avram Grant made an enforced reshuffle.

The second half continued where the first left off with Portsmouth forced to chase shadows for long periods, and both sides made early changes with Joe Cole replacing Sturridge for the visitors.

Within five minutes of the restart Malouda latched on to a pinpoint pass from Lampard down the left, and the Frenchman proceeded to unleash a fierce shot which comprehensively beat James at his near post.

Lampard slipped in Cole who was unable to make an impact as James made a smart stop down low to his left, but a rasping shot from the midfielder provided an inadvertent assist for Malouda's second as the winger slammed the follow-up into the top corner.

Another fizzing shot from Lampard was somehow tipped over for a corner before Drogba netted his second with a crisp finish from substitute Patrick van Aanholt's raking diagonal pass.

Richard Hughes and Drogba both contrived to trade off inexplicable misses from close range at either end of the field, but the second half had already begun to peter out slowly with the hosts in damage-limitation mode.

Five goals proved to be the extent of the damage inflicted by Ancelotti's side, as Lampard stole in to round off a slick move in stoppage time to move the Blues to within one point of leaders United, with an identical goal difference.