Chelsea stumbled out of the blocks in Andre Villas-Boas' first game at Stamford Bridge but recovered to snatch a 2-1 victory over West Brom.
Blues stage second half recovery to claim all three points
Chelsea stumbled out of the blocks in Andre Villas-Boas' first game at Stamford Bridge but recovered to snatch a 2-1 victory over West Brom.
Shane Long edged the visitors in front, suggesting they could spring an upset, but Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda netted in the second half to ensure that it would be the Blues celebrating at the final whistle.
The Baggies arrived in West London aware that they had come unstuck in each of their 10 previous Premier League meetings with the Blues.
Few expected them to pick up their first success this weekend, with Villas-Boas supposed to steal the show in his first home game.
West Brom had obviously not read the script and they edged in front after just four minutes as Long picked Alex's pocket, brushed aside the burly Brazilian centre-half and calmly stroked the ball past Hilario - making his first competitive appearance in 18 months following an injury to Petr Cech.
Former Reading man Long was also on target against Manchester United on the opening weekend, proving that he has had no problem in making the step up from the Championship.
Chelsea were sloppy throughout the opening exchanges, with far too many misplaced passes allowed to infiltrate their game.
Ramires did send a glancing header fizzing past an upright, but Ben Foster remained untested.
Fernando Torres, selected once again ahead of Didier Drogba, also failed to test the Baggies keeper on 20 minutes, lofting a shot over the bar after slipping past Steven Reid.
Anelka did work Foster with a looping header moments later, but it was West Brom who should have notched the second goal of the game on 25 minutes.
Lively
The lively Long sprung in behind John Terry and into acres of space but, having glanced up, his unselfish square pass towards Somen Tchoyi rolled agonisingly across the Cameroonian's path.
Having seen enough, Villas-Boas went to his bench 10 minutes before the break, with his decision to replace the ineffective Salomon Kalou with Malouda drawing ironic cheers from the crowd.
Chelsea were able to end the half much the stronger, with Ashley Cole stinging the fingertips of Foster with a fierce drive at the end of an angled run into the box.
The West Brom shot-stopper was then slightly fortunate to get away with bundling Anelka over inside the area, but referee Lee Mason gave nothing and Hodgson's men headed into the interval with their narrow lead intact.
The sight of Drogba warming up at the start of the second half offered more excitement to those in the stands than the action on the field, but they did not have to wait much longer for their side to burst into life.
Eight minutes into the second half Chelsea hauled themselves level, with Anelka breaking one tackle before drilling low into the bottom corner, via the heel of Jonas Olsson.
Paul Scharner almost restored West Brom's advantage inside two minutes, but he could not divert a header goalwards after being picked out by James Morrison.
Chelsea were now in the ascendancy, though, and were only denied a second by some heroic defending from the Baggies.
First Foster kept out Anelka with a smart stop and, as the ball broke loose, Reid then threw himself at the ball to block a goal-bound volley from Malouda.
Rocking
With the Baggies rocking, Drogba was introduced into the action on the hour mark in place of Torres, who departed in the knowledge that he had drawn another blank.
The visitors continued to offer flashes of what they are capable of, with Tchoyi drawing an acrobatic save from Hilario with a hooked effort.
At the other end, Anelka found himself with another clear sight of goal on 69 minutes but, with Foster diving at his feet, his touch deserted him and he lifted the ball high into the stands.
A goal appeared to be coming, with the Blues doing all they could to force a second and escape a tricky afternoon unscathed.
They found themselves banging their head against a brick wall for long periods, though, while the return to action of Peter Odemwingie, who has penned a new deal at The Hawthorns, ensured that they could not afford to switch off at the back.
With 11 minutes left on the clock Chelsea saw a handball appeal against Olsson waved away, before Frank Lampard lobbed a delicate effort onto the roof of the net.
Anelka then wasted a glorious opportunity, as he curled wide with Foster left in no man's land after racing from his goal to try and intercept a ball down the Blues' right flank.
The goal the home fans had been crying out for finally arrived on 84 minutes, as Jose Bosingwa raced clear and stroked the ball across the face for Malouda to bundle in at the far post.
The Blues thought they were safe, but a crashing volley from Odemwingie in the closing stages, which forced Hilario into a reflex stop, proved that they could not afford to rest on their laurels.
Villas-Boas endured an edgy countdown on the sidelines, as the Blues attempted to see the game out, but the Portuguese coach was able to toast his first competitive victory in English football and will be hoping that there are many more to come.
| Chelsea |
Team Statistics |
West Bromwich Albion |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
| 8 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 7 |
Corners |
4 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
8 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
7 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 88.1 |
Passing Success |
74.2 |
| 27 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 59.3 |
Tackles Success |
85.7 |
| 66.5 |
Possession |
33.5 |
| 57.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
42.6 |
|
