The start of a season that heralded a new beginning, and a break from the old, turned out initially to be much the same as last season.

A familiar line up read; Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Kalou, Torres, Malouda – eight of whom started the final match of last season, with Kalou making a substitute appearance in that match too.

Yet to focus only on the line-ups and predictable headlines the Stoke match generated will be to miss so much more of what happened at the Britannia stadium. Both the team and some individual performances were a marked break with the old.

Torres was the surprise inclusion up front having taken a knock mid-week for Spain, and then so began a seemingly familiar story too; Chelsea with an exciting early push, only to lose possession then their nerve, and allow Stoke to put a series of challenging balls into our area.

Cech was thankfully up to the task, and commanded his area well throughout the match, especially considering the repeated holding and blocking by Stoke players whenever challenging a ball, or defending a free kick, and playing as a sweeper at times too.

Chelsea grew into the first half, with Torres looking very sharp, strong and controlling the ball well. Alex was a beast at the back, seeing off everything that came his way alongside Terry, and Ramires put in a good shift too – providing some sorely needed muscle, and strength on the ball.

The play was sharper, more intelligent and with some good interplay between positions, Cole pressed forwards where possible and even Bosingwa played well, defending and attacking very well, and playing himself out of some tricky situations, as well as putting some decent balls in the box too.

The major disappointment of the half was that of our wide players. Kalou was Kalou, frustrating and fascinating with equal measure. Skinning a player one minute then losing simple possession the next, as well as falling over his own feet in the box.

Malouda had good spells, but ran into his man too often. He missed a good chance when played in by Torres, and was seemingly hesitant at points in passing to the Spaniard too. Villas-Boas was up and down on the touchline, clearly not happy about the way his team was playing.

The half time came and went with no changes, and the second half started with Chelsea pressing the ball harder, and having more time in possession than before with Stoke sitting off more, increasing their physical play, and knocking the ball longer.

Torres was the recipient of the worst of their tactics, but got up and got on with it each time, despite referee Mark Halsey’s increasingly erratic interpretation of the rules. Torres had a couple of efforts, one a delightful turn and shoot that was offside, and also a header saved at close range.

The shot of the half came from Mikel; 40 yards out on the volley, needing a save from Begovic to tip it over the bar. Chelsea were also denied at least three penalty shouts, two on Torres and one on Lampard, but Halsey waved each one away in turn.

It was looking like one of those days, and so it came to pass as despite five minutes of injury time and having Drogba, Torres and Anelka on the pitch at the same time, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

Villas-Boas stated after the match; “I couldn’t be pleased with a point but it is one of the most difficult grounds to play away from home,’ said Villas-Boas as he looked back on the game. Last season at home I think Stoke had 10 wins and a couple of draws so for our title challenge one point from Stoke is not bad. ”

“It is not the greatest start of course but we are happy we raised our game in the second half. The first half we were able to defend them but we struggled with Stoke’s set plays and we couldn’t put the ball on the ground which was to their advantage.”

“We couldn’t create opportunities which we managed do in the second half, but unfortunately the goal didn’t happen. We were close and we played in their half in the second half. The game was more in our control but unfortunately we couldn’t find the back of the net.”

Fernando Torres rightfully won the man of the match award for his performance, and sounded confident in his post match interview, stating; “I am feeling very fresh, with pace and sharpness, so I’m happy with that, but not the nil-nil, as strikers want to score all the time. I would like to score in every game, but that is not possible.”

“Following the pre-season, I am only 27 so I have not forgotten how to play, score or play well. Last season was a season to forget for me. A lot of bad things happened in that season, but that is in the past and now I want to focus on this season which I am sure will be very good for Chelsea and myself.”

Chelsea had 16 shots on goal, with 8 of them on target. Stoke had 4 shots on goal, with one on target. In total we had 64% of the possession to Stoke’s 36% – Stoke is never an easy place to go and so it proved, but this is only an early stutter, we can and will improve.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou (Drogba 75), Torres (Benayoun 88), Malouda (Anelka 65).

Booked Cole 65, Lampard 88.

A spirited Stoke side brought to halt the Chelsea revival, as an impressive first half showing was followed by an abject second half performance which made us work hard to earn a point from the game.

Jon Walters had given Stoke City the lead inside the first 10 minutes, but a Didier Drogba strike, his first in almost two months, levelled things up.

Chelsea started with their standard 4-4-2 formation, but resorted to their first-choice striking pair from the start of the season of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka to provide the necessary ammunition with Fernando Torres starting from the bench.

Stoke started with the same starting line-up that demolished Newcastle before the international break, as they looked to continue their unbeaten run at home in 2011.

The game came a little too early for the returning duo of Alex and Yossi Benayoun, both of whom are expected to be ready for the second leg at Old Trafford in ten days time.

The game had barely begun when a mistake by David Luiz, fresh from winning the Player of the Month award, put Chelsea on the back foot and allowed Walters to run at our defence before coolly slotting in home at Cech’s near post to take a shock lead.

After seeing United make a comeback early on, this goal should have been a damper for the Blues, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men responded to it and got on with their business.

Ashley Cole had the chance to equalise straightaway as Malouda’s over the top ball found him free, as he lost his marker at the back post, but his header was brilliantly saved by Asmir Begovic. From the resulting corner, Frank Lampard brought Begovic into action again with his sweetly struck volley from distance.

Chelsea started to dominate the possession and were rewarded for their decent spell when Nicolas Anelka’s perfectly measured ball into the box was met by Dider Drogba and his header gave Begovic no chance at all.

Both teams went into the half-time on level terms, but Chelsea enjoyed the better of the half after the initial setback as they restricted Stoke to playing in their own half for the latter part of the first 45, but the home side looked dangerous on the counter.

John Terry, making his 500^th league appearance, showed in a moment’s time how his hunger for success is still as high as ever as he didn’t even let Walters get a practice shot on target after the whistle for half-time had gone.

The second-half started on a similar pattern as the first with Chelsea on the offensive, but soon Stoke found their rhythm and started to ask questions of Chelsea.

Petr Cech was called into action from Jermaine Pennant and stopped a certain goal with his save, while at the other end Drogba, under pressure from Etherington, hit the post after some nice build-up play. Frank Lampard was next to try his luck as his swirling shot was parried by Begovic for corner.

Carlo Ancelotti then called upon Fernando Torres and Salomon Kalou to replace Nicolas Anelka and the Ramires as he looked to freshen things up.

Even though Torres went close with a deflected shot, it was Stoke who looked the more dangerous of the two sides with Jones going close after taking out both Terry and Luiz in one go, but his shot went wide.

The game had opened up as both teams went for it, but this time it was Stoke who were enjoying the better of the possession.

Stoke then hit the bar twice inside a minute as Marc Wilston’s brilliant free-kick hit the bar with Cech beaten and then former Chelsea man, Robert Huth, header was pushed on to the bar by the ever-impressive Petr Cech to keep things level.

Despite being under such pressure, Chelsea could have taken all three points, but were denied by the goalpost as Didier Drogba’s sumptuous volley on the turn rattled the bar.

Chelsea had one more chance after Torres broke from a Stoke corner, but his layoff for Frank Lampard wasn’t fruitful as the England International was crowded out by returning Stoke defenders, leaving him with no chance to get his hot away.

The result keeps us in third place in the League, but finally laid to rest our faintest of faint title hopes.

The result doesn’t really matter in the long run but gave us more questions than answers for the Manchester United game coming up. Florent Malouda is clearly not in form and looks way off the pace right now. In such a situation his inclusion is not justifiable and doesn’t really help the team.

Carlo Ancelotti accepted the fact that Stoke gave them a tough game, he said; “We made an early mistake so it was difficult to come back into the game but we had a good reaction after conceding the goal.

“We drew [level] and we had the opportunity to go up but we hit the woodwork. We still had the opportunities to score.

“More or less we had the same chances. We hit the post and the bar with Drogba and they did the same. There was a lot of counter-attacking.”

But he was still confident that his team can do the business against Manchester United, he further added; “The players are showing a good physical condition, they are fit. We will do our best to play against [Manchester United].

“It will be a very difficult game. They are one of the best teams in Europe. We know them very well and we need to play this game at our best.”

In watching Chelsea defeat Stoke 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, Blues supporters were left pondering something.

Had normal service resumed, or was this a blip in Carlo Ancelotti’s ‘playstation football’?

After notching 21 goals in their three previous outings at home, expectations were high, but those who chose to temper them with more realistic goals will have come away with a feeling of satisfaction.

For whilst Thomas Sorensen’s goal was breached just twice, on another day it could quite conceivably have been another rout, as Tony Pulis’s side were outclassed for the vast majority of the afternoon.

Ancelotti has changed just one position in his line-up so far this season, with Branislav Ivanovic’s knee injury causing some concern. The Serbian international was replaced at right-back by Paulo Ferreira, whilst new signing Ramires took his place amongst the substitutes.

Ashley Cole spurned a chance inside the opening five minutes, dragging his shot wide after Michael Essien had played him in behind, and despite Frank Lampard uncharacteristically missed a penalty won by Florent Malouda, the tone of the game had been set.

With John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien dictating the play from the middle of the park – the pair completing a combined 195 passes from an attempted 202 – and Ashley Cole rampaging down the left, it seemed a matter of time before the breakthrough arrived.

Jonathan Walters kept Petr Cech awake at the other end with a shot which looped onto the roof of the net, but it was a rare attempt at goal from the Potters. They had their share of play but found John Terry and Alex in exceptional form at the heart of the home defence, and it was Terry who was decisive in making a breakthrough.

Breaking up possession on the halfway line, he strode forward into the space invitingly left ahead of him. A nudged through ball to Florent Malouda later, and the Frenchman had opened the scoring for the third consecutive match, his fourth goal of this fledgling season.

Cole then saw a volley crash off the crossbar as Chelsea looked to press home the advantage, but there was just one goal on the scoresheet as the teams retired to the dressing rooms at half time.

On another day, Didier Drogba would have scored the free header afforded to him at the start of the second half, but instead he planted it straight at Sorensen.

The Ivorian had largely been on the periphery of the action, often up against two or three big Stoke defenders, but had stung the hands of the Danish goalkeeper with a free kick earlier in the match and was doing enough to keep them alive to his considerable threat.

Rory Delap was Stoke’s main outlet in attack, and whilst Chelsea dealt well with the majority of his hurls, Drogba was required to help clear Matthew Etherington‘s shot from the goalline after one trademark delivery.

Perhaps the visitors sensed a route back into the match, and they would come a matter of inches from equalising when substitute Glenn Whelan crashed an effort off the underside of the crossbar. It bounced to safety, and served as a wake-up call to the defending Champions, who wasted little time in putting the game to bed.

Anelka was released in behind and beat Sorensen to a long ball before being felled just inside the area, giving Martin Atkinson little alternative than to award a second penalty.

With Lampard having been substituted with a hernia complaint, Drogba stepped up to score emphatically and maintain one of only two 100% records in the football league.

Salomon Kalou should have added gloss to the scoreline with a tame finish after doing well to beat two men, whilst Ramires was introduced to the crowd with a five-minute cameo to debut in English football.

It was another strong showing from a team who look exceptionally content in their current surroundings. Mikel and Essien used the ball superbly throughout and were key to Chelsea’s 65% possession, whilst Alex, Terry and Cole were exemplary at the back.

The international break now follows before a trip to Upton Park to face West Ham, who have lost all three matches to date, conceding nine goals in the process.

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Let’s get one thing out of the way early.

Chelsea aren’t going to score six again tomorrow. It can’t happen.

Can it?

Ahead of the Blues’ second home game of the season, the talk of the town has been just how many Carlo Ancelotti’s boys are going to pot against Stoke City.

Not helped by the seven they notched against Tony Pulis’ side last April, and the Potters’ poor start to the season, expectations are getting out of hand, and people are getting somewhat ahead of themselves.

A poll on the Official Chelsea Website reveals that almost 52% of supporters would be disappointed if the match finished 1-0 to the home team.

The fact the club would suggest such a poll speaks almost as loudly as the results.

Pulis has had some rather stern words for Stamford Bridge brass this week, perhaps attempting to deflect attention away from the fixture, by lambasting the club’s interest in backup goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

The problem with his annoyance, however, is that it’s his club who shed light on the situation. Chelsea have sat quietly and not commented on the issue, whilst Begovic has been thrust into attention by his own employers, who, of course, do not want to sell a second-choice stopper for a short-term profit.

No, not at all.

It was a quieter Friday than usual for Ancelotti, who handed press conference duties over to new Brazilian signing Ramires.

The club’s new number seven is fit and ready to make his debut tomorrow, with confirmation that he is included in the Italian’s matchday squad.

Missing are defensive pair Branislav Ivanovic and Jeffrey Bruma, with the former suffering a knee problem and the latter recovering from hernia surgery.

Long-term injury casualty Jose Bosingwa returned to full training this week, but is still a week or two away from first team involvement.

Stoke have lost both their Premier League fixtures to date but put one in the wins column on Tuesday night when goals from new signing Jonathan Walters and Tuncay Sanli saw them past League Two side Shrewsbury 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

Club record signing Kenwyne Jones is struggling with an ankle problem he picked up at Wolves on the opening day of the season, but Liam Lawrence is fit to return to the squad after recovering from a groin issue.

Oh, and if you’re interested, you can get 20/1 on it finishing 6-0.

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Hands up who expected that one then? If you’re still sat there as normal, then I expect you’ll be like the majority of supporters who, before the game, saw this as a potential banana skin.

With the long throws of Rory Delap renowned for causing unease in opposition penalty areas, and our not so good record of conceding far too many from set plays this season, the outcome of this match was one that, on paper, didn’t look plausible. Chelsea though, had different ideas and set about making the implausible, fully possible.

By now you’ve either read the reports elsewhere or seen the goals yourselves, so I won’t go into any great detail today other than to give a few special mentions to those involved.

First up should be Salomon Kalou, who has been lauded and derided in equal measure by Chelsea supporters throughout his career, however this appeared to be his coming of age. Looking much stronger and bulkier than months gone by, it appears Kalou may finally be emerging as a player many hoped he could be.

Now we’re old enough and wise enough not to base anything on a single game, but it has to be said that Kalou Mk 2 has been quietly impressing this season, much to the detriment of Joe Cole.

Didier Drogba had an immense match, and one without scoring! Some of his touches and passes wouldn’t have looked out of place had they been made by Pele himself. Malouda carried on his great form, and it was nice to see Sturridge on the scoresheet too.

However the most praise for me, must be saved for Frank Lampard. Just when you think the guy can’t get any better, he pops up with a performance like that. Full of running as ever, some excellent passing and vision, another cool as a cucumber penalty and an outrageous lob with the outside of his right boot to top it all off.

It’s yet another season of 20+ goals from Super Frank, and it’s arguable that this is his best yet. Criminally he was left out of the team of the year, in favour of Darren Fletcher, no less. Clearly someone, somewhere is having a laugh.

If Frank is to play like that every time he’s got the captains armband, perhaps he should give it to him a little more often. Maybe, just maybe, Capello should too.

Chelsea take on Stoke City today in what could be a pivotal match in the outcome of the Premier League this season.

With Manchester United beating Tottenham yesterday afternoon, Chelsea now find themselves two points behind the league leaders albeit with this afternoon’s game in hand.

With John Terry suspended due to his sending off against Spurs, the returning Ivanovic should partner Alex in the center of defence, with Ferreira keeping his spot at right back. Ashley Cole should also start after returning from ankle injury and also due to another niggling injury to Zhirkov.

In the middle Lampard will take the captains armband, and expect to see Ballack utilised for his height and strength, to try and negate the aerial and physical game Stoke will want to play.

Deco and Malouda will hopefully be the creative spark that undoes Stoke for this one, with a front pairing of Drogba and Anelka expected, despite the formers groin injury. If Drogba is unable to play, expect Kalou to make the starting XI

Chelsea are also without Michael Essien (knee), Ricardo Carvalho (ankle), John Obi Mikel (ankle) and Jose Bosingwa (knee), with none expected to make the final few matches of the season.

Tony Pullis side should have defensive lynchpin Ryan Shawcross back in the starting XI after returning from injury, whilst Robert Huth will also return to his old stamping ground.

Rory Delap will be the player Chelsea need to watch closest, with Stoke favouring a direct aerial approach, and Chelsea conceding more goals from set plays than anyone else this season, our title challenge could live or die on how we handle him.

Ladbrokes have Chelsea at 1/8 on for the victory and 7/1 the draw, whilst Stoke are a massive 18/1 to steal all three points. They seem to think it’s a foregone conclusion, if only it was that simple.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, A Cole, Kalou, Alex, Drogba, Malouda, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Zhirkov, J Cole, Belletti, Ballack, Kakuta, Sturridge, Ferreira, Bruma, Ivanovic.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Huth, Abdoulaye Faye, Collins, Lawrence, Whelan, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington, Kitson, Fuller, Tuncay, Pugh, Wilkinson, Moult, Amdy Faye, Begovic, Beattie, Sidibe.

Chelsea advanced to the FA Cup semi finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge. John Terry scored one and created one as the Blues cruised into the last four, looking to defend the trophy won under Guus Hiddink at the end of last season.

Former Chelsea favourite Robert Huth was wearing the captain’s armband for Stoke City and nearly created the opening goal. The German latched on to a Rory Delap long throw, only for Sidibe to head over the bar.

Mikel then cleared off the line from Whitehead, after Hilario’s punch only reached the edge of the area. But Chelsea turned the pressure up midway through the half and were duly rewarded with the opening goal.

Malouda’s corner caused confusion in the Stoke defence, leading to a rushed clearance. Terry was alert enough to lay the ball back to Lampard, whose blast took a slight deflection on the way past Sorensen and in. The Danish keeper made a super save just before half time to deny Drogba and keep the visitors in the game.

Lampard crashed a half volley over the bar after a long throw from Ivanovic, whislt Huth headed a Stoke corner well wide as the second half commenced. However, Chelsea’s lead soon doubled and the tie was safe, as John Terry scored a fabulous header. The Chelsea skipper lost his marker Huth, before powering a header past Sorensen from Lampard’s corner.

Hilario made a sharp save to deny Ricardo Fuller late on, but despite a spirited performance, a Stoke comeback was always out of the question. 2-0 to Chelsea, and Aston Villa to face in the semis.

Hands up who would rather have played Manchester City this weekend? Just me I expect. With hindsight, I’m guessing most people would rather see Stoke at the Bridge this weekend after the battering we got from City.

My main reason for not wanting to see Stoke at the Bridge this weekend, though, was fear of a battering of a different sort. That said, it’s hard to imagine any more injury woes this season, so we just have to get on with it.

Consider this, though. Stoke have lost just five games on the road this season. That’s less than four other teams above them in the Premier League, and don’t think for one second they’ll be fielding a weakened side against us.

Tony Pulis doesn’t understand that sort of nonsense and will use what he’s got as effectively as he can. So with this being Stoke City’s only chance at silverware – some might argue ours too given recent form – we can expect a very tough game, in more ways than one.

Carlo Ancelotti is starting to come in for a bit of stick from Chelsea fans now, who are starting to see the light fade at the end of what is proving this season to be a very long and windy tunnel, so he’ll be looking for solid performances in this match given the fundamental errors that cost us against Manchester City. Players alike, particularly with the gutter press continuing their relentless pursuit, will be looking for a solid and hopefully uneventful match.

Pause and take a deep breath while we consider who Carlo won’t be able to pick for this match. Belletti and Ballack are suspended; Essien, Cech, Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa continue long-term recuperation from injury; Zhirkov and Deco are doubtful, as is Carvalho who returned from international duty with a knock.

Tony Pulis, however, has no such worries. Aside from missing Ryan Shawcross through suspension, Pulis can look to a full squad with the likely return of Matthew Etherington and Danny Higginbotham from recent injuries.

As much as the FA Cup is loved for its excitement and ability to throw the form book out of the window, what would be really nice to see at the Bridge this Sunday is a game free from drama, injuries, schoolboy error and referees trying to get themselves in the spotlight.

A Chelsea win, 2-0 without fuss, please.