Chelsea rolled Birmingham with ease, winning 3-0 at home to continue our excellent run of form. Frank Lampard scored twice and Florent Malouda netted a header as our clinical finish proved too much for Birmingham.
It took all of four minutes for Chelsea to take the lead. Joe Cole beat Bowyer for pace on the right, before standing up a cross that was easily headed in by the unmarked Malouda.
Lampard, Joe Cole and Deco all forced solid saves out of Joe Hart, but there was to be no repeating of his Boxing Day heroics, as Lampard doubled Chelsea’s lead just before half time.
Picking up Ballack’s cleverly disguised ball, Lampard smashed a 25 yard strike across Hart and into the bottom corner.
The second half saw Cech forced into a sharp reaction save to tip over Fahey’s effort, but it was still largely one way traffic. Fittingly, with a minute to go, Lampard put the icing on the cake with the third goal.
Deco and Malouda were involved as Chelsea counter attacked, but it was Lampard who finished the move off, smashing a left footed finish past the stranded Hart and into the bottom corner. For a player under a large injury could pre match, it was a strong performance from the Chelsea number 8.
Burnley are next on the radar and with Didier Drogba possibly back in action, the positives are only accentuated for Ancelotti’s Chelsea.