BlueLion.

SCHURRRRLEEEEEEE

Yeah nice one lads. Fucking hell.

COME ON CHELSEAAAAAAA

Even I can't defend Cech for that absolute brainfart.

And people here think we're sound defensively and don't need any replacements. Our defence is laughably bad.

Fuck off

I think, Henrique, our major problem is we don't have any alternative but to play him, which affects his performance as he can't possibly play at 100% every game. He's 35, now!

No, stumbled makes it sound like we stumbled over the finish line, which we did. We edged a 4-3, we didn't kill them 4-0 as some people seem to think we did.

BANNED.

He was terrible yesterday - he worked hard for the team, but ultimately have to judge him on what he did in an offensive aspect; which was negligible! Very disappointing. However he has been generally decent for us this season, so we can't be too harsh on him for one bad game. Hopefully he pops up and bags a couple the next match he plays in.

Heard about this. Dire. Millwall fans are the scum of the earth.

You're completely missing the point :mellow: A contribution to the team scoring is obviously including both goals and assists... Nice one, thanks for that!

I'd love to win every game 4-3! But it does worry me that we've been letting in a lot of (sloppy or otherwise) goals this season. But a win is a win, as I said on the first page of this thread, and I'm delighted with that fact. But people almost seem to not care about the fact we shipped three poor goals. That's a major concern for me. It's not just the quantity of goals we've let in that concerns me (although, in fairness, only Southampton, Arsenal and Everton have let in less), but the manner of them; many of them are down to general brain-farts. If we don't stop making stupid school-boy mistakes, eventually we'll be punished by a more clinical side, such as the three named above.

That's interesting, the last time I looked at the table they had just eight points from a possible 42 in the league. Formidable indeed. Let's not kid ourselves here, we weren't playing a team even of Swansea or Cardiff's quality. The fact we shipped three goals to Sunderland is concerning, regardless of the circumstances. It doesn't matter how or why, we still let in three goals. If that doesn't really concern you then great, move on. I'm very worried about our defensive lapses - mainly caused by indescribable brain-farts, á la Luiz against Cardiff, Essien against Southampton, Ivanovic against Basel etc. etc. - and think that if we do that sort of thing against the likes of Arsenal, City, or Liverpool, we'll be seriously punished for it.

Hazard was the man of the match, but it wasn't as clear as some people make it out to be. Super Frank was, indeed, super last night - so he gets my vote for scoring his 208th Chelsea goal. The man is a living legend. Granted he has been very inconsistent this season - that is down to reasons I have documented on multiple occasions, i.e. old age and a lack of options in the CDM role, etc., so I won't re-emphasise those points again - but when he is good, boy, he's damned good. Easily his best display of the season. We were a little fortunate yesterday though. The scoreline makes Sunderland look a lot better than they really were - we controlled the game for large periods, but that is precisely my concern. How can a team so dominant concede three set-piece goals to a team like Sunderland?! It's not as if the deliveries were fantastic crosses that you can do nothing about; all three goals came about because we failed to sufficiently defend those situations. In the end, we somewhat stumbled over the line - we were indebted to a moment of madness from Bardsley, ultimately, and then ended up having to hold on for dear life against the side that is rooted, quite firmly, to the bottom of the league. Whilst I am happy - nay, thrilled - without our attacking display last night (indeed, Hazard and Lampard were simply magnificent, Ba was excellent - again - when he came on (surely he is worth a start up against the bully-boys of Stoke?), Mata and Willian were tireless and Ramires, though his passing in the final third was poor, was as industrious as ever and worked very hard for the team defensively, which is, of course, his primary function. But this performance underlines the fact we need defensive reinforcements in January. Ivanovic had an off game, and not for the first time this season. Even John Terry looked out of sorts; the way he allowed Altidore to turn for their opener was quite uncharacteristic. With every passing game it seems more and more like Cahill is in over his depth - which is a painful realisation when you consider he is, by some distance in my opinion, the more-suited of he and Luiz to Mourinho's defensive set-up, and even Athy-Pilly-Kweta was caught out a number of times against a side who, let's be fair, aren't exactly the most dynamic attacking outfit in the league. Whilst they hardly posed us any problems in open play, the fact we were caught out in an area where we are traditionally very strong is a worry for me. They were three very sloppy goals to concede; the players simply weren't tight enough to the men they should be marking. Granted we miss a kick here or there to make it look sloppier than it was, but the bottom line is we let in three terrible, terrible goals. So whilst I am buzzing with the result - a win is a win, and boy, we needed one last night with Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Tottenham all winning - I'm a little concerned with the fact that we've conceded 14 goals in as many league matches this year. That isn't the defensive record of a side capable of winning the Premier League, in my opinion. People say we need a striker - and you can argue that we most definitely do - but right now, as far as I'm concerned, we're scoring enough goals, BUT our issue is we're letting far too many in. 1 clean sheet in 9 league matches (and just four all season) is, quite frankly, abysmal.

No, we definitely stumbled past. Mourinho said it himself - we should have won the game very comfortably. In the end we were indebted to an own goal and we were hanging on for dear life against Sunderland. If that doesn't constitute "stumbling" past an opponent I'm not quite sure what does! You're right in saying the scoreline flatters Sunderland - but if we'd have been that lackadaisical against another opponent we'd have lost last night. We were lucky to be playing against such an out-of-form unit.

Read my match report!

Chelsea were indebted to a bizarre own goal from Sunderland's Phil Bardsley as they stumbled past the Black Cats to stay hot on the heels of Premier League leaders Arsenal on Wednesday evening. With the festive season well underway, the Blues were - just about - able to follow up Sunday's impressive defeat of Southampton with another three-point-haul against a side rejuvenated under former Chelsea hero Gus Poyet. After suffering another shock early set-back - this time after 14 minutes, rather than seconds - Chelsea were able to rally around the talismanic duo of Frank Lampard and Eden Hazard, with the pair combining to give José Mourinho's side the half-time advantage. The hosts were not to be beaten so easily, however, and lackadaisical Chelsea defending enabled Sunderland skipper John o'Shea the opportunity to equalise shortly after the break - before a brilliant second from Hazard saw the Blues back on course to return to London with just a third away league win of the campaign. Yet the scoring was not yet finished, and it was Bardsley - the goalscoring hero in his side's surprise win over Manchester City last month - scored first in his own goal before making amends moments later to set up a tense finale. With the Blues' nearest rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal all winning, it means that Mourinho's charges remain in second, four points behind their cross-city rivals in the title race. Yet the (relatively) surprise result of the evening saw Everton win at Old Trafford for the first time in some 21 years to leave the defending champions a huge eight points behind Chelsea, and a whopping 12 off top-spot. A number of changes might have been expected with a number of games in quick succession during the festive period, but Mourinho made only one change to the side that won at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Willian coming in for the injured Oscar. A series of defensive lapses was the root cause of concern for the Blues on the night - indeed, all three of the Black Cats' goals came from set-piece deliveries. Thankfully, from Mourinho's point of view, an inspired Eden Hazard acted as the perfect get-out-of-jail-free card. The Belgian was simply majestic throughout, and from the moment that Frank Lampard levelled just four minutes after after Altidore's opener, the confidence he exuded was infectious. In truth, the Blues should have had the game wrapped up by half-time - by the time Hazard had supplied a 32nd-minute lead with an exquisite shot from the edge of the box that nestled in the side-netting, the Blues had the hosts firmly on the back foot, and it looked as if it would be a long night indeed for the local faithful. But their hopes were significantly raised when o'Shea restored parity early in the second half, with Chelsea again lacklustre after the restart. This time more defensive woe from a corner allowed the Irishman to spin and fire beyond the helpless Petr Cech - but that moment was little more than a flash-in-the-pan as the visitors, spurred on, rather than deterred by this set-back, upped the ante. And it was came as little surprise that it was the Blues' diminutive Belgian superstar that pushed them back in front. This time it was Lampard who turned provider, superbly back-heeling the ball into Hazard, who rifled home with aplomb. By that point, the ineffectual Fernando Torres had been replaced by Demba Ba, and the hulking Senegalese had a significant hand in the eventual winner as his ball across the face of goal was inexplicably slid beyond his own goalkeeper by the hapless Bardsley in the 84th minute. The former Manchester United man - who had scored against the Blues in this fixture back in February 2011 instantly made amends as he prodded home a loose ball after yet more kamikaze Chelsea defending, but it was not enough for Sunderland, who remained slumped at the bottom of table with a poultry eight points; some five points adrift of safety. For Mourinho and his men it was a case of job done - just about! Whilst the Blues were at times magnificent going forward, and the effervescent Hazard was quite simply sublime, further defensive woes mean that the team has already shipped 14 goals in as many league matches this season - just one goal shy of the amount the side conceded in the entirety of Mourinho's first season in charge. It is likely that the Special One will dip deep into Roman Abramovich's pockets in January - defensive reinforcements, on this evidence, should be the absolute priority. But rather than reflecting on shortcomings at the back, the Blues can now look forward to another away game, this time against Stoke on Saturday, with the hope of slashing Arsenal's lead to just one point by the time the Gunners host Everton on Sunday evening. This third league win on the bounce equals the Blues' best display of form and underlines that their annual winter blip has well and truly been nipped in the bud.

Any win is a win. Buzzing!

Six minutes added on? SUCK A DICK PHIL DOWD.

This is one of those shit games. PLEASE DON'T FUCK THIS UP YOU CUNTS.

HAHA WE'RE AWFUL AT DEFENDING.

MANCHESTER UNITED 0 EVERTON 1