BlueLion.

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

If anyone truly thinks we don't need a striker, they're smoking ludicrous amounts of weed.

If anyone truly thinks we don't need a striker, they're smoking ludicrous amounts of weed.

Interesting, where are those stats from? I sourced mine from UEFA.com. And I'm including assists as "contributing a goal to the team".

Ba has scored 2 goals and assisted another in 327 minutes of football - meaning that he contributes a goal every 109 minutes. But when you consider that of those 327 minutes he has only made two starts; and a number of his sub appearances have only been for around about 10-15 minutes, with very little chance of scoring in that period, those stats actually make for relatively impressive reading. You compare that to Eto'o (4 goals, 2 assists) in 724 minutes - a ratio of contributing a goal every 121 mins; and Torres (5 goals, 2 assists) in 811 mins - a ratio of contributing a goal every 116 minutes, he is statistically, therefore, our best striker in terms of getting the ball in the back of the net.

Who the fuck are you?!

After the debacle with Barcelona inserting a right-of-purchase clause into Romeu's contract, they're the last club we should be dealing with.

Granted he isn't a Lionel Messi, but he is an excellent dribbler of a football.

Magnificent to see you still posting, Vincent! Hope you are faring well.

Change your location then, bitch.

Excellent option to keep on the bench as a plan B. Beauty (Eto'o and Torres as the silky forwards), and the Beast (Ba as the lumbering brute).

To be fair it says you live in Brisbane on your profile, which as a city has a bigger population (about 2.5 million isn't it?) than every UK city except for London, if memory serves! That's like me saying I live in Nottingham when really I live in a large village 30 minutes outside the city centre.... oh wait, I do...

We're not - and no-one on this earth - is that desperate Sammy

Cheers Tom! You're an absolute chap!

Hi all, Your continued generosity has helped make TalkChelsea the magnificent place it is today, but we once again need your help to keep the site running. As you will know, Jim has invested heavily out of his own pocket to move us to an impressive new serve which runs emphatically on match-days - but if that is to continue then we need a little help from yourselves! Anything - no matter how small - is gratefully accepted. Even £2 each month would go a long, long way towards us meeting the hosting fees throughout the year! It's ever so cheeky to have to ask you guys like these, but we have to be absolutely transparent and say that our funds are drying up, and we desperately need some help in keeping the site running as fantastically well as it has been for the last few months! Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks in advance for any donations - no matter how big or small - you may make as a result. Donating is incredibly easy and all you need is a PayPal account, so please help us keep the site running! Yours very faithfully, Alex, on behalf of the staff team.

Michael Essien's return to Premier League football after an eighteen-month absence hardly went to plan - but his blushes were spared by a rousing Chelsea comeback to beat Southampton. After first a spell on the sidelines and then a season spent on loan at Real Madrid, the dynamic Ghanaian midfielder made an absolute mess of a routine back-pass to allow Jay Rodriguez to open the scoring after just thirteen seconds as Southampton made a lightning-quick start. After fine saves from Artur Boruc to deny headers from Oscar and Fernando Torres at the close of the first half, the Blues were finally able to restore parity through Gary Cahill's first goal in just short of a year following a goalmouth scramble. Juan Mata's delightful cross enabled skipper John Terry to then power home a looping header on the hour-mark, before the effervescent Ramires dribbled his way beyond a whole host of Southampton defenders to set up substitute Demba Ba, who prodded home Chelsea's third, and his fourth goal for the Blues in just three games against their south coast opponents. It was far from a routine win for José Mourinho and his side, who were under the cosh for long periods of the first half. Mauricio Pochettino's side were resolute defensively throughout and for the most part they were able to limit the influence of the Blues' flair players, but ultimately the guile and power of the West London outfit was too much for the Argentine's young, up-and-coming side. Next up for the Blues is a midweek trip to Sunderland before they take on Stoke City at the Britannia next weekend. With the curse of November now well behind them, the Blues' title bid may well indeed have seriously begun here thanks to a total transformation of the team at half-time. After all the press talk over how supposedly sensational title rivals Arsenal were at Cardiff yesterday, the gauntlet has most certainly been thrown down by the Blues - this was a battling victory against a very good team indeed. The Blues were ruthless in the execution of Mourinho's half-time switch in tactics, and a change in personnel at half-time - both Frank Lampard and goalscorer Ba were introduced at the interval - certainly helped fashion a most impressive win. The result is made all the more impressive considering the shock early set-back the side suffered thanks to what can only be seen as over-exuberance by Essien, who must surely have been trying to impose himself early on his Premier League come-back - thankfully, the experienced midfielder was bailed out by his team-mates on this occasion. After Essien's stray back-pass in the first minute allowed England international Rodriguez to steal into the box and prod home beyond Petr Cech, there was an air of disbelief about Stamford Bridge - but one that turned to delirium when first Cahill restored parity after the half-time break, and then Terry gave the Blues a lead their second-half showing warranted. There was a real sense of belief amongst the home support, that after the last-gap penalty heroics of Eden Hazard in the last league game at the Bridge, that the side would rally and move within four points of leaders Arsenal. The Blues duly delivered, and, to a man, they put in the sort of hard work that football fans expect of their heroes. Ramires, in particular, was magnificent throughout, and the return of Juan Mata to the starting line-up gave the Blues a more inventive midfield hub from which the basis of this win was crafted from. At the back, both Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta were imperious, whilst Cahill's goal was the deserved reward for his composed performance. Indeed, his equaliser ensured he became the fifteenth different player to net for the Blues this term, demonstrating the real team effort that is required to fire a side towards title glory. But the headlines must surely belong to the Blues' captain, leader, legend; John Terry. In making his 400th Premier League appearance for the side, Terry notched appearance number 593 for the club - a tally that saw him surpass John Hollins to become the club's fourth-highest appearance maker of all-time. His majestic display, not only today but throughout the season as a whole, has therefore been made all the more poignant by such a landmark occasion. Whilst no trophies have been won today, you feel a real sense of significance to this fixture. Should Chelsea go on to lift the Premier League title in May, this fixture will certainly be looked back on as a major turning point - with the Blues now up to second and a top-of-the-table crunch match against Arsenal at the Emirates looming, this may well be the time for Mourinho's side to place their claim for the league crown.

Bye everyone, see you in 6 months, let me know if we win the league.