Essien's embarrassment eased by brilliant Blues

[BlueLion. 21,491]

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.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

[Phil Driver 503]

Terrible mistake for goal but that can happen ,overall though he was a much better option than Mikel in that role even at his age with all his injuries ,he presses and drives us forward when he can and does not just standstill and play negative passes that slow us down .

He will be in the Champions League squad for the next stage and his experience could be very useful . The dive was not him either ,must be a Madrid habit he has learned.

[The_Flash 1,144]

It was a mistake so sue him. It happens it's not the end of the world, everyone was dissapointed. The main thing is we fight back and Michael keep trying.

[The Mak 4,459]

Terrible mistake for goal but that can happen ,overall though he was a much better option than Mikel in that role even at his age with all his injuries ,he presses and drives us forward when he can and does not just standstill and play negative passes that slow us down .

He will be in the Champions League squad for the next stage and his experience could be very useful . The dive was not him either ,must be a Madrid habit he has learned.

Can you imagine what this guy would say if Mikel did the same things?!?

[Phil Driver 503]

Can you imagine what this guy would say if Mikel did the same things?!?

Essien was a class player ,Mikel is a .

[Laylabelle 9,367]

Least he did it at the beginning at the game rather then the end