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Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth
Match Reports, 17:20, January 8, 2012
Chelsea overcame an uninspired attacking performance to record a flattering 4-0 scoreline over Portsmouth at home.
It was Portsmouth who started the game the brighter of the two sides, Dave Kitson unlucky to see his first-time shot flash wide of the post after just one minute of play, while Chelsea struggled to hit their stride for large periods of the opening 45 minutes.
Fernando Torres, largely anonymous for most of the afternoon, forced a decent save from Stephen Henderson after 12 minutes, the striker sending a thumping header towards goal from 14 yards out, but, despite enjoying around 70% of the possession, that was about as good as it got for the Blues in the opening period.
Chelsea started the second half with a greater sense of urgency, Florent Malouda showing glimpses of the form that made him a hit with the Chelsea fans for so many years, and it was left to the Frenchman to create the Blues' first goal. Malouda sprinted to the by-line with real pace before passing to Juan Mata, who was left with a simple finish from close range.
The Blues overcame a scare just minutes later, David Luiz putting his team in trouble after giving the ball away in a dangerous position, allowing Kitson to find Marko Futacs. The striker shot towards goal twice in quick succession but was foiled firstly by Petr Cech and then by John Terry.
With the game entering its final stages, it looked like Chelsea were going to see out a dull 1-0 win, but Ramires clearly had different ideas, the midfielder prodding the ball into the back of the net from close range before grabbing his second, and Chelsea's third of the game shortly after, the Brazilian making the most of his pace to run towards goal with the ball at his feet before clipping the ball over the goalkeeper with the outside of his foot.
Frank Lampard added an unfair gloss to the scoreline at the final whistle, the England midfielder finishing into the bottom corner after a decent pass from Ramires, but the result will perhaps do more to paper over the cracks of Andre Villas-Boas's squad than send a message out to Chelsea's rivals left in this year's FA Cup.
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