Chelsea 2, West Bromiwch Albion 0: Chris Lepowski's Birmingham Mail verdict
ALBION failed to ease Tony Mowbray back to health from his heavy cold as they slumped to defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The Baggies were beaten by two first-half goals, scored by Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, as their miserable away form continued.
It was all too comfortable at times for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men, who could have added more but were denied by a succession of Jonas Olsson blocks and a series of saves by Scott Carson.
The home side were barely at full pelt but didn’t really need to be.
Although Albion showed plenty of willing, they rarely ventured close enough to test Petr Cech, who only had the occasional long-range shot to worry about.
Albion fell behind to an early Drogba goal before Lampard killed the game off just before half-time, effectively rendering the second half as a low-key no-nonsense game, with neither side able to build up any kind of momentum.
To make matters worse for the visitors, they will be without Abdoulaye Meite for the next week or so after he strained a hamstring.
Mowbray, wrapped up in several layers, made two changes to his side. His decision to name Craig Beattie and Chris Brunt over Luke Moore and Roman Bednar bore the hallmarks of a manager looking ahead to the next match.
It wasn’t to the same extreme as Albion’s last visit to the Bridge – when Bryan Robson changed half of the side – but it underlined the importance of tomorrow’s home game against Spurs, a match Mowbray clearly feels his side have a greater chance of winning.
It was Brunt who went nearest to goal in the opening minutes. The winger drove a left-footed shot just wide of Cech’s left-hand post from 25 yards.
But it didn’t take long for Albion to crumble at the other end. They left Drogba with too much space and failed to clear his left-wing cross.
The ball came out to Joe Cole, who crossed in for Drogba, who rose above Gianni Zuiverloon to head past Carson before three minutes had elapsed.
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