FT: Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland, Blues move into third

Chelsea have moved up to third in the Barclays Premier League following their 2-1 victory against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues had to come from behind as they went into the break 1-0 down after Cesar Azpilicueta put the ball in his own net. The game was a drab affair, perhaps due to the fixture congestion, but the home side fought back in the second half.

Fernando Torres came on for the beginning of the second period and made an immediate impact as Chelsea successfully drew level. The Spaniard ran at the Sunderland defence and squared the ball to the waiting Oscar, who was guilty of an awful first touch, but the ball found its way home via Matt Kilgallon.

Rafael Benitez’s side rubbed salt into the Black Cats’ wounds when they took the lead just eight minutes later, another fortuitous goal. David Luiz’s wayward shot from outside the box was deflected in off Branislav Ivanovic, but how much did the Serbian know about it?

What matters is the fact that we picked up all three points and have moved back into third position ahead of Spurs on goal difference, and still have a game in hand over Andre Villas-Boas’ side, who are suffering a number of injuries to key players and they still have to visit Stamford Bridge.

Today’s match was Chelsea’s fourth in nine days and we have won three of them, we’re still in the driving seat to finish in the Champions League places and in the hunt for two cup competitions.

Chelsea Lineup:

Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, D. Luiz, R. Bertrand; Ramires, Mikel; Oscar, Mata (Lampard 88), Hazard (84); Ba (Torres 46).

Unused Subs: Turnbull, Terry, Ferreira, Marin.

Chelsea’s next fixture is a Europa League quarter-final 2nd leg against Russian side Rubin Kazan on Thursday in Moscow. The Blues are leading the tie 3-1.