Malouda lifts the Blues

Friday, 31/12/2010

by Joshua Block, Shoot's Chelsea blogger

After a torrid run of results left Chelsea lagging in fifth place at the start of play on Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti was desperate to break the spell with a morale-boosting win when Chelsea took on Owen Coyle's Bolton.

Wanderers were the unlucky recipients of the backlash from Monday night’s poor display against the champions’ usual whipping boys Arsenal, although one goal was enough to seal a much-needed win over Coyle’s impressive outfit.

As Florent Malouda swept Didier Drogba’s through ball on the hour at Stamford Bridge, it was perhaps the loudest noise that the home faithful had made since Alex’s glorious free-kick during the home victory over Arsenal back in October.

Bolton were no pushovers for the Londoners, however, as their sixth place in the league table proved. But it was clear that this was Chelsea’s chance to begin to right all the wrongs of the past month by finally getting back to winning ways at Stamford Bridge. Having had a succession of tough away games against the likes of Birmingham City, Tottenham and Arsenal, the familiarity must have been of benefit to the home side.

Although they were booed off at half-time, Ancelotti must have said the right things to the right players during the break as they came out a much-improved side. Frank Lampard in particular seemed to improve every minute he was on the pitch as he attempts to regain his match fitness, with one curling long pass through to Drogba resulting in a drive coming off the inside of the post when everyone in the stadium thought it was in.

When the breakthrough came, it was a visible load off the players’ shoulders as well as the manager and fans. Malouda celebrated like a man possessed, hugging his team-mates and running to the touchline to celebrate with the backroom staff while the team showed their unity and spirit that had been somewhat lacking in previous outings.

Next up for the Blues at Stamford Bridge is Aston Villa, a team coming off the back of a horrendous display against Manchester City in the week and suffering a very poor season so far under Gerard Houllier. Ancelotti will be hoping for his players to make a statement to the other title contenders that they should have taken all the points they could while the champions were struggling, because they may well regret it come May.
     

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