Samuel Eto'o Scores for Chelsea but Is Embroiled in Cardiff City Controversy

Samuel Eto'o opened his Chelsea goalscoring account in a 4-1 victory over Cardiff City on Saturday, but the game will be remembered for a whole lot more after the Cameroon international was caught up in controversy for his role in the Blues' equalizer.

Cardiff had taken a shock lead when Jordan Mutch capitalized on some slack defending from David Luiz, chipping his effort over Petr Cech on 10 minutes.

Eden Hazard pulled the home side level 23 minutes later before Eto'o scored after the break to make it 2-1. Oscar came off the bench to score Chelsea's third, while Hazard grabbed his second to complete the rout on 82 minutes.

There was no doubting Chelsea were good value for their victory come the final whistle, but the real talking point came when Eto'o dispossessed Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall to set up Hazard's equalizer.

Having collected the ball from a Chelsea cross, Marshall appeared to bounce the ball in front of him as he prepared to clear it down field.

Waiting alongside, however, Eto'o seized the initiative in kicking the ball before it returned to Marshall's hands, passing to Hazard. The Belgian advanced on goal, squaring it to Eto'o who looked certain to score before being tackled, with the loose ball falling to his teammate who fired into an empty net.

Chelsea celebrated, with Cardiff left furious, feeling their goalkeeper had been upended. And according to the letter of the law, the Bluebirds were right to feel aggrieved.

FIFA's rulebook explains a goalkeeper is still in control of the ball if he bounces it, meaning Eto'o committed a foul when dispossessing Marshall.

Referee Anthony Taylor didn't see it that way, however, as a frustrated Malky Mackay explained in his press conference.

"I did go in and ask for clarification [about the goal] at the end, just purely clarification on the ruling and what the referee saw," said the Cardiff manager.

"The explanation leaves me very disappointed because I've seen it, I've looked at it and the explanation was they thought the goalkeeper had dropped the ball [...] my goalkeeper saw Samuel Eto'o stand next to him and he bounced the ball."

Up to that point Chelsea hadn't had too much success in breaking down the Cardiff defence. John Terry struck the post with a header from Juan Mata's corner, but the Blues didn't look like scoring.

Hazard's goal was a turning point and from there on out, there was only going to be one winner.

"It changed the game at that point," Mackay continued. "We were 1-0 up, Cech made a magnificent save from Odemwingie's header to put us 2-0 up and with a top team like Chelsea putting plenty of pressure against us, there wasn't particularly much that our goalkeeper was having to do at that point."

It's a shame for Eto'o that, while the headlines should be about his best performance for Chelsea to date, his display will be largely forgotten amid the controversy.

The Cameroonian's goal was the first for any Chelsea striker in the Premier League this term and he looked sharp, causing Cardiff plenty of problems with his movement and link-up play.

Jose Mourinho will be pleased when he reflects on the game, although the Portuguese himself made headlines when he was sent to the stands for arguing with the referee and fourth official over Cardiff's apparent time wasting.

It lead to the Chelsea manager passing his post-match media duties to assistant Steve Holland.

"Jose's very frustrated right now [..] To have been sent off for showing his frustration [with the time wasting] is very harsh."

That story will no doubt rumble on in the coming days, but Chelsea's victory moves them up into second place in the Premier League and with or without their manager in the dugout, the Blues are beginning to look strong contenders for the title.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout the 2013-14 season. Follow him on Twitter here @garryhayes