Portsmouth 0-5 Chelsea | Don't Celebrate...Yet!

No heart attacks this time. The first half had everything in it to worry a Chelsea fan. Pompey were so poor that there was no way we were going to drop points.

But still we had to score the second goal to ease our nerves. As soon as Chelsea scored the second goal, Pompey virtually surrendered the match. For Chelsea to win 5-0 even after numerous good saves by James shows the gulf between the teams.

Ancelotti did the right thing, finally, when he dropped Anelka to the bench. I’m glad he finally realised that Anelka does not deserve to start on current form. I don’t know if Anelka not starting and Chelsea scoring five goals in an away match are coincidences.

Sturridge got a start which was good I again, on current form, I thought Kalou had a better case to make it to the starting line-up.

Anyway, I was personally happy with Sturridge starting the match because I already rate him.

Lampard had a very good match. He was moving intelligently, got himself into good positions, had a few cracking shots on goal and also kept creating opportunities for others.

Drogba got another brace, the first of it was a goal gift-wrapped with a note (‘Dear Drogba. Please accept my gift. With love – David James.'

The man of the show was Florent Malouda. He was everywhere. He deserved a hat trick. I think he is a great contender for the Chelsea player of the season award.

He will have tough opposition but if I have to vote, I’d pick Malouda over Drogba for this season. There were many matches where Drogba was invisible and failed to show up. And there were many matches where he turned up the heat and carried us through.

Whereas, Malouda hardly had any poor matches this season. Whenever he was called upon, he has delivered the goods.

This is Carlo after the match:

"

We needed to have this performance. We needed to win, we did this, and I hope the bad moment is finished. We have to wait until Saturday [against Aston Villa] because that is a very important test for us.

If this test can be passed, this moment is finished. There are eight or nine games until the end of the season and we need to maintain this spirit. We have to prepare these nine games like a final.

"

A 5-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park does not mean that our morale and confidence is back. If anything, it has helped us match the goal difference of Man United Like Carlo said, we have to see how we fare against Aston Villa this weekend. If we don’t beat Villa this weekend, this 5-0 win means nothing.

After saying the right thing, Carlo drops a bomb. He’s not sure if we have eight or nine matches left!!! It’s hard to believe that he doesn’t know how many matches are left! There are SEVEN matches left, Carlo! SEVEN!

The match this weekend is the conclusive test of how much Chelsea wants to win this league title. If we don’t beat Villa this weekend, we might need to have other results go our way to win the title.

See, if we win these seven (not eight, nine, or 22) matches, that would mean Man Utd would win only six matches because it includes a match at Old Trafford. That additional win for Chelsea is good enough to put us on top. Arsenal, even if they win their seven matches on hand, they would still fall short.

So, if we keep winning, we win the title. If we drop points, we need help from our rivals or the opponents of our rivals. A resounding win over Aston Villa could put us right back on track.

Carlo needs to choose the right team and play the right tactic. Villa at Stamford Bridge is beatable. That’s all I’d say.