Chelsea 2-3 West Ham (JFH[p], Defoe, Di Canio[2], Zola)

But of course our first loss of the season had to be to the team firmly rooted at the bottom of the table. Bloody hell. Apparently t'was the two Marios who played badly. Di Canio's first goal was a cracker of a long-range shot that Cudicini should have done better to save. Gudjohnsen had a 'mare. Well the whole team had a 'mare basically. Except for a sweet free-kick from Zola (not deflected this time). I don't really want to talk anymore about it. Best not to put the sordid details on record. Sure I'm like the ostrich putting my head in the sand, but I don't really need to feel any more depressed.

Fulham 0-0 Chelsea

Was nervous about the game right from the start when I saw that Dessa was injured and Huth was to be thrown into his first full debut in the Premiership, a West London derby no less. The Fulham fans provided a boiling atmosphere at their adopted home at Loftus Road, which has so far proven more auspicious than Craven Cottage. But for a mere 18-year-old Huth performed quite well, showed a few signs of inexperience in defence but generally commendable, while being a little too anxious in the opposition's box, wasting a couple of clear headers. JFH did not much better, sending a diving header from close range wide, a chance that you would have expected him to bury last season. The only other good chances that came our way was when Zenden broke free on the left flank after a Fulham defender miscontrolled the ball, but with no one in support tried a shot from a difficult angle that predictably went wide. Gronk received the same chance when he came on for Zenden. This time JFH was in support but Gronk took a good shot that Van der Sar did well to block.

Fulham by far had the better chances than us and probably had more of the possession. Stanic and Huth made a few mistakes but Gallas was typically solid and Melchiot performed adequately. It definitely wasn't an excellent defensive display and Cudicini had to be called upon a few times to bail out the defence.

We were already fourth before the game since Leeds had done us a favour by kindly losing to Blackburn (Alan Smith playing a major role by missing a match-saving penalty) so that we went fourth on goal difference. But with the extra point we're finally above Rottenham. Fulham are going strong and are just 2 points behind us with a game in hand.

Chelsea 2-1 Viking (Hasselbaink, De Lucas, Wright)

Please tell me this is not the return of the old frustrating Chelsea. Cruising with a 2-0 lead and the game fizzing out, we helped to jolt Viking's hopes back to life by falling asleep and letting them score in the 89th minute. For fuck's sake. Stanic actually performed decently for once UNTIL he let Wright dart in front of him and score the winning goal.

Bet JFH is really ruing those chances he missed. One was a free header on goal, and another he created out of thin air with a few touches of such skill that it would have easily been the goal of the season had he not fired it into the keeper. If he hadn't scored he would probably be thoroughly slaughtered on Chelsea Chat.

The last time we allowed a team to score a crucial away goal in an European match was against Barca in the CL q-finals and of course Hapoel Tel Aviv last season. Look what happened both times. Oh dear.

Always look on the bright side of life. At least "Quique" scored his first goal for us. Hopefully it'll boost his confidence and help him perform better. Fulham awaits. As does Rottenham's first defeat (hopefully) at the hands of Manure tomorrow. And Huth performed solidly. A much more auspicious debut than Kitamarike's against Hapoel.

Chelsea 3-0 Newcastle United (Gudjohnsen[2], Zola)

On paper an excellent result but I'm not overly thrilled. Firstly Leeds, Pool and Arse all won as well. Secondly Newky were really pants. True, we did defend fairly well, especially Dessa and Gallas, but Melchy was nothing special and Stanic's positioning was awful (though what would one expect from a right-sided attacking midfielder playing left-back). Newky were pathetically unable to exploit this weakness, both Robert and Solano, their main threats last season, looking rather jaded. Some luck ensured that the scoreline flattered Chelsea a little. The second goal was a free-kick deflected off the hapless Speed who happened to be the one who had conceded it with a foul on Zola on the edge of the area, receiving a yellow for his troubles. But the other 2 goals were more to do with bad defending than luck. First Guddy put us in the lead as he rose high and early above his unalert markers to head an unstoppable shot that glanced off the inside of Given's right-hand post. Zendedn was the supplier of that superb cross. The final nail in Newky's coffin was emphatically hammered in by themselves. Given, with Zenden bearing down on him, unwisely passed the ball to the inexperienced Hughes, who was then set upon by 2 Chelsea players and promptly lost the ball. With Given bearing down on him, Zola crossed easily to the unmarked Guddy who simply tapped it into the unguarded net.

An interesting sideshow was the clash of the heavyweights between Dessa and Shearer. The two were perpetually at each other and although Dessa can be said to have won by virtue of preventing Shearer from scoring, Shearer nearly took him out of the game with a lunge at the shins that earned him a yellow. Bellamy, whom I find supremely irritating, was also involved in some off-the-ball tussling with Dessa, but was easily tamed by Gallas when on the ball.

As expected, the same media that unanimously predicted Chelsea to languish in mid-table mediocrity is now rapidly backtracking and saying what a good idea it is after all to not buy new players and instead give the old team a chance to really gel together. I still don't think it's a good idea though. We should have beefed up on weak spots like right-back, where Melchy is still a major liability. And we are still short of cover in central midfield, though Morris (of all people) did passably well against the Barcodes. In fact we would probably be mid-table if not for the rebirth of our no. 25 "God". Most laughable was Jamie Reeves' remark that in the past we had too many prima donnas who did not make an effort against "lesser" teams, and that we seemed to have more "steel" now. In fact none of the supposed "prima donnas" have left the team, unless Jokanovic counts. We'll show you, you bastards.

Oh dear, I'm being optimistic. This is usually not a good sign. But this is not a usual season. Manure are suffering and Chelsea are being consistent. Perhaps I will make an exception for the "occasion" and allow myself some optimism for once.

Blackburn 2-3 Chelsea (Dunn[p], Gronkjaer, Thompson, Zola[2])

And:
Liverpool 2-2 Birmingham City
Fulham 3-2 Tottenham
Manure 0-1 Bolton

Lovely!
Chelsea being Chelsea though, I wouldn't be surprised if we capitulated to the Geordies this weekend. However, for now I shall bask in satisfaction and glee.

Zola seems to have hit a rich vein of form. 4 goals in 5 games. Stanic actually started and was pretty mediocre. Gronkjaer was quite dangerous, though he embarrassingly mishit a shot he should have buried. But it all turned to the good as a goal was consequently created. Even Morris got to come on. And apparently performed credibly. Babayaro had a shocker and was responsible for the penalty. Pretty hair-raising game with Cudicini having to make a wonder save near the end and Blackburn having many golden chances to score. Thankfully Yorke doesn't seem to be faring too well. They would do much better with Jansen.

Laughably, the press are claiming we have problems scoring, when only Arsenal have scored more goals than us.

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (Zola, Toure)

Missed this one, but sounds like I missed out on some frustration as well. Our inability to beat 10 men ruined a result that would otherwise seem creditable.