Boro steamrolled

IT has not taken long for Alex to live up to his new nickname. On the day the Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, talked of style over substance there was no better time for ‘The Tank’ to showcase the full range of his impressive armoury.

Not content with keeping Middlesbrough’s forward line quiet, the imposing central defender revealed himself to be equally adept as a destructive attacking force. The sheer ferocity of his second-half free-kick, converted from 35 yards in a blur of brilliance, so shocked the home team that they never quite recovered.

Alex’s intoxicating blend of power and panache is atypically Brazilian and yet it is little wonder that his tenacity is complemented by a sure touch. Hailing from the same Santos club as Edson Arantes de Nascimento, the 25-year-old was brought up to believe in the finest traditions of the beautiful game.

Pele would have been proud of his fellow countryman’s first goal in English football, but it was a diligent defensive performance which gave Grant the greater satisfaction. Chelsea travelled to Teeside without injured England internationals John Terry and Ashley Cole, but ultimately neither was missed.

On this compelling evidence even the absence of Jose Mourinho does not appear to be fazing the two-time champions. After Didier Drogba fired Chelsea into an eighth-minute lead, surging forward after 48 hours of furious backtracking over his proposed move abroad, this was an exercise in stifling control. For Petr Cech feelings of surprise and uncertainty have been quelled by a sense of fresh purpose and renewed optimism.

“As a player you need to adapt as soon as you can,” he said, when asked to reflect on the departure of Mourinho. “We have needed a bit of time, but I think everyone has adapted very quickly. Now we’re playing better and better. Everyone is different, but, for me, any decision which is surprising is difficult to take.

“I think you can see from the direction we’re going in that everyone is giving their all, even though it [Mourinho’s dismissal] was a big shock. Suddenly, when you change everything that worked for many years and was successful, it is always a big shock. We need a bit of time to try to forget about it and to concentrate on our football.”

Cech’s concentration was impeccable against a Middlesbrough team which rarely offered anything of substance going forward, but still created the two clear chances which could have salvaged an undeserved point. Mido, the Egyptian international forward, had a powerful header saved minutes after Drogba’s goal and the same player was denied again four minutes after the restart. On both occasions Cech’s handling was assured and Chelsea’s dominance reinforced.

“When you score a quick goal everything gets better from there on in and you can control the game more,” he added. “You don’t have to really attack or go crazy. We waited for our chance and scored a beautiful second goal in the second half.”

It was always going to take something very special to steal the limelight from Drogba and Alex’s thunderbolt will eclipse the majority of his team-mate’s best efforts this season. However, if the South American’s strike was the more memorable Chelsea goal, there was no doubting which finish was of greater significance.

Drogba had a point to prove just 48 hours after his desire to quit Stamford Bridge was splashed across the front page of France Football magazine. Those Chelsea supporters who had travelled to the North East of England in their thousands craved some kind of evidence that their club’s most prolific marksman was still committed to the Blues’ cause.

Drogba’s man-of-the-match performance, quite apart from the smart run and finish which embarrassed Middlesbrough’s England defender Luke Young, went some way to repairing the damage caused by a series of contentious comments and it was the dejected Boro fans who booed his late withdrawal.

“Didier’s best answer was on the pitch,” added Cech. “He played an important game for us and scored a crucial goal. What more can you say than that? As long as he plays 100% for the team — and he’s been doing that for years — then that’s fine.”

How Middlesbrough, ravaged by injury and sapped of all confidence, could do with a Drogba right now, disaffected or otherwise. Mido’s aerial threat apart, Gareth Southgate’s attack had all the cutting edge of a piece of cotton wool: these are troubled times on Teeside.

“I haven’t read Drogba’s comments, but he looked top drawer against us,” said a clearly envious Gary O’Neil. The Middlesbrough midfielder added: “He’s a fantastic player and everything that goes up to him seems to stick. He does a great job defensively from set pieces as well. He would be my first choice centre forward in the Premiership, he would be number one on his own for me. But his goal was the fourth we’ve conceded in four games in the first 10 minutes. We’re desperate to turn it around. Four weeks on the trot isn’t good enough and we have to rectify that. We went into the Chelsea match with it in mind not to concede early, but we did it again which makes things doubly difficult.”

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): Schwarzer 5, Young 5, Riggott 7, Woodgate 7, Taylor 6, O’Neil 8, Boateng 5 (Cattermole, 68, 7), Rochemback 4, Downing 5, Mido 7, Tuncay 4 (Craddock, 84, 7).

Subs not used: Turnbull, Wheater, Lee.

CHELSEA (4-1-4-1): Cech 8, Belletti 7, Alex 8, Carvalho 7, Ferreira 5, Mikel 6, Cole 7, Essien 8 (Sidwell, 82, 7), Lampard 7, Malouda 5 (Wright-Phillips, 75, 7), Drogba 9 (Shevchenko, 85, 4).

Subs not used: Cudicini, Ben Haim.

REFEREE: Mark Halsey (Lancashire) 8 Controlled a low-tempo affair with the minimum of fuss although the free kick he awarded against Middlesbrough, which resulted in Alex’s spectacular goal, drew derision from the home crowd.

MATCH RATING: ** Two fantastic finishes but Boro were never able to make this one-sided match a contest. Chelsea’s control was suffocating.