Sunderland make Chelsea work hard for win

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2

Arjen Robben was sent off within seconds of firing Chelsea to victory at battling Sunderland as the Premiership champions were make to work to establish a 16-point lead over Manchester United.

The Dutchman, who had been booked before the break for a foul on Liam Lawrence, struck on 69 minutes, but then received a second yellow card for his celebrations to leave his side down to 10 men.

Lawrence had given the Black Cats a shock 12th-minute lead, but Hernan Crespo levelled 16 minutes later as the Wearsiders’ wait for a first league win of the season at the Stadium of Light continued despite a spirited display.

Chelsea's intent was clear from the off as Lampard, Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo combined to force Black Cats goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to sprint from his line to prevent Cole getting in a shot with just 20 seconds gone.

But it was the Wearsiders who created the first chance of the game after three minutes when striker Jon Stead picked up possession wide on the left and charged forward, before cutting inside and testing Cech at his near post with a low drive.

Lampard blazed high over from 35 yards seconds later, and although the home side were competing, the signs were ominous.

McCarthy’s men were committing plenty of bodies in attack, but they too often managed to pick out the imperious John Terry at the back with predictable results.

Lampard volleyed over after Caldwell had cleared Del Horno’s 10th-minute cross, but against all the odds, the home side took the lead two minutes later.

Gallas gifted possession to Caldwell and Julio Arca’s deep cross had Terry back-pedalling anxiously.

Although he got to the ball first, Terrys header dropped perfectly for Liam Lawrence to blast a left-footed shot past Cech.

Lampard drifted a 14th-minute free-kick over from 45 yards, and Crespo just failed to get on the end of his deflected effort two minutes later with the visitors fighting back.

Chelsea continued to dominate possession but without putting any real pressure on the home defence.

The home fans were on their feet once again on 25 minutes when Arca crossed from the left and Dean Whitehead looked to have got there before Cech, but although the keeper’s punch under pressure fell to Stead, an offside flag brought an end to the excitement.

For once, Mourinho’s men were looking rattled as Sunderland hustled and harried them all over the park and looked good value for their lead.

Even the usually-assured Lampard was not having things all his own way, although it was he who sparked the move from which the Londoners got back on terms with 28 minutes gone.

He played Gallas into space down the right and the Frenchman turned Arca inside-out before crossing to the far post where Cole, level with the byline, headed down for Crespo to level from close range.

The Argentinian international might have doubled his tally within three minutes when he headed over from Lampard’s hooked cross following Robben’s quickly-taken throw-in,

Chelsea were seeing far more of the ball than the hosts, but the home side always looked dangerous on the break and continued to frustrate their opponents to the extent that Robben earned himself a 36th-minute booking for a needless foul on Lawrence.

Stead, still awaiting his first Sunderland goal, saw his shot on the turn blocked by Terry seconds later, but with Robben starting to find his feet, full-back Justin Hoyte had his hands full down the home right.

However, it took a last-ditch clearance by Carvalho to deny Whitehead a clear shot on goal in first-half injury-time after Stead had played Lawrence in down the right and Arca had recycled his cross, and Anthony Le Tallec headed straight at Cech from another Arca ball.

McCarthy's orders at half-time must have been more of the same, and his players picked up where they had left of as they tried to take the game to Chelsea from the off.

However, they needed an excellent save from Davis to keep them on terms with just two minutes of the half gone.

Robben picked out Crespo in space down the left and he cut inside before trying the side-foot past the keeper, who threw out a hand to make a vital stop.

Cole drilled a long-range effort straight at Davis two minutes later, but Carvalho had to make a superbly-timed intervention to rob Stead on the edge of the penalty area after the Black Cats broke swiftly.

Robben forced another save from the home keeper with a deflected 52nd-minute shot, and the pressure was mounting.

Davis found himself in the thick of the action as Lampard hammered in two long-range efforts in quick succession, and he then had to turn away Robben’s 57th-minute piledriver with his defence starting to wilt under pressure.

The Wearsiders somehow managed to survive and re-group to relieve their beleaguered keeper and set about the task of regaining their own momentum, but with the game opening up, they were becoming increasingly stretched.

Mourinho opted to make a change after 61 minutes when he replaced Cole with Damien Duff to present the Black Cats with a new set of problems.

The Londoners by now were virtually camped inside the Sunderland half, and the pressure finally told after 69 minutes when Robben cut in from the right and fired in a shot which clipped Whitehead and flew past Davis into the net.

However, the scorer’s joy was cut short when he was booked for the second time in the game for celebrating with the supporters behind the goal and was dismissed.

The sending-off gave the home side fresh hope and Le Tallec went close with a 76th-minute header from an Arca cross.

But Chelsea remained menacing when they were in full flow and Davis had to be at his best to keep out an Eidur Gudjohnsen drive seconds later.

McCarthy replaced Stead and Le Tallec with Daryl Murphy and Andy Gray with seven minutes remaining and Mourinho moved to shore up his defence by replacin Gudjohnsen with Robert Huth.

Sunderland twice appealed, more in hope than expectation, for a penalty as the clock ran down, but first substitute Carlton Cole and then Lampard went close at the other end in the dying minutes.