Chelsea against Birmingham City

Another chance for Chelsea as Gudjohnsen powers into the box. Goes past Cunningham who clips his feet. Gudjohnsen keeps playing and, off balance, fires wide of the target

Mutu, just inside the Birmingham half, sees the run of Hasselbaink and plays a perfectly weighted ball over the top of the back man. Hasselbaink is clean through on goal but Taylor comes flying out to block the shot from no distance. Fantastic goalkeeping

Mutu effort from inside the D sees Purse throw himself in front of it to block

Substitution for Birmingham. Jovan Kirovski on for Bryan Hughes

Relentless pressure from Chelsea through Mutu, Duff and Bridge but Birmingham are defending deeply and in numbers to cancel out the danger

Another Chelsea substitution as Mario Melchiot comes on for Glen Johnson

Taylor collects a high ball in his box again. The big number one has commanded his area all afternoon

Chelsea string together plenty of passes going from right to left and back again without creating a shooting opportunity. Credit should be given to the Birmingham defence who are now all fighting for every scrap

From the left-hand corner of the box, Savage whips in a curling ball forcing Cudicini to punch clear

Glen Johnson fouls Lazaridis as he goes past him. A bit of lip to the referee sees a yellow card given and the kick moved 10 yard sforward.

Hughes takes a difficult ball down well on the edge of the box, neat turn followed by a quick shot. gets a savage deflection which forces Cudicini into action as the ball threatens to loop in

Makelele catches John in the face with an arm. The Birmingham man is furious but the referee sees no need to take action against Makelele

In what is becoming a feature of this game, Lampard has a pop from around 30 yards. It is rising all the time and the keeper watches it sail over

Not a good throw and, as Chelsea look to break at pace, Tebily pulls back Lampard and receives a yellow card for his troubles

Attack down the left from Damien Johnson gives Birmingham a throw right by the corner flag on the right

As with the first-half, a lull in the game has followed a blistering first twenty minutes from the home side. Slight tension can be sensed from the crowd as the game continues at 0-0

Desailly, Lampard and Makelele play nice triangles at the back to calmly get out of trouble

First substitution from Birmingham as Lazaridis replaces Morrison perhaps signalling that Birmingham would be happy to take a point from this game

Mutu now tries his luck from distance. It is a poor effort though and hits Purse. Fortunately, from a Birmingham point of view, the rebound spins just out of the reach of the waiting Hasselbaink

Lampard meets the clearance with a speculative half-volley from 30 yards. Sails a long way wide in the end

Duff is fouled out wide. Hasselbaink free-kick again calls on the Birmingham defence to head clear

Duff recieves a long ball wide on the left, beats Johnson and plays a low powerful ball across the face of the goal. Birmingham are alive to the danger and mange to clear their lines

Taylor shows good hands again to claim yet another Chelsea corner

Mutu is introduced at the expense of Cole who is still to play a full 90 minutes for Chelsea in the Premiership

With Chelsea so far forward a rare Birmingham break sees Hughes play a long diagonal pass for John. He has acres of space but has wandered off-side

All Chelsea now as midfield men are looking to get forward more and more

Throw in level with the edge of the box on the right for Chelsea. in to Coles' feet who plays a lovely square lay off to the running Lampard. Continues into the box, turns once and fires a low shot on target that Taylor manages to repel.

Cole plays a short ball to Makelele who in turn plays a first time angled through ball for Hasselbaink to chase into the right hand channel of the box. gets there and looks to cut back from the line but only manages to hit the side netting

Real tempo about the game right from the off in the second-half

More Chelsea pressure as Cole twists and turns on the byline down the right. Lays the ball back to Johnson who fires hopelessly high and wide

Chelsea attack continues and as Makelele is taking the ball away from goal, John gets his feet tangled with the Chelsea man and appears to trip him. Strong penalty claim but bizarrely the free-kick is awarded the other way

Free-kick played into the Birmingham box, Taylor comes and is beaten by Desailly. Ball comes down to Gallas with the goal at his mercy. Weak contact gives Tebily chance to stretch and clear the ball right on the line. Fantastic clearance but Gallas should have scored

John wins the ball on the half way line, plays a reverse pass to release Morrison on the right. A low centre sees John and Gallas arrive together but the ball is kept out by a brave Cudicini. Ball comes to Savage who fires wide

Purse appears to be in trouble already. The defender is hobbling and looks in some pain

Chelsea kick-off and gain first a throw-in and second a free-kick after Savage cltters Makelele. The Frenchman turned away the challenge but Savage simply went straight through him. Booked for persistent foul play

Second-half substitution for Chelsea sees Damian Duff replace Jesper Gronkjaer

Half-time 0-0. Birmingham will feel happy to have the scores level after being threatened to be swamped in the first tywenty minutes. Cole has come closest, rattling the post, but Chelsea's threat eased up towards the end of the half. Expect changes from the Tinkerman when the teams emerge for the next 45 minutes

Cole lunges in at Hughes with studs showing. Catches the Birmingham mans standing leg and is in trouble. As a host of away players look to confront Cole, ref Jeff Winter guards the Chelsea man for his own protection. The foul was a bad one and Cole rightly recieves the first yellow card of the match

Two minutes of added time

Corner comes to nothing and the ball is played long up the field

Free-kick is put out by Tebily at the back post but the referee awards a corner

Loose ball from Makelele gives Johnson the chance to run at the home defence. Glen Johnson stops him but unfairly in the eyes of the referee.

At the other end Gronkjaer gets the better of Tebily to put a looped cross into a dangerous area. Decent enough ball but the strikers didn't read it and Taylor is on his own as he claims it

Hughes whips in a decent looking cross from the right but, in a crowded penalty box, no Birmingham player is able to get on it

John stands up strong against Gallas to win his side a free-kick

The attack from Chelsea lifts the crowd once more after it going a bit quiet in the last 10 minutes

Hasselbaink gets goal sdie of Purse after a through ball from Cole, now on the right. Fires a cross along the ground that only needs a touch. Tebily is strong enough to deny Gugjohnsen that chance in his own six yard box

Birmingham having more of the ball in the last few minutes but unable to get anything going in the final third

Clemence upends Gallas as Chelsea look to mount a counter-attack. Free-kick is awarded

Cudicini, who has had little to do in the game up till now, has to be on his game to collect a looping cross under pressure from a host of Birmingham attackers

Cheeky back heel from Hasslebaink to release Gronkjaer in the box but the Dutchman is correctly ruled to have been off-side

Gronkjaer turns left and right 20 yards out in front of goal. Faced by a bank of yellow shirts he opts to line up a shot but is muscled off the ball in the process of doing so

Bridge chips the ball into the Birmingham box from a deep position which Hasselbaink just fails to conect with

Morrison and Gallas tussel and the ref awards in favour of the Chelsea man

savage wrestles possession off Makalele and Hughes has a chanc eto break but Lampard is back well to cover

Hasselbaink, Cole and Gudjohnsen looking lively together and they combine again. Hasselbaink win sthe ball in midfield, plays it to Cole who spins, sees Gudjohnsen's run into space down the right but plays it with too much weight and it comes to nothing

Rare sight of the ball in Chelsea's half but it was more a punt forward to relieve pressure than a pass and Desailly has time to get it under control

Cole, full of energy and running, wins an unlikely header in the middle of the Park aimed towards Gudjohnsen. Tebily calmly heads back to Taylor under pressure

Chelsea begining to look as if when one comes, more will follow

Chelsea still have it and Lampard fires a first time shot, again from outside the box, narrowly over

Cole drives into the box from its left hand corner. Twists and turns in front of Tebily, creates a yard of space and looks to curl a right foot shot into the far corner. Keeper is beaten but the ball comes back off the upright

Gudjohnsen is tackled on the edge of the Birmingham box, the ball rolls wide to Bridge. His cross is a good one and Hasselbaink meets it with his head, ten yards out right in front of goal. Tries to angle it to the corner but ends up putting it wide

Savage chips a cute ball into the feet of John, just inside the Chelsea box, back to goal. He is swamped by blue shirts and the danger is stubbed out

Cole is the latest Chelsea player to shoot on sight, from all of 25 yards. Taylor, the busier of the keepers already, gets low and collects

Gronkjaer, with time to measure a cross out by the corner flag, puts too much on it and no one is at the back to make use of it

Game has started at tempo with both sides obviously looking to attack

Morrison robs Desailly of the ball deep in Chelsea territory. Support was coming but Morrison opts to shoot himself and it is disappointing

Crowd already on Savage's back after a couple of typically full blooded, but fair, challenges

John holds the ball up well against Gallas and releases Hughes to break into the box. Looks to get past Desailly but knocks the ball to far and it runs out. Goal-kick

As Chelsea's momentum grows Johnson gets a shooting chance from distance. It is on target but comfortable for Taylor to block.

Ball lands at the feet of Hasselbaink on the edge of the box and he instictively fires a bullet shot through a crowded penalty area. Taylor does well to position himself and collect

Curled free-kick from the right evades everyone and Johnson is clear at the back stick but can't adjust his body shape to get a shot away

Gronkjaer and Purse contest a long ball played forward and the ref blows up for a foul against the defender

Corner is cleared by Taylor, Lampards effort from distance hits a wall of yellow shirts and the danger is averted

Ball controlled expertly by Gallas deep in his own half, ball forward to Cole who cleverly takes the ball in his stride and heads for the byline. Tebily is quickly across though to tackle him for a corner

Long ball from Kenna puts Morrison in a chase with Desailly. The Frenchman gets there first and heads the ball out of play.

First chance for Birmingham as Johnson twists and turns down the right, gets past Bridge and fires in a shot that Cudicini needs two attempts to claim. Foul correctly given though for a push on Bridge by Johnson.

Ball played into the Birmingham box and, with no Chelsea player in attendance, Taylor and Cunningham colide - the defender coming off worse.

First foul ogf the match - by Robbie Savage

Again down the left Bridge finds himself with space to attack but Clemence deals with the problem

Chelsea look to start something down the left with Cole but the ball runs out of play

Chelsea are without Mutu and Crespo but in form Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is only two away from 100 Premiership goals. John Terry is also rested after suffering a slight hamstring injury. Up front for Birmingham are Clinton Morrison and Stern Jon in the absence of Christophe Duggarry.

As with the first-half, a lull in the game has followed a blistering first twenty minutes from the home side. Slight tension can be sensed from the crowd as the game continues at 0-0

Desailly, Lampard and Makelele play nice triangles at the back to calmly get out of trouble

First substitution from Birmingham as Lazaridis replaces Morrison perhaps signalling that Birmingham would be happy to take a point from this game

Mutu now tries his luck from distance. It is a poor effort though and hits Purse. Fortunately, from a Birmingham point of view, the rebound spins just out of the reach of the waiting Hasselbaink

Lampard meets the clearance with a speculative half-volley from 30 yards. Sails a long way wide in the end

Duff is fouled out wide. Hasselbaink free-kick again calls on the Birmingham defence to head clear

Duff recieves a long ball wide on the left, beats Johnson and plays a low powerful ball across the face of the goal. Birmingham are alive to the danger and mange to clear their lines

Taylor shows good hands again to claim yet another Chelsea corner

Mutu is introduced at the expense of Cole who is still to play a full 90 minutes for Chelsea in the Premiership

With Chelsea so far forward a rare Birmingham break sees Hughes play a long diagonal pass for John. He has acres of space but has wandered off-side

All Chelsea now as midfield men are looking to get forward more and more

Throw in level with the edge of the box on the right for Chelsea. in to Coles' feet who plays a lovely square lay off to the running Lampard. Continues into the box, turns once and fires a low shot on target that Taylor manages to repel.

Cole plays a short ball to Makelele who in turn plays a first time angled through ball for Hasselbaink to chase into the right hand channel of the box. gets there and looks to cut back from the line but only manages to hit the side netting

Real tempo about the game right from the off in the second-half

More Chelsea pressure as Cole twists and turns on the byline down the right. Lays the ball back to Johnson who fires hopelessly high and wide

Chelsea attack continues and as Makelele is taking the ball away from goal, John gets his feet tangled with the Chelsea man and appears to trip him. Strong penalty claim but bizarrely the free-kick is awarded the other way

Free-kick played into the Birmingham box, Taylor comes and is beaten by Desailly. Ball comes down to Gallas with the goal at his mercy. Weak contact gives Tebily chance to stretch and clear the ball right on the line. Fantastic clearance but Gallas should have scored

John wins the ball on the half way line, plays a reverse pass to release Morrison on the right. A low centre sees John and Gallas arrive together but the ball is kept out by a brave Cudicini. Ball comes to Savage who fires wide

Purse appears to be in trouble already. The defender is hobbling and looks in some pain

Chelsea kick-off and gain first a throw-in and second a free-kick after Savage cltters Makelele. The Frenchman turned away the challenge but Savage simply went straight through him. Booked for persistent foul play

Second-half substitution for Chelsea sees Damian Duff replace Jesper Gronkjaer

Half-time 0-0. Birmingham will feel happy to have the scores level after being threatened to be swamped in the first tywenty minutes. Cole has come closest, rattling the post, but Chelsea's threat eased up towards the end of the half. Expect changes from the Tinkerman when the teams emerge for the next 45 minutes

Cole lunges in at Hughes with studs showing. Catches the Birmingham mans standing leg and is in trouble. As a host of away players look to confront Cole, ref Jeff Winter guards the Chelsea man for his own protection. The foul was a bad one and Cole rightly recieves the first yellow card of the match

Two minutes of added time

Corner comes to nothing and the ball is played long up the field

Free-kick is put out by Tebily at the back post but the referee awards a corner

Loose ball from Makelele gives Johnson the chance to run at the home defence. Glen Johnson stops him but unfairly in the eyes of the referee.

At the other end Gronkjaer gets the better of Tebily to put a looped cross into a dangerous area. Decent enough ball but the strikers didn't read it and Taylor is on his own as he claims it

Hughes whips in a decent looking cross from the right but, in a crowded penalty box, no Birmingham player is able to get on it

John stands up strong against Gallas to win his side a free-kick

The attack from Chelsea lifts the crowd once more after it going a bit quiet in the last 10 minutes

Hasselbaink gets goal sdie of Purse after a through ball from Cole, now on the right. Fires a cross along the ground that only needs a touch. Tebily is strong enough to deny Gugjohnsen that chance in his own six yard box

Birmingham having more of the ball in the last few minutes but unable to get anything going in the final third

Clemence upends Gallas as Chelsea look to mount a counter-attack. Free-kick is awarded

Cudicini, who has had little to do in the game up till now, has to be on his game to collect a looping cross under pressure from a host of Birmingham attackers

Cheeky back heel from Hasslebaink to release Gronkjaer in the box but the Dutchman is correctly ruled to have been off-side

Gronkjaer turns left and right 20 yards out in front of goal. Faced by a bank of yellow shirts he opts to line up a shot but is muscled off the ball in the process of doing so

Bridge chips the ball into the Birmingham box from a deep position which Hasselbaink just fails to conect with

Morrison and Gallas tussel and the ref awards in favour of the Chelsea man

savage wrestles possession off Makalele and Hughes has a chanc eto break but Lampard is back well to cover

Hasselbaink, Cole and Gudjohnsen looking lively together and they combine again. Hasselbaink win sthe ball in midfield, plays it to Cole who spins, sees Gudjohnsen's run into space down the right but plays it with too much weight and it comes to nothing

Rare sight of the ball in Chelsea's half but it was more a punt forward to relieve pressure than a pass and Desailly has time to get it under control

Cole, full of energy and running, wins an unlikely header in the middle of the Park aimed towards Gudjohnsen. Tebily calmly heads back to Taylor under pressure

Chelsea begining to look as if when one comes, more will follow

Chelsea still have it and Lampard fires a first time shot, again from outside the box, narrowly over

Cole drives into the box from its left hand corner. Twists and turns in front of Tebily, creates a yard of space and looks to curl a right foot shot into the far corner. Keeper is beaten but the ball comes back off the upright

Gudjohnsen is tackled on the edge of the Birmingham box, the ball rolls wide to Bridge. His cross is a good one and Hasselbaink meets it with his head, ten yards out right in front of goal. Tries to angle it to the corner but ends up putting it wide

Savage chips a cute ball into the feet of John, just inside the Chelsea box, back to goal. He is swamped by blue shirts and the danger is stubbed out

Cole is the latest Chelsea player to shoot on sight, from all of 25 yards. Taylor, the busier of the keepers already, gets low and collects

Gronkjaer, with time to measure a cross out by the corner flag, puts too much on it and no one is at the back to make use of it

Game has started at tempo with both sides obviously looking to attack

Morrison robs Desailly of the ball deep in Chelsea territory. Support was coming but Morrison opts to shoot himself and it is disappointing

Crowd already on Savage's back after a couple of typically full blooded, but fair, challenges

John holds the ball up well against Gallas and releases Hughes to break into the box. Looks to get past Desailly but knocks the ball to far and it runs out. Goal-kick

As Chelsea's momentum grows Johnson gets a shooting chance from distance. It is on target but comfortable for Taylor to block.

Ball lands at the feet of Hasselbaink on the edge of the box and he instictively fires a bullet shot through a crowded penalty area. Taylor does well to position himself and collect

Curled free-kick from the right evades everyone and Johnson is clear at the back stick but can't adjust his body shape to get a shot away

Gronkjaer and Purse contest a long ball played forward and the ref blows up for a foul against the defender

Corner is cleared by Taylor, Lampards effort from distance hits a wall of yellow shirts and the danger is averted

Ball controlled expertly by Gallas deep in his own half, ball forward to Cole who cleverly takes the ball in his stride and heads for the byline. Tebily is quickly across though to tackle him for a corner

Long ball from Kenna puts Morrison in a chase with Desailly. The Frenchman gets there first and heads the ball out of play.

First chance for Birmingham as Johnson twists and turns down the right, gets past Bridge and fires in a shot that Cudicini needs two attempts to claim. Foul correctly given though for a push on Bridge by Johnson.

Ball played into the Birmingham box and, with no Chelsea player in attendance, Taylor and Cunningham colide - the defender coming off worse.

First foul ogf the match - by Robbie Savage

Again down the left Bridge finds himself with space to attack but Clemence deals with the problem

Chelsea look to start something down the left with Cole but the ball runs out of play

Chelsea are without Mutu and Crespo but in form Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is only two away from 100 Premiership goals. John Terry is also rested after suffering a slight hamstring injury. Up front for Birmingham are Clinton Morrison and Stern Jon in the absence of Christophe Duggarry.