Chelsea cruised into the fourth round of the League Cup with a 4-0 win at Portsmouth on Wednesday. September 25th, 2008
Chelsea cruised into the fourth round of the League Cup with a 4-0 win at Portsmouth on Wednesday. While Tottenham began its title defense with a 2-1 victory at Newcastle in a meeting of the Premier League’s crisis clubs
Championship side Queens Park Rangers ousted five-time champion Aston Villa 1-0 after Damion Stewart planted a 58th-minute header past United States goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Everton, a semifinalist last season, went down 1-0 at Blackburn and Wigan won 4-1 at Ipswich.
It was a miserable night for Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, whose FA Cup-winning side has now conceded 10 goals in two matches.
Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead at Fratton Park from the penalty spot in the 36th minute after Michael Ballack was brought down by Nadir Belhadj.
Salomon Kalou fed Florent Malouda to double the tally in the 45th, and then provided Lampard’s second in the 49th before getting a goal of his own to complete the 4-0 victory in the 64th.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba started for the first time since May’s Champions League final defeat to Manchester United. He shot wide of goalkeeper David James inside the opening two minutes.
St. James’ Park was less than half full as Newcastle lost its third straight match since manager Kevin Keegan quit last month to plunge the club into turmoil.
A turgid first half between the sides occupying the bottom two league spots saw Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate come close twice to scoring. He then rescued Spurs after the break by hooking wide one shot from Damien Duff and blocking another from Michael Owen.
Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first goal since moving to Spurs last month, soaring to head Aaron Lennon’s cross past goalkeeper Shay Given in the 62nd.
Woodgate blocked Geremi’s free kick before Jamie O’Hara put Spurs 2-0 up in the 66th.
O’Hara intercepted Fabricio Coloccini’s pass across the defense before Steven Taylor could clear and scored on the eve of his 22nd birthday.
Michael Owen pulled one backed for the beleaguered Magpies in the 90th.
It couldn’t prevent jeers from the crowd of less than 20,000, which is unlikely to impress possible investors with owner Mike Ashley having responded to fan protests by putting the club up for sale.
Former England striker Robbie Fowler made an immediate impact on his Blackburn debut, playing a one-two with Martin Olsson, who fired past goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 10th.
The 33-year-old Fowler is on a three-month, performance-related deal after leaving Cardiff.
Wigan breezed past Ipswich, regaining control after Lee Cattermole’s 52nd-minute goal was canceled out by Jonathan Walters’ volley in the 61st.
Olivier Kapo took just three minutes to restore Wigan’s advantage, with Paul Scharner (70) and substitute Henri Camara (90) completing a 4-1 victory.