Chelsea 3 - Birmingham City 0 (Premier League)

Chelsea
01 Cech, 02 Ivanovic, 03 A Cole, 06 Carvalho, 26 Terry, 08 Lampard, 10 J Cole (Zhirkov 81), 13 Ballack, 15 Malouda, 20 Deco, 39 Anelka (Sturridge 88)

Substitutes
22 Turnbull, 19 Ferreira, 33 Alex, 18 Zhirkov, 24 Matic, 23 Sturridge, 45 Borini

Birmingham
25 Hart, 02 Carr, 06 Ridgewell, 14 Johnson, 15 Dann, 04 Bowyer, 07 Larsson, 12 Ferguson, 10 Jerome (Fahey 56), 11 Benitez, 16 McFadden (Marcos Madera 72)

Substitutes
01 Taylor, 20 Queudrue, 27 Gregory Vignal, 17 Marcos Madera, 18 Fahey, 19 McSheffrey, 22 Johnson

Ref: Bennett
Att: 41,293

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti:

"We use all the pitch to attack and so Frank is able to run into the box to score. I think he's the best running midfielder in the world. He has this fantastic quality to time his run into the box.
"It's good we are back at the top. We have one more point with a game in hand on United and two points more than Arsenal.
"That's important because on Sunday United play Arsenal. Maybe we can improve our position on Saturday."


Birmingham boss Alex McLeish:

"I don't think anyone has won here this season and they have battered better teams than us.
"I'm not disappointed with the players at all. They deserve tremendous credit for the run they have been on and they have the character to bounce back.
"Chelsea are a good side. They have the foreign flavour, the keep-ball and movement is excellent. They are one of the favourites for the Champions League, let alone the Premier League.
"We have kept the ball better than that and were wasteful in possession, but I'll forgive the players this one. There's no disgrace losing here."