Chelsea romped to an emphatic home win over FA cup holders Portsmouth in their first competitive game under new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. Pompey boss Harry Redknapp chose to field an attacking 4-4-2 formation partnering new signing Peter Crouch with England striker Jermain Defoe in what turned out to be a costly opening day gambit. The south coasters were exposed early on by Scolari’s talent laden midfield as Deco combined with Joe Cole for the opening goal.

Nicolas Anelka added a second soon after only his second Premier League goal for Chelsea both of which have come against Redknapp’s Portsmouth. A soft penalty decision against Sylvain Distin who had harshly been adjudged to have deliberately handled in the box gave Lampard his first penalty of the season and saw Chelsea go into the break 3-0 up. They added a fourth with minutes remaining after a speculative long range effort from Deco swerved at the last to elude David James’ one handed dive.

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