The good news for Chelsea is that the defence of their title is up and running with a first victory of the season and that Pedro, on this evidence, will light up the Premier League with his presence. The bad news for José Mourinho to digest is that the champions continue to look like an accident waiting to happen at the back, with John Terry following his humiliating half-time substitution at Manchester City last Sunday with a straight red card here.
Quite what Mourinho screamed into the pitchside microphone at the final whistle is unclear – the Portuguese claimed that he was singing – but there is no escaping the fact that Chelsea made hard work of what could have been a routine win and that there is a vulnerability about them defensively that is hard to reconcile with the team that strangled the life out of opponents last season. Three games into the season and Chelsea have already conceded seven times and picked up two red cards.
The spotlight, inevitably, will shine on Terry. Mourinho chose his words carefully when asked about the dismissal of the Chelsea captain but it was plain to see that he was deeply frustrated with Mark Clattenburg’s decision. Tony Pulis, Albion’s manager, also felt that it was a little harsh.
Terry, however, was exposed by Chris Brunt’s long ball and he was tugging at Salomón Rondón with his left hand as he tried to make up ground on the powerful Albion striker, who was bearing down on goal. From the moment that Clattenburg decided it was a foul there was only going to be one outcome.
When James Morrison scored his second of the afternoon five minutes later to bring the score back to 3-2 it was tempting to wonder whether The Hawthorns, which has proved to be such a graveyard for Chelsea managers in recent years – Roberto di Matteo and André Villas-Boas both lost their jobs after defeats here – was about to witness another famous Albion result.
Callum McManaman, who was lively throughout, came within inches of equalising after sitting Branislav Ivanovic on his backside and curling narrowly wide of Thibaut Courtois’s far post, yet there were also plenty of chances for Chelsea to put an absorbing game to bed at the other end.
Pedro was often the architect on a day when he introduced himself to the Chelsea supporters with a sparkling performance that included a goal and an assist on his debut. He was, in short, a joy to watch and in the process highlighted what a shrewd piece of business it was on Chelsea’s part to sign the 28-year-old from Barcelona from under Manchester United’s nose.
Not everyone in a Chelsea shirt looked quite so comfortable on a miserable afternoon in the Black Country. Nemanja Matic was guilty of a clumsy challenge on McManaman that ended with Clattenburg pointing to the spot and Morrison striking a kick straight down the middle that Courtois saved with a trailing leg. Matic was later booked for a foul on McManaman and Morrison beat him to the ball to glance home Albion’s second.
Saido Berahino would normally have had the responsibility of taking the penalty that Morrison missed but Pulis felt that the striker, who scored from the spot against Chelsea in the corresponding game last season, was not in the right frame of mind to play because of Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of him.
Although Berahino was missed, Albion’s problems were at the other end of the pitch as Chelsea carved them open with alarming ease in the first half. The opening goal arrived following a lovely exchange between Eden Hazard and Pedro, who started from deep and continued his run before sweeping a left-footed shot into the corner via a slight deflection off Jonas Olsson.
Costa, with his first goal of the season, got Chelsea’s second after sliding in Pedro’s diagonal shot to finish off a wonderful counterattacking move that owed much to César Azpilicueta’s superb cross-field pass to Willian. “Chelsea are back‚” was the chant from the travelling supporters.
Morrison, atoning for his earlier miss, drilled home Rondón’s acrobatic cutback to pull a goal back for Albion but within seven minutes Chelsea had a third. Costa, holding off a challenge from Gareth McAuley with his back to goal, expertly steered the ball into the path of Azpilicueta, who lost his marker McManaman and beat Myhill at the near post to register his first Premier League goal. Chelsea appeared to be coasting at that point but the drama was still to come.
Man of the match Pedro (Chelsea)
