Chelsea's craft beats hard graft

TO THE Chelsea team football is a noble art; to the Sunderland team it means a scrap. In the end yesterday, Peter Reid's street-fighting men had no answer to the all-round class of Ruud Gullit's heavyweights and now face an even bigger fight against relegation as they slip towards the bottom three. Six defeats in their last seven games does not inspire any confidence.

By contrast, Chelsea's passing and movement was as crisp and inventive as ever with Dan Petrescu, Craig Burley and Dennis Wise in particularly expansive mood and Mark Hughes eager not to waste the service.

Chelsea took the lead six minutes before the break. Petrescu's clever step-over and turn in the area created room for a cross which Gianfranco Zola imperiously volleyed past Lionel Perez. Four minutes later it was 2-0, Zola's cross finding Andy Myers and Frank Sinclair in acres of space. The latter's diving header found the net.

Seven minutes into the new half and Chelsea went 3-0 up. Roberto di Matteo's fine ball fed Zola whose shot was well saved by Perez but the unmarked Petrescu followed up with a shot into an empty net.

Enough was enough for Sunderland. At half-time they had brought on Paul Stewart up front and stuck Alex Rae in the hole behind the front two. Suddenly the rearrangement began to click - with the help of a mistake

Frode Grodas missed Matthews Bridges high cross, Kevin Ball found Stewart and the substitute headed home.

That was on 58 minutes. Two minutes later Chelsea failed to clear a Sunderland attack, the visitors got the break of the ball and Alex Rae swivelled on the six-yard line to fire past Grodas.

Chelsea fans were suddenly getting flashes of the midweek game at West Ham when they had surrendered a lead. But though Sunderland stepped on the gas in search of an equaliser, they then shot themselves in the foot. Twelve minutes from time Hughes pounced on a mix-up between David Kelly and Andy Meville to make it 4-2.

Paul Bracewell was then caught in possession, allowing Petrescu to feed Gianluca Vialli down the right. His ball inside was converted by Hughes. In injury-time Sunderland's misery was completed when Petrescu fed di Matteo to score number six.