Chelsea wait and then step up a gear

SOCCER/Portsmouth - 0 Chelsea - 2: If Chelsea can pace themselves as well over a season as they did in the course of this testing afternoon they will coast to the title.

Against an initially commanding Portsmouth, they stepped up from vigilance to flamboyance with one substitute, Joe Cole, lashing in a cut-back from another, Eidur Gudjohnsen, to notch the second goal handsomely in stoppage time.

Jose Mourinho's team have now put themselves eight points ahead of Arsenal, who go to Newcastle United this evening.

For the moment, Chelsea convey a mood of serenity while the churning and brawling goes on behind them. The formula for the Stamford Bridge side is predictable in the best sense. It has an all but inevitable reliability.

Once Arjen Robben, aided by a lucky deflection, had broken the deadlock with 10 minutes remaining, he barely had time to get booked for removing his jersey in celebration before he had been replaced. Geremi took over as Chelsea moved towards a more conservative 4-4-2 system to see out the remainder of the match. Cole's goal adorned a victory that was already certain.

Chelsea depend on their calm. Mourinho did deploy Cole in yet another of his clever adjustments this season, but he also kept to his basic plan even when the wide players were looking ineffective. His opening alteration was merely to bring on Gudjohnsen for Didier Drogba, who is still affected by his groin operation even though he did test Shaka Hislop with two drives.

Mourinho set to work in earnest with the introduction of Cole. The industriousness of Alexei Smertin was sacrificed as the manager placed his hope in more fluent passing. In the 80th minute Gudjohnsen, Cole and Frank Lampard worked play across the pitch and into the path of Robben. His drive was well hit but it was the ricochet off Matthew Taylor's knee that left Hislop helpless.

Portsmouth had been potent enough to turn Chelsea's cherished system into a disadvantage for a while. Damien Duff and Robben, cramped by the attentions of the full-backs, were trapped upfield while the visitors found themselves outnumbered in midfield. Even Lampard was in muted form then. The home crowd optimistically called for a red card after he had clashed with Amdy Faye in the 49th minute.

There has been a confidence surge at Fratton Park. Although Arsenal could have counted themselves lucky even to draw when they won here earlier this month, Portsmouth were happy to counter-attack that day. Here they had far grander aspirations.

Before the interval they hogged the ball, with Nigel Quashie adding panache. In the 21st minute he hit a swinging 25-yarder and Petr Cech had to read the flight accurately to stretch an arm and tip it over. Mourinho himself had thought that Chelsea were about to fall behind then. The clue to the outcome, however, lay in the fact that the Czech goalkeeper did not have to make any other dramatic interventions.

After half-time, Chelsea stepped up their involvement, with Lampard at last the hub of some moves and the surging runner in others.

The breakthrough was to come with an element of good fortune for Robben, but long before then Chelsea had shown they could devise chances. In the 61st minute, Glen Johnson had headed down a corner from the Dutchman and Gudjohnsen, with his back to goal and harassed by defenders, got too much height on his hooked shot that flew over the bar.

Nine minutes later, there was a prettier build-up, with Robben playing a low cross in deftly from the left. Gudjohnsen was first to it but Hislop's anticipation was sharp and he was quick to get down to muffle the striker's attempt at a flicked finish.

A period of poor form may lie somewhere ahead for Chelsea, but the damage could be limited even then. Portsmouth know just how tough Chelsea are.

PORTSMOUTH: Hislop, Griffin, Primus, De Zeeuw, Taylor, Stone (Cisse 76), Quashie (Berkovic 83), Faye, O'Neil, Kamara (Fuller 65), Yakubu. Subs Not Used: Berger, Ashdown. Booked: Kamara.

CHELSEA: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Johnson, Duff, Makelele, Smertin (Cole 73), Lampard, Robben (Geremi 81), Drogba (Gudjohnsen 58). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge. Booked: Paulo Ferreira, Robben, Lampard. Goals: Robben 79, Cole 90.

Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).