Scolari's pain not eased by West Ham

CHELSEA COACH Luiz Felipe Scolari endured a painful afternoon in more ways than one yesterday after West Ham prevented his side from returning to the top of the English Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Scolari was admitted to hospital on Saturday for treatment on a painful kidney stone. He was kept in overnight as a matter of routine and released yesterday morning in time to take charge of the team against Gianfranco Zola's struggling West Ham.

But West Ham piled on the agony for the Brazilian coach, who could face a minor operation in the next few days. "I am in a lot of pain," admitted Scolari. "They say it is more pain than when you have a baby but I don't know as I have not had one. It is not possible.

"The doctor was happy to release me from hospital but if my stone does not go, then I will have a little operation. But I am drinking 10 litres of water a day."

The fans also endured a painful afternoon as Chelsea dropped their 14th home point of the campaign. They made their feelings clear by booing their side off the field at the end of the game.

"I understand what the fans gave us," said Scolari. "But the fans need to understand that players try their best every time and do not want to draw or lose. But sometimes we don't have the quality."

Scolari must have winced when Craig Bellamy gave West Ham a shock lead in the 33rd minute but top scorer Nicolas Anelka rescued Chelsea with his 16th goal of the season, and his 100th in the Premier League, five minutes after the restart.

"It is important for us to win at home but at the moment we are playing better away," said Scolari. "We need to win one, two or three games at home and sometimes the players have to try something different. In the last 10 minutes we changed our football in the penalty area and I didn't want that. We have drawn one more game at Stamford Bridge. It is difficult to explain and I am frustrated. We tried to play and we played very well. We had more chances to score a second goal but their goalkeeper made some good saves."

Referee Mike Riley did not help to ease Scolari's pain when he failed to award a penalty in the closing moments. West Ham captain Lucas Neill looked to have felled Frank Lampard inside the area but Riley refused to award the spot-kick.

"It was a penalty," said Scolari. "If you look at it on TV, it was a penalty. Their player touched him but the referee did not give it.

"The man did not give it so it is finished. But in this competition, we have not had one penalty since I have been here. Other teams have but not us."

Zola, meanwhile, was delighted with both his reception from the Chelsea fans, who used to idolise him as a player, and the result.

It lifted West Ham into 16th place and Zola could not hide his satisfaction. "It was a great result," he said. "Chelsea is a special place for me but my team made it a great day. I had a fantastic reception from the Chelsea supporters.

"I think it was a fair result and very important for us especially after last week's performance against Tottenham.

"It was a big shock for us. We lost a big game and everybody was down and nervous in the week.

"This performance will help build our confidence and maybe at home we will have more confidence, freedom and less pressure. This point and performance have been vital.

"We made it very difficult for them but when you play Champions League football it is very demanding and it drains you. But it won't be easy for anybody to come here and get something."

Zola also revealed he refused to celebrate Bellamy's goal because of his love and affection for the Chelsea fans and the club. "I could not do that," he admitted. "I was very happy for the goal, especially for Craig. But I had to pay some kind of respect to the people who have given me so much here."