Sheffield United 0 Chelsea 2: Lampard locates the comfort zone

When Neil Warnock was looking at the "congratulations on your promotion" messages last spring he was surprised to find one came from Jose Mourinho. "It was nice," the Sheffield United manager said, "but I did say to him that I hoped the only two losses he would suffer this season would be against Sheffield United." Some chance.

That hope was exposed yesterday when Chelsea comfortably denied United the first half of their dream double with a swagger that would have sent a wave of trepidation through their title rivals. Bramall Lane is supposed to be a tricky place to visit - as Liverpool can testify - but yesterday the champions came, saw and conquered almost at will, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack claiming the goals.

Only once did they look likely to be discomfited, when Didier Drogba was adjudged to have fouled Claude Davis in the first half. The fact that it was Chelsea's third-choice goalkeeper, Henrique Hilario, who saved Danny Webber's penalty with a dive to his left underlined the west London side's strength.

"The penalty save could have been crucial," Mourinho said. "If Sheffield United had been 1-0 in front, playing with enthusiasm and the crowd behind them, you never know. So that was a three-point save."

The Chelsea manager was being generous in triumph, and a truer reflection came when he acknowledged his side conserved their energy for the Champions' League match in Barcelona on Tuesday. "Maybe without that game the team would have had more ambition and sharpness, but if you are a big club and have matches every three days you have to be careful. The team made the right decision."

Chelsea began with such a languid authority it seemed only a matter of when they would score, so it came as a surprise when the first meaningful action came with the award of the 17th-minute penalty. Webber's shot was less than convincing - "We've missed three penalties this season and I don't think any of them would have reached the goal-line," Warnock said - but that should not detract from Hilario, whose save was excellent and who is ensuring the injured Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini are barely being missed.

Relegation-threatened teams do not get many chances to upset their betters in the Premiership, and the suspicion that Webber's miss would prove costly gathered pace as the champions added urgency to their obvious superior technique. Paddy Kenny showed remarkable reflexes to make a point-blank save from Lampard in the 42nd minute, but even as the United goalkeeper was being congratulated, fate was lying in wait to ambush him.

Lampard was fouled 30 yards out, and his free-kick might have brushed the defensive wall as it flew towards the goal. The contact, if it did exist, did not explain, however, why Kenny was totally flummoxed by the flight, diving to his right as the ball curled in the opposite direction. The bounce just before it reached the goal merely piled on the embarrassment.

Great champions can locate a different plane when they need to, and for 20 minutes after the interval Chelsea pulverised United; the surprise was that they scored only once in this period, after 48 minutes. Arjen Robben feinted to go inside from the left and instead supplied a sublime pass to Lampard, who crossed to the far post. Ballack got the jump on his marker and headed in virtually unopposed.

Lampard and Ballack threatened to add more goals, but when nothing came of their efforts Chelsea remembered Barcelona and eased themselves snugly into their comfort zone.

Not that the afternoon was entirely without mishaps. Drogba injured his foot and Andriy Shevchenko missed the match with a strained muscle. "We played Barcelona last time without two goalkeepers, maybe we will play them this time without strikers," Mourinho said. Worried? I don't think so.