Zola goals sentence Blackburn to defeat

Blackburn Rovers 2 Chelsea 3

A late rally by the home side might have brought rewards on another day yet while Blackburn may, with justification, believe they did enough to earn a point, it would be wrong to say they deserved one.

The same cannot be said of Gianfranco Zola. While it was not a vintage performance from the 36-year-old, his finish for the winner had the hallmark of class stamped all over it. He had worked tirelessly with little reward when, as the game looked to be drifting to a draw, he outfoxed the young Blackburn defender, Martin Taylor, and curled a trademark right-footed strike from the left edge of the box.

It was a moment to savour for Zola, particularly as afterwards he hinted this term may prove the curtain call to a distinguished career. "When you score goals you feel younger but I would think this will be my last season," he said, with the caveat that he would reserve final judgement for later in the campaign.

Should his words prove prophetic, his loss will be enormous to Chelsea. For much of the game, certainly until they equalised a second time, Blackburn had the edge. From their lively start which saw the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini brought into immediate action with a fingertip save to deny Tugay Kerimoglu, there was little to suggest Blackburn would not emerge victorious.

But the home strikers Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole simply failed to live up to their reputations. Not so David Dunn who buried his only real opportunity from the penalty spot. Celestine Babayaro was the culprit, though the referee's decision seemed harsh as the challenge looked to have been made just outside the box and Lucas Neill certainly made the most of his tumble.

Only Jesper Gronkjaer for Chelsea could claim to be winning a personal battle in a poor opening period for the visitors as he tormented Nils-Eric Johansson, and his leveller was deserved. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink juggled the ball to evade a trio of defenders before the Dane struck beyond Brad Friedel. An injury-time strike by David Thompson restored the home side's advantage and they should have added more shortly after the break.

Again Chelsea made Graeme Souness's side pay for their profligacy. Gronkjaer fluffed a shot and with defenders expecting the ball to go out of play Mario Stanic fired a cross for Zola to equalise with a header. A wearying Blackburn were by now failing to create the passing shapes in midfield that had secured their earlier dominance and there was not much surprise, then, when Chelsea finally nudged ahead in a tie that should have been beyond them.

Boudewijn Zenden, a substitute for Gronkjaer, supplied Zola who easily evaded Taylor and struck high past Friedel from the left edge of the box.

While it was a trick Taylor should have been ready for, even the disgruntled Blackburn fans might have agreed that it was no less a delight to see a master in action one last time.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel 5; Neill 5, Taylor 6, Short 5, Johansson 3 (Grabbi, 82); Thompson 7, Flitcroft 5, Tugay 4 (Gillespie 5, 64), Dunn 6; Cole 4, Yorke 5. Substitutes not used: Hignett, Berg, Kelly (gk).

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cudicini 6; Melchiot 4, Gallas 4, Desailly 4, Babayaro 4; Stanic 3 (Zenden 6, 71) Morris 5 (De Lucas, 87), Lampard 5, Gronkjaer 7 (Gudjohnsen, 77); Hasselbaink 5, Zola 5. Substitutes not used: Huth, De Goey (gk).

Referee: M Riley (West Yorkshire) 6.