Ten Man Blues Down Baggies  (Sky Sports)

West Bromwich Albion 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea had Arjen Robben sent off and were nowhere near their best, but still managed to grind out a 2-1 win at West Brom.

Didier Drogba gave Chelsea a second half lead, but Robben saw red for a poor two-footed tackle just after the hour. However, substitute Joe Cole still managed to give The Blues the points with a second, despite Kanu's late response.

Kevin Campbell had a great chance early on when planting a powerful header goalwards from a free kick, but it was too close to Petr Cech who managed to pluck the ball out of the air.

Cech was not as convincing when he came to meet Jonathan Greening's cross but palmed the ball down under pressure to present the ball to Jan Kozak, but his lob went just over the bar.

The Baggies were more than matching the Premiership leaders who were in subdued mood, and Diomansy Kamara nearly put the hosts ahead when he lashed a shot just wide after a good run.

Chelsea looked much more alert as they emerged for the second half, and it took just six minutes after the restart for them to go in front.

Drogba was allowed to turn on the edge of the box after West Brom had given the ball away in midfield, and he travelled across the box before firing a left-footed shot past Tomasz Kuszczak.

It was always going to be tough for Albion to come from a goal down after giving so much, but they did not let their heads go down, and Kamara nearly levelled minutes later when Cech had to claw his shot away after it came through a crowd of legs.

The controversial moment came on 62 minutes when Robben lost the ball deep inside his own half and flew at Greening with a two-footed lunge at the West Brom man.

Referee Mark Halsey produced a straight red card despite furious protests from Jose Mourinho and his players, but the Dutchman could have few complaints after jumping into the tackle with both feet raised.

Despite being a goal down, Chelsea almost doubled their lead with substitute Cole pulling off a neat trick before shooting just over the bar.

Cole did carry on the form he showed for England in midweek with a 74th minute goal that killed the game off, although he had a big slice of luck when his shot was deflected past Kuszczak after Drogba had been denied by some desperate defending.

West Brom did see a glimmer of hope when substitute Kanu converted Paul Robinson's cross at the near post with two minutes left, but they could not manage to conjure up an equaliser and Chelsea hung on for another three points.

Teams

West Bromwich Albion  Kuszczak, Albrechtsen (Watson 82), Clement, Davies, Robinson, Wallwork, Greening, Inamoto (Ellington 71), Kozak, Campbell (Kanu 71)
Subs Not Used  Kirkland, Carter
Booked  Wallwork
Goals  Kanu 88

Chelsea  Cech, Gallas, Huth, Ferreira, Terry, Duff (J. Cole 63) , Essien, Makelele, Drogba (Wright-Phillips 85), Gudjohnsen (Geremi 73), Robben
Subs Not Used  Cudicini, Maniche
Booked 
Sent Off  Robben
Goals  Drogba 51, J. Cole 74

Attendance 26,581

Referee  M. Halsey