July 2011

Chelsea booked their place in the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy with a 4-0 win over Kitchee in Hong Kong.

Although Chelsea dominated possession, they struggled to break down the Hong Kong champions in the first half, with Frank Lampard opening the scoring with a 38th-minute penalty.

Chelsea doubled their lead five minutes after the restart as Ubay Luzardo turned a Florent Malouda cross into his own net.

Didier Drogba then got his name on the scoresheet with a 61st-minute header before substitute Daniel Sturridge claimed a fine fourth goal with 12 minutes left.

Saturday's final will see Andre Villas-Boas' men face Aston Villa, who beat Blackburn 1-0 in the earlier game at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Villas-Boas opted for Drogba as the focal point of a three-pronged attack with Salomon Kalou and Malouda either side, leaving Fernando Torres on the bench, and it was Kalou who almost put Chelsea in front after 16 minutes but his powerful downward header from Drogba's right-wing cross bounced up and hit the bar.

Superiority

Chelsea continued to dominate, with Kitchee reduced to sporadic counter-attacks, but they could not convert their superiority over their enthusiastic opponents into something more substantial until after the half-hour mark.

Star man Yossi Benayoun beat a couple of defenders in the box before the midfielder was crudely hacked down and Lampard drilled the resultant penalty low down the middle.

Drogba saw a 30-yard free-kick punched away by Wang Zhenpeng before a ball over the top in first-half injury time set Malouda free and he rounded the Kitchee keeper but his shot from a tight angle was blocked on the line.

Drogba grazed the top of the net with another free-kick four minutes into the second half but Luzardo then sliced Malouda's low cross into his own net with Drogba lurking.

Chelsea netted their third goal when Drogba bravely met Malouda's deflected cross to head home from close range and he was replaced by Torres immediately afterwards.

Sturridge cameo

Fellow sub John Obi Mikel nodded Benayoun's cross wide and Sturridge curled a free-kick just over as Chelsea threatened a fourth goal.

And it was Sturridge who claimed it with a fine individual effort to cap a lively cameo.

The young striker picked up the ball on the right side of the box and turned one man then beat another before firing past the keeper from a tight angle.

Torres might have added the finishing touch to a low Paulo Ferreira cross if he had been alert but the out-of-form Spanish star was unlucky to see a 25-yard strike smack the base of a post on the stroke of full-time as Chelsea eased to victory.