toptop
Craig
Bellamy scored on his Cardiff farewell, but Chelsea claimed a 2-1 away win on
the Premier League's final day.
Bellamy, who is expected to confirm his retirement next week, opened the scoring
at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday with a deflected 15th-minute effort.
The Welsh club led at the interval but second-half strikes from substitute Andre
Schurrle and striker Fernando Torres - with his first league goal since January
- produced a turnaround in Chelsea's favour.
The result means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's already-relegated side finish bottom of
the table, two points behind Fulham.
Solskjaer made two changes to his side after the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle last
time out confirmed Cardiff's relegation. Bellamy and Mats Moeller Daehli
replaced Bo-Kyung Kim and Wilfried Zaha.
After the 0-0 draw at home to Norwich last Sunday, Jose Mourinho made six
changes to Chelsea's starting line-up. Torres, Eden Hazard and Tomas Kalas were
promoted from the bench having been subs against the Canaries, while Oscar,
Cesar Azpilicueta and John Obi Mikel all returned to action.
Ashley Cole captained the Blues on what could be his final appearance in the
absence of John Terry (knock) and Frank Lampard (illness), both of whom are
reportedly pondering contract extensions on reduced terms.
In the early stages, Steven Caulker made a superb recovery to stretch out a leg
and block Torres' goalbound effort. After Caulker's initial error, goalkeeper
David Marshall had dashed out of his balloon-strewn area but Torres took the
ball round him, only to see Caulker deny him on the line.
Cardiff then took the lead in the 15th minute. Bellamy collected a pass in the
left channel from Peter Whittingham 25 yards out, and let fly with a left-footed
shot that deflected in past Mark Schwarzer off the back of Azpilicueta.
It was Cardiff's first goal in open play for more than five hours, but it might
yet be credited to Chelsea's right-back as the initial shot could have been
heading wide.
Mohamed Salah was guilty of missing several good chances in the first half,
while Oscar and Hazard each failed to convert passes from Cole.
Fraizer Campbell fired over after a mazy run for Cardiff, while Mikel, booked
for a cynical trip on Daehli, avoided a second yellow card for another on Fabio
as a disjointed first half came to an end.
After the break, Torres blasted wide and Declan John shot straight at Schwarzer
at the other end. Hazard then fired into the side netting after a slick Chelsea
move.
Schurrle came off the bench in the 66th minute and equalised six minutes later
with his eighth Premier League goal of the season.
The goal was harsh on Marshall, who made a truly brilliant initial stop to deny
Cesar Azpilicueta who had stolen into the area to meet Oscar's left-wing cross
with a header.
The close-range follow-up effort from the Spaniard hit the crossbar - but the
rebound fell to Schurrle, who volleyed the ball into the turf and then saw it go
in.
Then three minutes later, poor defending from Cardiff allowed Chelsea to forge
ahead.
After Azpilicueta's cross, Fabio played Torres onside as the ball dropped from a
header by Schurrle to the feet of the Spaniard, who turned and tucked away an
easy finish for only his fifth league goal of the campaign.
That proved to be the last goal of the contest, with Hazard unable to net a
Schurrle cross at the far post and Marshall subsequently saving well from the
Germany forward.
After the final whistle, both teams applauded their supporters as they signed
off for the summer and began to turn their thoughts towards squad rebuilding.
Teams
Cardiff City Marshall, Fabio, Caulker (c), Turner, John,
Gunnarsson, Mutch, Whittingham, Daehli (Cowie 67), Bellamy (Healey 76), Campbell
(James 89)
Subs Not Used Lewis, Eikrem, McNaughton, Berget
Booked Whittingham
Goals Bellamy 15
Chelsea Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Kalas, Cole (c),
Mikel (Schurrle 66), Matic, Salah (Ake 79), Oscar, Hazard (Swift 89), Torres
Subs Not Used Hilario, Cahill, Luiz, Ba
Booked Mikel, Matic
Goals Schurrle 72, Torres 75
Attendance 27,716
Referee Michael Oliver