"At last, a bit of luck"

According to the armchair pundits, Chelsea haven't been able to win the Premiership because, unlike M*n U*d, we're unable to dig in enough to scrape wins when we're playing badly. On that basis, then, we've won it already, because that's exactly what happened on Saturday.

It was a bright and breezy day at Stamford Bridge, pleasant enough for the crowd, but windy enough to make both keepers nervous. We were sitting in row 2, door 1 of the Shed Upper, which puts you on a diagonal to the pitch, just above the corner flag. In a stand where most seats give a good view, these are better than most. They also have the inestimable advantage of placing you right above the excitable away fans in the bottom tier of the East Stand. I was therefore in a good position to observe the Charlton fans' antics, more of which I shall relate in due course.

It was obvious, even to a tactical dunce like me, that Charlton were going to come at us from the off, and that's exactly what happened. Unfortunately, Chelsea didn't start playing at the same time as the opposition, a familar enough sight for those who attend the Bridge regularly, so we were on the defensive straight away. Luckily, Charlton lacked the skill to exploit their chances, but they made up for it with total commitment, working for each other in a way that Chelsea haven't been renowned for in the less glamourous matches.

The first scare came after a few minutes when Beefy's under-hit back pass was intercepted by Mendonca, who went round De Goey and put the ball across the face of the goal. Luckily there were no Charlton players there to score what would have been a simple goal - if Fowler, Owen or any one of a dozen other strikers had been on the pitch it would have been one nil, no doubt about it. I have great respect for Leboeuf, and would always want him in my team, but when he makes a mistake he makes sure it's a bloody good one, doesn't he ?

After further nail-biting moments from a free kick from Kinsella (Charlton's best player in my book) that was scrambled away by De Goey, and a vicious return shot that was blocked by a defender after Lan had punched the ball out, things appeared to settle down a bit, with Chelsea even managing to counter attack. It was from one of these counter attacks that the nippy Casiraghi was put through by Franco Zola, and was brought down by Ilic as he went past. Clear penalty, no possible argument about it, except, apparently, if you were a Charlton supporter.

Although the incident happened not twenty yards from where most of them were sitting, they went absolutely mental, cursing and spitting at poor old Gigi as he got up from having his legs taken away. If you ask me Ilic was lucky to get away with a booking. My theory is that the Charlton mob were actually watching a different game from everybody else, as was confirmed at various other points of the match where they refused to believe their eyes. How we larfed. One bloke caught my eye and motioned me, complete with knuckle-dragging, to "come down here then" (or words to that effect), another perfect example of someone not living in the real world. They should rename Charlton's ground "The Lost Valley".

Beefy stepped up and converted the penalty with ease, simply blasting the ball as hard as he could. That this is by far the best way to take a penalty was illustrated by the fact that Ilic guessed which way the ball was going but couldn't get anywhere near it.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Chelsea kept up the pressure, culminating in another sublime through ball to Casiraghi from at least 40 yards. Gigi's first touch was dubious, and he had to stretch to shoot, resulting in the ball flying over the bar. A glaring miss. He had another near miss when he raced after a through ball which Ilic bravely smothered. Apparently he was knocked unconscious by Gigi's challenge, and of course the Charlton fans, players and manager went garrity. Personally, I thought it was just a robust challenge on a 50-50 ball, and no malice intended. It happened about 15 yards away from me, so I saw the incident clearly.

Alan Curbishley saw it differently from 50 yards, and apparently had a go at the ref at half time about it, complaining that Gigi went in with studs up. As a former player, he knows as well as anyone else that it's virtually impossible NOT to have your studs upwards when sliding in for a 50-50 ball, it's where you aim them that's the key. Ilic was carried off to a standing ovation, not just from the Charlton fans but from the entire crowd. Sportsmanship is not dead, just hiding most of the time.

The half time bovril had its usual effect on me, and I was soon wildly predicting a feast of goals from Chelsea in the second half, having sorted out the tactics during the interval. As usual, I was cruelly disappointed as Charlton came back at us with even more resolve than they'd started with. Predictably they scored, from a huge throw which landed at Eddie Youds' feet in the middle of the box, and he was given time to control the ball and shoot on the turn, a well-taken goal. The Charlton fans went mental, baiting us mercilessly. We just had to sit there and take it.

After that Charlton had a superb shot brilliantly tipped over by De Goey, and then another great piece of skill from Kinsella when he went past Ferrer on the wing, turned and looped a shot from the touchline that De Goey did well to punch away. At the other end, I think it was Kinsella again who cleared a Poyet header off the line. Why he was subbed I don't know, maybe he got a knock, but he was by far Charlton's best player.

Surprisingly, Desailly was also substituted, to the accompaniment of boos from the crowd. Desailly couldn't believe it either, and went through a pantomime of pointing to his chest and looking surprised, looking behind him as though it was somebody else, etc., before trudging off. He was replaced by none other than Mr D. Wise, who proceeded to get himself booked within thirty seconds for throwing the ball away. The first time he got the ball, the Charlton defender did his job and wound him up by stopping him from getting up as they both lay tangled up on the floor. We held our breaths, waiting for Wisey to start kicking the bloke. The ref blew for a foul, and the decision went Charlton's way (rightly or wrongly), and Den obliged by throwing a tantrum (and the ball !). You have to ask yourself what kind of bloody fool would do a thing like that, and you always come up with the same answer: D. Wise. No further comment.

Tore Andre Flo and Dan Petrescu came on for Casiraghi and Zola with twenty minutes to go, a substitution obviously designed to break the deadlock. Tellingly, Zola went straight down the tunnel, while Gigi went and sat on the bench. You can take it from that that Franco was not best pleased, but he'd been pretty quiet so I reckon the substitution was justified. Chelsea put more and more pressure on Charlton, but we didn't really expect to get a winner.

With minutes to go, Chelsea forced a corner. I immediately announced to my mates (as I always do) that "this is going in", to the usual rude and hurtful retorts. You can imagine my shock when Gus Poyet rose to Den's cross and bundled the ball over the line. "Rab C." Dickson immediately grabbed me, and I was subjected to the Glasgow Death Grip, complete with kisses and affirmations of undying love. I had thought, given that he'd brought along his new father-in-law and was apparently on his best behaviour, that I might escape the worst of it this time. How wrong can you be ?

Doobs had a better game than of late, and Ferrer looks better every time I see him. Laudrup threatened more than he actually achieved, Baba was hopeless, Poyet was solid. Petrescu looked good when he came on, as did Den. Beefy, apart from the cock-ups was excellent. I thought Desailly was good as well, but apparently Luca felt differently.

Zola and Gigi were sharp when they got the ball, but there wasn't much service due to the frenetic nature of the game. Robbie D. was quietly efficient, winning some good balls in midfield, but still not firing on all cylinders. Lan De Goey did what he had to do well, apart from some punching when he should've been catching.

To sum up, it was good to see the boys dig out a win when not playing well for a change. Charlton are to be applauded for coming at us with a never-say-die attitude that reminded me of how Barnsley approached the Premiership last season. I hope Charlton don't end up going the same way.

Roll on Thursday and some European action. It will be the second anniversary of Matthew Harding's death, and according to a leaflet I received before the match there will be an unofficial minutes' silence 10 minutes before the kickoff. It would also be a good time to have a storming home win, so let's hope the boys turn up on time for a change.