09/11/2002  Chelsea 3 Birmingham 0
 
Eidur Gudjohnsen and Gianfranco Zola destroyed sorry 
Birmingham at Stamford Bridge to dish out Steve Bruce's 
biggest Premiership humbling of the season.

The Chelsea strike pair were simply unstoppable against the 
west midlanders' wobbly defence, with Icelander Gudjohnsen 
cracking a first-half brace and Italian master Zola unleashing 
a stunning strike just before the break to wrap up an assured 
victory.

Claudio Ranieri's rampant side ripped through the visitors' 
backline time and time again - and a 5-0 or even 6-0 interval 
scoreline would not have flattered the Londoners.

As it was, they had to settle for 3-0, with both 
Gudjohnsen's clinical strikes after three and 31 minutes down 
to awful positional play by Birmingham captain and stand-in 
left-back Jeff Kenna.

Zola thundered home a magnificent 20-yard drive four 
minutes before half-time - and only Nico Vaesen heroics and a 
Kenna goalline clearance in the second half prevented an even 
more embarrassing result.

Ranieri's men are now up to third, while Bruce and his 
outclassed side surely face a bitter six-month battle to avoid 
an immediate return to the Football League.

Chelsea's teenage sensation Carlton Cole was denied his 
first league start of the season. Ranieri decided Gudjohnsen 
was fit enough to start after recovering from the ankle injury 
sustained in Sunday's 0-0 draw at Tottenham.

For Birmingham, 17-year-old left-back Matt Sadler - who 
made his Premiership debut in last Saturday's 3-1 success 
against Bolton - was ruled out by the groin injury he suffered 
in the 2-0 midweek cup defeat against Preston.

Chelsea made a sensational start, with Gudjohnsen banishing 
any lingering doubts about his fitness with the opening goal 
in the third minute.

Zola flicked the ball out to Jody Morris, whose simple 
lobbed pass caught out Kenna.

Gudjohnsen raced in on goal and coolly side-footed past 
Nico Vaesen into the far corner.

Slack Chelsea defending almost allowed the west midlanders 
a soft equaliser. Paul Devlin raced down the inside-left 
channel to clip a shot just past Carlo Cudicini's far post.
And John thundered a searing 20-yard drive inches over the 
top after 15 minutes.

But Chelsea stormed into a two-goal lead through a virtual 
carbon-copy goal with 31 minutes on the clock.

Kenna, switched from right-back to the left side of defence 
to counter Sadler's absence, was again at fault.

Zola slotted a superb 30-yard pass between the 
out-of-position Birmingham skipper and centre-back Kenny 
Cunningham - and Gudjohnsen again dispatched the ball into the 
bottom left corner.

Ranieri's side were rampant now, with Lampard sending a 
22-yard drive skidding a foot wide of the left post 60 seconds 
later, with Vaesen bemusingly making no attempt to save the 
ball.

Zola also sent an angled drive past the same upright - and 
forced Vaesen into a smart near-post parry as the Londoners 
tore Bruce's team apart.

Number three was inevitable and arrived four minutes before 
the break. Zola attempted to play a return pass to Le Saux, 
but the ball hit Cunningham and rebounded to the Italian - who 
smashed home a thunderbolt drive, again into the bottom left 
corner.

Two minutes after the break, Gudjohnsen missed a golden 
chance to clinch his hat-trick. Zola put the striker through 
on goal with a prodded pass but he toe-poked beyond the far 
post.

Ranieri's men almost scored two goals in the 66th minute. 
First, William Gallas had the ball in the net with a header 
from Gudjohnsen's flick but his effort was ruled out for 
offside.

Then Emmanuel Petit chested the ball down 20 yards out and 
fired in a powerful volley which Vaesen did very well to tip 
onto his crossbar.

Visiting midfielder Devlin denied Zola his second after 71 
minutes, clearing off his own goalline when Le Saux's 
right-wing corner crept through to the Italian at the far 
post.

It was all Chelsea again now, with Vaesen making a 
wonder-save to palm away Celestine Babayaro's angled drive and 
Mario Melchiot meeting Petit's corner with his shoulder to 
send the ball a yard wide.