Premier League - Perfect start for Scolari's Chelsea

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Chelsea were rampant 4-0 victors in Luiz Felipe Scolari's first Premier League game in charge against Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge as Deco scored a stunner on his debut.



Joe Cole opened the scoring with a firm finish from a Michael Ballack through ball, while Nicolas Anelka nodded home number two from close range and Frank Lampard made it three from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time.
Deco put the final nail in the Pompey coffin with a sweetly-struck drive from the right which David James beat into the top corner.
From kick off in sunny west London there was only one team in the game. Chelsea looked at ease as they passed and moved in midfield while denying Pompey any sight of possession before Cole's opener on 12 minutes.
Deco, like full-back Jose Bosingwa making his debut under his former Portugal coach, linked well with fellow midfield men Lampard, Cole and Ballack in a line-up that featured only one striker in Anelka; Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko were injured.
Germany captain Ballack, who was forced off with an injury late in the half, picked out the through run of Cole with a lovely pass played with the outside of his boot. The attacking midfielder hit the ball low past James, who got a hand to it but could not keep it out.
Anelka was a danger throughout, patrolling the edge of the Portsmouth penalty area as his team-mates sought to pick him out. Ashley Cole and Bosingwa too were able to advance to the byline on occasion and deliver threatening crosses.
The France striker forced James out of his penalty area to clear twice before angling in from the right with the ball; the 'keeper remained on his feet and blocked with his legs.
On 26 minutes Chelsea doubled their lead when midfielder Cole sent a deep cross to the back end of the six-yard box. Deco and Ballack were there and jointly made contact, causing the ball to loop up and over James; Anelka arrived to rise above Glen Johnson and nod over the line from a yard out.
Anelka was unfortunate to see the ball drop past the post when he ran through again to poke past James then came close to connecting with a cross from full-back Cole following an intelligent pass from Lampard.
Crouch and Johnson were unfortunate not to score at the other end in rare attacks for the away side before forward-minded Cole clipped a cross against Sylvain Distin's hand and the linesman flagged for a penalty to Chelsea. Lampard made no mistake, firing low to the left of James.
Cole caused more mayhem in the second half when he took on a dipping ball over the top and shot just wide. Deco too was everywhere, winning the ball, finding clever passes and sometimes having a dig himself.
However as Chelsea slowed the tempo to training levels Portsmouth had a pop back. Hermann Hreidarsson rose to head a corner back across goal where Peter Crouch - who, like strike partner Jermain Defoe, had little opportunity to impress the watching England manager Fabio Capello - tried to cock a leg and finish behind him, but could not quite manage it.
The visitors could have won a penalty for a blatant tug on Hreidarsson's shirt by Ricardo Carvalho while the Portuguese defender also seemed to block a Niko Kranjcar shot with a combination of his arm and his chest, although as he was diving across goal it was clearly not intentional.
Crouch, who unlike Defoe has been left out of the international squad for Wednesday's match against Czech Republic, won a few headers in the second period. One set up Kranjcar's drive, while another gave Defoe a chance inside the box which the diminutive striker could not put away.
There were a multitude of changes in the latter stages before the crowning moment for Brazil-born playmaker Deco. With seconds left on the clock he laid the ball off only to see it returned; moving into space, he smashed a bullet of a shot at goal that James should have saved but which will be remembered as one of the key moments of the opening weekend in this Premier League season