Chelseafc.com continues a look back over another eventful year at the club with the words reported at the time. Guus gets going.

Guus Hiddink's first Chelsea game was a full and proper test of his ability to hit the ground running.

Aston Villa were now two points ahead of us as we arrived at a stadium where we had not beaten them in almost 10 years.

'We are in three competitions,' said Hiddink in his first pre-match press conference.

'Realistically, in the league, Chelsea are 10 points down on Man United, which will be very difficult, but we must and we will give it a try. 'In the other two competitions, of course Chelsea are in the race.'

He continued the policy of playing Anelka and Drogba, plus Kalou, in the front three and it was the former who benefitted from brilliant Lampard footwork and passing to chip delicately home in the 19th minute for the game's only goal. It was his first league goal in two months.

Villa hit the bar with a free kick but it took typical defiance from Brad Friedel to keep Chelsea from adding more goals. It had been a steady if not spectacular win to start a new era.



Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea at Villa Park on 21-02-2009
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), Ferreira; Ballack, Mikel, Lampard; Kalou (Deco 54), Drogba (Belletti 90), Anelka.
Scorer Anelka 18.
Booked Ballack 83, Bosingwa 84, Terry 89.
Villa (4-4-2): Friedel; Cuéllar, Knight, Davies (Carew 70), L Young; Milner, Petrov, Barry (c), A Young; Agbonlahor, Heskey.
Booked Cuéllar 52.

Test number two and Hiddink's first game at the Bridge was a European one - against the Old Lady of Italian football and an old Chelsea manager, as Claudio Ranieri brought his Juventus side to town.

'Ranieri made Big Phil Scolari sound like Stephen Fry,' observed columnist Giles Smith as he compared broken English. 'But it didn't stop an awful lot of people feeling they knew him well and being very warmly disposed towards him when he left.'



Indeed the reception for 'The Tinkerman' before the game was warm but it took just 11 minutes of the game for the welcome to end when Drogba fired in from Kalou's exquisite reverse pass for his first goal since Boxing Day. Chelsea had suddenly rediscovered the craft of scoring early and Drogba could have headed in three further goals and won two penalties.

Chelsea 1- 0 Juventus at Stamford Bridge on 25-02-2009
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Ballack (Mancienne 80), Mikel, Lampard; Kalou (Malouda 71), Drogba, Anelka.
Goals Drogba 11
Booked Ballack 57
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Mellberg, Chiellini, Legrottaglie, Molinaro; Camoranesi (Marchionni 51), Sissoko (Trezeguet 85), Tiago (Marchisio 61), Nedved (c); Del Piero, Amauri.
Booked Molinaro 51, Sissoko 81, Marchisio 89

Juventus looked fragile at the back, especially to the aerial ball and Ranieri later admitted that their failure to score at the Bridge cost them the tie. Hiddink wasn't totally happy either.

'I am satisfied with the narrow result but I am not satisfied over the whole game. In the first part we started very well, defensively well-organised, good pressing and we opened our attacks through the wings. But after the goal we dropped back too far and made some distances between our attack, defence and midfield. Juventus could then play in between and they are very intelligent to do so.



'In the second half we had some attacks but not more than that and Juventus dominated. We did not control well in the second half.'

For the weekend's home match against Wigan, Mancienne was the player chosen to take the right-back slot from suspended Bosingwa, giving the 21-year-old his full home debut. Quaresma, having started the previous league game under Scolari and then being ineligible in Europe, had to accept a place on the bench.

Wigan had no pedigree at all in beating top four clubs but had snatched a damaging point at the Bridge the season before and were secure in the Premier League.

A superbly-taken first-half strike by Terry, a scissor left-foot volley from the edge of the area, made him the highest scoring Chelsea defender of all-time. For a long time it looked enough for three points. But again Wigan equalised late on.



Once more we appeared to be paying a big price for many missed opportunities, combined with a resolute defensive display by the oft-maligned Titus Bramble. But as he had done in the Stoke game, Lampard wasn't settling for anything less than victory.

The stoppage time board had just gone up as Belletti's lofted ball into the box was nodded on by Ballack and Lampard, marked by former Blue Mario Melchiot, was able to loop his header over Kirkland and into the Matthew Harding End net.

Chelsea 2-1 Wigan at Stamford Bridge on 28-02-2009
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Mancienne (Quaresma 81), Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Ballack, Mikel, Lampard; Kalou (Belletti 75), Drogba, Anelka.
Scorers Terry 24, Lampard 90.
Booked Alex 8, Terry 17, Mancienne 77
Wigan (4-4-1-1): Kirkland; Melchiot (c), Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa; Kapo, Brown, Cattermole (Rodallega 69), N'Zogbia; Scharner; Zaki (Sibierski 89).
Scorer Kapo 81.
Booked N'Zogbia 23, Cattermole 28.

Hiddink was pleased with his side's ability to react to adversity, a quality he would refer to many times as the weeks went by, but it was easy to see he knew work needed to be done quickly on the training pitch for potential to be realised.



The team's fitness under Scolari had been in question but when asked about this during his stay, Hiddink preferred to highlight the importance of mental fitness over physical condition.

'He [Hiddink] has made a few differences, he has had a positive influence on the team,' reported Lampard after his Wigan match-winner.

'He hasn't made wholesale changes and there has been continuity with Ray Wilkins in the background. He has just done it saying the simple things, getting us working hard on the training ground, getting us more organised tactically and I think a lot of it is always about the players.

'The players have reacted in the way we needed to do and we have to take responsibility. The players have worked harder in the last three weeks than maybe they had done before. It is just a shame we have let a gap open up at the top of the table.

'It is nice mentally to be back in second position and we need to keep winning games, deal with ourselves and wait and see.'

That second place came courtesy of Liverpool's 2-0 home defeat at Middlesbrough and was on goal difference. Man U, who were in Carling Cup action, were seven points clear with a game in hand. Arsenal could only draw with Fulham and were 16 points off the top.

As we rolled into March, we had the rare prospect of a midweek league fixture to look forward to, as Guus Hiddink took his men down to Portsmouth, seeking a fifth consecutive win under his leadership.

The Chelsea supporters will have been thankful for the recently new roof on the away end as the rain lashed down on the south coast on a cold Tuesday evening.

José Bosingwa returned from suspension in place of Michael Mancienne, while Florent Malouda was in for Nicolas Anelka, missing with a toe injury. Also missing but nearing returns were Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho, who had played in the reserves' 4-3 defeat at Aston Villa 24 hours earlier.

Didier Drogba started at Fratton Park in his 200th Chelsea appearance, and marked the occasion with the only goal of the game, firing a low and well-placed shot into the bottom corner on 78 minutes.

'Guus Hiddink's players were made to work hard by a well-rested Portsmouth side but the single goal wins keep on coming,' said Chelseafc.com. 'Petr Cech was another hero on the night with a couple of fine saves and numerous commanding catches, making important stops from Mullins and Nugent in particular.'

Into the final 15 minutes we were throwing bodies forward, sub Ricardo Quaresma looked to have the beating of Hermann Hreidarsson and was giving the team width but it was from a Bosingwa cross that the crucial supply came.

His ball was low but as Ballack let it pass, it flicked out off Campbell and Drogba was there to drill the ball home low from 12 yards out.

With Liverpool already two up at home to Sunderland, it felt a goal of high value, and the win kept us second.

A big cheer from a noisy Chelsea support greeted the final whistle as the 48 year unbeaten run at Fratton Park continued.

'To score like I scored today, it is something like a bonus for me because I am focused on my fitness and I want to be ready for the last few important games,' Drogba said afterwards.

'I enjoy being on the pitch, it has been a long time so I am really happy and try to appreciate every minute. Every time there is a new manager you want to show that you can play and be part of the team, that's what we are doing at the moment.'

Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea at Fratton Park on 03-03-2009
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): James; Johnson, Campbell (c), Distin, Hreidarsson; Mullins, Davis; Pennant (Utaka 69), Kranjcar, Nugent; Crouch.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Ballack (Mancienne 90), Mikel (Belletti 56), Lampard; Kalou (Quaresma 59), Drogba, Malouda.
Scorer Drogba 78.

To be continued…