Under-pressure Terry heads Chelsea winner

Jan 30, 2010 - 9:50 PM By NEIL RICHARDS STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Carlo Ancelotti hailed John Terry after the Chelsea captain shrugged aside his off-field problems to grab the winner and help the Londoners roar four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Burnley.

The England captain awoke to front-page headlines in the English tabloid press about his private live, but ended the day making the back-page news with a decisive 82nd-minute header.

Burnley had looked on course for their first point under new manager Brian Laws after Steven Fletcher pounced on a defensive error from Alex just after the break to smash his sixth league goal of the season, cancelling out a first-half strike from Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka.

Terry, though, had the last word, arriving unmarked to meet Frank Lampard's corner.

"He's a fantastic player for us," the Chelsea boss said. "Every game he plays very well and also tonight he did an important performance for us."

Ancelotti also dismissed the newspaper stories about an alleged affair, adding: "That is his private life, this is his work. We have to say nothing because he is very professional, he's a fantastic captain and he did a fantastic job tonight. All of Chelsea supports him and his family."

It remains to be seen whether Terry is stripped of the captaincy by England manager Fabio Capello, who is a strict disciplinarian, but there can never be any doubting his leadership qualities on the field.

A booking aside, the Chelsea central defender turned in a near-faultless performance after telling the club's backroom staff before the game that he insisted on playing.

The Blues were some way short of the irrepressible attacking force that has swept opposition sides aside in recent weeks, but they defending expertly and left the home side to live on scraps in the first half in particular.

It has certainly been a difficult baptism for Laws, who brought in new blood in midweek and handed a debut to Leon Cort, one of his new signings. The former Stoke City central defender was one of the Clarets' more impressive performers, cutting out a dangerous pass from Yuri Zhirkov that would have put Anelka clear and blocking a shot from the Frenchman early on.

Burnley offered precious little going forward and it was on one of their rare sorties into the Chelsea area that the visitors broke away to take the lead with a wonderful counter-attack.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech bowled the ball out to Joe Cole down the right in yards of space. The England midfielder advanced before delivering a diagonal cross to the far post for Florent Malouda, whose inside pass to Anelka left the Frenchman with the easiest of finishes from six yards.

Burnley were left looking hoping for a set-piece or a defensive error to get back into the game and it was the latter that presented them with an equaliser on 50 minutes.

Robbie Blake lifted a crossfield ball into the Chelsea area and Alex tried to lob the ball back over the head of Fletcher instead of doing the simple thing and playing it out for a corner. The Burnley attacker charged down the clearance and collected the loose ball before lashing past Petr Cech from 12 yards.

Chelsea only had themselves to blame and tried to mount an immediate response, Michael Ballack seeing a goalbound shot blocked by Alex McDonald and Joe Cole putting the ball into the net from the follow-up, only to see his headed effort adjudged marginally offside.

Lampard's fiercely-struck free-kick forced Brian Jensen into a sprawling save and the Burnley goalkeeper had to be alert to prevent substitute Daniel Sturridge making an immediate impact, blocking a cross which would have given Anelka a second tap-in.

Jensen was powerless to do anything from the resulting corner, Terry eluding the attentions of Clarke Carlisle before meeting Lampard's delivery with an emphatic header from near the penalty spot.

It's now three league defeats out of three for Burnley under Laws, but the manager saw plenty of reason to be optimistic.

He said: "Our home form is going to be key this year. If we perform as we have done today, particularly in the second half: the commitment, the desire that the players have shown and the support given the players by the crowd then that bodes well for the future and certainly gives us every chance of staying in this division.

"We showed too much respect to Chelsea in the first half, they had a lot of possession and I wasn't pleased with that."