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Goals from Salomon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips were enough for Chelsea to pick up a hugely important 2-0 victory over Derby County. Michael Essien was shown a red card later on.
Avram Grant's side are placed in the fourth place with 28 points from 14 games while Billy Davies' side are at the bottom of the league table.
John Obi Mikel set up Frank Lampard for a long-range shot but the England international blazed over as the Blues made their intentions clear early.
Ivory Coast international Kalou opened the scoring in the 17th minute from the penalty area with a neat finish after Steve Sidwell had slipped in a superb pass of a move initiated by Mikel.
Stephen Bywater made an outstanding save off a shot from Wright-Phillips at the half-hour mark. David Jones and James McEveley came close to scoring for the Rams in the first half.
Craig Fagan had a decent shot on target blocked by Blues keeper Carlo Cudicini early in the second half and could've easily scored.
Wright-Phillips made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute after Lampard had done the hard work of getting past three defenders but only to hit the post with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. But the Blues winger cashed in on the opportunity from the rebound.
Substitute Steve Howard missed a great opportunity to score in the 84th minute as he failed to get enough contact with a glancing header off a free-kick from right channel from David Jones.
Substitute Michael Essien was shown a straight red card for throwing his arm in the face of Kenny Miller in injury time.
Written by majicka
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