The hosts opened the score courtesy of a set-piece as Ba locked onto a Luiz header across, and were mainly untested for the rest of the game by the lacklustre Baggies. As was expected, Benitez made wholesale improvements from his side's win over Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, as Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Demba Ba all came ultimately back to the beginning XI. Charlie Clarke, meanwhile, made two forced changes as, with Romelu Lukaku not able to play against his parent club and chief Chris Brunt hurt, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Graham Dorrans walked in. Chelsea had the better of the opening times and were almost forward after only three full minutes as Oscar almost transformed Ba's combination only to be denied by way of a intelligent Foster save. Besides a Steven Reid free kick that Petr Cech expected over, the house part was able to get a grip on the initial phases as Oscar and Ba both missed further opportunities to break the deadlock within the opening half-an-hour. In the course of time however, Chelsea's purpose appeared and it was due to a cleverly-worked short part. Oscar obtained the ball short from the ensuing set-piece and whipped a corner towards the back-post, following a Luiz free kick was expected adeptly extensive by Foster. Luiz was there to head the ball straight back across the target, obtaining Ba on the side of the six-yard field to put the house side deservedly ahead after 28 minutes. After seeing out the remaining of a first half, the Baggies' second half continued in much the same vein as Chelsea dominated the opening fifteen minutes, albeit without really testing Foster. The game got a contentious change with an hour gone, however, as the hosts appealed for a fee after Olsson appeared to carry down Hazard in the area, only for the umpire to wave the promises away. Oscar went nearest to putting his side further ahead with around 15 minutes remaining as he was denied twice in rapid succession by Foster. With the home side proving not able to further capitalise on their dominance, the Baggies started to threaten with ten minutes left on the time as Cech was tested twice in a matter of minutes. Alternative Peter Odemwingie pushed the 30-year-old to tip over from a totally free kick before then had to side away a Azpilicueta header, but Cech and Chelsea held out for the three items.
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