Sunderland 2-Chelsea 4-Return to counter-attacking

On the day after the Transfer Window came to a close, there was football to be played, and the absence of highly anticipated arrivals David Luiz and Fernando Torres was not enough to hinder high-rolling Chelsea.

                                                                            bbc.co.uk
One of the most exciting halves of football this season began with a curling ball seemingly out of nowhere from Phil Bardsley three minutes into the contest. Watching on my computer, my heart definitely skipped a beat but I knew my lads had the firepower to find a way back in it. What I didn't know was that the next twenty minutes would provide such enticing entertainment.

After about ten minutes of thrilling back and forth action, Ashley cole went down in the penalty box and... Surprise! Frank Lampard netted the penalty into the back of the net. 1-1.

22 minutes: Nicholas Anelka, a joy to watch all evening in the attacking midfield, caught Sunderland sleeping with a beautiful ball pushed forward to Salomon Kalou. Ben Gordon came sprinting out of the goal and Kalou simply rolled it into an open net. 2-1 Chelsea.

25 minutes: The black cats were determined to make this one interesting early and a clever Kieran Richardson free kick equaliser did just that. Knowing the wall in front of him would jump, he simply put a low ball underneath the elevated players catching everyone off guard and going into the corner of the goal. 2-2.

After that goal, the game stayed very open with chances creating themselves at every end of the ground. The halftime whistle came and went and the game continued in its brilliant ways until a corner kick created a rebound opportunity for John Terry who struck it home. Sunderland looked really defeated after that goal, paving the way for a fourth gimmee in the six-yard box in stoppage time.

But in this game, Chelsea continued to roll, winning their third straight premier league game and looking very convincing in the process. The game was, for the most part extremely well played by Sunderland and that is what made Chelsea's creative attitude on offense so convincing. I know only one of their goals was on the true counter-attack but it cannot be doubted that to keep playing like they are, Chelsea must keep up the pace of the game. If they do that, not only will they get a nice heaping of points, but they will also be extremely fun to watch.

-twil