EPL: Chelsea victorious, but embarrassed at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge fans jeer their players and chant sacked manager Jose Mourinho's name even as Blues win 3-1 against Sunderland

London: Chelsea's fans turned on their own players and chanted support for ex-manager Jose Mourinho as his successor Guus Hiddink watched them ease to a 3-1 win over Sunderland.


Branislav Ivanovic scores Chelsea’s first goal against Sunderland on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Pics/Getty Images 

Mourinho was sacked on Thursday and Dutchman Hiddink re-appointed to reprise his role as interim manager a couple of hours before Saturday's Premier League match kicked off.

But Chelsea's fans were far from happy, regularly chanting in support of the Portuguese, and not a single seated supporter could be spotted when they sang "Stand up for the Special One!"

'You let us down'
They had booed the names of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa when they were read out on the tannoy prior to the game, singling the Spain pair out as bearing responsibility for Mourinho's demise.


Chelsea's new interim manager Guus Hiddink (L), former player Didier Drogba (C) and Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich 

One banner read "You let Jose down, you let us down," and after Branislav Ivanovic and Pedro Rodriguez had put Chelsea 2-0 up inside 13 minutes, there was a deafening chant of: "Where were you when we were s**t?"

Nevertheless, Chelsea produced arguably their best performance of the season against a Sunderland side struggling in the bottom three.

The hosts added a third goal in the second half through Oscar's penalty before Fabio Borini pulled one back.

Early lead
With caretaker Steve Holland taking charge of the team while Hiddink watched from the stands along with former Chelsea favourite Didier Drogba, the home side needed only five minutes to take the lead.


A Chelsea fan holds a banner to support Jose Mourinho 

Ivanovic's header from Willian's corner gave him his first goal of the campaign and just eight minutes later, Chelsea scored their second.

They were helped by a defensive error from Yann M'Vila, who failed to clear Ivanovic's cross, and Pedro capitalised to beat Costel Pantilimon for his first goal since September.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!