UTTERED with a hint of sarcasm, manager Steve McClaren could quite easily have been delivering an assessment on Middlesbrough's failings when he explained the reason why striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink played the whole of the second half wearing Ugo Ehiogu's shirt.

"The referee (Mark Halsey) asked Jimmy to change it," said McClaren, referring to the moment when Hasselbaink, having had ten stitches in a head wound, was sent down the tunnel with his blood-stained top seconds before the start of the second half.

"We didn't have another number 18 available. We didn't seem to have enough shirts, we didn't have enough men and we didn't seem to have enough of anything on the day. That sums our disruptive day up."

The smile across McClaren's face suggested it was his light-hearted way of responding to Middlesbrough's first home defeat of the season, dished out by Chelsea courtesy of a goal nine minutes before time from the expensive Didier Drogba.

But there was a ring of truth about McClaren's sense of humour, as his side lacked an attacking impetus, the midfield failed to provide the ammunition for the front-men and, perhaps most importantly, there was a serious dearth of efforts on goal from the hosts.

Defensively Middlesbrough were sound, with the exception of the moment when Drogba was afforded the freedom of the Riverside to pick his spot. But they needed to b,e otherwise the Premiership's rich club could have been well out of sight.

Colin Cooper, the oldest outfield player to have started a game in the top-flight this season, formed a strong defensive partnership with skipper Gareth Southgate in the absence of both Chris Riggott and Ehiogu.

But, after an afternoon bereft of ideas in the final third from Middlesbrough, it was a mistake from the backline that allowed Chelsea to pinch the victory late on - a success not even McClaren could argue about.

The Blues had controlled proceedings from start to finish, although Boro had that element of hope attached to their display because the visitors found it hard to convert their chances into goals.

However, when Frenchman Franck Queudrue fouled Portuguese Paulo Ferreira on the right wing, Chelsea conjured up a moment of magic to make the most of some hesitancy in the Middlesbrough rearguard.

"The Middlesbrough players were too close to their keeper (Mark Schwarzer) and they left a big hole," explained Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. "Instead of Frank Lampard playing the traditional cross from the free-kick into the box he played the back pass to Didier and it was a wonderful goal to watch."

Drogba's clever thinking - when he lost marker Cooper by darting one way then the other - created an enormous amount of space for him to stroll into before connecting first time to Lampard's free-kick and direct his powerful low shot beyond Schwarzer's outstretched left arm.

That goal from the £24m Ivory Coast striker ensured Chelsea were not going to record their third consecutive goalless draw. Form that has, as Mourinho stated, led to the 'knives' rather than 'flowers' being directed towards Stamford Bridge from the media.

Regardless of how they are doing it, the team from west London remain the most likely side to topple Arsenal from their perch at the pinnacle of the top-flight.

The fact that they are achieving it in a style resembling George Graham's Arsenal in the late 80s and early 90s - a tendency to win games by the odd goal - will be of no concern to unbeaten Chelsea who are just two points behind Arsene Wenger's champions.

McClaren, linked with the job of succeeding Claudio Ranieri in the summer, was full of admiration and suggested Mourinho's men will go close to beating Arsenal in the race for the title. "Chelsea have scored seven and conceded one now from their opening seven matches," he said. "That proves they are going to be difficult to beat. Chelsea controlled us, they controlled the whole game really. They also had a number of chances but failed to score.

"At 0-0 we always had that little chance to nick it but we didn't and it's disappointing to lose in the end."

Hasselbaink and Bolo Zenden's reunion with old friends, following their switch from Chelsea in the summer, did not go as well as the Dutchmen would have liked. Just ten minutes in the signs were there that this was not going to be Hasselbaink's day.

Defender John Terry's high boot caught the four-goal forward on the head and Hasselbaink spent a further ten minutes in the dressing room being stitched up. But, despite having an extra man, Chelsea had not made the most of the striker's absence.

A quarter of an hour later, after Drogba had missed two good opportunities, Parlour was next to leave the field of play. But he failed to return after suffering a gashed knee cap after a challenge from William Gallas.

Before the end of the game Joseph Job and Mark Viduka both limped off with hamstring problems, to join Riggott (thigh), Szilard Nemeth (stomach upset), Ehiogu (calf) and Mendieta (calf) on the sidelines with a UEFA Cup second leg at Banik Ostrava next on the agenda.

"It was a bad day at the office but we look to Thursday and we have got to go through on that one," said McClaren. "We will have to be better all over the pitch and we will have to see who we have available."

Young winger Stewart Downing and FA Youth Cup winner James Morrison brought the average age of Middlesbrough's team down somewhat and both contrived to liven the home side's play up.

Downing had managed in his usual 20-minute cameo role to do what Irishman Damien Duff, making his first start of the season, had done at the other end for Chelsea.

Duff's refreshing determination to take on players and deliver teasing crosses caused problems and that is the sort of invention Middlesbrough seemed to lack until Downing took his training top off.

It was the England Under-21 international that actually recorded Middlesbrough's first effort on goal, when he beat two players before shooting into the side netting from a difficult angle, with only six minutes remaining.

With time running out, Southgate was next to try his luck but the ball flew high and wide away from goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was not called into make a save once.

No trouble for Cech nor Chelsea but the trouble for Middlesbrough is it's now two defeats in two and a fall from fourth to tenth inside six days.

Result: Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 1.

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