I had been put into an extremely good mood at the site of six or seven desperate touts trying to offload their tickets for a game that wasn't sold out and was taking place in a downpour, as I arrived early at Fulham Broadway tube from work. They were literally blocking people on the stairs up from the tube in their eagerness to get shot of their tickets. Needless to say I called them scumbags as I passed, and of course they turned on me at once. The words "c**t" and "batter" cropped up several times, and one of them offered to "stripe" me. I just baited them more by telling them that they were just cross because they were going to lose a fortune on tickets they were never going to sell, and loudly informed all the punters coming up the stairs that there were plenty of seats left at the box office. I offered to take the lot for 30p, then had to leg it sharpish, but it was well worth it. These people are leeches who deserve no sympathy, and why there were no OB there to nab them is a mystery. They're lucky I didn't get mobbed up and go back to take their tickets off them and give them away.

Anyway, back to the game. The team consisted of De Goey; Petrescu, Leboeuf, Thome, Harley; Poyet (Ambrosetti, 49min), Wise, Morris, Di Matteo (Dalla Bona, 55); Flo (Weah, 49), Zola. I admit that I thought that Frank Leboeuf was captain as he was wearing what looked like a white armband, but it turned out that Jody Morris had been given the honour. He responded by turning in a gritty, responsible and positive performance in midfield. It's good to see that Vialli has faith in him and Jon Harley, and it makes these anti-foreign player apologists look like the ill-informed, bandwagon-jumping twats that they are.

The match got under way as the rain teemed down, and both sides started gingerly as they tried to get used to the conditions. I felt for both keepers as the ball either stuck solid or rocketed off the sodden pitch. After twenty minutes of this, a Chelsea attack broke down in the Coventry area, and they quicky counter-attacked. Colin Hendry hared up the pitch, and just as I was asking what position he was supposed to be playing in, he received the ball well into our area and backheeled it skilfully into McAllister's path, who rolled it past De Goey into the right corner of the net. The Coventry fans could finally be heard, and there were some disgusted comments from the fans at our end. All very well, but I hadn't heard a great deal of support coming from them before that. The atmosphere was muted, but I suppose with two big games in a week followed by a midweek match against Coventry (no disrespect intended) you couldn't expect miracles.

Coventry continued to threaten without much response from Chelsea until the stroke of half time, when a neat move resulted in Gus Poyet rocketing in a curling a shot from outside the box that had us all celebrating until we realised that the ball had hit the side netting. The whistle went almost immediately afterwards, but there was some optimism resulting from the positive move that led to Poyet's near miss. We were philosophical at half time as we sipped our bovril, realising that Coventry hadn't had a game in 10 days, so they ought to be doing well. On the other hand, we knew that Chelsea would have to dig deep in the second half, as this was a match we couldn't afford to lose.

The players came out for the second half with no substitutions, which suprised me a little, given Chelsea's lack of penetration in the first half. The pattern of the match appeared to be taking the same bias as in the first, when less than four minutes into the half, Vialli suddenly brought off Poyet and Flo, replacing them with George Weah and Gabriele Ambrosetti. The Chelsea fans who booed Ambrosetti before he had even touched the ball should be ashamed of themselves.

From the minute the two came on, it looked a very different game. The Coventry defence, which had looked solid and assured, suddenly got the jitters. Weah appeared to be scaring them in the middle, while Ambrosetti's runs up the wing created panic. Within five minutes Weah had picked up the ball outside our own area and fed it to Ambrosetti on the left wing. Ambrosetti took off, leaving his marker for dust, and produced a superb cross which Weah just failed to connect with, having made a great run to keep up with Ambrosetti. With Wise lurking at the far post, Hendry was unnerved enough to run the ball into his own net. The people who had booed Ambrosetti minutes earlier failed completely to see the stupidity in the fact that they were now cheering him, but I didn't.

Chelsea now turned on the style, and produced some of the best Premiership football I've seen this season, linking together well with first time passes and great movement. Franco Zola was chief architect, producing some marvellous moments of sheer skill in his control and passing. Even the Coventry bench applauded one audacious move when he received a hard hit pass which he didn't bother to control, simply flicking it into Harley's path, releasing him for a surging run upfield. One of those moments that has you gasping. The trouble was that for all of Chelsea's neat football, they couldn't seem to convert the chances they were creating, but it was obvious that it couldn't last. Eventually George Weah raced onto a ball that was completely missed by last defender Shaw, and he ran on with only the keeper to beat. He could easily have scored, but he selflessly cut the ball back for Zola to turn in from six yards.

The flood gates appeared to be opening, not only from the sky, but also from the pitch, as Chelsea surged forward, chasing more goals. How Coventry survived without letting in at least five more I will never know. A combination of luck and bad finishing, I guess. Coventry did have a brief resurrection near the end, but Thome and Leboeuf in particular shone in defence. We left thoroughly satisfied with a game that had surpassed expectations.

In a match littered with great moments, one stood out for me, and that was when the still excellent Gary McAllister found himself on the touchline just near the Chelsea area. With no Coventry player near, he attempted an audacious shot on goal from at least 35 yards. The ball left his foot like a rocket, rising all the way, finally whistling past De Goey's right hand post. I don't know if De Goey would have got to it, but I'm glad he didn't have to. It was a great move from a great player, and could have earned Coventry a point, and I wasn't the only Chelsea fan who applauded it.

What do YOU think ? Want to add your point of view ? Here's your chance to send me some feedback. NB: Opposing fans: abuse will be laughed at and then ignored, so don't waste your time. Considered, intelligent argument, presented in the spirit of friendly rivalry guarantees a response.