Match Report: Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea

Two goals from Fernando Torres helped Chelsea get their first win for seven games before they head to Japan for the Club World Cup.Rafa Benitez opted for the same side that beat Nordsjaelland 6-1 in the Champions League in midweek and the Blues started strongly, with Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Torres going close in the opening seven minutes.Chelsea got the goal their early dominance deserved as Torres struck on 11 minutes, volleying home Hazard's cross into the area to finish a swift Blues counter attack.
Sunderland came back into the game and enjoyed long periods of possession of their own but, on the strike of half time, Seb Larsson brought down Ramires in the corner of the box and the referee pointed to the spot.
Surprisingly, up stepped Torres to double Chelsea's lead and send Simon Mignolet the wrong way from the spot. It got even worse for the Stadium of Light faithful on 48 minutes as Mata made it 3-0 to Chelsea. Torres hit a fierce drive against the post and it dropped to Mata, with the Spaniard making no mistake from close range.Victor Moses shot narrowly wide on 51 minutes before Sunderland stepped up to try and get something from the game. Adam Johnson got a goal back on 65 minutes with a swerving shot from a tight angle on the left that seemed to deceive Cech on its way in.The Chelsea keeper then had to be at his best to stop a Johnson free-kick 10 minutes later and, as the game petered out, Conor Wickham tested him again before Craig Gardner hit the bar from a dead-ball in injury time.
However, Chelsea held on to close the gap on Manchester City to four points but it means the pressure grows even more on Martin O'Neill at Sunderland.