Chelsea's Zola has baptism of fire

THE NEW, Gianfranco Zola powered Chelsea made the long trip to football's heartland, only to suffer a virtual eclipse by a reenergised Blackburn, and in the end the high flying visitors were lucky to leave Lancashire with a point.

It was a baptism of fire for the £4.5 million Italian. Rovers were crammed to bursting with self belief after their 3-0 annihilation of Liverpool last time out and ready to battle relentlessly for every inch of territory.

Chelsea's player manager considered it the ideal English education. "I think if you throw him in a game like this he can find out what's going on, watch what happens and realise how to play. He began to get more involved as the game went on," Ruud Gullit said.

Zola will find that English football does not come any more traditional than at Blackburn, founder members of the Football League and raised on Thwaites's bitter and Holland's meat pies. None of your mineral water and pasta at Ewood Park, mate.

Even the saturating drizzle dripping down off the moors seems able to impart the properties of a water logged Casey to the modern, lightweight football, as Zola found when he took a free kick from the edge of the area and instead of bending or dipping, the ball wobbled over the bar like a suet pudding. This from a player tutored in the art by Diego Maradona when at Napoli.

Free kicks apart, it was nevertheless a quietly impressive debut by the latest arrival at Chelsea's spaghetti junction, though a lot of the match passed by him - or over him - at the Premiership's usual breakneck speed.

When Zola did get the ball he passed beautifully off either foot, and he almost won the game for Chelsea seven minutes from time with a bewildering volley sliced off the outside of his left boot that flew just the wrong side of the post.

"I asked him how he found the game and he was very pleased, he enjoyed the atmosphere," Gullit said. Good practice, too, for the visit of the leaders Newcastle to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Blackburn, who climbed off the bottom of the table for the first time since September 14th, could shed more light on their renaissance when they play Nottingham Forest away next Monday. The mood of the whole side has been transformed since Ray Harford removed his lugubrious countenance from the corridors of, power, and their record under the caretaker manager is a symmetric one win, one draw. "If you'd said: three weeks ago you'll get four points after Liverpool Chelsea games we'd have been happy with that," chortled Tony Parkes.

The club are no nearer finding a manager after Sampdoria's Sven Goran Eriksson ruled himself out last week, but they have emphasised they are in no hurry. "The search goes on, but an appointment looks a little bit further away than it did last week," Parkes said.

Blackburn have little need to rush. On Saturday they had the edge on Chelsea in commitment, skill and tactics, deploying Sutton as a lone striker and cutting off the supply lines to Vialli and Hughes.

Curiously Zola, who left Parma because he was being denied hiss favourite striking role, was positioned on the left side of midfield rather than behind the front two as Gull it had promised.

Zola at least had a hand in Chelsea's 82nd minute equaliser after: Kevin Gallacher had shot Rovers in front shortly after half time - his first League goal of the season. The Italian's corner from the right was cleared to Dan Petrescu, whose optimistic shot was deflected past Tim Flowers by the unfortunate McKinlay.