Ancelotti impressed by resilient Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea's 3-1 win at Sunderland gave an indication that his stars are determined to fight for the Premier League title.

Just as they did against Hull on Saturday, Chelsea showed admirable resilience on Tuesday to recover after Sunderland poured forward in the opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light and took a surprise lead through Darren Bent.

Ancelotti insisted that he was not worried at any stage of the first half, although his gestures on the touchline occasionally suggested otherwise. But, eventually, Chelsea proved that class usually comes out on top in Premier League as goals from Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Deco sealed the points.

Ancelotti said: "I am very happy. I thought we played very well in the second half. I know we went behind, but we had control of the match and good possession.

"There wasn't a lot of shooting from us, but we had control of them. Sunderland were strong in defence in the first half and applied pressure."

Chelsea have now gone behind in all three of their matches this season but Ancelotti said: "I am not concerned about coming from behind. It can happen in football and what's important is to show a good reaction and not be afraid when you do go behind."

There was much to admire in the way Sunderland played, but Sunderland boss Steve Bruce reserved most of his praise for the west London club.

Bruce said: "Sometimes you just have to admit you've been well beaten by a very good team. It seemed at times that we'd had a man sent off."