Chelsea Vs. Sunderland: Nedum Onouha's Maradona-esque Effort Put Black Cats Up At Half

With a dip to the left, he was past Mikel John Obi and at the edge of Chelsea's area. Once touch to the right, and he was beyond José Bosingwa and into the penalty box. A move back to the left and he'd avoided Branislav Ivanovic. Then the finish: 15 yards, along the ground, into the lower right hand corner.

After trapping a ball headed out of the Chelsea area, Sunderland right back Nedum Onouha spent four seconds summoning the spirit of Diego Maradona, weaving through the Blues defense to give Sunderland the lead. The score came after a period of ascendancy from the Black Cats but still gave crowd and viewers pause. It was the first time this year Chelsea had allowed a goal at Stamford Bridge.

With the tally, Sunderland takes a 0-1 lead into intermission, with Chelsea continuing to struggle without their full midfield. Frank Lampard is an injury absence while Michael Essien is suspended. As a result, Florent Malouda has spent more time with the ball at his feet, but it's just not working. While the first half hour gave hints that Chelsea would eventually wear Sunderland down, the visitors controlled the last part of the half, with Chelsea failing to strike any fear into their upstart guests.

If anything, it's Sunderland that's worried their opponent, even before the Onouha goal. Danny Welbeck tested Per Cech twice in the latter part of the half, while Branislav Ivanovic is lucky to be in the match after taking down Welbeck to prevent what seemed a clear scoring chance. The Serbian defender only saw yellow for the foul 40 yards from goal.

There's a long 45 minutes to go, but if this result holds, Sunderland will jump into seventh place. Chelsea, meanwhile, will see their lead stay at two, cut in half from mid-week thanks to Arsenals win at Everton.