New Blues manager Villas-Boas saw first-half substitute Florent Malouda score a late winner to give him his first Premier League victory The hosts went behind to an early Shane Long goal before Villas-Boas elected to bring on Florent Malouda in place of Salomon Kalou after just 35 minutes. It proved a match-winning move as the Frenchman scored the winner seven minutes from the end after Nicolas Anelka had netted a second-half equaliser. Villas-Boas denied that his early substitution had changed the game, instead praising the players for shaking off a nervous first-half display. "It is just the players' talent that makes the difference. Their mental attitude for the second half was good," he told ESPN. "There was a sense of realising the space and better options without being anxious like they were in the first half. It goes down to them. "It was a difficult game. The first goal was very early and the crowd became anxious and that passed onto the pitch. "We weren't able to play to our level. We had to remove the anxiety and be mentally tranquil. "The players were able to free themselves from that and work at their best." Chelsea are reportedly close to sealing a deal to sign Valencia's attacking midfielder Mata, however, Villas-Boas would not be drawn on the matter, adding: "I don't know anything about that." However, he later elaborated on Mata in the post-match press conference, saying: "He's a good player, a very good player. "He's not our player but he's an interesting player. "His curriculum speaks for itself. He's a player who scores and assists and he can add to any squad in the world." Meanwhile, Malouda hailed the tactical move of his Portuguese boss, saying: "I think we had to change something in the first half. "The manager put me in and I tried to make chances with more crosses. "The manager made a few substitutions. "We are glad that it worked. It's nothing new and I think it will remain like this until the end of the season. "There is a lot of competition in this squad. Everyone is under pressure." Asked what Villas-Boas told his side at half-time, he replied: "He asked if we were willing to show other clubs we are a championship contender. Are we ready to change things? "It was a simple message. We had to take more risks and play with more character." After being held to a goalless draw at Stoke in their opener last weekend, Malouda was relieved to claim a first win of the campaign. "We are very very happy with the result," he added. "It was a very difficult home game for us. The most important thing at the start of the season is to get the points." Albion boss Roy Hodgson has now seen his side lose their opening two games to late winners, after they also fell to a 2-1 loss at home to Manchester United last weekend. "Certainly there are a lot of positive things from last week's game and this week's game," he said. "But it was disappointing to lose. For 60 minutes we did quite well. "On another day, like last week, we could have come away with a result. "We got in behind them on plenty of occasions and could have scored more than the one goal we got."
