Craig Bellamy had given the Bluebirds the lead after his 25-yard shot deflected off Cesar Azpilicueta and into the far corner, but that was as good as it got for the Welsh outfit as Chelsea dominated the rest of the encounter.

It took until 72 minutes for Chelsea to equalise through Andre Schurrle before Fernando Torres struck from close range three minutes later to seal maximum points for the Blues.

Below, Sports Mole assesses whether Chelsea were deserving of the three points.

Match statistics

Cardiff City
Shots: 10
On target: 4
Possession: 37%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 7

Chelsea
Shots: 28
On target: 7
Possession: 63%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 9

Was the result fair?

The scoreline may suggest that this was an evenly-fought game, but the fact that Cardiff remained in the lead for so long was purely down to Chelsea's lack of a killer touch in front of goal. Cardiff had their moments in the first half, but over the course of the match they were pressed back into their own final third far too easily and, on another day, Chelsea could have won by three or four goals.

Cardiff City's performance

There were parts of Cardiff's performance that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be pleased with, but they seem to be missing quality in the middle of the park and Chelsea exposed that throughout the 90 minutes. Ben Turner and Steven Caulker stood firm for over 70 minutes in the heart of the defence, but they weren't helped out by their teammates and it became clear today that Solskjaer has a huge rebuilding job in the summer.

Chelsea's performance

After showing a lack of a cutting edge last weekend against Norwich City, Jose Mourinho will be pleased with his team's response in Wales. They were lively in attack, while Tomas Kalas produced another credible display in defence, but what would have impressed Mourinho most was their creativity in the final third. They didn't score the amount of goals that they should have, but there was enough in this showing to suggest that, with one or two introductions, they could challenge for the Premier League title again next year.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Andre Schurrle: Schurrle was only on the pitch for 24 minutes, but his arrival changed the course of the game. The German international endured a mixed start to his Chelsea career but he has ended the season in superb form, and with a goal and an assist to his name, he could see himself as one of the first names on the team sheet at the start of the next campaign.

Biggest gaffe

No player was guilty of a gaffe that altered the result of the game, but Mohamed Salah showed a lack of quality in front of goal that could have cost his team. The winger, who was recently signed from Basel, wasted three or four opportunities that a player at a top-four club should be taking.

Referee performance

Michael Oliver had little to do in a game that was played in the right spirit. The three yellow cards that he handed out were justified and the only match-altering incident that the officials had to make was correctly judging that Torres had remained onside to score the winning goal.

What next?

Cardiff City: Solskjaer and Cardiff City head into the summer knowing that they need to rebuild for their return to the Championship, but the Bluebirds can make it a short stay in the second tier of English football if they make some wise acquisitions.

Chelsea: Chelsea will go into the off-season encouraged by the amount of chances that they created in this match, but after netting just twice from 28 attempts, Mourinho will be aware of where he needs to strengthen ahead of next season.