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Blues Stroll To Success  (Sky Sports)

MSK Zilina 1 Chelsea 4

Nicolas Anelka hit a brace as Chelsea easily beat MSK Zilina 4-1 in their UEFA Champions League Group F opener in Slovakia.

Michael Essien put the Blues ahead on 13 minutes when converting Anelka's low cross from the left.

Florent Malouda then played Anelka through on 24 minutes to net the visitors' second.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were three up four minutes later when Anelka tapped home after John Terry's header from a corner hit the crossbar.

Daniel Sturridge made sure of the win when netting three minutes after the restart after latching onto Yossi Benayoun's exquisite through pass.

The home side then pulled back a consolation via Tomas Oravec's tap in on 55 minutes after Petr Cech's parry hit Branislav Ivanovic on the head.

Earlier, Zilina began impressively with Momodou Ceesay firing high over the bar in the fourth minute.

The small ground was at its capacity of 11,000 and the home side were giving their fans something to shout about in the early stages.

Chelsea won their first corner in the ninth minute but Benayoun sent his shot into the arms of Martin Dubravka.

The English champions then wasted a free-kick on the left edge of the penalty area when Sturridge fired high over the bar from 20 yards.

Simple goal

But the Blues went in front in the 13th minute with a simple goal. Essien put Anelka clear on the left wing and when the cross arrived, Malouda stepped over it for Essien to fire home from eight yards - his third goal in two games.

Zilina almost levelled in the 15th minute when a free-kick from Robert Jez was fumbled by Cech but the Chelsea goalkeeper managed to stop the ball going into the net.

Zilina's Bello Babatounde then headed straight at Cech in the 23rd minute after a fine cross from Ceesay.

But Chelsea went 2-0 up in the 24th minute when Malouda found Anelka and he slipped the ball under Dubravka.

Sturridge almost made it 3-0 in the 27th minute but his 25-yard drive was tipped around the post.

But the Blues punished the home side from the corner which followed when Terry's header hit the bar and Anelka pounced to score his second from point-blank range.

Malouda should have made it 4-0 in the 37th minute but his shot was blocked by Mario Pecalka after Yuri Zhirkov had pulled the ball back to him from the touchline.

Cech was forced to make a fine save four minutes from the break when he dived to push a shot from Admir Vladavic to safety.

Zilina then squandered a real chance when Babatounde headed wide from an unmarked position on the edge of the six-yard box.

Second period

However, Chelsea increased their lead in the 48th minute when Benayoun played a superb ball through for Sturridge who rounded the Zilina goalkeeper and slipped the ball home.

Zilina responded immediately and Cech was forced into a fine save to deny Vladavic.

The home side finally reduced Chelsea's advantage in the 55th minute when Cech spilled a cross and the ball rebounded off Ivanovic before Oravec bundled home.

Zilina then went close to getting a second when Vladavic sent a rising drive just wide and substitute Tomas Majtan was inches away from hitting the target with an angled drive in the 65th minute.

Chelsea were living dangerously, but with a three-goal cushion they could afford to.

Ancelotti was distinctly unhappy on the touchline as the home side attacked in numbers.

The Slovakian home side had to be admired for their endeavour although Chelsea were hardly in top gear in the second half.

With 10 minutes left, Chelsea opted to hand a full debut to 17-year-old midfielder Josh McEachran. He replaced Benayoun who was applauded off for his fine performance.

Essien forced a fine save from Dubravka in the 82nd minute as the Ghanaian midfielder looked for another goal but it was the last real action of the game as Chelsea ran out easy winners.

MSK Zilina	Team Statistics	Chelsea
1	Goals	4
0	1st Half Goals	3
5	Shots on Target	6
13	Shots off Target	4
5	Blocked Shots	3
5	Corners	4
12	Fouls	14
5	Offsides	5
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
88.2	Passing Success	85.7
21	Tackles	14
66.7	Tackles Success	92.9
42.5	Possession	57.5
55.4	Territorial Advantage	44.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teams 

MSK Zilina  Dubravka, Guldan (Angelovic 79) , Piacek, Pecalka, Mraz, Jez, Babatounde, Rilke (Poliacek 56), Ceesay (Majtan 61), Vladavic, Oravec
Subs Not Used  Krnac, Leitner, Sourek, Vittor
Booked 
Goals  Oravec 55

Chelsea  Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Zhirkov, Essien, Benayoun (McEachran 79), Mikel, Sturridge (Kakuta 62), Malouda (Van Aanholt 88), Anelka
Subs Not Used  Turnbull, Ramires, Ferreira
Booked 
Goals  Essien 13, Anelka 24, 28, Sturridge 48

Attendance  11,181

Referee  Björn Kuipers, Netherlands