MSK Zilina 1-4 Chelsea

Chelsea took their Premier League form into Europe’s top club competition as they comfortably saw off MSK Zilina with a 4-0 win on Wednesday as they fly back to London with a very welcome three points to kick off their road to Wembley, with Nicolas Anelka assisting one and scoring two in a dazzling display.

Michael Essien opened the scoring after just 13 minutes as he ran onto a Nicolas Anelka cut-back, then the striker popped up with two of his own, the first a smart finish after Florent Malouda lifted the ball over the Zilina defense, and the Frenchman slotted home the rebound from a John Terry header that hit the bar to put the Premier League leaders 3-0 up inside the first half an hour, with Daniel Sturridge adding a fourth two minutes into the second half.

Captain John Terry started Wednesday’s game despite Carlo Ancelotti casting doubts over his appearance after picking up a knock at the weekend with full-back Yuri Zhirkov also starting from the off for his first appearance this season, just days after his outspoken frustration at failing to force himself into the first-team at Chelsea, with Daniel Sturridge also part of six changes from those who prevailed 3-1 at West Ham.

Champions League newcomers Zilina started the brightest with all of the early pressure in the opening minutes but Chelsea did not take long to settle and were soon 1-0 up.

Yossi Benayoun released Nicolas Anelka down the left flank with a perfect through ball and the Frenchman’s pull back eluded Florent Malouda but was met by the onrushing Michael Essien to slot home sweetly for his third goal in two games.

The Slovakians were not deterred though and former Chelsea youth player Momodou Ceesay delivered a nice cross for Babatounde Bello to rise high and head the ball towards Petr Cech’s goal but a lack of power made it an easy save for the Czech international.

But as many in the Premier League have found so far this season, a team must take their chances against Chelsea, otherwise they will be punished. And punished Zilina were.

This time the provider turned scorer as Malouda produced a fantastic over-the-top pass to leave the Slovak defense static and Nicolas Anelka drove into the penalty and finished very well across the keeper into the far corner to put his side 2-0 midway through the first-half.

And then four minutes later and Nicolas Anelka got his second and Chelsea’s third. John Terry this time rose high to head a whipped Malouda corner onto the bar and Anelka found himself in the right place at the right time and he simply slotted home from 3 yards out with the goalkeeper stranded.

But credit must still go to Zilina as, despite being stunned by the four-minute double Anelka salvo they kept their heads up. First Admir Vladavic forced Cech into a decent save low down to his left to push a shot past the post, and from the resulting corner the same player headed just wide to remind Ancelotti and his players that it wasn’t game over just yet.

But if there were any lingering nerves for the Italian, his team duly put them to bed as soon as possible as just two minutes into the second half, another fantastic pass from Benayoun found Daniel Sturridge, who rounded the keeper and found the back of the empty net for a goal on his Champions League debut and to firmly put the game beyond Zilina.

Yet again though, that did not deter the team from Slovakia as after a couple of hopeful efforts from Admir Vladavic, they got themselves of the scoresheet, albeit in fortunate fashion. Petr Cech failed completely when attempting to handle a cross from the right flank and they ball ricochets off Alex and then Branislav Ivanovic and trickles towards the unguarded goal-line before Tomas Oravec stole in to claim a goal for himself and his club’s first ever in the Champions League.

Straight from the resulting kick-off and Zilina could have had a second as a wonderful break-away was only wasted by a poor cross into the Chelsea area by Vladavic. A few minutes later and Zilina again had a decent sniff at goal, but Lubomir Guldan could only steer his header wide.

The game petered out in the closing stages of the match, with the Slovak fans still in full voice, with the only real moment of note was 17-year-old Chelsea youngster Joshua McEachran coming on for the final 10 minutes for his debut, and in doing so becoming the first ever player born after the creation of the competition to feature in it, and he helped his side stroll comfortably to the win and a warning shot to others in the competition.