Chelsea hit four past Spartak Moscow to enter the knock-out stages
Chelsea reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League after beating Spartak Moscow 4–1 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, 3 November.
Carlo Ancelotti's team, who won the Moscow leg of the encounter 2–0, went ahead with strikes from Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic before Nikita Bazhenov pulled one back for the Russian
champions. Ivanovic got the last word, though, scoring his second of the night in added time.
Both sides produced chances early on at the buzzing ground, with Drogba and Alex testing Andrey Dikan and Petr Cech respectively.
Chelsea defender Alex burst into the six-yard box from Yuri Zhirkov's 41st-minute corner, but the Brazilian couldn't get the ball on target before the subdued first half came to an end.
Anelka with another European goal
Three minutes after the break, Salomon Kalou advanced towards the Spartak box before sending Anelka through on the left of the box. The Frenchman, who had to catch up with the ball and find a way past
Dikan, finished high into the net. The striker has scored in all of Chelsea's European games this season.
On the hour mark, Drogba shook off a challenge from Nicolas Pareja before skipping past Evgeniy Makeev, who tripped up the Ivorian to gift Chelsea a penalty. Drogba stepped up and fired the spot kick low
into the left corner.
In the absence of Frank Lampard, Drogba also took care of a free kick from the right wing five minutes later, crossing well for Ivanovic who steered the ball into the far corner to claim his first European
goal for the club.
Ivanovic then lost the ball in Chelsea's half as Welliton broke on the right side of the penalty box, hitting a shot that Bazhenov helped into the net from close range with four minutes to go until added
time.
Sturridge a lively replacement for Chelsea
In the dying minutes, substitute Daniel Sturridge did well to advance on the left before cutting back for Ramires in the Spartak box, but the Brazilian's easy finish was blocked by the Spartak defence.
Sturridge then tried to finish in a crowded box to add Chelsea's fourth, but the ball fell to Ivanovic, who hit a quick finish on the turn to score complete his brace.
Ancelotti's team have 12 points from four games in Group F, where they are trailed by Olympique de Marseille and Spartak, both on six points. MSK Zilina have lost all their games so far.
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