UEFA Champions League: Chelsea beat Spartak Moscow 2-0 with goals from Zhirkov and Anelka
English Premier League champions Chelsea assured their place in the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a convincing 2-0 win against Spartak Moscow away from home.
It was quite an inexperienced team sent out by Carlo Ancelotti and they paid back the manager’s confidence with a dominating display all round. Yuri Zhirkov, playing in his home country, scored his first senior goal for Chelsea
and it was one to remember as he let one fly from quite a distance. The ever dependable Frenchman Nicolas Anelka added the 2nd just before the break to bag all 3 points.
The home side did improve in the half but Chelsea had the measure of Spartak, and even though there was no Didier Drogba or Frank Lampard, the Blues had enough quality in their squad to keep the Moscow side at an arm’s length.
Carlo Ancelotti, who was in charge of his 100th game in Europe, showed his immense experience, and showed just why he has won multiple European Cups as a manager at AC Milan.
The Blues are now on top of their group with a 100% record from their first 3 games of the campaign. 9 points from 3 games has all but assured them a place in the 2 legged final 16 tie.
The win in Moscow would have also been something of a relief for some players in the Chelsea line-up, who were in the team when they lost the final of UEFA Champions League to Manchester United back in 2008. Remember Chelsea were
just a kick away from winning the title when John Terry slipped on the turf at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Chelsea looked full of vigour and confidence throughout the match, and hardly broke a sweat in thrashing the Moscow team, who had won both of their earlier games in the Champions League.
Spartak are currently 4th in the table in the domestic league, and actually did start brightly as Dmitri Kamborov took a shot at goal after a surging run from Sergei Parshivlyuk. Dimitri’s shot, though, was well wide
and the Chelsea keeper had to just watch it go over the bar.
Soon after, Brazilian striker Welliton who is currently the highest goal-scorer in the Russian league tried his luck; he did send a fierce low drive towards Chelsea goal but Petr Cech did not have any trouble gathering the ball.
That was pretty much all the home side had to offer in the first half as Chelsea quickly got into the groove.
First it was Saloman Kalou who tried his luck from a distance, and just seconds later, Michael Essien also let fly. Both shots were on target but the Moscow keeper did well to punch them away; however, signs were there that the
Blues brigade was getting in motion.
Spartak continued to back off and allowed Chelsea players to take shots from outside the box, a tactic that backfired. Jon Mikel Obi sent a long pass from his own box and it was Zhirkov who got on the end of it and as he found
some space outside the box, he slashed a bullet-like volley that ended up in back of the net beating Andriy Dykan's desperate dive.
Didier Drogba normally is the man at the forefront of Chelsea attacks, but in his absence, Anelka had taken over the reins and was doing exceedingly well. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was sitting in the stands admiring his investment
of millions playing on the pitch.
Welliton got the ball for Moscow after a set piece went wrong for Chelsea, but since most of the home team was busy in defence, the front man had no support and a good chance went out of the window.
Nicolas Anelka finally put the game to bed with a 2nd and his 50th
goal for Chelsea. Michael Essien was the man who started the move from the halfway line; the Ghana captain played an inch perfect pass to Anelka. The former Arsenal striker showed a burst of pace and made his way inside the box, and made his way past
Parshivlyuk with ease before calmly side-footing the ball in the far corner. It was 2 nil and the match was pretty much over right then: Chelsea had dominated the match from start to finish and the result was never in doubt. With a place in the final 16 almost
secured, Ancelotti may look to take it easy in the next few European outings and focus more on establishing a lead on top of the table in the Premier League.
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