Madrid Mauled : Chelsea 4 Atletico 0

Salomon Kalou scored twice as Chelsea took a huge step towards the Champions League knockout stages with a 4-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge, reports Reuters.
With striker Didier Drogba sitting out the final game of his three-match UEFA ban, his Ivory Coast team mate Kalou grabbed his chance to impress with goals either side of halftime to put his side in charge.
Kalou's strikes deflated the struggling Spanish side before Frank Lampard's shot and a stoppage time own goal by Luis Perea completed a third victory from three matches for Chelsea in Group D.
Carlo Ancelotti's side, who went down at Aston Villa on Saturday to lose the lead in the Premier League, have nine points to second-placed Porto's six. Atletico are bottom with one point and face the prospect of elimination.
Kalou, who recently signed a new contract, plays third fiddle behind Drogba and Nicolas Anelka at Stamford Bridge but underlined his importance to the squad with an all-action performance that could have netted him a hat-trick.
"Drogba is still Drogba," Kalou told reporters. "It's not an insult to be behind him and Anelka because they are two of the best strikers in the world right now. But I'm pleased to get on the pitch and take my opportunity and do my best.
"We have proved that even without our main striker we have the character to win without him. But he will be back next time and that is very important for Chelsea even though its hard to accept if you are not playing."
Kalou, playing alongside Anelka in front of Chelsea's diamond midfield, took a while to warm to the task and was guilty of a terrible miss early on when he dragged a shot wide after being played in by Michael Ballack.
Atletico, who have started the Spanish season poorly, matched Chelsea for most of the first half, particularly in a lively opening spell when Uruguay striker Diego Forlan looked menacing. Twice he tried his luck from distance and also forced an acrobatic save from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.
His Argentine striking partner Sergio Aguero wasted Atletico's best chance when he rolled Branislav Ivanovic easily but shot wastefully into the side-netting.
Atletico always looked vulnerable at the back and fell behind after 41 minutes when Lampard sent Ashley Cole scuttling down the left and his low cross gave Kalou the perfect chance to make amends for his earlier misses.
Seven minutes after half time Kalou doubled the lead when he sprang high to head Lampard's deep corner past the exposed Sergio Asenjo who was given little help by his defenders.
Aguero then wasted another chance when he dithered too long after being sent clear. As Chelsea took complete control, Lampard rifled in his side's third to snap a 10-game sequence without a goal for the England midfielder.
"I'm happy for Lampard but I think it's important that Lampard is not just about scoring goals," Ancelotti said. "He is very unselfish and works for 90 minutes for the team."
Atletico's miserable night was complete in stoppage time when Perea got the final touch to an inswinging freekick.
"I think it was one of those bitter tastes of football," under-fire Atletico coach Abel Resino told reporters. "We had as many chances as Chelsea but the ball wasn't going for us."

Dire Defending : Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 1

Defender James Collins scored his first goal for Aston Villa to condemn Premier League leaders Chelsea to a second successive away defeat.
Martin O'Neill's 5 million pound capture from West Ham took advantage of slack marking to head the winner after 52 minutes.
Didier Drogba had given the Blues the lead after 15 minutes but Collins' defensive partner Richard Dunne levelled before the interval.
Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti will be frustrated with his side's defending as two corners from Ashley Young presented Dunne and Collins with free far-post headers for the goals.
It completely undermined the threat posed by his side going forward, with Deco shining in a free role behind the strikers.
But Chelsea found Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel in inspired form with a series of excellent saves making amends for gifting Drogba the opening goal.
And Collins and Stephen Warnock also played their part in thwarting Chelsea with a series of excellent blocks.
Skipper Stiliyan Petrov was effective in the centre of the park as Villa maintained their push for a European spot.
The kick off was delayed for five minutes after referee Steve Bennett was taken ill and fourth official Keith Friend stepped into the breach.
Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor had the first effort on goal and his shot on the turn was deflected wide.
The home side had claims for a penalty rejected when Jose Boswinga wrestled with Agbonlahor in the box in attempting to get on the end of a first time cross from Petrov.
James Milner then made a superb tackle inside his own box to deny Florent Malouda.
But after 15 minutes a rare mistake by Friedel, in his 198th consecutive Premier League appearance, allowed Drogba to put Chelsea ahead.
Drogba fired in a hopeful 30-yard drive but Friedel allowed the ball to bounce over his dive and into the corner of the net. It was Drogba's seventh goal of the campaign.
Villa tried to retaliate and Chelsea skipper John Terry made a crucial interception to cut out a low centre from Milner with John Carew and Agbonlahor unmarked in the danger area.
Chelsea were now looking the more likely to score and Ashley Cole was only just too high with a rising drive after a powerful surge forward.
But after 32 minutes Dunne struck for the second successive match to bring Villa back on level terms.
Essien was forced to concede a corner after good link up play between Agbonlahor and Petrov. Young's centre flicked off the head of Frank Lampard and Dunne was on hand to head home at the far past.
The Republic of Ireland international celebrated in a way he had declined to do when netting against his former club Manchester City 12 days ago.
Agbonlahor became the first player to be booked after 35 minutes for a challenge on Essien.
Friedel redeemed himself for his earlier error when tipping over a chip from Deco at full stretch and then made another crucial stop to deny Drogba at point-blank range.
Villa took the lead early in the second half when Collins was left completely unmarked at the far post to power a header past Cech from Young's inswinging corner.
Lampard was only a couple of feet wide with a low 20-yard drive as Chelsea tried to respond, but Friedel showed he had fully recovered from his first-half error with another excellent block on a shot from Deco, who had been put clear by Drogba.
Malouda was then denied by Friedel who beat out his fierce 20-yard shot as Chelsea searched for the equaliser.

Alex And Kalou Commit

Central defender Alex became the second Chelsea player to sign a new contract in as many days yesterday as the Blues look to tie their star names to the club, reports rte.ie.
Alex followed Salomon Kalou in committing his future to the club when he signed a four-year deal to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2013.
Chelsea seem determined to extend as many of their key players contracts as possible following FIFA's transfer ban.
The Blues are prevented from signing any players in the next two transfer windows after being found guilty of inducing teenager Gael Kakuta to breach his contract with Lens two years ago.
Chelsea have appealed against the verdict and are hopeful of getting it overturned, but in the meantime they are determined to keep their current squad together.
Alex, who is returning to fitness after groin surgery in the summer, has joined Kalou, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Michael Mancienne in signing new deals, while Joe Cole is also expected to soon put pen to paper.
'I am very happy to start again to train and feel no pain, and to sign for four more years,' he said .
'It was easy to decide to sign and now I hope to get back to playing well. My condition now is so-so. I think in two more weeks I am 100% and can play without a problem.
'I hope now to start to play in the Chelsea games and play very well.'
Boss Carlo Ancelotti has yet to manage Alex in a Chelsea game but is well-versed in the Brazilian's ability.
His AC Milan side contested a tight Champions League semi-final in 2005 when Alex was at the heart of the PSV Eindhoven defence.
Ancelotti welcomed the defender's decision to continue his career at Stamford Bridge and told the club's official website: 'I am very happy that Alex has signed a new contract with the club. He is just returning from injury and surgery but he is a player I know well.
'I am familiar with all of his fantastic qualities, so I am delighted he will be with us for another four years.'

Scousers Scuppered : Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0

Second half goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda gave Chelsea a deserved 2-0 victory over Liverpool and put the Blues two points clear at top of the Premier League.
The France international struck first in the 60th minute when he finished off a sublime low cross from Didier Drogba as Chelsea defied their critics with a performance of grit and quality.
Substitute Malouda sealed the win in injury-time when he slid home another low cross from Drogba.
Carlo Ancelotti's side was desperate to get back to winning ways in the league after its 3-1 drubbing by Wigan last week and a lacklustre victory over Apoel Nicosia in the Champions League in midweek.
But it was Liverpool who had the best of the early exchanges and the game sparked into life in the 12th minute when Fernando Torres was fortunate not to receive a yellow card for a late challenge on Chelsea captain John Terry.
The Spaniard's right foot was clearly too high and raked the shins of the England defender.
However, referee Martin Atkinson opted to give the Liverpool striker a lengthy lecture, much to the annoyance of the home fans.
Liverpool continued to dominate but a shot from Albert Riera was high and wide of the target in the 19th minute.
Michael Essien appeared to be late and high with a challenge on Javier Mascherano but referee Atkinson was perfectly positioned to see the incident and ignored the Reds' appeals. The Liverpool player soon rose to his feet without any damage to his right leg.
Both sides were full of attacking ideas but neither goalkeeper had been tested at the midway stage of the opening half.
Liverpool's Jose Reina finally collected a header from Drogba just beneath the crossbar in the 24th minute but Chelsea's threat was somewhat impotent.
In the 27th minute Reina was called into action again when Essien's cross was met by Anelka.
Anelka was unmarked but despite the luxury of a free header, he could not find a way past the Liverpool goalkeeper.
Liverpool were handed a chance to open the scoring in the 29th minute when Branislav Ivanovic was adjudged to have brought down Torres.
The free-kick was some 25 yards out but Gerrard's effort sailed over the crossbar to the delight of the home fans.
Four minutes later Chelsea squandered a chance of their own after Drogba had been brought down by Jamie Carragher near the corner flag.
Deco's free-kick into the penalty area was well placed but Michael Ballack's header was off target from six yards.
Chelsea were now enjoying their best spell of the game and when Lampard's 38th-minute corner fell to Essien at the far post, the Ghanaian international forced Reina to make a save at the second attempt.
Liverpool responded with Dirk Kuyt crossing for Torres to head straight at Hilario from six yards.
Essien was booked for a foul on Kuyt in the 44th minute and Riera forced Hilario into a late save with a 40-yard low drive.
In the 57th minute Liverpool won a free-kick when Riera was blocked by Ballack - but Gerrard's delivery was met by a confident punch from Hilario and Chelsea survived a difficult moment.
The Blues broke the deadlock on the hour after Mascherano lost possession to Lampard in the Chelsea half. Essien and Deco fed the ball wide to Drogba on the left - and his centre was perfect for Anelka to convert his fifth goal of the season.
In the 63rd minute, Drogba met Lampard's free-kick but his header was well held by Reina - and four minutes later the visitors replaced Riera with Yossi Benayoun.
In the 77th minute Chelsea won a free-kick in a dangerous area when Lampard was brought down by Gerrard.
The challenge earned Gerrard a yellow card and Chelsea almost went two goals in front but Drogba was just wide of the right-hand post with his free-kick.
Chelsea's goal was now under siege and Torres wasted a glorious chance to level the scores when he shot wide in the 80th minute.
Substitute Malouda then settled the outcome when he slid the ball home from close range in injury-time.

Gerrard then hit a volley from the edge of the area which Hilaro palmed away.

Nicosia Nullified : Apeol 0 Chelsea 1

Chelsea bounced back from their first defeat of the season with a laboured 1-0 win over Cypriot champions Apeol Nicosia to make it two wins out of two in the Champions League this season, reports Goal.com.
Nicolas Anelka was again the match-winner and there was a European return for Joe Cole but for long periods Chelsea created very little and the home side almost did enough to steal a point from their more illustrious opponents.
Chelsea made three changes from the team that lost at Wigan at the weekend with Juliano Belletti coming in for the injured John Obi Mikel, and Branislav Ivanovic and Saloman Kalou deputising for the suspended Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba.
Ashley Cole recovered from his knee problem in time and continued at left-back, giving a man of the match performance, with Carlo Ancelotti adopting a 4-4-3 formation in favour of the diamond. The hosts, holding their first ever Champions League game, were without Polish strikers Adrian Sikora and Marcin Zewlakow as well as defenders Joost Broerse and Paolo Jorge because of injury.
With the Cypriot side happy to play an open game and make a good impression, Chelsea were quick to exploit the time and space with Michael Essien going close early on with a shot from outside the box that flashed wide.
Seventeen minutes in and Chelsea were ahead. Belletti skipped past his marker on the right wing, then picked out Nicolas Anelka on the corner of the penalty box and the Frenchman clipped the ball past Nicosia keeper Dionisis Chiotis into the far corner of the net. His second goal in as many Champions League games.
From then on Chelsea controlled the first half with neither team really threatening. Flourent Malouda hit a shot from 25 yards that sailed over the bar while Christos Kontis had Apoel’s best chance with a header from a corner that went high and wide.
The home side came out for the second half much livelier and forced Petr Cech into his first meaningful save just after the hour mark. Savvas Poursaitidies found room on edge of the Chelsea and his shot deflected of John Terry, forced Cech to make a difficult save. From the resulting corner, Boban Grncarov just missed a header that flashes across goal.
Malouda had Chelsea’s only chance of the second half, shooting straight at Chiotis from a Ivanovic cross but there was little else to shout about in the second half for the visitors apart from a European return for Joe Cole
Constantinos Charalambides' saw a diving header go the wrong side of the but there was to be no fairytale debut for the Apeol fans and Chelsea maintained their 100% record in Group D.

All in all the Blues made pretty hard work of this game and will have to improve drastically if we are to beat the Scousers on Sunday.