AC Milan 0 Chelsea 5

Chelsea's coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, believes that Nicolas Anelka finally showed he can be his side's lethal weapon following a four-goal rampage against AC Milan.
The clinical Frenchman scored two in each half as the Blues hammered the Italians 5-0in Moscow in the pre-season Railways Cup after Frank Lampard's early opener.
A strong Chelsea side, including Michael Ballack for the first time this summer, proved too good for a weakened Milan shorn of the likes of Kaka and Alexandre Pato.
But Scolari admitted it was the new-found ruthlessness and focus shown by Anelka that pleased him most just two weeks before the start of the Barclays Premier League season.
"This game was important for Anelka but more important for us - the fans, the coach and the other players who will have more confidence in him," claimed the Brazilian on www.chelseafc.com. "Today was good not because he scored four goals but because he played more free and with more quality than in other games.
"He was playing against a big club and to get four goals against Milan, for his confidence it is fantastic and Anelka today and in the last game played more inside the penalty area than before.That is where I asked him to play and where I need him, not right and left as before, because we have one striker and that is Anelka."
With Didier Drogba ever closer to returning to training after a knee injury, Scolari admits he has some tough decisions to make before meaningful action kicks off against Portsmouth on August 17.
"Maybe I will receive good news about Drogba and we have 12 days to train and maybe we will have something I don't expect," he said.
"I have quality, competitive players and they fight for places on the pitch. I have 22 here, five at home. I have a good team."

Lokomotiv Moscow 1 Chelsea 1 (5-4 penalties)

Chelsea dominated a game they deserved to win but they lost their fifth penalty shoot-out in succession.

In the first half Chelsea give a display that was a pleasure to watch.

Forty-five minutes of intricate passing, superb ball control, exquisite movement and a superb finish to give Chelsea a deserved half time lead.

On a pitch that was far better than the one played on in Malaysia, Luiz Felipe Scolari would have been a happy man at half time as he contemplated making some changes to give a few others some match practise.

With the game played at a faster pace than the bland affair between AC Milan and Sevilla that was witnessed earlier, it took Chelsea twenty-seven minutes to take advantage.

The goal came after Ferreira had freed Deco down the right and his cross into the box was chested, expertly, into the path of Michael Essien by Nicolas Anelka. Essien took aim and thundered an eighteen yard left foot shot past the keeper, Pelizzoli.

Other chances saw Essien fire over in the ninth minute after good work involving Deco and Anelka whilst Lampard fired narrowly over from the corner of the box whilst Deco volleyed wide in a repeat of that corner attempted in the Far East.

Locomotiv's best effort came when an audacious shot, from forty yards, by Glushakov, sailed just over Petr Cech`s bar.

If the second half performance were to match the first half performance then we`re in for an interesting season. Unfortunately, Locomotiv hadn`t read the script and in the end Chelsea were left to rue some great missed opportunities.

Locomotiv started the second half at a greater tempo and pushed higher up the pitch forcing a succession of corners. It took The Blues a while to address the issue but once they did they created some great chances. Ricardo Carvalho, advancing out of defence, delivered a great cross but Anelka couldn`t quite direct his header towards goal. Wright-Phillips then saw a shot deflected wide before wasting a golden chance to finish the game off by shooting wide when bearing down on goal from the right.

With six minutes left, Essien was harshly penalised twenty-four yards out and Kambalov lashed the free kick low and hard and in off the post. Both sides went for the winner but it was to be penalties in Moscow again.

When Cech saved the first it looked as if we were in with a chance but when the Russian side then showed clinical efficiency netting their next four, you just knew the efforts of Lampard, Deco, Wright-Phillips and Essien would be in vain.

This time those unfortunate enough to miss were Bridge and Shevchenko giving Locomotiv a final against Sevilla and Chelsea a meaningless fixture against AC Milan for third or fourth place.

Ben Haim Goes To City

Israel international defender Tal Ben Haim has joined Manchester City.
The 26-year-old will arrive at City on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He is Mark Hughes' second signing since he took over as manager.
It is the Israel international central defender's second high-profile switch in just over a year after he moved to Stamford Bridge on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers in June 2007.
His move is still subject to a work permit although that should be academic given his regular appearances for Israel, which included two matches against England during the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Ben Haim will now link up with Brazilian striker Jo, who joined City earlier this month for an estimated 19 million euros.
Although a Bolton regular, he only started 13 times at Chelsea, where he was unable to displace John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of the Blues' defence.
He faces another tough fight for first-team football, with City captain Richard Dunne and rising England star Micah Richards the current central defensive partnership at the club.
However, Ben Haim can also play at full-back.

Hughes, speaking on Tuesday, admitted City needed cover at the back. "With so many games to play this season it is important to get the balance right.
"Last season the team was weakened when Micah Richards and Richard Dunne were not in it. We are trying to address that."

Kenyon Tells Also Rans To Keep Up

Peter Kenyon risked a major backlash after he told clubs trying to break into the 'big four' next season to "get their houses in order".
Despite the big difference in turnover between the Premier League's elite and the rest, Kenyon says that it is a problem for those lower clubs to solve. "Other teams in England should be knocking on our door – teams like Tottenham, Newcastle, Villa, Everton," he said.
"It's more about them getting their houses in order rather than us coming down to their level." Since 2003, the only other top four club, apart from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool has been Everton – and then only once. "If you look across Europe, other major leagues are dominated by one, two or three teams,'' Kenyon added. ''So it's too easy to say this is a Premier League issue. What's important is the way we distribute our TV revenues, which is very equitable."
Despite the money owner Roman Abramovich has invested, Chelsea can point to their success in boosting their turnover as evidence that a club can grow significantly in a commercial sense. According to Deloitte, they are now the world's fourth richest club, behind Real Madrid, United and Barcelona. Their next challenge is to win with style.
"The first objective was to improve the infrastructure and win trophies," said Kenyon before today's game against a Malaysia Select XI. "But football's about entertainment and we want to be a team that wins things in style."

Malouda Has A Future At Chelsea

Florent Malouda's agent claims Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has told him the Frenchman is in his future plans at the club, says eatsleepsport.com.

He had been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after a difficult first season in which he struggled for first-team action under Jose Mourinho and then Avram Grant, after joining for a £13.5million fee from French champions Lyon last summer. Italian Serie A side Roma have been heavily linked to Malouda, but the player's agent, Pierre Frelot, says he wants to stay and fight for his place at Chelsea and has been told by Scolari he will get a chance to prove himself.

"After a meeting that was held with Peter Kenyon and Luiz Felipe Scolari, I would very much like to clarify that the latter assured us that he has always appreciated Florent," Frelot told l'Equipe."He counts on him. Florent is convinced that after a first season where his adaptation was interrupted by injury and changes with the coach, he will be able to fully express his talent."