Source: Team_Talk
Nic explains gesture after Blues rout
icolas Anelka put Chelsea on the way to a 4-1 victory over MSK Zilina - then revealed the meaning of his 'handcuff' goal celebration.[LNB] Anelka set up Michael Essien's 13th-minute opener before scoring twice himself after 24 and 28 minutes as Chelsea cruised to victory in Slovakia.[LNB]Daniel Sturridge scored his first Champions League goal three minutes after the interval before Zilina's Tomas Oravec netted a consolation for the home side on Wednesday night.[LNB]Anelka, banned by the French Football Federation for 18 games because of his part in the World Cup mutiny, was hailed as the "key" to Chelsea's victory by coach Carlo Ancelotti.[LNB]The 31-year-old has since insisted he will never play for his country again - but admitted his gesture was aimed at the French authorities and he knows other France players will understand.[LNB]"It was just something for the French Federation about what happened at the World Cup," said Anelka. "What happened in summer is in the past, now I'm 100% focused for Chelsea."[LNB]When asked if he would ever consider playing for France again, he replied: "No, never. It was just a joke about what happened. I'm not angry."[LNB]Anelka's movement in attack in the absence of the suspended Didier Drogba was pivotal, according to a satisfied Ancelotti.[LNB]"The key was Anelka, he played a fantastic game," said the Italian. "He created space, he had opportunities, he was the key for this game.[LNB]"He can play the position in front, sometimes we use him more wide, sometimes he plays in the middle but he shows the same skills if he plays wide."[LNB]Although Oravec's goal was the result of Petr Cech failing to catch a cross, Ancelotti was happy with the defensive performance.[LNB]"Every game in the Champions League is hard to play," added Ancelotti. "We started very well in the first half, we played fantastic football, the second half was different.[LNB]"Zilina put more pressure on our defence. The back four did a good match. "When you are 3-0 up it's normal to have more difficulty.[LNB]"I think that Petr could do better with the goal we conceded but we faced a lot of crosses. We had to put more pressure on the wide side. Defensively the back four had a good game.[LNB]"I hope to watch my team and play a fantastic game for 90 minutes. Obviously I was a player I know sometimes there are difficult times, the opponent can come back in the game.[LNB]"If I have to judge the performance I am very happy because it's not easy to win 4-1 away in the Champions League.[LNB]"I am happy Sturridge scored but he has to improve his positioning, I would like him to play more in-field rather than out wide. He showed fantastic movement to score, I am happy with his performance."[LNB]Goalscorer Sturridge was delighted, saying: "I've been dreaming of that since I was a young boy.[LNB]"I'm delighted to get off the mark in the Champions League and hopefully there's many more to come.[LNB]"There's a lot of world-class players in this team. I'm delighted to be part of things."[LNB]Zilina coach Pavel Hapel was surprised by the scoreline and said the only difference between the two sides was Chelsea's clinical finishing.[LNB]"I am not disappointed with the game," said Hapel. "We played well and attacked Chelsea. We managed to score so it was okay.[LNB]"We kept up with Chelsea as much as we could but I am disappointed with the productivity. The score was a surprise.[LNB]"We didn't show the same productivity in front of goal as Chelsea did."
