Chelsea 2 - 0 Schalke

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Wednesday Oct 24 2007 07:45

Chelsea recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to German outfit Schalke to keep their Champions League campaign well on track.

Avram Grant opted to field Didier Drogba as a lone out-and-out striker and Wayne Bridge was handed a start at left-back, while Schalke's plans were hit by an injury to Kevin Kuranyi in the warm-up.

Four minutes in the Blues were handed the opening goal. Florent Malouda tricked his way past his marker on the left side of the area and his weak shot slipped through the gloves of Manuel Neuer and into the net.Gerald Asamoah headed wide as Schalke finally mounted an attack of their own, before Drogba did likewise from a Joe Cole delivery.

Just before the half-hour mark Carlos Grossmuller thought he has equalised as he latched on to a flick from Soren Larsen to finish, but the offside flag was up.

Soon after Neuer got down smartly to gather Michael Essien's flick header from Malouda's left-wing cross and the keeper did even better right on the stroke of half-time to divert Cole's drive away from danger.

Two minutes into the second half the Blues doubled their lead as a quick counter ended with Paulo Ferreira whipping in a cross from the right which was headed home at the near post by the diving Drogba.

After struggling to carve out any meaningful chances, Schalke were almost back in the game on the hour as Rafinha crossed from the right and Soren Larsen met it with a textbook header, which thumped against the far post and flew straight back into the arms of the relieved Petr Cech.

The remaining minutes saw Chelsea content to hold on to the ball and play on the counter, with their visitors unable to summon up much of a threat in attack.

However, five minutes from time Alex got away with a blatant pull-back on Larsen after his passback fell short, escaping what would have been an automatic red card.

In the final minute Drogba curled a shot narrowly wide of the far post with Neuer stranded, but Chelsea had done more than enough to ensure a solid win.

Live Commentary

  • 90
    Full-Time: CHELSEA 2-0 SCHALKE.
  • 90
    Three minutes of added time being played.
  • 90
    Drogba breaks clear and curls a shot agonisingly wide of the far post past the stranded Neuer.
  • 89
    Andriy Shevchenko takes over from Cole for the last couple of minutes.
  • 88
    Drogba goes down looking for a penalty, but nothing is given again.
  • 87
    Rakitic plays in a free-kick from the left, but it's far too close to the untroubled Cech.
  • 85
    Alex seems to be in trouble after pulling back Larsen as he breaks through, but the referee doesn't even give a free-kick.
  • 84
    Salomon Kalou gets a run as goalscorer Malouda makes way.
  • 82
    Zlatan Bajramovic comes on for Rodriguez as Schalke make their final change.
  • 79
    Westermann covers the run of Drogba superbly, as Mikel lifts the ball over the top of the defence.
  • 77
    Grossmuller trots off and Mimoun Azaouagh takes his place.
  • 76
    Fifteen minutes to go and the fight is slowly draining out of the Schalke players.
  • 74
    Lampard drives in a shot from 30 yards, it's straight down the throat of Neuer.
  • 73
    Rafinha and Rakitic combine well over on the right and the latter slams a 25-yard shot just over the crossbar.
  • 72
    Mikel plays a neat pass to Drogba, his cross is cleared up into the air and Neuer makes a good catch under pressure near his own line.
  • 70
    Chelsea bring on John Obi Mikel for Essien.
  • 68
    The Blues again string the passes together as they knock the ball around to eat up some time.
  • 66
    There hasn't been a marked change from the tactics of Jose Mourinho from Chelsea, who still look a bit ponderous in their build-up play.
  • 63
    The Germans need to find some inspiration from somewhere, but if Larsen's header had gone in it could have been game on.
  • 61
    Asamoah is replaced by Ivan Rakitic for Schalke.
  • 60
    Rafinha gets a superb cross in from the right and Larsen meets it with a textbook header which thumps against the far post and goes straight into the arms of the relieved Cech.
  • 59
    Grossmuller's ball across the area is missed by both Larsen and Peter Lovenkrands and from the resulting corner Larsen shoots well wide.
  • 57
    Dario Rodriguez sarcastically gives the referee the thumbs up after a free-kick is awarded and gets a booking for his troubles.
  • 56
    Neuer fields a low shot from Essien from 25 yards, he has done well since his early, costly error.
  • 54
    Drogba heads down to Essien and his brave header allows Cole to get in a shot from 20 yards, but it drifts wide.
  • 52
    Schalke have few options on the bench after the late withdrawal of Kevin Kuranyi and Mirko Slomka cuts a forlorn figure on the bench.
  • 50
    The Stamford Bridge faithful are making plenty of noise now.
  • 48
    That's a perfect start to both halves by the Blues and that strike should settle the game.
  • 47
    CHELSEA 2-0 SCHALKE, a quick attack ends with Paulo Ferreira whipping in a cross from the right which is headed home at the near post by the diving DROGBA.
  • 46
    Chelsea start the second period.
  • 45
    Half-Time: CHELSEA 1-0 SCHALKE.
  • 45
    Cole forces a low save from Neuer after forcing his way through on the right, the keeper did really well there to get the ball away from the danger zone.
  • 44
    Ernst drives a shot over from 25 yards out on the left flank.
  • 43
    Marcelo Jose Bordon makes a good header as Drogba threatens, then coolly nods the ball back to his keeper.
  • 42
    Not long until half-time and it's not been the best of games so far.
  • 40
    Grossmuller finds space in the area, but his header is straight at Cech from ten yards out.
  • 39
    Drogba plays in Cole, but the Stamford Bridge crowd's excitment is brought to a halt by an offside flag.
  • 37
    Schalke's attack has so far failed to get going and the absence of John Terry doesn't look too crucial at the moment.
  • 34
    The left flank with Malouda looks like the best outlet for Chelsea, but they have not been at their fluent best as yet.
  • 33
    Malouda's accurate cross picks out Essien, but his flick header is claimed well by Neuer plunging away to his left.
  • 31
    Rafinha and Grossmuller exchange passes before the latter drifts a left-foot shot into the arms of the waiting Petr Cech.
  • 30
    Half an hour played and Chelsea have created little after being gifted an early lead.
  • 28
    Grossmuller thinks he has equalised as he latches on to a flick from Larsen to finish, but the offside flag is up.
  • 26
    Malouda's near-post corner from the right finds Essien, but he heads wide as a challenge comes in from Fabian Ernst.
  • 24
    Bridge powers down the left and is brought down by a cynical hack from Jones.
  • 24
    Chelsea knock the ball around with some ease, well over 20 passes as Schalke chase shadows.
  • 22
    Michael Essien tries to force his way through, but is crowded out as the Blues try to turn the screw.
  • 20
    A patient Chelsea attack ends with Joe Cole getting his cross in from the right, Drogba cannot direct his header on target from eight yards.
  • 19
    Heiko Westermann is down injured after a corner for the visitors.
  • 17
    It's all a bit cagey at the moment, with Chelsea content to probe for an opening after getting the early goal.
  • 15
    Bridge races away down the left, but Asamoah covers superbly to avert the danger for Schalke.
  • 13
    Drogba is again at the heart of things, as his cross is turned well wide by the arriving Lampard.
  • 12
    Schalke enjoy their first big slice of possession, but Gerald Asamoah heads wide when Jermaine Jones lofts a cross in from the left.
  • 9
    Drogba is given far too much space, but his attempted to pass to Frank Lampard is blocked and Neuer dives on the loose ball.
  • 8
    Rafinha and Carlos Grossmuller combine well for Schalke down the right flank, but the move peters out near the Chelsea area.
  • 6
    Schalke are under the cosh now, as Malouda wins a free-kick 40 yards from goal.
  • 5
    What an error from the German goalkeeper, that gives Chelsea the perfect start.
  • 4
    CHELSEA 1-0 SCHALKE, Florent MALOUDA tricks his way past his marker on the left side of the area and his weak shot dribbles through the gloves of Manuel Neuer and into the net.
  • 3
    Drogba threatens before the offside flag goes up to end the Blues attack.
  • 2
    Wayne Bridge raids forward from left-back and wins a corner.
  • 1
    Schalke get the game underway.
  • 0
    Blues boss Avram Grant goes with just Didier Drogba as an out-and-out striker, while Soren Larsen is the dangerman for the German side.
  • 0
    Chelsea take on Schalke in Champions League Group B.

Statistics

Chelsea
Shots on target 6
Shots off target 5
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 19
Offsides 4
Corners 4

Schalke
Shots on target 3
Shots off target 6
Shots off bar/post 1
Fouls 13
Offsides 1
Corners 7

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