Chelsea win away with sole Anelka goal

Chelsea win away with sole Anelka goal

Chelsea earned their second successive 1-0 win in the Champions League after Nicolas Anelka's strike handed the Blues victory at Apoel Nicosia.

Carlo Ancelotti's side - who beat FC Porto in their opening game at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago - never really got out of second gear in Cyprus, but still claimed victory thanks to Anelka's classy strike after 18 minutes.

After the disappointing defeat at Wigan on Saturday, the Blues made a bright start and got amongst their Cypriot opponents from the first whistle. Michael Essien was the first to chance his arm but his 20-yard strike flashed wide of goal.

Frank Lampard then should have done better from distance after a mistake by Chrysostomos Michail played him in, while Salomon Kalou was equally as wasteful when a chance presented itself.

But the Blues went ahead in the 18th minute when Juliano Belletti made a fine run down the right flank before pulling the ball back superbly for Anelka to send a curling drive into the roof of the net from 16 yards.

Despite dominating, Chelsea were rather pedestrian in taking a lead into the half-time interval. The second half began in a similar fashion, with Florent Malouda the first to try his luck, but his free-kick flashed comfortably wide of the target.

And their lacklustre approach only served in helping the hosts get a foothold in the game, with Savvas Poursaiditis' effort forcing Petr Cech into his first save of the match just after the hour mark.

Apoel continued to apply the pressure with Essien workig overtime tracking back to cover the Cypriots' bursts forward.

A rare Chelsea attack saw Malouda fire goalwards after another good burst forward from Belletti, but his effort was comfortably held by Dionissis Chiotis in the Nicosia goal.

But that was as near as either side came in the latter stages to scoring and although the performance will have disappointed Ancelotti, the result definitely will not.

Chelsea are sitting pretty on a maximum of six points, while Porto's 2-0 win over Atletico in the other game in Group D sees the Portuguese club second on three points.