[1]We continued unbeaten in the Champions League with a 5-0 victory over Genk, Fernando Torres scoring twice on his return to the side.
Goals from Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and a late strike from Salomon Kalou sealed a comfortable win for us as we stay top of Group E.
AVB made six changes to the team who played against Everton: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Juan Mata and Daniel Strurridge were all rested, while David Luiz, Frank Lampard, Torres and Oriol Romeu all started.
After seven minutes, Meireles chipped a great ball into Torres, who controlled well but hit the post.
Moments later, Meireles completely unchallenged hit a shot from 25-yards into the bottom left hand corner – leaving Genk keeper Laszlo Koteles with no chance.
A few minutes later, Torres ended his Champions League goal drought after he was put through by Frank Lampard. Fernando finished calmly, slotting the ball to the keeper’s bottom left.
Genk’s Kevin De Bruyne who has been linked in the past with us, looked lively down the left flank for the Belgium team causing a few problems with his creativity and flair. However, his team-mates failed to capitalise on the chances he created.
The game was effectively over within 30 minutes as Torres’ brilliant movement saw him clinically head a Meireles cross wide from the right past Koteles for his second goal.
[2]Genk’s misfortune was then accentuated as Daniel Pudil tripped Anelka outside the box earning himself a yellow card and a one-match suspension. We took advantage of the free-kick as Malouda crossed the ball into the box and Ivanovic leapt above his marker to head past the keeper.
We continued where we had left off after half-time, dictating the play as Genk looked increasingly uncomfortable and definitely second best.
Kalou was eager to make an impression on the game, having conceded a costly stoppage-time penalty in the away draw with Valencia, and looked energetic after replacing Frank Lampard with 20 minutes remaining.
He took the opportunity when a Jose Bosingwa cross was met by Torres. He should have had his hat-trick if only Koteles hadn’t made the save but it was only so far enough as to allow Solomon to tap home and complete the rout.
We sit at the top of the group with Bayern Leverkusen a point behind and can secure qualification by defeating Genk in the return fixture in two weeks time.
[3]Gill Reeves – CSG disabled rep.
Champions League: Group ‘E’
| Position | Team | P | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Valencia | 3 | -1 | 2 |
| 4 | Genk | 3 | -7 | 1 |
Stats from the BBC website: [4]
Chelsea
• 01 Cech
• 02 Ivanovic
• 03 Cole (Ferreira 46)
• 04 David Luiz – yellow card
• 17 Bosingwa (Alex 78)
• 06 Romeu
• 08 Lampard (Kalou 68)
• 15 Malouda
• 16 Meireles
• 09 Torres
• 39 Anelka
Substitutes
• 22 Turnbull,
• 19 Ferreira,
• 33 Alex,
• 12 Mikel,
• 10 Mata,
• 21 Kalou,
• 23 Sturridge
Genk
• 26 Koteles
• 02 Masuero (Camus 46)
• 11 Vanden Borre
• 16 Ngcongca
• 07 Hyland – yellow card
• 08 Tozser
• 19 Buffel
• 33 Pudil – yellow card
• 09 Vossen (Nwanganga 81)
• 14 De Bruyne
• 18 Barda (Dugary 70)
Substitutes
• 01 Sandomierski,
• 24 Durwael,
• 15 Camus,
• 21 Dugary,
• 31 Ogunjimi,
• 35 Limbombe,
• 27 Nwanganga
Ref: Alexei Nikolaev
Att: 38,518