MSK Zilina 1 Chelsea 4

CHELSEA coach Carlo Ancelotti was satisfied with his team’s 4-1 victory over Group F minnows MSK Zilina as the English champions began their Champions League campaign in comfort.

Michael Essien put the Blues in front in the 13th minute and Nicolas Anelka struck twice in five minutes (24, 28) to put the Blues in control at half-time.

Daniel Sturridge added a fourth three minutes after the re-start before Tomas Oravec scored a consolation goal in the 55th minute.

But Ancelotti was more than happy with his team’s efforts even though Oravec’s goal was the result of Petr Cech failing to catch a cross.

Ancelotti said: ‘‘We started very well in the first half, we played fantastic football, the second half was different.

‘‘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.

‘‘The key was Anelka, he played a fantastic game. He created space, he had opportunities, he was the key for this game.

‘‘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.

‘‘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.

‘‘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.”

Chelsea have now scored 21 goals so far this season and conceded just two in all competitions.