20/10/2004  Chelsea 2 CSKA Moscow 0
 
Chelsea are virtually certain of qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League thanks to first half goals from skipper John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Their third successive Champions League victory has left them in pole position to reach the knockout rounds.

The win was also the perfect tonic for a club which had been forced to suffer the embarrassment of striker Adrian Mutu's drug test failure.

The Blues had been left stunned by Mutu's subsequent admission that he tested positive for cocaine and have yet to make any comment on the player's future. The Football Association have yet to charge the player with any offence.

Mutu has since agreed to seek professional help and while the club had spent much of the week on the back foot because of the revelations, they found themselves in a similar situation in the opening five minutes of this clash against a slick Moscow side.

It took just two minutes for the Russians to carve out an opening.

The impressive Vagner Love was fed a delightful through ball by Daniel Carvalho but the striker's effort was saved by Petr Cech.

Chelsea continued to find it difficult to win the ball off the Russians but when they finally managed to construct a move of any note, it proved to be a rather telling one for the visitors.

A corner on the left proved too difficult for the Moscow defence to deal with and Eidur Gudjohnsen's downward header bounced across the edge of the six-yard box for skipper John Terry to gleefully apply the finishing touch with a simple header.

It was Terry's third consecutive Champions League striker for the Blues, having hit the net against Paris St Germain and Porto in previous games.

The early goal was a massive boost for manager Jose Mourinho, who was forced to go into the game with just two recognised strikers in Mateja Kezman and Gudjohnsen, with Didier Drogba (groin) and Mutu sidelined.

The pair had only played together once this season - failing to score in the defeat against Manchester City last Saturday.

It was clearly evident they still lacked any real understanding and it was England midfielder Frank Lampard who almost put the Londoners two up when his long range effort just missed the target.

The Russians, prompted by the tireless efforts of the lanky Elvir Rahimic in midfield, refused to let Chelsea dictate the pace of the game and but found Terry and defensive partner William Gallas in a particularly uncharitable mood.

England defender Terry was determined to build on his rich goalscoring vein in the competition and almost added a second with a curling left foot shot from a Damien Duff cross which flashed a foot higher than the target.

Chelsea's failure to add a second, given their dominance, could have cost them dearly on the half-hour when Sergei Ignashevich forced Cech into another fine diving save with a thunderous 25-yard effort.

The irrepressible Terry was again close to getting on the scoresheet eight minutes before the interval when he just failed to direct a header beyond Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

Minutes later the home side had to thank Cech again for allowing them to preserve their slender lead.

A Moscow corner eluded everyone on its way to the near post and the Chelsea stopper produced a stunning reflex save when the ball cannoned off Gudjohnsen's hip just three yards out.

But Chelsea put the game beyond the reach of the Russians in first half injury-time.

Alexei Smertin started the move which was to bring Gudjohnsen his second goal of the season.

The Russian captain fed Lampard in the centre and the England man made a powerful run down the right flank, only to be upended Evgeny Aldonin.

Moscow paid a hefty price for his carelessness as Duff's beautifully flighted free-kick picked out the unmarked Icelandic striker on the edge of the six-yard box and he made no mistake from such a short distance.

It was his first goal since hitting the winner against Manchester United on the opening day of the season.

The second half offered little of the same energy or excitement with Chelsea content to sit on their lead and let the Russians chase the game.

Kezman, who has yet to open his account for the club since his arrival from PSV Eindhoven in the summer, was hauled off and replaced by Tiago in the 62nd minute with Mourinho opting to push Duff up alongside the hardworking Gudjohnsen until the Irishman was himself substituted in favour of Joe Cole 15 minutes from time.





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