Chelsea 4-0 Girondins de Bordeaux
The scoreline didn't flatter the home side as the Londoners completely controlled the game without even reaching top gear. Bordeaux tried to play their way back into the second half but were completely outclassed. Goals from Lampard, Cole, Malouda, and Anelka sealed the visitors fate.
Team News
Bordeaux faced a tough task in their attempt to steal points off of Chelsea in their opening fixture in the group stages of the Champions League.
The Stamford Bridge side are undefeated in 70 games played in front of their home crowds and have lost only thrice in west London while donning the European badge on their sleeves.
Both sides finished second in their respective leagues and therefore qualified for the competition outright.
Didier Drogba was suspended for the tie even though he is nearing full match fitness.
For the first time in Luiz Felipe Scolari's reign as Chelsea head coach he had to operate without a number two. Steve Clarke is seen as one of the few souvenirs from the pre-Abramovic era, and has linked up with former team-mate Gianfranco Zola, to assist the Italian at West Ham United in his rookie season as a manager.
Fernando Cavenaghi doesn't start for Bordeaux despite being the away sides top scorer this season. He had found the net on three occasions thus far in Ligue Un.
The Champions League is new territory for Scolari. This was the first occasion that the Brazilian manager has coached in continental club competition.
Referee: Peter Vink
First Half
The game started slowly as both teams tried to find their feet. Florent Malouda saw a lot of the ball in the opening five minutes but squandered possession with misplaced passing.
Chelsea though, as a unit, moved the ball well and Bordeaux seemed content to sit back and watch the home side play; only moving to stifle the Blues’ attack when they flirted dangerously in their own half. Chamakh also had an early opportunity to test Petr Cech but his shots never tested the head-guarded goalkeeper.
Frank Lampard broke the deadlock on the 15-minute mark by rounding off a good move from Bosingwa (who had made numerous forward runs and had previously nutmegged Placente) and struck the cross with his first touch. The England midfielder did not even have to jump for the ball and his header left Ulrich Ramé with little chance of stopping.
Ten minutes later Ramé made two instinctive saves in swift succession when Nicolas Anelka zipped in a low drive, and only moments later did the French stopper have to again react quickly to deny Joe Cole.
Joe Cole doubled Chelsea’s lead by flicking on a Lampard corner to ensure the home side went into the break with a comfortable lead over their visitors. Bordeaux head coach Laurent Blanc will be fuming though as Cole had been crowded by two Girondins and should never have been allowed even the faintest of touches.
Second Half
Blanc's half-time team talk must have been inspiring because Girondins adopted more of a positive outlook in the opening quarter of an hour in the second half: finding the Chelsea half with more regularity, and chasing and retrieving the ball whenever they lost possession.
For all the determination shown by the away team though Florent Malouda matched it. The French winger is often maligned for his anonymous performances in a Chelsea shirt but his delivery in the second half was sublime.
He sent in a pacey ball that was unfortunately never met by international team-mate Anelka, and his energy was evident while others, such as Deco, faded out. The 31-year old playmaking midfielder was replaced by German captain Michael Ballack on the hour mark.
The high line that Chelsea's defence played with in the first half fell deeper and deeper as the minutes ticked on in the second. Scolari's men continued to control affairs, but Portugal's former national coach would be agitated that his team did not push on for long periods of the game, and instead invited Bordeaux to pass, move, and play.
Florent Malouda though ensured that both halves of the game were to witness goals as he rounded off a spectacular team-move by finishing superbly with his left foot just past the 82nd minute. John Obi Mikel began the move and Frank Lampard - who had a hand in the first three goals - audaciously backheeled the ball into Malouda's path.
Three minutes from time Ricardo Carvalho could, and should, have scored when a Frank Lampard corner kick found the 30-year old's head. Laurent Blanc, a defender by trade, will force his hand when his side return to training as Carvalho was left unmarked - and it was not the first time the Girondins had neglected their defensive duties.
Just before the ninety minute mark Nicolas Anelka struck the foot of the past and looked doomed to leave the pitch with no goals to his name but seconds before the referee blew for the game's end the Frenchman followed in a powerful Bellitti long-range effort to give the home support the fourth that they had been singing for.
Line Ups
Chelsea: Cech - A Cole; Terry; Carvalho; Bosingwa - Mikel - Malouda; Lampard; Deco; J Cole - Anelka.
Bordeaux: Ramé - Jurietti; Planus; Diawara; Placente - Gouffran; Fernando; Diarra; Wendel; Gourcuff - Chamakh.
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