Cut-price Chelsea hit the right notes - Malouda and Drogba in harmony
Chelsea 2 Schalke 0
A chorus of 'Avram Grant' has not yet been heard at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea's supporters still had plenty to sing about last night — a first win at home in the Champions League this season, and for half the price. Results like this as well as a reduction in the cost of tickets will ease the sense of loss that has been felt since the sudden departure of Jose Mourinho after that fateful night here against Rosenborg.
That night was memorable not only for the empty seats but the end of Mourinho's tenure, even if nobody quite realised it was the end until the following night.
The healing process continued last night, Grant guiding Chelsea to a fourth consecutive victory with goals at the start of each half. If the football was not as entertaining and expansive as Grant promises to deliver now that he has Henk Ten Cate at his side, it was a far more accomplished display than Chelsea produced against a Rosenborg side significantly inferior to this Schalke team.
Good fortune might have enabled Florent Malouda to seize the lead for Chelsea in the fourth minute but good football brought a second for Didier Drogba after the break.
While Drogba has expressed a desire to follow Mourinho out of Chelsea at the end of the season, he appears determined to make the most of what appears to remain of his Stamford Bridge career. His goal against Middlesbrough last weekend was wonderfully clinical in its execution and this one provided a demonstration of his movement as well as menace.
He started the move when he passed to the feet of Frank Lampard and finished it when he then met a super cross from Paulo Ferreira with a quite brilliant header.
The Germans had every right to feel aggrieved when a television replay suggested they had scored a perfectly good equaliser in the first half, and they very nearly struck again when Soren Larsen sent a header against a post.
But they were beaten by the better team, as a watching Franz Beckenbauer no doubt agreed when he was not walking among Chelsea fans signing autographs.
