Defeats, sackings, internal turmoil, and rumours about Carlo’s future and injuries wasn’t the best preparation for the Champions League tie against MSK Zilina.

But, here at Chelsea we have grown accustomed to all these things and the player‘s on the pitch showed that they have as well, as we overcame a  1-0 deficit to record a first win in 3 in all competitions and keep our 100% record intact in Europe this year.

Carlo Ancelotti had earlier indicated that he will give youngsters the chance against Zilina, as he looked to take advantage of the fact that we had already assured qualification to the next stage.

Josh McEachran, Kakuta, Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt all started as some of the senior player’s were rested; keeping in mind our hugely depleted squad this was a sensible decision. Ross Turnbull and Sturridge were the other two who came in, making it six changes in all from the side that started on the weekend.

Chelsea’s youngsters started the game in a composed manner and were not overawed by the occasion as we looked to get an early breakthrough, until Zilina hit us on the break through Bello, after his one-two with Jez put him through and his first-time strike went past Turnbull in goal, stunning the Stamford Bridge crowd.

This was only the second goal that the Slovakian side had scored in the competition; their first goal also came against Chelsea in Zilina.

After conceding, Chelsea kept on pressing for an equaliser, with Sturridge forcing a save from Dubravka, before Malouda went close with a header, but Zilina held on and we went into the break 1-0 down.

Salomon Kalou came on for Kakuta at half-time to provide some experience up front. He immediately made a difference as he cut in from the left and his ball found Sturridge on the far post to score. This was a rich reward for the young striker who was a having a lively game and kept up his impressive starts to goals ratio, his sixth in nine starts.

As the match progressed, Zilina kept sitting back and invited even more pressure. Chelsea went in searching for another goal, with Drogba and Ramires going close. Patrick Van Aanholt was also unlucky not to get a goal to his name when his sweetly struck shot hit the woodwork with the keeper beaten.

There was attack after attack on the Zilina goal but without that decisive second goal and it looked like we were going to be denied a win again, despite our domination on the game. However, this was not to be the case, as a well worked move on the left, saw Anelka deliver a delightful chip in the box to Drogba, whose header found the on-coming Malouda on the far post to slide it in.

This was an important win for the ‘Blues’, not because the eventual outcome would have had any bearing on our progress in Europe, but because it stops the bad run and lifts the gloomy air that had surrounded the club over the past couple of weeks.

We also had the luxury of watching an impressive display from the Chelsea youngsters on the night, with Van Aanholt and Sturridge shining through. A special mention is also reserved for the 17year old Josh McEachran who anchored the midfield with aplomb, before being replaced to a standing ovation, by Jacob Mellis, who was making his first Chelsea appearance.

Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for the youngsters and after the game, he said; “It’s very positive, it was good experience for them”. “They played well and played for the team.

“McEachran played a very good second half and showed good personality, with good positioning and good composure.

“It was important for them to play in this kind of game to improve their experience.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): Turnbull; Ferreira, Bruma, Ivanovic, van Aanholt; Ramires, McEachran (Mellis 90+1), Malouda; Kakuta (Kalou h-t), Drogba, Sturridge (Anelka 74).

Scorers Sturridge 50, Malouda 85.

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Well that was a close call, or was it? The Stats would suggest otherwise with 31 shots on goal, bringing 9 on target, 12 corners, and 60% possession.

Chelsea were undone by a good goal, however showed resilience enough to recover the match, especially considering the average age of the team. Who do you think was the best player?

You voted the man of the match for Zilina as Patrick Van Aanholt. Thanks for voting.

VOTING NOW CLOSED

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Just one point stands between Chelsea and progression to the UEFA Champion’s League as group winners.

A fairly simple proposition on paper, but things have been far from simple lately at Stamford Bridge.

Three defeats in the last four games and a worrying drought in front of goal, with only five goals scored in the previous six domestic outings, has left Carlo Ancelotti and his squad reeling as the media vultures gather around the club.

Let’s not forget Twittergate either, with an unfortunate rumour spreading about the Italian’s short-term future in the Blues’ hot-seat.

Assurances may have been made that Carletto intends to stay at the club, but everything has certainly gone awry of late, and a tonic is needed.

So what better time than to face a team who are on course to clock up the worst statistical European Cup group stage on record, and have the opportunity to rotate a tired and stretched squad?

Ancelotti will use the clash against MSK Zilina to give a full debut to 17 year-old midfielder Josh McEachran, thus far limited to a little more than half a dozen substitute appearances.

His cameo outings have left fans salivating at the mouth, keen to see more of a home-grown youngster, and it’s perhaps fitting that his first start will come against the same opposition who featured in his first professional outing earlier in the season.

Elsewhere Jeffrey Bruma will deputise for Alex, who is being nursed through knee trouble until the squad is back up to sufficient strength for him to undergo surgery. It will be the Dutch Under-21 international’s first involvement in continental competition.

Patrick van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta are also likely to be involved whilst Ross Turnbull will afford Petr Cech a rest in goal. Michael Essien, meanwhile, will miss out with a toe injury after sitting out the previous two league outings suspended.

The Ghanaian joins Yury Zhirkov, Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Yossi Benayoun on the sidelines, and with numbers stretched once again, the opportunity for a group of Steve Holland’s reserves to take their places amongst the substitutes will become apparent.

Zilina have found their debut campaign in the competition proper a nightmarish experience. Bottom of the group with four straight defeats, they have shipped seventeen goals, including seven last time out at home to Marseille.

Their solitary goal came against Chelsea as a consolation effort in a 4-1 defeat, where a brace from Nicolas Anelka and one from Essien before half time and a fourth from Daniel Sturridge put the Slovakians to the sword.

Manager Pavel Hapal is likely to use a 4-1-4-1 formation with Tomáš Oravec ploughing the lone furrow in attack, with the emphasis of their journey to England sure to be to attain respectability and to make life tough for their illustrious hosts.

Chelsea enter the match as overwhelming favourites, but exercise a note of caution ahead of this tie. A year ago, a seemingly routine match at home to APOEL Nicosia finished 2-2 and saw Essien sidelined for the rest of the season.

A few years previous, a lowly-attended group game against Rosenborg finished 1-1 and saw the departure of Jose Mourinho hours later. With a number of blue seats expected to be empty this evening, let’s hope that lightning doesn’t strike again.

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Another glut of goals from Carlo’s champions saw the blue machine role into Zilina, leave with all three points, without even breaking a sweat.

Showing the confidence in his side, the Italian again named his team early, something Capello could do well to learn from, and left both fans, pundits and Zilina coaches alike with no question as to who we’d play.

As it is with the intelligence of our squad and Carlo’s tactical nous, knowing which players will start is only half of the story, with many formations at his disposal, and players equally adept at filling more than one spot in the team.

With no Lampard, Drogba or Cole, and the latter’s replacement looking ring rusty in the opening exchanges where to their credit, Zilina pressed forwards as often as possible, there were some shaky moments.

It was in the 13th minute that Chelsea took the lead. Nicolas Anelka made a run towards the box and pulled the ball back to Michael Essien, making a Lampard-esqe run into the box to slot the ball home.

The advantage was soon doubled, with Anelka the scorer this time around after a lovely ball over the top from Malouda found Anelka in space for him to slot home, and then poke fun at the FFF with his handcuffs gesture.

A few minutes later and it was 3-0. A Malouda corner found Terry, whose header bounced off the bar and into Anelka’s path for the Frenchman to tap home from a yard to make it a brace for the night.

Half time came and went with no changes, but immediately afterwards the impressive Benayoun played the ball of the match through the Zilina defence to the onrushing Sturridge, who calmly hit the ball past the onrushing keeper to make it 4-0 and effectively end the contest.

To their credit, Zilina never gave up and continued to throw men forwards whenever the chance presented itself, and it was such pressure that led to a consolation goal for the home team. Cech flapped at a cross and the ball hit Ivanovic unaware, the ball was going towards the net for an OG but Oravec slid in at the last moment to ensure it went in, and he took the credit. 4-1.

Ancelotti made some changes and brought Kakuta on for Sturridge, and later brought on 17 year old Josh McEachran, the youngster set a new Champions League ‘first’, as he was born 1st March 93, he is the first player born after the CL started in Nov 92, to then play in the competition.

There were to be no more goals, but Zilina certainly went close. Chelsea closed up shop without ever really being stretched. Credit to Zilina for never giving up, and credit to Ancelotti for coming good on his promise to use the younger players.

After the match, the Italian said; “Every game in the Champions League is hard to play, we started very well in the first half, we played fantastic football, the second half was different. Zilina put more pressure on our defence but physically the back four had a good game.”

“The goal we conceded, we could have done better. Obviously Petr could do better but we conceded a lot of crosses in this game and we have to put more pressure on the wide side. For the 90 minutes we had a fantastic game. I was a player and I know sometimes you have difficulty on the pitch; especially when you have an opponent who wants to come back into the game.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry (c), Zhirkov; Essien, Mikel, Benayoun (McEachran 78); Sturridge (Kakuta 61), Anelka, Malouda (van Aanholt 87).

Goals Essien 13, Anelka 24, 28, Sturridge 48