Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League knockout round with a 5-0 demolition of Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen. It was about as convincing a win as José Mourinho's side could have hoped for, with their German hosts totally crumbling on home soil.
3 things we learned from Chelsea’s 5-0 thrashing of Schalke
Chelsea are through into the Champions League’s knockout phase.
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It took just two minutes for Chelsea to open the scoring, with John Terry glancing the ball inside Schalke's far post after Ralf Fährmann got down to turn Diego Costa's initial shot behind. Unfortunately, it set the tone for a dismal half for the hosts, whose bad luck continued when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's effort deflected off Gary Cahill and against the crossbar 10 minutes later.
Schalke managed to see off the early Chelsea barrage, but never threatened themselves. They were made to pay just short of the half-hour, when some slick play in the final third culminated in Willian lashing the ball inside Fährmann’s near post, with the goalkeeper not exactly covering himself in glory.
As if that wasn't bad enough for the hosts, they completely threw the game away just a minute before halftime, when Jan Kirchhoff managed to head a Chelsea corner into his own goal -- despite not even having an opponent to mark. It was a calamitous moment that encapsulated an extremely poor performance from Roberto Di Matteo's side, who were booed off the field at the break.
Fortunately, their performance did improve once things resumed in the second period, though they still rarely offered anything to bother Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Indeed, it was the Premier League side that looked more likely to score, and with just under 15 minutes remaining, they iced the cake with two goals in as many minutes.
Both goals came on simple balls over the top. The first left Willian with the simple task of rolling the ball across for Didier Drogba to slot home; the second allowed Ramires to power a Drogba cross into the back of the net just seconds after coming off the bench. The two goals triggered a mass exodus of home supporters at the Veltins-Arena, with the humiliation complete.
Schalke 04: Fährmann; Höwedes, Neustädter, Santana, Uchida; Kirchhoff (Clemens 46’), Höger; Aogo, Boateng (Meyer 64’), Choupo-Moting; Huntelaar.
Goals: None.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Ivanović; Matić, Fàbregas (Schürrle 78’); Hazard, Oscar (Ramires 75’), Willian; Costa (Drogba 66’).
Goals: Terry (2’), Willian (29’), Kirchhoff (o.g. 44’), Drogba (76’), Ramires (78’).
Champions league
3 Things
1. Chelsea's movement in the final third was devastating
It’s easy to stereotype José Mourinho’s teams as one-trick counter-attacking ponies, but once again in this match Chelsea illustrated quite how sophisticated their attacking play can be when carving through deep defenses. Their fluid front four interchanged throughout the match, while the constant, ominous presence of right-back Branislav Ivanović made things even harder for Schalke’s defense to keep a sturdy shape. Chelsea’s second goal was an illustration of quite how good this intricate play can look when executed well, with Schalke having no answer to the Blues’ onslaught.
2. Schalke were really poor
For large parts of the game Chelsea actually didn't look that threatening, with Schalke having plenty of time on the ball to try and find the breakthrough. However, their play in the final third was extremely poor, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar barely having a touch worth remembering. Things certainly improved in the second half, but it was far from an impressive performance from Di Matteo's side.
3. Ralf Fährmann won’t remember this game fondly
Perhaps Schalke’s worst performer on the night was goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, who was partly and massively responsible for Chelsea’s first two goals, respectively. Had Schalke gotten a more solid performer between the sticks, this game could ultimately have been much closer. As it was, Chelsea ran out very comfortable winners.
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