Lampard hands Chelsea win

Chelsea's Champions League assault opened with a 1-0 win against Anderlecht.

More workmanlike than inspirational, Chelsea were thankful for contentious free-kick and a hideous goalkeeping error for the winner, as well as a stroke of luck when a deflected Anthony Vanden Borre shot beat Petr Cech but hit the post in the second half.

But, in truth, they dominated the game and were good value for their victory, even if it they are not yet reaching the heights of quality that Jose Mourinho's men represented after a similarly starchy start to their stellar last season.

Chelsea had shown their superior levels through the opening half, but were thankful to a howler from goalkeeper Daniel Zitka in handing them the lead.

Zitka had started impressively, turning away a Michael Essien volley from a tight angle and Damien Duff's drive from the aftermath.

Lampard had a half-chance that he skied - in stark contract to last season's heroics - and, on the break, Serhat should have done better after an incisive pass from Mbo M'penza.

Hannu Tihinen was close to getting on the end of a corner that caused chaos, but John Terry's inadvertent touch with an arm denied the visitor's an unlikely lead.

Finally the breakthrough came. A free-kick on the left side of the area was touched to Lampard who powered in a drive that Zitka should have saved comfortably but lost in flight and, rather embarrassingly, leapt past the ball before it rippled the net.

Anything but fluent, Chelsea kept to the job in hand - with the majestic looking partnership of Essien and Claude Makelele dictating play despite the hardworking but misfiring display of Lampard alongside them.

The England international was, at least, causing problems from set pieces and he nearly grabbed his second goal with a driven free-kick on the hour mark, only for Zitka to throw himself to his right to tip wide, somewhat theatrically.

It was another shot from range that very nearly caught Chelsea out for an equaliser soon after, handing the Premiership side a timely reminder that they could not expect an easy ride.

Vanden Borre's low drive looked comfortable for Cech, but a nasty deflection off Terry took the ball past the goalkeeper and off the face of the post, bouncing to a grateful Chelsea defence.

The scare signalled the arrival of Shaun Wright-Phillips from the substitutes' bench and he immediately had an impact down the right.

Didier Drogba's tenacity nearly handed Lampard a second goal two minutes from time, only for the midfielder to be denied by a fine piece of defending from Yves Vanderhaeghe - getting across at the critical juncture.

Essien could have then capped his fine display with a goal, but fired narrowly wide as the game ticked into injury time. 

So, another good day's work for Chelsea, and you can't help but feel that, when the football starts flowing, this is a side that will be feared by pretty much anybody.

Chelsea v Anderlecht player ratings.

Chelsea	Team Statistics	Anderlecht
1	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	1
7	Shots off Target	4
3	Blocked Shots	1
7	Corners	4
14	Fouls	19
2	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
85.1	Passing Success	72.5
17	Tackles	22
82.4	Tackles Success	100
70.6	Possession	29.4
60	Territorial Advantage	40