Chelsea put season back on track

Champions League, first knockout round, first leg / Vfb Stuttgart 0 Chelsea 1: A Chelsea side disoriented by the pair of defeats against Arsenal may suddenly have found the route to the Champions League quarter-finals.

With improved displays in this first leg from individuals such as Frank Lampard, John Terry and the restored Glen Johnson, the team endured early trials to reach comparative serenity in an uninhibited contest. So Chelsea still enjoy a 100 per cent success record on foreign fields this season.

With hopes of the league titles receding in their respective countries there should have been a brotherhood of gloom between these teams, yet this match was soon characterised by a devil-may-care attitude.

Felix Magath, bounding away from his reputation as a grim martinet, had the provocative frivolity to predict a 2-0 win for Stuttgart. He was soon wrong and Chelsea's goal, in the 12th minute, was full of the high spirits of their own manager.

Claudio Ranieri's preference for Johnson over the older and more cautious Mario Melchiot at right-back looked like a comprehensively bad decision. He was setting a teenager against Aleksandr Hleb, the Belarussian wide player who is perhaps the most coveted star at the Bundesliga club.

Ranieri must have been full of an obstinate resolve to employ Johnson's creative skills here. Since Hamburg like to pitch their left-back Philipp Lahm into sorties on that wing, there was certainly scope for Johnson to counter on the break and he did so with immense delicacy to help Chelsea take the lead.

He was only midway in the opposition's half when William Gallas gave him possession, but his low swinging cross was vibrant with danger. Fernando Meira, conscious of Hernan Crespo running in behind him, was compelled to stretch and make the contact that glided the ball past his own goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand from seven yards.

Chelsea's advantage was, for half-an-hour, a practical joke on a Stuttgart side that deserved to be honoured for zest and skill. The visitors had not wholly shaken off the mediocrity that has seen them win only half their Premiership games since the end of the Champions League group phase. Here, for example, there were occasions when Claude Makelele was aimless with passes or careless when being caught in possession. And yet Chelsea emerged unscathed from a testing spell.

The margin of safety could be measured in fractions of an inch. In the sixth minute, Silvio Meissner had battled for Lahm's cross and then shot low when Andreas Hinkel laid the ball back to him. Despite playing with a niggling groin injury, Carlo Cudicini was still able to get down smartly and block.

After 19 minutes, the Italian had to leave goalmouth reactions to others when Kevin Kuranyi met an Imre Szabic corner with a header that Wayne Bridge cleared from close to the line.

In that opening phase, Stuttgart illustrated why they had previously won all their home matches in this tournament.

Magath's team were more pedestrian nearer the interval. Geremi and Crespo linked fluently on the right after 31 minutes, but Eidur Gudjohnsen was hasty when he had time to collect his thoughts and his shot over the bar from the Argentinian's pass was unpardonably wild.

The Iceland forward cannot have felt half as morose as the opposition, a young side who have faltered to such an extent that they have recorded just a single victory since the end of Germany's winter break.

Hleb's individual panache kept their morale afloat. The dealings of the winger and Johnson were at the heart of this struggle. The Chelsea full-back was still boisterous enough to slip into an attack that was halted when Crespo found the net from a marginally offside position.

But moments later Johnson was bewildered as Hleb sailed past him and into the penalty area. Lahm broke into a similar position with just as much zest in the 68th minute, but in each case the steady remainder of the Chelsea defence coped with the crosses.

Chelsea were more prone to irritation than terror. The referee Kyrros Vassaras was unaware that Cudicini could not boot the ball because of his injury and booked the keeper for time-wasting.

VFB STUTTGART: Hildebrand, Hinkel, Meira, Bordon, Lahm, Meissner (Tiffert 46), Soldo, Hleb, Heldt (Cacau 66), Kuranyi, Szabics. Subs Not Used: Heinen, Zivkovic, Vranjes, Gerber, Centurion. Booked: Bordon.

CHELSEA: Cudicini, Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Geremi, Makelele, Lampard, Gronkjaer (Duff 66), Gudjohnsen (Hasselbaink 73), Crespo (Cole 89). Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Desailly, Melchiot, Parker. Booked: Lampard, Makelele, Cudicini, Johnson. Goals: Meira 12 og.

Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece).