Duff up to old tricks for Chelsea

SOCCER: MSK Zilina 0...Chelsea 2 Chelsea did not look the finished, multi-million pound article last night, but Claudio Ranieri will be satisfied enough, writes Jon Brodkin in Slovakia.

After three successive UEFA Cup defeats to lowly opponents his team emerged with a deserved victory from Slovakia last night and surely even they cannot fail to progress to the Champions League now.

The two-goal lead which they carry into the second leg in a fortnight came courtesy of Eidur Gudjohnsen's finish to a fine move at the end of the first half and an own-goal which was set up by substitute Joe Cole.

Apart from a scare at 1-0, Chelsea were broadly comfortable and in control. They will play better, but there were positive signs for Ranieri in the form of Damien Duff and the industry and passing of Juan Sebastian Veron, notably in the first half. Geremi was efficient and the new full-backs emerged with credit.

Adrian Mutu was ineligible, but of the six available, costly arrivals only Cole was consigned to the substitutes' bench.

Veron began in promising fashion, often drifting infield and showing determination to challenge for loose balls as Chelsea tried to force Zilina back. Indeed, Veron was involved in two moves inside the first 10 minutes from which Chelsea might have taken the lead, with Mikael Forssell and Frank Lampard failing to take presentable chances.

Those opportunities reflected the fact that Chelsea had the better early possession and they always looked menacing when Duff made tracks down the left. But that dominance ebbed away as Zilina settled, and a more disjointed feel came into Chelsea's play. The passing was not always fluid and Geremi had a mixed start in the holding role.

Up front, Gudjohnsen and Forssell, selected ahead of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, were fitful.

Part of the problem was that a well-organised Zilina pulled almost everyone behind the ball when they had to defend, meaning Chelsea had to be inventive, and they had few opportunities to strike quickly on the break.

When the chance finally came to hit Zilina at speed with the home team's players out of position, Chelsea took the lead. John Terry's tackle near the right-hand edge of his box started things, with Veron switching play to Duff. After playing a one-two with Forssell, the lively Duff sent over a cross which Gudjohnsen swept in to register his first competitive goal in six months.

Although Zilina had not mustered a worthwhile shot at Carlo Cudicini's goal before the interval, there were flashes of their capabilities on the counter-attack and their passing was sharp in patches, cheered by an enthusiastic crowd.

Chelsea would have been hoping to score again early in the second half and kill the tie but instead they found themselves on the defensive. And they could easily have conceded an equaliser in the 53rd minute when the dangerous Miroslav Barcik got behind Wayne Bridge and delivered a cross which Richard Varadin headed over.

Chelsea's best response came from Duff, whose weaving run ended with a shot which Zilina's goalkeeper, Ivan Trabalik, held low down. The game, and surely the tie, was settled when Cole's backheel failed to find Gudjohnsen but was looped into the net by Michal Drahno.

Duff was pleased with his team's performance, but felt they could have played better: "There are a lot of top quality players here. I did think we played well, but obviously we could play better," he said.

MSK ZILINA (4-5-1): Trabalik; Konecny, Zabavnik, Labant, Stas (Drahno, 66); Barcik, Bazik, Strba, Sninsky, Durica (Putik, 66); Varadin (Fabus, 83). Booked: Sninsky.

CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cudicini; Johnson, Terry, Desailly, Bridge; Veron, Lampard, Geremi, Duff (J Cole, 70); Gudjohnsen, Forssell (Gronkjaer, 58).

Referee: R Temmink (Holland)