Kalou puts Chelsea in charge

There can be little doubt that Frank Lampard was right when he said that Chelsea are no longer the force of old, but they still have the knack of winning games they don’t deserve to.

A team with no sense of direction or guile for the vast majority of this match, Chelsea were saved by the fact that Benfica, their hosts, were no better.

Yet Chelsea will not care. Thanks to Salomon Kalou making the most of fine work by Fernando Torres 15 minutes from time, they will take a slender lead back to Stamford Bridge for the return leg, and should not be overly concerned by Benfica as an attacking force on this evidence.