Ruthless Blues back in pole position

Schalke 0 Chelsea 3

The Blues suffered an opening-night 2-1 loss to Basle at Stamford Bridge to immediately complicate their bid to go through.

But a Fernando Torres double, plus a late Eden Hazard strike, secured a battling victory to send Chelsea ahead of their rivals and to the top of Group E.

It followed a 4-0 win at Steaua Bucharest last time out and Mouriho believes his side are now in the box seat.

“I told players after match against Basle we did garbage and we have to clean it,” said Mourinho, who does not plan to contest the Football Association’s charge of improper conduct following his dismissal against Cardiff.

“We did it in the best possible way – two away wins and leading the group.

“We now have two matches at home. We are in a good position to qualify.”

Schalke’s defence which was exposed early on when Lampard’s inswinging corner was glanced on by Branislav Ivanovic. The ball evaded the Schalke defence and goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand for Torres to nod in at the far post.

Schalke enjoyed plenty of possession and were dynamic in attack. Kevin-Prince Boateng, once of Tottenham and Portsmouth, Christian Clemens, Julian Draxler and Max Meyer operated as a fluid front four, without finding a clinical final pass or shot.

Twice Cech saved when a Schalke player was offside, while Atsuto Uchida passed up a glorious opportunity when played in by Roman Neustadter, lifting his shot high.

Chelsea were struggling to get the ball, let alone keep it. But there were still warning signs for Schalke and a dazzling Hazard run went unrewarded as the ball became caught under the Belgian’s feet inside the Schalke box.

A Schalke surge closed the first half, with Azpilicueta blocking from Meyer when Cech could only claw away an Dennis Aogo cross before the goalkeeper tipped over a Boateng shot.

From the resulting corner Cech had to acrobatically tip over a header from the unmarked Neustadter.

The next set-piece resulted in a goalmouth scramble which ended when Benedikt Howedes backheeled wide.

John Terry then blocked from Draxler as the half ended with Chelsea’s slender advantage intact.

The visitors had little respite early in the second half, but came close to extending their advantage when Lampard lofted a free-kick into the box and Torres leapt to meet it, his header rebounding down off the woodwork.

A Schalke set-piece troubled the visitors once more when Howedes lost his marker, but headed wide.

The hosts were made to pay in thrilling style by a Hazard-inspired break.

As another Schalke attack broke down, the Belgian nipped in ahead of a sliding Aogo and burst into the Schalke half – where Oscar assumed possession.

Three blue-shirted attackers swarmed forward and the Brazilian showed great strength to hold off Jones and play the ball square for Torres.

The Spaniard’s first touch wrong-footed Hildebrand and he was able to fire in to complete a scintillating counter-attack.

The Blues then showed a ruthless streak with a late third.

Ramires prodded the ball forward for Hazard to run half of the field, Torres provided a distraction and the Belgian tucked in to complete victory.

SCHALKE 04: Hildebrand, Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Aogo, Jones (Kolasinac 70), Neustadter, Clemens, Meyer (Goretzka 78), Draxler, Boateng (Szalai 70).

CHELSEA: Cech, Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic, Oscar (Luiz 83), Ramires, Lampard, Schurrle (Mikel 72), Torres, Hazard (Eto’o 88).

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary).