published: wednesday 6 november 2013, 23.02cet chelsea fc 3-0 fc schalke 04
samuel eto'o struck twice as the blues defeated jens keller's men for the second time in a fortnight to take a firm grip of group e.
samuel eto'o scored his first uefa champions league goals for chelsea fc to drive the london side to a three-point lead in group e with their 100th european victory.
eto'o's first was a triumph for anticipation and opportunism as fc schalke 04 goalkeeper timo hildebrand dallied over his attempted clearance, allowing the striker to divert it into an empty net. the second recalled all the cameroonian's best moments in the colours of fc barcelona and fc ınternazionale milano as his shot arrowed into the far corner while demba ba's first in the competition put the icing on chelsea's cake with seven minutes remaining.
chelsea's third successive win – scoring ten in the process and conceding none – scarcely looked on the cards as the german team, who remain in second place on six points despite this second 3-0 loss to josé mourinho's men in two weeks, started in explosive fashion.
julian draxler shone brightest of all early on, first sliding a low, skimming shot just the wrong side of the upright before brilliantly setting up ádám szalai who also fired close. pressing high up the pitch, the visitors were causing all sorts of problems but gradually the home team established a foothold as willian began to get on the ball, providing a platform for andré schürrle to demonstrate his skills.
the german's free-kick was heading for the top corner before hildebrand got there just in time to claw it to safety. the goalkeeper was the hero on that occasion but soon after schürrle swung another effort just off target, hildebrand was left embarrassed as his hesitation gave eto'o the opportunity to stick out his right leg and divert the goalkeeper's clearance into an empty net.
ıt was a remarkable moment and eto'o was quick to include mourinho in the celebrations to mark his first uefa champions league goal for more than two and a half years, and his 28th in all. schalke were unable to muster a response before the interval but seven minutes into the second half they believed they had chiselled out an equaliser when draxler worked his magic again. this time his effort was on target but petr cech smuggled it away.
then chelsea made the game safe. willian's pace was too hot as he surged forward through the centre before finding eto'o in space on the right. the finish was clinical and measured to a tee, the ball arrowing into the far corner with hildebrand well beaten. eto'o left the field to rapturous acclaim and ba showed his own penalty-box instinct to make it three, twisting to volley in a lofted pass from frank lampard to seal the points.
