Champions League - MSK Zilina vs. Chelsea
2:30 PM ET
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Tune in Wednesday at 2:30 PM ET as MSK Zilina takes on Chelsea. Jack Goodson from The Offside's Chelsea blog will be liveblogging for your enjoyment. -
Preamble: Welcome to The Score's inaugural coverage of the UEFA Champions League. Our very first match will be Chelsea traveling to Slovakia for their Group F opener against MŠK Žilina.
This is where it all started for Roman Abramovich, back in 2003 in a CL qualifier. Chelsea won that tie 5-0 on aggregate. The Blues will be hoping for a similar outcome this evening. Zilina, meanwhile, will be eyeing one of the shocks in the history of the competition. -
Teams
MSK Zilina
Dubravka, Guldan, Piacek, Pecalka, Mraz, Jez, Babatounde, Rilke, Ceesay, Vladavic, Oravec. Subs: Krnac, Angelovic, Leitner, Majtan, Poliacek, Sourek, Vittor.
Chelsea
Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov, Essien, Mikel, Benayoun, Sturridge, Anelka, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Ramires, Ferreira, Kalou, Van Aanholt, Kakuta, McEachran. -

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12min: Zhirkov finds himself in a forward position, more to his liking, and is dragged back by Rilke when the ball was well past him. That's a poor free kick to give away, on the left just outside the box. Malouda plays it short to Terry who in turns lays off the ball for Sturridge to power well over the crossbar.
@soloriom: Drogba is suspended. -
GOAL, 13min - Zilina 0-1 Chelsea: Essien gets his third goal in two matches. Anelka is the provider, making a nice disguised run down the right of the box. He pulls the ball back across the six. Malouda dummies it for Essien, who powers it past the helpless Dubravka from point-blank range. A very nice worked goal from the visitors that one. -

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34min: The first from Anelka was simple. The second, even simpler. Some supbar goalkeeping allowed Anelka to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead with a decently hit far-post strike. The Blues' third came after John Terry struck the crossbar via a header. Anelka mopped up inside the six with a tap-in. -

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HALFTIME, Zilina 0-3 Chelsea: That's it for the opening 45 minutes in Zilina. And Chelsea is absolutely cruising. A very professional, lethal display. The hosts, meanwhile, have struggled aside from that opening five or so minutes where they came out with some real aggressiveness. Stay tuned for the second half to see if Chelsea can add to their lead. Or if Zilina can perhaps pull off a miracle. -

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