Goals by Loic Remy, Didier Drogba and John Terry have Chelsea enjoying a comfortable 3-0 half time lead at Stamford Bridge.
Remy broke the deadlock in the 13th minute after a lovely ball from Terry put the French striker in over the top. Remy cut inside onto his left foot before bending his shot into the far post. One minute later, however, Remy came off injured, holding his groin.
Replaced by Drogba, it was only nine minutes before the Ivorian legend scored to put Chelsea up two. The goal came via penalty after Willian’s cross hit the trailing arm of the Maribor defender. It was unlucky for the Slovenian side and Drogba made no mistake about it, rifling the penalty hard and low.
[FOLLOW LIVE: Chelsea v. Maribor]
Just past the half-hour mark, Terry put the Blues up three goals. After Drogba cleared a Maribor corner, Eden Hazard held up play before finding Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard advanced the ball and on came the trucking Terry, who sprinted the entire length of the pitch to knock home Fabregas’ cross from a few yards out. Maribor had a shout for offside but it fell on dead ears.
Unlucky for Maribor. Comfortable for Chelsea. 45 minutes to play where a victory could send Jose Mourinho’s side five points clear in Group G.
LINEUPS
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry (c), Filipe Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Remy.
Maribor: Handanovic; Stojanovic, Rajcevic, Suler; Viler, Mejac, Mertelj, Filipovic Bohar; Tavares, Ibraimi