Anelka saves Chelsea’s blushes against Nicosia

Apoel Nicosia 0 Chelsea 1. Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea got back to winning ways in Cyprus last night with a win that maintains their unbeaten European run, but the Italian manager was so incensed by the narrow and unconvincing victory that he let rip at his players in the post-match press conference.

"I'm not satisfied," the manager snarled. "I wanted [us] to play better and to take more control, to play with courage. We have to change, for sure. The players did strong work, for sure, and ran a lot on the pitch, but we have to play better. It was a good result but not a good performance, particularly in the second half. We tried to control the game with possession, but we made a lot of mistakes.

"Apoel played very well in that second half and deserved to draw this game. That is football. Sometimes that happens: one team wins like Chelsea did today. In the first half we showed good application of the system and took good control in defensive positions, but the second half was totally different. We lost a lot of balls. We allowed Nicosia to get back into the game. We would not be so lucky if we played like that against Liverpool. But we will not play like we did today. We will play better, for sure."

Ancelotti's anger at his side's wastefulness was evident during the game at the GSP stadium, which was hosting its first ever Champions league match. Despite fervent home support, Chelsea's superiority in every department was apparent from the outset, even if their complacency threatened to undo them. Nicolas Anelka was unmarked on the edge of the box after 18 minutes, from where he calmly shot beyond the Nicosia keeper Dionisis Chiotis.

At this point a more confident team than Chelsea currently appear to be could have run riot, and Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard both spurned chances to rack up a few more goals. By the start of the second half, the hosts, boldly pushing forward despite missing key personnel in the form of Polish striker Adrian Sikora, were coming at Chelsea. On the hour mark they forced Petr Cech into a fine reaction save after Savvas Poursaitides' shot deflected off John Terry's legs.

The final phases of the match saw the Cypriots throwing everything at Chelsea, twice missing headed opportunities that the Londoners' defence should have cleared with far less alarms. Ancelotti's men survived the encounter with their pride and record intact, but if they play like this against Liverpool in the Premier League at the weekend, they will be slaughtered. ·