No sweat for Essien and Chelsea

Michael Essien said Chelsea FC were rewarded for their positive approach at Rosenborg BK as they secured a 4-0 victory that takes them through to the UEFA Champions League last 16 as Group B winners.

Comfortable win
Essien played a major part in the way Chelsea dominated the game from start to finish, never allowing the Rosenborg midfield to take control. Didier Drogba found the net after just six minutes and struck again soon after before Alex converted a free-kick late in the first half and Joe Cole wrapped up the win in the second period. Apart from the goals, Shaun Wright-Phillips hit the crossbar and Essien himself had a shot cleared of the line by Bjørn Tore Kvarme.

'Made it easy'
Certainly, the midfielder had no intention of giving Rosenborg a chance of matching the 1-1 draw they achieved at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 1. "We came here to win, and we are very pleased with the way we performed against Rosenborg," Essien said. "We made it very difficult for them tonight, and our plan was to push forward from the start. We got the three points and now we are through. We did our job. We made it easy for ourselves today with the way we played, and it's a relief that we now are through to the next stage before the last game."

Cudicini surprised
While Essien was typically energetic, goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini had a quiet evening. "To be honest I'm a bit surprised that the win was so comfortable," he said. "Rosenborg are second in the group and deservedly so, but tonight our forwards played superbly. You can't say that we will win the Champions League based on tonight's performance, but we have one of the strongest squads in Europe and are more than capable of competing with the best."