Chelsea 2 Werder Bremen 0: The result has the authentic Chelsea ring to it but there were still some false notes. It took the penalty that Michael Ballack converted after 66 minutes for his first goal at the club to dim the brightness of Werder Bremen's spirit. Only the post prevented Frank Lampard from raising the margin, but that would have been unjust.
This was a hard contest in which Miroslav Klose's header against the bar almost supplied the equaliser moments before Ballack's penalty. It was typical of a taxing fixture that Joe Cole, making his return from injury by coming on for Andriy Shevchenko, should rapidly be cautioned.
Bremen are branded the German version of Newcastle United when it comes to defending. Coach, Thomas Schaaf, addressed that failing by buying Per Mertesacker from Hanover but the centre-half has not yet recovered from a heel operation. Doubts over their resilience, however, had to be balanced with questioning of Chelsea's sharpness.
After a truncated pre-season, Jose Mourinho said his side would not be at their best for a month. Time is now up and Chelsea had the occasional hint of potency about them even before Michael Essien's opener in the 24th minute.
The goal had its origins in hungry competitiveness and it was pressure from Lampard that made the turning Petri Pasanen stumble when he would otherwise have kicked a loose ball to safety. Essien took over to steer a finish beyond the 37-year-old goalkeeper Andreas Reinke.
These are heartening times for Essien. The Ghanaian might have scored twice for Lyon when beating Bremen 7-2 in this competition but the best is surely still to come.
More relaxed in his second season at Chelsea, the midfielder can prove he is more than a powerhouse.
He needs to be. With Arjen Robben injured, Joe Cole fit enough only to start on the bench and Shaun Wright-Phillips not even making it on to the list of substitutes, width has to be manufactured in other ways. Essien did that on occasion and Didier Drogba applauded a cross from him after he had headed it wide in the seventh minute.
Chelsea had not been set up to attack from the flanks primarily. The midfield was structured as a diamond, with Lampard normally serving as its menacing apex.
It is not in the nature of Mourinho's side to attack in a frenzy unless the situation is desperate, but that patience is an asset, especially against opponents such as Bremen who have the firepower to exploit any rashness. There was a glimpse of intent in the sixth minute when a sharp move involving Torsten Frings, Pierre Wome and Tim Borowski had Chelsea clearing with a hint of alarm.
. For a team knocked out of the German Cup by third division side Pirmasens at the weekend, Bremen were more resourceful than expected.
Mourinho would have scowled at the ease with which Klose climbed to a Frings cross, after 54 minutes, and relaxed only when the striker uncharacteristically sent his header beyond the angle of bar and post.
Klose then rose to another Frings delivery and nodded against the bar in the 65th minute.
Relief, though, was almost immediate. A minute later the referee decided that Clemens Fritz had barged Drogba.
With Frank Lampard having missed three of his last four penalties for club and country the responsibility was assumed by Ballack. The ball was crashed high past the left-hand of Reinke.
Chelsea could begin to think of this fixture as a game that must have restored some of their competitive edge.
CHELSEA: Cech, Boulahrouz, Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Essien, Makelele, Ballack (Mikel 90), Lampard, Shevchenko (Joe Cole 81), Drogba (Kalou 85). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Geremi, Bridge, Paulo Ferreira. Booked: Terry, Drogba, Lampard, Joe Cole. Goals: Essien 24, Ballack 68 pen.
WERDER BREMEN: Reinke, Wome, Naldo, Pasanen, Fritz, Borowski, Baumann (Zidan 86), Frings, Diego, Klasnic (Hugo Almeida 65), Klose. Subs Not Used: Kasper Jensen, Vranjes, Owomoyela, Andreasen, Schulz. Booked: Baumann.
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece).
