Chelsea 3-0 Olympiakos
Chelsea scored after six minutes and added a second on 25 minutes to put this tie beyond Olympiakos and carry the Blues through to another Champions League quarter-final. Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard scored the first-half goals and Salomon Kalou added a third after the break as Chelsea dominated the match. Olympiakos enjoyed their best spell in the final stages but by then it was much too little too late on an excellent night for Avram Grant's side.
Chelsea began purposefully, John Terry heading over from a Frank Lampard free-kick, and Didier Drogba storming into the Olympiakos area and scuffing a shot into the path of Joe Cole, whose effort hit the post, though he was flagged offside.
But on six minutes, the Blues were ahead. Lampard's cross from the left was headed past Greek keeper Antonios Nikopolidis at the near post by the German midfielder.
Olympiakos were struggling to get a foothold in the match in the opening stages, and couldn't get near Chelsea's goal, and the impressive Ballack showed why when he dispossessed Predrag Djordjevic with a solid challenge on the halfway line. Then a run by Djordjevic down the left wing was halted by Joe Cole's slide tackle.
On 18 minutes, a left-wing cross from Joe Cole was flicked over the bar by Drogba from six yards, before another attack saw Cole cut the ball back to Claude Makelele, whose unexpected drive from the edge of the area was comfortably saved by Nikopolidis on the goal-line.
Further Chelsea pressure led to their second goal after 25 minutes, Kalou earning a free-kick which Olympiakos cleared, but only as far as Makelele 30 yards from goal. The French midfielder put Ballack through one-on-one with Nikopolidis, who saved his effort but was unlucky to see the ball rebound to Lampard, who tapped it into the empty net from three yards.
With Chelsea enjoying almost complete control, Ledesma's cross from the right was headed clear by the commanding Ballack on the edge of the area, while at the other end Nikopolidis had to rush out of his goal to clear from the onrushing Kalou.
A Lampard cut-back across the Olympiakos area was destined for Ballack until he was knocked to the ground by Ledesma, but the referee waved play on. But six minutes from half-time, the official did warn Ieroklis Stoltidis for upending Lampard with a late challenge.
The second-half was just three minutes old when the Blues added a third. A Lampard corner from the left got through to Kalou three yards from goal, and he knocked the ball past Nikopolidis to put Chelsea well and truly in the comfort zone, as they kept the ball for fun.
On 53 minutes, Kalou slipped Lampard through one-on-one with Nikoploidis, but the England international scuffed his shot well wide of the goal.
Emergency Chelsea keeper Cudicini had barelly touched the ball before Olympisakos boss Panaigotis Lemonis took off Ledesma for Fernando Belluschi (54th minute) and, two minutes later, replaced Djordevic with Leonel Nunez.
Kovacevic was caught offside trying to run in behind the Chelsea defence, and a Stoltidis right-wing cross was scrambled clear by Ricardo Carvalho. Cudicini was finally called upon when Belluschi's free-kick from the edge of the Chelsea area was comfortably claimed by the Italian on the hour mark.
The pattern of the game continued, though, with Olympiakos unable to exert any real pressure on their hosts. Lampard put Drogba through and the Ivorian beat Nikopolidis with a shot into the back of the net, only to be correctly ruled offside.
Joe Cole shrugged off the attentions of Pantos to fire in a shot at goal from the edge of the area which Nikopolidis saved, but the ball went to Makelele 30 yards out, and his shot lacked power.
Lampard went down under a heavy challenge from Patsatzoglou just outside the penalty box, but instead of giving Chelsea a free-kick the ref booked Lampard for diving.
On 71 minutes, Grant made his first change of the night, sending on Florent Malouda for Kalou. Lemonis followed four minutes later with his final change of the night, Mirnes Sisic taking the place of Torosidis. Then the excellent Lampard was replaced by Michael Essien. Grant's last change saw Shaun Wright-Phillips come on in place of Joe Cole.
Ten minutes from time, a strong run from Antzas was ended when Ferreira blocked him and was promptly booked. Then Sisic's effort from 20 yards was charged down by Essien. And in the 83rd minute, Belluschi hit a superb, swerving effort from 30 yards that cannoned off the bar and away to safety in the Greek side's best effort of the night.
After Terry was booked for a foul on Belluschi, the same player tried his luck from 20 yards but saw it parried by Cudicini into the path of Antzas, whose follow-up header was then pushed away from goal by the Chelsea keeper's diving save.
The closing ten minutes were the best for the Greek side, begging the question why didn't they play with more purpose earlier on? A Sisic free-kick from 30 yards flew narrowly wide of the post, though Cudicini looked to have had it covered.
So the final whistle sounded with Chelsea's goal intact, and they have still conceded just two goals throughout this Champions League campaign, in which they have become the third English Premier League side to reach the last eight.
Teams:
Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Makelele, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Joe Cole.
Subs: Hilario, Essien, Malouda, Wright-Phillips, Alex, Belletti, Anelka
Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Zewlakow, Julio Cesar, Antzas, Pantos, Ledesma, Patsatzoglou, Torosidis, Djordjevic, Stoltidis, Kovacevic. Subs: Sifakis, Leonardo, Nunez, Mendrinos, Konstantinou, Belluschi, Sisic
