Chelsea recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon at the Estádio José Alvalade on Tuesday courtesy a first half strike from Nemanja Matic.
The Blues had a lot of chances early on in the game but they were unable to break the deadlock as Rui Patricio denied Diego Costa in the second minute and Andre Schurrle spurned two excellent opportunities close to the halfway mark of the first half.
Finally, after a couple of more missed chances and saves, the Blues went ahead in the 34th minute through Matic, who powered a header past Patricio from a Cesc Fabregas freekick.
More chances followed in the second half but Costa and Oscar both failed to beat Patricio, and Nani, on loan from Manchester United, was only able to find the side netting at the other end.
With ten minutes remaining for halftime, Chelsea got another opportunity but Costa again failed to hit the target as he dragged his effort wide.
Willian then picked up Filipe Luis on the left side of the box, but the left-back's effort also failed to bother Patricio.
Mohamed Salah, who came on as a substitute for Eden Hazard in the 84th minute, got the final chance of the game, but he was denied by an alert Patricio
This result means that Chelsea are now top of their pool, as Schalke, who had earlier drawn at Stamford Bridge, were held at home by Maribor in the other Group G fixture.
Matic, whose first half strike was the only thing that separated the two sides, says he is happy that Chelsea were able to walk away with three points.
"It is very nice to be here again [in Lisbon, having previously played for SL Benfica] and to play in front of these great fans. It is good to get these three points. Always when you play against Sporting at this stadium it is difficult, and that is why we are happy we came away with three points," Matic told UEFA's official website.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho also echoed Matic's thoughts, insisting that he is pleased with the results.
"We won three points, which was good. The points are what matters. We lost points at home and now we got them back. Now we will have two matches with Maribor, we have four points now and if we win both we will have ten, so job done," Mourinho said.
Check out the highlights of the game below:
