Copenhagen: Chelsea scored three late goals for a 4-0 win over FC Nordsjaelland in the Champions League on Tuesday that wasn't quite as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.
Juan Mata scored two goals while David Luiz and Ramires added one each to give the defending champion its first win of the group campaign after surrendering a two-goal lead for a 2-2 draw against Juventus in the first game.
The Danish club put up tough resistance, though, but failed to convert several chances before letting Chelsea pull away in the final 12 minutes.
Mata had given the visitors the lead in the 33rd minute following a Danish defensive error, scoring from a pass from Frank Lampard. The Danish champions didn't seem intimidated by their more illustrious visitors, though, and kept pressing.
Joshua John came close to equalizing when he headed the ball off target in the 51st minute.
Chelsea seemed sluggish while Nordsjaelland's Mikkel Bechmann, Nicolai Stokholm and John all had attempts. "Until the 75th minute, we played tremendously. After that we stopped," Nordsjaelland coach Kasper Hjulmand said.
Lampard conceded it had been "a tough game." "They were a bit of an unknown but we know they played good football and we had to bide our time," the midfielder said. "We put the hard work in and all the goals came at the end."
The Danes eventually collapsed after Luiz's long-range free kick struck the post and found the net in the 79th. Mata added the third goal three minutes later and Ramires hit the fourth in the 89th.
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