Deco steals show for Chelsea again

Deco has spent less than a month at Chelsea but after inspiring his new side to a third consecutive win on their pre-season tour of Asia today, he has already shown his best days could still be to come.

When Barcelona sold Deco for £7.9million last month, the Spanish club's president, Juan Laporta, claimed the midfielder wouldn't be missed because his career has been in decline for two years.

Here, though, the Portuguese has been doing his best to prove Laporta wrong.

Although the opposition is a world away from the standard Deco will face in the Premier League, the speed in which he has settled into Chelsea's pattern of play has been impressive and he ran the show in the first half here.

He turns 31 next month and his experience and class could make all the difference in a Chelsea team who have been accused of lacking flair in recent seasons.

Some of his touches were sublime and drew loud cheers from the 55,000 fans inside the Shah Alam Stadium.

He almost treated them to one of the best goals seen in a blue shirt when he hit Frank Lampard's freekick first time on the volley from the edge of the area. Only a superb save from Helmi Eliza Elias denied him.

Deco was again on the right of midfield as Luiz Felipe Scolari stuck with the 4-3-3 formation he used in the 7-0 win against Chengdu Blades on Saturday.

After trying a 4-1-3-2 line-up in his first game, the manager reverted back to the system employed by his predecessors, Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant.

The difference now, though, is that Deco's presence gives the tactic a more attacking edge and Nicolas Anelka looks more dangerous than he did last season. The striker had a shot well saved before he scored in the 26th minute with a fine finish into the corner of the net after being sent clear by Joe Cole.

One player who might have not been so happy with the line-up was Michael Essien, who was picked to play at right-back in the absence of Jose Bosingwa, while Paulo Ferreira was named on the bench.

At left-back Wayne Bridge got his first start ahead of Ashley Cole but he gifted the home side their best chance of the first half when his mistake allowed Amirulhadi Zainal a free shot at goal. Luckily for Chelsea, the ball spun narrowly wide of the left-hand post. Scolari made four substitutions at half-time with Florent Malouda, buoyed by the manager's promise he has a future at the club, keen to impress after replacing Joe Cole.

And the France winger played a key part in Chelsea's finely worked second goal in the 53rd minute. He found Lampard, who flicked the ball to substitute Ashley Cole, who fired the ball into the top corner.

Essien also seemed happier after being pushed forward into Shaun Wright-Phillips's position on the right wing, with Ferreira coming on at right-back.

There were a few moments of concern as the Malaysians began to take their frustration out on the Chelsea players with some hefty tackles.

Lampard was seen limping for a few minutes after one thunderous challenge and John Obi Mikel was also left in a crumpled heap at the side of the pitch. It may have caused Scolari to lose a few more strands of his thinning hair, but he would have been relieved to see both players quickly run the challenges off as Chelsea eased to another victory.

They now go to Russia where they will face a tough test to maintain their 100 per cent pre-season record. On Friday they will up come up against Lokomotiv Moscow followed by a match against either AC Milan or Sevilla two days later.