Picture special: Scolari opens with a win as Lampard gets on the scoresheet

 

Luiz Felipe Scolari took charge of his first match with today and immediately set his own agenda by kicking out the old and introducing the new.

But the Brazilian knows he is certain to have a selection headache when Michael Ballack finally joins up with the squad. The German is still on honeymoon after helping his country reach the final of Euro 2008 but will resume his club duties on the next leg of the tour in Macau.

Chelsea may have won two Premier League titles during the Jose Mourinho  era and reached the Champions League Final under Avram Grant by deploying the 4-3-3 formation, yet Scolari has shown he is not afraid to make changes.

Men in the middle: Frank Lampard charges through the midfield (above) while Deco (below) was impressive in his debut

Here, against Chinese side Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, he made the most of the club’s abundance of midfield talent by deploying an attacking 4-1-3-2 formation.

Chelsea have arguably the strongest set of midfielders in Europe and by abandoning the three in the middle philosophy of his predecessors, he was allowed to put Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Deco in advanced roles, with John Obi Mikel getting the first chance to show he can fill the void caused by the departure of holding midfielder Claude Makelele to Paris St-Germain.

Chelsea did not score enough last season and would have lost the title on the final day to Manchester United on goal difference even if Bolton hadn’t snatched the late equaliser which saw them finish behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s side by two points.

Making his point: Scolari gestures to his players

Thumbs up: Chelsea's Franco Di Santo celebrates after scoring

Much of the blame was attributed to playing with just one striker up front, but Scolari looks set to change all that after pairing Nicolas Anelka with Salomon Kalou. 

Anelka, for one, looked much happier to be playing in his rightful position today having been largely deployed out wide after joining from Bolton in January, while Kalou scored the opening goal with a fine low finish in the 19th minute.

Overall, the Blues dominated the opener of their five-game pre-season tour of Asia and Russia, with the only concern for Scolari seeing summer signing Jose Bosingwa substituted after 19 minutes with a thigh injury after a brief but impressive debut at right-back.

Making his debut: Jose Bosingwa

Scolari fielded a strong side from the start, with Deco making his debut in midfield alongside Lampard, who played the entire game. Joe Cole and Andriy Shevchenko were not included in the squad due to minor injuries and Didier Drogba did not even travel to China.

Lampard and Deco pulled shots wide in the opening minutes as Chelsea controlled the early stages with the Portugal international dominating midfield. The visitors opened the scoring when Mikel’s defence-splitting through-ball caught the home side flat-footed, allowing Kalou to ghost in unmarked to fire home.

Feeling the pace: Kalou puts his hand to his head during the match

Following five half-time changes, substitute Wayne Bridge saw his deflected shot hit the post before Lampard showed brilliant vision to double the lead by chipping Li Shuai from 30 yards, the Guangzhou goalkeeper only just outside his six-yard area.

It was a superb strike and underlined the England player’s value to Chelsea as talks continue over his future. After Lampard’s goal, half-time substitute Florent Malouda fired wide twice in quick succession before 19-year-old Argentine Franco Di Santo, a second-half substitute, struck the upright after weaving his way through on the edge of the area.

With 12 minutes remaining Frenchman Malouda broke down the left and pulled a low cross across the face of the goal for a sliding Di Santo to net in his first appearance for the club.

Another substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, then sealed the win in the dying moments with a shot on the turn from inside the area in the closing minutes.

It completed a gentle introduction for Scolari to life on the touchline with Chelsea. He said: 'It’s always good to win your first match, even though this one didn’t matter much. The team are relaxed, although we have some problems physically, but nothing we can’t sort out.'