Chelsea 3-1 Sporting Lisbon: Clinical Blues knock out Sporting

Chelsea provided the perfect tonic to losing their unbeaten Premier League record by producing a slick display to send Sporting Lisbon crashing out of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues maintained their unbeaten European campaign as Cesc Fabregas and Ander Schurrle netted first half goals and though Jonathan Silva hit back for the Portuguese side in the second half, John Obi Mikel's first goal since January cemented the victory.

Schalke's narrow win over group whipping boys Maribor ensured the former European Cup Winners' Cup holders will drop into the Europa League as a result of their defeat in west London.

Such was the ease of Chelsea's win that manager Jose Mourinho handed 18-year old Ruben Loftus-Cheek his senior debut for the final seven minutes amid a flurry of changes in the second 45 minutes which underlined their status as one of the primary contenders in the competition.

Despite intending to ring the changes and rest several tired legs ahead of the festive period, Mourinho made only six alterations from the loss at Newcastle United with Filipe Luis, Schurrle and Mohamed Salah among those coming in while as promised Loftus-Cheek began on the bench.

With the Blues having already secured qualification and top spot in Group G, Sporting's need was far more pressing needing a draw to reach the knock-out phase and they made four changes from the weekend win over Boavista with Manchester United loanee Nani missing out with a thigh problem.

Though Sporting's need was the great of the two sides, the home side wasted little side recapturing their early season swagger and went ahead in the eighth minute as Luis was felled by Ricardo Esgaio, and Fabregas calmly tucked away the resulting penalty for his third goal of the season.

Chelsea's start in the opening quarter of the game was soon capped in glorious fashion with a second goal as an attacking foray from Nemanja Matic ended with Schurrle turning on a sixpence and drilling beyond Rui Patricio for his first goal since September.

Schurrle and Matic could have added to the lead amid the whirlwind first half which wasn't without its scares as Sporting pushed to reignite their Champions League campaign, with Cesar Azpilicueta clumsily tripping Islam Slimani but escaping in conceding a spot kick.

Mourinho decided against making any changes at the break and some early-season jadedness contributed to their lead being halved five minutes into the second half as Silva drove home from the edge of the box after Chelsea failed to clear Andre Carrillo's cross.

However, was restored before the hour mark via an unlikely source as Gary Cahill's near-post flick from Fabregas' free-kick was tapped home by Mikel for the Nigerian's first goal for 11 months.

And as news filtered through that Schalke had taken the lead over Maribor the ease at which Chelsea produced the fourth victory of their group campaign was exemplified as Mourinho handed a debut to Loftus-Cheek for the closing minutes with the hard work all but done.