Empty feeling of passionless night

The Chelsea coach said: "We're in a good position and we want to stay there and finish top. But we will fulfilour responsibilities to ourselves and the other teams in our group in the final three matches."

So, irrelevant or not, Mourinho intends to field his best team in the remaining matches. This makes good sense because Chelsea are emerging as a real threat on the European stage and every match this team plays will enhance their prospects in the later rounds.

Mourinho's game plans - remember, he won this trophy last season - - seem to suit the more sophisticated demands of Champions League football.

His team has now scored eight goals in three European matches. Compare that to eight goals in the nine Premiership games Chelsea have played this season.

They continued their impressive European goalscoring form despite the absence of the injured Didier Drogba, the disgraced Adrian Mutu and the on-loan Carlton Cole, who cannot be recalled from Aston Villa until January at the earliest.

After the disappointment of the defeat against Manchester City, the responsibility for goals last night fell on the shoulders of Eidur Gudjohnsenand Mateja Kezman. For all his effort and diligence, Kezman didn't get near a goal, but Gudjohnsen scored one and helped create the other.

His role in John Terry's opening goal after nine minutes was critical. When Frank Lampard's corner reached him at the back post he avoided the temptation to head the ball at goal and instead delivered it to the space occupied by Terry. The England defender stooped forward to steer his header carefully into the net.

An imposing figure defensively, Terry probably had more chances to score than anyone else, prompting a suggestion at the after-match media conference that Mourinho might consider him for a temporary striking role.,

The Chelsea manager dismissed the idea, but admitted that his shortage of attackers had led him to consider using another centre half, Robert Huth, as a makeshift striker.

At the moment, though, he's happy to encourage Terry to fulfil both roles.

Defensively he's at the top of his form and his goal last night was his third in three Champions League matches. You can't ask for much more than that.

"Fantastic!" is how Mourinho described his captain's contribution. "I can't remember a better game from him this season. His goal was important but that's not really what we want him for. He's a great leader."

Chelsea defended with calm and discipline but were still troubled at times, particularly early in the first half, when goalkeeper Petr Cech had to make a couple of alert stops.

He also made two remarkable saves either side of half time, turning away a cross that struck Gudjohnsen and then stretching full length to reach a shot from Evgeny Aldonin.

"He's doing really well for us," said Mourinho. "But the team as a whole is defending well. When that happens, sometimes the goalkeeper doesn't have much to do but last night he made a couple of unbelievable saves."

After an uncertain start, Chelsea drew confidence from Terry's goal and secured the three points with Gudjohnsen's header from Damien Duff 's free-kick just before half time. With Lampard and Alexei Smertin dominant in midfield, they controlled much of the second half and gave CSKA little chance to get back into the match.

The Russians could, of course, still qualify in second place which would please Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, whose oil company Sibneft sponsor CSKA to the tune of £10 million a year.

But, on last night's evidence, only one of Abramovich's two clubs has any chance of reaching the final - -and it isn't CSKA.