Ranieri's triumphant return to Roman arena

Never was a dismissal more deserved but the degenerate Mihajlovic still hung around long enough to lob a water bottle in the direction of the Chelsea bench.

To dwell further on the unsavoury Serb would be unfair to Chelsea and Ranieri, whose performance was as near perfection as you could wish for in the circumstances.

Ranieri and his admirable team now need just a point from their next match, at home to Sparta Prague on 26 November, to ensure they move on to the knockout stage and their prospective rivals will have surely taken note of this hugely impressive result in the land of the renowned defence.

There were many heroes, from Ranieri himself, who was tactically spot-on, to defender John Terry who, characteristically defended stoutly when Lazio threw themselves forward desperately in search of some reward, and even Juan Sebastian Veron, who was greeted rapturously by his former Roman admirers and who then did much to turn the screw on his former teammates.

The two central characters in this memorable evening however were the goalkeepers, Carlo Cudicini, who has had his critics this season, and Lazio's former Ipswich 'keeper Matteo Sereni.

While Cudicini was proving once again that his mistake at Highbury was merely an isolated aberration, Sereni was demonstrating up at the other end that, as Norwich fans have always maintained, he should still be Ipswich's number one.

He made a mistake for Chelsea's first goal when he pushed Veron's free-kick into the path of Hernan Crespo in the 14th minute, and hardly caught a thing after that as his confidence evaporated completely.

Further excellent goals from substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen, in the 70th minute, Duff five minutes later and then Frank Lampard after 80 minutes, were no more than Chelsea deserved and if Crespo, who was also playing against one of his former sides, had put away the two glaring chances which came his way, Chelsea would have surpassed their record 5-0 Champions League victory against Galatasaray in 1999.

The 4,000-plus Chelsea fans were understandably ecstatic, bellowing out chorus after chorus of "Are you watching Arsenal?"

It was a point well made because, had their club's North London rivals demonstrated the resolve and discipline that Chelsea showed in the eternal city, then their immediate Champions League future would surely not be hanging by a thread.

Ranieri was naturally happy with everything but Glen Johnson's late dismissal for needlessly kicking the ball away after being booked shortly before.

"I am very pleased with that performance," said the man who had made a triumphant return to his home city.

"We were calm early on when Lazio started strongly and showed that winning mentality.

"Maybe Lazio were too nervous but it is not easy when you have lost at home to Sparta Prague and lost to us at Stamford Bridge.

"I did not see Mihajlovic do anything but I told my players to keep calm in every situation. There is a referee and I was very angry with Glen Johnson. He is young but he must improve.

"Lazio were too nervous and we were very calm."

The last time Ranieri was in charge of a team which played Lazio in Rome was seven years ago when he was coach of Fiorentina.

His team lost 8-2 that day and you could say he's come a long way since then.