THE good people of West London may prefer to queue for petrol than watch the champions, but Chelsea roar on regardless. Just 29,575 turned out for this routine group G victory over Anderlecht, seven fewer than watched West Ham United beat Aston Villa on Monday, and any neutrals in the crowd may have wondered why they bothered.

As with many of their Barclays Premiership encounters, Chelsea were simply too good for their opponents and eased past them without leaving second gear. Not that José Mourinho was complaining. “In the first half we played very well and the result was short for the way we were playing,” the manager said. “They had not one single shot and we played good football. In the second half we waited for them to come and they never came.

“I told my players we could not lose the ball and we had 64 per cent possession, so they did what I said. They [Anderlecht] had one shot that hit the post, that’s the only shot they had.”

Frank Lampard, the scorer of the only goal in the nineteenth minute, offered a more balanced perspective. “It’s a funny result,” he said. “We were a little bit on edge because they kept breaking away and we were a bit frustrated. We can do better, but when you look at our record we’ve won every game [this season].”

Mourinho had made great play of the threat posed by an Anderlecht side used to competing at this level, without mentioning that their recent experiences of the Champions League have resembled that of cannon fodder. The Belgians contrived to lose all six of their group matches last season and this was their eighth straight defeat, a competition record, prompting suggestions from some home fans that they were Sunderland in disguise.

Chelsea have generally been slow starters this season, establishing control like patient matadors before moving in for the kill late in the piece, but last night they made quick work of it. They poured forward from the start, Arjen Robben providing a signal of intent with a sparkling run down the left in the first minute.

Robben has been subdued this campaign as he recovers from a series of debilitating foot injuries, but, after switching flanks with Damien Duff almost immediately, he was a menace throughout, creating Chelsea’s first opening in the fourth minute. His free kick from the left was volleyed into a crowd of players by Michael Essien, playing in a more advanced role after the return of Claude Makelele, with Duff’s follow-up drive smartly saved by Daniel Zitka.

Lampard blasted a corner from Robben over the bar before the same combination secured the inevitable breakthrough. After a foul on Duff on the edge of the area, Robben squared the free kick to Lampard, whose shot beat Zitka for pace and swerve. The goalkeeper should have done better, but such was the speed and late movement that Andrew Flintoff would have been impressed — if he had been sober enough to see it, that is.

Having scored an early goal, Chelsea reverted to type, content to keep the ball and tease Anderlecht rather than seek to add to their lead. Lampard brought another good save from Zitka in the 62nd minute and Essien shot just wide shortly afterwards as Petr Cech remained a virtual spectator, a long-range effort against the post from Anthony vanden Borre their only attack of note.

The home fans drifted away happily enough, with Mourinho sympathetic to their plight. “Not many turned up because they are not rich,” he said. “Ticket prices are high, but every spectacle is expensive. The opera and theatre are expensive. For the life of normal people it’s expensive, but the crowd were fantastic.”

Just like the price of oil, a product with which Roman Abramovich is no stranger, the cost of watching Chelsea could do with being cut.

CHELSEA (4-3-3): P Cech — P Ferreira, J Terry, R Carvalho, W Gallas — C Makelele, F Lampard, M Essien (sub: R Huth, 90min) — D Duff (sub: J Cole, 77), D Drogba, A Robben (sub: S Wright-Phillips, 67). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, H Crespo, Gérémi, L Diarra. Booked: Wright-Phillips.

ANDERLECHT (4-4-2): D Zitka — M Zewlakow (sub: N Jestrovic, 81), R Juhasz, H Tihinen, O Deschacht — A vanden Borre, Y Vanderhaeghe (sub: L Delorge, 89), M de Man, B Goor — M Mpenza, Serhat Akin (sub: C Wilhelmsson, 70). Substitutes not used: S Proto, W Baseggio, B Hasi, P Zetterberg. Booked: Serhat, Vanderhaeghe.

Referee: W Stark (Germany).