Chelsea 6-1 Macclesfield

The Silkmen were beaten 6-1 by Chelsea, but the scoreline flattered the English Champions.

In a game no one expected the Silkmen to win, Macc started solidly in front of a passionate group of 4,900 fans, buoyant despite an unnecessary jibe from the Chelsea tannoy announcer.

The Silkmen were doing well until the 17th minute when Shaun Wright-Phillips fluffed a chance but Frank Lampard was first to react to stab past Tommy Lee.

Carvalho had the ball in the back of the net soon after, following up from a free-kick, but was flagged for offside.

Half time was approaching when the Silkmen were sent into dreamland.

Matty McNeil`s pinpoint flick-on caused Carvalho to get into a muddle and could only watch from the floor as John Murphy sent the Silkmen into raptures by slotting between Hilario`s legs.

The Macc following were still celebrating the moment when Frank Lampard found himself in the penalty area with the ball and shot under Tommy Lee to make it 2-1.

The Silkmen may have only been on level terms for a minute, but it was a damn good minute.

Shevchenko found himself in the book before the whistle went. His only meaningful contribution to the game so far.

Half time was full of talk about how the Silkmen could go on and take something from the game, but no one planned for the events early in the second half.

Only a few minutes had passed when Shevchenko got himself clean through. Despite being supposedly one of the best strikers in Europe, earning £120,000 a week and costing £30m to buy, he decided that he couldn`t just rely on his talents.

As he neared Tommy Lee he stumbled to ensure he collided with the prone goalkeeper, leaving a foot in to catch the Macc player and throwing himself to the ground.

He was going down before any contact was made and the ball was out of his control, but the referee buckled to pressure and sent Lee off when another day could have seen the Ukrainian given a second yellow card for the dive.

The penalty was given and Dave Morley was forced into goals and Jennings replaced McNeil to shore up the defence. When Lampard slotted the penalty away, the game was over as a contest.

But Dave Morley was going to be in action again soon after, denying Shevchenko from one-on-one. The Ukrainian millionaire couldn`t even score past 10 man Macc with a central defender in goals.

John Miles replaced Colin Heath as it took Chelsea a further 17 minutes to find the scoresheet again, Wright-Phillips clipping in from close range to make it 4-1

John Miles was playing well and forced Hilario into a good save after a trademark run, but he would find his day ruined by injury. Jamie Tolley had replaced the impressive Jordan Hadfield when Miles limped out of the game, leaving the Silkmen with nine men for the last 15 minutes.

Chelsea took full advantage of the numerical advantage and Mikel scored the best goal of the game, firing home from the edge of the area, before Carvalho put a loose ball away for the sixth.

All in all a disappointing score-line, but one that anyone at the game will appreciate was a terrific achievement.

Every player can be proud of their efforts and every fan who was at the game will remember that minute of euphoria after John Murphy levelled the scores.