Chelsea made it two wins out of two in the Champions League's group stage with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Marseille at Stamford Bridge.
Even without suspended Didier Drogba and injured Frank Lampard the Blues were too good for their French opponents, with goals to John Terry and Nicolas Anelka doing the damage.
They could have even won by more, hitting the woodwork twice through Alex and Florent Malouda.
The all-important goals both came in the first half as Carlo Ancelotti's side, looking to build on their opening 4-1 victory against MSK Zilina in Group F, put memories of the weekend's 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in the English Premier League behind them.
The opener came after just seven minutes and was simplicity itself; Terry poking home at the near post from a Gael Kakuta corner, having completely lost his marker with a diagonal run.
It was 2-0 after 28 minutes when Chelsea were awarded a fortuitous penalty after Stephane M'bia handled an Essien cross.
Anelka, booed all match by Marseille fans, calmly dinked home from 12 yards.
The result was never really in doubt thereafter, even though Chelsea took their foot off the gas in the second half and allowed Marseille - with former Chelsea midfielder Didier Deschamps at the helm - at least a sniff of a comeback.
Even so, Alex's ferocious free-kick, which cannoned back off the upright, and Florent Malouda's shot following a well-worked move, which suffered the same fate, could have extended the winning margin for the home team, who are now strong favourites to reach the knock-out stage.
Essien and subsitute Daniel Sturridge also came close in the dying moments and Chelsea could be all but through if they beat closest rivals Spartak Moscow away from home in their next game.
Marseille, who have lost their opening two matches, face an uphill battle to join them.