Anelka keen on Rooney link-up

Goal hero Nicolas Anelka put his own Luzhniki Stadium pain behind him to suggest that Manchester United's Wayne Rooney would be welcome at Stamford Bridge.

Anelka's penalty miss in the Moscow stadium at the climax of the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United, cost the Blues the European crown.

The France international subsequently claimed that he knew he was going to miss the penalty because he had lost confidence under former coach Avram Grant.

But Anelka had the last laugh when he scored Chelsea's second goal of the night against Spartak and then insisted that Rooney, who has signalled his intention to quit Manchester United, would be welcome at the Bridge.

"It is always good to win a game," said Anelka.

"Especially away from home in the Champions League. We wanted to take three points and that is what we did.

"We have a big squad with good players and even though we have a lot of players missing, we are capable of winning games.

"The best thing was not to think about what happened in the stadium before and to try to win the game. It was good for me but I was not thinking about what happened two years ago.

"Rooney is a good player, everybody knows his quality. If he wants to come to Chelsea then he is welcome, but I am not the owner."

Chelsea were well worth their victory in the Luzhniki. That was virtually cemented in the 23rd minute when Russia international Yury Zhirkov scored his first goal for the club with a stunning 25-yard volley.

Anelka then made sure there was no way back for the Russians when he finished off a fine run from Michael Essien by firing home from an acute angle two minutes before the interval.

Chelsea had started the game without striker Didier Drogba, sidelined by illness, injured midfielders Frank Lampard, Ramires and Yossi Benayoun plus defenders Jose Bosingwa and Alex.

But they welcomed back striker Salomon Kalou who was a thorn in the side of Spartak throughout.

It was Kalou's first game since sustaining a thigh injury in the Carling Cup defeat against Newcastle last month.

And when it comes to the subject of Rooney, the Ivory Coast striker believes that he must stay in the Barclays Premier League.

"Wayne is a great player, he has proved that with Manchester United and England," said Kalou. "It would be good to have Wayne in the Premier League.

"It was good to be back to fitness and to help bring the victory. I'm pleased to be back in the team and to put in a good performance."

Kalou also paid tribute to Anelka whose goal was his 50th in Chelsea colours.

"Nicolas is a good player, he has a good attitude and it's always good to learn from a player like that," added Kalou.

"Since he has been at the club I have learned a lot from him. If myself, Didier and Nicolas are in the team we always feel we can provide the goals for Chelsea."

Kalou revealed the Chelsea team were allotted the same dressing room as they were in the 2008 final.

"We were in the same dressing room as last time," added Kalou. "It was hard to be reminded of 2008 but it's part of football. We won this time so we can be happy with that.

"The objective was to come here and get the three points. We knew it was going to be difficult because the pitch is not easy to play on.

"We knew that we had a lot of young players on the bench, they have been training with us and have a great attitude.

"They're in the team because they deserve to be there and when they have an opportunity to play they can really show what they can do."

Coach Carlo Ancelotti also confirmed that striker Drogba, who has missed the last two games through illness, will be fit to face Wolves on Saturday.