Half-time: Maccabi Tel Aviv 0 Chelsea 1

Gary Cahill’s 20th-minute goal put Chelsea ahead in their Champions League clash in Israel, where former Blues defender Tal Ben Haim was sent off five minutes before the interval.

Cahill blasted in the loose ball after keeper Predrag Rajkovic had produced a brilliant save to tip the defender’s header from Willian’s corner on to the post.

And worse followed for Maccabi Tel Aviv when Ben Haim was red-carded after kicking Diego Costa in an extraordinary outburst.

Chelsea, who will qualify for the knockout stage tonight if they pick up three points and Dynamo Kiev fail to win away against Porto – the Ukrainian team were also 1-0 up at half-time – had problems at the back early on.

Dor Petetz missed a glorious chance for the home side when he headed over from four yards out when left unchallenged.

And Chelsea had another left-off when John Terry cleared Eran Zahavi’s left-wing cross as far as Eli Dasa, who fired over.

But the Blues then stamped their authority on the game and Cesar Azpilicueta fired over after exchanging passes with Oscar before Cahill found the net.