Roberto Di Matteo was hoping Chelsea's late show against Nordsjaelland on Tuesday night would signal the start of better away days to come in the Champions League.
The European champions avoided another winless outing on the continent thanks to three goals in the final 11 minutes of a flattering 4-0 victory in Copenhagen. It was far from a walk in the Parken before that as the Blues threatened to blow another lead, having thrown away a two-goal advantage in their Group E opener against Juventus two weeks earlier.
They also surrendered leads in all of their away group matches last term, and manager Di Matteo said: "It's difficult to win away in the Champions League. We're pleased. We got a clean sheet, another one, and scored four goals. Who knows? Hopefully some more will come away from home."
Juan Mata maintained his superb recent form with his third goal in three games in the first half but it took a superb David Luiz free-kick to open the floodgates, with Mata and Ramires adding gloss to the scoreline.
Di Matteo added: "We expected a difficult game and that's exactly how it turned out to be.
"We were a bit slow out of the blocks, even if we had chances to score. We scored one and had a couple of other chances.
"The second goal was important for us, to settle us down. We were sharper and better in the second half, and once we scored that second goal, we knew we'd win the game.
"They play, no matter what, their football and it's not easy.
"There are no pushovers in the Champions League - look at Bayern [Munich] losing, and [Manchester] United having to come back."
