Rangers shot down

Though Fernando Torres has, as ever, commanded much of the attention in pre-season, the encouraging form of Sturridge, who scored eight goals in 12 games on loan at Bolton last season, has seen the England Under-21 international make a strong case for his inclusion in a side overflowing with attacking talent, even if he misses the first three games of the new campaign due to suspension.

After Chelsea went behind in their final pre-season friendly to a goal from Nikica Jelavic after seven minutes, Sturridge, playing wide on the right off Torres, scored with two expert finishes to put the Blues back in control of the match.

Bolton have shown an interest in taking Sturridge back to the Reebok Stadium but on this evidence Chelsea must keep him within their ranks, even if they extended their lead in the second half thanks to a goal from Florent Malouda, and would have won more comfortably had Frank Lampard not had a penalty saved.

Rangers, who were further ahead in the conditioning process having already played two league games, started quickly and found themselves a goal in front after only seven minutes.

Steven Davis carried the ball forward and slipped a pass through to Steven Naismith on the right of the Chelsea box, and his dinked cross to the back post was met with a firm header from Jelavic as he put the ball past Petr Cech.

It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded in six friendlies under Villas-Boas and their response was to restrict Rangers to a handful of chances in the remainder of the first half as they began to dominate possession and take control of the game.

After 22 minutes Chelsea were level as they exposed some poor defending from the home side. As the ball bounced across the face of goal, Lee Wallace lost sight of Sturridge, who was free to slam an emphatic finish high into the roof of the net.

His second was even more impressive. Eight minutes later he put Kirk Broadfoot under pressure as the defender attempted to clear, robbed his opponent of possession, accelerated away and then dispatched a fine finish past Allan McGregor at the near post.

Salomon Kalou also saw a curling effort tipped expertly wide by the Rangers keeper, but the half ended on a sour note for the Premier League side as midfielder John Obi Mikel was forced off due to injury, with Josh McEachran on in his place.

Given that Michael Essien has already been laid low by a long-term injury, it will have concerned Villas-Boas to see Ramires also go down in pain at the start of the second half, but the Brazilian shook off the blow to continue.

Rangers continued to struggle to create chances and when one failed clearance from John Terry popped into the path of summer signing Juan Manuel Ortiz, he got his finish all wrong and skewed a volley horribly off target.

Chelsea also lost an element of fluency amid a flurry of substitutions, with Villas-Boas completely reworking his frontline as Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka replaced Kalou, Torres and Sturridge to demonstrate the wealth of options at Chelsea's disposal.

After 67 minutes Drogba spun away from Broadfoot with ease and unleashed a ferocious effort that flew wide of the far post. The Ivorian then turned provider on 72 minutes as his superior speed of thought saw him flick the loose ball into the path of Malouda, who headed home from close range.

Drogba generated panic again two minutes later when he flung himself to the floor to win an ill-deserved penalty. However, Lampard saw his spot-kick saved by substitute goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who finished the game strongly when repelling a succession of chances for the Chelsea front three.