Inspired Chelsea fend off Porto to claim Group G's top spot
In the end it was easy enough. There have been enough false dawns and slip-ups this season that nobody will be saying Chelsea is back on track, but it qualified for the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 victory against Porto on Tuesday night.
Out of keeping with its struggles this season, the Blues were measured and incisive, controlling the game almost from the start and scoring goals near the beginning of each half to settle any nerves. Porto perhaps came to play the reputation not the reality. Where Premier League teams have taken to attacking Chelsea, looking to expose its vulnerabilities, Porto was overly respectful and, given time and space, Chelsea began to look something like the side of last season. This was almost certainly Chelsea’s best performance of the campaign, arguably its best since beating Swansea 5-0 in January.
"It's the minimum we can give to our supporters, who are magnificent to us and give us in this moment more than we deserve, especially to myself," Jose Mourinho told BT Sport 2. "They are unbelievable in their support towards me and I feel really sorry that I can't give them more than what I'm giving."
It’s true Porto's Yacine Brahimi almost wriggled through to put the Portuguese side ahead after six minutes, but an own goal from Ivan Marcano gave Chelsea a 12th-minite lead they would never relinquish. Porto had to score twice to go through -- assuming Dynamo Kyiv beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, which it did. Chelsea’s progress and place at the head of the group was never in realistic doubt and was effectively confirmed by Willian’s goal seven minutes into the second half.
Chelsea were clearly the better team on the night; as Kurt Zouma had a fine night at the heart of the Chelsea defense; Willian was as industrious as ever; and Nemanja Matic began to look again like the holding midfielder he was a year ago. There were flickers too from Eden Hazard, while Diego Costa gave a bizarrely inconsistent display, fluctuating from the very good to the very bad. Generally, though, it was a very satisfying night for Chelsea.
Mourinho has complained all season that luck has gone against Chelsea, but his side had a huge stroke of fortune to take the lead. The move between Ramires, Hazard and Costa was quick and direct and Costa showed some of the devil of old to barge through Marcano and hit his shot straight at Iker Casillas. The rebound hit Marcano in the chest and, despite the best efforts of Maicon, crossed the line.
But Costa remains a player whose focus this season is only partly on football. The nasty edge has always been there, of course, and is to an extent part of his threat. The former Atletico Madrid striker, at times, prefers to brawl instead of scoring. Eight minutes after the goal, at a point at which Chelsea seemed utterly comfortably, Costa gratuitously stood on the foot of Casillas, picking up a needless yellow card. He does, though, perhaps have some value as an irritant, getting both Danilo and Bruno Martins Indi booked before halftime.
In previous years, the assumption would have been that at 1-0, needing only a draw to guarantee progress, Chelsea would have locked the game down and would, almost inevitably have succeeded. The costly draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 of the Champions League in March shook that faith and subsequent events have all but shattered it. Here, though, any anxiety was removed by a goal seven minutes into the second half.
Costa played a key role in it, offer another suggestion that he is returning to form, taking the ball down and laying it off to Hazard, who rolled it into the path of Willian. The Brazilian has been by some distance Chelsea’s best player of the season and, after covering over cracks for most of the past three months, he relished sealing Chelsea’s place in the last 16, lashing the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. In his box in the West Stand, Roman Abramovich, clad in a Chelsea Champions League anorak clenched his fist in delight, a broad grin breaking over his usually inscrutable features.
Yet it is only glimpses of form from Costa. Laid clean through with 20 minutes remaining, he dallied slightly, and was then outmuscled by Danilo. The Porto central midfielder is a big powerful player but the Costa of last season, you suspect, would have been more decisive. He wasted another chance nine minutes later with a heavy touch.
The punch of the air Mourinho gave after the own goal suggested the importance he placed on this game, although whether that was for reasons of keeping his job or staying in the Champions League is hard to say. Either way, Chelsea has gone through and has at last produced a performance this season worthy of its status.
"We are not lucky in the Premier League and luck is part of the game," Mourinho told BT Sport 2. "In the Premier League, it looks like everything goes against us. The players are feeling that and it's a bit of an attack to their confidence and self-esteem."
He added: "I think they were really committed to getting a result, for their pride and because they didn't want to go to the Europa League. Today was an important result for the players and the club. It's very important to go through to the next stage with the best teams in Europe."
