Jose Mourinho buys some breathing space with Porto win
With their Champions League future in the balance, Mourinho’s side needed to avoid defeat last night to ensure they progressed to the knock-out stage of the competition. In seasons past, the outcome would never have been in doubt.
This season, however, doubt has overwhelmed too many Chelsea performances, most recently when Bournemouth became the latest side to breach what remains of the Stamford Bridge fortress.
Against Porto, though, Mourinho’s side remembered how things used to be, repelling the best efforts of a side that had beaten them earlier in the campaign before easing their way through, thanks to an early own-goal from Ivan Marcano and the crucial second from Willian midway through the second half.
The margin of victory could have been greater, but more important was the assured manner of victory. The display was by no means flawless, but given the circumstances of Chelsea’s season, it was sufficiently impressive.
Mourinho’s latest attempt to breathe life into his side involved dropping Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Gary Cahill to the bench. The move to drop Fabregas in particular was clearly contentious, but the most significant selection decision made by the manager was always likely to be the one to recall Costa.
Having seen his side fail to score in the two games in which Costa was consigned to the bench and Eden Hazard employed as the main striker, it was perhaps no surprise Mourinho turned to the Spain international. Less easy to predict was the reaction of Costa who has made no attempt to disguise his frustration at being left on the sideline.
If Mourinho was looking for a reaction, he certainly got one. Too often this season the striker has appeared leaden footed, unwilling or unable to put in the hard yards that were a feature of his performances last season. Last night, however, he brought a renewed energy to Chelsea’s attack, working the Porto centre-backs and providing an outlet when the visitors threatened to make a testing evening even more challenging.
The ease with which Porto stretched the Chelsea defence was alarming, with Yacine Brahimi in particular causing problems before forcing Thibaut Courtois into a one-handed reaction save with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
The presence of Costa and Hazard further up the field, however, meant Mourinho’s side were always able to quickly relieve the pressure and a combination of the two forward players led to the 12th minute opening goal that shifted the momentum of the match, relieving the pressure on Chelsea and generating anxiety among the Porto players.
A loose ball in midfield was played forward to Hazard, whose perceptive pass sent Costa clear beyond the last line of defence. Advancing into the Porto area, the striker appeared to have wasted the opportunity when he shot straight at the onrushing Iker Casillas, only for the ball to ricochet off the keeper and against centre-back Ivan Marcano, bouncing back towards the goal and clearing the line before the recovering Maicon could clear.
Porto appeared deflated, while Chelsea immediately began to play with more conviction and had an appeal for a penalty turned down six minutes later when Cuneyt Cakir, the Turkish referee adjudged that Oscar had gone to ground after losing his own footing and not because of a challenge by Marcano.
With Ramires providing a more reassuring presence alongside Matic than Fabregas has in recent weeks, and the vibrant efforts of Oscar and Willian complementing the work of Hazard and Costa, Chelsea grew in authority. The tie increasingly looked like it was Chelsea’s to lose, though a rush of blood from Costa midway through the first half highlighted the need for discipline on the part of Mourinho’s side.
Quite what the striker was thinking when he tripped Casillas after the keeper had collected an over-hit forward pass is anyone’s guess but Costa collected an unnecessary yellow card after provoking the kind of confrontation that could easily have led to worse.
That aside, Chelsea continued to look capable of adding another goal, with Oscar seeing a right-foot shot deflected wide and Costa drawing a full-length save from Casillas with an angled shot.
Porto had lined up with five defenders, two midfielders and without a recognised striker in the starting XI and their lack of forward options began to tell as Chelsea continued to press forward, eventually doubling their lead in the 53rd minute. Cesar Azpilicueta’s throw-in was headed inside by Costa towards the path of Hazard who moved the ball on towards Willian. The Brazil international broke into the Porto area before drilling a low shot that beat Casillas at the keeper’s near post to confirm Chelsea’s superiority.
Courtois 6; Ivanovic6, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 8, Matic 6; Willian 8, Oscar 7 (Pedro 81), Hazard 9 (Remy 90); Costa 7 (Mikel 86).
Begovic, Fabregas, Kenedy, Cahill PORTO (4-3-3): Casillas 6; Pereira 5 (Neves 56, 6), Marcano 6, Maicon 7, Martins Indi 6; Herrera 6 (Tello 71,6), Danilo 7, Imbula 5 (Aboubakar 56,6); Corona 6, Brahimi 8, Layun 6.
Helton, Varela, Evandro, Bueno.
C Cakir
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