Mourinho’s gamble pays off as Chelsea cruise
Jose Mourinho’s selection gamble paid off as Chelsea got their
spluttering season back on track with a 4-0 rout of Maccabi Tel Aviv in
the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mourinho’s side went into their Group G opener in turmoil after
Saturday’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Everton left them with only one win from
their first five Premier League matches.
That miserable sequence was Chelsea’s worst start to a season since
1988 and it provoked a barrage of criticism for Mourinho and his
under-performing English champions.
But Mourinho promised changes after the Everton loss and the Blues
boss was true to his word as he axed John Terry, Diego Costa, Pedro
Rodriguez, John Obi Mikel, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic.
It seemed the switches might backfire after Eden Hazard’s shocking penalty miss in the first half at Stamford Bridge.
But lacklustre Maccabi were the perfect opponents for Chelsea to
rediscover a semblance of their form and Willian opened the scoring
before Oscar showed Hazard how to do it by converting a penalty on the
stroke of half-time.
Costa came on to net in the second half and Cesc Fabregas added gloss to the scoreline with a late tap-in.
It was far from a vintage Chelsea performance, but Mourinho will hope
it provides a foundation for future success, starting with a sterner
test against Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend.
“It was a good victory, you could see from minute one we were going to win the game,” Mourinho said.
“The same way I was not in hell with bad results, I am not in heaven when we won a game.
“Missing the penalty was a good thing to test. The players have shown a good attitude.”
There was an early indication of Chelsea’s frustration at their
recent predicament when Loic Remy and Willian, two of the players
drafted in by Mourinho, combined to earn a fifth minute penalty.
Remy’s defence-splitting pass put Willian through on goal and the
Brazilian winger was sent crashing to the turf by Maccabi goalkeeper
Predrag Rajkovic.
However, Mourinho still felt hard done by when German referee Felix
Zwayer decided not to send off Rajkovic and he screamed in anger on the
touchline when he saw the yellow card.
There was even worse to come as Belgium midfielder Hazard, showing a
lack of composure that encapsulated his current struggles, blazed the
penalty high over the crossbar.
It was a comically bad effort and could have shattered Chelsea’s already fragile morale.
Yet, crucially, Rajkovic’s fortunate escape turned into a bonus for
Mourinho as Chelsea took the lead in the 15th minute when the keeper
misjudged Willian’s inswinging free-kick and allowed it to curl past him
untouched into the far corner.
A first goal of the season was as good as it got for Willian, who limped off in the 23rd minute to be replaced by Costa.
After such an uninspiring start from Maccabi, Chelsea were lulled
into a false sense of security at the back and the Israelis should have
equalised when Eran Zahavi was left unmarked from Nikola Mitrovic’s
free-kick, but the forward’s tame header looped harmlessly over.
But the hosts doubled their lead four minutes into stoppage-time when
former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim was ruled to have fouled Costa,
even though he got a toe on the ball before tripping the Spain striker.
Brazil playmaker Oscar calmly sent Rajkovic the wrong way from the spot.
Mourinho had bristled when grilled on a perceived lack of success in
his third year at his previous clubs, but his approval rating remains
high at the Bridge and his name was loudly sung by Chelsea’s fans.
With their confidence returning, Chelsea’s most stylish flourish came
in the 58th minute as Costa caressed a fine volley into the top corner
from Fabregas’s cross.
Fabregas has been pilloried for his ineffective displays of late, so
he will have welcomed that assist and the close-range finish that
brought Chelsea their fourth goal in the 78th minute.