Chelsea's
rocky start to the season continued as Jose Mourinho's return to former club
Porto ended in a 2-1 defeat at the Estadio do Dragao.
Willian's superb free kick cancelled out Andre Andre's first-half opener,
but Porto defender Maicon headed home from a corner shortly after the break
as Chelsea dropped to third in Group G.
Here, we round up the top talking points from another disappointing night
for the Blues…
Mourinho's changes backfire
"To be a winner you must have a strong mentality every game, every day. At
this moment, I don't have untouchables." Jose Mourinho stayed true to his
word. After warning his players that their starting spots were not
guaranteed, the Chelsea manager demoted Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic to the
bench and left Oscar, Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao out of his squad
altogether following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Newcastle.
The changes did not have the desired effect. Chelsea were second-best for
long periods at the Estadio do Dragao, and Mourinho scowled on the touchline
as Andre Andre gave Porto the lead. Willian's free kick provided some
temporary relief just before the half-time, but Maicon's header put the
hosts back in front in the 52nd minute.
Mourinho threw on Hazard and Matic in an attempt to rescue a point in the
closing stages, but Porto ran out deserved winners with 22 shots to
Chelsea's 12. Mourinho's post-match assessment was generous. "It was a good
performance with two ridiculous mistakes," he said. "Sometimes you make them
and are not punished. We were punished."
The Blues will still be confident of progressing from Group G with Maccabi
Tel Aviv and Dynamo Kiev as their other rivals, but these are troubling
times - regardless of what Mourinho says. Chelsea only lost four times in 54
games in 2014/15; this season they have already lost five.
Ivanovic's struggles continue
John Terry, Gary Cahill, Hazard and Matic have all been dropped at various
points this season, but Branislav Ivanovic somehow continues to cling to his
place. Despite a string of sub-par performances, the Serb has played every
minute of every game with the exception of their 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel
Aviv. Mourinho refused to criticise his players after the game, but
privately his patience must be wearing thin.
Porto had clearly been watching Ivanovic's recent displays as they
persistently targeted Chelsea's right-flank, where Yacine Brahimi ran their
stand-in captain ragged. Brahimi completed 10 dribbles in total, one of
which took him easily past Ivanovic to cross for Porto's opening goal.
Each member of Chelsea's back four struggled, and conceding the second from
a set piece showed a collective lack of organisation, but Ivanovic was
particularly vulnerable. He fared little better going forward, either. He
had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 74th minute, but his free header
from Cesc Fabregas' corner sailed wide of Porto's gaping goal after Iker
Casillas had been caught in no man's land.
Diego Costa returns
Diego Costa is still serving his three-match ban for violent conduct against
Arsenal, but European competition gave him the chance to return to their
starting line-up. All eyes were on the striker to see if he could keep his
temper in check, and aside from a brief confrontation with Vincent Aboubakar
he managed it.
In fact, he was arguably Chelsea's top performer. There was some excellent
build-up play to lay on a shooting chance for Fabregas early on, and he also
struck the underside of the bar with a superb, curling effort from outside
the box shortly after Porto's second goal.
Costa had more shots (three) and completed more dribbles (four) than any of
his team-mates, and his pass accuracy of 85 per cent was also the highest
among Mourinho's starting XI. He may have only scored twice for Chelsea this
season, but this performance was a reminder of how much they will miss him
when he completes his suspension against Southampton this weekend.
Chelsea denied penalty
While there can be few arguments that Porto deserved the three points,
Chelsea will count themselves desperately unlucky not to have been awarded a
penalty in the closing stages.
Replays showed Porto centre-back Ivan Marcano clearly handled Costa's cross,
but the referee signalled a corner instead despite Chelsea's protestations.
Mourinho described it as a "clear penalty" after the match, and they might
have had another earlier in the contest when Eden Hazard stayed on his feet
despite a late challenge from a Porto defender.
Chelsea's 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv ensures their Group G standing is
not too precarious, but their next challenge is to get their Premier League
form back on track against Southampton on Saturday. They will need a
much-improved performance at Stamford Bridge.
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