The Blues may have beaten Porto and the central defender may fancy their chances, but the Portuguese's team will not have any potential opponent quaking in their boots
Jose Mourinho’s men will not have shaken off the monkey on their back just yet – their loss to Bournemouth was the first time in Premier League history that the champions of the top division had been beaten by the champions of the second – but this performance at Stamford Bridge was cathartic, if not entirely convincing.
Stamford Bridge ached with nerves before kickoff, Porto’s fans making a royal racket and expressing the nonchalant confidence reserved for a team used to winning titles. Chelsea, at last, seems to have rediscovered that very feeling.
Diego Costa was the chief protagonist in the win, hustling, harrying, irritating, as he put himself about and made himself the nuisance that he was last season, when he netted 20 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions. He has scored a mere four this term, but did everything he could to add to his tally against Mourinho’s former club.
His first golden chance arrived in the first half when, having burst through, he found himself one-on-one with Iker Casillas, whom he also decided to kick when he had the ball in his hands earlier. His shot was weak, however, and rebounded off Ivan Marcano and into the net. Despite Maicon’s best efforts on the line, the goal was given. When your luck is in, those decisions are given.
Willian added a second in the 52nd minute, collecting a finely weighted pass from Oscar and powering on into the box before firing at Casillas’s near post. The former Real Madrid legend could not get down quickly enough, and the Matthew Harding Stand erupted.
Costa could and, indeed, should have added some sheen to the scoreline, thrice failing to test Casillas when clean through, but the job, by then, was done
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