Chelsea bounced back from their 5-2 home defeat in the Premier League to cruise past Portugal’s FC Porto with a 2-0 win in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.
The win brought some welcome relief for the Blues manager Thomas Tuchel after his side’s heavy defeat to West Brom on Saturday in the Premier League, which was followed by a training ground incident between teammates Kepa Arrizabalaga and Antonio Rudiger.
England internationals Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell scored for Chelsea as they bagged two important away goals against Porto.
Chelsea were back to their miserly defence as they kept another clean sheet to make it 7 in 9 European games this season.
With both legs of this tie in Spain at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium because of coronavirus travel restrictions between Portugal and the United Kingdom, this was Porto’s ‘home’ game, meaning Chelsea’s two away goals have put them in the driver’s seat to qualify for the final 4 of Europe’s elite club competition.
Senegal’s Edouard Mendy has been Chelsea’s best signing this season (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Mason Mount gave Chelsea the lead after 32 minutes having received a pass from Jorginho after a patient build-up. The midfielder turned sharply and beat Agustin Marchesin with an instinctive low finish from a tight angle.
Mount has scored more goals in all competitions than any other Chelsea player since Tuchel took charge in January.
The German coach showered praises on the young England midfielder.
“The finish was clinical and excellent from Mason,” said Tuchel.
“He has the quality to do this and to do it in a quarter-final is a big step for him and a big help for the team,” added the Chelsea boss.
“He is a very important player for our squad at a young age. The first goal was very important for us.
“It came in a moment after which we had suffered a lot – the team was too tense. We lacked the freedom. Our game was a bit static.”
Ben Chilwell secured the victory for the side by pouncing on a mistake by Corona. This was the first time since 2012 that 2 English players scored in the same game for Chelsea.
This victory also meant that this was the first time since April 2004 that has seen Chelsea win consecutive away knockout games!
Since Thomas Tuchel took over the Chelsea job in January, no goalkeeper playing for a top five European league side has kept more clean sheets in all competitions than Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who has 10 now for the Blues.
Chelsea will look to secure their place in the semifinals next week as a draw will be more than enough to see them through.
