Chelsea star Diego Costa admits he made a mistake by throwing a bib at manager Jose Mourinho but has played down reports of a rift with the Special One.
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“The thing that I’m most happy with, apart from the result, is the fact we needed a point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge of playing to win”, Mourinho said after the game. “Chelsea won it before and we will try to do it again”.
The Spain worldwide played a huge role in Atletico Madrid winning the league title in 2014, before he joined Chelsea in the subsequent summer to lead Jose Mourinho’s attacking line.
He did hint at a little bit of confidence in his side, however, saying that “all the teams who finished second in their group are going to want to play against us”.
Chelsea are 14th in the Premier League table after losing eight of their 15 games so far and speculation was rife that Mourinho would be sacked if they failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Chelsea’s next league game is a trip to surprise leaders Leicester City on Monday night and Willian claims the team’s bad results have left them no room for error.
Defeat and an embarrassing drop into the Europa League might have meant the sack for Mourinho, but now he is optimistic of a season which has flirted with failure finishing with a flourish.
He was subject to the first managerial vote of confidence of Roman Abramovich’s 12-year ownership on 5 October.
Chelsea’s Diego Costa looks on as his deflected shot spins off Porto defender Ivan Marcano into the net for an own goal. “The start of the season has not been good for me, not in how I have played nor in goals”, Costa told Spanish radio station Onda Cero.
Chelsea, and in particular the recalled Costa, could have scored more.
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“Yes there is a lack of confidence clearly, but not a lack of effort”. Costa has scored seven goals in the last ten months and Mourinho is looking to offload the temperamental attacker. This season he couldn’t. “There are things you need to control, but the bib thing was an impulse”, Costa was quoted as saying by goal.com on Thursday. And when he looks to the linesman he loses one important second or fraction and then his last touch on the ball is not the best touch.
