Brazil winger Willian netted the second goal after the break to kill off Mourinho’s former club and ensure they finished top of the Group G.
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What will happen on the last day of the 2015/16 Champions League?
Without the goal-line technology available in the Premier League, it was up to the official to adjudge whether the ball had crossed the line, and he got the decision spot on to settle early Chelsea nerves.
Chelsea looked composed from the start and when Belgian forward Eden Hazard served Costa a perfectly weighted ball in the 12th minute, Iker Casillas in the Porto goal could only parry the Spain striker’s shot.
“Their record does not mean anything as Chelsea are Chelsea and Mourinho is Mourinho”, said Ranieri, who was in charge at Stamford Bridge between 2000 and 2004.
Mourinho made a host of changes after the Bournemouth defeat, with Diego Costa returning up front despite his recent touchline spat with the Blues boss at Tottenham.
Both sides knew a win would take them through as group winners, but Porto rarely threatened on a night where Chelsea, who left Cesc Fabregas and Pedro out from the start, clicked into gear early on. “We are arriving at so many situations where we just need a tap in, and we are not doing that”.
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. While Chelsea march on, Porto crash out and into the Europa League, thanks to Dynamo Kiev’s win against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which seals the Ukrainian side’s place in the knockout phase. “We will see what comes our way”, he said on BT Sport.
Nevertheless, Chelsea go into Monday’s draw now knowing they’ll avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona as they seek to salvage some pride in this most disastrous of seasons. “I took him off not because I was unhappy with his performance but to give something different to the team, to attack the spaces with faster people”.
“His effort and commitment were great, which was something he didn’t have in the couple of months before”, he said.
After Wednesday’s win, Mourinho said a sense of humiliation motivated his team to significantly improve their performance level.
“Everybody knows us a little more”.
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The Porto substitutions appeared to benefit Chelsea more as the game opened up, but a poor touch from Costa saw the Blues fail to punish the visitors on the counter on 79 minutes, before Hazard struck the post with a low drive a minute later. Yes, clearly. But his attitude was very good and his movement was much better.
