Maccabi Tel-Aviv 4-0

Independent:

Blues need just a draw in final game after win in Israel
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0 Chelsea 4
Jack Pitt-Brooke Sammy Ofer Stadium

This was a small step in the right direction for a Chelsea team still lacking the confidence to make big strides. They won last night, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0, completing a second successive victory for just the third time this season. They moved up to 10 points in Group G, but because of Dynamo Kiev’s surprising win in Porto they have not confirmed qualification to the last-16 quite yet.
Winning 4-0 in Haifa on a pitch as bad as this one is impressive, although the scoreline slightly flatters Chelsea. They threatened to lose control of this game in the second half, when 1-0 up and only facing 10 men, and needed two Asmir Begovic saves to stay ahead.

It took yet another Willian free-kick to get Chelsea out of that squeeze and there are certainly still questions to be asked about their capacity to create and score in open play. Diego Costa’s lack of movement in the first half prompted a ferocious row with Jose Mourinho, which Costa was fortunate to survive. With John Terry limping off in the second half, this is still a team surrounded by questions as they head back to White Hart Lane on Sunday.
When asked about the win, Mourinho told BT Sport: “It’s very important, especially with what happened in Porto. We really needed to win this match. I hope morale comes, tranquillity comes, confidence comes from this result.
“We [have been] for a long time without two consecutive victories. Everything [in the group] is open for last match but at this moment we are in a good position.”

Mourinho said that Terry is a doubt for the Tottenham game after being carried off on a stretcher.
“We already had one injury on this pitch in training with Ramires Another one tonight with John Terry. We are lucky it was just two. Of course he is a doubt. I don’t want to speak without having tests back in London. I think he is a really big doubt.”
Even given Maccabi’s lack of European pedigree, this was far from the ideal fixture for a team trying to drag themselves out of a slump. In a loud ground, on an awful pitch, 2,000 miles from home, Chelsea came up against a side desperate to make up for their 4-0 embarrassment in September. Chelsea could be forgiven for taking two minutes to get used to their surroundings, but in those two minutes they should have conceded, as Dor Peretz headed over with the first move of the match.
Once Chelsea settled they were a class apart from their tireless but limited hosts. With Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic reunited in midfield, they dominated possession, stroking the ball around and hoping for a way through.

It came, as it often does with Chelsea these days, from a set piece. Gary Cahill headed Willian’s corner, only for Predrag Rajkovic to turn it onto the post. Cahill was first to the rebound, though, and he finished comfortably.
That stacked the odds in Chelsea’s favour, and when Tal Ben Haim was sent off, any chance of an even game might have gone with him. Ben Haim should be experienced enough to keep his head in games like this, but his ugly double-kick at Diego Costa suggested otherwise.
Costa had not been at his sharpest and when, just before the break, he declined to make a run onto a clever Fabregas pass, Mourinho turned around and kicked the turf in disgust. As Costa walked off at the break, Mourinho told him how he felt, and Costa responded in kind. Loic Remy spent the interval warming up, and when Costa re-emerged 15 minutes later it was one of the surprises of the night.
Almost as unexpected, though, was the ferocious second-half contest Maccabi’s 10 men produced. Catching Chelsea unaware, Maccabi right-back Eli Dasa ran round the back, forcing a save from Asmir Begovic, before Peretz failed to turn in a free-kick from a similar position. When Tal Ben Haim – the winger, still on the pitch – darted down the right on the break, Begovic was required again to keep the ball out of the top corner of the net.
This was the type of tense period that Chelsea have struggled with this season, but they came through it thanks to another set-piece. It was a Willian free-kick which beat Dynamo Kiev two weeks ago and here, the same man killed the game, in the same way, bending the ball over the wall and into the corner.
With the win assured, if not qualification, Chelsea started to open up. They have not scored many good goals in open play this year, but they made one to be very proud of here. Baba Rahman crossed from the left and Oscar darted into the box to head past Rajkovic. The Serbian goalkeeper had made some good saves but he was left with the same scoreline from Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea scored a fourth in added time. Kurt Zouma, on for the injured John Terry, headed in Oscar’s corner.

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Guardian:

Chelsea’s Willian hits another stunner in 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0 - 4 Chelsea

Dominic Fifield at Sammy Ofer Stadium

A second successive win in a campaign littered with unexpected setbacks would normally leave a team buoyed and enthused, but this is Chelsea. José Mourinho’s side departed Haifa top of Group G on goal difference with a rare thrashing to celebrate and comforted by the knowledge a win from their final fixture against Porto will be enough to claim the group. Yet it was still a troubling flipside that occupied their minds.
Anchoring the mood was the fact John Terry sustained ankle damage on a shoddy pitch. The injury to the captain will require scans before Sunday’s awkward trip to Tottenham Hotspur. The manager, who had watched the 34-year-old depart forlorn on a stretcher, admitted he did “not believe too much” the centre-half would be available and had already lost Ramires to a muscle injury when slipping in training the previous evening. He denounced the pitch as dangerous, though if he was helpless on that front he was disgusted on another.

 
It was the ugly argument with Diego Costa on the stroke of half-time that seemed more alarming, exposing a relationship that has become disconcertingly tense this term. The striker’s lack of movement and anticipation is clearly infuriating the Portuguese, Costa’s instincts dulled perhaps by a lack of confidence. Nothing the forward tried came off here. Last Saturday’s winner against Norwich felt like an isolated incident amid sluggish reactions, though the Spain international is clearly quicker to fight his own corner.
When Eden Hazard scurried on to Cesc Fàbregas’s clipped pass and lobbed the ball invitingly into the centre as the contest drifted into stoppage time at the end of the first period, Costa was dawdling on the edge of the area. Mourinho was livid and bellowed his exasperation, gesticulating frantically, with his assistant, Rui Faria, emerging from the dugout attempting to calm him down. Costa screamed back, flinging his arms in dismissal. Oscar and Terry approached him before he left the pitch but he waved them away and pursued his manager down the tunnel like a man possessed.

“I’d wanted him to do a certain movement that he didn’t and I was disappointed,” said Mourinho. “I reacted. He did too. At half-time in the dressing room, a few kisses and a few cuddles. No problem.”
That was deeply unconvincing. Indeed, more telling was his description of his team’s third goal, when Oscar burst into the area to meet Baba Rahman’s fine cross from close-range. “Oscar’s goal, for me, was the one I was most happy with because, finally, we had someone in the box attacking a good delivery,” said the manager. It is easy to see where Costa needs to improve, although, with Radamel Falcao diminished and currently injured and Loïc Rémy a very different kind of centre-forward, Mourinho lacks alternatives in that forward pivot.

He did not need Costa adding to his season’s tally to overcome a poor Maccabi Tel Aviv team, whose status as the group’s whipping boys was confirmed with another heavy defeat. They threatened only fleetingly and were undermined by Tal Ben Haim’s first-half dismissal after he twice attempted to land a kick on Costa, even if Eli Dasa and, most spectacularly, Eran Zahavi subsequently forced Asmir Begovic into smart saves. Yet Chelsea monopolised possession and were always more inconvenienced by the surface than the opposition.

They led when Gary Cahill headed down Willian’s corner, Predrag Rajkovic doing well to scoop the ball on to the post before the centre-half poked in the rebound. Willian’s free-kick and headers from Oscar and the substitute Kurt Zouma gave the scoreline a gloss Mourinho did not think was entirely merited. “The result was too nice for us,” he offered, his frustration at the state of the pitch all too obvious. “Such a beautiful stadium, such a fantastic public – they deserve a better surface because that was bad and dangerous. Yesterday we tried to protect. We trained just a little bit, but Ramires slid and has a muscular injury. Then, to my surprise, Maccabi trained after us on it and, after the warm-up before the game, the pitch was really bad.

“John has an ankle injury I think down to the pitch. For him to have left the pitch with the score only 1-0, I know he’s in trouble. John is a special guy with a special desire to recover. But to leave with the result 1-0, I don’t believe too much that he can play.” Mourinho had actually walked on to the turf while his players celebrated their opening goal to stamp in some of the divots. Repairing his relationship with Costa may take a bit more time and effort.

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Telegraph:

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0 Chelsea 4
Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma all score in Haifa as Londoners move to top of Group G

Blues stroll to victory but Champions League progress far from certain

By  Matt Law, Football News Correspondent, in Haifa

The result may have been comfortable, but this was not a straightforward night in Israel for Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho.

Goals from Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and substitute Kurt Zouma handed Chelsea a vital win against 10-man Tel Aviv, who had former Blues defender Tal Ben Haim sent off for a foul on Diego Costa.

But Mourinho was involved in an angry row with striker Costa and lost captain John Terry to injury ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to the appalling Sammy Ofer Stadium pitch in Haifa.
Having already seen Ramires fall victim to the surface in training on Monday night, Mourinho even acted as groundsman to replace divots after Cahill’s opening goal in an attempt to stop both sets of players suffering injuries. But it was not enough to stop Terry hurting his right ankle in the second half.

Dynamo Kiev’s shock victory in Porto means Chelsea have not yet qualified for the knockout stage of the competition, despite moving to the top of Group G.
A draw with his former club would be enough for Chelsea to go through, but Mourinho has plenty to consider before the game against Porto at Stamford Bridge.
Most pressing will be to get the best out of last season’s top scorer once again, having insisted that his fall-out with Costa was sorted out at half-time with “kisses and cuddles”. Mourinho had lost his patience with Costa for not being in the six-yard box in the victory over Norwich City and the flashpoint in Israel was over a similar incident.

The Portuguese screamed at Costa shortly before half-time after he had failed to get anywhere near an Eden Hazard cross into the six-yard box. But the 27-year-old gave as good as he got, shouting back and gesticulating at his manager.
Costa refused the attempts of ­Oscar to calm him down, but ­reappeared after the break and played the entire second half. It was noticeable that Costa stood by the touchline just before the final ­whistle was blown and then headed straight down the tunnel without acknowledging Mourinho or shaking hands with his team-mates or his opponents.
Mourinho had criticised the pitch in Haifa ahead of kick-off and the surface quickly got worse with one big hole appearing near his ­technical area and several smaller divots giving the impression of mole hills covering the surface.


Maccabi Tel Aviv immediately found their feet on the pitch and should really have taken the lead in just the second minute. Ben Haim found Dor Peretz unmarked in the penalty area, but the midfielder headed the cross wastefully over the bar – much to the relief of Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Despite the difficult conditions, Chelsea provided two moments of quality from which they almost opened the scoring as Oscar back-heeled the ball into the path of ­César Azpilcueta and the defender curled a shot just wide. Cesc ­Fàbregas then saw a ­wonderful chip fall just over the crossbar.
It did not take long for Chelsea to take the lead, however, as Cahill got the better of the bumpy pitch and Tel Aviv goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic in the 21st minute.
Rajkovic made a brilliant save to tip the central defender’s header from Willian’s corner on to the post, but Cahill reacted quickest to then poke the rebound into the net.

Rather than celebrating, Mourinho took the opportunity of a break in play to walk on to the pitch and replace all the divots he could ­before the match restarted.
Although they remained just one goal up at the break, Chelsea’s task was made easier when their former defender Ben Haim was red carded shortly before half-time for a wild kick on Costa. Ben Haim seemed shocked that he was sent off by Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco for the challenge, but it was stupid and vicious.

While Mourinho dealt with Costa in the dressing-room at half-time after their public fall-out, he sent out substitute striker Loïc Rémy to warm-up during the break.
That led to doubts over whether or not Costa would come back out for the second half, but he did and the man who Mourinho has defended on so many occasions was quickly upsetting people again.
Costa exchanged pushes and glares with home defender Eli Dasa, who had forced Chelsea goalkeeper Begovic into a good save after being played onside by a dozing Hazard.

Rajkovic produced another good save to stop Hazard’s volley and then displayed superb reflexes to get in the way of Azpilicueta’s effort at the back post.
Mourinho made his first change with just over 20 minutes remaining, but it was Hazard, rather than Costa, who was taken off and ­replaced by Pedro Rodríguez. Terry was then forced off on a stretcher after suffering an injury to his right ankle, with Zouma taking over.
Terry will now face a fight to be fit in time to face Spurs, but Chelsea did not miss him too much as they cruised through the final stages.

Willian maintained his incredible set-piece record this season by ­scoring his sixth goal from a free-kick that extinguished any fears of a shock comeback from the hosts.
Oscar then added another goal with a rare header from a Baba Rahman cross and Zouma got on the scoresheet in stoppage time with a towering header.

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Mail:

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-4 Chelsea
Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma put their side in Group G driving seat as former defender Tal Ben Haim sees red for late challenge on Diego Costa

By Matt Barlow for the Daily Mail 

It was all handshakes, smiles and high-fives by the end but Chelsea have lost the knack of doing anything the easy way.
In such tempestuous times, even a routine win against a team reduced to 10 men before half-time and without a Champions League win, or even a goal from open play, unfolded in the shadow of a brand new storm.
Gary Cahill opened the scoring against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Tal Ben Haim was sent off for a brainless hack on Diego Costa.

Jose Mourinho’s team were coasting along when a furious row that erupted between the manager and Costa, in the final seconds of the first half, saw them both disappear down the tunnel at half-time in furious moods.
Mourinho claimed they kissed and made up, but whatever happened it unsettled Chelsea and encouraged Maccabi, who were revived.
For half an hour they threatened to level, until Willian came to the rescue by converting his sixth free-kick of the season.
On an awful pitch there was also an injury to John Terry, who was carried off having rolled an ankle, sparking concerns ahead of Sunday’s derby against Tottenham, before Oscar scored the third. Kurt Zouma, on as a substitute for Terry, headed in the fourth goal, but Dynamo Kiev have complicated matters in Group G with a surprise win in Porto.
Chelsea move to the top of the pool but are not certain of their place in the last 16, with one to play at home to Porto.

Mourinho was grumbling about the state of the pitch before kick-off. It was lumpy, slow and soon cutting up badly. One turn by Willian carved a huge slice out of the turf.
Together with a noisy home crowd, it made for an uncomfortable opening spell. Unable to trust the surface, Chelsea were edgy on the ball while Maccabi were quick and aggressive, seeking to pounce on errors.
Dor Peretz headed narrowly over, Eran Zahavi caused panic with a mazy run and Eli Dasa sliced a good chance wide. All this within the first five minutes, but the Londoners took the lead on 20 minutes from a corner delivered by Willian.
Predrag Rajkovic made a splendid save from Cahill’s initial header, powerful and directed down after leaping high above Nosa Igiebor. Rajkovic pushed it on to a post but the rebound spilled to Cahill who was quick to react and boot it over the line. As his team celebrated, the Chelsea manager strolled on to the pitch to stamp down some of the larger divots. Just making a point.
Mourinho had made four changes to the team which beat Norwich, three of them in the back four, where only Terry remained. Oscar came in for Pedro and Eden Hazard moved back out on to the left wing.

Maccabi lost intensity after going behind and Chelsea produced fluent football, with Cesc Fabregas increasingly influential alongside Nemanja Matic, who prowled the midfield with some of the swagger which defined his game last season.
Willian and Hazard dribbled and jinked, Oscar flicked and twisted on the ball and Costa produced a bicycle kick which veered wide.
Ben Haim made life easier for his former club by stupidly hacking down Costa in midfield.
The experienced Israeli, who eight years ago to the day was in tandem with Terry for Chelsea against Derby, seemed surprised when the referee pulled out a red card, but it was a ridiculous challenge, an old-fashioned hack which wiped out Costa as he shielded the ball.
With Maccabi down to 10, it ought to have been plain sailing but cue the bust-up between Costa and Mourinho as the whistle went for half-time. Loic Remy spent the interval warming up but Costa returned after the break and Remy remained on the bench.

Perhaps the flashpoint unsettled Chelsea, because full back Dasa forced Asmir Begovic into the first save of the second half, and Cesar Azpilicueta made his own goalkeeper stretch for a header which momentarily appeared destined for his own net.
Azpilicueta forced a fine save from Rajkovic, the keeper at the other end, when he probably ought to have scored, before Begovic denied Zahavi on the counter-attack with a fingertip save.
Suddenly the group whipping boys were looking dangerous, but they could not find an equaliser and Willian settled Chelsea with another of his free-kicks, this one curled delicately over the defensive wall from just outside the box.
Two headers late in the game completed the scoring. Oscar struck from a cross by Baba Rahman and centre back Zouma nodded in from a corner in stoppage time.
Costa survived for the full 90 minutes but was thwarted by Rajkovic in the closing seconds and could not find a goal.
When the whistle went Costa was standing by the tunnel. He headed straight off the field and was the first player on the bus.

MACCABI TEL AVIV (4-2-3-1): Rajkovic 6; Dasa 6, Ben Haim I 3, Carlos Garcia 5, Ben Haroush 5; Alberman 6.5 (Azulay 85mins), Peretz 6; Ben Haim II 6 (Ben Basat 80), Igiebor 5, Zahavi 6 (Itzhaki 89); Rikan 5
Subs not used: Lifshitz, Tibi, Mitrovic, Vermouth
Sent off: Ben Haim I 40

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6; Azpilicueta 5, Cahill 7, Terry 6.5 (Zouma 72, 6), Baba 6: Fabregas 7, Matic 6.5; Oscar 6, Willian 7.5 (Remy 79), Hazard 6.5 (Pedro 69, 6); Costa 6
Subs not used: Blackman, Ivanovic, Mikel, Loftus-Cheek

Goal: Cahill 20, Willian 73, Oscar 77, Zouma 90
Booked: Matic, Fabregas 
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)
Attendance: 29,121

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Mirror:
   
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-4 Chelsea: Blues remain on course for last 16 after running riot in Israel
 
By Adrian Kajumba
 
Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma scored to earn the Blues a win that puts them in pole position to reach the knockout stages

Chelsea ended the night top of their Champions League group but still endured the sort of bumpy night that summed up their season.
Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma scored to earn Chelsea a win that kept them on course for the knockout stages.
But, in keeping with this campaign when little has gone smoothly for the Blues, Jose Mourinho still ended the night with problems on his plate.
The first, and possibly biggest, was his public bust-up with striker Diego Costa just before half-time which overshadowed this eventually comfortable win.
Captain John Terry was then carried off on a stretcher in the second half.
And Dynamo Kyiv’s shock win in Porto means Chelsea’s bid for qualification will go right down to the wire.

A home draw against his former club Porto in two weeks will be enough to send Mourinho’s men into the last 16.
But the way this season has gone for Chelsea, Mourinho will know he can’t take anything for granted.
Despite all their domestic woes, Mourinho talked up his and Chelsea’s chances of another against-the-odds Champions League triumph pre-match and early qualification was up for grabs if other results went their way.
In normal circumstances, the Blues would be expected to have few problems doing their bit against pointless group whipping boys Maccabi.
But little has been normal about the west Londoners’ season. Their failure to win a Champions League away game for a year was another cause for concern.

Maccabi boss Slavisa Jokanovic – not one of the six players who swerved Chelsea’s 2001 visit to Israel due to security fears following 9/11 – copied Mourinho’s recent reference to Mission Impossible in the build up.
He was aiming to guide his side to victory in their last two group games so they could sneak into the Europa League. Chelsea hadn’t read his script.
Once they rode out the early storm from the hosts and got used to their awful divot-ridden
pitch, Mourinho’s men silenced ­Maccabi’s boisterous fans in the 20th minute when Cahill reacted quickest to tap in the rebound after his initial header from Willan’s corner was saved.
The surface was causing Chelsea more problems than Maccabi, whose task got much harder when ex-Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim was sent off for a wild hack on Costa.

Costa ended the half in an angry row with Mourinho, who was fuming the striker wasn’t busting a gut to get on the end of an Eden Hazard flick across goal.
Oscar stepped in to calm the striker as he headed down the tunnel and, when Loic Remy was put through his paces during the break, it looked like Costa might be coming off. He did, however, reappear for the second half.
The goalkeepers took over once the action resumed. Asmir Begovic produced sharp stops to deny Eli Dasa and Eran Zahavi. In between Predrag Rajkovic produced heroics to keep out Hazard and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Terry was then carried off but Willian bent in his sixth successful free-kick of the season a minute later before Oscar and Zouma powered in headers to wrap up victory.

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Sun:

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0 Chelsea 4

By ANDREW DILLON

CHELSEA won again — miracles do happen in the Holy Land after all.
But a four-goal romp still could not fully mask the sense of simmering anger and frustration which seems to hide just below the surface of every match they play at the moment.
Boss Jose Mourinho finally lost patience with his striker Diego Costa, 27.

And the Portuguese let rip at the forward in full view of the pitch he had also criticised before the game.
The quickest Costa moved all night was when he darted down the tunnel without shaking hands with his manager or his team-mates at the final whistle.

And there is despair as skipper John Terry rolled his right ankle and had to be carried off on a stretcher.
The injury makes the defender a serious doubt for the big showdown with in-form Tottenham at White Hart Lane in just four days’ time.
Anyone who thought goals from Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and sub Kurt Zouma would mean the troubles of this most turbulent season are behind them, does not know Chelsea very well. Despite the goalfest, hopeful comments about Terry and news that Loic Remy’s wife is about to have a baby, there is still something not quite right at Chelsea.
The manager has stuck up repeatedly for Costa, whose most notable act to date, this season, has been a three-game ban for violent conduct while scoring only four goals.
One of those came last Saturday against Norwich City but the underlying exasperation with his £32million buy from Atletico Madrid exploded into life with a dramatic altercation between the pair at the end of the first half.

Even Chelsea fans have been growing fed-up with his lack of success in front of goal in his second season in English football, amid rumours that Costa wants to go home. Just minutes before he scored the winning goal at Stamford Bridge last weekend there were cries of ‘lazy’ from the terraces.
And that must have been what Mourinho was thinking too last night when he turned on his marquee signing.
Eden Hazard flicked the ball into an empty space just yards from a gaping goal where Costa should have been to tap in for 2-0 and a comfortable night seconds before half-time.
Instead, he was standing on the edge of the box motionless and got a long-distance coating from the Chelsea dugout for his trouble.
Mourinho also hit out at the state of the pitch before kick- off in a TV interview.
He even marched on during the break in play after Cahill scored the first goal to stamp down some divots a few yards inside the touchline.

From Holy Land to Holey Land — tempers were fraying despite a solid performance from Chelsea.
Even the sending off of former Blues defender Tal Ben Haim, 33, could not dampen the sense of bubbling friction.
Ben Haim got a straight red for hacking down Costa needlessly and aggressively four minutes before the half- time whistle.
Pole-axed Costa did not get up and punch his lights out, he played it cool.
Maybe we should have realised then something was not quite right.
He certainly looked up for it when Mourinho berated him from the dugout for refusing to move — angrily gesticulating back at his boss. Diego was still fuming when he raced up the tunnel after Mourinho at half-time and it was a toss up who would make it out alive for the second half.
The clash between player and manager overshadowed a performance by Chelsea which should have done their confidence a power of good.
Instead, everyone is wondering whether Costa will be axed for Spurs on Sunday despite claims by the management that the bust-up was settled quickly with a kiss at the interval.

And it means that Mourinho is now forced into a rethink.
With Terry likely to miss out, it means youngster Zouma will partner Cahill in defence and deny him the chance to play as a defensive midfielder, a role he excelled at in last season’s Capital One Cup final victory over Tottenham.
Despite the odd breakthrough, Chelsea were in control from start to finish.
They were helped by Tel Aviv being reduced to ten men for the whole of the second half.
Willian, provider of the corner from which Cahill scored the opener in the 20th minute, got his sixth of the season from a free-kick when he curled in another beauty on 73 minutes to lift the gloom as Terry was being carted off.
Oscar headed in No 3 with just 13 minutes to go and substitute Zouma made it four in stoppage time.

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

MACCABI TEL AVIV: Rajkovic 6, Dasa 5, Ben Haim II (Ben Basat 80, 5) 6, Garcia 5, Ben Harush 6, Igiebor 7, Alberman 7 (Azulay 85, 6), Peretz 6, Ben Haim 3, Rikan 7, Zahavi 6 (Itzhaki 89, 5). Subs not used: Lifshitz, Tibi, Mitrovic, Vermouth. Sent off: Ben Haim.

CHELSEA: Begovic 7, Azpilicueta 7, Cahill 7, Terry 6 (Zouma 72, 6), Rahman 8, Matic 6, FABREGAS STAR MAN 9, Willian 7 (Remy 79, 5), Oscar 8, Hazard 7 (Pedro 69, 6), Costa 7. Subs not used: Ivanovic, Mikel, Blackman, Loftus-Cheek. Booked: Matic, Fabregas.
(Dream Team ratings are compiled using Opta data)

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Express:

Maccabi Tel Aviv - 0 Chelsea 4: Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Zouma send Blues top of Group G

JOSE MOURINHO had a blazing row with striker Diego Costa at half time in Israel. But the rest of his team saved their fire to blow away Maccabi.

By Tony Banks in Haifa

Chelsea last night did what they had to do in Israel. But Dynamo Kiev’s unexpected win at Porto means that Group G will go to the final game on December 9 before the two qualifiers are known.
It was not an easy night for Mourinho’s men, on a poor pitch in Haifa. Goals from Gary Cahill, Willian and Oscar made it all look much more comfortable than it actually was.
Mourinho blew his top at Costa just before half-time for bad positional play in front of goal – and the furious striker gave as good as he got, despite Oscar and John Terry trying to calm things down.
Amazingly Costa appeared for the second half – but his team did the job anyway.

Mourinho, below, made four changes from the team that beat Norwich on Saturday, with Kurt Zouma, Branislav Ivanovic, Kenedy and Pedro all dropping out at the Sammy Ofer Stadium.
But he fielded a strong side, with Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Baba Rahman and Oscar all returning to the line-up as Chelsea aimed at their first away European win in a year.
Chelsea had beaten Maccabi, who have lost all five of their Group G games, 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in September – but Mourinho warned his team against complacency in the build-up.
The Chelsea manager was unhappy about a soft-looking pitch before kick-off and his side had a lucky escape after only two minutes, when Dor Peretz headed over from six yards.

Maccabi, despite their wretched record, tore eagerly into Chelsea from the off but Mourinho’s team began to regain control, as Azpilicueta shot wide and then Cesc Fabregas chipped just over. As quality began to tell, they broke through as Gary Cahill met Willian’s corner. Goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic did well to push the ball on to the post but only back to the Chelsea man, who stabbed it home for the goal that his team needed to settle the early nerves.
Immediately, Mourinho was on to the pitch to tread down a divot with his expensively-shod foot.
Willian, by some distance Chelsea’s best player so far this season, was a constant worry to the Maccabi defence with his pace but Costa blazed an overhead kick wide.
But then with four minutes to go to the break, defender Tal Ben Haim, playing against his old team, was sent off for a wild hack at the Chelsea striker.

Costa as usual was right at the centre of things – but he got a rollicking from Mourinho as the half-time whistle blew for not being in the right place as Hazard flicked the ball on in the six-yard box. The Spaniard gave a volley back. Chelsea were lucky again when Eli Dasa popped up unmarked at the far post and only a fine block by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic prevented an equaliser.
Maccabi’s 10 men were far from giving up.
And as Costa missed his kick after Azpilicueta pulled the ball back, it was still all far too uncomfortable for Mourinho’s men, on a night when they should have been in total control. Hazard almost added a second when he burst through but once again Rajkovic produced a fine save.

But then at the other end, as Maccabi broke, it was Begovic who once again brilliantly preserved Chelsea lead as he tipped Eran Zahavi’s shot round the post.
But, as ever this season, it was Willian who came to the rescue, curling in the vital second goal with a lovely free kick. It was his his sixth goal of the season – all of them from free-kicks.

Maccabi had finally run out of steam and, as Baba Rahman produced a fine cross from the left, Oscar headed home from point-blank range before Zouma rounded matters off in stoppage time.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Azpilicueta, ­Cahill, Terry (Zouma, 72), Rahman; Fabregas, Matic; Willian (Remy, 79), Oscar, Hazard (Pedro, 69); Costa. Booked: Matic, Fabregas. Goals: Cahill 20, Willian 73, Oscar 77, Zouma 90. Next Up: ­Tottenham (a), Sun PL.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv (4-3-3): Rajkovic; Dasa, Ben Haim, Garcia, Ben Harush; Igiebor, Alberman (Azulay 85), Peretz; Ben Haim II (Ben Basat, 80), Zahavi (Itzhaki 89), Rikan. Sent off: Ben Haim 41.
Referee: A Mallenco (Spain).

=========================

Star:

Maccabi 0 Chelsea 4: Blues move closer to Champions League last 16 after routine win
JOSE MOURINHO had a blazing row with striker Diego Costa but Chelsea did what they had to do.


By George Scott

Dynamo Kiev’s unexpected win at Porto means that the group will go to the final game on December 9 before the two qualifiers are known.
It was not an easy night for Mourinho’s men, on a poor pitch in Haifa.
Goals from Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma made it look more comfortable than it was.

Mourinho fielded a strong side, with Cesar Azpilicueta, Cahill, Baba Rahman and Oscar returning.
Chelsea beat the Israeli side, who had lost all four of their Group G games, 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in September.
But Mourinho had warned against complacency and was fuming about the soft heavy pitch.

Chelsea had a lucky escape after two minutes when Dor Peretz headed over from six yards.
Maccabi, despite their dismal record, tore into Chelsea from the off but the visitors began to regain control.
Azpilicueta shot wide, and Cesc Fabregas chipped just over.
As Chelsea’s quality began to tell, they broke through as Cahill met Willian’s corner.
Goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic did well to push the ball onto a post but only back to Cahill, who prodded home.
Chelsea were dominating, with Eden Hazard lively and Fabregas orchestrating play.

Willian, by some distance Chelsea’s best player this season, was a constant threat with his pace.
Four minutes before the break, Maccabi defender Tal Ben Haim, playing against his old team, was sent off for a wild, stupid hack at Costa.
Ben Haim tried to claim he had been elbowed but replays showed the decision was right.
Mourinho blew his top at Costa just before half-time for not being in the right place in front of goal.

The furious striker gave as good back, despite Oscar and John Terry trying to calm things down.
Amazingly, the striker appeared for the second half. Chelsea were lucky when Eli Dasa popped up unmarked at the far post and only a fine block by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic prevented an equaliser.
Maccabi’s 10 men were far from giving up.
Hazard almost added a second when he burst through, but once again Rajkovic produced a fine save.

Then Maccabi broke and it was Begovic who again brilliantly preserved Chelsea’s lead as he tipped Eran Zahavi’s shot round the post.
As ever, it was Willian who came to the rescue, curling in the vital second goal with a lovely free-kick – his sixth goal of the season and all of them from set-pieces.
That was the end of Maccabi’s resitance and Chelsea added a third when Oscar headed home from a fine Rahman cross.
Zouma headed Chelsea’s fourth direct from a corner.

==========================

Norwich 1-0

Independent:
Diego Costa strokes in only goal of the game as Blues get back to winning ways
Chelsea 1 Norwich City 0
Glenn Moore Stamford Bridge

They were whistling for the final whistle at the end, and when it came the giant roar of relief betrayed the anxiety infecting Stamford Bridge, but this was a far more comfortable victory for Chelsea than the  scoreline suggests. The team are still not playing like defending champions, but they appear on the way  to recovery.

Most significant of all Eden Hazard looks to be rejuvenated, the reigning Footballer of the Year  delivering a bewitching performance of the type that lit up last season but has been rare this. If that pleased Jose Mourinho, he was relieved it was Diego Costa who scored Chelsea’s goal just after the hour. The striker’s muted celebration underlined just what a miserable afternoon he had been enduring before a lapse in concentration by the Norwich defence offered him the opportunity. 

“We deserved to be two, three, four goals up and relaxed at the end,” said Mourinho, “but once more the relation between how we play and the goals we score is not good.”
Mourinho, who punched the air at the final whistle in what he confessed was relief, added of Costa:  “He missed chances so it is a big goal, important for him and for us. If I  had to choose someone to score the winning goal it would be him. When you lose confidence you lose fluency, so he can do better, but one goal  is important. Eden created great chances. It is important also for his confidence. He is a player who is not performing especially well, and a top player who is not playing well feels it more than other players.”

Chelsea have a practice of inviting former players on to the pitch at half-time. Yesterday’s guest was Colin Pates during whose decade at the club Chelsea were relegated twice, nearly went bust, lost possession of Stamford Bridge and flirted with slipping into the third tier. It was a reminder of how much worse a Chelsea crisis used to be.
Modern football, though, is mainly about the here and now. Three successive League defeats, and a position two places off the relegation zone, would create a febrile atmosphere at any top club, never mind one as unstable as Chelsea. 

But while results have remained poor, there have been signs of  improved performances, and Chelsea began with a degree of confidence. Hazard, nominally central but often drifting into good positions on the left, was the fulcrum of most of their moves. In the opening 12 minutes he set up Costa, who shot wide under pressure, and Willian, who drew a good save from John Ruddy. In  between, John Terry went close with a near-post flick.Mourinho gave Kenedy, an attack-minded player, his first Premier League start at left-back. On the other flank Branislav Ivanovic returned and initially looked rusty. He and Kenedy would thus have been happy to see the quick-footed Nathan Redmond  deployed centrally. 
There he was largely starved of service but he did trouble Terry after 20 minutes before finding Dieumerci Mbokani who traded passes with Robbie Brady before shooting over.

Playing two up front was bold by Norwich but left them light in midfield and Chelsea continued to fashion the better chances. However, they tended to fall to Costa, who put an inviting cross from Pedro over the bar despite choosing to side-foot his shot for greater accuracy, then chose to hit the deck in a vain penalty appeal rather than shoot when Willian fed him.
Norwich also had a penaty shout, a much more valid one, when Willian bundled over Brady on the edge of the area. “It was the key moment,” said City manager Alex Neil, who furiously berated the fourth official. “If we get that and score it gives us something to hang on to and Chelsea have to open up more.”

City had one more chance to open the scoring, just before the break when Martin Olssson returned a half-cleared corner and the loose ball reached Sebastien Bassong. Terry produced a trademark block before launching a counter-attack that climaxed with Ruddy denying Costa.
When that was followed by Kurt Zouma blazing over from close in, then Hazard sending a cross begging across the six-yard box for the second time, it seemed the goal would never come. Then Hazard was fouled, Fabregas chipped a quick free-kick over the City defence and Costa finished like Jamie Vardy.
Chelsea could have spared Mourinho the nervous finish but Zouma turned a Willian free-kick against the bar then Ruddy brilliantly denied Nemanja Matic. Victory when it  finally came left Chelsea 12 points off the fourth Champions League spot. “It is difficult, but not impossible,” said Mourinho.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Begovic; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Kenedy; Fabregas, Matic; Willian (Ramires, 87), Hazard (Azpilicueta, 90), Pedro (Oscar, 83); Costa.
Norwich City (4-4-2): Ruddy; Wisdom, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Howson (Hoolahan, 73), O’Neil, Mulumbu (Dorrans, 73), Brady; Mbokani (Jerome, 73), Redmond.
Referee: Craig Pawson
Man of the match: Hazard (Chelsea)
Match rating: 7/10

=================

Observer:

Diego Costa on target as Chelsea beat Norwich to end disastrous run
Chelsea 1 - 0 Norwich
Ed Aarons at Stamford Bridge

You could hear the sighs of relief around Stamford Bridge at the final whistle as Chelsea ended a run of three straight Premier League defeats, although none were as loud as José Mourinho’s.
Back in his usual habitat of his side’s once impregnable fortress after his one-match stadium ban, Mourinho spent the majority of the last 20 minutes of this nervy win over Norwich glued to his seat on the bench.

When the referee, Craig Pawson, finally blew for full-time to confirm Diego Costa’s second-half goal as the match winner, the Chelsea manager allowed himself a brief punch of the air in triumph before disappearing down the tunnel.

“It was bit of relief,” he admitted. “I’m not nervous on the bench, I am OK, I am fine. I think we don’t deserve the heartbeat of the last four minutes. I think we deserve to be enjoying the last three, four minutes with a two, three, 4-0 result, relaxed. But we couldn’t.”
Despite Costa’s third Premier League goal of the season, that Norwich could so easily have snatched an equaliser late on could largely be attributed to his failure to take more than one of the succession of chances that came his way. By this stage last year, the Spain international had scored 11 times in the Premier League but he looks a shadow of that player.

After side-footing over from the penalty spot having been picked out by Pedro, Costa wasted the best chance of the first half when he dallied for too long and was denied by John Ruddy in the Norwich goal. That miss was not well received in the Chelsea dugout and Mourinho must have been considering substituting his combative striker moments before the game’s key moment arrived. A quickly taken free kick from Cesc Fàbregas caught the Norwich defence cold and this time Costa found the corner of the net.
“If I had to choose somebody to score the winning goal, I would go exactly with him,” Mourinho said. “Every game that you don’t score goals, you get 5kg more. You get heavy and the pressure is there.

“In the first half he misses two chances. The second one, in the last minute, is really a big one. So it was important for him. Important for us, the result and the goal, but I think also for him.”
Yet if this does end up being a turning point in Costa and Chelsea’s season, Mourinho will know that Eden Hazard deserves just as much credit. The Belgian has looked like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders in recent months but offered a timely reminder of his quality just when Chelsea needed him..
Mourinho rose to applaud him with the rest of the home supporters when he was substituted in injury time after an energetic performance that should have created at least one goal had Costa been at his best. In the end, though, it was one moment of indecision from the well-organised Norwich defence that proved decisive, much to the chagrin of Alex Neil.

 
“The first thing we should do is get around the ball to stop it being taken quickly, or take the ball with us, and even then recover our positions quicker,” lamented the Norwich manager, who also felt his side could have had a penalty when Robbie Brady was felled by a fast-retreating Willian in the first half. “That little lapse in concentration ultimately cost us the match.”
After the last few results, Mourinho will be thankful that it did. Hazard aside, Chelsea still look a shadow of the team that won the title last season and the decision to drop César Azpilicueta and play the Brazilian teenager Kenedy out of position at left-back illustrates the depth of their problems.

Branislav Ivanovic did make his first start since the 3-1 home defeat against Southampton at the beginning of October, although there seemed to be lack of cohesion in both defence and attack.
Against better sides, they will surely have to improve, although Mourinho was realistic enough to admit that they still have plenty of work to do before the season is anywhere near back on track. “We have to go game after game,” he said. “But I said already that the fourth position for me is not an impossible mission. If you ask me the title I would say impossible mission. Maybe Tom Cruise can do it,” he said with the afternoon’s first hint of a smile.

“It’s complicated because you have to recover points from four candidates. But to recover positions and points to teams that normally are in the middle of the table and to grab one of the ones that go up and will also have a little bit of a collapse for sure, because everybody will have. But match after match.”

===================

Telegraph:
Diego Costa scores winner to give Jose Mourinho breathing space
Chelsea 1 Norwich 0:
By  Sam Wallace, at Stamford Bridge

Just minutes before his striker scored the game’s winning goal, Jose Mourinho had become so desperate to find a way in which to coax Diego Costa into action that he had demanded the Brazilian’s attention from the touchline and then mimed tapping an imaginary ball into an imaginary goal.

Moments earlier, Costa had been missing in action when a cross from Eden Hazard had flashed across the face of an unguarded Norwich goal to the gasps and grumbles of the home crowd. There was a significant unoccupied area of the pitch where the Chelsea centre-forward was supposed to be and it was starting to get embarrassing.
When finally Costa’s goal did come he deliberated long enough to make you think he might just miss. Afterwards the Mourinho described how he wondered during the last few minutes of the game, when Norwich threw everything they had at it, that perhaps another catastrophe was about to befall him, that “maybe we score in our own goal in the last minute.”

That bleak perspective is born of the bitter experience of the last eight weeks during which Chelsea have won just twice in the league since beating Arsenal on 19 September, and there were times when you thought that this game night go the same way that so many others have for Mourinho.  
His team dominated the first half and yet, with Costa picking the wrong run to make, or not even running at all, or missing chances, there was always a chance that they could throw it away. Alex Neil was convinced that his Norwich team should have had a penalty on 33 minutes when Willian barged into Robbie Brady. “I generally don’t say anything about referees because they have a hard enough job,” he said, “but it is getting extremely frustrating.”

For the two good chances that Costa missed in the first half, there was also a superb John Terry block that denied Sebastien Bassong – a classic, body-on-the-line lunge in front of the ball when all seemed lost. The first half could have been much worse for Chelsea who, in spite of fine performances from Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic and Kenedy, at left back, might have conceded.
Mourinho dedicated the game to the club’s player liaison officer Gary Staker, whose father died this week and has worked for Chelsea since the days when he was the only Italian speaker they could rustle up to translate for Claudio Ranieri. Mourinho said that fourth place was still a possibility, suggesting that an unnamed team who have exceeded expectations – surely, Leicester City – would “have a little bit of a collapse” at some point.

“If you ask me [if Chelsea can win] the title I would say ‘impossible mission’. Maybe Tom Cruise can do it. It's complicated because you have to recover points from four candidates. But to recover positions and points to teams that normally are in the middle of the table [is possible]. To grab one of those that go up and will also have a little bit of a collapse for sure, because everybody does.”
The win means that at least Mourinho has some breathing space although the pressure will be back on again in 24 hours’ time as Chelsea travel to Israel for their Champions League game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, and then face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The Spurs game looms large for Mourinho because, White Hart Lane is one place Chelsea fans hate to lose.

For now though he can give grudging thanks that Costa kept his composure on 64 minutes when he cut inside Ryan Bennett and stroked the ball beyond the reach of John Ruddy. It brings to an end a three-game run of defeats in the league that has shredded Mourinho’s season and left him very much at the mercy of Roman Abramovich, who was at Stamford Bridge.

Costa had missed twice in the first half, both from crosses from Pedro, and the second very well saved by Ruddy. Mourinho said that Costa had a tendency to be late recovering his positon and be caught offside, and, indeed, Chelsea’s goal came from a quick free-kick from Cesc Fabregas that opened the space behind Norwich’s defence.
“You don't score goals, you get heavier,” Mourinho said of Costa’s state of mind. “Every game that you don't score goals, you get five kilograms more. You get heavy and the pressure is there.
“Everything is connected. When you are full of confidence it's not just about goals, it's also about fluency. You are fluent in your decisions, you choose your movements well, you choose well the number of touches you have on the ball, when to hold, when to keep possession, when to touch, first touch.
“When you lose confidence, you lose this fluent game. Yes, he can do much better, but again, yes, one goal is very important.”

=========================

Mail:

Chelsea 1-0 Norwich: Diego Costa nets winner as Jose Mourinho's struggling side claim a much-needed win at Stamford Bridge

By Rob Draper for The Mail on Sunday 

When the celebration came from Diego Costa, it was almost weary. Certainly it was more relieved that ecstatic.
Moments before he had eventually found the net, his manager Jose Mourinho had come off the bench to engage in an animated conversation with his star striker.
‘Just side foot it!’ seemed to be gist, as he motioned that action. Or get into the box and get on the end of it: something along those line, anyway.

Whatever it was, Mourinho’s frustration seemed to be growing. Even the Chelsea fans’ faith might have been wavering. Loic Remy was warming up and Costa’s time seemed limited.
Up until the 64th minute, it was simply one of those afternoons that wasn’t happening for the man who scored 20 goals for the club last season.
Chelsea have had multiple problems this season, but Costa’s form, the failure of Radamel Falcao and unwillingness to trust Remy has been chief amongst them.

To put it into context, Costa has now scored seven goals in his last 28 appearances for Chelsea; he scored seven in his first four games for the club.
So when the quick free kick from Cesc Fabregas came for Costa from deep and was controlled by the Brazilian-born player, who cut inside Ryan Bennett, there was a moment when you wondered, whether even this clear chance might be spurned.
And then Costa opened up his body, struck the ball with the kind of confidence he carried last season and the ball curled around John Ruddy’s out-stretched hand.

The ripple of the net told Costa that his six-game wait for a goal was over. And then there was that celebration: Costa simply stood and pointed with one arm to the sky, seemingly thankful his ordeal was over.
‘When you don't score goals, you get heavier,’ said Mourinho. ‘Every game that you don't score goals, you get five kilogrammes more. You get heavy and the pressure is there. But he's working well, he's a happy guy and he tries everything. He's positive, so if I had to choose somebody to score the winning goal, I would go exactly with him.’

But as Mourinho would acknowledge, prior to that 64th minute strike, there was nothing to suggest it would come right for Costa. There was a missed strike on 26 minutes and a worse one just before half time, where he dallied when played in by a Kenedy cross and allowed Ruddy time to set himself to save.

The intervention from the bench from Mourinho came as he held back rather than drove into the box to connect with a Eden Hazard cross on the hour. Nothing he did seemed to be the right option.
‘With so many pundits we have in different media, some of them were strikers and some of them know the feeling,’ said Mourinho.‘In the first half he misses two chances. The second one, in the last minute of the first half, was really a big one. So it was important for him. Important for us, the result and the goal, but I think also for him.

‘Everything is connected. I think when you are full of confidence it's not just about goals, it's also about being fluent. You are fluent in your decisions, you choose your movements well, you choose the number of touches you give to the ball well, when to hold, when to keep possession, when to touch, first touch. When you lose confidence, you lose this fluent game. Yes, he can do much better, but again, yes, one goal is very important.’

All around though, relief was order of the day for a Chelsea team which had lost its last three Premier League games. Costa’s lack of fluency is merely a function of Chelsea’s own stuttering season. The pertinent question is whether one victory can spark something of a renaissance and the evidence was decidedly mixed.
Norwich may be among their prey in Premier League terms – though they did actually start the day above them – but they did enough in the first half to suggest they might add to Chelsea’s woes. The decisive moment came on 33 minutes when Willian clumsily crashed into Robbie Brady inside the area, a clear penalty, which referee Craig Pawson declined to award. Conspiracies, it seems, cut both ways.
‘It was a key moment for both teams,’ said Alex Neil. ‘Quite a lot this season we haven’t been getting decisions our way and we should have a penalty today. We set up with a strategy to frustrate them and hit them on the counter and I think the first half we did that very well.’
Norwich had their moments. Only John Terry diving at full stretch prevent Sebastien Bassong opening the scoring on 42 minutes and Nathan Redmond’s pace again exposed the weakness of Chelsea’s back four.
That said, on the plus side, there was a crispness in their build up, characterised by the continuing return to form from Hazard. At times he dazzled, playing in the No.10 position. But no-one was capable of completing his work; certainly not Costa, until that 64th minute redemption.

A few minutes later, a lovely Willian free kick was met by a Kurt Zouma flick, which rebounded off the crossbar. Robbie Brady forced an excellent save from Asmir Begovic from long-range on 68 minutes.
And at the end, it seemed Nemanja Matic, much improved, had a mazy run which ended with him one-on-one with Ruddy, the Norwich keeper needing to be at his best to smother the shot.
But Chelsea had their win and Costa had his goal. And Mourinho, who greeted the final whistle with a little punch of the air, had some respite.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6.5, Ivanovic 6, Zouma 7.5, Terry 7.5, Kenedy 6.5, Fabregas 7.5, Matic 6.5, Pedro 6.5 (Oscar - 83), Willian 7 (Ramires - 87), Hazard 8 (Azpilicueta - 93), Costa 7
Subs not used: Traore, Remy, Cahill, Blackman
Manager: Mourinho 7
Goals: Costa 64
Booked: Willian

NORWICH (4-2-3-1): Ruddy 7, Wisdom 5.5, Bennett 5.5, Bassong 6, Olsson 5.5, Redmond 5.5, O'Neil 6, Mulumbu 6 (Dorrans - 73) 6, Brady 6.5, Howson 6 (Hoolahan - 73) 6, Mbokani 5.5 (Jerome - 73) 6
Subs: Whittaker, Rudd, Lafferty, Odjidja-Ofoe
Manager: Neil 6
Booked: Mulumbu, O'Neil, Olsson, Bassong
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)

MOM: Hazard
Attendance: 41,582

===================

Mirror;

Chelsea 1-0 Norwich: 5 things we learned as Diego Costa winner relieves the pressure on Jose Mourinho

 
By Darren Lewis
 
After missing a host of chances, Diego Costa netted after 64 minutes to hand the beleaguered champions a much-needed win

 Diego Costa ended his six-game goalless run with the winner to stop the Chelsea rot.
The Spain striker curled in a 64th-minute finish and raised his arm in relief as his barren run came to an end.
The victory prevented the Champions, 16th at the start of play, from losing four matchers in succession for the first time under Roman Abramovich.
Boss Jose Mourinho also enjoyed only his third clean sheet in Chelsea’s 13 League games this season.
Norwich’s run of not winning an away game since August 15 continued here after chances were blown earlier by Nathan Redmond and Dieumercik Mbokani.

Here are five things Darren Lewis learned at Stamford Bridge:

1) Baba Rahman had better start having a look around
A regular at German club Ausburg last year, the 21-year-old has started just two games in League so far. It is exactly the situation that had him apprehensive about trading the Bundesliga for the Premier League in the summer. He must have been gutted to see rookie forward Kenedy in his position here.

2) Nemanja Matic is looking like the midfielder from last season again
Good decision making, alert in the tackle and an influence in midfield again. The international break appears to have done him some good.

3) The Chelsea fans’ frustration with the players is increasing
On a number of occasions here there the home fans made their feelings clear about the apparent lack of appetite from a couple of Chelsea players.
They groaned a back-heel from Branislav Ivanovic went out of play. They moaned groaned after Hazard’s cut-back went into the six yard box instead of to Costa in space.
And they were at it again in the second half when Hazard’s ball went into the six yard box but nobody showed a willingness to cash in.

4) Diego Costa is still struggling to find his goalscoring feet this season
His radar seems to be all over the place. Last season you would have put your mortgage on his scoring with even the slightest sniff of goal.
Here, his nightmare start to the campaign continued as he skied one from eight yards, he allowed Ruddy to save with his legs just before the break and he simply struggled to convince.
Eventually, he was able to end his gaol drought. but Loic Remy must really have upset someone at Stamford Bridge to not be playing with Costa in this form.

5) Norwich need more cutting edge
They had chances but just couldn’t take them.
And against a side with Chelsea’s confidence they should have done. The efforts on goal that they did have, from Redmond and Mbokani, were either easy for Asmir Begovic or wayward when they should have been on target.

Darren Lewis' player ratings:
Chelsea
Begovic 8 - Good save from Redmond’s 14th-minute angled drive. Even better from Brady on 68.
Zouma 7 - Should have done better with his effort from Willian’s corner. Unlucky to hit the bar from Willian free-kick.
Ivanovic 6 - Started okay but given a tough time by Brady, Redmond and Mbokani.
Terry 7 - Unlucky with his 13th-minute flick from Willian corner. Great block to deny Bassong.
Kenedy 7 - A surprise starter at left-back - but did a better job than Ivanovic on the other side.
Matic 9 - Getting his mojo back. Slick passing. Good anticipation
Fabregas 7 - Unlucky to see his 10th-minute effort go over the bar from close range.
Hazard 8 - Sharp again. Sent some nice balls into the box. Nobody there to cash in though!
Willian 7 - Quick feet to get his 14th-minute effort away. Lucky not to concede a penalty for his push on Brady.
Pedro 6 - Nice cut-back to tee up Costa on 25 minutes. Industrious throughout.
Costa 7 - His goal will have done him the world of good. Average until then.
Subs:
Ramires (Willian 87)
Azpilicueta (Hazard 90)

Norwich
Ruddy 6 - Fine save from Willian’s 14th-minute effort. No chance with the goal.
Wisdom 5 - Did well enough against a combination of Pedro and Kenedy.
Bassong 6 - Went to sleep for the goal. Rightly booked for his pull on Hazard.
Howson 5 - Industrious but unable to repel the threat from the home side. Replaced.
Olsson 5 - Rightly booked for clattering Costa as the striker raced in on goal.
Bennett 5 - Great tackle on Hazard to prevent the Belgian scoring Chelsea’s second.
O’Neil 5 - Rightly booked for his foul on Hazard just after half time.
Mulumbu 6 - Worked hard to try and deny time and space to Chelsea’s creative players.
Brady 6 - Linked up well with Redmond and Mbokani to cause early problems.
Redmond 6 - Worked hard in support of Mbokani up front. But couldn’t provide enough cutting edge.
Mbokani 5 - Should have done better with his 19th-minute shot from inside the box.
Subs:
Hoolahan (Howson 72) 5
Jerome (Mbokani 72) 5
Mulumbu (Dorrans 72) 5
Man of the Match: Matic
Ref: Craig Pawson

=========================

Sun:

Chelsea 1 Norwich 0
Costa fires Blues' winner on 64 minutes

By MIKE McGRATH

ANY Diego Costa goal these days is a bit of a collectors’ item.
Well, there have been only four of them in 16 games this season.
Not exactly against the best, either — Macabbi Tel Aviv, West Brom, Aston Villa and now Norwich, a side who have not beaten the Blues for 22 years.
But this one was worth the wait.
And worth its weight in gold seeing it ended Chelsea’s run of three straight Premier League defeats.
A quick free-kick by the impressive Eden Hazard in the 64th minute sent Costa and Pedro away after an eagle-eyed linesman correctly ruled both Chelsea players were just onside.
Costa checked inside Ryan Bennett before sending a curling shot round the excellent John Ruddy and inside the far post.
It was a much-needed victory for Jose Mourinho, returning to the bench after his one-match stadium ban at Stoke, and thoroughly deserved.
It also set up Chelsea nicely for their Champions League trip to Tel Aviv on Tuesday followed by a full-blooded London derby on Sunday at White Hart Lane, where Tottenham won an eight-goal thriller 5-3 last season.
Mourinho spread his arms, we knew what he was thinking.

The Chelsea boss was the first to applaud Costa after the controversy and poor form that has dogged his striker all season.
Mourinho said: “When you don’t score goals, the pundits are all on your back.
“Yes, he missed a couple of chances in the first half, the second a big one. So the one that went in was important, not just for the team but for him.
“But he stays positive. And if I had to choose someone to score the winner, it would be him.
“When you are confident, it’s not just about goals but fluency.
“You are fluent in your movement, your decisions, when to keep possession and when to pass the ball. When you are not, you struggle.
“Yes, he can do better. But this goal will have helped him a lot.”
It has also got him off the hook.
Until Costa’s goal, it had been a re-run of all the previous frustrations that had afflicted the Chelsea No 19 this season.
Blues fans, of course, have been right behind him but even they were having their patience tested.

Four separate incidents in the first half was all the evidence you needed to mount quite a case against Costa.
A neat 26th-minute move between Cesc Fabregas and Pedro ended with a cutback into the box from the winger that was totally wasted by Costa, as the splay-footed striker shot over from a good position.
But we really got to the core of the problem 11 minutes later when Hazard, returning to the sort of form that made him double Footballer of the Year last season, broke on the right before delivering a low cross that sped across the face of the Norwich goal.
There was no Chelsea player near it, least of all Costa.
The Matthew Harding End let out a groan of frustration.

Two minutes on and Costa, receiving the ball in the box, tried to get round Sebastien Bassong, failed, fell over and claimed a penalty. Ah, the Costa we all know and love.
With three minutes to go to the break we had the most exciting 30 seconds of all in a match that never paused for breath.
A Martin Olsson ball across the Chelsea box gave Bassong a great chance to put Norwich ahead, only for a magnificent block from John Terry to immediately give Chelsea the opportunity to break.
They flew up the other end, the impressive Kenedy crossed from the left side, Hazard dummied and Costa had only Ruddy to beat.
But the Spanish striker — without a goal in his previous seven games for club and country — needed too much time and Ruddy was able to deflect the shot for a corner.

Mourinho, on his feet, looked back over his shoulder at the bench, spread his arms and raised his eyebrows.
We knew what he was thinking.
When another Hazard cross flashed across the face of the Norwich goal on the hour with Costa again unable to get a final touch, it seemed the sands of time were beginning to run out.
Within four minutes, he, his manager, his team-mates and owner Roman Abramovich were celebrating.
And it should have been 2-0 three minutes later when Kurt Zouma escaped the Canaries defence to flick a Willian cross over Ruddy but on to the bar.
And yet, incredibly, Norwich might have been right back in it at 1-1 soon after when only a late touch by Chelsea keeper Asmir Begovic succeeded in turning a Robbie Brady effort just round the post.
But Chelsea would reassert themselves and were denied after another fine save by Ruddy from Nemanja Matic near the end, following a wonderful, flowing move.
Canaries boss Alex Neil said: “We’ve done it at Liverpool, Manchester City and here — gone to the so-called bigger clubs and put on a show. It is just disappointing we had that one lapse of concentration.”
At the start, we had the Marseillaise in memory of the Paris dead.
Then, fittingly, it was Allez Les Bleus.

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

SUN STAR MAN — Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)

CHELSEA: Begovic 7, Ivanovic 7, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Kenedy 7, Fabregas 8, Matic 7, Willian 6 (Ramires 6), Hazard 7 (Azpilicueta 6), Pedro 6 (Oscar 6), Costa 8. Subs not used: Traore, Remy, Cahill, Blackman.
Booked: Willian.

NORWICH: Ruddy 7, Wisdom 6, Bennett 6, Bassong 6, Olsson 5, Howson 6 (Hoolahan 6), O’Neil 6, Mulumbu 6 (Dorrans 6), Brady 6, Redmond 6, Mbokani 6 (Jerome 5). Subs not used: Whittaker, Rudd, Lafferty, Odjidja-Ofoe.
Booked: Mulumbu, O’Neil, Bassong, Olsson.

=====================

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Norwich 0: Costa strike gives Mourinho breathing room as Blues win at last
TO START every journey you need to take the first step.

By Tony Stenson

Diego Costa steals narrow win at Stamford Bridge

Have Chelsea began their route back to the top?
There’s still much, much more do but yesterday there was a certain swagger in their play that has been sorely missing of late.
There’s no denying they didn’t deserve to win yesterday but,  it was a another, long agonising wait where again their put their fans through the mincer.
But now there’s hope when it seemed there was none. And the other good news is that they are.
    
Diego Costa was the man who got Chelsea out of a hole when it seemed he was digging deeper into it.

The swarthy striker scored the kind of the goal that was once his trade-mark  but has mysteriously disappeared this season.
He was struck in the 63rd minute to suddenly put a smile on worried faces.
It also woke him up from a long slumber, in which he has fumbled and thrown away chances. None more so than against Norwich.
Mourinho was typically enigmatic, but was delighted to have got back to winning ways

Yet he was very alert to a swift Cesc Fabregas free kick that for once caught Norwich’s splendid defence napping.
Fabregas lifted the ball over a back line still in retreat and Costa controlled the ball, made space for himself and then calmly curved into the far corner of the net.
It was a trip down memory lane and erased all the bad bits that had gone before.

It also inspired several more flurries in which defender Kurt Zouma struck a post from Willian’s free kick and Nemanja Matic had a fierce shot saved by Norwich keeper John Ruddy.
Chelsea fans  chanted ‘champions, champions’ and for  long period that looked a distant memory.
Owner Roman Abramovic, whose billion-dollar yacht  usuallt scuds warm seas at this time of the year, was in the chilly stands offering his support.
When you are in a pickle, you need opponents that are almost cherry picked, or in this case canary picked.

So fly in Norwich.
They hadn’t won in 22 years at Stamford Bridge and have failed to win their last 14 Premier League games in London.
Crossing the Thames proved yesterday to be another painful experience. They gave their all, but it was good enough. 
It wasn’t as if their Canary claws were missing again, more a case of Chelsea finally bouncing off the ropes after weeks of being pummelled
. 
Norwich showed Chelsea are still vulnerable on the break and still lacking quality in midfield.
Eden Hazard’s appetite is returning, producing several mesmerising, runs that was the trade-mark of him winning last season’s Player of the Year award.
What Chelsea did lack again was a striker who disturbed, a player with guile, pace and ability to find openings.
Costa is a bull of a man, a dark, swarthy warrior but he still prefers to batter doors rather than trying to find a better way through. He wasted a 25th minute, by ballooning over from right yards. It summed up his day until his late magical moment.
His earlier attempts had been farcical, even those to try secure a penalty bordered on comical. 
He wasted another chance just before the break, his delayed shot being superbly turned away by John Ruddy’s out-stretched legs.

Few encapsulated Chelsea’s new found spirit better than Brazilian midfield ace Willian. He seemed to be everywhere.
He has been one of the few leading lights in a season cast in shadow and again yesterday he orchestrated from the front.
He was, however, lucky not to receive more than a booking for throwing the ball into Sebastian Bassong’s face when he thought a throw-in went against him.
Bassong deserves credit for not going down and making more of the incident.

It summed Norwich up. Norwich are a tidy, fair, football playing side who you hope will avoid relegation.  They break fast, defend well, but just lack that cutting edge where it matters.
They were also unlucky to come up against a defender like Kurt Zouma, who rarely put a foot, or header, wrong.
Their own defence also made a great fist of it, a colleague was rarely left isolated and they funnelled back in numbers whenever Chelsea were in full flow. 

Manager Jose Mourinho stalked the touchline and in the end threw  his arm up in delight. It was that kind of day...and moment.

Chelsea: Begovic 6; Ivanovic 6, Zouma 7, Terry 7, Kennedy 6; Fabregas 6, Matic 6; Pedro 6 (Oscar 82)5, Willian 8 (Ramires 86)5, Hazard 6 (Azpilicueta 90); Costa 5.

Norwich: Ruddy 7; Wisdom 6, Bennett 6,  Bassong 7,  Olsson 6; Redmond 7, Howson 6 (Hoolahan 73) 5), Mulumbu 6 (Dorrans 73) 5, O’Neil  6, Brady 6;  Mbokani 6.

Star Man: Willian. While others have failed this season, the Brazilian has never faltered and agan he glued the side together.
Referee: C Pawson

=====================

Star:

Chelsea 1 Norwich 0: Mourinho welcomes crucial win but admits title is mission impossible
JOSE MOURINHO last night welcomed back his old Chelsea.

By Jamie Anderson

Then he called on the Tom ‘Mission Impossible’ Cruise spirit to lift them into fourth place.

He said: “Top spot is impossible, maybe Tom Cruise could do it but the gap is huge.

“But we will take it game after game, fourth is not impossible.”

Mourinho waved his arms in delight as the final whistle went. He added: “It was more in relief. The last four minutes were tough.”

He praised goal hero Diego Costa for not giving up after several previous attempts had been fluffed.

Mourinho added: “We all know he has not been fluent. His goal will give him confidence. If I wished for one player to score today it would have been him because he has never stopped working hard.

“If you don’t score goals, you get heavier. Every game that you don’t score goals, you feel five kilos heavier. You get heavy and the pressure is there.
“In the first half he misses two chances. The second one, in the last minute, is really a big one. So it was important for him. It was an important goal and an important result for us – and also for him.
“We should score three, four, five goals, and we didn’t. But we could cope with the last five minutes. We could cope with the pressure.

“The pressure was there – I was feeling it, the players were feeling it too. We coped well with that and we got a result which obviously we needed very, very much.”
Norwich had not won in 22 years at Stamford Bridge and have failed to win their last 14 Premier League games in London.
Crossing the Thames proved to be another painful experience today. They gave their all but it was not good enough.

Costa was the fall guy at first, wasting a 25th-minute chance by ballooning over from eight yards and desperately flinging himself down trying to win a penalty.
It summed up his day until his late magical moment.
He wasted another chance just before the break, his delayed shot being superbly turned away by John Ruddy’s outstretched legs. But few encapsulated Chelsea’s new-found spirit better than Brazilian midfield ace Willian. He seemed to be everywhere.
He has been one of the few leading lights in a season cast in shadow and again today he orchestrated from the front.
He was, however, lucky not to receive more than a booking for throwing the ball into Sebastien Bassong’s face when he thought a throw-in went against him.
Bassong deserves credit for not going down and making more of the incident.

But Costa it was who got Chelsea out of a hole when it seemed he was digging deeper into it.
He was very alert to a swift Cesc Fabregas free-kick that for once caught Norwich’s well-drilled defence napping.

After Fabregas lifted a pass over a backline still in retreat, Costa controlled the ball, made space for himself and then calmly curved into the far corner of the net.
It was a trip down memory lane and erased all the bad bits that had gone before.
The goal also inspired several more flurries in which defender Kurt Zouma struck a post from Willian’s free-kick and Nemanja Matic had a fierce shot saved by Norwich keeper Ruddy.
Norwich manager Alex Neil said: “A denied penalty appeal did not help.

“We have not been on the right end of decisions this season.
“I don’t criticise refs because I feel they have a hard job.
“We had lapses of concentration and that cost us the game.
“Overall, it was disappointing because I felt we deserved more.”
It summed Norwich up. They are a tidy, fair, football-playing side who you hope will avoid relegation. They break fast and defend well, but just lack that cutting edge where it matters.

They were also unlucky to come up against a defender like Kurt Zouma, who rarely put a foot, or head, wrong.
Their own defence also made a great fist of it, defenders were rarely left isolated and they funnelled back in numbers whenever Chelsea were in full flow.
And Diego Costa’s priceless winner might well be the path to redemption for Jose Mourinho’s battle-scarred Blues.
There’s still much, much more do but today there was a certain swagger in their play that has been sorely missing of late.

Stoke 0-1

Independent:

Champions sink to new depths with seventh league defeat
Stoke City 1 Chelsea 0
Simon Hart

With or without Jose Mourinho, things continue to go from bad to worse for Chelsea. After all the intrigue about where the banned manager would watch this game, all that mattered yesterday evening was that on the Britannia Stadium pitch his team fell to their third straight League defeat.
Marko Arnautovic inflicted the champions’ seventh loss in 12 Premier League matches with a spectacular acrobatic effort. After that there was no way back for the champions as they succumbed to a second setback at Stoke in the space of a couple of weeks.

Chelsea did not play all that badly but could not find a way through an impressively defiant Stoke defence, coming no closer than a Pedro drive against the post, and they ended the day fifth from bottom. Where this remarkable slide ends remains to be seen but fresh questions will be asked of the absent Mourinho, who has already presided over seven league defeats in a season for the first time in his managerial career.

Before kick-off as the military brass band played Delilah, the Chelsea supporters sang Mourinho’s name. They did so again in the opening moments. There was no Mourinho, of course – apart from the life-size cardboard version paraded by the away fans in the Marston’s Pedigree Stand – but the champions still had Diego Costa on the pitch to fill the role of pantomime villain.

He ticked that box early on when seeming to flick a heel at Ryan Shawcross. Costa had suffered bruised ribs when Chelsea lost on this same ground in a Capital One Cup penalty shoot-out 11 days earlier and the Spain striker later recoiled in pain after taking a bang there in a challenge from Shawcross. It was a messy start, not helped by a lengthy pause after Pedro’s boot connected with Erik Pieters’ bloodied nose, but eventually things settled down and – much as in the sides’ Cup meeting – Chelsea had the better of the first half.

They had kicked off sitting fifth from bottom but had Nemanja Matic back after suspension and Eden Hazard and Pedro also restored to the starting XI, and they played the more purposeful football.
Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland tipped over a 20-yard Ramires strike while Kurt Zouma and Costa both failed to connect with dangerous balls across goal. Willian was a central figure in trying to make things happen and though it was not easy against a Stoke defence given extra protection by the tireless Glenn Whelan and Charlie Adam, Chelsea did open them up five minutes before the break.

Costa ran at the Stoke defenders before feeding Pedro, who responded with a lovely flick back to the Spain striker, who shot hard and low, but Butland stuck out a foot and made a fine save.
For much of the first period Stoke’s creative players were a peripheral presence. Xherdan Shaqiri was asking questions of an uncomfortable-looking Baba Rahman but the only decent chance for the home side came when Bojan fed Glen Johnson who created room in the box for a low shot well saved by Asmir Begovic.
Eight minutes after the restart, though, it was Stoke who made the breakthrough through the hitherto anonymous Arnautovic.

Pedro’s theatrical response to a Johnson challenge raised the temperature inside the Britannia and it now climbed higher. Shaqiri sent Johnson breaking down the right and although Zouma stopped Walters capitalising on the cross, the ball fell to Arnautovic who struck with a brilliant scissors kick at the back post.
Chelsea had suffered for their defensive fragility once more and tempers began to fray. Willian and Arnautovic exchanged angry words and were spoken to be referee Anthony Taylor, while Shawcross was booked for putting an arm into the face of Costa.

With a noisy home crowd behind them, Stoke had their tails up and Arnautovic threatened a second goal when flicking over a cross by Shaqiri.
At the other end, Pedro curled a left-foot shot against the foot of a post after Willian’s square ball found him in space on the edge of the box.
Yet that came in a moment of inspiration rather than a sustained spell of Chelsea pressure. The response from the Chelsea bench – or Mourinho from afar – was to introduce Cesc Fabregas for Rahman and soon after Loïc Rémy replaced Ramires.
Finally they looked like breaking Stoke down. Fabregas teed up Hazard for a shot which deflected a whisker wide. Then Costa played in Rémy, who jumped over Butland but, off balance, failed to hit the target.

=================

Observer:

Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic piles heat on Chelsea’s José Mourinho
Stoke 1 - 0

Daniel Taylor at Britannia Stadium

Even, ignoring for one moment, the fact José Mourinho had become the Missing One, this was another day when it felt as though he might be straying dangerously close to his absence from the Chelsea bench becoming permanent. It was their third successive league defeat, for the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, and though the owner will never divulge his thoughts publicly it must be startling for everyone connected with the club that we are only in Bonfire Night week and Mourinho has already forsaken his record of having never lost seven times in a single season.

To trace the last time Chelsea lost three in a row would mean going back to Gianluca Vialli’s tenure in October 1999 and if Abramovich is looking for signs that his manager has it under control it cannot help that Mourinho was prohibited from entering the stadium. In total, they have lost 10 times in all competitions. It was not the worst performance of Chelsea’s season by any measure and they gave everything during their late search for an equaliser, but they have lost their knack of recovering from going behind and Marko Arnautovic’s goal, eight minutes into the second half, was decisive.

 Something has changed and it leaves Chelsea two places above the relegation zone, with problems all over the pitch and a genuine crisis enveloping the club. “That’s why you’re going down,” the Stoke fans sang, and the indignities continue to stack up for the team who were parading the championship trophy six months ago.

This defeat ended with a steward making a complaint of assault against Diego Costa for allegedly treading on his toe when he went to collect the ball. The television pictures looked innocuous and on this occasion Costa probably deserves the benefit of the doubt. Chelsea have much bigger concerns and, wherever he was watching it, Mourinho must have found it a chastening experience.

It wasn’t easy to keep count of the number of times the television cameras flashed to the leather padded seat he should have been occupying. There was a cardboard cutout in the away end and various Mourinho masks in other parts of the ground. Outside a chair had been placed on the grassy bank, with a note: “Reserved, Jose Mourinho.” As for the man himself, he was in a hotel somewhere, trying to avoid the photographers who had tailed the team bus on the way to the ground. Perhaps Mourinho should have sat in the stand wearing a Mourinho mask and hoped nobody noticed. Either way, it was unsatisfactory in all sorts of ways and not something Chelsea will want to repeat any time soon.

They were also facing a Stoke side that might pass the ball better than the old model but still have a strong competitive edge. Ryan Shawcross did not give an inch in his mano-a-mano with Costa and Erik Pieters played most of the match with a broken nose, requiring a change of blood-stained shirt, after taking an accidental kick from Pedro. Bojan Krkic took a bang in the first half which seemed to reduce his output and it was Xherdan Shaqiri who caught the eye. Shaqiri’s diminutive stature, low centre of gravity, improvisational dribbling skills and clipped left-footed passes are reminiscent of Georgi Kinkladze. He just works an awful lot harder and that made him a dangerous opponent.

Mark Hughes’s team were pinned back in the last quarter of an hour when, if nothing else, Chelsea did show some of the old fight. The home side rode their luck during that onslaught and no doubt Mourinho’s impression of Premier League referees was not enhanced by the moment late on when the substitute Loïc Rémy ran through on goal only to lose his balance as he tried to evade the oncoming Jack Butland. A cynical view would be that Rémy ought to have gone to ground to win a penalty. The striker preferred the more honest approach but an argument could still be made – and almost certainly would have been if Mourinho was present – that the goalkeeper caused the fall without getting to the ball.

Stoke attacked at times in a way that made it feel strange they had begun the day with only nine goals from their previous 11 league matches, the least impressive figures in the top division. Equally, Chelsea did have spells of the game when they looked a little more like the team that turned last season’s league into a procession.

Cesc Fàbregas is having a spell out of the league side and, though Chelsea could desperately do with him regaining his form, there was a reasonable look to the team’s midfield. Willian’s energy and directness created space for Eden Hazard and Pedro in the wide positions and the two sides matched other in a first half featuring some fine goalkeeping. Butland tipped a dripping volley from Ramires over the crossbar as well as keeping out Costa’s low drive and at the other end Asmir Begovic, facing his old club, saved well from Glen Johnson after an early foray from the right-back.

Johnson’s ability to drive forward was also a prominent feature in Arnautovic’s goal. Shaqiri’s pass was beautifully weighted for the former Chelsea player to surge beyond Baba Rahman and turn the ball into the penalty area. Jonathan Walters, whose new two-and-a-half-year contract was confirmed before the match, had his back to goal but as he tussled with Kurt Zouma the ball popped out to Arnautovic. Leaning back, the Austrian adjusted his body shape and, six yards out, scored with a swinging volley. Chelsea had no way back and Mourinho, wherever he was, will know the potential consequences.

========================

Telegraph:

Stoke 1 Chelsea 0

Marko Arnautovic's acrobatic winner sends Jose Mourinho closer to the abyss
Sam Wallace By Sam Wallace, Chief Football Writer, at Britannia Stadium

In the darkest moments for Chelsea on Saturday it was possible to imagine Jose Mourinho pacing the nearby hotel room from which he watched this game, cursing his misfortune and nursing a three-star Alan Partridge-style anguish at the current state of his career.

Exiled from the dugout on a Football Association ban, the team that could scarcely win a game with him on the touchline cannot win without him either. This was Chelsea’s seventh league defeat of an extraordinary season that has seen them drop to 16th in the table behind Norwich City and a mere two places above the relegation zone. Alone with his mini-bar and his trouser-press, Mourinho must have wondered when his luck will change.

Not since October 1999 have Chelsea lost three consecutive league games, and that was long before Roman Abramovich swept in to change the club forever. Against Stoke, this was far from a disastrous performance for Chelsea but it was a disastrous result with defeat inflicted by a Marko Arnautovic goal in the early stages of the second half.

In attack, Diego Costa was truly dismal and there were suggestions of a complaint of assault against him from a matchday steward. Loic Remy came on late in the game and hurdled a reckless challenge from the otherwise excellent Jack Butland when the French striker might otherwise have accepted the contact and gone down for the penalty. He took the sporting option but you do not have to guess what Mourinho would rather him done.

It hardly needs saying that Abramovich has sacked managers for much less severe slumps in form than this and, whatever his feelings, Mourinho’s future has to be under consideration. The statement released by the club offering him their “full support” in October after the defeat to Southampton still stands but the stipulation that results improve has simply not been met.

The support for Mourinho among the match-going fans has been emphatic: they sang his name over and over again at Stoke but the Chelsea fans have not always got what they want from their club’s Russian owner. There were plenty of Mourinho masks in the away end as well as a Mourinho cardboard cut-out but there was just Steve Holland, Silvino Louro and Rui Faria in the dugout.

Bereft of their leader, the Chelsea staff had the hangdog aura of a cub scout troupe who had lost their akela, although it meant that at least the fourth official could relax a bit. There was no-one to leap out of his seat when Glenn Whelan chopped down Eden Hazard late in the first half. Mourinho has struggled of late to get his team to gather the momentum to win games and in the first half they were on top but did not take their chances.

Mourinho was in Stoke, or the vicinity of the stadium at least, and had spent the previous night with the squad at their hotel in the Midlands. He had picked the team and set the tactics but as yet another nightmare unfolded it was Holland and Faria who were left to make the changes.
There were chances aplenty in the first half: a backheel from Pedro Rodriguez into the path of Costa, whose shot was well-saved by Butland. The effectiveness of the Chelsea striker is dwindling badly and when he faces Ryan Shawcross, you get the impression that the Stoke captain enjoys the contest more than Costa does.

Butland also tipped over a dipping half-volley from Ramires. Hazard and Willian had exchanged passes on 14 minutes and opened another chance for Ramires. Pedro’s fine ball to Hazard had opened the possibility of a cross from the left that was just short of Costa’s lunge. The quality in Chelsea’s team, even against a Stoke side including Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic, was starting to tell and yet they could not break their opponents down.

The only first half chance for Stoke fell to right-back Glen Johnson who collected Bojan’s ball into the area, turned and forced a good save from Asmir Begovic. Otherwise it was a struggle for Mark Hughes’ team to create anything with Willian orchestrating the Chelsea midfield. Erik Pieters struggled on with a bloody nose, broken by Pedro’s boot.

It is the way things have been at Chelsea at times in recent weeks that periods of dominance in games have passed without goals, and the few chances that have gone the way of their opposition have been taken ruthlessly. So it proved again at Stoke when, with seven minutes of the second half gone the home side finally opened Chelsea up.

It was a fine ball from Shaqiri that allowed Johnson a run down the right wing and he placed a good cross into the area. Jonathan Walters challenged for the ball but it bounced free to Arnautovic who improvised brilliantly to get airborne and strike a volley past Begovic from close range. There had been no more than two previous clear sights of the Chelsea goal but Stoke had taken their chance.

In the moments leading to the goal the first signs of bad temper had crept into the match. Costa had gone down when Shawcross put a boot in front of him on 52 minutes and while there was a certain drama about the fall of the Chelsea striker, replays showed that there was probably contact, foot-to-foot.

In terms of goal threat, Costa was offering Chelsea very little but they had no option other than to persist with him. On the bench, Faria and Holland had used all their substitutes by the 75th minute, switching to a back three and front-loading the team with Cesc Fabregas, Oscar and Remy from the substitutes’ bench.

In those frantic closing stages, Remy had the best chance when he was played in by Costa, beat Butland and jumped over the goalkeeper when he could have gone down. But having stayed on his feet, he failed to double back for the shot and another game slipped away from Mourinho and his battered side.

============================

Mail:

Stoke City 1-0 Chelsea:
Blues suffer SEVENTH Premier League defeat as Marko Arnautovic heaps pressure on Jose Mourinho

The season from hell goes on for Chelsea. As the international break looms — the traditional sacking window for owners — manager Jose Mourinho must wait to see whether Roman Abramovich considers him fit to continue.
Never before in Abramovich’s era has a Chelsea team lost three successive Premier League matches. Never before in his career has Mourinho lost seven league games.
He was not there on Saturday of course, banned from the stadium for his rant at referee Jon Moss two weeks ago. But his presence was everywhere, from the Mourinho masks to the loud support from Chelsea’s travelling fans.

As was his sense of the world, or referees, conspiring against him. In the 84th minute, the game slipping away, Chelsea launched a slick attack, with Oscar feeding Diego Costa, who played in Loic Remy. Jack Butland came flying out of his goal and Remy hurdled the keeper, lost his balance and could not turn the ball in. Had he simply fallen over Butland, who in his haste had missed the ball, the penalty would have been inevitable.
Yet he did not and, there being no Mourinho here, the reaction from the Chelsea bench, where Steve Holland, Rui Faria and Silvino Louro were in charge, with an iPad for instructions, was of bemusement rather than apoplexy.

‘Credit to Remy,’ said Stoke manager Mark Hughes. ‘He could have looked for a penalty. Time and time again you see Premier League players flailing, legs behind them just to get contact. He didn’t do that, he hurdled Jack and was looking to score a goal — as all strikers should. Obviously he could have been a bit more cynical and looked for the penalty and who knows, at that stage it probably would have been given.’

Yet referee Anthony Taylor could have given the penalty anyway. Nowhere in the rules does it say that you are required to perform gymnastics to avoid a large mass heading for your body rather than the ball. For once, Chelsea were right to feel aggrieved, though the stadium ban spared us another Mourinho rant and probably saved him from another FA charge.
Strange to relate, Chelsea played rather well, going forward at least. They always looked vulnerable at the back, so Marko Arnautovic’s superbly executed volley in the 52nd minute was well deserved.

Yet Chelsea had regained some of the finesse, none more so than Eden Hazard. The 2014-15 Player of the Year has been in hiding for much of this season, but on Saturday that man emerged again.
Dropped in midweek, anonymous against Liverpool last Saturday, but here he sparkled, in the first half especially. For long periods he ran this game, his range of passing superb.

It was like watching a re-run of last season; the shimmies, the confidence on the ball, the directness of his runs and the desperate lunges to stop him, one of which earned a yellow card for Philipp Wollscheid.

There was also a delightful move in the 81st minute, which saw Willian pass to Costa, who back-heeled to John Terry, who did the same to Cesc Fabregas, who found Hazard who shot over. It would have been a worthy contender for goal of the season had the Belgian finished. And Pedro stuck the post in the 67th minute with a lovely curling strike.

Yet the bald facts remain: Chelsea are fifth bottom, having lost seven league games.
Stoke were formidable opponents. Early on, both sides traded blows like rampaging boxers. Ramires forced an excellent save from Butland, while Costa twice slid in, just missing crosses.

Glen Johnson pushed Asmir Begovic into action and Xherdan Shaqiri and Jon Walters went close, In fact, Arnautovic and Shaqiri were excellent all afternoon and poor Baba Rahman had to be removed in the 70th minute, so torrid had his afternoon been.

‘A good day in the office,’ was how Hughes described it. ‘We knew we were up against a very, very good Chelsea side,’ he said. ‘You know they’re going to ask questions of you, so you have to stick in it. But we were always a threat on the break and there were big performances by everybody.’
Defensively, the biggest was from Ryan Shawcross, whose feud with Costa started in the opening exchanges, when the striker aimed a kick at him and descended into farce when the Spanish international rolled up his nose in schoolboy fashion to indicate the Stoke captain smelt.

And it culminated in a yellow card for Shawcross as he thrust the flat of his arm at Costa’s face.
Yet for all Chelsea’s ingenuity, Shawcross and Wollscheid held firm, while Johnson was excellent going forward, none more so than in the 54th minute, when he raced past the unfortunate Rahman and swung in his cross. Walters and Kurt Zouma battled for the ball, which bounced kindly for Arnautovic but, still, his volley to finish was both spectacular and clinical.

The Britannia roared but Chelsea did not capitulate. When Fabregas and Oscar came on they reverted to a back three and came mighty close to restoring some pride, not least in that Pedro strike and the Remy chance.
Yet at the end, Chelsea are losers again and their title defence is a shambles. Few managers, however special, survive that.

STOKE CITY XI: Butland 6.5; Johnson 7, Shawcross 6.5, Wollscheid 6.5, Pieters7; Adam 6.5 (Afellay 79), Whelan 6.5; Shaqiri 8 (Diouf 82), Bojan 6 (Cameron 71 6), Arnautovic 7; Walters 7
Subs not used: Ireland, Wilson, Crouch, Haugaard
Scorers: Arnautovic 53
Booked: Whelan, Shawcross, Johnson
Manager: Mark Hughes 7

CHELSEA XI: Begovic 6; Azpilicueta 6, Zouma 6, Terry 5, Rahman 4.5 (Oscar 70 6); Ramires 5.5 (Remy 77), Matic 5; Pedro 5.5 (Fabregas 70 6), Willian 6, Hazard 6.5; Diego Costa 6
Subs not used: Mikel, Kenedy, Cahill, Amelia
Booked: Rahman
Manager: Steve Holland 5.5
Referee: Anthony Taylor 6
Man of the match: Xherdan Shaqiri
Attendance: 27,550

Mirror:

Stoke 1-0 Chelsea: 5 things we learned as Blues lose again after Marko Arnautovic's stunning winner
BY JOHN CROSS

Jose Mourinho was absent at the Britannia after accepting his one-game stadium ban but it was the same old story for the struggling champions
Chelsea's dismal season continued as they were beaten 1-0 at Stoke.
The Blues lost for the SEVENTH time already this term after Marko Arnautovic's stunning finish at the Britannia.

Jose Mourinho was absent after being handed a one-game stadium ban but it was the same old story as the champions failed to get anything out of the game.
The pressure continues on the Chelsea boss ahead of the international break with more doubts over his future.

Here are five things we learned.

Mourinho's absence still doesn't help

Want to know what would happen if Chelsea got rid of Mourinho? They'd carry on losing.
And if you needed proof then this was it. Chelsea are not playing well and the FA’s stadium ban imposed on the Special One kept him away and proved if you remove him then it will change nothing.
The Chelsea fans had cardboard cutouts and Jose masks. It was all quite amusing. It also showed how much they still love him.
When Stoke scored, you can bet Jose flung the TV out of the hotel room window. This has been amusing - but made no difference to Chelsea’s rotten form and luck.

Football does have respect after all

I love the way football pays its respects on Remembrance weekend.
Poppies on the shirts, every stadium either observes a minute’s silence or we have a band to honour the dead.
It happens each year and it’s fantastic that young generations the amazing sacrifice and courage.
Football does have respect after all.

Butland is a worthy successor to Begovic

When Begovic left the Britannia for Chelsea, I thought that was a huge blow because he’s such a top keeper and a key part of Stoke’s squad.
Begovic has been one of the few players who has performed well and consistently this season.
But Butland has also stepped up a level this season and become one of Stoke’s best players. In fact, he’s arguably been their best player. He made some top saves again. He’s now surely Joe Hart’s England deputy.
Either way, these two keepers are among the best in the league.

Hazard hasn't given up

Dropped, struggling for form, accused of not playing for Jose Mourinho. Just your average week for the Belgium forward.
But this was so much better from Hazard. He looked sharper, in the mood and tried everything.
There can be no doubt on this evidence that he’s playing for Mourinho.
He was bright, dribbled well and went desperately close on a few occasions. Really put in a shift.
He’s in there fighting.

Hughes has found a better balance

We all know what Stoke are about: grit, hard work and determination. At times this season, they’ve lost some of that spirit because of the influx of new signings.
Bojan heralded the new dawn last season. Shaqiri and Allefay among others followed this summer.
But, by their very high standards, Stoke haven’t been very, er, Stoke this season.
However, they’re finding a better balance now between new flair and old traditions.
Adam and Whelan put in the hard graft. Shaw cross battle. Walters runs. Arnautovic and Shaqiri provide the magic.
The combination and balance looks better. Just watch Stoke go.

Player ratings

Stoke

Butland 7 - Terrific saves. The Stoke keeper having a superb season.
Johnson 7 - Has been an excellent signing. Went close against former club.
Shawcross 7 - Had a ding-dong battle with Costa. It wasn’t pretty.
Wollschield 6 - Looks fairly solid. Did a good job.
Pieters 6 - Left with a bloody nose after kick in the face by Pedro.
Whelan 6 - Booked. Fully committed but Stoke lacked quality in possession.
Adam 6 - Strong, hard working display. No long range goals this time.
Shaqiri 7 - The hips didn’t lie but his dummies still worked.
Bojan 6 - Had a quiet game by his standards. Just the idd dribble. Subbed.
Arnautovic 7 - Wonderful scissor kick to put Stoke ahead. Skilful player.
Walters 6 - Can’t fault his work rate even if more talented players on the bench.
Subs
Cameron , for Bojan, 71 mins, 6
Afellay , for Adam, 78 mins
Diouf , Shaqiri, 81 mins

Chelsea

Begovic 7 - Made a terrific early save from Johnson. Did well against old club.
Azpilicueta 7 - Right or left flank it doesn’t matter. Solid. Excellent full back.
Zouma 6 - Looks much better at centre back. Good interceptions.
Terry 6 - Not sure if I’m qualified to give him a rating or pass judgement.
Baba 5 - Booked. Suspect defensively. Definitely not Mourinho’s cup of tea.
Ramires 6 - Went close with wonderful dipping shot. Worked tirelessly.
Matic 7 - Powerful and strong in possession. Didn’t hurt Stoke, though.
Willian 7 - The alliance between hard work and flair very endearing.
Pedro 7 - Hit the post with a brilliant curling shot. Story of his Chelsea career.
Hazard 7 - MOTM . Excellent. Much sharper, hard working and dangerous.
Costa 6 - Looked leaner, quicker and was in the mood for a scrap.
Subs
Oscar , for Baba, 71 mins, 6
Fabregas , for Pedro, 71 mins, 6
Remy , for Ramires, 77 mins

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Express:

Stoke 1 - Chelsea 0: Mourinho faces sack as Arnautovic sends Blues down to another defeat
JOSE MOURINHO'S reign could come to a miserable end in his Potteries heartbreak hotel this evening.
By JOHN RICHARDSON

Mourinho could only watch from afar as his crumbling Chelsea created an unwanted record in the Roman Abramovich era – one which is likely to claim a high profile casualty.
Never before has the club lost three straight league games since the Russian moved into SW 6.
This time last season Mourinho’s men were running away with the Premier League title but now they are amongst the relegation down and outs.
Again it was Stoke who delivered a cutting blow just as they had last month in the League Cup when Chelsea were knocked out on penalties.

A magnificent strike from Marko Arnautovic knocked the stuffing out of Chelsea who unlike their manager at least turned up and created plenty of chances.
But when the gods are stacked against you there is no respite and Chelsea’s players trooped off the pitch wondering what is in store.
The international break has become a killing field for under fire managers – and now Mourinho must be feeling the hangman’s noose around him.
Just two wins in their last 10 games tells the sorry tale – one which you suspect Abramovich won’t put up with any longer.
It’s the worst defence of a Premier League title – one which has descended into crisis.

There had been no sign of ‘The Hidden One’ but plenty of impersonators in Chelsea blue as the Stamford Bridge faithful descended on the Potteries in their Mourinho masks.
It’s now firmly written into football folklore that the last time Chelsea’s manager was saddled with a stadium ban he was smuggled into the dressing room in a laundry basket.
With cameras positioned on road junctions just outside the Britannia Stadium waiting for the Chelsea team coach it was like a high profile enactment of the children’s game ‘Where’s Wally’.
Maybe the way Chelsea have been playing recently Mourinho has turned into a right wally – something which is giving grave concern to billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

But with Mourinho domiciled just a few miles away in his hotel room Chelsea began with spirit and gusto – attributes which have been missing in recent weeks.
If it hadn’t have been for the reflexes of Stoke’s in form keeper Jack Butland – officially the Premier League’s busiest stopper – Chelsea would have been ahead by half time.
England’s number two tipped over a fierce Ramires volley before making a better save from Diego Costa who had ghosted into the area following a clever flick from Pedro.
The biggest danger to Chelsea’s early superiority had been through a Glen Johnson effort which brought out the best from former Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic.
But it all turned nasty for Mourinho and Chelsea when Stoke snatched the lead with a spectacular goal from their maverick forward Arnautovic.
The Austrian speared an acrobatic volley when Jonathan Walters failed to control a cross from Johnson, the ball flicking onto Arnautovic who did the rest.

Cue concern in the Chelsea technical area with coaches Steve Holland and Rui Costa in heated discussions and room service cancelled in Hotel Mourinho.
There were rumours that Mourinho had delivered his half-time team talk through Skype.
Now he was helpless, alone and unable to dictate tactics – the one match stadium ban inflicted by the FA was really biting.
Mourinho had never lost seven league games in a season before. This was now the equivalent of staring into the abyss for the proud Portuguese.
He was now looking for a similar response from his players that arrived in midweek against Dynamo Kiev when Chelsea were pegged back to 1-1.

Pedro almost provided it with a snap shot which thudded off the post after being set up by Willian.It proved to be his last piece of action as Chelsea gambled with a double substitution, Cesc  Fabregas and Oscar entering the fray.
You suspected this could have been the last throw of a crumbling Mourinho empire with Chelsea now amazingly sucked into the relegation zone.
They went so close with Hazard only denied by Johnson deflecting a shot just wide and substitute Loic Remy being blocked in the box by Butland.
There were claims for a penalty –the cries no doubt being heard from a hotel room just a few miles down the road.
Whether they are the death throes of a charismatic manager we will soon find out.

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Star:

Stoke 1 Chelsea 0: The Blues go AWOL and join absent manager Jose Mourinho
JOSE Mourinho played hide and seek – and his Chelsea side went AWOL too in their SEVENTH Premier League defeat of the season.

By Steve Millar

Marko Arnautovic found the space to hammer home the winner and leave Mourinho on the brink of the bullet with owner Roman Abramovich surely now at sacking point.
Never has there been a worse start to a defence of a Premier League title – and the once Special One could finally be paying the price for a management campaign full of mayhem.
The action at the Britannia was as enthralling as events on the outside as thousands of Mourinho spotters lined the streets to check if the stadium-banned boss would push the FA to the limit by hitching a ride on the team bus.

It arrived 90 minutes before kick-off with a heavy police escort as cameras pointed at darkened windows desperate to check out the on-board travellers.
It was thought Mourinho was spotted two seats back from the front and all eyes were focused on who departed the luxury cruiser after it came to a halt in a specially screened area by the players’ entrance.
But when the Chelsea superstars exited, the only one left on board was a chef in an apron.

There were also hilarious suggestions that he was hiding behind one of the Mourinho masks in the crowd but that summed up a bizarre day.
An evening kick-off where Chelsea’s squad had received their final match briefings from Mourinho in their nearby team hotel.
That was followed by a half-time chat via skype after the club’s officials were given Stoke’s wifi code to get the virtual manager online.

Mourinho, with a life-size cardboard cut-out mingling in the away end, was as switched on as his players who dominated a one-sided first half after Xherdan Shaqiri was off target with an acrobatic effort.
Chelsea were full-blooded in attacking moves with Stoke defender Erik Pieters amazingly carrying on despite a whack on his nose from a flying Pedro boot.
Ramires’ snap shot went wide of the target before former Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic pulled off a great one-handed save from Glen Johnson.
Jack Butland was also in superb form when he palmed over a 25-yard screamer from Ramires before another major highlight of a thrilling half.

Shaqiri’s shimmy on the right ended with a delightful cross for Jon Walters, who came close to celebrating his new contract with a header inches away from an opening goal.
Chelsea flooded back and Diego Costa latched on to a back-heel from Pedro to fire for the bottom corner only to be denied by Butland’s boot.
Mourinho, with his red dugout seat empty, would have been impressed in the warmth of his luxury lodgings.
Yet against the odds, Stoke went ahead in the 53rd minute.
Johnson found room on the right, pulled back for Walters whose flick teed up Arnautovic for a belting acrobatic volley into the bottom corner.
Pedro smacked the upright in the 67th minute but Stoke kept their nerve as Chelsea threw everything at their red and white striped back line.

Eden Hazard flashed a shot wide and sub Loic Remy went tumbling under a challenge from Butland but was honest enough to stay on his feet instead of screaming for a penalty. And that was that as Stoke held out like so many before them this season.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: “We have all been in that situation, you just have to keep winning so the focus goes elsewhere.
“I have had similar situations and sometimes you go under.
“Mourinho has enormous credit at Chelsea, he has delivered trophies and surely people should cut him a little bit of slack.”

STOKE: Butland 7; Johnson 8, Shawcross 7, Wollscheid 6, Pieters 6; Whelan 6, Adam 6 (Afellay 78th); Shaqiri 7 (Diouf 81st), Bojan 6 (Cameron (71st) 6), Arnautovic 7;
Walters 7
CHELSEA: Begovic 7; Azpilicueta 6, Zouma 6, Terry 6, Rahman 6 (Oscar (70th) 6); Ramires 7 (Remy 77th), Matic 6; Pedro 7 (Fabregas (70th) 6), Willian 7, Hazard 6; Costa 6
STAR MAN: Glen Johnson
Ref: A Taylor