Steaua Bucharest 4-0

Independent:

Steaua Bucharest 0 Chelsea 4
Juan Mata's virtuoso performance lifts gloom as Blues hit the high notes

By SIMON JOHNSON

Jose Mourinho hasn’t had a lot to smile about lately, but Juan Mata’s display in Romania surely helped improve his mood as Chelsea got their Champions League campaign back on track in convincing fashion.
Mourinho’s demeanour in the build-up to the match had been as dark as the rain clouds that were encamped over Bucharest for the past few days, however this was just the result and performance he would have wanted to lift the gloom.
A brace from Ramires, which sandwiched an own goal by Daniel Georgievski, ensured Chelsea secured their first win in their Champions League group and started putting the Basel defeat of a fortnight ago behind them. There were confident performances all over the pitch, but it was Mata, the man whose relationship with the manager has come under intense scrutiny, that shone most of all.
Mourinho has always prided himself on his man-management skills and when it comes to his No 10, the Chelsea manager certainly seems to know what he’s doing. After weeks of cross examination over why he’s left Mata out on a regular basis, Mourinho explained that his all-round game was worthy of a start in the Romanian capital.
Chelsea looked a different side with him in the team and he was significantly effective at both ends of the pitch, adding work-rate to the finesse he’s already blessed with. In contrast, Mata’s compatriot Fernando Torres, the man who has been the centre of such controversy over the last few days, had another evening to forget.
In many ways, his day was representative of his career since he joined Chelsea from Liverpool for a British record £50m in January 2011. The few sporadic highs have always tended to be swiftly followed by a low.
But this was a crazy few hours even by the Spaniard’s standards. First there was the good news in the afternoon that the Football Association had decided not to hand him an extra punishment for his altercation with Jan Vertonghen at the weekend and he would serve just the one game ban after all.
It must have given the striker, not to mention the moody Mourinho, a welcome lift going into this match they needed to win. However, just 36 seconds he collapsed in agony clutching his knee after working hard to win the ball back from Cristian Tanase and despite attempts to run it off, Samuel Eto’o replaced him soon after.
Some, particularly those from White Hart Lane, may feel justice is done if Torres is now missing for the next few weeks anyway. Crucially though it didn’t upset Chelsea’s rhythm in the early stages and everyone in white looked far more comfortable in possession with Mata out there with them, orchestrating their attacks.
They had already threatened with an André Schürrle shot which was only prevented from going into the net by a desperate block from the Steaua defence, when Chelsea deservedly went in front. Schürrle, who was playing his best game since his £18m summer transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, escaped down the left wing and his cross was defected into Ramires’ path by Eto’o and the Brazilian midfielder neatly touched the ball into the bottom corner.
The presence of Mata wasn’t the only reassuring one at the stadium where they lost 1-0 in the last 16 of the Europa League just six months ago, for captain John Terry was picked alongside David Luiz instead of Gary Cahill.
Terry sat out the Uefa Super Cup Final and the woeful defeat against Basel in the competition a fortnight ago, so it was significant that Mourinho decided to bring him back into European action. The 32-year-old was up against Federico Piovaccari, scorer of seven goals this season, yet the Steaua striker barely caused a threat.
It looked like only some reckless finishing could keep Steaua in the match, but Chelsea added the crucial second just before the break. Unsurprisingly Mata was at the centre of it one again, sending Eto’o through on goal with a typically confident first time pass. Unfortunately for the striker, who is still searching for his first goal in a Chelsea shirt, Ciprian Tatarusanu blocked his effort, but the ball rebounded off Georgievski and into the net.
The only question was whether Chelsea would play in the second half with as much focus and determination as the first and their emphatic answer came just 10 minutes later. A sublime move involving Schürrle and Oscar was finished off at the far post with a fierce shot by Ramires, which prompted even the locals to applaud.
They gasped in awe again moments later when Mata struck the post following a sublime dribble into the area by Oscar, who also hit the woodwork late on.
The home side appeared in awe of their more experienced opponents, although they did threaten with shots from Tanase and Nicolae Stanciu, but then Frank Lampard added to their misery with a typical finish in the last minute. Chelsea’s only disappointment was that Mata’s display wasn’t rewarded with the goal he deserved, but suddenly Chelsea and their manager have reason to be in good spirits once again.

Man of the match Mata.
Match rating 6/10.
Referee C V Carballo (Sp).
Attendance 50,000.

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Guardian:

Chelsea back in old routine thanks to Ramires double at Steaua Bucharest

Dominic Fifield at the National Arena

José Mourinho paced his technical area, wrapped up in long coat and scarf, wearing the scowl of a man still rather dissatisfied with his lot but Chelsea's response to a sluggish opening in their Champions League campaign had been emphatic. Steaua Bucharest were swatted aside 4-0, all that trauma endured against Basel a fortnight ago exorcised. The manager spoke of having "cleansed" that result, with the 2012 winners up and running.
This was admittedly a mismatch against the whipping boys elect of Group E and, to that end, should be considered with an element of caution. However there was a vibrancy to Chelsea's play, both as they unpicked their hosts in the first half and then bit into them on the break thereafter, that bodes well. Steaua, trampled underfoot by Ramires' display in midfield in particular, had no answer. They will be this season's Nordsjaelland. Already, the back-to-back games with Schalke in Chelsea's next two fixtures when this competition resumes later this month loom as key.
The Germans continue to defy sluggish domestic form to top the section, their win in Basel impressive despite interruptions from abseiling Greenpeace protestors at St Jakob Park, and they will better test Chelsea's capabilities.
This was a stroll in the chill of the Romanian autumn, the visitors' dominance established in the opening exchanges and maintained throughout. Their trio of creators unsettled Steaua, with Juan Mata, so revitalised since that run-out at Swindon last week, and Oscar dragging the locals' back line from their comfort zone. "Mata played No10, he played No7, he played very well with the ball as he always does, and very good without the ball, as he never did," said Mourinho.
If the manager has been proved right with his Spanish playmaker, he will be just as encouraged by André Schürrle's display, the German having wreaked havoc down the left flank with his delivery – so unpredictable and occasionally wild at first, ever more accurate as the thrashing played out. Poor Daniel Georgievski, the Steaua right-back, was a broken man by the time his number went up 19 minutes from time. He may endure sleepless nights haunted by images of Schürrle gliding past him and a comical own goal, in the weeks to come. "People understand the quality André has, getting balls in space and to his feet to attack the defender," said Mourinho. "The kid was very strong."
The opener had stemmed from Schürrle's dart down the flank, his cross into the six-yard box aimed at Samuel Eto'o, on as a substitute for the injured Fernando Torres, only for the ball to rear up from his first touch. He swung his left leg regardless, the shot rather scuffed but still disorientating panicked home defenders, and there was the marauding Ramires to burst through the middle and conjure a cute flick over the on-rushing Ciprian Tatarusanu.
There was to be no recovery from the hosts. Steaua drummed up some frantic pressure as the interval approached only to be outdone on the counterattack, Ashley Cole and Mata sending Eto'o charging into enemy territory with the Romanians' back-line utterly ramshackle. The Cameroonian cut inside Iasmin Latovlevici and saw his low shot pushed out by Tatarusanu only for Georgievski, running at full pace, to smash the rebound inadvertently beyond the prone goalkeeper. The full-back ended up with the ball in the back of the net. His own evening would continue to unravel.
He was spun by Schürrle in the build-up to the third, left a dithering mess on the touchline as the German found Oscar with his pass. The Brazilian, who would later clip the bar, slid a pass inside Latovlevici for Ramires, bursting unchecked into space once again, to thrash his second beyond Tatarusanu. Mourinho made a point of congratulating Schürrle's contribution. The mind boggles as to how he would have celebrated had Mata not thumped against the post after Oscar's outrageous backheel between opponents in a cluttered penalty area moments later.
Lampard's fourth, guided in on off the woodwork in stoppage time, summed up Chelsea's dominance, their upbeat tempo admirable given the early disruption suffered with Torres's withdrawal with knee ligament damage sustained after 36 seconds. Yet, if that had represented a downbeat start, the evening proved more upbeat.
"I put the players under a lot of pressure for this game, and they coped well," added Mourinho. "They used that as a motivation. I don't want to play in the Europa League, but I also thought that was a way they can grow up faster, faced with that pressure.
"Sometimes you need bigger challenges. But they coped very well, were beautiful in attacking areas, but everything started at the back. David Luiz [made] zero mistakes all game. John [Terry], Ashley [Cole], [Branislav] Ivanovic gave big stability there. And, from there, the team could cope with the situation." The Portuguese's mood has improved.

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Telegraph:

Steaua Bucharest 0 Chelsea 4

By Jason Burt, Bucharest National Arena, Romania

After the dark clouds and dark moods and relentless downpour came the cleansing. Chelsea washed away the Romanian champions to get their Champions League campaign back on track, having lost their opening tie at home to Basle. In doing so there was wave after wave of attack.
“We have now cleansed a bit the early game against Basle and we are ready to win the group,” said Juan Mata, restored to the starting line-up, as Jose Mourinho had promised, and comfortable with it even if Chelsea’s most dominant forces were the rampant, relentless Ramires – with two goals - and Andre Schürrle.
Mourinho brought back one Spaniard, but lost another. That dark mood had enveloped the pre-match press conference although it now appears to have been for effect. Whether the Chelsea manager stormed out or not his relief at not losing Fernando Torres to a four-match ban - after the Football Association’s confusing declaration of no further punishment for scratching Jan Vertonghen – was tempered by injury to the striker after just 11 minutes on Tuesday night.
Torres will have a scan on his damaged knee on Wednesday and, if absent for any length of time, will curse his luck as for as brief as he appeared he once more looked sharper than he has done for years.
Chelsea, collectively, will also hope they are gaining an edge and there was satisfaction from their manager afterwards in not just the clean sheet and defensive ruggedness, praising David Luiz for “zero mistakes”, but the relentless way his team sought out further goals.
Any assessment of Chelsea’s display, however, needs to be qualified by the poverty of the opposition. Steaua, back in the Champions League after a five-year absence, were poor as they slumped to a second heavy loss and will struggle to gain a point in Group  E at this rate. Their fans were impressive – and they waved their flags throughout even if they also, eventually, lost heart with many streaming for the exits long before substitute Willian laid the ball back to Frank Lampard to strike a low shot in off the post late on to complete the rout.
The stadium roof was closed after days of constant heavy rain which threatened to engulf the pitch and the environs but it fell in the Romanians in any case. They were dominated and then destroyed. Their fans came in expectation – after all Steaua had beaten Chelsea last season in the Europa League in this very stadium even if they ultimately lost the tie.
There was no danger of a repeat. Soon after Schürrle should have scored – after an initial shot was spilled and the rebound returned to him only for his effort to be deflected there was another mis-hit. Again it came from the misfiring Samuel Eto’o, on for Torres.
Another break by Schürrle down the left, riding one challenge, teed up the subsitute. But his shot was scuffed but scuffed sufficiently to turn into a ball through which Ramires latched onto and deftly flicked beyond goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.
Chelsea’s advantage was deserved; their superiority clear with Schürrle a constant threat. Their only danger was complacency and a failure to clear left Petr Cech clawing away a cross while the goalkeeper then had to rush far out of his penalty area to deny Federico Piovaccari who was proving to be Steaua’s only significant threat. It made his half-time withdrawal all the more disappointing.
That threat was quickly snuffed, and it came through a bizarre own-goal. Maybe Steaua sensed a chance and over-committed but they were carved open with Eto’o suddenly running free on goal, cutting inside. The shot was palmed out but the hapless Daniel Georgievski, scampering back, turned it into the net – with aplomb to end any vestige of a contest.
Lampard’s miskick, from Mata’s cut-back, saved Steaua from falling further behind but it only delayed the inevitable as Chelsea worked the ball across goal through Schürrle again, with Oscar rolling a pass to Ramires who lashed the ball high and beyond the static Ciprian Tatarusanu.
A fine back-heel from Oscar then picked out Mata only for his shot to thud back against the post – which is what Cech then did as he back pedalled sharply to turn over Cristian Tanase’s clever chip only to jar his back.
There was no way back for Steaua. Cech saved from Nicolae Stanciu only for the Romanian to wastefully blaze over the rebound. Later he pushed out another shot from distance, again from Tanase. From the corner there was a scramble but still the ball would not go in. Steaua could gain no consolation.
Oscar shot over, Eto’o’s effort was beaten out, Schurrle curled narrowly wide and then, finally, Lampard struck with a trademark late run and crisp effort. The dousing was complete and Steaua were drenched.

Mail:

Steaua Bucharest 0 Chelsea 4:

Ramires at the double but Torres limps off as Blues ease past Romanian test

By MATT BARLOW

Relief was short-lived for Fernando Torres. No sooner had he escaped an FA charge for violent conduct than he limped off with an injured knee, the only blemish on an excellent night for Chelsea in Europe.
Ramires scored twice, either side of an own goal, and Frank Lampard added a fourth in stoppage time as Jose Mourinho’s side cleansed the Basle defeat from their system.
For Mourinho, it was the calm after the strop. He was grumpy ahead of the game but all smiles as his team were applauded from the pitch by Steaua Bucharest supporters.
Steaua were poor and may turn Group E into a three-team race. Last year, Nordsjaelland claimed only one point and Chelsea finished third with 10, plunging them into the Europa League.
‘Everything depends on the next two matches,’ said Mourinho, still wary. But last night, for the first time since he returned, his team had balance: strong, quick and decisive going forward.
‘Normally my feelings never betray me and from the first minute my feelings were positive,’ he said. ‘We defended very well and the team was solid. We kept control. We didn’t give the initiative away. We played a complete game.’
Ramires was clinical, Andre Schurrle excelled on the left and Juan Mata continued to reverse his manager’s opinion. ‘He played very well with the ball as he always does and very well without the ball as he never did,’ said Mourinho.
The only setback was for Torres, whose injury struck about four hours after news from Wembley that he would face no further action for scratching Jan Vertonghen.
Poetic justice, some might say. The cat got the cream and then got crocked and it had that innocuous feel serious ligament injuries sometimes have.
Torres seemed to suffer the injury as he made a tackle after only 37 seconds. Ten minutes later, he dropped to his haunches by the touchline. The medical team examined his left knee and the dejected striker mimed a twisting motion with his good leg to suggest a medial ligament problem.
Torres tried to continue but was unable to fully flex his left leg. Off he trudged again, head bowed this time and straight down the tunnel. A second successive game ended prematurely and in disappointment.
Samuel Eto’o came on and was involved in the opener, a move started and finished by Ramires, and featuring Schurrle, who gave Steaua right-back Daniel Georgievski a torrid night. It was the first time Chelsea fans saw why the German winger had commanded an £18million fee in the summer.
His delivery was sometimes a little awry but on this occasion his low cross found Eto’o, who miscued so completely that his volley at goal turned into the perfect pass to Ramires. The Brazil midfielder charged through the centre of the penalty area to prod the ball past goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu from close range.
Salt in the wounds: Frank Lampard (left) celebrates his injury-time goal to make it 4-0
Chelsea’s second was another sweeping move. Ashley Cole sprang out of defence with the ball after clearing a Steaua corner and tucked a pass infield to Mata, who eased it effortlessly into the feet of Eto’o.
The striker took it past one defender and fired low. Tatarusanu saved but pushed it towards defender Georgievski, who booted it straight into his own net.
Two half-time changes by Steaua manager Laurentiu Reghecampf lifted the home team a little but did not alter the pattern of the game.
Lampard missed a decent chance but Ramires lashed in his second after a neat pass from Oscar and more great work by Schurrle. Mata hit a post before Lampard swept in the fourth from the edge of the box.
Mourinho is still waiting for one of his strikers to score but the European campaign is rolling. He said: ‘I put that pressure on them because we have to do everything we can to keep Chelsea playing in the Champions League because it is our competition. It’s the way they can grow up faster, to be faced with that pressure.
‘If I tell them that because it’s a new team, I’m a new manager, a new style of football, then it’s no problem if we finish 20 points behind in the Premier League and no one will care. Or we go into the Europa League because that’s fine for us, they won’t grow up.
‘Sometimes you need bigger challenges. They coped very well, so I’m happy, and we played very good football and were beautiful in attacking areas at times.’

STEAUA: Tatarusanu 5; Georgievski 4 (Varela 71), Szukala 5, Gardos 5, Latovlevici 6; Bouceanu 4, Filip 5; Popa 4 (Kapetanos HT), Stanciu 4, Tanase 5; Piovaccari 5 (Tatu HT).
Subs: Nita, Prepelita, Cristea, Neagu.
Manager: Laurentiu Reghecampf 5.

CHELSEA: Cech 7; Ivanovic 7, Terry 6, Luiz 6, Cole 7; Ramires 8, Lampard 7; Oscar 6 (Azpilicueta 78), Mata 6 (Willian 80), Schurrle 8; Torres (Eto'o 11, 6)
Subs: Schwarzer, Mikel, Cahill, Ba.
Bookings: Lampard, Cole
Manager: Jose Mourinho 7.

Man of the Match: Andre Schurrle
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) 6

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Mirror:
Steaua Bucharest 0-4 Chelsea: Juan Mata the architect as Blues return to winning ways in Europe

By Martin Lipton

The Spanish playmaker was in sparkling form in Romania as Jose Mourinho's side ran out easy winners
The challenge from Jose Mourinho was there.
Adapt to what I want, or expect to spend a long time in the shadows.
Other players might have turned their backs, pointed to what they have done in Chelsea colours, wondered what more they needed to prove.
Juan Mata, though, is not that sort of player. It is not in his make-up.
And while he he has to keep improving to prove to the "Special One" that he is the special Juan, even Portugal's Mr Grumpy was smiling over the Spaniard's performance here in Romania.
Following the shock defeat by Basel, Mata was a scapegoat.
Resurrection has come swiftly.
Only 10 days after telling Mata that he was behind Oscar in the playmaker role, Mourinho conceded that the little man does make a difference.
Here, as the air went out of the National Arena balloon, two-goal Ramires and the direct Andre Schurrle might have been the headline acts.
But the ring-master under the circus tent-style roof was the man who makes Chelsea look more fluent, persuasive and impressive.
And even Mourinho was happy to acknowledge that Mata is now back in his good books.
Mourinho said: "He played No 10. He played No 7. He played very well with the ball, as he always does. But he also played very well without the ball, which he never did.
"Yes, he's coming closer to me. Very much closer."
Mata did not see the grin. But he didn't have to.
The hug he received from Mourinho when he was rested near the end was a public sign.
Then again, admittedly against lightweight opponents who look like being the Group E punchbag, this was far more like what Mourinho is looking for from his entire team.
While Fernando Torres' knee injury was a cloud in keeping with the leaden skies that have hung over the Romanian capital ever since Chelsea arrived - there is genuine anxiety over today's scan - this was an otherwise imperious display.
Chelsea, from the outset - "my feelings didn't betray me, from the first minute", said Mourinho - were too strong, quick and penetrative than Steaua, who had neither the ambition nor the armoury to hurt them.
Schurrle's dynamism on the left ensured Bucharest were always unbalanced and it was no surprise the German was involved in the opener.
Ramires began it by driving forward to find Schurrle, who killed his marker before playing into the box.
Samuel Eto'o - on when Torres limped off inside 11 minutes - mis-kicked but straight into the path of Ramires, who finished his lung-busting 50-yard run by poking home.
Easy enough and Chelsea's second came just before the break.
The key was Mata's brilliance - a gorgeous first-time ball that released Eto'o into space.
Mourinho would have wanted the Cameroonian to break his Blues duck as he twisted inside to shoot, but while keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu dived to save, defender Daniel Georgievski smashed unerringly into his own net.
Game over, already.
Ramires got the third after great work from Schurrle, wide on the touchline, and Oscar when the ball was moved inside.
Then Oscar's delicious back-heel saw Mata crash against the foot of the post, with Oscar, Schurrle and Eto'o all close.
Chelsea's only moment of concern came when Petr Cech crashed into his own post after turning Cristian Tanase's clever curler over the bar.
But there was time for a fourth - substitute Willian teeing up Frank Lampard to claim his 205th Blues goal from the edge of the box, off the inside of the post.
The manager's reaction was one of relief.
"If we hadn't won, we would've been in trouble", said Mourinho. "Now I just want to think about qualifying, not being first."
With Mata at the heart of everything, first looks more realistic now.

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Express:

Mourinho's hopes are revived by Chelsea hitman Ramires

Graham Reede

RAMIRES was an unlikely hero last night as his double got Chelsea's Champions League rescue mission up and running in Bucharest.
The Brazil midfielder is better known for crunching tackles rather than his goals, but he set the Blues on the way last night with an early opportunistic finish.
And after Daniel Georgievski scored an own–goal just before halftime, Ramires smashed in his second to erase memories of Chelsea's home defeat by Basle. He now has three goals in as many games for Chelsea – he also scored against Swindon in the Capital One Cup – and with manager Jose Mourinho running out of options up front, perhaps he is the answer. Fernando Torres lasted just 11 minutes before limping off with a knee injury and is banned from this Sunday's clash with Norwich anyway, following his sending–off against Tottenham last Saturday.
His replacement, Samuel Eto'o, is yet to convince in a Chelsea shirt, while Demba Ba seems to be completely out of favour.
This was a crucial win for the Blues, wrapped up when Frank Lampard hit a last–minute fourth, but it was only their third in their last 13 away games in the Champions League.
Most importantly, it eased the pressure after Basle's shock win at Stamford Bridge in their Group E opener and put a smile back on Mourinho's face after a difficult week.
The Special One walked out of his pre–match press conference in a huff after becoming irritated with questions about Kevin de Bruyne.
The Belgian is the latest player in the Mourinho doghouse, left behind to train with the kids while the seniors flew to Romania.
De Bruyne is ready to quit in January after being told his recent form and his effort in training were not good enough and sources close to the player accused Mourinho of treating him "like a child".
But he was not needed last night as Chelsea blew Steaua away with a starting line–up which included Juan Mata, who has played himself back into favour after being frozen out. Chelsea were out of sight by half–time, with Ramires pouncing on a miscue from Eto'o in the 20th minute after good work by Andre Schurrle on the left.
Chelsea doubled their lead just before the break when an Eto'o effort was saved, only for Georgievski to bundle it into his own net.
It was all over bar the shouting when Ramires blasted in No3 in the 55th minute, before Lampard coolly fired home a 90thminute fourth just for good measure.

STEAUA (4–2–3–1): Tatarusanu; Georgievski (Varela 71), Szukala, Gardos,Latovlevici; Bourceanu, Filip; Popa (Leandro Tatu 45), Stanciu, Tanase; Piovaccari (Kapetanos 45).
CHELSEA (4–2–3–1): Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Oscar (Azpilicueta 79), Mata (Willian 81), Schurrle; Torres (Eto'o 11).Booked: Cole, Lampard. Goals:Ramires 19, 55, Georgievski 44 og, Lampard 90.

Referee: C Carballo (Spain).

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Star:

S Bucharest 0 - Chelsea 4
Ramires strikes at the double to steer Blues back on track
RAMIRES was the unlikely hero as Chelsea got their Champions League rescue mission bang on course.
By Paul Brown

The Brazil midfielder is better known for his crunching tackles rather than goal poaching but he set the Blues on the way last night with an opportunistic finish.
Daniel Georgievski scored an own goal for the Romanian champions just before half-time to make it 2-0.
Then Ramires slammed home his second before Frank Lampard netted in the final minute to erase memories of that home humbling by Basel.
Controversial Steaua owner Gigi Becali, an old friend of Blues boss Jose Mourinho, is currently behind bars on a range of charges including kidnapping and bribery.
But The Special One’s men could not afford to take any prisoners after losing their Champions League opener at the Bridge.
Mourinho had a let-off earlier in the day when Fernando Torres escaped punishment for scratching Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Torres will still miss Sunday’s clash with Norwich after seeing red in that match, but was free to take part in this one. After his fired-up performance against Spurs, it was no surprise to see him back in the starting line-up for a game Chelsea knew they could not afford to lose.
It was short-lived though. Torres pulled up with an injury to his left knee early on and despite returning after lengthy treatment, he was forced off in the 11th minute.
Steaua had allowed torrential rain in Bucharest to soak the pitch before they decided to close the canopy roof at the National Arena.
But despite Mourinho’s concerns about the surface it looked playable and did not seem to have played any part in the striker’s injury. It all meant another chance for Samuel Eto’o, who has failed to win many fans at Stamford Bridge with his performances since leaving Anzhi Makhachkala.
Mourinho’s lack of a proven goalscorer was put under even more scrutiny after Romelu Lukaku scored twice for Everton on Monday night.
But the decision to send him out on loan is not the only one the Chelsea boss has been criticised for since his return to the club.
First there was the way he axed Juan Mata, who seems to have played his way back into Mourinho’s good books, earning a recall to the starting line-up last night.
Now there is Kevin de Bruyne. Left at home to train with the kids because Mourinho is unhappy with his form and his effort in training, the Belgian is ready to quit in January.
Sources close to the player even accused the Portuguese boss of treating him “like a child” and the Blues chief walked out of his pre-match press conference after being asked about the Belgian.
“Steaua battled to get back into the game, but it never looked likely – especially when Ramires made it three”
Mourinho was smiling again last night though when Ramires gave Chelsea the lead in the 19th minute after the lively Andre Schurrle made a strong run and cross from the left.
Eto’o miscued his volley but Ramires pounced on the loose ball, prodding it past Ciprian Tatarusanu for the opening goal.
Steaua grew in confidence, with Petr Cech having to race off his line to clear the danger after a suicidal back pass from Oscar. But they doubled their lead just before the break when Mata played in Eto’o. The Cameroon striker’s shot was saved – but Georgievski knocked it into his own net.
Before last night Chelsea had won only two of their last 12 away games in the Champions League. But they were in command of this game by half-time.
That was impressive as they had lost on their last trip to Bucharest in March, when Steaua beat them 1-0 in a Europa League tie with a penalty from Raul Rusescu.
Steaua battled to get back into the game, but it never looked likely – especially when Ramires made it three.
Schurrle was at the heart of it again, feeding Oscar who picked out his countryman. Ramires did the rest, slamming his shot past Tatarusanu, who was rooted to his line as the ball flew past him.
That’s three in three games now for Ramires – and at this rate he’ll be playing up front.
Mata the hit the post when he should have buried his shot following a back heel from Oscar.
But Lampard did fire home a right-foot shot in the final minute which flew in off the post.