Sporting Lisbon 1-0

Independent:

Nemanja Matic scores only goal of the game as Blues weather late storm to earn three points

Sporting Lisbon 0 Chelsea 1

Jack Pitt-Brooke   Estadio Jose Alvalade


Jose Mourinho said last week that his Chelsea side are “far from being a perfect team” but they are obviously moving in the right direction, after producing a near-perfect away performance to win in Lisbon and go top of Group G.
 
Diego Costa played all 90 minutes, despite Mourinho admitting his inclusion was a “risk”, but he was excellent, holding the ball up, imposing himself on the game, and terrifying defenders. On another day he might have had his ninth, tenth and eleventh goals of the season, but he never appeared constrained by his troublesome hamstring and he certainly looked like a man looking forward to Sunday afternoon’s appointment with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s problems this season have largely been at the other end but they were solid and disciplined here, keeping just their third clean sheet of the season. Sporting play enjoyable attacking football, and have the brilliant Nani on the wing, yet their best chances, even amid late pressure, were all from distance. John Terry and Gary Cahill had comfortable evenings while Matic – who knows Lisbon very well – was excellent with and without the ball in midfield.

With Schalke and Maribor drawing in Germany, Chelsea are now top after two games, with two matches against the Slovenian side coming up in which they can ensure passage into next year’s knock-out phases. Both of Mourinho’s other Champions League triumphs came in the second season of a spell, and this side will surely be contenders for the European Cup in 2015.

The gulf in experience, of players and coaches, was the story of the evening. While Chelsea kept their shape and waited for opportunities, Sporting – back in the competition after five years out – played with almost childish over-enthusiasm. Everyone likes expansive football but Sporting were expanded far too far, with their full-backs pushed up, their centre-backs split and huge spaces on this big pitch for Chelsea’s fast players- Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Costa – to break into.

It was clear by the second minute of the match that Chelsea would not exactly have to probe and tease in order to make chances here. In their very first attack, Oscar simply rolled the ball forwards to Diego Costa who was in on goal, storming through the Sporting back-line that was recklessly high and open wide. Costa’s hamstrings did not seem to impede him but when he reached the goal, he could only shoot at Rui Patricio.

The Portgual goalkeeper was a busy man as his team-mates continued to invite Chelsea to break into their open spaces. Andre Schurrle, preferred to Willian on the right wing, was the most dangerous player, driving through the vast gap between left-back Jonathan Silva and centre-back Naby Sarr, but never quite able to convert his chances.  Jose Mourinho salutes the travelling Chelsea fans at the final whistle

First Schurrle exchanged passes with Oscar and shot from a tight angle, forcing Patricio into a diving save. Then Schurrle robbed Sarr, started a counter-attack which ended in his heading Eden Hazard’s cross at Patricio. Then Schurrle had another shot saved from the edge of the box. The best chance of all came soon after that, Sarr slipping and Schurrle running free again, meeting Hazard’s precise low cross only to shoot carelessly wide of goal.

If Chelsea worried at that point that their chance was gone, they need not have done. After two brisk Sporting counter-attacks which came to nothing, Chelsea took the lead with a goal of surprising simplicity. Chelsea had a free-kick on the left after Hazard was fouled. Cesc Fabregas floated it over the far post where Nemanja Matic peeled away and looped a header over Patricio and into the net.

It would have been a minor miracle had Sporting been level at the break and while they felt they should have had a penalty when Adrien Silva’s shot hit Gary Cahill near his shoulder, it was a weak case. Chelsea’s only regret was that their half-time lead was just one.

If some of Sporting’s defenders looked cowed by the occasion, Nani did not. He came out for the second half desperate to punish Chelsea for their early profligacy. With Sporting’s first attack after the re-start, he stormed down the left, cut back inside and flicked the ball behind him to an overlapping run that never came.

Soon after, Nani made the same run but took on Branislav Ivanovic instead and was brought down on the edge of the box, only for Mateu Lahoz to wave play on. Sporting’s next attack ended with Nani shooting into the side netting from a tight angle.

But for all their vigour, Sporting were still just as open at the back. Oscar was next to run through on goal, denied again by the advancing Patricio. Then it was Costa, charging through the middle, and Sporting centre-back Mauricio injured himself committing a foul so cynical he might have been dismissed for it anyway. The further Sporting pushed up in pursuit of an equaliser, the more dangerous Costa was on the break. Chelsea could just launch the ball up towards him, confident he would beat every other defender to it and win possession.

Hoping to close up a game that might have felt slightly too open, Mourinho withdrew Oscar for Jon Obi Mikel. In Mikel and Matic he had a physical screen to block Sporting’s counter-attacks, while Costa continued to be dangerous up front. He hit one shot into the side netting, and overran a perfect Matic pass as Chelsea pushed for a second goal they did not eventually need, despite Sporting pressure which produced a few shots if not tooi many chances.

There were chances on offer for anyone who ran forward and Filipe Luis – advancing from left-back – should have scored, as should late substitute Mohamed Salah. But Patricio stood strong to complete a performance which earned him a warm embrace from Mourinho at the end. Mourinho might have wanted a few more goals, but will otherwise be pleased.


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Guardian:

Nemanja Matic’s header proves decisive for Chelsea at Sporting Lisbon

Dominic Fifield at the Estádio José Alvalade

José Mourinho strode on to the turf at the final whistle, marching pointedly into his opponents’ half to offer his hand to the Sporting goalkeeper, Rui Patrício, as he trudged away from the goal-mouth digesting defeat. The gesture told some of the story of Chelsea’s utter dominance as they delivered a first proper statement of intent on a group they now lead. The scoreline may have been tight, but this was something akin to a one-goal thrashing. Yet the suspicion remained this was also a manager seeking to deflect attention.

His side should have run up a cricket score in Lisbon against a youthful yet horribly naive opponent but, instead, were undermined by profligacy and forced to endure the odd pang of anxiety in stoppage time at the end. From the second minute to the 92nd, this had been a procession of Chelsea chances spurned, their only reward secured by the outstanding Nemanja Matic, a former Benfica player, from one of the more awkward opportunities they had created. Had the lead been more assured in that second half then bodies might have been retired to rest up ahead of Arsenal’s visit in the Premier League. As it was, that privilege was denied Mourinho and his staff.

Diego Costa, whose suspect hamstring is fast becoming a tiresome theme of the campaign, was forced to play through the whole contest. The same applied to Cesc Fàbregas with the visiting defence, albeit untroubled for long periods, left on edge until the last.

“We had so many chances to kill it off, but it was just one of those nights where it didn’t quite go in for us,” offered John Terry, who did at least have a clean sheet to celebrate as he completed a century of Champions League appearances. Rui Patrício had, indeed, excelled as Mourinho’s handshake suggested, flinging himself in front of shots from Costa to Mohamed Salah, Oscar to Andre Schürrle. But the finishing was worryingly slack. Better sides than Sporting would have mounted more prolonged pressure as the contest dragged on, the scoreline still tight. Instead, Nani and the substitute Fredy Montero flashed late attempts wide and Chelsea escaped.

There will inevitably be nights like this over the course of a campaign, occasions when a glut of chances are created only for the forwards’ radar to be skew-whiff when composure is required. Perhaps the visitors had been left dizzied by the lazar pens shone from the stands into a number of their players’ eyes over the course of the evening. Maybe they were thrown slightly off kilter by the aggressive nature of some of the hosts’ tackling as they sought a make an impression of their own. Yet Sporting should still have been dispatched sooner, and probably long before the interval. Bayern Munich had won 5-0 the last time the Alvalade staged a tie in the Champions League proper, five years ago. A repeat would not have been outlandish.

Sporting’s manager, Marco Silva, spoke about satisfaction at his team’s second half display but he will still have retired scorched by what was essentially a humbling experience. There were gaping holes in his side’s ragged back-line from the opening exchanges, the yawning distance between the centre-halves, Mauricio and Naby Sarr, enough to have Fàbregas and Oscar – players always seeking to thread a delicate through-ball – drooling while William Carvalho struggled with his bearings at the base of the home midfield. He was eventually booked for bringing down Eden Hazard, the only surprise being he had been able to locate the Belgian to make sufficient contact. The whole rearguard felt rather befuddled, an accident waiting to happen.

Within 100 seconds of the start, Oscar had slipped Costa clear to test the tightness of that thigh muscle only for Rui Patrício to conjure the first of his interceptions. Schürrle should have registered a first half hat-trick. He had been denied 12 times against Bolton last Wednesday in the Capital One Cup. Add the four missed here and, at some stage, misfortune has to be discounted as a mitigating circumstance for his lack of plunder. He retired before the hour rather perplexed by it all.

The World Cup winner was most culpable when steering Hazard’s pull-back wide of the far post midway through the period with the goal at his mercy and Rui Patrício resigned to a concession. That felt less costly when Andre Carrillo floored Hazard yet again and Fàbregas clipped his free-kick early while Sporting dawdled.

Matic, heckled for his connections with those across the capital, was unmarked beyond the far post but had to crunch back his neck muscles to arc a header over the goalkeeper and finally prise out the visitors’ lead.

The positive spin on what ensued, with chances spurned on the break as Sporting desperately tried to muster some momentum of their own, is that Chelsea were relatively comfortable at the back and continued to create and are capable of slicing opponents to shreds on the counter.

But even that needs a proper context: the Portuguese were so ramshackle that they even shipped opportunities from attacking free-kicks on the edge of the visitors’ penalty area. Mauricio ended up hauling down Costa on that particular charge up-field from one simple, hacked clearance with the defender departing bloodied and bruised on a stretcher.

Sterner opposition would not have parted so obligingly. Indeed, while Arsenal had wilted alarmingly at Stamford Bridge last season to surrender 6-0, they will surely be more steeled on Sunday’s return.

This was less about Rui Patrício’s heroics, and more about Chelsea’s wastefulness. They escaped unharmed on this occasion, an away win establishing them at the top of Group G, but Mourinho will demand they are not as clumsy in front of goal from now on in. This team is capable of being more ruthless than this.


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Telegraph :

Sporting Lisbon 0 Chelsea 1

Nemanja Matic brings relief for Jose Mourinho's wasteful travellers

Jason Burt

So much attention, so much emotion, so much intent had centred on Jose Mourinho’s return to the club where it all started for him that everyone overlooked a player who made his name in the Portuguese capital. And a bit more recently.

Nemanja Matic’s name was whistled when it was read out prior to kick-off, a recognition of the immense presence he was at Benfica after Chelsea sold him to Sporting Lisbon’s bitterest rivals only to recognise their mistake and buy him back last January for £21 million. Matic has damaged Sporting before and delighted in doing so again. It felt a little cruel.

Matic scored the goal that gave Chelsea a crucial victory and with it firmly placed their Champions League campaign back on track, which earned a nod of reprieved approval from Mourinho afterwards.

During the encounter he had stalked the touchline as his team wasted chance after chance and ran the very real risk of somehow throwing away points in a game which they had utterly dominated. Half a dozen one-on-ones were missed by Chelsea and as dominant as the Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio was – he even earned some choice words in jest from Mourinho for almost ruining his homecoming – it was extraordinary wastefulness.

Mourinho’s first coaching role had been as assistant – translator – to Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting in the early 1990s. He said he did not stay long enough to make his mark. He has done so since.

He earned a warm reception in contrast to the hostility directed at Matic but the powerful Serbian midfielder simply brushed it aside. The ease with which he took his goal – pulling away beyond the back post to steer an unchallenged header back across Rui Patricio into the net – stunned the Sporting supporters into silence. The goal came courtesy of yet another assist from Cesc Fabregas as he swung in a free-kick after yet another foul on Eden Hazard.

That, by the end, Mourinho felt moved to use all his substitutes and shore up his midfield by deploying John Obi Mikel alongside Matic owed everything to Chelsea’s inability to take those chances. Sporting will argue that they rallied, and point to a fierce shot from Luis Nani – on loan from Manchester United – that flew narrowly over and a header from substitute Fredy Montero that also went wide, but they were overwhelmed for long periods.

Even though this was their first foray back into the Champions League for five years, this was the first time that Sporting had lost a European tie for 16 matches. They were summed up by William Carvalho, the physically imposing young midfielder with the ruinously expensive buy-out clause of £3 7million that led to both United and Arsenal withdrawing their interest in him during the summer, but who showed flashes that he could develop into something. But he is not quite Matic.

And nor are there many strikers like Diego Costa. Whether Mourinho is playing some long game by continually harping on about the state of the striker’s tight hamstrings, suggesting he cannot play two games in four days – and then making him do just that – and suggesting Spain would be negligent to call him up for international duty remains to be seen. But there did not appear to be anything physically limiting about him on Tuesday night.

The tone was set inside two minutes as Costa raced on to Oscar’s simple through-ball and ran at Rui Patricio. He had time; there was no defender close to him – but his side-footed shot was deflected for a corner. Costa held his head.

But it was Andre Schürrle who was the most profligate. Rui Patricio denied him from a tight angle and then Eden Hazard ran through into the Sporting area to measure a cut-back straight to the Germany international. The goal beckoned but somehow he side-footed wide.

He then fashioned various other means of missing. Shooting weakly, heading tamely before Mourinho had seen enough. Schürrle had not played badly but he had played wastefully and he was substituted.

Oscar was also culpable. Just like Costa in the first half, he was sent streaking through on goal. Rui Patricio waited and waited and Oscar tried to slip his shot under the goalkeeper. Again he blocked.

Would Chelsea play the price? Surely not? But in every contest the opposition get a chance and Nani was given a sight of beating Thibaut Courtois, who spread himself. The winger shot into the side-netting. Then the ball broke to Adrien Silva on the edge of the area but he scooped over.

Chelsea broke again. Costa ran hard at the defence and he was brutally blocked. Mauricio was cautioned and carried off on a stretcher. He should have been dismissed.

Costa was sent clear again. This time the angle was more acute and he shot into the side-netting. Incredibly he was put through once more, but his touch was heavy and Rui Patricio raced to block. Then Filipe Luis was given the chance to shoot by Willian but dragged a cross-shot across the goal. Another substitute, Mohamed Salah, was also denied one-on-one by Rui Patricio. Finally Nani delivered a warning but Sporting could not capitalise.

Chelsea had their victory, the wolf whistles at the end were aimed at the officials, as Sporting had earned back some pride if not a point and Mourinho was able to stride onto the turf to enjoy the applause not just of his own fans but the home ones also. He had taken back control of the group, he had achieved what he wanted. It was a satisfactory homecoming.


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Times :

Nemanja Matic gets the nod to ensure his manager’s homecoming is happy

Rory Smith

Sporting Lisbon 0 Chelsea 1


Pumping his fist in triumph, José Mourinho strode on to the pitch at the end of his homecoming. He marched towards Rui Patrício, the Sporting Lisbon captain, goalkeeper and, after a performance of stirring defiance, hero, too. The Chelsea manager shook him by the hand and whispered something X-rated in his ear. “I’m not going to repeat the words,” he said. “They would be censored. It was something to do with spoiling the evening.”

Here, at the last, a slice of vintage Mourinho. He has been uncharacteristically tender towards Sporting for the past 48 hours. There has been no sense that he was in the Portuguese capital seeking some sort of vengeance, boasting a point to prove and a knife to twist.

He has reminisced with fondness about the time he spent there working under Sir Bobby Robson. He expressed delight that they were back in the Champions League. Looking back at his side’s slender victory, secured by Nemanja Matic’s looping header, he did not even choose to chide his hosts for what may be diplomatically termed their physical approach.

Sporting clattered Chelsea for 90 minutes, the pick of the fouls an NFL-style block on Diego Costa that ended with Maurício, his assailant, being taken off on a stretcher, his nose broken. Mourinho, curiously indulgent, just said that he “liked” to see that sort of aggression.

But that walk after the whistle, that droll explanation: that was straight from Mourinho’s playbook. No manager understands the game’s iconography quite so well as he does; no manager appreciates the need to control the message quite so much. That was Mourinho taking hold of the story, making it about Patrício’s brilliance, as opposed to what it might have been about: his side’s chronic profligacy. Chelsea should have been out of sight within 25 minutes. They glistened with intent from the off. Costa — risked despite delicate hamstrings — had his first opening after three minutes, sent clean through on goal by Oscar. Patrício’s outstretched leg denied him.

That set the tone for the game. Marco Silva, the Sporting coach, is straight from the Mourinho mould, as so many Portuguese managers are now: dapper, handsome, all youth and vigour. The similarities, for now at least, are only skin deep. His side were wide open, their central defenders bad enough without being left exposed. Mourinho would never countenance such a thing.

The chances came in a flood. Gary Cahill headed over; Patrício denied André Schürrle not once but twice, then breathed a sigh of relief when the Germany forward, given the freedom of the penalty area, inexplicably slotted a shot wide. They broke through, eventually, courtesy of the last person Sporting wanted to score: Nemanja Matic, once of Benfica, his header from Cesc Fàbregas’s free kick looping past Patrício.

That should have been Chelsea’s cue to streak away, but still they could not overcome their wastefulness. Patrício denied Oscar and perhaps Costa would have done better had he not been rugby-tackled by Maurício. John Terry — on his 100th appearance in the Champions League — characterised it as “one of those nights where it would not go in, we had so many chances to kill it off”, but it is not the first time this has happened.

Chelsea were just as wasteful against Bolton Wanderers in the Capital One Cup last week, and against Schalke a fortnight before that. The presence of Costa was supposed to remedy the problem, but despite his best efforts, it did not quite work like that.

With every chance missed, Sporting realised that they had a glimmer of hope, that something might yet be salvaged. They found an intensity they had been lacking, a sense of purpose, and they started to turn the tide.

Nani, on loan from Manchester United, twice went close, including the best chance of the night, finding the side-netting from an acute angle. Adrien Silva fired over on two occasions when well placed on the edge of the box. Mourinho recognised that he needed to react, that he had to settle for what he had.

“I felt that if we couldn’t transform our dominance into a result, we would have to bring on [John Obi] Mikel to play alongside Matic,” he said. “We had to close it down. We had to make sure we closed all avenues for them to come back into the game.” It did not quite work — Fredy Montero whistled a header just past a post — but even as they grew more and more desperate, still the chances came.

Twice Costa might have sealed it, might have calmed Mourinho’s pulse and Filipe Luís, roaming forward from left back, sent one just wide. Mohamed Salah, too, should have added that second goal.

It did not come, but in the end, it did not quite matter. Not here, anyway: Chelsea will have to be rather more ruthless if they are to keep pace with better sides later in the competition. Here, they had their three points, and — as Mourinho put it — “control of their destiny” in the group. That is what Mourinho prizes above all: control. Of destiny, of the message, so long as his fist is raised in triumph.


Sporting Lisbon (4-3-3): Rui Patrício — Cédric, N Sarr, Maurício (sub: P Oliveira, 62min), J Silva — J Mário, W Carvalho, A Silva (sub: F Montero, 81) — A Carrillo (sub: D Capel, 81), I Slimani, Nani. Substitutes not used: Marcelo, Jefferson, A Martins, O Rosell. Booked: Mário, Carvalho, Maurício, Cédric.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): T Courtois — B Ivanovic, G Cahill, J Terry, F Luís – F Fàbregas, N Matic — A Schürrle (sub: Willian, 56), Oscar (sub: J O Mikel, 71), E Hazard (sub: M Salah, 84) — D Costa. Substitutes not used: P Cech, K Zouma, C Azpilicueta, L Rémy. Booked: Ivanovic, Hazard, Luís, Fàbregas.

Referee: A Mateu Lahoz (Spain).


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Mail:

Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Chelsea: Nemanja Matic gives Jose Mourinho's side Champions League victory in Portugal

Amid the fuss about Jose Mourinho’s return to Lisbon, Nemanja Matic was forgotten. At least, he was until the 34th minute when the former Benfica midfielder appeared unmarked to head Chelsea into the lead.

A less popular goalscorer it would have been hard to find inside Sporting Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Matic used to play for their fierce city rivals and returned to spoil their first Champions League home game in six years.

For Chelsea it was a vital goal, giving them a grip on a game they had dominated without managing to punish Sporting, with Diego Costa among those guilty of wastefulness, although not to the same degree as Andre Schurrle.

Matic stepped forward to score his second of the season and his first Champions League goal for the club he re-joined in January for £21million.

It clinched Chelsea three points and issued a reminder of how critical the tall Serb has become to Mourinho’s team. While Costa and Eden Hazard take acclaim for their work in front of goal, Matic supplies the midfield power which allows them to attack with such freedom.

Amid all the fuss about Costa’s strike-rate and hamstrings and Hazard’s jinking dribbling skills, Matic is easily overlooked. Here was the perfect moment to hail his contribution for he is every bit as important as the goals of Costa or the jinking runs of Hazard.

Sporting were very disappointing until they went behind. They appeared to freeze but generated more urgency and purpose in the second half, when Chelsea’s defensive unit had to work to protect the lead.

Matic weighed in with some of the more familiar unsung stuff, eating up the miles, disrupting the game’s rhythms, winning the ball and the Londoners moved to the top of Group G with back-to-back ties next against Maribor of Slovenia, who drew at Schalke on Tuesday night.

‘We had to win,’ said captain John Terry after his 100th Champions League appearance. ‘It puts us in control again.’

Nani and Fredy Montero both went close in a closing phase which had no right to be as nervy as it was for Chelsea. They squandered the chances to win comfortably, starting in the second minute when Costa was released by Oscar.

Costa stormed clear on goal with oodles of time, perhaps too much time, and opted for a low shot which Rui Patricio saved with his left foot.

Patricio went on to perform brilliantly and Mourinho strode into his penalty area at the final whistle to offer his hand. Unlike Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert and his sidekick Roy Keane, Portugal’s No 1 shook it.

‘I’m not going to repeat what I said because the words would be censored,’ said the Chelsea boss. ‘It was something about spoiling the night.’

After thwarting Costa, Patricio frustrated Schurrle, who tried to sidle past him but the keeper scrambled across the turf to smother his shot.

He saved again from Schurrle, a more routine catch from a header after Naby Sarr, who endured a torrid night, had been dispossessed, and again, to keep out a low strike from the edge of the box.

It was shaping up like the Capital One Cup tie against Bolton when Schurrle had a dozen shots and could not score. Midway through the first-half he managed to screw an absolute sitter horribly wide.

Mourinho spun towards the bench, throwing his hands in despair. He knew Chelsea must score during this dominant period. The chance was made by Hazard, who sped past Sarr and picked out Schurrle, arriving from deep, completely unmarked. All he had to do was roll the ball into the net but somehow he missed the target.

Chelsea wastefulness kept Sporting in the game and Marco Silva had them drilled to break at pace and numbers. Thibaut Courtois was a bystander for much of the first-half but alert to save from Islam Slimani when he needed to be.

Pressure was eased by Matic, when the Serb found space in a crowded goalmouth to apply a firm header to a free-kick delivered by Cesc Fabregas and looped over Patricio into the far corner.

There were similarities to the winner scored by Branislav Ivanovic in the Europa League final against Benfica, when Matic was on the beaten team.

Chelsea had a lead and went after the second, but it was no easier to acquire. Mauricio blocked from Costa, soon after the break, and Oscar was unable to beat Patricio when clean through on goal.

Another run by Costa was brutally halted by Mauricio, who managed to injure himself in the process. It might have been interpreted as a red-card foul by the last defender, but the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt and the centre-half left on a stretcher with a yellow.

‘It’s understandable, no problem,’ said Mourinho. ‘It is a young team, young players, a big match for them. There was some frustration because we controlled most parts of the game. The game was hard but correct.’

Sporting summoned some quality in the second half. They were spirited and much more threatening and almost found a way back into the game. Nani crashed his best chance into the site-netting from an angle and curled another close, while Montero flashed a header wide.

Chelsea survived the scares and are well placed to win the group. ‘We can control our destiny,’ said Mourinho. ‘We play two games against Maribor and if we manage six points that would be 10 and job done.’


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Mirror:

Sporting 0-1 Chelsea: Matic header hands wasteful Blues the points in Portugal
 
By Martin Lipton

 
The Serbian's first-half header was enough to leave Jose Mourinho's side sitting pretty at the top of their group          

You can get away with it in Lisbon in September.

At this point in the group stage, it doesn’t matter so much if you miss a series of chances, fail to put an inferior side away.

But after Christmas, when it’s Munich, Madrid or Barcelona, when the other lot have quality too, it will cost Chelsea, will lead to that familiar sense of what might have been.

And while Jose Mourinho’s post match walk towards Rui Patricio was all about trying to make the Sporting keeper the story, the Chelsea boss will know the real picture is different.

Four points from two games and top of Group G, yes.

Still unbeaten, after nine matches in all competitions. Very much the team to beat at home.

Yet this was an evening that could have bitten Chelsea on the backside, to make them pay for the misses that kept on coming.

From two minutes into the game, when Diego Costa streaked through and failed to thread past the Sporting keeper, to two minutes into stoppage time, when Mohamed Salah wasted Chelsea’s umpteenth and final chance, this was a story of appalling finishing.

The cast list was pretty much a team-sheet, too.

Not just Costa and Salah, but also Gary Cahill, Andre Schurrle, Oscar and Filipe Luis.

A series of shockers, the star-turn taken by Schurrle just after the half-hour, somehow managing not to hit the target from under 12 yards with all the time in the world at his disposal.

Thankfully for Mourinho, whose return to the Estadio Jose Alvalade became far more nervy than it should have been, as Sporting pressed for a get out of jail equaliser at the end, there was one man who kept his head.

Fittingly, perhaps, it was the Chelsea man who copped the flak from the Sporting fans. Not Mourinho – whose spell in Lisbon ended more than 20 years ago – but Nemanja Matic.

The Serbian midfielder had been jeered mercilessly when his name was announced before the start, the legacy of his spell across the Portuguese capital at Benfica.

Matic ignored the cat-calls, imposing himself in what has become his trademark fashion.

And when Cesc Fabregas spotted the Sporting back line was sleeping after Eden Hazard had been fouled out wide on the left, whipping over a quick free-kick, it was Matic who was the target.

The ball looked as if it might be a fraction too high but Matic did superbly, hanging in the air, finding the precision to generate enough arc and power to angle his floated header past the keeper.

It was to prove the key moment of a game that should already have been over.

Costa’s early miss, deflected over the top by Rui Patricio when the off-side trap broke down, set a frustrating pattern for Mourinho.

Cahill headed Schurrle’s resulting corner over when he should have scored, before two misses by the German, including that howler after Hazard did all the hard work and pulled back from the right.

And despite the advantage, it was a similar story after the break.

Oscar’s miss, when Filipe Luis put him through, was as bad as Costa’s had been, the Brazilian-born Spain striker’s touch was too heavy, his former Atletico team-mate shot across goal with yellow shirts awaiting a simple pass.

Has Nani been more interested in staying on his feet than hitting the floor, or substitute Fredy Montero hit the target with his late header, Mourinho would have been spewing.

Salah’s failure to convert Fabregas’ pass at the death only underlined the tale.

Sporting, game but out-gunned, were not good enough to take advantage. Mourinho knows other sides will be.


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Express:


Sporting Lisbon 0 - Chelsea 1: High-flier Matic gives Mourinho a happy return

CHELSEA moved to the top of Group G after a strike from Nemanja Matic ensured a happy return to Lisbon for manager Jose Mourinho.

By: Tony Paskin


But they wasted a hatful of chances to win even more convincingly in what was defender John Terry’s 100th Champions League game – with Andre Schurrle the biggest culprit.

Diego Costa, who played despite having a hamstring problem, failed to score in the second minute after dashing clean through on goal, with Rui Patricio blocking his shot with a boot.

Oscar, who set him up, also messed up one-on-one and it was left to Matic to show his supposedly more clinical colleagues how to score.

Mourinho’s men played some mesmerising stuff as the Blues boss returned to his homeland. But if they want to get their hands on the Champions League trophy they won in 2012 they will need to finish a whole lot better than this – Schurrle in particular.

The Germany international, right, had opportunity after opportunity, his worst miss coming in the 22nd minute. With Sporting in disarray down the left flank, as they were for much of the first half, Eden Hazard got to the byline and produced the perfect pullback for Schurrle to sidefoot just inside the goalkeeper’s right post.

The trouble was he shot the wrong side of the upright. Mourinho, could not believe it, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets in frustration. Twenty minutes later Schurrle blazed over at the near post with Matic free for a tap-in.

By then the Serbian midfielder – who managed the game brilliantly with an inspired Cesc Fabregas – had scored what turned out to be the winner in the 34th minute. After being fouled by Andre Carrillo, Hazard spotted Matic drifting into space at the far post.

His delivery was perfect for the 6ft 4ins holding midfielder to loop a diagonal header over Patricio. The home supporters did not take it well, with Matic having played for their big Lisbon rivals, Benfica, before rejoining Chelsea.

But it was the very least Mourinho’s men deserved against a team who seemed as if they had never played in the Champions League, rather than having been out of it for five years.

Chelsea fluffed three great openings after the break. In the 55th minute a simple ball over the top by Filipe Luis saw Oscar with just the keeper to beat, but Patricio was up to the task of blocking again.

Luis also dragged a late shot wide of the far post, having charged into the penalty area. Then, right at the death, substitute Mohamed Salah was thwarted by Patricio, as Sporting were exposed once more.

Costa’s suspect hamstring had a real test with him being clobbered by Mauricio, who had to go off injured because of the impact, and Patricio. But, thankfully for Schurrle and Co, Chelsea held on – something they failed to do in their opening group match, at home against Schalke.

However, Nani, on loan from Manchester United, almost bent in a last-ditch equaliser. You dread to imagine how angry Mourinho, back in the city where he managed Benfica, would have been had that chance gone in.

At the final whistle he walked 50 yards to shake keeper Patricio’s hand. Whether he would have done the same if Sporting had scored is very debatable.


SPORTING LISBON (4-1-2-2-1): Patricio; Soares, Sarr, Mauricio (Oliveira 63), C Silva; Carvalho; Eduardo, A Silva (Montero 81); Carillo (Capel 81), Nani; Slimani. Booked: Soares, Mauricio, Carvalho, Eduardo.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Schurrle (Willian 58), Oscar (Mikel 71), Hazard (Salah 84); Costa. Booked: Hazard, Ivanovic, Luis, Fabregas. Goal: Matic 34.

Referee: A Lahoz (Spain).


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Star:


Sporting 0 - Chelsea 1: Matic headers delivers the points on a tough night in Lisbon

CHELSEA proved to be sporting against Sporting in Lisbon last night.

By David Woods


The Stamford Bridge outfit wasted a hatful of chances to win more convincingly, with Andre Schurrle the biggest culprit.

Diego Costa, played despite having a hamstring problem, failed to score in the second minute after dashing clean through on goal with Rui Patricio blocking with a boot.

And Oscar, who set him up - also messed up when one-v-one, and it was left to unlikely goal hero Nemanja Matic to show his supposedly more clinical colleagues how to score.

Jose Mourinho’s men played some mesmerising stuff as the Blues boss returned to his homeland.

But if they want to get their hands on the Champions League trophy they won in 2012 again they will need to finish a whole lot better - Schurrle in particular.

The German international had opportunity after opportunity, the worst miss coming in the 22nd minute.

With Sporting in disarray down the left flank, as they were for much of the first half, Eden Hazard got to the byline and produced a perfect pullback for Schurrle to sidefoot just inside the keeper’s right post.

Trouble was he shot the wrong side of the upright. Mourinho, could not believe it, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets in frustration.

Twenty minutes later Schurrle blazed over at the near post with Matic free for a tap-in.

By then the Serbian midfielder - who bossed the game brilliantly with an inspired Cesc Fabregas - had scored what turned out to be the winner.

It came in the 34th minute. After being fouled by Andre Carrillo, Hazard spotted Matic drifting into space at the far post.

His delivery was perfect for the 6ft 4ins holding midfielder to loop a diagonal header over Patricio.

The home fans did not take it well with Matic having played for their big Lisbon rivals Benfica before rejoining Chelsea.

But it was the very least Mourinho’s men deserved against a team who looked like they had never played in the Champions League, rather than having been out of it for five years.

Chelsea fluffed three great openings after the break. In the 55th minute a simple ball over the top by Felipe Luis saw Oscar with just the keeper to beat, but Patricio was up to the task of blocking again.

Luis also dragged a late shot wide of the far post having charged into the penalty area, and right at the death substitute Mohamed Salah was thwarted by that man Patricio, as Sporting were exposed yet again.

Costa’s suspect hamstring had a real test with him being clobbered by Mauricio, who had to go off injured because of the impact, and Patricio.

Thankfully for Schurrle and Co, the west Londoners held on - something they failed to do in their opening Group G game at home to Schalke - although Nani, on loan from Manchester United, almost bent in a last-ditch equaliser.

You dread to imagine how angry Mourinho, back in the city where he managed Benfica, would have been had it gone in.

At the final whistle he walked 50 yards to shake keeper Patricio’s hand.

Whether he’d have done the same if Sporting had scored is very debatable.


SPORTING (4-1-2-2-1): Rui Patricio; Cedric, Sarr, Mauricio (Oliveira 64), J Silva; Carvalho; Mario, A Silva (Montero 81); Carillo (Capel 81), Nani; Slimani.

Subs: Marcelo, Jefferson, Andre Martins, Oriol Rosell.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Schurrle (Willian 58) , Oscar (Mikel 71), Hazard (Salah 84); Costa.

Subs: Cech, Zouma, Remy, Azpilicueta.


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