Maccabi Tel-Aviv 4-0

Independent:

Jose Mourinho's new-look team impresses, but bigger test is to come on Saturday against Arsenal
 
Chelsea 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0

Sam Wallace  

Saturday will be the eight-year anniversary of the sacking of Jose Mourinho first time around at Chelsea, a suitably solemn occasion for the Stamford Bridge faithful who gave every indication that they did not wish to see history repeat itself.

The pressure over the last few days might have got to Mourinho, who has sought to assert his credentials with the absence of any grace, but he could not have hoped mid-slump for a more suitable opponent than the hapless Maccabi Tel Aviv - no more than a minor irritation to the English champions. Eden Hazard could even afford to lodge an early contender for the season’s worst penalty miss.
In the second half, Mourinho gave his acknowledgement to all sides of the ground as they stood up to offer him their support. It will be of great satisfaction to him that the three other English sides in this competition have lost their first games, including Arsenal who come to Stamford Bridge on Saturday for a league game of significance for both clubs.
Until Chelsea start winning games like the one on Saturday they cannot pretend to be back to anything like the level to which they aspire. Back in September 2007, Mourinho went into his final game as manager against Rosenborg in the Champions League having won just one of the four previous league games and with Avram Grant lurking over his shoulder. Modern Chelsea’s most improbable manager was again at Stamford Bridge, but this time at a safe distance in the television studio.
Eden Hazard blasted an early penalty over the bar  Mourinho was able to rest John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic although how many of them make it back into the team for Saturday is now a serious debate. Of the new boys it was, from an English perspective, encouraging to witness such an assured performance from Ruben Loftus-Cheek who glided around the midfield for 80 minutes as if looked like he belonged - in spite of a very harsh booking within the first minute of the game.
The Lewisham boy who has seen all his football development at Chelsea’s academy was arguably the man of the match. But only if Mourinho picks him to play against Arsenal will we know that he has truly earned the trust of a manager who has found it hard to put his faith in the new Chelsea generation.
Diego Costa came on for the injured Willian in the first half and scored his second goal of the season, following goals from the aforementioned Brazilian and then Oscar from the penalty spot. Cesc Fabregas added a fourth with 12 minutes left although there had never been any doubt over the result from the first goal. The Israeli champions will find their European adventure a struggle, especially away from home.  Willian's free-kick curled all the way in - but he picked up an injury soon after 
The first half was a strange old episode that ended with Chelsea two goals to the good, although the most memorable moment was Hazard sending a sixth minute penalty in the direction of the Fulham Broadway. It is not every day you see the English game’s best player – last year at least - miss a penalty. But this was more than a conventional miss – this one was just a bit embarrassing.
The most obvious explanation was that Hazard seems to be so in thrall to the practice of what is colloquially known as “giving the goalkeeper the eyes” that on this occasion, he lost all sense of the goal’s location. On the touchline Mourinho reacted by leaping forward and manically encouraging his team. Presumably because the alternative was just too depressing to contemplate.
Chelsea’s good fortune on this occasion was that as bad as their form has been of late, they were nowhere near as bad as Maccabi Tel Aviv who were way out of their depth for much of the first half. The 19-year-old Loftus-Cheek as well as Baba Rahman and Kurt Zouma were all in the side and played well against a very poor opponent.  Chelsea got another penalty but Oscar took this one - and scored 
Mourinho went berserk when the German referee Felix Zwayer did not dismiss Maccabi’s Serb goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic for the foul on Willian for the penalty that Hazard missed. With the covering defenders, however, it was the correct decision just to book him.
Rajkovic is a highly-rated goalkeeper but it was a terrible first half for him. He was badly at fault for Willian’s goal on 15 minutes, a free-kick 40 yards out that no-one got a touch on but which the Maccabi goalkeeper misjudged nonetheless. It passed him to nestle in the far corner when one glove thrust out to his left would have stopped it, and really that just about captured Rajkovic’s miserable performance.
A minute before half-time he should have got his second yellow card for tripping Loftus-Cheek when the latter ran onto Hazard’s pass, which would have earned Chelsea their second penalty of the half. As it was they soon got that second penalty, in time added on, when their former player Tal Ben Haim – the more senior of the two Maccabi players with that identical name – fouled Diego Costa, on as a substitute for the injured Willian.  Diego Costa scored his first of the season with a sensational volley into the top corner 
This time penalty duties were passed to the more composed Oscar who sent Rajkovic the wrong way and scored with the last kick of the half. Aside from one header from their captain Eran Zahavi, Maccabi had not laid a glove on the English champions.
The second goal of the season for Costa was a 2014-2015 throwback to the days when Fabregas and his Brazilian amigo were the irresistible combination at the heart of Mourinho’s team. Against a Maccabi team slowly falling to pieces in face of the onslaught this was still very nicely executed: a chipped cross from Fabregas hit first time by Costa with a little shin on the shot, but enough to take it past Rajkovic and in off the bar.
The final goal was a break in which Loic Remy had the first shot, saved by Rajkovic who could only push it into the path of Fabregas. Even Bertrand Traore got his Chelsea senior debut in the final minutes, the boy from Burkina Faso who the club have put such resources into signing and developing. At least on this occasion, Mourinho had given the youngsters a chance.  Cesc Fabregas scores the fourth into an empty net 

Chelsea (4-3-3): Begovic; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Cahill, Rahman; Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek (Traore 80), Oscar (Ramires 65); Willian (Costa 23), Remy, Hazard.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (4-1-4-1): Rajkovic; Shpungin (Peretz 71), Ben Haim I, Tibi, Ben Harush; Alberman; Ben Haim II (Micha 64), Mitrovic, Igiebor, Rikan (Radonjic 64); Zahavi.

Referee: F Zwayer (Austria).
Att: 40,684
Booked
Chelsea Loftus-Cheek
Maccabi Tel Aviv Rajkovic, Ben Haim I, Igiebor

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

Guardian:

Chelsea make light Of Eden Hazard penalty miss to thump Maccabi Tel Aviv
Chelsea 4 - 0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

European competition has finally provided Chelsea with some respite. For the first time this season, the odd sprightly period of the occasional game aside, José Mourinho witnessed his side impose themselves on a contest, dominate for lengthy periods, and revel in clear superiority. Maccabi Tel Aviv had been cowed from the off in the face of the home side’s greater energy and quality. What might have been awkward ended up as a thrashing.
 
This win, even against such feeble opponents, was celebrated, with the locals chorusing their manager’s name amid a wave of relief given so much of the team’s domestic campaign to date has been dismal. There is optimism again ahead of the visit of Arsenal on Saturday for a fixture which tends to have Mourinho’s juices flowing. In truth, it felt like the imposition of the natural order, the Portuguese having urged his charges to remind the world why they had been crowned Premier League champions back in May. Their response, with a revamped team littered with players with points to prove, was emphatic.
Both Basel and Schalke have prospered at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons in the first group game of the Champions League, but Maccabi were never permitted to thrive. Mourinho said his team had demonstrated “a different state of mind”, rejecting Steven Gerrard’s suggestions in his capacity as a pundit on TV that there was friction in the ranks, particularly between the manager and his rested captain, John Terry. “I admire Steven very much, and have good relations with him, but he is wrong,” he said. “We have no problems at all. As for the crowd, I’m happy when they sing for Chelsea and that they know what we are, champions of England.
“I’m not there waiting for personal support, but it’s obviously welcome. I prefer that to them saying ‘Mourinho out’. That shows they don’t have short memories. For a Chelsea fan, there’s an easy way to think: ‘We won four Premier Leagues, three with him, and one with his team. So this guy is not bad. Let’s support the guy. We have a chance to win a fifth.’”

Everything about this match, even with Terry on the bench, seemed like a tonic. Those offered a rare opportunity took their chance with relish. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with only 17 minutes of first-team football behind him previously this season, was cautioned for a high challenge on Nikola Mitrovic after only 56 seconds but, unperturbed, was soon stretching again into tackles and surging impressively up-field in support of his attack. The whole setup had been crying out for the energy the youngster supplied and his display may now demand inclusion against Arsenal, potentially alongside Nemanja Matic.
But the teenager’s was not the only performance to be celebrated. Oscar’s return after a knee injury was impressive, the Brazilian sliding home his team’s second penalty of the night in first-half stoppage time after Diego Costa had wriggled away from Mitrovic’s tug only to be floored by Tal Ben Haim’s lunge. More significantly, Oscar’s presence seemed to reassure Cesc Fàbregas. The Spaniard has endured his own sluggish start to the campaign but this match provided a first assist and goal of term. His was a beautifully clipped diagonal pass into the penalty area just before the hour mark which Costa, on for the injured Willian, thumped gloriously on the volley and in off the underside of the crossbar.
 
Fabregas’s first soon followed, a tap-in after Eden Hazard had countered at pace and Loïc Rémy’s shot had been pushed out by a jittery Predrag Rajkovic. “Fàbregas and Ruben gave speed to the team,” said Mourinho, who will be without the injured Willian and Pedro on Saturday. “Ruben is potentially a very good player, but you have to feed these youngsters and choose the right moment. His evolution is important. But I know, with all respect that Maccabi deserves, what you are thinking: we didn’t beat Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. But we beat a team who deserved to be here. It was not too difficult because we played very well.”
There was greater balance to this team, with Baba Rahman a threat down the flank on debut at left-back and César Azpilicueta assured on a rare foray in his favoured position on the opposite side. Gary Cahill, captaining the team for the first time, was a powerful presence and if Kurt Zouma and Rahman were both prone to overplaying, the home side were rarely tested until Nosakhare Igiebor missed an open goal as full time approached. “Welcome to the Champions League,” offered Slavisa Jokanovic. He did not try to deny his side had been overwhelmed.
Even so, the perfectionist in Mourinho will have pinpointed the areas that still need work before Arsenal’s arrival at Stamford Bridge. Hazard, in particular, could have done with a goal as he seeks to kick-start his own form this time round. He had been gifted his opportunity early on when Tal Ben Haim misplaced a pass, the slippery Rémy reacted smartly to intercept and slide Willian into the penalty area. Rajkovic’s forward dart invited trouble and the Brazilian duly tumbled to get the penalty. Yet anxiety gripped as Hazard prepared to convert. There was tension in his stride to the ball, eyes fixed on Rajkovic’s net, and the spot-kick was skied dismally into the upper tier of the Shed.
The recovery thereafter demonstrated strength of character. Willian made amends for his team-mate’s profligacy soon enough. Yuval Shpungin fouled Hazard midway inside the Maccabi half and, with Rajkovic unnerved by the crowd wrestling their way towards the spot, Willian’s inswinging free-kick skipped into the corner of the net. Hazard was slaloming into the Maccabi area like his old self before the end. Arsenal, licking their wounds from an untimely defeat in Zagreb, will confront a team who have finally found some rhythm.

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

Telegraph:

Chelsea 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0
Jose Mourinho's side run riot at Stamford Bridge

Jason Burt

Jose Mourinho had the look of a man prepared to fan the flames. And now he will expect that, with this victory, Chelsea’s season will finally begin to fire.

The manager got what he wanted: goals, restorative performances and big displays from some big players. This was better from Cesc Fabregas, better from Diego Costa, but best of all from 19-year-old Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was given his chance in midfield.

Still Costa had started on the bench – he came on as a first-half substitute – as Mourinho showed his disquiet by taking out some of his big beasts.

John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic were also dropped. Will they be recalled for Saturday’s Premier League lunchtime encounter with Arsenal? Probably. But it is not a given while it will be interesting to see if Mourinho persists with new signing Abdul Rahman Baba, allowing him to switch Cesar Azpilicueta to the right. But, above all, will he bring back Terry?
Mourinho had to do something. He admitted that. Despite the tameness of the opposition, anything short of a win could not be countenanced. That was evident from Mourinho’s countenance. He has cut his hair short – previously he has called this his “going to war” look – and he appeared to be in a combative mood.

He was brooding; smouldering; a keg about to explode if this did not go right. He scowled and he prowled. He spoke of “negative episodes” and how everything had conspired against him this season; of how his team needed to be more aggressive.
Mourinho was certainly more aggressive. He urged his players on; he howled at every perceived injustice; he celebrated as if this were a tie deep into the Champions League and not an opening fixture against the weakest team in the group.

Willian eased the tension around Stamford Bridge after breaking the deadlock
The tension was palpable and it was as if Mourinho was bristling at the indignation of Chelsea’s early-season plight. For him a line in the sand had to be drawn and after Arsenal lost in Croatia, having been reduced to 10 men for most of their tie, he will demand more at the weekend.
Chelsea go into that game with their first home win of the season, their first clean sheet and as the only English team to have won in the first round of Champions League matches - even if they faced the weakest opponents in the Israeli champions. Mourinho professed himself sad at that statistic. But probably not that sad.

He will study his options. He is without Willian, who limped off with a damaged hamstring, and Pedro, also injured, and will assess whether he can use Oscar, who made his comeback in this match.
Both Brazilians scored in a first half in which Chelsea also missed a penalty, ballooned high over the crossbar by Eden Hazard, who is still struggling for form. Later Oscar converted his penalty, placing the ball calmly into the corner after a foul on Costa.

The first penalty came after Loïc Remy released Willian, who was brought down by Maccabi goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic – a bundle of nerves along with his team-mates – but shown only a yellow card.
Mourinho was furious at the apparent leniency, aiming a kick at a nearby box and, certainly, it looked like the goalkeeper should have been dismissed.
To add to that insult Hazard missed but it was inevitable that Chelsea would go ahead and they did so from Willian’s free-kick that was fully 35 yards out on the left flank. It was whipped in, gathering pace off the slick turf on the bounce, but Rajkovic surely should have done better.

By half-time, then, the game was over even if Maccabi’s dangerous young striker, Erin Zahavi, should have scored when he was allowed to run and meet a free-kick but could only head over.
That would have given Maccabi, managed by former Chelsea midfielder Slavisa Jokanovic, a foot-hold, but it was Mourinho imploring his side for more and they gained it with the pick of their goals as Fabregas chipped the ball into the penalty area for Costa to steer a superb volley into the net via the underside of the crossbar. It felt like old times – last season at least – with that combination and that finish.

Chelsea were not finished. After Avraham Rikan volleyed narrowly wide for Maccabi Chelsea broke at speed, and in numbers, with Hazard feeding Remy, whose shot was parried by Rajkovic – only for the ball to run to Fabregas, who tapped it into the net. Fabregas knows he has underperformed; knows he has to do better.
Mourinho’s name rang around Stamford Bridge, and he actually looked sheepish at that, but it was not until that fourth goal went in – one that meant Chelsea had probably hit par for the course against such opposition – that he professed himself satisfied and finally took his seat.

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

Mail:

Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv:

Willian, Oscar, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas all find the back of the net to ease the pressure on Jose Mourinho despite Eden Hazard's horrendous penalty miss

By Martin Samuel for the Daily Mail

A tiny portal to a happier past briefly opened at Stamford Bridge. Thirteen minutes into the second half, Cesc Fabregas clipped a neat pass into the penalty area, which Diego Costa volleyed into the roof of the net, having muscled in front of his man, Yuval Shpungin.
It was the third goal for a Chelsea side asserting their supremacy over inferior opponents, as they would have at this stage last season. The nil in the scoreline would have been a source of small delight for Jose Mourinho, as well. The first clean sheet of the season, and long overdue.
It vindicated the manager’s decision to leave some of the stellar names out of his starting line-up and go with fresher legs — and perhaps fresher minds, too. And while Maccabi, the first Israeli side to reach the Champions League group stages since the 2010-11 season, were undoubtedly the poorest of opponents for the English clubs in the competition this week, this was a much-improved display from Chelsea. It did not flatter them when, in the 78th minute, Maccabi goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic parried a low finish from Loic Remy, only for Fabregas to slot the fourth into an empty net.
Mourinho sat down after that. Relaxed at last. It is Arsenal here next, and he knew Chelsea had to make a statement of intent before that game. He must be sick of Chelsea being the marks this season — taken apart by Manchester City and an Everton substitute. So poor has Chelsea’s form been that some already consider the title beyond them; the Champions League is discussed as the season’s saving grace.
A win over Maccabi will give no indication of Chelsea’s potential in Europe, and stronger opponents lie ahead in this competition — probably this group, too. But it was a poor result against a Champions League also-ran, Rosenborg of Norway, that proved the tipping point in Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea, so at least a historical repeat has been avoided.
And maybe a corner has at last been turned. Maybe, Mourinho will hope, at last his luck is in. It is his belief that much of the Chelsea crisis is a simple matter of ill fortune. Every mistake has been punished, every break goes against them.
And events just five minutes into the game would have done little to persuade him that was about to change. Chelsea got a penalty, but not the full advantage they deserved, and then compounded this rotten luck by missing it. On the sidelines, Mourinho went crackers. He can smile as much as he likes for the cameras but this is definitely a man feeling the pressure of scarcely explicable failures.
Willian went clear of the Maccabi defence and was upended ferociously by goalkeeper Rajkovic. Referee Felix Zwayer gave the penalty but showed only a yellow card. There is much debate about what is termed triple jeopardy in these instances. It is claimed the offender is punished three times: by the penalty, the sending-off and the resulting ban. A booking should suffice, if a penalty is given, it is said. What happened next showed that for the flawed argument it is.
Eden Hazard came off his short run and promptly sent the ball into orbit. It was as poor as any penalty ever seen around these parts and, as Pat Nevin will recall, there have been a few contenders. So, in effect, this was Rajkovic and Maccabi’s punishment: nothing. The team did not lose a goal, a player, or its first-choice goalkeeper for the next match. If the authorities remove the hefty triple punishment for taking out a forward in a scoring position, it is undoubtedly a chance that will be worth taking.
As for Hazard, that is three of six penalties missed in the Champions League, and when Chelsea got another chance from the spot later in the half, it was no surprise he was relieved of his duties. It really was a dreadful kick, the sign of a player short of confidence in a team equally reduced going into this game.
As for Chelsea, justice was done shortly after. Rajkovic should not have been on the pitch and given his attempt to deal with a Willian free-kick 10 minutes later, he may as well not have been.
The Brazilian was 35 yards out when he whipped in a low one, looking for a team-mate to get the vital touch. None did, but they were enough of a threat and a distraction to catch Rajkovic in two minds. He didn’t come for the ball but didn’t cover his far post either, and the ball skidded in unaided. It was Willian’s last meaningful involvement of the game. He felt a hamstring in his right leg eight minutes later and was replaced by Diego Costa.
And so, one of the biggest statements of Mourinho’s managerial career, was over after just 23 minutes. His decision to revive this Chelsea team by dropping four of its biggest names was a bold one.
John Terry already had an inkling of Mourinho’s displeasure with his half-time substitution against Manchester City.
This was a stage further: left out altogether after the 3-1 defeat by Everton. Branislav Ivanovic went, too — hardly a surprise given his form — plus Nemanja Matic and Costa. It could be argued that Chelsea have Arsenal on Saturday, except this did not feel like a resting, more an attempt to breathe life into the Chelsea monster.
Abdul Rahman Baba came in at left-back, allowing Cesar Azpilicueta to play on his natural right side, Loic Remy replaced Costa, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek took over in midfield. He was booked inside a minute for a studs-up challenge on Nikola Mitrovic, but recovered and played a fine game.
With Costa’s introduction, however, that was the end of Mourinho’s star-studded naughty step, although the striker repaid him by winning the penalty that sealed the game. Two minutes of first-half injury time had been played when Costa battled his way into the six-yard box, at which point a gang of Tal Ben Haims bundled him to the ground. In a commentator’s nightmare, Maccabi have two players with identical names, listed as Tal Ben Haim I and II, like kings. Nothing regal about their defending, though, with II pulling Costa back before I tripped him over.
Zwayer did the right thing again. Oscar stepped and, after a shuffle, slid the ball in on the left as Hazard looked on. Now why didn’t I think of that, he must have wondered.

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

Mirror :

Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Blues shake off the dust with commanding win at Stamford Bridge

By John Cross
 
Jose Mourinho's side have started the season poorly but they found their feet in their Champions League opener

It was enough to put a smile on his face and some love in his heart.
The Chelsea fans chanted: “Stand Up for the Special One” as the Stamford Bridge faithful sent a very clear message to their beleaguered boss.
Jose Mourinho might have banned banter from the training ground after their disastrous start to the campaign but even he could enjoy a precious victory.
And it was the third goal which made it. A lovely Cesc Fabregas lofted through ball, Diego Costa swivelled and volleyed into the top corner and it felt like last season’s Chelsea were back at last.

The whole stadium erupted with the supporters first singing Mourinho’s name, then they all stood in appreciation and the manager acknowledged the gesture with a flick of his hand.
Mourinho doesn’t do emotion very well - apart from strops - but it was a moment that would have even touched a heart made of stone.
Maccabi Tel Aviv were so poor that you could not really tell if Chelsea were back for good. Or they were just made to look good. Well, all but Eden Hazard as last season’s star man is still suffering from a crisis of confidence not helped by putting a first half penalty into outer space.
But this was a shot in the arm for Chelsea, a lift for the fans and finally Mourinho’s mood might improve. They have also got Arsenal on Saturday and Arsene Wenger can normally be relied upon to serve up three easy points for Mourinho.

Mourinho did go through torture early on after Chelsea were given a fifth minute penalty after Maccabi keeper Predrag Rajkovic upended Willian but Hazard blazed miles over the bar.
But with Hazard under performing, Willian took centre stage in the 15th minute when his 35 yard free kick was neither cross or shot but still carried all the way past Rajkovic and into the far corner.
It was a gift and lift-off for Chelsea. Then when Willian limped off injured after 23 minutes on came Costa and the game really changed. Mourinho left some of his under-performing big guns on the bench as John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Bratislava Ivanovic were rested for Arsenal.

But Costa looked back to his old self. He bustled his way into the Maccabi box in first half injury time, former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim reminded us why he was sold as he made a clumsy foul. Up stepped Oscar to slot home the penalty and show Hazard how it is done.
Finally, Chelsea looked as if they were back when Fabregas teed up Costa in the 59th minute as the Spain striker scored his first goal for the club in the Champions League and only his second this season.
Thankfully for Chelsea, Maccabi were good enough to roll over. Loic Remy’s shot was pushed away by Rajkovic and there was Fabregas on hand to make it four 12 minutes from time.
Suddenly the storm clouds over Stamford Bridge have lifted, Mourinho looked happier and, even though it’s a month too late, Chelsea’s season looks to be finally underway.

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

Express:

Chelsea 4 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 0: Mourinho's men lift gloom around Stamford Bridge

SO THE unhappy anniversary was not to be. Chelsea produced their best performance of the season to swat aside Maccabi Tel Aviv - and lift some of the gloom around Stamford Bridge.

By Tony Banks

Eight years ago tomorrow it was a flop in an infamous opening Champions League game against Rosenborg that signalled the end of Jose Mourinho's first spell in charge of Chelsea.
After this equally uncertain start to the season and Mourinho's snappy demeanour of late, the omens did not look good. But his much changed team buried them with ease.
Even though Eden Hazard missed an early penalty, goals from Willian, another spot kick from the excellent Oscar, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas gave Chelsea the start they wanted for their Group G endeavours.

Yes, Maccabi were woeful - but Chelsea's fans showed just how much they want Mourinho to stay as they chanted in unison "Stand Up for the Special One." He waved back casually.
Mourinho made six changes from the team that lost at Everton - John Terry, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic were all left out, and Pedro was injured. He obviously had one eye on the visit of Arsenal on Saturday - but he also, perhaps ominously, said he needed to try a ‘different dynamic’.
Baba Rahman, the 21 year old full-back signed from Augsberg in the summer, made his debut, 19 year old Ruben Loftus-Cheek came in for his first start and Oscar returned.

The uncertainty swirling around Stamford Bridge after such a shaky start to the season had prompted comparisons to that fateful night of 18 September 2007 when, after a 1-1 opening group draw with Rosenborg, Mourinho was axed just 24 hours later.
That night Chelsea went into the game with 11 points from their first six league games. Their record this season was worse - four points from five games, 11 points behind leaders Manchester City and one place above the relegation zone. Relations between Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich this time round, however, are much smoother.
Maccabi featured ex-Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim as skipper, they were managed by former Blues midfielder Slavisa Jokanovic and Avram Grant, the manager who succeeded Mourinho and led Chelsea to the 2008 final, was in the commentators box for BT Sport.Loftus-Cheek’s night did not get off to the best of starts, as he was booked after just 55 seconds.
Three minutes later, Chelsea should have been ahead, as after a dredful ball by Ben H, Loic Remy fed Willian, who was brought down by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic. But Eden Hazard summed up his awful start to the campaign by blazing his penalty way over the bar.

But the pressure was bound to tell and after 15 minutes it did, as Willian’s curling free kick from 35 yards out flew straight in past the hapless Rajkovic.
Willian then limped off injured, as Diego Costa returned to the fray - but Maccabi came close when Eran Zahavi nodded just over from Nikola Mitrovic’s free kick. Chelsea though were otherwise in total control, as Gary Cahill headed over from another good chance.
In first-half injury-time Maccabi cracked again, as Costa was felled in the area. This time Oscar took the spot-kick and coolly rammed it home.
The pressure continued to mount as Maccabi struggled to cope with Chelsea's pace and power. It was a much sharper, more aggressive performance from Mourinho's men -though the Israelis were hardly the highest quality of opposition.

But they were given a warning when Avraham Rikan thumped in a low volley that was deflected just wide of the post. It was though an isolated blip in the flow of the game. A minute later Cesc Fabregas crossed from the right - and Costa netted his second goal of the season with a lovely volley into the top corner.
Fabregas netted the fourth from Hazard's pass as once again Chelsea broke with lightning pace.
Crisis over? Best wait for the visit of the Gunners on Saturday for that declaration. Lets just say pressure eased.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Cahill, Rahman; Loftus-Cheek (Traore 70), Fabregas; Willian (Costa 23), Oscar (Ramires 64), Hazard; Remy.

Maccabi (4-5-1): Rajkovic; Shpungin (Peretz 70), Ben Haim I, Tibi, Ben Harush: Ben Haim 11 (Miha 63), Mitrovic, Alberman Igiebor, Rikan (Radonjic 63); Zahavi.

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany).

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

Star:

Chelsea 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0: Slick Blues return to form ahead of Arsenal showdown

EDEN HAZARD can breathe a sigh of relief – and so can Jose Mourinho.

By Paul Brown

Hazard, Chelsea’s best player last season, missed a penalty here so badly it stunned the home crowd into silence.
But when you’re firing blanks, there’s nothing like a calamity keeper and his cannon fodder team-mates to help you look dangerous again.
Poor Predrag Rajkovic and miserable Maccabi Tel Aviv were just what the doctor ordered for Chelsea, who eased the pressure on their manager with their best performance of the season so far.
Willian got the ball rolling with a 35-yard free kick Rajkovic should have saved, and Oscar showed Hazard how it’s done by beating the Maccabi keeper from the spot.
Substitute Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas – who had both gone missing for the Blues in recent weeks – then added goals of their own in the second half.
And suddenly you were left to wonder what all the fuss was about. Mourinho had demanded a performance worthy of the Premier League champions. And he got one.
Almost eight years ago to the day, Chelsea played Rosenborg in this competition in what would turn out to be the final game of Mourinho’s first spell in charge.
Chelsea had been struggling then too – and a 1-1 draw at home to the minnows from Norway ended up costing the Special One his job.
Would Maccabi Tel Aviv provide another potentially fatal banana skin? Not a chance.
The Israeli champions were in the group stage for the first time in 12 years and they put up little resistance for manager Slavisa Jokanovic, the former Chelsea midfielder.
Mourinho rang the changes from the side which lost 3-1 at Everton, partly with Arsenal in mind this weekend, and partly to send a message.
Out went Costa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel, while Pedro was rested with a muscle problem.
But they made a nervy start when Hazard made a mess of a golden opportunity to break the deadlock from the penalty spot with only five minutes played.
Willian was tripped by the hopeless Rajkovic – but Hazard blazed his spot-kick so high over the crossbar it ended up in the top tier.
Luckily for Hazard, Chelsea were gifted the breakthrough when an utterly wrong-footed Rajkovic then flapped horribly at a free kick from Willian 35 yards from goal.
Willian then trudged off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Costa, and Maccabi should have levelled when Eran Zahavi evaded Cesar Azpilicueta but wasted a free header from a Nikola Mitrovic free kick.
Chelsea should have had another penalty when Rajkovic, who had already been booked, tripped Ruben Loftus-Cheek just before half time.
Referee Felix Zwayer said no that time, but he pointed to the spot in stoppage time when former Blues defender Tal Ben Haim fouled Costa.
Oscar replaced Hazard on spot-kick duty and coolly slotted home past Rajkovic, who wears 95 on his back presumably because there are 94 better keepers than him in Israel.
It was all over when Costa smashed home the third with a stunning controlled volley after a chipped pass from Fabregas.
But Fabregas then rubbed Maccabi’s noses in it by adding a fourth with 12 minutes to go after Rajkovic parried a Loic Remy shot right into his path. Crisis? What crisis?