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Chelsea have progressed into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League despite falling to a 1-0 loss to Porto on Tuesday night.
Goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell gave the Blues a comfortable 2-0 win in the first leg. This meant that they needed to avoid a three-goal defeat to make it into the next round.
Thomas Tuchel, opting to preserve his two-goal lead, set his team up to defend, and they nearly did that to perfection. Porto, meanwhile, rained waves of attack in an attempt to get back into the tie, but were denied by Chelsea’s dogged defending.
The first half finished with little or no action, with both teams finishing without a shot on target. The second half brought no change to the flow of the game as Chelsea sat deep to protect their lead while Porto pushed forward to force a comeback.
With the game nearing its end, Porto were finally rewarded for their resilient attacking display. Substitute Mehdi Taremi scored with a beautiful overhead kick to give the visitors a one-goal lead in the 93rd minute. However, it was too little, too late.
Chelsea now await the final result between Real Madrid and Liverpool to know their semi-finals opponent.
Chelsea player ratings
Edouard Mendy 5/10
A sloppy start from the Chelsea shot-stopper who made a defensive error in the early stages of the game. However, he was spared by the onrushing Jorginho. There was nothing Mendy could have done about Porto’s late goal, as it was a superbly hit overhead-kick.
Reece James 6/10
A decent performance at both ends of the pitch from the Blues academy graduate. He stood out on the right side of the Chelsea defense and put his physicality to good use. Attacking-wise, he marauded forward to join up with the frontmen but was unable to create anything meaningful.
Cesar Azpilicueta 6.5/10
Chelsea’s captain on the night, Cesar Azpilicueta played on the right side of Chelsea’s three-man defense. He was on deck to snuff out any danger the visitors posed. He imposed his presence aerially, winning all his attempted aerial duels in the game.
Thiago Silva 6/10
A calm and collected performance from the veteran defender. Sitting deep in the center of the defense, Thiago Silva weathered the storm of the Porto attackers. He finished with four clearances and one tackle and played a huge role in Chelsea’s build-up play as they often played out from the back.
Antonio Rudiger 6/10
Rudiger was targeted by the Porto attackers, who focused on the left side of the Blues defense. As such, the German international had a shaky start to the game as he often misplaced his passes. However, he grew into the game in the second segment and did well to see out the Blues win.
Ben Chilwell 6.5/10
A solid outing from the England international. He had a lot to do, considering the visitors opted to focus on the left side of Chelsea’s defense, but he performed superbly. He did well to reduce the influence Porto’s vivacious attacker Jesus Corona had on the game.
Jorginho 7.5/10
A man-of-the-match performance from the Chelsea midfielder. He did well to keep Chelsea in the game after just ten minutes when Jesus Corona looked to find the back of the net following Mendy’s error. He was defensively solid all game and finished with a game-high 12 ground duels, eight tackles, four clearances and two interceptions.
N’Golo Kante 6.5/10
Fluffed Chelsea’s biggest chance of the first half. Other than that, he was as lively as ever and put on a solid outing at the center of the park. For a player reportedly battling fitness issues, he surprisingly ran tirelessly throughout the entire game, diving into tackles and winning loose balls.
Mason Mount 6/10
An industrious outing from the Chelsea academy graduate. Mason Mount, who opened the scoring for the Blues in the first leg, was unable to influence the game as much as he did in the reverse leg. Nonetheless, he was composed all game, and ran tirelessly in his usual manner. He was replaced by Hakim Ziyech in the 86th minute.
Christian Pulisic 7/10
Starved of service by his team-mates in the first half, Pulisic still managed to trouble the Porto defenders. The second half brought more joy as he moved to the more comfortable left-wing.
The Chelsea forward was a thorn in the flesh of the Porto defenders and won a game-high 11 fouls. However, he fluffed a glorious chance to give Chelsea the lead five minutes from the half-hour mark.
Kai Havertz 6.5/10
Playing in the false-nine role again, the former Bayer Leverkusen man struggled to impact the game. Often isolated up top, he saw little of the ball as Chelsea struggled to lay a foothold in the game in the first half. He gradually grew into the game, before he was replaced by Olivier Giroud in the 90th minute.
Player ratings for Chelsea substitutes
Hakim Ziyech N/A
Replaced Mason Mount with four minutes on the clock and made no telling contributions.
Olivier Giroud N/A
He was merely a time-wasting move by the boss as he replaced Havertz in the final minute of the game.
