Porto 0-2 Chelsea: Blues On-track to Semis2 min read

After a humiliating defeat to West Brom in the Premier League, Chelsea needed to bounce back in the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals against the Portuguese Champions, Porto. The game was played in a neutral venue but with Porto playing the home leg.

Porto were without their top scorer in the Champions League, Sérgio Oliveira, due to picking up a caution against Juventus previously.

The Dragons slowly grew into the game with confidence. Luis Díaz shot did not trouble Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy in the 11^th minute. However, this did not deter Porto to go for another as Mateus Uribe’s controlled volley just went over the crossbar.

While Porto was showing potential, a brilliant turn by Mason Mount into the box beat the defence, slicing the ball across the goalkeeper to give Chelsea an important away goal in the 32^nd minute.

In the closing end of the first half, Porto had a few more attempts with Pepe and Liverpool loanee, Marko Grujić, coming close to goal but not troubling the goalkeeper.

Chelsea did not plan to sit back on a one-goal advantage. When the second half resumed, German striker Timo Werner’s header went above the crossbar. Unfortunately, this is the story of his career at Chelsea so far, getting into good positions but not taking his chances.

Chelsea was almost punished in the 51^st minute when Moussa Marega beat the offside trap and Antonio Rüdiger. Regardless, Mendy pulled an incredible save to stop Porto from levelling in the game.

On the hour-mark, Rüdiger took a wild shot from outside the box which should have been a comfortable catch for the goalkeeper, but Agustín Marchesín spilled the ball from his hands to allow Werner to pounce on it and squared it to his German counterpart, Kai Havertz. Pepe brilliantly blocked Havertz’s attempt to slot the ball into an empty net.

Both managers brought on fresh legs with Chelsea’s boss bringing on N’Golo Kanté and Thiago Silva to protect the 1-goal lead while Porto brought on young players such as Francisco Conceição to bring extra flair to the attack.

As a consequence, Jesús Manuel Corona was moved from right wing to right back but he could not get the ball under control. This allowed Chelsea’s left back, Ben Chilwell, to pounce on the ball and get past the goalkeeper with ease, giving Chelsea an important second goal in the 85^th minute.

The game ended with a comfortable 2-0 win for Chelsea with Porto not being a threat to the Blues’ defence.

Source of Image: UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE via Twitter