Jose Mourinho hails Chelsea’s fighting spirit after Champions League win over Porto
Victory saves Blues from elimination and eases pressure on under-fire manager
Jose Mourinho hopes Chelsea’s progress to the Champions League last 16 will restore his side’s shattered confidence and help save his job.
Mourinho was on the brink of being sacked until Chelsea avoided elimination from Europe’s elite club competition with a 2-0 win over Porto at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The thing that I’m more happy with apart from the result is the players accepted the challenge of playing to win, even though we only needed a draw
Needing a draw to ensure they made it to the knockout stages, Chelsea got a timely piece of good fortune through Ivan Marcano’s early own goal before Willian’s second-half strike completed a victory that lifted the west Londoners to the top of group G and eased the pressure on Mourinho.
The sight of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich grinning and exchanging high-fives with his entourage after Willian’s goal suggested Mourinho has bought himself a little time to get the Premier League champions back on track.
And the beleaguered Blues boss took heart from the way his players, reportedly mutinous at times during a dismal campaign, responded to the prospect of having to fight to spare him from Abramovich’s axe.
