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Chelsea leave it late vs. Maccabi Tel-Aviv for crucial win
Gary Cahill put in his own rebound, free-kick magician Willian produced another set piece gem, Oscar headed a third goal and Kurt Zouma nodded in another in stoppage time as Chelsea defeated Maccabi Tel-Aviv 4-0 Tuesday night. Despite the scoreline, the win was not completely convincing that the Blues have shaken off all the yips which have clouded their performance this year.
The victory at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa was enough to insure that Jose Mourinho's team will head into Match Day six with the opportunity to both top the group and qualify for the knockout stages, but Group G remained a three-way fight after Dynamo Kiev upset FC Porto in the other Tuesday match.
Chelsea, now atop the group on goal-difference, will need a result against Porto since both teams will start the final night on 10 points. Dynamo Kiev has eight points and will be heavily favored to claim all three against Maccabi (no points) on the same evening. The group could finish with any of the three contenders on top or even in a complicated three-way tie on 11 points.
For the second consecutive match there were clear signs that Chelsea is beginning to shake off the malaise which has accompanied their 2015-16 campaign and that Mourinho is starting to find some answers for his troubled squad.
But, as in the league win over Norwich, Chelsea's possession and the inventiveness of Willian and Oscar did not produce the expected batch of goals until the final 20 minutes. Even when Maccabi was reduced to 10 men, Chelsea found itself holding just a 1-0 lead when Willian finally ended the Maccabi resistance and the Blues strode on.
Eden Hazard, although he nearly scored in the 62nd minute, and Cesc Fabregas were not able to influence the match as much as they should and Maccabi was too often finding room to attack the defense which was far too open at times. And Mourinho had to watch captain and defensive veteran John Terry stretchered off with 20 minutes left after he picked up what appeared to be a leg injury.
Cahill put Chelsea on top in the 20th minute. After seeing his own header to a Willian corner brilliantly saved by Predrag Rajkovic, the Blues' defender snapped home the rebound after the keeper touched the initial effort onto his right-hand post.
Maccabi went down to ten men in the 41st minute when Tal Ben Haim hacked down Diego Costa and received a straight red card from Spanish referee Alberto Mallenco. That should have settled the contest right there, but Chelsea did not impose itself with the man-advantage allowing the hosts to stay in the match far too long.
Indeed, Maccabi nearly got level in the 50th minute when a long ball exploited Chelsea's defensive frailities. Eli Dasa was free on the right, but Asmir Begovic charged down the shot. And Maccabi's Dor Peretz had two clear chances, once heading over, later failing to get onto the end of a ball to the far post, unable to translate opportunity into goals.
Begovic was again called upon to produce something special when Eran Zahavi had far too much room to shoot from the right in the 63rd minute, the Chelsea keeper getting a hand on the effort to concede a corner. That came just a minute after Rajkovic had been excellent twice in the space of a minute, first beating Hazard, then César Azpilicueta as Chelsea started to look like finding their second goal.
Finally, Willian's free kick with 18 minutes left gave the Blues the necessary breathing space and finished lingering Maccabi hopes that they could get a result. It was a lovely effort that got over the wall, then dipped down well beyond the reach of the Maccabi keeper.
Oscar's 77th minute header came on the end of a Baba Rahman cross and finally made the scoreline reflect the difference in precision between the two sides. Zouma, on as Terry's replacement, rose above everyone in stoppage time for the final goal.
But it also served to paper over the fact that Chelsea took so long to finish the job.
