As one would’ve expected, Porto came out with plenty of intent and determination to begin their fight-back from a 2-0 deficit, and for the first 20 or so minutes, Chelsea were able to do little more than hang on and focus on defending. That said, aside from a poor pass by Mendy, Chelsea were able to keep the “visitors” at arm’s length, and restrict them to just a couple long-shots, both of which were blocked.
Past the halfway point of the first-half, Chelsea were able to slow the game’s tempo a bit, and keep the ball for a few passes at a time as well. We did have a couple excellent opportunities on the counter, but failed to take advantage. Neither side registered a shot on target, and that suited us just fine.
0 - Chelsea v Porto is only the second match in this season's UEFA Champions League to see neither side muster a shot on target in the first half, after Dynamo Kyiv v Ferencvaros in December. Ebbing. pic.twitter.com/QMtjdUOXs0
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 13, 2021
After the scoreless first half, the second half unfolded in much the same manner. Porto finally forced Mendy into a save after introducing leading goalscorer Mehdi Taremi, but otherwise Chelsea stayed largely comfortable and kept working hard to keep Porto in mostly non-dangerous areas.
Porto finally broke Chelsea’s resistance in the third minute of added-on time, with a superb bicycle kick by Mehdi Taremi, but it was too little too late.
Job done.
Carefree.
- Just three changes from the weekend, with Thiago Silva replacing Zouma, James replacing Hudson-Odoi, and Kanté coming in for Kovacic, who’s picked up a (hamstring?) injury in training last night.
- Tuchel didn’t need to make any changes until the final 5 minutes. Ziyech, all get a few minutes at the end to waste some time.
- How many fouls and yellows did Pulisic win today?
- Technically a loss, but a win over the two legs, and that’s what actually counts. We move on to face the winners of Real Madrid v Liverpool. Real won the first leg, 3-1. Second leg is tomorrow.
- Next up: FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City on Saturday
- KTBFFH