Seville: Chelsea took a major step in securing their first Champions League semifinals appearance in seven years when they defeated Porto 2-0 in the first leg of their quarterfinals on Wednesday. Goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell helped them to two crucial away goals before the second leg next week, also to be played in Seville due to the travelling restrictions between Portugal and England due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Porto, who were the ‘home team’ for the first leg, started brightly and were more enterprising than their counterparts in the first half. In fact, they made 12 attempts to Chelsea’s 6 during the entire contest but failed to find the back of the net.
Two minutes after the half-an-hour mark, Mount fired past Agustín Marchesin with a low shot into the far corner to put Chelsea ahead. The visitors held onto their lead at the half-time and the contest was put to bed when an error from Porto’s Jesus Corona saw Chilwell grabbing the ball and dodging Marchesin to slot the ball inside an empty net.
Chelsea thus kept a third straight clean sheet in the Champions League while their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy the first to manage seven such results in the ongoing competition. The win was a massive turnaround for Chelsea who were crushed 2-5 by relegation threatened West Brom in Premier League last Saturday.
“It was a tough match against a strong Porto side,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel told BT Sport. “There were many moments where we suffered. We accepted it. The circumstances are a bit different in a quarter-final. The spirit was good and it was an excellent result.”
Tuchel also praised the duo of Mount and Chilwell. “I’m very happy that he [Mount] scores. A very important goal that opened up the game. It calmed the nerves. Not an easy shot but very precise. Very happy for Mason. He took responsibility.”
“[Chilwell’s goal] excellent. He kept composure and went round the keeper. It was super important to get the second away goal. Chilly forced the mistake and kept his cool in the box. We’re very happy to go away with this result but it’s only half-time,” he added.