The crisis rocking Chelsea seems unabated as they fell to a 2-1 loss to Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The odds were stashed against the Mourinho side with the Porto captain Maicon heading a decisive second-half goal to give Porto the victory.
Julen Lopetegui’s side was offered encouragement throughout the Group G clash by the defensive frailties that have undermined Chelsea over the past two months, and opened the scoring at the Estadio do Dragao through Andre Andre.
Willian – recalled to the starting lineup following his weekend equalizer against Newcastle United, as Jose Mourinho benched Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic – leveled matters with a brilliant free kick on the stroke of halftime.
But, as they did at St James’ Park on Saturday, the Blues switched off and Maicon capitalized in the 52nd minute to ensure a miserable return to his old stomping ground for Mourinho.
The margin of victory could have been greater as Danilo headed against the post inside the final 10 minutes, while the result moves Porto onto four points alongside Dynamo Kiev – one ahead of Chelsea.
Iker Casillas set a Champions League record by making his 152nd appearance in the competition and the Porto goalkeeper was called into action early on.
Diego Costa, performing at his menacing best in the midst of a domestic suspension, left defenders in his wake down the left and found Cesc Fabregas, only for Casillas to save plunging to his right.
The ex-Real Madrid captain came out on top in another all-Spanish duel in the 14th minute – saving with his feet from Pedro, who charged onto Willian’s crisp pass.
The sense of defensive vulnerability surrounding Chelsea was confirmed when it fell behind six minutes before the break. Yacine Brahimi cut inside from the left past Branislav Ivanovic to draw a brilliant save from Asmir Begovic, who could not keep out Andre’s volleyed follow-up.
It was all square after the final, stunning kick of the first half. William fizzed a wonderful free kick over the defensive wall and across a statuesque Casillas.
It didn’t take long after the break for Chelsea to fall behind again. Brahimi skipped around Ivanovic again to win a corner and Maicon peeled off the Chelsea goal-line to send a clever back header beyond Begovic at the near post from Ruben Neves’ delivery.
There was more rough treatment for Ivanovic at the hands of Brahimi, although the Serbian recovered to make a vital block on his tormentor, before Chelsea failed to fully clear and Neves had a deflected attempt headed away from the goalmouth by Kurt Zouma.
Mourinho sent on Hazard in place of John Obi Mikel in the 62nd minute and he was quickly into the action – collecting Pedro’s pass and hurdling Maicon’s lunging challenge to shoot into the side netting.
But Chelsea’s problems at the other end showed no sign of abating.
Begovic kept out a stinging drive by Giannelli Imbula in the 70th minute and the ball barely left the visiting penalty area during a sustained assault that culminated in Brahimi skipping past Ramires and missing out on the goal he deserved.
Ivanovic passed up a headed set-piece opportunity and Danilo went even closer in the 82nd minute, setting up a frantic period of stoppage time where Porto’s defense managed to scramble to safety and deny the tireless Costa at the death.
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