CRISIS averted, for the next three days at least, as far as Jose Mourinho and Chelsea are concerned although, as much as the manager relishes playing the role of martyr, he can thank the football gods and the Premier League’s fixture computer for pairing his team with Aston Villa in this of all weeks.
After a fortnight of inquests, votes of confidence, FA disciplinary hearings and book launches, defeat was unthinkable for Mourinho. Cue the appearance of Villa, a team low on points and even lower on confidence and ideas, to play a key contributory role in their own demise, and just a third league victory of the campaign for their hosts.
“It was not a brilliant performance, but a solid performance,” conceded Mourinho. “In football, you are brilliant when the confidence levels are high, and the players are able to put on the pitch all their qualities.
“When the confidence is a bit low and the results are not good, when they feel pressure , the quality goes a little bit down and you have to bring other ingredients to the game, and they did that in an amazing way. Great discipline and effort defensively, great balance in the team.”
Diego Costa, back from a three-match suspension, scored one and shot for Alan Hutton to deflect in an own goal either side of the break, but the uncomfortable fact remained that, until that 34th-minute opening effort, the game was finely poised and the tension around Stamford Bridge palpable.
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Mourinho, speaking at the launch of his book last week, made facetious references to his relief that the FA’s punishment for his outburst after the defeat to Southampton had not extended to electronic tagging. Yet, on the evidence of the first-half defensive performance from his team, it is a device he might wish to introduce for visiting forwards.
Hutton eluded the £21.7m debutant Baba Rahman far too easily after 11 minutes, forcing Asmir Begovic to save with his feet, and Jordan Ayew exploited the opposite flank just after the half-hour, crossing for Rudy Gestede, who had slipped his marker John Terry but could only poke an effort over the bar.
They were big let-offs, as it proved when Costa shot Chelsea in front. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had already been targeted by Chelsea, who pressured every back pass and peppered the six-yard box with crosses. Clearly rattled, the American’s hurried clearance played Joleon Lescott into trouble, the defender failing to control the ball and gifting it to Willian, who advanced purposefully before squaring for Costa to convert into an open goal.
“In 85% of games, when you concede first, you lose,” said Villa manager Tim Sherwood. “The first goal is most important and that was a bad one to give away. We have to stick together, they are team mistakes and we will all take them as hard as Brad will.”
Sherwood, an increasing favourite to be the next Premier League managerial casualty, can complain all he likes about the inexperienced squad that Villa’s “transfer committee” have handed him, but this was a disaster created exclusively by two players with a combined age of 64.
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“I don’t know,” said Sherwood when asked about reports questioning his job security. “I’ve seen those reports, but I’ve had no indication that the clock’s ticking. I’m under no illusions. As a football manager, you have to win matches. If you don’t, you invariably lose your job somewhere down the line.”
Another Villa veteran, Hutton, had a role to play in Chelsea’s second goal, although his was inadvertent. Cesc Fabregas floated over a teasing ball for Costa who controlled on his chest, took a touch and then enjoyed a huge slice of luck as his shot deflected past a wrong-footed Guzan via the Scotsman.
Thereafter, as Chelsea supporters serenaded their manager, it was a question of how many goals their team would score and if Villa defender Micah Richards would join the growing list of opponents to fall foul of Costa’s gamesmanship.
Thankfully, for Villa at least, the answers were none and no. Richards continued his verbal sparring with Costa throughout most of the 90 minutes, but referee Roger East saw common sense when he might have easily cautioned the Villa centre-half following one lunging foul late on.
“Yes, it was good,” said Mourinho of Costa’s return. “I knew that it would be good.
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“The way he was working in the last few weeks, I knew he would bring something positive.”
Star man: Willian (Chelsea)
Chelsea: Begovic 6, Azpilicueta 7, Zouma 5, Terry 6, Baba 5, Ramires 7, Fabregas 7, Willian 9 (Remy 9O+2min, 5), Loftus-Cheek 7 (Matic 45min, 7), Pedro 7 (Hazard 83min, 5), Costa 8
Aston Villa: Guzan 4, Hutton 5, Richards 6, Lescott 5, Richardson 5 (Amavi 64min, 6), Westwood 5, Gueye 7, Gil 6, Grealish 8, Ayew 7 (Traore 68min, 6), Gestede 6