Chelsea sees Porto Reach the Champions League semi-finals
Chelsea held firm to reach the Champions League semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory despite Mehdi Taremi kicking from above in added time and giving Porto a 1-0 victory in the quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.
The substitute had been responsible for his team’s only goal attempt as they were chasing a 2-0 deficit in last week’s first leg, but he provided an emphatic response in cautious play with his acrobatic punch in overtime.
Thomas Tuchel’s side had a healthy lead from last week’s away game in Seville and had to endure an intense start from Porto in their return leg at the Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium, home to both games due to restrictions on Portugal coronavirus.
Porto’s Jesus Corona closed out Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy early on, but couldn’t make the most of the goalkeeper’s failed pass. The Mexican winger missed another good opportunity later in the half when he shuffled past Ben Chilwell in the box only to fly over the bar.
Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic came close to breaking the stalemate after the break, but the Londoners were more focused on keeping Porto at bay.
“We accepted what was needed, it was a tough fight,” Tuchel told BT Sport.
“Maybe on television, it wasn’t that pleasant to watch, but on the side, it was a very intense game, a very fast game. It was very difficult to play against them to escape the pressure, but with every minute we did it better and better ”.
Reflexes:
Taremi’s latest blow prevented them from keeping a clean sheet, but Chelsea managed to reach the semifinals of Europe’s top competition for the first time since 2014.
They will face Liverpool or Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, with the Spaniards leading 3-1 in the other tie before the second leg on Wednesday.
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“We’re excited, it doesn’t get better than that,” Chelsea’s Mount said.
“We could have played better, but just passing was at the forefront of our minds and we did it tonight. “We knew as a team that we had to work until we were exhausted. We knew what the end result would be if we won. ”
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao said he was “extremely proud” of his team for going head-to-head with the richest team in the Premier League, which spent more than 10 times more money than his team on the transfer window of the last year.
“We did not let the Chelsea players, who are of the highest level, create many opportunities,” he said.
Striker Taremi added: “We played a great game, we showed that we are a great team, but unfortunately my goal was not enough.”
Taremi was suspended for the first leg alongside top scorer Sergio Oliveira and started the game on the bench after taking a hit in Porto’s victory in Tondela at the weekend.
The Iranian forward was introduced midway through the second half and instantly gave his team more gag on the attack, becoming the first player to put Mendy to the test despite his header lacking enough venom to beat the keeper.
Mendy was unable to stop his thunderous volley, but Porto had less than two minutes of extra time to find another goal and force extra time and Chelsea held on to their lead.
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