News: Mourinho hails ‘brave’ Chelsea for beating Porto

And Willian struck seven minutes into the second half, finding space near the right-hand edge of the penalty area and drilling home after being teed up by Hazard – his seventh goal of the season.

And after the way Roman Abramovich high-fived those around him in his box, the manner of the win could go a long way to safeguarding Jose Mourinho ‘s future. When we won it with Inter in 2010 we were not candidates.

The two fell out while at Real Madrid, and Mourinho is credited with kick-starting Casillas’ eventual departure from the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer.

The Blues will learn their next opponents after Monday’s (Tuesday NZ time) draw and could face either Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent.

“They don’t want to play Barcelona, they don’t want to play Real Madrid, they don’t want to play Atletico (Madrid), they don’t want to play Bayern (Munich)”.

But Mourinho insists Chelsea will finish in the top four, even if they are 14 points adrift of the leaders after 15 games.

A fan holds up a message of support for Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho during their Champions League contest on Wednesday night.

Victory and a collective sigh of relief around Stamford Bridge.

Costa was likely venting his frustration by being made to warm up but ultimately being left on the bench for the entire match.

“It is clear we create so many chances and don’t score goals”, Mourinho said.

“Yes there is a lack of confidence clearly, but not a lack of effort”.

“The first goal was an own goal but his movement is great, the pass arrives”. This season he couldn’t. When he did that he lost an important second and his last touch on the ball was not the best.

Despite having condemned his former club to the Europa League, Mourinho still earned a vote of confidence from Porto manager Julen Lopetegui. This is football and I understand journalism has to meet the demands of what people want but obviously I don’t mind and I’m not interested in what a website says.

‘We made a coupe of mistakes and we’re out of the elite competition, but the Europa League will be another challenge. We could have had different results against Stoke, Tottenham, Bournemouth.