Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho described matchwinner Nemanja Matic as a “monster” after the midfielder’s majestic display in the 1-0 Champions League win over Sporting Lisbon.
Matic’s grabbed the only goal in impressive away victory – the margin of which would have been much greater had the Blues been more clinical in attack.
But the Serbian’s all-round quality shone throughout a vital away victory.
“Matic is a monster,” said Mourinho, who also praised Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
“I am not happy we did not score another goal but the biggest reason for that was not my players but the Sporting goalkeeper.
“The most difficult thing is to play like we play since the beginning of the season,” Mourinho added in praising his side’s level of performance.
“Against Aston Villa and Bolton we did not kill the game. Today it was difficult to kill the game but the reality is that we played so well, so compact and so confident – with so much control.
“The four defenders plus Matic and Cesc Fabregas had compete dominance in the game.”
Chelsea’s victory was the perfect response to the somewhat disappointing draw at home to Schalke in their opening group match.
“We lost two points at home and we recovered that,” Mourinho added.
“Now because of the other draw we are in a position where, I would not say we are comfortable, but we can control our destiny.”
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This post was last modified on 01/10/2014