Nigerian international, John Obi Mikel, turned out as Chelsea’s hero with a sublime finish to register a goal in the Blues 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in a UEFA Champions League tie on Wednesday.
Mikel, who was in the starting line up, controlled the game from the midfield alongside Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, brought Petr Cech, Kurt Zouma, Filipe Luis, Nemanja Matic, Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah into his team with top spot already confirmed. The big news for Sporting, who needed a draw to progress to the next round, was that star man, Nani, missed out through injury.
Chelsea may have made changes but they started well and after seven minutes they won a penalty when Luis was taken out in the box by Esgalo and Cesc Fabregas calmly slotted the penalty home to give the Blues the lead.
Sporting were showing signs of being a threat on the break but Chelsea doubled their lead when an attack broke to Schurrle on the edge of the box, the German’s turn and finish were both expertly executed.
Moments later, he had a chance to double it when he half-volleyed a Cesar Azpilicueta cross towards goal, but Sporting captain, Rui Patricio, was up to the task and saved well.
Despite Schurrle’s presence going forward, he wasn’t tracking back enough to help out Azpilicueta and on more than one occasion the Spaniard found himself double up on.
Immediately after the break, Sporting got back into the game as Andre Carrillo danced past Filipe Luis, as he often did throughout the night, and his cross was poorly dealt with by Schurrle with the ball landing at the feet of Jonathan Silva who finished well past Cech’s right hand.
Salah nearly responded instantly but his low shot was brilliantly saved by Patricio.
Chelsea did extend their lead but it did come through the most unlikely scenario as Gary Cahill flicked on a Fabregas corner and of all people it was John Obi Mikel at the back post.
It was no less than the Nigerian deserved.
He had controlled the tempo of the game and he seems far happier when playing alongside a defensive player like Matic.
Both sides made changes with Sporting sending on three attacking players, whilst Chelsea brought on Loic Remy and Ramires for Salah and Schurrle respectively.
At this stage, the locals at Stamford Bridge were clearly getting agitated at the fact that 18-year-old Ruben Loftus-Cheek hadn’t been given his first team debut but they were soon to be given their wish.
With around 10 minutes to go, the midfielder was brought on in the place of Fabregas and the entire ground rose to greet their latest prodigy.
His first touch gave the ball away but when he completed his first pass the crowd roared their approval.
Already, he is one of their own and he nearly registered an assist on debut his after his clever pass found Remy the Frenchman’s shot was blocked.
He played some nice passes and demonstrated the awareness that regular watchers of the youth team have come to expect, giving every indication he is here for the long-term.
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