Chelsea came out on top in Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge, defeating Benfica 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) to extend the Special One’s winless managerial H2H streak against the Blues to eight games (D3, L5).
Coming into this game unbeaten as Benfica boss (W2, D1), Mourinho oversaw a strong start from his side, with Dodi Lukébakio’s low strike requiring an intervention from Robert Sánchez to push it onto the foot of the post.
Chelsea eventually responded to the visitors’ positivity, almost breaking the deadlock when Pedro Neto fizzed a bouncing ball narrowly wide of the upright.
Undeterred, the winger soon provided a whipped cross to the back post, where Alejandro Garnacho guided the ball back across goal, prompting Richard Ríos to inadvertently divert it into his own net.
Having settled into the contest, the Blues nearly doubled their lead ahead of the HT break, as makeshift striker Tyrique George latched onto a Marc Cucurella ball, but couldn’t beat Anatoliy Trubin with only his second touch in the box thus far.
Benfica started the second period as they did the first, threatening the home side on a couple of occasions as Fredrik Aursnes found himself in promising positions, only to be flagged offside on both occasions. Clear-cut chances weren’t forthcoming, though, which suited the Blues as they kept the visitors at bay heading into the final 20 minutes.
Despite a triple change from Mourinho in an effort to shake things up, Chelsea were the side who came closest to finding the game’s second goal when substitute Estêvão forced a strong hand from Trubin with a header.
After red cards in back-to-back Premier League games, Chelsea were once again reduced to 10 men here as João Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow in stoppage time.
Nonetheless, the Blues saw out the game to get them off the mark in this season’s UCL campaign and maintain their perfect record against Benfica, having now won each of their five meetings.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese giants are without a win in their last nine games against English opponents (D3, L6) and remain without a point in the league phase thanks to their disappointing collapse to Qarabağ on matchday one.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea)