Champions League
Maccabi Tel-AvivMaccabi Tel-Aviv0ChelseaChelsea4

Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-4 Chelsea

By Gary RoseBBC Sport
William
Willian has scored four of his five free-kicks in the Champions League this season

Chelsea move joint top of Group G in the Champions League after a comfortable win at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Gary Cahill poked home the opener after his initial header was saved, before ex-Chelsea player Tal Ben Haim was sent off for a wild lunge on Diego Costa.

No doubt over my future - Jose Mourinho

Willian added a second from a free-kick, before headers from Oscar and Kurt Zouma wrapped up the win.

Dynamo Kiev's win against Porto means Chelsea need a point in their final group game to reach the last 16.

The Blues, level on 10 points with Porto and two ahead of Dynamo Kiev, host the Portuguese side at Stamford Bridge on 9 December.

A big win, but room for improvement

Mourinho believes his side are beginning to get their confidence back after a dismal start to the season but, despite taking an early lead through Cahill, it took until the 73rd minute before the Blues made the game safe.

For all their patient build-up Chelsea fell short in final third, prompting Mourinho to cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.

Jose Mourinho
Chelsea have won three of their last 11 away games in the Champions League

Willian, who was always dangerous from set-pieces, enabled Mourinho to breathe easy and from then on the fight evaporated from the hosts, allowing Oscar and substitute Zouma to add gloss to the scoreline.

In the end, it was a comfortable win, but Mourinho will know his side will need to show more in their crucial clash with Porto to ensure they get the result they need to progress.

Oscar
Oscar's goal was the only one in the game to come from open play

Willian key for Chelsea

Once again, a number of Chelsea's big players failed to impress.

Eden Hazard struggled to stamp his authority on the game, while Costa was unable trouble home keeper Predrag Rajkovic.

Mourinho's 'kisses and cuddles' with Costa

Mourinho certainly appeared unhappy with Costa's first-half performance, with the two having an exchange of words as they made their way to the tunnel at the break while Loic Remy was sent out to warm up.

Willian, though, stood out. The midfielder has been impressive from set-pieces all season and it was from his corner that Chelsea scored their first, before his second-half strike took his tally from free-kicks this season to six - the most of any player in Europe's top five leagues.

Man of the match - Willian

Willian
Willian has scored six free-kicks from 12 attempts this season

What the manager said

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, speaking to BT Sport: "The win is very important, especially with what happened in Porto (a 2-0 loss to Dynamo Kiev). We really needed to win this match.

"It is also an important two victories in a few days. I hope confidence comes.

"It was important because we went a lot time without consecutive victories. To do that is great."

The stats you need to know

  • Gary Cahill has scored exactly once in each of the last four Champions League seasons.
  • Tal Ben Haim is the 11th player to see red against Chelsea in the Champions League.
  • The Blues have scored in all but one of their last 14 Champions League games.
  • Oscar has scored two in his last four CL games, having gone 16 without a goal in the competition.
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv have won just one of their 11 Champions League matches, finding the net in just four of those games.

What next?

Chelsea travel to Tottenham on Sunday looking for their second successive win in the Premier League. Their final Champions League group-stage game is at home to Porto on 9 December.

Line-ups

Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 95Rajkovic
  • 2Dasa
  • 26Ben HaimBooked at 40mins
  • 31Garcia Badias
  • 20Ben Harush
  • 42Peretz
  • 6AlbermanSubstituted forAzulayat 85'minutes
  • 11Ben HaimSubstituted forBen Basatat 80'minutes
  • 40Igiebor
  • 22Rikan
  • 7ZahaviSubstituted forItzhakiat 89'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Lifshitz
  • 9Ben Basat
  • 10Itzhaki
  • 16Azulay
  • 18Tibi
  • 24Mitrovic
  • 28Vermouth

Chelsea

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Begovic
  • 28Azpilicueta
  • 24Cahill
  • 26TerrySubstituted forZoumaat 72'minutes
  • 6Baba
  • 4FàbregasBooked at 84mins
  • 21MaticBooked at 59mins
  • 22WillianSubstituted forRemyat 79'minutes
  • 8Oscar
  • 10E HazardSubstituted forPedroat 69'minutes
  • 19Diego Costa

Substitutes

  • 2Ivanovic
  • 5Zouma
  • 12Mikel
  • 17Pedro
  • 18Remy
  • 27Blackman
  • 36Loftus-Cheek
Referee:
Alberto Undiano Mallenco
Attendance:
29,121

Match Stats

Home TeamMaccabi Tel-AvivAway TeamChelsea
Possession
Home36%
Away64%
Shots
Home9
Away21
Shots on Target
Home2
Away10
Corners
Home4
Away6
Fouls
Home13
Away11

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Maccabi Tel Aviv 0, Chelsea 4.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Maccabi Tel Aviv 0, Chelsea 4.

  3. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

  4. Post update

    Delay in match Predrag Rajkovic (Maccabi Tel Aviv) because of an injury.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Loïc Remy (Chelsea).

  6. Post update

    Predrag Rajkovic (Maccabi Tel Aviv) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  7. Post update

    Attempt saved. Diego Costa (Chelsea) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal.

  8. Post update

    Attempt saved. Diego Costa (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Pedro.

  9. Goal!

    Goal! Maccabi Tel Aviv 0, Chelsea 4. Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Oscar with a cross following a corner.

  10. Post update

    Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Omri Ben Harush.

  11. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Diego Costa (Chelsea) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.

  12. Post update

    Attempt missed. Carlos García (Maccabi Tel Aviv) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Shlomy Yosef Azulay with a cross following a corner.

  13. Post update

    Corner, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.

  14. Post update

    Attempt missed. Eden Ben Basat (Maccabi Tel Aviv) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Eli Dasa.

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Barak Itzhaki replaces Eran Zahavi.

  16. Post update

    Attempt missed. Pedro (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Oscar.

  17. Post update

    Attempt missed. Pedro (Chelsea) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Shlomy Yosef Azulay replaces Gal Alberman.

  19. Booking

    Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea).

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Tuesday 24th November 2015

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Real Madrid431070710
2PSG42115147
3Shakhtar Donetsk410348-43
4Malmö FF410318-73

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Man Utd42115417
2PSV Eindhoven42026606
3Wolfsburg42024406
4CSKA Moscow411245-14

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Benfica43017439
2Atl Madrid42117257
3Galatasaray411257-24
4FC Astana402228-62

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Man City43018539
2Juventus42205238
3Sevilla410357-23
4B Mgladbach402226-42

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Barcelona54101431113
2Roma51221116-55
3B Leverkusen5122121115
4BATE Borisov5113512-74

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Bayern Munich54011731412
2Olympiakos5302610-49
3Arsenal5203910-16
4Dinamo Zagreb5104312-93

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Chelsea5311113810
2FC Porto531196310
3Dynamo Kyiv52217438
4Maccabi Tel-Aviv5005115-140

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Zenit St Petersburg5500124815
2KAA Gent52126607
3Valencia520357-26
4Lyon501439-61
View full Champions League tables