Updated at 22.00
JOSE MOURINHO’S SELECTION gamble paid off as Chelsea got their spluttering season back on track with a 4-0 rout of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League.
Mourinho’s side went into their Group G opener in turmoil after Saturday’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Everton left them with only one win from their first five Premier League matches.
That miserable sequence was Chelsea’s worst start to a season since 1988 and it provoked a barrage of criticism for Mourinho and his under-performing English champions.
But Mourinho promised changes after the Everton loss and the Blues boss was true to his word as he axed John Terry, Diego Costa, Pedro Rodriguez, John Obi Mikel, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic.
It seemed the switches might backfire after Eden Hazard’s shocking penalty miss in the first half at Stamford Bridge.
But lacklustre Maccabi were the perfect opponents for Chelsea to rediscover a semblance of their form and Willian opened the scoring before Oscar showed Hazard how to do it by converting a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Costa came on to net in the second half and Cesc Fabregas added gloss to the scoreline with a late tap-in.
It was far from a vintage Chelsea performance, but Mourinho will hope it provides a foundation for future success, starting with a sterner test against Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend.
