Fernando Torres recently helped Chelsea get three points against Southampton, who managed to open the scoring after just 13 seconds. Manager José Mourinho has admitted after the match that the goal was extremely difficult to take because it happened so quickly. Rodriguez managed to take hold of Michael Essien’s poor back pass to score the goals just seconds after the start of the encounter. For much of the first half, it looked like Chelsea were going to suffer the first home defeat under Mourinho since they created very little going forward.
They were unable to create chances for play football due to the high pressing game of Southampton. Mourinho made a few changes to the system at half-time, while also bringing on Demba Ba for Essien. The changes made to the desired effect because Chelsea won the game 3-1 after goals from Gary Cahill, John Terry, and substitute Ba. Even though Torres was not on the scoresheet, his effort in the encounter was visible throughout the match. He was given a standing ovation by the supporters when he was taken off for John obi Mikel in the late stages of the game.
“The goal was like a knife in our back – by surprise you are losing 1-0. [But] in the first half we played very well. We played with balance, we played calm, no panic, no silly decisions, no mistakes, not going from 1-0 to 2-0, not risking a lot. That was a sign of maturity. We deserved the three points in a match which was a must-win for us. We knew that three title contenders lost points before us, so it was important for us to win this game,” said Mourinho.
Mourinho was in full praise of the striker, who had worked extremely hard. The Portuguese has praised players who have been working hard in the defensive area of the pitch.