Chelsea were 'strong mentally' says Jose Mourinho as Blues fight back to win

In football victory is the wonder drug and it was a much more relaxed Jose Mourinho who spoke after Chelsea’s Champions League defeat of Dynamo Kiev. The Chelsea manager not only praised his players, the Chelsea fans and the opposition, he refrained from even mentioning a rejected penalty appeal that, at the time, made him apoplegtic with rage.

Whether referee Pavel Kralovec would have escaped censure had Willian not scored an 83rd minute winner is open to conjecture. Mourinho’s response at the time certainly did not tally with his post-match claim that ‘a draw would have been acceptable’. Mourinho added: “It was not a drama, being one-one, we did not need to win to qualify, but [Willian scoring] was a good moment as it was a reaction to a negative moment. It pleased me that their goal didn't kill us. The team kept confident. We have spoken a lot about that in the last three days.”

Willian’s goal secured victory after Kiev defender Dragovic had scored at both ends, an own goal after 34 minutes, then a volley into the Chelsea net after 77. “He has been playing well for a long time,” said Mourinho of the Brazilian. “Everybody did their job very well. It is fair to look at Willian because of his work-rate, quality on the ball, participation in the first goal and quality of second goal."

He added: "Many players are coming to their normal levels, despite having feelings as a team when negative moments come - and they are coming every game.

"The difference today was that we had confidence in the negative moment. The negative moment is always arriving for us. We had that good reaction against Stoke in the League Cup and today we conceded that goal with 15 minutes to go. I think the team was strong mentally, they kept trying and I'm happy with that."

Mourinho paid tribute to the Chelsea fans who frequently made clear their support for him. “Fans read newspapers, watch TV, read blogs, it was unbelievable what they said today, they tried to say ‘we want you here’.”

Mourinho’s wife and two children were at the match, which is unusual. He explained: “It is my daughter’s 19th birthday, if I don’t see her on the bench I do not see her all day. I did not see her when she was born as I had a match, but today I can see her from the bench.”