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Chelsea 1 Basle 2: Mourinho demanded egg-celence... but Jose's toothless side crack up in dreadful start to Euro campaignBy Matt Barlow
PUBLISHED:21:36, 18 September 2013| UPDATED:22:13, 18 September 2013 22 shares
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Four games without a win. If Rafa Benitez were still in charge at Chelsea, they would be throwing eggs.
Jose Mourinho gets away with it but for all his pre-match talk of eggs and omelettes, his team were as flat as a pancake.
Oscar lifted them briefly but they were overwhelmed by a second-half recovery from the Swiss, who struck twice in 11 minutes to turn what seemed to be an unconvincing home win into a shocking defeat.
Head in hands: Frank Lampard (left) looks stunned as Basle celebrate their shock victory at Stamford Bridge
Plenty to ponder: Gary Cahill, Oscar and John Obi Mikel reflect on a sobering defeat
Matchwinner: Marco Streller (second right) steals in at the near post to head Basle's decisive second goal
Head boy: Streller (centre left) celebrates with fellow goalscorer Mohamed SalahMatch facts
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Oscar, van Ginkel (Mikel 75), Lampard (Ba 76), Willian (Mata 67), Eto'o, Hazard.
Subs Not Used: Schwarzer, De Bruyne, Terry, Azpilicueta.
Booked: van Ginkel .
Goals: Oscar 45.
Basle: Sommer, Voser, Schar, Ivanov, Safari, Salah (Xhaka 88), Diaz, Frei, Stocker (Ajeti 83), Sio (Delgado 65), Streller.
Subs Not Used: Vailati, Philipp Degen, David Degen, Sauro.
Booked: Diaz.
Goals: Salah 71,Streller 82.
Att: 38,000
Ref: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
It is early days, of course, and Mourinho is searching for his perfect blend. Willian and Samuel Eto’o did not supply the answers he was probably hoping for last night although his defence looked solid (if a little egg-bound) until Mohamed Salah wiped out Oscar’s opener and the nerves set in.
And, sure enough, with eight minutes left Marco Streller outjumped Gary Cahill at a near-post corner and beat Petr Cech to seal victory.
Mourinho decided against his promise to start with four players aged 22 and under. There were in fact three — Marco van Ginkel, Eden Hazard and Oscar — and the 11 starters had an average age of nearly 28.
Van Ginkel’s first start since his move from Vitesse Arnhem did not begin too well when, eager to impress, he attempted a flicked interception, missed the ball and felled Salah as the Egyptian sped towards goal. Two reckless and poorly timed slide tackles later and the Holland midfielder was shown a yellow card. Referee Daniele Orsato, if anything, was lenient.
Willian, too, made his debut and Eto’o played at Stamford Bridge for the first time since he scored at the Shed End with what proved the only goal as Mourinho’s Inter Milan knocked Chelsea out of this competition in 2010.
Stunner: Mohamed Salah (centre) celebrates with his Basle team-mates after levelling the scores
Equaliser: Mohamed Salah (centre) curls in a brilliant finish to level things up in the second halfAll of which meant no place in the match-day 18 for Fernando Torres, who was rested along with Andre Schurrle.
Is Jose's spell broken?
Jose Mourinho had previously lost just ONE game at Stamford Bridge in all competitions - a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in February 2006.
Whether Torres needs time to recuperate is open to question, since he has started only two of six games under Mourinho, came on for the last 21 minutes at Goodison Park and did not play for Spain during the international break.
Eto’o, for now at least, seems to be the No 1 striker, though Chelsea did not find it easy to unzip Basle and the Cameroonian, despite his sound touch and instinct, did not look sharp. Perhaps it is down to match fitness, as he has not played regularly recently. Perhaps he is, as some fear, past it.
Chelsea put five past the Swiss champions in last season’s Europa League semi-final but that is a little misleading.
Not pretty watching: Jose Mourinho suffered only his second ever defeat at Stamford Bridge
Rumblings of discontent: A Chelsea fan shows his displeasure at Juan Mata's lack of first-team action
On the sidelines: Club captain John Terry was left on the substitutes' bench for the nightFederer celebrates
Tennis legend Roger Federer joined in the celebrations after his home-town team stunned Chelsea, tweeting:
'Fantastic evening for Basle supporters, wow! I am so happy, thanks FC Basle'
There were times over those two legs when Basle troubled the London club, not least when they, and Mourinho warned on the eve of this game how dangerous they were likely to be.
Indeed, they were technically sound and lightning quick on the break, particularly Salah, who was released down the right by a wonderful pass from Valentin Stocker midway through the first half.
Cahill stepped in and intercepted the cross with a commanding air, just as he did on his last outing, for England in Kiev, but Stocker and Salah combined again to open the Chelsea defence.
This time, Salah darted inside on to his left foot and missed the target with a curler form the edge of the penalty area. Petr Cech saved from Giovanni Sio seconds later and frustration started to build for the home team.
Flying the flag: Oscar celebrates after opening the scoring for Chelsea at the end of the first half
Fancy footwork: The Brazilian midfielder displays the quick feet that earned him his goal
And the Oscar goes to... The Blues star blasts in from just inside the penalty areaMourinho became slightly more agitated on the touchline, perhaps in an effort to generate more urgency from his players. He has history with Orsato, who sent him off twice in Italy, but it was the fourth official he took to task when a speculative shot by Frank Lampard was deflected wide and a goal-kick awarded.
Then, after nearly 45 minutes with no punch, Chelsea opened the scoring and it was a goal of simple beauty. David Luiz strode forward and rolled a pass to Lampard, who turned, took a touch and slipped it into Oscar’s path. The Brazilian, drifting left-to-right, applied a first-time finish with his right foot, arrowing a low and angled shot back across goalkeeper Yann Sommer and inside the far corner.
Oscar seems to have developed more than any other individual since Mourinho’s return. Ten minutes after the restart, he was inches from extending the lead, out of the blue, with a swerving and dipping strike from wide on the left that crashed against the bar.
No holds barred: Ashley Cole and Salah go flying in to the tackle to compete for the ballHe was close again from a nearly identical position moments later. This time the shot flew narrowly wide and Mourinho spun on his heel. It may have been that he knew another goal would be needed to finish this off.
Nineteen minutes from time and Basle levelled. A swift move down the left and a smart exchange of passes across the edge of the box were completed by Salah’s delicious finish that curled into the corner from the inside of his left boot.
Mourinho went for the win, throwing on Demba Ba and John Obi Mikel in place of Lampard and Van Ginkel and finishing with a formation akin to 4-1-5.
But it only resulted in a defeat that came on top of Chelsea’s worst Premier League start in a decade under Roman Abramovich. It was not the sort of form Chelsea fans would accept from Benitez, who was winning last night with his new club Napoli against Borussia Dortmund.
Mourinho needs a new recipe.
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