A calm Ed helps keep the Blues on path to glory

MASON MOUNT deserved all the immediate acclaim that came his way in the wake of a neat turn and finish in the first half of a match of dubious quality.

But let’s face it.

The defender recklessly sold himself and the goalkeeper could have thrown his cap on it.

OK, not quite, but Agustin Marchesin certainly should have made a better fist of trying to keep out Mount’s effort.

Be honest, if that was a goal against a Premier League club, we would not be saluting the scorer – we would be slating the keeper.

It was certainly a lovely piece of play from Mount, but it was still a poor goal to concede.

In fact, it was the type of goal the 10-man Chelsea of last Saturday would have conceded.

But that collapse against West Bromwich Albion was an aberration in the Thomas Tuchel era.

Defensively, Chelsea have been sound (as Antonio Rudiger, below, showed, keeping out Jesus Corona).

And when your left-back can contribute as well, as

Ben Chilwell did in the 85th minute to seal the Blues’ victory, that helps a lot.

While Tuchel can take some of the credit for the win, a generous sliver can also go to Edouard Mendy.

He is a keeper who seems to have a calming presence about him. He did not have anything too difficult to deal with against Porto.

He kept out an in-swinging corner, as he obviously should, beat away a header and blocked one with his right leg.

But Mendy (above) marshalled those ahead of him with some purpose and clearly has a strong and valuable rapport with his back line.

You cannot ask for much more. And in these days when keepers are judged as much on their footwork as their glove work, it is worth remembering the only stat that really matters.

It is goals conceded.

And Mendy, since joining Chelsea, has not conceded that many.

An average of around 0.7 per game, if you want a figure on it.

But you can’t really put a figure on what a solid, reliable keeper brings to any team.

That is why Mendy has proved to be so invaluable to this Chelsea team.