4-0 flattered us, says José

FOOTBALL JOSE Mourinho praised Maccabi Tel Aviv for a gallant effort after watching Chelsea climb top of Group G following an emphatic 4-0 victory. But he was not so complimentary about their pitch.

The Israeli champions struggled to get out of their half in the first 45 minutes when a close-range effort from Gary Cahill separated the teams.

Maccabi were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time when former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim was dismissedfollowingadangerouschallenge onDiegoCosta.Maccabiimprovedinthe second half, but Chelsea ran out comfortable victors with goals from Willian, Oscar and substitute Kurt Zouma in the final 17 minutes.

Mourinho said: “The final scoreline flattered us. Maccabi resisted well with 10 men in the second half. They deserved more than they got.”

But the Chelsea boss was critical of the surface at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, claiming “it prevented his team from playing better and cost us goals”. He went on to say: “We lost John Terry and Ramires because of the dangerous pitch.”

Maccabi’s Slavisa Jokanovic said: “I’m very proud, despite the scoreline, of the character and effort we showed.”