LIVERPOOL // Chelsea captain John Terry praised his side’s battling qualities after they came out 6-3 winners over Everton in a thriller at Goodison Park.
The hosts were undone twice inside the first three minutes as Diego Costa and then Branislav Ivanovic both foiled half-baked attempts to play the offside trap by Everton’s ragged back four.
After that early shock, Kevin Mirallas pulled one back for the hosts on stroke of half time before the match exploded with five goals in a frenetic 11-minute spell in the second half.
Seamus Coleman put through his own net before Steven Naismith, Nemanja Matic, Samuel Eto’o and Ramires all scored as Chelsea came out of the five-a-side-like shenanigans 5-3 to the good before Costa pounced to round off the win later on.
“It was disappointing to throw away the lead just before half time, but we got the wake-up call and it probably served us well, second half. Maybe we were too relaxed before that,” Terry told Sky Sports.
“The way we kept responding today was excellent and something that we didn’t have last year, so that delights me more than anything.”
Terry was especially pleased to have triumphed at Goodison Park, where they lost 1-0 last year to a solitary Naismith goal.
“I think at times, we drop points against the lesser sides and we’ve not done so well here in recent years, so to come here and get the win in the manner we did was incredible.”
The Chelsea captain also reserved special praise for Costa, who made it four goals in three matches since moving from Atletico Madrid in the summer.
“He’s been brilliant,” Terry said. “I played against him in the Champions League and realised he was a top player, but when you see him every day he’s got everything. He’s got off to a flying start with us and long may it continue, because that was the difference today.”
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was less easy to please.
He told the BBC: “It was wonderful for everyone at the stadium and watching television around the world, but not for me.
“We cannot make so many defensive mistakes.
“We want to improve as a team by keeping our defensive strength and quality and improving in other areas.
“Today we showed we are improving in other areas but not keeping the balance in defence.
“The team likes to have the ball. That is very important, but we need to keep our defensive balance and not commit mistakes.
“Wednesday afternoon we spent 90 minutes defending corners and free-kicks, but today we conceded from a free-kick, so I cannot be happy with the ridiculous goals we conceded.
“There is 35 more games, three is nothing.”
More understandably, Everton coach Roberto Martinez was also unhappy.
“I can imagine it was a great game to watch from a neutral point of view, but our point of view was that we started too slow,” he told the BBC.
“But even then, I felt we showed great character and great belief, and I felt we were getting back into it. But every time we did, we were dealt a sucker punch.
“Our defending was not as good as it should be. We need to make sure our good play gets a lot more support from having a more solid defensive display.
“We should have protected [goalkeeper] Tim Howard a lot better. But we take responsibility as a team and in the same way promote all the good things we have.
“We have the experience and the know-how. There were positives, Romelu Lukaku lasting along as he did and Samuel Eto’o arriving and having the impact he did.”
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