Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was pleased that his side progressed through to the Champions League semi-finals after a “very intense” second leg.
Porto had a lot of possession in the first half but they struggled to make the most of that with having efforts on goal.
Chelsea’s resistance proved to be too much for their opponents as they kept their two-goal advantage intact until stoppage time.
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Mehdi Taremi scored an acrobatic consolation goal for Porto in the 94th minute but it proved to be too little too late. The Blues secured a 2-1 aggregate win on aggregate to advance.
Chelsea will face either Real Madrid or Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals. As cited by BBC Sport, Tuchel said post-match that it was a “pleasure” to watch on as his side fought to progress.
Tuchel said: “We accepted what was needed was a tough, tough fight. Maybe on the television it was not so nice to watch. But on the sidelines, it was a very intense game, a very fast game.
“It was a tough fight and very hard to play against them to escape the pressure. Porto attack in a fluid and aggressive way. They change positions all the time. They come from behind, they overlap and you have to adapt to many movements. With every minute we did it better and better after a tough start.
“We defended well and deserved a clean sheet. We had the better chances – not a lot – but the better half chances. Sadly we could not finish it off with a goal so we had to hang in there and the guys did that. Overall we deserved to beat Porto. It was a tough 180 minutes.
“We had to play defensively but also offensively. Normally Porto is a team who can make other teams underperform. It happened to Man City in the group stages and Juventus. You have to accept that things will be hard.
“Part of the performance is to not let the other team perform and we did this today. Until the lucky shot in the last minute we did not concede any chances.
“We missed some counter-attacks and some touches in the final third to create a little more but we are a young team. We had two guys who scored their first goals in the Champions League in the first leg and we have to accept the circumstances.
“It was a pleasure to watch the fight and be on the sideline with them to see them through.”
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