Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Branislav Ivanovic
Branislav Ivanovic slides on his knees after scoring Chelsea's winner against Aston Villa on Saturday. Photograph: Matt West/BPI/Rex
Branislav Ivanovic slides on his knees after scoring Chelsea's winner against Aston Villa on Saturday. Photograph: Matt West/BPI/Rex

José Mourinho: Ivanovic will go down as one of Chelsea’s best ever signings

This article is more than 9 years old
José Mourinho says Ivanovic has made ‘fantastic contribution’
Aston Villa play Hull next in crucial game for both clubs
Match report: Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea

José Mourinho paused to contemplate how he could describe Branislav Ivanovic in one word, before settling on six to do justice to the player whom he believes will go down as one of Chelsea’s best signings. “A competitive animal, a big heart,” the Chelsea manager said.

Ivanovic is a warrior, as hard as nails and a bit of a throwback. In the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, the Serb played on with what John Terry described as a “hole in his foot and a boot full of blood”.

Four minutes into extra time Ivanovic headed in the winner and wondered what all the fuss was about when Mourinho suggested his boot should be displayed in Chelsea’s academy to serve as an example to the club’s younger players.

That is Ivanovic all over. He is not the sort of footballer who courts the limelight and there are no prizes for guessing who looked most uncomfortable in front of the camera – social media is clearly not the 30-year-old’s thing – when Oscar tweeted a picture of the Chelsea squad posing in the dressing room after winning at Villa Park.

Ivanovic had more reason to smile than anyone after his glorious left-foot shot – executed at waist height and drilled into the top corner – gave Mourinho his first victory at Aston Villa at the sixth attempt and, much more significantly, opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the table.

“Every striker in the world would be proud to score that magnificent goal,” Mourinho said. “Imagine a right-back, and a right-back whose best foot is not the left one – it’s an amazing goal, especially when he scored that goal and it’s the winning goal.

“So I am very happy because he is a great guy. What he is doing for us is unbelievable. The injury he had against Liverpool and played the rest of the game, played against Man City and played again today – he’s a fantastic character.”

In a team full of big names and blessed with some wonderful attacking players, Ivanovic is perhaps seldom lauded as he ought to be. “You know how the media are and the way football fans are, but I think what matters more is what we as a club feel for him and what we feel for people like John and [Gary] Cahill and these kind of guys. Without them you can’t do nothing,” Mourinho said. “But a team is exactly this – a team is an artist like [Eden] Hazard, it’s a defender like Branislav. The mix and combination of talent makes a team.”

Ivanovic joined Chelsea in January 2008 for £9m from Lokomotiv Moscow. Asked whether the defender, who made his 300th appearance for Chelsea in the 1-1 draw against City the previous weekend, will go down as one of the club’s best pieces of business in the transfer market, Mourinho replied: “I think so. He came just after I left [in 2007] and after that he made a fantastic contribution for this club.”

Ivanovic’s fifth goal in six starts against Villa provided the defining moment on a day when Chelsea were well short of their best. The industrious Willian caught the eye – what a sublime pass to set up Hazard for Chelsea’s first – but the visitors played within themselves at times and there was something uncomfortable about watching Didier Drogba trying to lead the line a month before his 37th birthday. Drogba spent more time rolling around than rolling back the years.

While Chelsea will again be without the suspended Diego Costa against Everton on Wednesday, Mourinho confirmed Cesc Fàbregas should return. “I think he plays. [Saturday] was just a decision to protect him. We risked Willian. But we decided not to risk two players because to start a game with two players [like that] is a big gamble.” For Villa, who have a huge game at fellow strugglers Hull on Tuesday night, this defeat offered a couple of crumbs of comfort. Jores Okore scored their first league goal in just under 11 hours of football: “At least now we can forget about that,” the centre-half said.

Carles Gil, who bamboozled Oscar with a lovely piece of footwork before delivering the cross to create that chance, showed some nice touches. Mourinho insisted Villa have “more than enough” to survive, although at the end of an afternoon when Paul Lambert was involved in an altercation with Rui Faria, the Portuguese’s assistant, it was hard not to think that the Chelsea manager was being a little mischievous when he waxed lyrical about his opponents and added: “If they go down, it’s not because of the quality of their players, for sure.”

Man of the match Willian (Chelsea)

Most viewed

Most viewed