Joe Cole heaped praise on Chelsea’s ‘unsung hero’ after the Blues beat Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League.
An own goal from Benfica defender Richard Rios was enough to give Chelsea their first win of this year’s Champions League.
Enzo Maresca’s side had lost two of their previous three games prior to the visit of Benfica, who reappointed Chelsea hero Mourinho earlier in the month.
Chelsea were far from at their best and had to ride their luck as Benfica squandered a number of chances to register their first point of the Champions League.
The home side lost Joao Pedro to a red card late on but held on for a crucial victory over their former manager Mourinho.
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While Chelsea were somewhat unconvincing, Cole was impressed by the performance of winger Pedro Neto, describing him as the ‘unsung hero’ at Stamford Bridge.
‘Neto has been brilliant, he’s the unsung hero of this Chelsea team, the fans will tell you that,’ Cole said on TNT Sports.
‘He delivers and is always positive. He’s been Chelsea’s best player tonight. He’s a bright spark very consistent.
‘He’s fast becoming a fans’ favourites at Stamford Bridge. He was Chelsea’s best player tonight by a mile.
‘It was a decent performance from Chelsea, it wasn’t spectacular and I’ve seen them play better.
‘But the most important thing was the result, they needed that win and now they can prepare for a massive game against Liverpool at the weekend.’
Fellow former England star Owen Hargreaves added on Portugal international Neto: ‘I thought he was Chelsea’s best player.
‘He makes things happens, he’s so positive and explosive and quick. That’s the thing I like about him. It feels like Neto was the one creating a lot of the chances.
Pedro Neto reacts to Chelsea’s win over Benfica
‘We knew the difficulties we had in the first game and we tried to work hard to manage those difficulties and today was the resilience of the team that came through.
‘I think we had a very good game. In the end we could have controlled it a bit more with the quality of what we had but in the end we have the three points.
‘It’s a tough team to face at home, we knew we needed to work hard, we did well.’
‘Pedro Neto was by far the best player on the pitch. He was the star of the show for me.’
Ally McCoist also singled out Neto for praise, claiming he ‘overshadowed’ his fellow winger Alejandro Garnacho, who joined Chelsea from Manchester United over the summer.
Asked to rate Garnacho’s performance as he was subbed off in the second half, McCoist said: ‘I think he’s done alright.
‘He did well for the goal clearly but he was overshadowed by his teammate on the other flank. He’s done fine but Pedro Neto was the pick of the bunch for me tonight. He’s been terrific.’
On Chelsea’s performance, McCoist added: ‘It was all about the result. It was important Chelsea got the three points and they did that but not a lot more than that.
‘Benfica didn’t do enough with the chances but a massive three points for Chelsea. The result was far more important than the performance.’
As Cole said, Chelsea return to Premier League action this weekend with a huge match against Liverpool.
Arne Slot’s defending champions are top of the table but have suffered successive defeats, losing to Crystal Palace in the league and Galatasaray in Europe.
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