Michael Essien made his first league start for the Blues this season against Southampton on Sunday, playing in his preferred midfield position.

The 30-year-old made a hash of things with his first touch, as he aimlessly volleyed the ball back towards his own goal, which Jay Rodriguez gleefully pounced on and slotted beyond goalkeeper Petr Cech. Essien’s blunder had gifted the Saints the opening goal of the match within the first 15 seconds.

Southampton, who had conceded the least number of league goals prior to this match, looked comfortable from thereon with Chelsea barely threatening Boruc’s goal post. However, the goalkeeper did expertly save Fernando Torres’ header from close range to preserve the lead going in to the half-time break.

Essien’s evening went from bad to worse at that point, as Mourinho chose to change the formation in order to play two up front, with Demba Ba replacing the Ghana international at the start of the second half.

It seemed as if Mourinho had punished Essien for his first-minute mistake against Mauricio Pochettino’s side which gave them the lead, as well as some belief, in order to hold on and win the match.

However, according to Get West London, Mourinho sprang to the defence of his midfield enforcer and claimed that he was substituted to stop him from getting a second yellow card. He also had some consoling words for the Ghanaian and backed him to return to his best.

He said, “Everybody makes mistakes. Strikers miss goals, goalkeepers make mistakes and midfielders lose balls, especially when they try to play, and he tried to play. It was a back pass and they scored, but I think he had a very normal performance – a performance at the level of Mikel or David Luiz when they play in midfield.”

Mourinho, who managed Essien last season at Real Madrid, also revealed his true reason for subbing him and insisted that he is a ‘Chelsea man’. He said, “He played his part, but one yellow card for 45 minutes is a long time and it was a very normal decision [to take him off]. But Essien is Essien. He’s my man. He’s a Chelsea man.”

Essien’s mistake did not stop Chelsea from taking three points as they turned up the heat in the second half to record a 3-1 win over the Saints and move four points behind league leaders Arsenal in second position.