Jose Mourinho’s team were coasting along when a furious row that erupted between the manager and Costa, in the final seconds of the first half, saw them both disappear down the tunnel at half-time in furious moods.
Mourinho claimed they kissed and made up, but whatever happened it unsettled Chelsea and encouraged Maccabi, who were revived.
For half an hour they threatened to level, until Willian came to the rescue by converting his sixth free-kick of the season.
On an awful pitch there was also an injury to John Terry, who was carried off having rolled an ankle, sparking concerns ahead of Sunday’s derby against Tottenham, before Oscar scored the third. Kurt Zouma, on as a substitute for Terry, headed in the fourth goal, but Dynamo Kiev have complicated matters in Group G with a surprise win in Porto.
Chelsea move to the top of the pool but are not certain of their place in the last 16, with one to play at home to Porto.
Mourinho was grumbling about the state of the pitch before kick-off. It was lumpy, slow and soon cutting up badly. One turn by Willian carved a huge slice out of the turf.
Together with a noisy home crowd, it made for an uncomfortable opening spell. Unable to trust the surface, Chelsea were edgy on the ball while Maccabi were quick and aggressive, seeking to pounce on errors.
Dor Peretz headed narrowly over, Eran Zahavi caused panic with a mazy run and Eli Dasa sliced a good chance wide. All this within the first five minutes, but the Londoners took the lead on 20 minutes from a corner delivered by Willian.
Predrag Rajkovic made a splendid save from Cahill’s initial header, powerful and directed down after leaping high above Nosa Igiebor. Rajkovic pushed it on to a post but the rebound spilled to Cahill who was quick to react and boot it over the line. As his team celebrated, the Chelsea manager strolled on to the pitch to stamp down some of the larger divots. Just making a point.
Mourinho had made four changes to the team which beat Norwich, three of them in the back four, where only Terry remained. Oscar came in for Pedro and Eden Hazard moved back out on to the left wing.
