Chelsea put a horrible week in the rear view with a promising win over Manchester United yesterday, finally scoring a goal from open play without João Pedro starting, and even keeping another clean sheet.
We did get a massive helping hand from the visiting crisis club of course, with Lisandro Martínez playing a major role in Morgan Rogers’ opening goal early in the second half, then giving away a penalty and getting himself sent off just a few minutes later. And we certainly rode our luck in the first
half when multiple mistakes went unpunished by our opponents.
But it is commendable how we were able to flip the script at the break, even before gaining the man advantage, and the manager was rightly pleased with the response in the second half.
“The first half was intense [but] the reaction from the second half was better. We started quite well, we got the lead, we looked in better control and after with the 2-0 and the red card the context of the game changed. [But] we were more comfortable on the pitch, we looked better controlled and that’s when you feel better with the ball, normally you are better for defending as well. So I think that reaction, that change has been important for the goal and for the feeling as well.”
It was an excellent performance collectively as well as individually, with the lesser spotted duo of Estêvão and Roméo Lavia, in particular, standing out.
The whole Estêvão situation had been making headlines for weeks now of course, but hopefully this start and the 19-year-old’s performance will direct attention and pressure away from it for a while.
“We spoke after Tottenham and [Estêvão] knew that he was going to be playing tonight, today. He has had the best response to show that he deserves more, that he was prepared and that’s what you want from a football player, so I’m very happy for him. He deserved to enjoy his game, he had a good connection with the crowd. He was really close to scoring that goal. At the end he fought really hard, he was tired and it has been a good day for him.”
That said, it was perhaps Roméo Lavia’s performance that was the most impressive, especially coming just 72 hours after also starting our midweek match. The 22-year-old midfielder’s time at Chelsea has been dominated by frequent and often lengthy injuries, but he certainly showed in this one why we had rated him so highly. Alonso, a fellow midfielder, certainly appreciated it.
“From a midfielder point of view, for me it has been a top, top performance. He’s done so many things right, he’s been always connecting the defence with the attacking players, he’s been able to switch the game, he’s taken many right decisions, he’s been very dynamic, competitive. So I think that not just this game, for the last two, three weeks he’s been playing at a very good level and I’m very happy for him and today he deserves a huge recognition for his performance.”
-Xabi Alonso; source: Football.London via AOL
Recognition is easy to give when we’re winning. Let’s keep it up!
