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Chelsea secured three points in southern Russia tonight against Krasnodar, finishing the match with four quality goals despite a rather cautious affair. Frank Lampard spoke to the press after the game and praised his two starters.
The match marked Hakim Ziyech’s first outing for Chelsea, since signing with the club. a lifetime ago in February. He would have appeared earlier if he had not succumbed to a knee injury at Chelsea only preseason game.
Fitness, of course, has been a key focus for Lampard to manage this season, especially with the condensed schedule. Lampard had expressed his excitement about bringing Ziyech out, and tonight’s 27-year-old performance proved why.
“Hakim Ziyech was fit today, the first time he’s really fit to start a match. He has worked very hard to stay in shape and I really wanted to add his quality to the team. We saw that he was in the field the whole time. He brought a lot of quality and peace of mind and scored a well-deserved goal.
“I think his performance was very, very good considering that he hasn’t started since March, when the Dutch league ended. So I have been very excited to have him on the field, so it has been a frustration for me, for him and for us that his injury has not allowed him to start.
“But what I have seen in training so far and what I knew we were signing as a player was a player with an immense quality and personality to receive the ball, assists and find goals. We saw a lot of glimpses of that today. We brought him in to do a job and maybe people forgot a bit because we signed him in January and he missed the start of the season. Tonight, he certainly proved he’s here. “
Hakim Ziyech’s game in numbers vs. Krasnodar:
◉ 87% passing accuracy
◉ 57 touches
◉ 11 duels in total
◉ 7 recoveries
◉ 5 shots
◉ 4 shots on target
◉ 2 tickets
◉ 1 opportunity created
◉ 1 goal https://t.co/4N45cmQva8– Squawka Soccer (@Squawka) October 28, 2020
Another start we’ve been waiting for about a month, albeit for different reasons, has been Callum Hudson-Odoi, and he repaid the manager’s faith by scoring Chelsea’s first goal of the night. Hudson-Odoi’s last start was against Crystal Palace in early October. The end result that day? Also 4-0 at Chelsea. Perhaps there is a theme here with Hudson-Odoi presenting for the club.
Either way, Lampard believes this will do a lot of good for the promising youngster’s confidence.
“With Callum left, I felt like he deserved the opportunity to play. He has trained very well recently, we have competition in those areas and we are also in the middle of a very busy patch of games, so we need input from all attacking players. We feel like today with Callum scoring his goal, Hakim and Christian moving towards their goal. I was very satisfied with those parts of our game.
“The goal is clearly going to be good for his confidence. There were things I liked about his game today. His desire to run after the defense. Sometimes, one on one, it didn’t go the way he wanted it to, but I’m very happy that when you play in the Champions League and get your goal. I know the feeling of confidence it can give you. “
With all that said, Lampard had good reason to be pleased with the performances of his two band starters for the night. Both played an important role in securing the victory, and each scored a goal, on either side of a Timo Werner penalty in the second half.
Perhaps one last notable element related to Hudson-Odoi is a possible injury he may have sustained during the game. The cameras focused on Hudson-Odoi with ice wrapped around his left leg while he was on the bench after his substitution.
“Regarding his injury, they have not warned me after the game that there is a problem, so I assume and hope there is nothing wrong. I’m glad you had a good night. “
-Frank Lampard, source: Football.London
Hopefully any injury, if present, is not serious. Coming out of the long trip to Krasnodar with three points and a healthy team is the best!
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