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BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) – Chelsea manager Frank Lampard praised defender Reece James and said he was pleased with the debut of German strikers Timo Werner and Kai Havertz following a 3-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday.
Chelsea looked shaky at times in their first Premier League game of the season, but a magnificent goal by 20-year-old James to make it 2-1 shortly after the break sent the competition spinning and Lampard purring in joy.
“He had me out of my seat and we needed him, we weren’t at our best in that period,” Lampard told Sky Sports.
“Reece has that in him, he’s such a quality player. You try to take him into areas where he can be a threat.”
“If you look at the fact that we have been together as a team for four days, expecting everything to go well on the first day is difficult. We show determination and that is a game where we could have lost points last year.”
Chelsea were on the defensive for much of the first half, but took the lead against the development of the game after Werner showed a flash of his talent, passing Mat Ryan to earn a penalty when the Brighton goalkeeper committed a lack.
Jorginho converted the penalty and after Leandro Trossard leveled, Chelsea enjoyed a moment of magic from Under-21 international James to restore their lead before a deflected shot from Kurt Zouma sealed the match.
Havertz, who worked hard on a three-front line behind Werner, which included Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount, was substituted in the 80th minute, but Lampard praised the former Bayer Leverkusen striker.
“I liked Kai Havertz,” Lampard said. “It’s not a game where you stick with some old moments and there’s a lot on its shoulders, but you saw glimpses of what it can do.
“Everything I have seen of him is perfect and his quality will be reflected. He has great talent.”
Lampard noted that despite the wealth of their attacking talent, Chelsea was still a work in progress and unlikely to challenge champion Liverpool for the title.
“We definitely want to close that gap with Liverpool, we have to have intentions to be there even though it is a great request to win. We are behind, it is step by step. Hopefully we can make great progress.”
(Written by Zoran Milosavljevic; Edited by Ken Ferris)
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