Mauricio Pochettino has told his Chelsea side that they must build on their win over Newcastle or face further struggles – and warned Mykhaylo Mudryk he still needs to raise his level despite scoring a fine goal against the Magpies.
Speaking after his team’s 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea manager praised the contributions of substitute Mudryk, who secured the win with a goal in the 76th minute.
The Ukrainian made a great impression coming off the bench to essentially seal the game for Chelsea. He raced to claim the ball before skillfully evading Fabian Schar and Martin Dubravka to score, making it 3-1.
“It was a very good goal and that is what we expect from a player from the bench – impact,” Pochettino stated. “Then it is about competing with different players in his position. Then he will deserve to (start).”
This crucial goal came at a key moment in the game, putting Chelsea back in control – something the Blues have struggled with recently.
They were leading 1-0 before, after a series of errors, Malo Gusto was caught out while attempting to juggle the ball in midfield, and then Trevoh Chalobah rushed up to help, leaving a significant gap at the back.
Alexander Isak took advantage to level the score for the visitors. Nicolas Jackson had earlier given his team an early sixth-minute lead with a clever flick from Cole Palmer’s shot, directing it out of Martin Dubravka’s reach and into the bottom corner of the goal.
Cole Palmer notched his 13th goal of the season for Chelsea in the second half. After receiving a pass from Enzo Fernandez, Palmer spun around and with a powerful strike found the back of the net, giving his side a 2-1 advantage.
Mudryk then conjured up some magic for the crucial moment of the match but Chelsea still had a late worry when Jacob Murphy fired a stunner into the top corner. But the hosts managed to hang on for victory.
Pochettino said after: “We need to understand that we are Chelsea. We are in a project that is completely different (to the past). Some people might be confused. When people don’t want to listen, it’s difficult.
“But we are trying to explain we are a different Chelsea, we are building something different. It’s going to be tough.”
Encouraging his squad, he reminded them: “We need to keep believing, even when it’s tough circumstances. We played (the Carabao Cup) final, 120 minutes, then after three days we play the FA Cup and we play Brentford. In six days we played three very tough games, nearly with the same team.
“It was really tough. If that means we are a disaster, OK. The most important thing is it’s not affecting the team. They know what they need to do and we keep believing.”