It was a wonderful Wednesday evening for Kai Havertz, who marked his third appearance for Chelsea with three goals, so no wonder the hat-trick hero had plenty to smile about when he spoke after our big win over Barnsley.
Throughout Havertz displayed the attacking instincts that Frank Lampard has long admired, and he was rewarded with a trio of well-taken goals against the Championship side, all cleverly aided by Tammy Abraham. The striker was in his thoughts when he gave his reaction to a job well done.
‘I am very happy to score three goals,’ said the German. ‘It means a lot. It’s my beginning at the club and I want to score more goals, more goals. This is my goal! I hope to continue like this.
‘Tammy is a very, very good striker. Our partnership on the pitch was very good. I am very thankful for the assists. It was our first game together, but I like him very much as a striker, and it was very good to play with him. He can hold the ball up, he is very fast and I hope we continue like that.’
It was Abraham who put us ahead and Havertz that doubled the lead before a goal-laden second half made the final scoreline so emphatic, although things might have been different against the Tykes had Willy Caballero not made a number of impressive saves.
‘When you are Chelsea and you play against lower teams everybody says you have to win, but it’s not that easy,’ noted Havertz, who played just over an hour.
‘They can run, they can shoot, and it was difficult for us, but we did very well and are very happy to get through to next round.
‘In the first half they had many chances and we were lucky they didn’t score, but offensively we played very well. Not everyone is fit and we can do better, but for the third game it’s already getting better and I hope we can continue on Saturday.’