The unbeaten run continued with last night’s result against Krasnodar. Chelsea are now 17 games without defeat (excluding penalty shoot-outs) and although we did not beat the Russian side in a game of no consequence to the final group table standings, Kai Havertz believes we should be pleased with the performance.
The young German was the only player to be retained from the starting line-up used against Leeds in the previous game, and such intensity of action is beneficial for the fitness of a player who had a spell of inactivity due to contracting coronavirus. He spoke about that as well after the game, but first he addressed the team’s showing.‘We can be happy,’ Havertz declared. ‘It was a draw but we played a good match. We had a lot of changes in the team, a lot of new players in the team, so of course it was difficult for us but I think we played our best and we did a good game.‘We know we created a lot of chances but we have to score the goals but we didn’t do that. We have to practise for that of course.’
It was Jorginho from the penalty spot who levelled up Krasnodar’s opener in the first half but apart from that, the headlines were made by Billy Gilmour’s man-of-the-match performance on his first start after knee surgery.‘We all know that Billy is a very talented player with a lot of qualities,’ praised Havertz. ‘He is still very young like me but in the Champions League he played very good and we are all very happy with him. He has a big future ahead of him.’
It was Jorginho from the penalty spot who levelled up Krasnodar’s opener in the first half but apart from that, the headlines were made by Billy Gilmour’s man-of-the-match performance on his first start after knee surgery.‘We all know that Billy is a very talented player with a lot of qualities,’ praised Havertz. ‘He is still very young like me but in the Champions League he played very good and we are all very happy with him. He has a big future ahead of him.’