In match No.16, Chelsea put together the best half hour of football we’ve seen yet under Thomas Tuchel, controlling through possession, stifling through the high press, and showing our quality by creating and finishing chances in front of goal. Palace barely got a touch on the ball, let alone any meaningful passes and didn’t even have a shot on goal until halfway through the second half — from which they scored of course because football.
But Chelsea certainly were dominant in just about every phase of play, especially in that first half, and after last weekend’s blip, this was yet another strong response just like the 2-0 win midweek over FC Porto. Tuchel was very happy as well.
“The first half an hour was excellent. We were very hungry, very aggressive and got a lot of recoveries in the final third. It was a deserved lead. After 35 minutes we dropped a little in position and got a little bit sloppy. We continued like this a little in the second half but it was a good reaction after their goal. We created a lot of chances and didn’t concede any big chances.
“Clearly we had many chances today. The guys were hungry and creative. We had a lot of good runs and good movement. We put pressure on ourselves to have the right response. It was a step in the right direction. [We] were very hungry, full of confidence and wanted to play a very aggressive game in terms of high recoveries. We were totally focused. It was good with the attitude today. It’s a part of our DNA to be aggressive and should be. We showed that today.”
-Thomas Tuchel; source: Sky via BBC
A comprehensive victory to put us back into fourth, at least for the night. Focus can now shift to the Champions League (quartefinal second leg on Tuesday) and then to the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City next weekend.
“We created a lot of chances and didn’t allow much for them. [It’s] a matter of position on timing and decision making in the box, which will give the boys a lot of confidence to score in away games. We have the feeling we could’ve scored more but we deserved that and that’s a nice feeling for our self-confidence.”
-Thomas Tuchel; source: BBC
Let’s keep it going!