Mykhailo Mudryk reflects on ‘special moment’ of first goal for Chelsea

It’s taken nine months, twenty-four appearances, and countless memes, but Mykhailo Mudryk finally has a Chelsea goal to his name (in a competitive match; he did score in one of the summer friendlies as well).

It’s obviously a massive moment for our young winger, to get his name on the scoresheet, even if goals weren’t really his thing at Shakhtar either — just 12 in 65 appearances (including a couple loans), with 10 of those coming in the final half-season at that club. He’s yet to score for Ukraine as well, in 13 senior caps.

All that aside, the goal should lift some pressure off his shoulders now, and even in Monday’s game, he played with a lot more confidence and self-belief after scoring. Assuming his quad injury isn’t anything significant — which it supposedly isn’t — we can hopefully look forward to him impacting games more regularly from now on.

Most importantly, for the 22-year-old himself, it’s validation and reward for all the work he’s been putting in behind the scenes.

“With every game, every training session, you understand better the main things the manager wants from the team. So you improve, get better, better, and better. Then this is what you have to show on the pitch.”

“It’s a special moment for me, a first goal, it’s always special. I’m so excited and happy with this moment for our supporters. It’s a big moment for me and all the people that have supported me. Sometimes this happens [the wait for a goal] and you have to accept this. You have to just keep working hard and then moments will come.”

-Mykhailo Mudryk; source: Chelsea FC

Here’s to many more such moments, and many more such wins!