Thomas Tuchel’s Blues claimed a second successive Premier League win last night, defeating Everton 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The unfortunate own-goal from Toffees defender Ben Godfrey ensured the Blues held the lead at the half-time interval before a second half penalty from Jorginho ensured Thomas Tuchel maintained his unbeaten start at the helm in Chelsea, besides cementing their place in the top-four.
The Blues’ latest victory was all the more impressive as it came even with the Chelsea boss making five changes to the starting line-up despite Thursday’s impressive win at Liverpool.
The German tactician’s rotation policy clearly benefited Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz, but the tactical change didn’t augur well for Christian Pulisic, who only managed to get some minutes under his belt when he stepped off the bench as the game headed towards stoppage time.
Tuchel explained why the former Borussia Dortmund is struggling for opportunities at this moment in time:
“Yes, I can say nothing else but good things about him. Maybe his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he started only in the cup games.
“It is my responsibility and it is a bit unfair but I know what impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes.
“He was a bit unlucky in the last few games. It isn’t a lack of trust or quality, it is just that he will have to be patient.”
Former England striker Gary Lineker was quick to take social media during the second half of last night’s match to lavish praise on the performance of attacking-midfield star Havertz as the former Bayer Leverkusen man played a key role in both of the Blues’ goals, ensuring he made the most of the opportunity presented to him.
Havertz’s contributions impressed Lineker, who was effusively lyrical about the 21-year-old’s performance.
Lineker tweeted:
“This is comfortably @kaihavertz29’s best game in a @ChelseaFC shirt. A glimpse of the obvious abundance of talent he possesses.”