Cucurella’s redemption after ‘shielding’
Image: Marc Cucurella won the Player of the Match award as Chelsea progressed to the last eight
Only a month on from being jeered by Chelsea fans as he was substituted against West Ham at the London Stadium, Marc Cucurella delivered what Graham Potter described as a “top performance” to help the Blues into the Champions League quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund.
The Spaniard had not even been included in Potter’s squad for three consecutive Premier League games since that 1-1 draw in east London but he looked revitalised at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, his performance earning him the player-of-the-match award as Chelsea kept their European dream alive.
Starting on the left-hand side of Chelsea’s back three, Cucurella could be seen snapping into challenges right from the start of the game, setting the tone for an aggressive team performance from the hosts and, on an individual level, displaying restored confidence.
Potter praised the defender afterwards for how he handled the criticism he faced earlier in the season and admitted his recent omissions had been a deliberate strategy to take him out of the spotlight.
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“I’m delighted for him,” said the Chelsea boss in his press conference. “Obviously, when you are having a bad time like we are and we have had, you expect the criticism and you have to deal with it.
“Marc has dealt with it well. We’ve tried to shield him a little bit and at the same time pick the moment. I thought tonight, regardless of his situation, the crowd were going to get behind us because it was the Champions League.”
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They certainly did that, roaring Cucurella and his team-mates on throughout, and their much-maligned defender responded in kind.
“With Benoit [Badiashile] not available, I thought he gave us that left foot and balance in the back three,” added Potter. “Thankfully, he delivered a top performance.”
Nick Wright
Chilwell and James are the dynamic duo
Such are the changing faces of football, hailing a team’s full-backs as the most important players in a team would have been laughed out of town 20 years ago. Not now. Liverpool have made that argument over the last few years with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea are following the same narrative.
- Chelsea 2-0 Borussia Dortmund – Match report
- How the teams lined up | Match stats
Reece James and Ben Chilwell are pivotal in the way Chelsea go about their business. In 21 games since the start of last season when both James and Chilwell have played as wing backs in front of a back three, Chelsea have won 15 of those matches, losing just twice, and either one of James or Chilwell have been involved (scored or assist) in 12 of the 38 goals scored in those matches. Chilwell, full of spark and energy down the left, provided the assist from the left for Raheem Sterling’s opener against Dortmund.
Defensively too, Chelsea are a tighter outfit with the two in the team. In those 21 games, Chelsea have shipped just eight goals. James was outstanding when Chelsea had to switch to a defensive shape in the second half, repelling everything Dortmund threw at him. Keeping these two fit and fresh might be Graham Potter’s most important job.
Lewis Jones
Potter makes case for the defence
Image: Wesley Fofana has been a huge boost for Chelsea since returning from injury
Goals have been the talk of the town when it comes to Chelsea since the World Cup restart – and the lack of them. This was the first time in 2023 that Chelsea had managed to score more than once in a game.
Yet whilst the attention has been on the misfiring nature of the Chelsea forward players and doubts being raised about whether the football Graham Potter serves up will always lead to an underachievement in front of goal, Chelsea’s defence has been outstanding.
- Champions League fixtures | Results
This latest clean sheet to send them through to the last eight of the Champions League means Potter’s team have only conceded five goals in their last nine games across all competitions, keeping five clean sheets on the way. The attacking chemistry and conviction in the attacking third might still be lacking but Chelsea are a hard team to score against. Potter needs to take huge credit for that, especially since being able to adapt since losing Thiago Silva to injury.
Chelsea haven’t conceded in the two subsequent games Silva has missed with Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly showing the signs of developing a great understanding. The base is there for Potter to work from. If the attack starts to spark, too, there is no ceiling to their Champions League hopes.
Lewis Jones
Persistence pays off for Havertz
Image: Chelsea's Kai Havertz celebrates at Stamford Bridge
Kai Havertz had scored only once in his previous 12 appearances for Chelsea, his struggles in front of goal prompting many to wonder why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasn’t getting a chance up front.
But Graham Potter’s faith in the 23-year-old has been unwavering and that faith was rewarded against Borussia Dortmund. Havertz needed a retake to convert the decisive penalty but the goal was no less than his performance deserved.
He had fired wastefully over with his first effort of the night when put through on goal on the right-hand side of the box early on, but on other occasions he was simply unfortunate.
Later in the first period, there was a powerful effort from the edge of the box which whistled across the goal-line and away from danger having struck in the inside of the post. After that, there was a stunning effort ruled out for offside.
Havertz held his head in his hands after seeing the flag go up, his disappointment obvious, but he did not have to wait long for his moment. Again, he thought it had passed him by when his penalty struck the post, but the retake gave him a second chance and this time he seized it, firing home to send Chelsea into the last eight.
By the end, he had attempted five shots and created a further two chances for his team-mates, meaning he was directly involved in more than half of Chelsea’s 13 shots on goal.
He might have had more goals himself had he been more ruthless. Some will take this performance as further evidence that he is still not the solution for Chelsea up front. But it was telling that he was at the heart of so much.
Havertz, already a key player for Potter, must continue to add goals in order to show his true value.
Nick Wright
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