Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku says he “needed” a fine display against Aston Villa
Romelu Lukaku expressed how he “needed” a fine display like the one against Aston Villa as Chelsea won 3-1 on the night. He was influential in helping his team win the match as he played a part in two of the goals. He would look to continue that form moving forward as the club has struggled up front of late.
The Belgian sustained an ankle injury mid-October in the Champions League game against Malmo and had not started a game until now. Just when it looked like he was going to get fully recovered, he got infected by Covid, which saw him out on the sidelines even further. As a result, he has had to go through some struggles to get back to his usual self.
Speaking in the post-match interview (h/t Chelsea official website), Lukaku admitted that he needed a performance like the one against Villa to get himself back into the mix. He added how it was challenging to get back into contention, but he pushed on to make it in the end.
“I think I needed a performance like this. It’s been difficult getting back in. Every footballer wants to be on the pitch, but I kept working hard. It was good for us to win and, for myself personally, I’m happy with my performance and I have to push on.”
The right moment
The 28-year-old put us in the lead when the score was tied 1-1 and later put the match to bed after winning a penalty for Jorginho to score. His off the ball movement for the first goal and the intricate play, which won us the spot-kick, tells how great of an asset he can be.
We needed a strong display from the Blues centre-forward as there have been times when we looked toothless in attack in recent fixtures. His return would help us in putting pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City, who are above us in the league table.
We would be boosted by the Belgian international’s return to form, and it could not come at a more perfect moment. One look at the schedule would tell us how much of a challenge we would have to face in the coming days. It extends to February, meaning we would have to be consistent with our displays for a long period.
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The Chelsea ace would need to lead us from the front to overcome these challenges in the way. Our form in the next couple of months would determine how we would fare this season as we take on some big clubs in multiple competitions.
Timo Werner and Kai Havertz would also get back into the first-team fold sooner rather than later. With our main players returning step by step, things look a bit better than they did earlier this month- although we are still over the severity of the injuries sustained by N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva in the 3-1 win against the Villans.
