Thomas Tuchel reveals importance of Chelsea ace Romelu Lukaku in Aston Villa victory
Speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by football.london, Thomas Tuchel labelled Romelu Lukaku as a key player for Chelsea after his role in the 3-1 victory against Aston Villa.
The Blues romped to their first league victory in three games on Boxing Day. However, it was not all hunky-dory for the opening half an hour as the home side created the majority of chances. They went ahead soon before Jorginho scored a penalty to put us back on level terms.
Tuchel brought on Romelu Lukaku in the second half to change the game. The Belgian had recently returned from injury before contracting the Covid-19 disease. However, he was fit to play today and he made the difference eventually. The 28-year-old scored a glancing header to take the lead before going on a marauding run in added time to land a penalty.
He looked back to his best, and Tuchel revealed the No 9’s importance to the team after the game.
“There is no doubt he (Lukaku) is super important. Every player is, but Romelu will be a key player. He was unlucky to get injured. Then struggled to come back in the schedule, then Covid.
“45 minutes was more than the fitness department recommended, but we thought we could take the risk. He does not need me to play a game like this. He does not need a speech. He just needs to get fit. And this is not easy when you have an injury and a body like Rom.”
Lukaku to get the title challenge back on track?
Tuchel was visibly frustrated after his side drew against Everton and Wolves in the space of three days last week. However, he expected his boys to gain all three points against Villa and the men in blue responded well to the challenge.
However, with three of our main strikers out of action, Christian Pulisic had to lead the line again, and he looked far from comfortable in doing so. Thus, it was no surprise that the game changed once Lukaku stepped onto the turf and took the match by the scruff of the neck.
The big Belgian was causing all sorts of problems for Tyrone Mings and made himself a nuisance to the opposition. But his burst of pace and strength in the final minutes to win the penalty was something one only associated with him during his time at Inter Milan –the player Chelsea spent the big bucks on in the summer.
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He was a massive miss in the last two months. Man City are currently six points ahead of us, but we could still gain ground in this enthralling title chase. And if we hope to stand any chance of doing so, it shall be if Lukaku is firing goals for fun from now until the end of the season.
