Frank Lampard celebrated his 42nd birthday with victory in his 100th match as manager.
Aston Villa made it comically awkward for an hour until Chelsea finally navigated a way to goal. Two goals in as many minutes from Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud ultimately put five points between Chelsea and those in pursuit of fourth place.
Pulisic was made to wait until the 55th minute to make an appearance, for which Lampard almost apologised.
“I know Christian was very hungry. He has trained well,” he said.
“The ability that he has got to arrive in the box is a big thing that I have spoken to him about all season.
“I was pleased with the impact he made when he came on. He will start games for us, of course. I think he is going to be a big player for us, not just in this run-in, but going forward.”
Lampard now has a cushion ahead of the next fixture at home to Manchester City. “I think it is important for the group because I think we have seen all the games are looking different,” he added.
“It is an obvious statement with the crowds, but in terms of the actual detail of the games and the tempo, the matches, the tiredness factor that has been coming into them too.
“So we didn’t know exactly what we were coming into today but now we have three points when some teams have lost points around us.
“I am really pleased with the performance. Aston Villa had the chance to do this once before us, but I think we moved the ball well during the game and dominated possession.
“It’s been a little bit of our story this season, dominating possession but need to be more clinical. I can definitely give the players some leeway on that one because of the long time off.
“We showed great quality and character to win the game. I am pleased with the win.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2YUbutw
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