Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel insisted that he wants to keep pushing the limits his players can reach, as they streaked clear at the top of the Premier League with a win over Leicester.
The Blues dominated most of the game on Saturday, bar two spells in either half where the Foxes threatened. However, the visitors held firm and they did the damage in the first half.
Indeed, Antonio Rudiger put Chelsea ahead after 14 minutes with a glanced header from a corner.
Leicester then reacted, but N’Golo Kante drove forward at the other end and fired in the second. In the second half, Leicester again woke up for a short period, but Chelsea made it 3-0.
They could have scored more, had the offside flag not denied a number of goals.
“We played a good away game, an excellent result, we created a lot of half chances and were unlucky with the offside positions,” Tuchel told BT Sport.
“But I’m happy if we create and never stop creating. We knew we can be strong from first to last minute, this is what we did. I’m happy with the quality and effort, it was a deserved win.
“It was a very good first half and still we were struggling in the last third with decision-making and precision.
“If we were on the highest level we could have created more chances and scored the third goal earlier. If it’s two goals, anything can happen and the whole stadium can wake up. We didn’t let that happen and the third one finished them off.”
The win moved Chelsea six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Liverpool were seven off heading into their evening kick-off against Arsenal.
Who’s number one? Counting down the top five saves of the season by Premier League keepers
Asked about the pressure the away win and the clean sheet puts on his side’s title rivals, Tuchel added: “Yeah, it’s what we want to do.
“We want to do our things over and over again and reach our standards and push the limits. I’m happy with the way we played and results, this is the only thing we can have influence on.”
Tuchel hails Chelsea’s Rudiger
Tuchel also saved time to hail Rudiger for his defensive and attacking work at the King Power Stadium.
“I hope he stays like this, defensive performance is strong as ever and they [the defenders] deserve the praise for it because they do a lot of invisible work,” he said.
“They protect each other, they support, they are brave in attacking up front and we want to be dangerous from set-pieces.”
Asked about his contract situation, with the German’s deal expiring in the summer and news of an extension still unclear, Tuchel admitted that he and his players have one thing in mind.
“Everybody wants him to stay, this is pretty clear. Sometimes there is a delay in these things and there is obviously a delay,” the manager said. “On the same side, he knows he plays for a fantastic club in a fantastic league.
“He’s a competitor. We have to have a bit of patience.”
Chelsea return to action on Tuesday when facing Juventus in the Champions League.
The post Tuchel sends defiant Liverpool, Man City title message after lauding standout Chelsea man appeared first on TEAMtalk.
Jonny Whitfield
No comments:
Post a Comment