Chelsea Marches On Despite Roman Abramovich Sanctions
Chelsea claimed a 3-1 away victory against bottom side Norwich thanks to goals from Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, despite owner Roman Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK Government.
The visitors started with Kai Havertz up-front as record signing Romelu Lukaku was yet again on the bench. Norwich, who were looking to cause an upset as they continued their relegation battle, fielded Teemu Pukki and Joshua Sargent in attack against the European champions.
It took just three minutes for Chelsea to open the scoring as Chalobah nodded beyond goalkeeper Tim Krul to give the Blues the perfect start at the Carrow Road stadium.
Mason Mount provided the assist for Chalobah’s goal as he continued his fine form in the Chelsea side. Moments later, Mount added Chelsea’s second after combining brilliantly with Havertz.
Havertz beat defender Christoph Zimmermann before finding Mount, whose first touch took him away from Ozan Kabak, before firing into the roof of the net with his second.
Norwich made a double change at the break, introducing Milot Rashica and Lucas Rupp to change their fortunes.
The home side were rewarded in the second half when the referee awarded a penalty after a hand ball from Chalobah. Pukki stepped up and fired the ball into the net to give his side a glimmer of hope.
However, Chelsea put the game to bed when N’Golo Kante found Havertz in the 90th minute, and the Germanfired the ball into the top corner of the net to guarantee all three points for the World champions.
Chelsea moved eight points clear of fourth-placed Arsenal and seven behind second-placed Liverpool, while Norwich remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The announcement about Abramovich’s sanctions could barely have come at a worse time in Chelsea’s preparation ahead of Thursday’s game, but Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his side had to “sweat it out” to get the result.
“Of course, it’s out there, it’s big news, it has a huge impact so that’s why it’s big news,” Tuchel said. “It’s the subject in the talks, you might on a normal day talk about the Champions League games from yesterday but nobody was talking about the impact.”
“But in the end, it’s nice to enter a fixed schedule approaching a match, three hours before we eat, before that we have a tactical meeting, and then we have a set-piece meeting. Then we go to the stadium, so it helps you to focus because you’re used to it, and we cannot influence the situation.”
“Sometimes it’s good to sweat it out, we tried to work hard together and sometimes that’s the best way to get the focus back,” Tuchel added.
Norwich will face to Leeds on Sunday, while Chelsea will battle Newcastle in Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Premier League results
Norwich 1-3 Chelsea
Southampton 1-2 Newcastle
Wolverhampton Wanderes 4-0 Watford
Leeds United 0-3 Aston Villa
Chidi Nwoke/Premier League.
