Chelsea finally gave themselves something to build on against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup third round, and Enzo Fernandez and Thiago Silva have both praised one Blues ace in particular for his performance at Stamford Bridge.
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Relief was the overriding emotion for Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, as Nicolas Jackson's 50th-minute strike was enough to grant the Blues a first win in four matches in front of their home support in the Carabao Cup third round.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino complemented the performance of Cole Palmer, who was handed his first start since joining the club for £42.5 million from Manchester City in the summer. Cited by METRO, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager stated: "I think like all of the team, I think the team was really good.
"If we assess all of the players, I think we are in a very good level. Cole is a very talented player, he was key in this victory tonight. Still young, he still needs to settle in the club, not only the team, but in the club and the city. I think we saw today how good he is."
Palmer operated in a number ten role during the encounter and provided an effective foil for Senegal international Jackson, laying on a smart assist for the only goal of the game. As per The Evening Standard, Palmer has signalled that he is willing to operate in any position that he is deployed in by the manager, as he said:
"I enjoyed playing in that role tonight but to be totally honest, I’m comfortable in any of the attacking positions. Whether that’s as a No.10, out wide on the left or right or even as striker, I’m happy to do a job for the team."
Nevertheless, Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell was withdrawn late on due to a hamstring injury and there will be concern over the England international due to his last absence because of a similar issue, which kept him out of competing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as per The Mirror.
Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Fulham next Monday in the Premier League and Pochettino will be desperate to get one over the Cottagers and take advantage of momentum generated from the Brighton victory.
What have Enzo Fernandez and Thiago Silva said?
On social media platform Instagram, Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella posted some photos from the triumph over Brighton at Stamford Bridge with the caption "Next round".
In reply, Blues midfielder Enzo Fernandez replied with the caption "Qué animal", which translates to "What an animal" in English, and he was joined by veteran defender Thiago Silva in his praise for Cucurella, as the Brazilian commented with four fire emojis.
Cucurella, a player in terrible form of late, was outstanding against Brighton despite playing in an unfamiliar right-back berth, winning 11 out of 13 ground duels and achieving a match rating of 7.8/10 from Sofascore.
The Spain international, who has previously been labelled "fantastic" by UEFA’s Technical Observer Panel, also managed to complete four accurate long passes from five attempts.
Fernandez and Silva were clearly buzzing with Cucurella's exploits and with Malo Gusto suspended for the trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, the former Brighton ace could get another chance to impress Pochettino on the right-hand side of his backline.
