WILLIAN THE CONQUEROR
Brazilian earns Lampard vital win in France
Tammy abraham displayed the impeccable timing of a natural goalscorer as he found the net on his birthday and Willian made a case for his enduring talent with a winner on his 300th Chelsea appearance.
abraham’s first Champions League goal eased Chelsea ahead in northern France and issued a reminder to Gareth Southgate as he prepares to name his squad today for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech republic and bulgaria.
Southgate is expected to include abraham and it will be interesting to see if he selects Fikayo Tomori, who created the first goal in Lille.
The England manager will be acutely aware both are eligible for Nigeria if he overlooks them — Tomori can also represent Canada.
The future looks bright for Lampard’s young Eurostars with a Champions League debut for 19-year-old reece James and an important contribution from Callum hudson-Odoi, the 18-yearold winger who replaced him and supplied the cross for the winner.
The icing on the cake, however, came from 31-year-old Willian, the oldest player in the starting lineup, who met the ball from hudson-Odoi with a volley which skidded into the turf and flashed up past goalkeeper mike maignan.
Victory eases the pressure on Chelsea in Group h ahead of two daunting fixtures against ajax, and Lampard can savour a tactical switch that worked out well and won him his first Champions League points as a manager.
after starting with a back three he changed into a back four, sending on hudson- Odoi for James and the change of shape gave Chelsea extra impetus.
his defence creaked at times. They conceded from a corner and were vulnerable at set-pieces but Kepa arrizabalaga produced an excellent performance in goal.
‘There’s a long way to go in the group, but having lost against Valencia it put more importance on this game,’ said Lampard. ‘It’s such a tough place to play, with the roof on and the crowd up for it, and the speed in their team on the counter-attack was evident. Our performance was really good and we deserved to win. The kids are doing well but this isn’t a game for niceties. We have to go and win these games. The Champions League level is something else.’
boosted by the return of N’Golo Kante, Chelsea dominated possession with Lille content to sit deep, let their visitors have the ball and hope for a mistake or a quick break out of defence.
abraham fired Chelsea ahead with a goal in the 22nd minute on his 22nd birthday. Picked out by a pass from Tomori, he turned and finished coolly. Lille appealed for offside but the replays proved there was no offence. ‘Tammy is hungry for goals,’ added Lampard, who revealed the squad celebrated the occasion with cake on the eve of the game for abraham and michy batshuayi, 26 yesterday.
as for the England speculation, the Chelsea boss added: ‘Tammy is handling that as he handles everything in life — he takes it with enthusiasm and happiness.
‘he wants to be the best and with it comes international recognition and the next decision on that is for Gareth. I don’t want to tell him what to do. but with mason, Tammy and the way Tomori is playing, they’ve given themselves a chance.’
Lille responded to the opening goal by offering more adventure. a quick break and a low shot by Luiz araujo forced a save from Kepa.
Chelsea survived at the expense of a corner but this corner led to another from which Victor Osimhen climbed high to head home.
The contest was far more even in the second half. Lille threatened again from corners and Chelsea were grateful to have Kepa in excellent touch.
The Spain keeper made a fine save to deny benjamin andre and a brave stop at the feet of Osimhen after a lapse by Tomori.
Even when he made a slip in the closing seconds he was able to recover with another splendid save and complete the crossChannel raid. LILLE (4-2-3-1): Maignan 6; Celik 6, Fonte 6, Gabriel 6, Mandava 5.5; Soumare 6, Andre 6.5 (Sanches 68min, 6); Araujo 6.5 (Xeka 76), Ikone 6 (Yazici 61, 6), Bamba 7; Osimhen 7.
Subs not used: Cesar, Soumaoro, Remy, Bradaric. Scorers: Osimhen 33. Booked: Ikone. Manager: Christophe Galtier 6.5. CHELSEA (3-4-3): KEPA 8; Azpilicueta 6, Zouma 6, Tomori 6.5; James 6 (Hudson-Odoi 67, 6), Kante 7.5, Jorginho 7, Alonso 6; Willian 7 (Pedro 85), Abraham 7, Mount 6.5 (Kovacic 87). Subs not used: Caballero, Christensen, Giroud, Batshuayi. Scorers: Abraham 22, Willian 77. Booked: James. Manager: Frank Lampard 6.5. Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus) 6. Attendance: 48,523.