Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LIFE HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN A BALL
Super Cup penalty miss still haunts hat-trick hero Tam
TAMMY ABRAHAM says he’s “living the dream” with Chelsea after destroying Wolves with a 21-minute hat-trick.
The young striker’s treble took his tally to seven goals in his last three games and underlined that he’s in the form of his life.
He’ll need to be going into a massive week for both Chelsea and himself. Tomorrow night, they tackle Valencia in the Champions League, before a titanic clash with leaders Liverpool at home on Sunday.
Abraham might only be 21, but he’s got major history with Liverpool after his penalty miss handed Jurgen Klopp’s men the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul last month.
After his hat-trick heroics, he revealed that night in Turkey was still etched on his brain, particularly when he walked into a social media barrage because of his “so close but so far” jibe after Chelsea beat Liverpool to cost them the title.
That tweet might have been five years ago (left) but it sees the striker go into a crunch week on a mission and this convincing win can only have helped.
Abraham said: “I am always a player who believed in myself. I had a rough patch after what I went through against Liverpool in Turkey.
“I always believed I would come through it and get on top of it. The boys have always been there to support me and have created the chances. It is just about me being in the right place at the right time.
“It has been a good day at the office for me and the boys. Coming here is never easy. We played well, thankfully – I scored three and we got the three points.”
Wolves’ woeful first-half performance saw them torn to shreds and go in trailing 3-0 at half-time, thanks to a wonder goal from Fikayo Tomori and two from Abraham.
When Abraham (with manager Frank Lampard, above) fended off Conor Coady to get his third, 10 minutes after the break, a comprehensive beating looked on the cards.
But Wolves did manage to restore some pride, thanks to an Abraham own goal and a Patrick Cutrone strike, before Mason Mount finished them off in stoppage time.
Abraham now sits joint top of the Premier League scoring charts alongside Sergio Aguero on seven – not bad for a lad plying his trade in the Championship last season, on loan at Aston Villa.
He added: “My dream was to always be at Chelsea, play at Chelsea, and right now I am living the dream.
“I am delighted to be scoring goals for a team I have grown up loving and have always wanted to play for. It is just an amazing feeling.
“I just have to keep this going and we’ll hopefully keep getting wins as well. That’s the most important thing.”
But the game’s real standout moment came when fellow academy graduate Tomori set Chelsea on their way with a goal that he’ll struggle to better if he plays until he’s 90.
The central defender whipped a 25-yard effort into the far corner of the net with so much curl on it Rui Patricio couldn’t get anywhere near it.