BLUES ARE NOT FLUENT YET
learn quickly. Some players do speak languages that he speaks, French being a main one.
“But the lads here are Brazilian and Portuguese, which he speaks.
“If the language is a slight barrier, we need time to work. That is what we have in front of us.
“People are going to want to talk about the second goal, and that is the nature of being a top footballer, which he has been all his career.
“But, other than that, we saw how he was with his leadership and qualities, and we are going to see more of that. Thiago Silva will be fantastic for us.
“We will get a lot more from him as he and the whole squad gets fitter.”
Callum Robinson fired in a left-foot opener, after Albion latched on to a poor header by Marcos Alonso, who kicked the post in frustration.
Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner blew chances to level before Robinson then seized on
Silva’s error to storm clear and fire in a low, right-foot finish.
The hosts s made before the break Matheus Pereira’s ereir, corner, which Darnell rng Furlong flicked on, and K y Bartley prodded dded in.
A double substitution at the break saw w replacement Cesar Azpilicueta icueta get the armband back ack off Silva.
The visitors rs took only 10 minutes for Mason Mount (below) to pull ull a goal back with a superb erb shot from distance. Sub Callum Hudson-Odoi oi then halved it 3-0 from l the def icit with 20 minutes left after
good interplay new- boy
with
Kai Havertz.
Abraham (right) capped an impressive comeback by tapping in after Mount’s shot was saved in stoppage-time. Lampard was relieved, but his stern face, lack of celebration, and cool analysis made it clear he was unhappy.
He added: “It is two points lost for us, which we will have to make up.”