IT'S SIX & THE CITY
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ALVARO MORATA bagged a deadly double and was then branded “mentally fragile” by Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.
The striker struck twice to take his tally to five in six games in all competitions but fluffed a glorious chance to net a hat-trick in stoppage time.
Pedro also scored to make Andros Townsend’s Palace strike redundant and help Chelsea climb to second, two points behind leaders Manchester City.
But while Sarri praised Morata, he also insisted the Spain star needed to toughen up to match elite Premier League predators like Harry Kane or Sergio Aguero.
Sarri said: “Can he score as many as them? I don’t know. But for Alvaro, the goal has to be a consequence.
“He has to play for the team, with his mates, without thinking about goals. Goals are usually a consequence of teamwork.
“He’s a little bit fragile. From the mental point of view. But
he’s very young. I think he can improve, improve very fast.
“Alvaro improved over the last month. Improved in his confidence, in his personality and also from the technical point of view.
“Now he’s able to play more with the team, I think. But I think, also, that Alvaro has a very great physical and technical potential, so he can improve more.”
Asked if Morata could one day go on to emulate Chelsea great Didier Drogba, Sarri added: “Physically, no. Drogba was one of the best in the world for 15 years.
“But Alvaro is very fast. Not in the first two or three steps, but if he has to run for 40 metres he’s very fast. He’s strong, so not like Drogba. He has great potential.”
Morata’s goals helped Chelsea extend their unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions but he admitted afterwards his stoppage-time miss had taken the gloss off his big day.
He said: “I could have scored a hat-trick so it was not the perfect day but we will take the three points. That is the most important thing for us. We want to fight until the end for the Premier League.
“I will think a lot about the hat-trick but I am improving and I want to keep helping my team to win. We needed to go and win it and stay at the top with the other teams.”
Palace look set for another relegation battle but boss Roy Hodgson said: “The only similarity I see is last year we were struggling and didn’t look like we were going to get results.
“This year, we’re somewhat surprised after matches that we didn’t get results. Not many teams have outplayed us.”