Harefield Gazette

Goal hero Havertz ‘frustrated’ at Blues draw with Saints

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KAI Havertz has insisted Chelsea’s players must take responsibi­lity for Saturday’s frustratin­g 3-3 Premier League draw with Southampto­n.

Havertz shouldered the blame for Saints’ first goal, admitting losing possession for Danny Ings’ smart finish “changed the game”.

Chelsea had been 2-0 up and cruising after Timo Werner’s fine brace, but Ings’ fourth league goal of the new campaign teed up a madcap second-half.

Che Adams equalised for Saints after a defensive mix-up between Kepa Arrizabala­ga and

Kurt Zouma, only for Havertz to put Chelsea back in front.

The Germany midfielder’s first league goal for the Blues could not win the day, however, as Jannik Vestergaar­d’s added-time effort forced a draw at Stamford Bridge.

“We’re very frustrated about the result,” Havertz told Chelsea’s official club website.

“We had 42 good minutes in the first-half but then I made a mistake and we conceded a goal, which changed the game a little bit. We got it to 3-2 and then we had to take the result and get the win at home, but we didn’t do it. Now we have to stick together and hopefully we can do better next time.

“It’s not always one person who makes the mistake, so we have to look at our mistakes and try to solve the problems.

“It would have been great if my goal was the winner. Of course, I’m happy with that but very frustrated too about the result.

“We had to take these three points at home and we can do that so it was a bad day for us.”

Chelsea must move quickly onto Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Europa League champions Sevilla at

Stamford Bridge, with boss Frank Lampard aware of the scale of improvemen­ts required. The Blues boss has maintained, however, that formation switches are not to blame for Chelsea’s leaky defence.

“I don’t think it’s conceding goals in relation to the shape of the team, that’s something for me to think about all the time,” said Lampard.

“I’m not dead-set on playing that formation. There were loads of great things from the 4-2-3-1, but it is something we need to continue working on, because it is a change.”

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