Chelsea off to bright start
Brighton,
Sept. Frank Lampard believes Chelsea are already showing the benefits of his
£200 million ($257 million) spending spree as they kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win at Brighton on Monday.
Blues boss Lampard has splashed out on a host of new signings and the early returns on his lavish investment were promising. Germany striker Timo Werner, a
£53 million recruit from Leipzig, won the penalty that Jorginho converted to put Chelsea ahead.
Kai Havertz, who made a £70 million switch from Bayer Leverkusen, wasn’t quite so impactful, but Lampard will be confident there are better days to come from the young Germany forward.
“Timo’s speed to win the penalty showed he is sharp and he was a threat all night. He is very mobile and I liked his performance,” Lampard said, adding, “With Kai we saw a lot as well. To get these minutes will only be good and both of them will be huge players for this club.”
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was guilty of another mistake when Leandro Trossard equalised for Brighton.
But Reece James’ superb strike put Chelsea back in front before Kurt Zouma’s deflected effort sealed the points.
It was an encouraging result for Lampard, who has accepted he is under pressure to deliver a title
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challenge after spending more than any other club so far in the summer transfer window.
“I think to expect everything to click on day one is very difficult. But what they did do was show a bit of determination,” Lampard said.
@I really liked the work ethic and the discipline of the team. We’ve been
together as a team for four days after the international break. We had a lot of quarantines before that and new signings.
“We might have dropped points in this game last season. I’m not getting excited by that on day one, but it had a little bit of determination and resilience about it I thought.”