Tuchel delighted with quiet achiever Havertz

CRYSTAL PALACE 1 CHELSEA 4

KAI HAVERTZ is not a Diego Costa kind of guy says Thomas Tuchel.

Which, to be fair, is a bit like comparing a Rottweiler with a poodle.

Chelsea fans loved Coasta, with his in- your-face style of football.

But Blues manager Tuchel does not want him to be another Costa. The young German, right, has had a slow start at Chelsea since last year’s £62million move from Bayer Leverkusen. First he caught

Covid, then there were niggling injuries and the problem of where to play him. Tuchel has opted to use the 21-year-old in a ‘false nine’ position and Havertz is starting to come out of his shell. One lovely goal at Selhurst Park opened the doors to this thumping of poor Palace, and Tuchel said: “Some guys have to fight to get a momentum.

“He is not the Diego Costa kind of guy – I will never demand he become this. He is a very quiet character but is well aware of his quality.

“Kai has stepped up. I’m happy because he stepped out of his comfort zone. He is ready to show. But what we demand from him is quality.

“That is the way he can become an important player, if he can show this regularly.”

At Selhurst Park, Havertz did perform – as did Chelsea – and Palace could not cope.

He notched his goal after eight minutes, coolly placing his effort in.Two minutes, later, he pulled the ball back for Christian Pulisic to rattle home Chelsea’s second.

But for Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, this could have been embarrassing for Roy Hodgson’s men, with his saves preventing a cricket score.

One, after Havertz had burst clear with a lovely piece of skill, was brilliant, but he could do nothing as Kurt Zouma headed in.

Palace replied when Christian Benteke headed home, but Chelsea went again and Pulisic bundled in his second goal.