Eden Hazard assisted the first and scored the second goal for Chelsea as the Blues escape Brighton with all three points.
Eden Hazard assisted the first and scored the second goal for Chelsea as the Blues escape Brighton with all three points.
Chelsea’s Mauricio Sarri admitted that Eden Hazard’s injury is not a serious one and that he was substituted as a precaution during their win over Brighton.
BRIGHTON, England — Antonio Rudiger has said Eden Hazard’s Chelsea teammates do not expect him to reach Maurizio Sarri’s target of 40 goals this season because of the unselfish way he looks to create as well as score on the pitch.
Deployed as a false No. 9 again by Sarri, Hazard was Chelsea’s star man in a 2-1 win against Brighton on Sunday, assisting Pedro Rodriguez for the opening goal before scoring one of his own. It was the first time the Belgium international had found the net since early October, but he leads all of Europe’s major leagues in assists this season having laid on nine goals for his teammates.
With nine goals in all competitions as the season reaches its halfway point, Hazard looks unlikely to match the ambitious scoring target Sarri set for him earlier in the campaign — but Rudiger believes his teammate’s all-round contribution is every bit as valuable.
“With respect to the others, I think in the Premier League they are not stupid players, so to reach 40 goals?” Rudiger asked. “Maybe he can do it. But what he does is OK. We need to respect the other teams, it’s not like they are bad or something.
“He does not have too much of an ego. If he sees other players standing in a better position, he plays them in. I think that’s fair enough.
“[In] every position he is doing his thing, he is strong. He will also challenge big players in the air. He is doing a fantastic job.”
Hazard — who is ranked at No. 4 among the world’s forwards in the 2018 ESPN FC 100 — limped off in the 83rd minute at the Amex Stadium having taken some physical punishment from Brighton defenders, though Sarri expects him to miss no more than one or two days’ training.
“I think he will be fine,” Rudiger added. “He is a leader. He provides a good example, not be speaking but by showing. He is very good.”
– Ratings: Hazard earns 8/10 as Chelsea’s false No. 9
Sarri said after the match that Hazard could become “very important” in the false No. 9 role for Chelsea, and David Luiz is confident the Belgian can maintain the standard he has set as the focal point of the attack in the last two Premier League games.
“Intelligent players can play everywhere,” he said. “It doesn’t matter the position. He is at the top level, he is a world-class player, he can play everywhere.
“If you put him in any formation, he can understand it and is going to do it. It doesn’t matter his position, if he is intelligent it is easy to understand and play.”
While things continue to progress on the pitch, Chelsea are turning their attentions to contract negotiations away from the field, with Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta all committing to long-term extensions in recent weeks.
Several reports had suggested that Rudiger could be set to join them, but the German insists that no discussions with the club have taken place yet — and added that he is in no rush to begin talks.
“That’s not the case,” he said when asked if he is close to agreeing an extension. “I think there is also no need. I still have three-and-a-half years to go.
“I like it here, but there is no speaking between me and the club. it is not necessary at the moment.”
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