Chelsea’s terrible first-half display against Arsenal at the Emirates saw the Blues concede three goals in the first half through a brace from Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus. The Blues’ performance improved in the second, pulling one goal back through Noni Madueke.
Noni Madueke, since joining Chelsea from PSV in January, has had a limited playing opportunities. The young winger was handed a start against Arsenal on Tuesday. The England international was arguably Chelsea’s best player against Arsenal and scored his first goal for Chelsea against Arsenal.
While key players within the Chelsea setup failed to show up in the London Derby, Noni Madueke showed he was ready to help the team when called upon.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard was impressed with the performance of the England international and insisted that he would get more opportunities.
What did Frank Lampard say about the performance of Noni Madueke?
Frank Lampard said at a post-match press conference: “If I want to talk about an individual, it’s Noni, who scored the goal, plays how he’s been training.
“He’ll get a lot more opportunities.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was handed his first under Frank Lampard but was substituted in the second half.
On the display of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: “I’m not going to comment on individuals in the game. Let’s talk about the collective. It’s a performance.”
Chelsea are on a six games winless run under Frank Lampard. The Blues interim manager has insisted that his side needed to be better against Arsenal.
He added: “We weren’t good enough; we were too nice to play against, too passive. In possession, we weren’t playing balls over their press or winning second balls.
Chelsea has been a big success for 20 years domestically and in the Champions League; at the moment, we’re not in that position. But from the moment I’ve been here, it’s been evident we’re too nice as a team.
‘We can’t change things overnight, but we better get there quickly because we have another game at the weekend and games to come.
“The passive nature of our game, you can attribute it to many things. There’s the easy go-to that the players don’t care enough, but they do care. You can be low on confidence but still show a dynamic side to your games. All the things we spoke about before the game we didn’t do.”
Chelsea’s next Premier League is against a relegation-battling side Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
