Hargreaves and Cole laud ‘outstanding’ Chelsea star in Champions League triumph

Owen Hargreaves and Joe Cole were each impressed with Chelsea’s showing against Borussia Dortmund and they picked out one player in particular for praise.

Graham Potter’s side managed to turn things around on the night with a 2-0 victory. Chelsea looked much sharper in the final third than they have done in recent weeks.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring just before half time to give Chelsea a deserved lead. The German side also had their chances, but Kepa Arrizabalaga was on hand to deny them.

Kai Havertz scored the second goal of the game from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. The German forward hit the post with his original penalty, but was allowed to retake it following an encroachment.

Both Hargreaves and Cole picked out Havertz for praise after the match as he managed to keep his cool from the penalty spot and send Chelsea through.

“Chelsea deserved it – by far the better team,” Hargreaves told BT Sport. “I thought Kai Havertz was absolutely outstanding, and so many great performances from Chelsea, keeping a clean sheet and scoring two goals. Nothing but positives for this Chelsea team.

“That shows real courage, to be fair,” added Hargreaves. “He stepped up, the composure to step up and put it in the same place, I thought he was brilliant today.

“A lot of people say as a false nine, a player in different positions, I just thought he delivers. He was fantastic today, showed real composure in big moments.

“They need somebody to step up – Raheem [Sterling] did it in the first half and Kai Havertz in the second.”

Chelsea have struggled for goals this season, but Havertz has been their most reliable player in the final third. With five league goals to his name, he is Chelsea’s top scorer.

Cole also praised the German forward for his impact and the knack he has for delivering in the big moments.

“He’s got a great habit, Kai, of big moments,” Cole added. “We’ve seen him score the winning goal in the Champions League, we’ve seen him up in the studio there and there was a little melee about who was going to take it – I think Raheem was there, Reece [James] was there and he grabbed it with real meaning.

“I thought yeah, he’s going to put this away – but to do the exact same technique was fantastic.”

Potter will be hoping that this result swings the momentum for his side in the Premier League. Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Leicester on Saturday.

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