Chelsea secured a 1-0 win in the Europa League against Greek side PAOK. Maurizio Sarri’s side were able to score just once in the match, but it was enough to secure a win over their rivals on the night. Brazil international Willian was the only goal scorer in the night and he broke the deadlock in the 7th minute of the game.
The west London outfit got plenty of good chances to add to their tally, though they failed to finish off the opportunities that they had and what should have been a comfortable triumph over their rivals, eventually seemed like a narrow win.
The Italian manager maintained his 100% record with the club, which was once again a boost for his side, though there was some bad news for them in the game as well. Attacker Pedro got injured towards the very end of the contest and was forced off the pitch too.
With that being said, Sarri gave an update on the condition of his player, as his team looks to move beyond this win and onto the next challenge. The Spaniard has a shoulder problem, but Sarri stated that it is ‘probably not a serious injury’.
He said in his interview, “I don’t know exactly the situation.”
“I spoke for a few seconds, but that probably it is not a serious injury.”
Once again happy with how his team had performed, the Blues’ boss was pleased that his team had dominated the game, though was unhappy that they failed to kill off the match with the chances that they had. It is quit evident that they were struggling in front of goal in terms of finishing and Morata once again looked the weak-link.
The Spaniard has been going through a nightmare at the Bridge and just when it seems that there is some hope of him returning to form, things do not really work out for him. This might be another case where he is trying to hard to get something out of the games, but it just isn’t clicking for him.
With Giroud not getting any younger and the west Londoners needing a proper goal-scoring striker upfront, the situation might see Sarri sell Morata in January. If that happens, the former Premier League champions might have to sign a new striker in the transfer window, with the likes of Mitrovic being linked with a move across London.
However, the primary concern at the moment is the injury to Pedro and the manager will be hoping that the former Barcelona man can really sort of things and get back to playing for the club. With the likes of Hazard being rested, there is still no major issue, though with an out-of-form striker up front, the manager will need as many fully fit attacking options as possible.
Hopefully, Sarri is right about the injury, it is nothing serious and Pedro can make his return to the team soon. Stay tuned for more updates on this story from Beyond The Posts.
