Mauricio Pochettino believes Enzo Fernandez has the confidence to begin showing his best form for Chelsea after the World Cup winner netted his first Premier League goals against Brighton.
The 22-year-old headed in his team’s first after 17 minutes before adding a second from the penalty spot after the break, as the hosts weathered the loss of captain Conor Gallagher to a red card in the 45th minute to claim a 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge.
It was a first win in six attempts in the Premier League against Roberto De Zerbi’s side and saw the Argentina international, who signed from Benfica for a then British record £107million in January, finally break his scoring duck in the league on his 31st appearance.
His influence has grown at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield, particularly since the arrival of Moises Caicedo in August, which has allowed him to take up more advanced positions.
Pochettino, who also saw defender Levi Colwill score his first for the club, predicted Fernandez’s first league goals will only accelerate his progress.
“It’s important that different players can score,” said the manager. “It was Enzo’s first and second in the Premier League, it’s important to build confidence.
“Players sometimes need one season, six months, 10 months to start to show their real quality. Why would it be different at Chelsea?
“So happy that different players can score. It’s a good thing for the team.”
The win was just Chelsea’s second at home in the league this season and their fourth of 2023, lifting them into the top half of the table following the previous weekend’s 4-1 rout by Newcastle.
The game finished amidst confusion as Brighton were awarded a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time by referee Craig Pawson after the ball struck Colwill in the face inside the box.
A pitch-side VAR check – the game’s second after Mykhailo Mudryk had won a spot-kick following a review – overturned the decision, but emotions boiled over with players of both sides squaring up to each other as the final whilst went.
“Football is emotional, no?” said Pochettino. “It’s normal, our reaction and the reaction from Brighton.
“You are playing for a lot of things. It’s really important there three points for us (or) one point for Brighton.
“There’s massive confusion at the end of the game. It was exciting, people were upset. That’s what happened when we were in the middle all together.
“You create this type of relationship where it becomes massive confusion.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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