Chelsea FC put in a very solid display on Wednesday night against League One outfit Walsall, as goals from Ramires, R my, Kenedy and Pedro helped the Blues to a 4-1 win in the Capital One Cup third round tie
The Blues continued their recent good form with a third consecutive win in all competitions, putting four past League One side Walsall. Brazilian teenager Kenedy looked lively all evening, and received just rewards for his efforts in the form of his first goal for the club in the second half of the game.
The Chelsea FC midfield was particularly impressive, with John Obi Mikel and Ramires performing brilliantly from the centre of the park, in concert with academy graduate Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was making only his second start for Jos Mourinho’s side this season.
Mourinho delighted with his midfield
The Portuguese was full of praise for his midfielders following the win — and rightly so — as Mikel and Ramires put in superb individual performances, with the latter scoring the opening goal of the game with a well-taken header.
“The midfield was really good. Mikel and Ramires played amazingly well,” Mourinho said after the game (via chelseafc.com). “Kenedy played well. He was having pain in one calf, so I had to take him off, but a nice performance for him, good experience, more minutes on the pitch. It was good for all of them.”
The Blues’ boss also praised the performance of skipper John Terry, and said he was happy with Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who had a poor game up front. “John was solid, normal, no problem. We brought a good solid defence.
“It was a good game for Falcao, a good 90 mins – important for fitness. He worked a lot, ran a lot, moved a lot. He was in the game a lot. For the first time this season he was on the pitch for a long, long time so it was a good game for him.”
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Walsall quality and style of play surprises Mourinho
The Chelsea FC manager also reserved words of praise for Dean Smith’s side, claiming he has never seen a League One side play the same brand of football as the Saddlers. Speaking after the game, Mourinho is quoted as saying (via chelseafc.com): “I am always worried against teams with great belief. After 3-1 we could feel like it was game over but before that everything was open. They created chances and fought hard.
“I analysed them before. I watched a couple of their matches in League One. I was surprised with the quality of their play. They are a different team to normal in League One – not so physical, but technically fast. They were very well organised.
“I have years of cups in this country and I havena t found a team in League One playing the quality of football they tried to play.”
The Blues will now face Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in the last 16 of the Capital One Cup.