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Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side picked up their first Champions League victory of the 2019/20 season tonight, defeating French side Lille 1-2 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. It wasn’t an easy game by any means, but the Blues were probably just about good value for their win.
Chelsea went ahead after 22 minutes through a goal from in-form striker Tammy Abraham, only to be pegged back on 33 minutes when Victor Osimhen headed home from a corner. The game looked to be heading for a draw until late in the second half, when substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi crossed for Brazilian winger Willian to volley home powerfully with just over ten minutes remaining.
Here are 3 reasons why Chelsea defeated Lille.
#1 Abraham remains in top form
Tammy Abraham is paying off Frank Lampard's faith in goals
It almost seems odd to think that when the 2019/20 season began, there were a lot of questions around Tammy Abraham’s ability to lead the line for Chelsea as a lone striker. Two months into the season, while it’s true that Abraham likely isn’t the finished article just yet, there can no longer be any questions around his finishing ability at the top level.
The England youngster has already scored 7 goals in 6 Premier League starts, and tonight he was able to open up his account in the Champions League with a smart finish from close range following a beautiful pass from Fikayo Tomori.
Initially the striker appeared to have been offside, but when the VAR check was completed, it showed him clearly played on by a Lille defender. Fascinatingly, Abraham turned 22 years old today – and in a crazy coincidence, his goal came in the 22nd minute of the game.
It was a wonderful finish, too – Abraham killed the ball, spun around and fired straight past keeper Mike Maignan. Right now he’s coming off like a man with nothing but confidence in front of goal, and with a striker in this kind of form, Chelsea have a chance against any side.
#2 Chelsea looked more resolute at the back
For the majority of Chelsea’s games thus far in 2019/20, manager Frank Lampard has deployed a similar formation to his predecessor Maurizio Sarri – largely sticking to a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-2-1 system. While his side haven’t struggled for goals, at times they’ve looked soft at the back, and it’s often felt like Lampard hasn’t really worked out his first choice central defenders.
Tonight however, the Blues legend switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Cesar Azpilicueta joining Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma as part of a back three, and Reece James and Marcos Alonso acting as wing-backs. The result? Chelsea looked far more resolute at the back and reduced Lille to just 3 shots on target throughout the game.
It wasn’t a flawless defensive performance from Lampard’s team – individual errors from Zouma and Kepa Arrizabalaga gifted the French side a couple of chances, but thankfully for Chelsea, Arrizabalaga did well to prevent any further damage. And of course, Victor Osimhen’s goal must’ve been a massive concern; it came from a corner, and the Nigerian striker was largely unchallenged – similarly to the way that Roberto Firmino scored for Liverpool against the Blues a couple of weeks ago.
Outside of that, though? Chelsea seemed stronger in defence and the change didn’t seem to limit them going forward. With that in mind, Lampard would do well to consider keeping this formation for the weekend’s clash with Southampton.
#3 Lampard’s positive substitution pays off
As tonight’s game came towards its end, it was interesting to see Lampard make a positive substitution, taking off the more defensive-minded Reece James in favour of the attacking talents of Callum Hudson-Odoi and switching to a back four. With Lille looking dangerous on the counter it would’ve been easy for Chelsea to attempt to settle for a draw with just over 20 minutes to go, but evidently Lampard isn’t that kind of boss.
At any rate, the switch made an almost immediate impact. Hudson-Odoi slotted into the side on the left wing and immediately looked dangerous, and just ten minutes after coming on, he sent a picture-perfect cross over to Willian, who did brilliantly to hit a first time volley home with some serious power.
The goal turned out to be the winner, and Lampard’s positivity had paid off in dividends. The most interesting thing was that James had actually performed well at right wing-back, contributing well in both defence and attack – meaning many bosses likely would’ve pulled the more subdued Mason Mount in favour of Hudson-Odoi rather than making a tactical switch late on.
Lampard might be considered a rookie boss at this stage of his career, but it’s nice to see him being willing to roll the dice to look to win a game like this, even more so when it pays off.
