Ben Chilwell has equaled the record set by former Chelsea players Deco and Alvaro Morata for scoring and assisting in his first Premier League game for Chelsea. The 23-year-old English left-back made Frank Lampard’s Premier League starting eleven on Saturday against Crystal Palace.
Since Ben Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester City in August for a transfer fee worth about £45 million, he has not gotten the opportunity to play for the club in the Premier League. Lampard said Chilwell was battling with match fitness.
On October 3, he finally had the opportunity to play for Chelsea. Fortunately for him, he scored Chelsea’s first goal of the match in the 50th minute and also assisted Kurt Zouma to score the second goal in the 66th minute which made him equal Deco and Alvaro Morata’s debut record.
Since the recording of player stats started in the Premier League, Portuguese midfielder Deco is known to be the first Chelsea player to score and assist in his first Premier League match for the club. The retired football star achieved this feat in August 2008 against Portsmouth.
He scored via 30 yards shot in Chelsea’s 4-0 victory against the relegated Portsmouth weeks after he joined the London club from FC Barcelona in July 2008 for a transfer fee worth €10 million.
About 9 years after, Chelsea signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid on July 21, 2017, for a transfer fee worth €66 million. Though it is believed that he didn’t live up to expectations at Stamford Bridge, he had a fantastic debut Premier League match for Chelsea.
The 27-year-old Spanish striker equaled Deco’s debut record when he was thrown into a Premier League match against Burnley on 12 August 2017. Before he was introduced into the match, Chelsea was already losing 3-0. Morata made an instant impact, scoring in the 69th minute and assisting David Luiz in the 88th minute. However, his effort was not enough as Chelsea lost the match 3-2.
Ben Chilwell brings new hope to Chelsea
The performance of Ben Chilwell has ignited a renewed hope in the heart of Chelsea’s fans. They believe that Chilwell has been that missing link in Frank Lampard’s team.
However, the club’s manager wants the fans to remain calm and not be too excited yet. He stressed that the rebuilding process going on at Chelsea might not bring an instant change as the fans expected.
“There is a lot of reactionary stuff about us because of expectation,” Lampard told BBC Sport.
“I do think people have to remain calm – that’s how I have to be, I can’t get caught up in it. It’s my job not to be reactionary and not get too upset or down.
“We got a lot of credit for coming fourth [last season] and we are not going to go from there to 100 instantly. We are a work in progress but I am up for that work and so are the players.”
