Maurizio Sarri has praised Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain after the duo combined impressively in Chelsea’s 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town.
Hazard and Higuain scored twice each and David Luiz added a late fifth as Chelsea got back to winning ways following their midweek defeat at Bournemouth.
Is Hazard-Higuain a long-term strike partnership for Chelsea? Five key things to know…
- Higuain joined Chelsea on loan from Juventus in January but didn’t manage a single shot on his Premier League debut against Bournemouth.
- The Argentina international had far more luck on Saturday, bagging a brace on his home league debut for the Blues.
- Chelsea have the option to extend his loan by another season or buy him permanently in the summer.
- Hazard is out of contract at the end of next season and has been heavily linked with an exit.
- If the pair can continue to combine effectively, Chelsea will be keen to tie down their futures before the start of next term.
Sarri criticised his players after Chelsea’s defeat against Arsenal earlier this month and kept them in the dressing room for longer than usual after the capitulation at Bournemouth.
But the Blues boss was keen to praise the partnership of Hazard and Higuain after the thrashing of lowly Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge, with the Italian adamant that the duo will get the best out of each other.
“Higuain is improving. He wasn’t physically at the top when he arrived, because he had a back problem and wasn’t involved, so only played a few matches,” Sarri told BBC Sport.
“He is a great player. Apart from the goals, he is really very suitable to play very close to Eden. Gonzalo played very close to Eden and I think they can do this. For us that is very useful.
“It will be useful for Higuain – I think he will be able to score goals for us – and also useful for Eden.”
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Sarri urges Chelsea players to be consistent
Prior to Saturday’s game, Chelsea had failed to score in three of their last four league matches. What’s more, they have scored fewer goals (45) this season than the rest of the current top six sides.
But the west Londoners were impressive going forward against Huddersfield, scoring five goals with ease – and it could have been more.
As a result, Sarri has urged his players to show more consistency in order to achieve their aims.
He added: “Today is all positive, we played a full 90 minutes, defended very well, so it was a very good match but we need consistency now, we have to continue to play with the same mentality in all the matches.
“I hope in the future we will not need to lose a match to find the right mentality.”
The post Chelsea boss Sarri hails Hazard and Higuain’s new partnership appeared first on Squawka News.
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