Shock ex-Barcelona star left in awe of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup Final MOTM

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Barcelona and Argentina legend Javier Mascherano was left in awe after watching Eden Hazard’s talismanic performance in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Man City.

Despite proving ineffectual in the false nine role on previous outings, Maurizio Sarri opted to deploy Hazard up front, much to the chagrin of Chelsea fans, but the diminutive Belgian put in a stellar showing at Wembley despite losing on penalties.

How has Hazard fared as a false nine? Five key things to know…

  1. It was always a possibility that Hazard would be utilised up front given Sarri’s previous success in converting Dries Mertens to false nine at Napoli.
  2. The winger was used in the position during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Man City earlier this campaign.
  3. As such Sarri challenged Hazard score 40 goals for Chelsea this season.
  4. But the left winger has not looked as proficient through the middle, leading many Chelsea fans to criticise Sarri’s use of the Belgian.
  5. On his day there are few better than Hazard on the wing, but his false nine performance in the Carabao Cup final was nothing short of sensational despite the end result.

Sarri has often come under the spotlight for his reluctance to make wholesale changes when results aren’t working in his favour, but the Italian tactician shuffled the pack this afternoon, dropping Gonzalo Higuain and implementing Emerson for the out-of-form Marcos Alonso.

Among the changes was Hazard through the middle, and while, on previous occasions, the winger’s ability has often been nullified in a false nine role, he was the fulcrum of the Blues’ attacking intensity this afternoon.

Such was his exceptional display that he garnered plenty of attention and admiring glances from the football world, and in particular, former Liverpool enforcer Mascherano, who simply awestruck by his twinkle-toed exploits.

The current Hebei China Fortune midfielder took to his official Twitter account to outline his admiration for Hazard, tweeting: “How good is Hazard my God!!!”

It was a performance reminiscent of his exploits on the hallowed Wembley turf last term, after he produced a man-of-the-match display against Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

The 28-year-old single-handedly tore Jose Mourinho’s men apart, winning and converting the decisive penalty to clinch the club’s eighth FA Cup title and his first in a Chelsea shirt.

However, he failed to make a similar goalscoring impact on Sunday afternoon, but that should not diminish the brilliance of his performance on one of the grandest of stages in English football.

How fans reacted to Hazard’s performance…

Mascherano was not the only man to wax lyrical about the prodigiously talented forward, with Jamie Carragher even retweeting a comment heaping praise on the Chelsea man.

The post Shock ex-Barcelona star left in awe of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup Final MOTM appeared first on Squawka News.



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