Injuries to 2 core strikers for Chelsea’s football club were sustained in Chelsea’s very impressive 4 to 0 victory over Malmo in the Champions League on Wednesday, October 20th, 2021. Both Timo Werner as well as Romelu Lukakuwere forced to leave the pitch prior to halftime during this solid win over Malmo due to separate injuries they suffered a couple of days ago.
Lukaku endured a nasty twisted right ankle as he was getting fouled for a penalty that eventually was converted for Chelsea’s 2nd goal of the match by Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, also known as Jorginho, in the 21st minute of game action. This added to the aggressive scoring attack by Chelsea as an opener was volleyed in by Andreas Christensen in the 9thminute for Chelsea’s 1st score of this dominating match for the boys wearing dark blue last Wednesday.
The Belgium international star, Lukaku, originally attempted to play on following his injury, but before long Romelu was signaling off of the pitch to be substituted by a healthy Chelsea companion.
Werner just so happens to be the strike partner of Lukaku, and Timo eventually was pulled from game action and substituted for by Chelsea after he suffered a hamstring injury just before half in front of a packed crowd at Stamford Bridge Stadium located in London, England.
Kai Havertz came on in relief of Lukaku, and he helped Chelsea in the 48th minute of the match by lifting a nifty deft finish over the reach of Malmo’s goalkeeper for Chelsea’s 3rd goal score to cap off a breakaway which was led by his fellow Chelsea substitute in Callum Hudson – Odoi.
Jorginho eschewed his patented penalty routine, known as the hop, skip, and side foot shot, for his first – half penalty. Then Jorginho followed that up with another strong place kick in the 57th minute to make it a 2 to 0 advantage in favor of Chelsea coming after a foul against his teammate, Antonio Rudiger. The result of that spot kick was the very similar as Jorginho curled another shot right down the middle.
Chelsea is currently the defending champion, and they bounced back well after a tough loss to Juventus in the 2nd – round of contests, and Chelsea is now sitting pretty in the 2nd – place spot in Group H of the Champions League. At the moment Chelsea is just 3 points behind the Italian team as well as 3 points in front of Zenit St. Petersburg who happened to lose 1 to 0 against Juventus in the Group H’s other match.
The manager of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, could not give any sort of an absolute timeframe for the absences of the injured Lukaku and Werner, but he did say this situation will give other Chelsea forwards / strikers a great opportunity to impress while Werner and Lukaku recover from their respective injuries suffered last Wednesday.
The Swedish champion, Malmo, has now just lost all 3 of their group games, and Malmo has also yet to score thus far in the Champions League. They really need to get their offensive attack going although it may be too late for them as of now.
Media Statements
“The two were in good shape, they are dangerous and can create and score, so now we need to find solutions,” the manager/head coach of Chelsea’s football club, Thomas Tuchel, explained. Tuchel goes on to say, “And guys who waited for their chance need to step up and score. The race is on, the guys who start against Norwich (in the Premier League on Saturday) have our trust.”
Source:
The Associated Press News Services. “Lukaku, Werner injured as Chelsea beats Malmo 4-0 in CL”. The Associated Press. October 20, 2021.