Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel heaped praise on Callum Hudson-Odoi following his terrific performance against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Blues secured a 3-1 win over the Villans yesterday. Hudson-Odoi was the pick of the players with goal contributions in both halves for the club.
He won the penalty converted by Jorginho in the opening half. Shortly before the hour mark, he delivered a delightful cross for Romelu Lukaku’s headed goal.
The 21-year-old only recently returned to training after a bout of coronavirus, but he showed no signs of fatigue over the course of 90 minutes at Villa Park.
Following the game, Tuchel said that the Blues graduate was ‘brilliant’ and acknowledged that he went against medical advice by not taking him off.
He said via Chelseafc.com: “I think he was brilliant today and we forced him. Normally it was clear that he plays one half to a maximum of 60 minutes.”
“He overcame some obstacles today and some adversity. That was a big game, a very important game from him. We took a kind of a risk here because he just came back from Covid.”
Hudson-Odoi was a regular starter for Chelsea between October and November, but struggled to impress. Hence, he was dropped to the bench before testing positive for Covid.
The attacker made a terrific return yesterday with two vital goal contributions, but there is still plenty of room for improvement for him in the final third of the pitch.
He should have finished the game at 2-1 after an excellent one-on-one chance against Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine denied him with a superb reflex save.
Hudson-Odoi will now be aiming to cement his spot in the starting line-up, particularly with Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner on the sidelines.
Chelsea are still third on the table, six points behind leaders Manchester City. They are scheduled to host Brighton & Hove Albion in the midweek clash.
