Mamadou Sarr was outstanding as Chelsea thumped Championship side Hull City 4-0 at the MKM Stadium to book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
In a game where Pedro Neto stole the show with a hat-trick, and Estevao also got on the scoresheet as the Blues brushed aside the Tigers, Sarr produced a display that stood out just as much.
In January, Chelsea recalled the 20-year-old from his loan spell at Strasbourg to strengthen their centre-back options.
Before Friday night, his only senior outing for Chelsea had been a brief eight-minute appearance at last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. Against Hull, however, he completed the full 90 minutes, playing alongside Wesley Fofana as Chelsea secured the win.
Defensively, it was arguably the most assured Chelsea have looked all season and the most rounded performance across a full match under Rosenior.
On top of that, Sarr set a new benchmark for Chelsea this season, becoming the only centre-back in the team to achieve the highest passing accuracy, completing 101 of his 103 passes at 98%.
Alongside his 101 passes, he made 118 touches and created a clear-cut chance to set up Etevao, which he agonisingly shot over. He also made a sky-high six recoveries and won four aerial duels. While the Blues were not facing much threat, he still made two blocks and four clearances to preserve their first clean sheet in six games.
‘Mamadou was everything’
Speaking after the game, Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior waxed lyrical about the Senegalese international’s performances on his debut, saying.
‘Mamadou was everything that I expected,’ Rosenior said.
‘I know Mamadou so well.
‘I think the acclimatisation, adaptation process for him hopefully will be faster because he understands the way I want to play, and he already showed that today.’
Premier League legend and record goalscorer Alan Shearer was also impressed by the youngster’s performance and believed he didn’t put a foot wrong in the game.
Speaking at the end of the game on BBC One, Shearer said,
‘Mamadou Sarr has done well.’
‘Everything he has been asked to do, he has done it well.’
Blues fans will hope for more of the same performances as the season progresses.
With his name now included in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League squad, Sarr is clearly part of the club’s plans, and it’ll be interesting to see whether he can break into Chelsea’s preferred centre-back partnership.
