Chelsea’s victory over Stade Rennais tonight proved once again why Olivier Giroud remains a member of the club’s team, even though it is Mason Mount who has since been hailed for the most part.
Frank Lampard’s men arrived at Roazhon Park not long ago for their last control in the Champions League.
Les Bleus entered the process in the midst of a good time of form, which had left them undefeated in the club’s nine outings in all competitions.
The last one came here last weekend, when Chelsea did a small job in Newcastle, from 2 to zero.
The 90 minutes in France tonight, in hand, proved to be much more challenging for Londoners.
A Rennes match, much ahead of that of the team that fell to a well-deserved 3-0 defeat in the previous backing streak earlier this month, came very close to toping off Chelsea’s Group E dominance.
An entertaining affair, in which either group can and deserves to have added more to the scoreboard, was in the end through an overdue headbutt.
Chelsea took the lead after the 20-minute mark, when a bright moment saw Mason Mount regain possession, before releasing Callum Hudson-Odoi with an exact pass.
And the Blues’ wide finisher was not wrong in their punchline, hitting each other coldly on the first post:
Mason Mount wins the ball and puts Callum Hudson-Odoi on purpose to win Chelsea’s first game.
The extreme cold chooses its position to complete the ? pic. twitter. com/lGeFiu41F9
– Football at BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 24, 2020
However, as noted above, Rennes took on his task and temporarily returned to the process.
After a series of raids in the second part of Edouard Mendy, the resistance of the visitors was even though everything broke down five minutes from the end.
A corner kick from the right saw Serhou Guirassy the tallest, to lead a ballhead to the roof of Chelsea’s net.
Just as it looked like the loot was about to be shared, a relative secured three numbers for Frank Lampard’s men, leading the Blues to the champions league’s eighth round.
Just 24 hours after his coach reiterated his hope that the veteran hitman will be at the club beyond the January window, Olivier Giroud paid tribute to Lampard.
After Alfred Gomis has cleared the danger to Rennes with a good tackle, Giroud has reached the ball field in the center of the hosts’ penalty area, to nod:
Olivier Giroud had his eyes on the ball there, and propelled his head home!?
Chelsea is at Champions League knockouts!Pic. twitter. com/v8ksViwe6m
– Football at BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 24, 2020
As such, after the discussions that end in Roazhon Park, much of the discussion has since focused on The Late Heroism of Giroud.
However, the rest of the post-game discussion, as he did for 90 minutes tonight, centered on his teammate Mason Mount.
Mount, 21, received another starting point for retirees on Tuesday, having brought his recent good era of form in outer service with England over the past two weeks.
And the talented midfielder, who has long shared the opinion of the fans, has only silenced his critics even more, with very good display.
The first half, in particular, saw the surroundings of Mount the park, combining touch and eye for a pass with an always impressive rate of paintings.
The efforts of Chelsea’s youth product, as mentioned above, were rewarded when Mount won his first help in the Champions League, and in a certain style.
In turn, English has been praised through social media, with some of the highlights below:
Pure class. #UCL pic. twitter. com/WwYaah4qge
– Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 24, 2020
Prove us wrong. pic. twitter. com/roUmxKpptZ
– Goal (@goal) November 24, 2020
– Cesc Fabregas Soler (Cesc4official) 24 November 2020
– Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) November 24, 2020
Mason returned and won the ball over Rennes’ player, then looked forward and made a brilliant pass to CHO.
Mount is an integral part of Chelsea’s success.
– EiF (@EiFSoccer) November 24, 2020
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