Callum Hudson-Odoi has revealed what Maurizio Sarri told him
before making his first Premier League start for Chelsea in the victory over
Brighton.
Hudson-Odoi, 18, has impressed for the Blues in Europe this season but was yet
to start a league fixture before Wednesday’s home match against the Seagulls.
After being named in Sarri’s starting XI, the teenager grasped his opportunity with both hands, setting up Olivier Giroud for Chelsea’s opener. Second-half goals from Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek put the game.
Speaking after the routine 3-0 win, Hudson-Odoi said: ‘I am very happy for the win and we all worked hard. ‘
We had to get rhythm and bounced back well. Today we got told the team and had to prepare mentally.
‘The manager told me to go and express myself. I feel comfortable, hopefully I did well.’ Loftus-Cheek added: ‘
We have both worked all of our lives for this chance, years of hard work and now we start in a Premier League game together. that’s good for the academy.’
The victory sees Chelsea move above Manchester United in the Premier League table.
Sarri’s side are now fifth, level on points with Arsenal and one behind third-placed Tottenham.
Chelsea outplayed Brighton, who face Premier League champions Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup this weekend.
Seagulls defender Shane Duffy said: ‘We had a game plan which worked for periods, it’s hard to take and they have real quality. ‘
We have talked about this game all week, this is more important than the semi-final but it was always going to be difficult. It’s more important to stay in the league but we got undone by quality.
‘We are always confident in our squad, it’s a strong group. We can get through bad patches.’
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