Maurizio Sarri was delighted Olivier Giroud ended his goal drought, but insisted the striker should not concern himself with scoring for Chelsea.
Giroud’s pinpoint header was enough to see Chelsea past BATE Borisov and into the knockout stages of the Europa League. The Frenchman last scored for Chelsea in May, but is a favourite of new Blues boss Sarri.
Giroud admitted it was a relief to put the ball into the back of the net again, but Sarri claims the forward offers much more than just goals to his team.
‘Yes, I’m pleased for him,’ Sarri said. ‘He’s a very important player for us because he’s very useful for the team. ‘But I know very well that strikers want to score. And so, for his confidence, I think it’s very important.
‘But I don’t want him to be worried about scoring because, for us, he’s very important and very useful.
Very important.’ Giroud’s goal maintained Chelsea’s 100 per cent record in Europe and the Blues remain the only unbeaten side in Europe’s top five leagues.
Sarri’s introduction at Stamford Bridge has inspired a stunning revival at the club and some fans are even dreaming of a title tilt.
‘The best situation this evening is the result. We didn’t play very well,’ Sarri said after the game. ‘It wasn’t very easy to play a good game here. There was all the conditions to play very badly, for the cold, for the opponents, for the pitch, for everything. ‘I think we could have done better.
I didn’t like the first half. We moved the ball only horizontal and slowly. ‘It was really very difficult to be dangerous. Better in the first 20, 25 minutes in the second half. Then we managed not really very well the last 15 minutes.’