“The pain is getting bigger and bigger” – Tuchel hails Chelsea player for playing through pain in 2-0 win over Tottenham
Following Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Tottenham, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has hailed Kai Havertz for playing through the pain of a ‘horrible’ broken finger.
However, Kai Havertz scored the opener for Chelsea in the fifth minute but suffered a nasty broken finger in the tumble that followed his early finish.
The 22 year old battled on with the pain until half-time when he was replaced by Timo Werner.
Tuchel said: “Kai has the issue with his finger, he broke his finger and it looked horrible.”
“And he played through the pain that was getting bigger and bigger. He survived until half-time and then we had to make the change.
“I liked our performance a lot. We looked full of confidence and had two late last-minute pieces of bad news with Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante, who were both supposed to start.
“So we decided at the last minute to maybe switch to a back four. The guys were very committed and very open to that, to making such a late change.
“And it was a very strong performance, so it was a well-deserved win in a big match against a very strong opponent.”
Furthermore, Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte admitted after Chelsea’s 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final victory over his side that the Blues were much better.
“If you compare the two teams, there is no comparison. They are a team ready to win. Today we have seen the difference between the two teams.” Conte told Sky Sports.
He added: “It’s not easy to play at Stamford Bridge. They were very concentrated, won the ball every time. Then we conceded an unlucky goal. But when you start the game and after 15 minutes they score, the game becomes very difficult.
“But I know the situation, it’s very clear. There is an important gap, with important teams. We have to fight to stay in the league in a good position, but if we think we are close about winning, we are not in the right way.
“They were much better than us, we have to clap the performance of Chelsea. I like to tell the truth. There is a lot of job to do in Tottenham.”