The Belgian scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea defeated Zenit St Petersburg in their opening match of the Champions League.
Follow Us
Romelu Lukaku has continued his goalscoring form, netting another goal in Chelsea’s Champions League opener on Tuesday night. The Belgian scored the only goal of the game as the Blues defeated Zenit St Petersburg in their opening match of the Europe’s elite competition. The centre-forward headed home a pinpoint Cesar Azpilicueta cross with around 20 minutes remaining. The three points ensured Thomas Tuchel’s side begin the defence of the Champions League title with victory. The goalscorer, Lukaku, is happy to add to his goal tally but most importantly he is pleased with the team’s efforts against a strong Zenit side. “I’m really happy with the win against a tough opponent,” Lukaku said after the game.
“We really kept the game under control and now we need to keep growing as a team. It was a better team performance than the weekend and I was really happy with the goal and the win. Zenit are a good side. They’ve won a lot of titles in Russia, they are experienced and they are organised. We knew it would be a tough game but I felt we controlled things really well. We created a lot of chances, we stayed patient and got that breakthrough. We won the game and that’s the most important thing.”
After returning to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan, the striker now has four goals to his name for the season. His powerful header proved to be the difference in the end, but the Belgian striker credited his captain Azpilicueta for the assist from the right. “It was a beautiful ball in from Cesar,” added Romelu.
“I think we have a good understanding, we both know what positions to take up and what areas to put the deliveries into. I knew he would put in the right sort of cross, I just had to get my timing right and find the corner.
“We’re taking things one game at a time. This was an important win for us and we will enjoy the three points, but now we must focus on a difficult game against Tottenham on Sunday.”
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was pleased with the team’s performance and Romelu Lukaku’s winning goal. “I’m happy in general with the performance,” said Tuchel after the final whistle. “It was a tough match against a strong opponent and it was tough for us in the first half to find little gaps to accelerate the game and to be dangerous in the box and to create touches in the box.
“But we played with high intensity, we had many ball recoveries. We had to be very, very focused and aware in defence because Zenit have a lot of individual quality upfront, and we did all that. In the second half we found it a bit easier to find spaces between the lines to accelerate, to create chances, half-chances and deliveries.”
Speaking about the goal, Tuchel said, “It was a very, very good and dangerous ball because it comes from a difficult position to defend around the box. The target was the second post with Romelu and Kai was also there.
“The performance for Romelu was not easy, we did not create many chances for him, we did not create many deliveries, but he is the type of guy who does not lose confidence and belief, and that’s why he’s here and that makes him a world-class striker.”
