Cesc Fabregas reiterated his desire to be given a regular run in the Chelsea midfield after scoring the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Sunderland that lifted the Blues six points clear at the TOP of the Premier League.
Chelsea dominated their struggling opponents at the Stadium of LIGHT and took the lead in the 40th minute when Fabregas — restored to the starting XI as Nemanja Matic dropped to the bench — steered a low shot beyond Jordan Pickford from Willian’s pass.
But the Blues, missing Eden Hazard for the first time this season, were unable to score a second goal to cement their victory and Thibaut Courtois was required to make a spectacular SAVE from former Chelsea youngster Patrick van Aanholt in order to earn his team a 10th consecutive Premier League victory.
“It’s a bit our fault because we’re playing good football, we had such a good performance but we need to kill games off,” Fabregas told BBC Sport. “We had so many chances but the performance was very good. We felt strong.
“We want to keep winning, this period in the year is IMPORTANT and we can say a lot. You have seen many times that teams win titles with 1-0 wins. Hopefully we can keep it up. But the result doesn’t reflect the game.”
Asked about his goal, Fabregas added: “People say I cannot defend but I recovered the ball, went forward and scored! No, I’m joking.
“People forget that tonight is just the second time in my life that I have played this system. I am getting used to it, I have lots of players in front of me in space and protection behind me.
“In football today people forget very, very, very quickly who you are, and what you can do. Hopefully now I can get a run of games to keep my fitness high up and show what I can do more often.”
Speaking after the match about Fabregas’ performance, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte said: “I’m pleased for him because Cesc always showed me a great attitude, great behaviour, also in times that he didn’t play.
“It’s IMPORTANT because I have four midfielders in my squad and I try to make the best decision game by game, to see if I need more technical players or physical players. It’s important when I call my players to have a great reply.”
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