Abraham scores twice as Pulisic, Chelsea's youngsters dispatch Norwich City
Apparently you can win Premier League games with kids. Led by academy products Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount (not to mention 20-year-old American Christian Pulisic), Chelsea rebounded from last weekend’s disappointing draw at home against Leicester City with a 3-2 win away to plucky Norwich City.
Abraham and Mount scored first-half goals that were both set up by Pulisic, and while the Canaries roared back to even the score twice, they couldn’t do it a third time after Abraham fired home what turned out to be the winner in the 68th minute:
Here are three quick thoughts on the match:
An important win for Chelsea (and a first for Frank Lampard)
The pressure was mounting on the Blues after they started the season with a 4-0 loss at Manchester United and then settled for a point in their home opener, but Chelsea’s first win of the new season relieves it somewhat.
Lampard’s young side earned it, too, because in coming back twice, the home team was no pushover. While Chelsea dominated the second half, only the width of its crossbar prevented Norwich from pulling level a third time.
The performances of Abraham and Mount were particularly encouraging, and club legend Lampard, who secured his first victory in the Premier League after arriving from second-tier Derby County this summer, deserves plenty of credit for sticking with the kids despite starting the season with a three-game winless streak (including the UEFA Super Cup loss to Liverpool).
It certainly gives Lampard and his squad something to build on heading into what should be a formality next weekend against another promoted side — Sheffield United — at Stamford Bridge.
Christian Pulisic delivers his best Premier League performance yet
Pulisic kept his place in Frank Lampard’s starting lineup, and from the start on Saturday he repaid his manager’s confidence.
The U.S. international helped set up the visitors’ opening goal less than three minutes into the contest, picking out an overlapping Cesar Azpilicueta, who delivered a perfect first-time cross that Tammy Abraham fired home:
Pulisic then set up Mount’s second goal in two games, receiving the ball in space and playing a perfect pass behind the visitors’ back line for the Englishman to run onto:
It would’ve been easy for Lampard to move Pulisic back to the bench, where he began the season opener, for this one. Instead, the USMNT star repaid his manager’s faith in his third consecutive start as he continues to settle in with Chelsea following his $73 million transfer from German power Borussia Dortmund.
Teemu Pukki can’t stop scoring for Norwich
Newly promoted Norwich continues to show they belong in the top flight. A big reason for that has been the production of Finnish striker Teemu Pukki, who scored his fifth goal in three games, tying him with Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling atop the Premier League’s Golden Boot race:
The 29-year-old journeyman also set up the hosts first of the match, that one scored by Todd Cantwell:
Pukki wasn’t a prolific scorer in bouncing around Europe, but he’s clicked at Norwich since arriving from Danish side Brondby in 2018, netting 33 times in 45 matches.
If he continues to find the target regularly (and if goalkeeper Tim Krul keeps making saves like this), Norwich will have every chance of remaining in the Prem beyond this season.
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