Chelsea: Havertz put in Man of the Match performance at Crystal Palace

A lot of the attention will focus on Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount following Chelsea’s 4-1 dismantling of Crystal Palace. The American is the consensus Man of the Match amongst fans after scoring two goals, whereas the English midfielder was awarded the accolade by Sky Sports. Each was excellent and helped elevate the Blues to never before seen heights under Thomas Tuchel.

However, it was the game’s first goalscorer that deserves the award. Kai Havertz got a run out once again as a false nine, looking to bounce back from his poor performance midweek. The German did not disappoint. As previously noted, he opened the scoring in the 8′ and went on to grab an assist less than two minutes later. Havertz may not have scored as many as supporters would have liked, but he deserves the Man of the Match award nonetheless.

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Havertz dominated the Crystal Palace defense en route to earning three points for Chelsea.

The Premier League was put on warning on Saturday as Havertz finally announced himself to English spectators. The German has had a rough go of things this year; most notably with COVID-19 derailing his season. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s struggled to find his footing, not gotten a true break, moved to a new country and had to learn the styles of two different managers. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from the 21-year-old, but nothing quite like the show he put on at Selhurst Park.

Havertz got the Blues up and running in the opening moments with a brilliantly worked shot into the far corner. Vicente Guaita is one of the league’s most stubborn keepers—despite Palace’s woeful defensive record—and the center forward made him look silly. He wasn’t satisfied with just doubling his season’s Premier League goal tally though. Not even 120 seconds later, Havertz assisted a wonderful strike from Christian Pulisic.

The Blues asserted their dominance early, ensuring there was no way back for Roy Hodgson’s side, and Havertz was the conductor of the quick start. Even though the German racked up a goal and assist in the first 10 minutes of the contest, those were not the talking points around his match. There was a lot of discussion about what could have been—particularly pertaining to a shot just a few minutes later. Havertz found himself on the end of a Jorginho lob when with one touch, he flicked the ball over the defender and fired a shot into the outstretched arm of a diving Guaita. The shot was Paul Gascoigne-esque, it would’ve undoubtedly been Chelsea’s goal of the season.

His Gascoigne attempt was one of many chances Havertz had in the game that he was unlucky to finish. There were a few instances where he could have done better, but that’s nit-picking a superb attacking showing. Havertz led the Blues’ front line as they managed to score more than two goals for the first time under Tuchel. The visitors managed 23 shots (10 on target) and a lot of that was thanks in part due to the positional brilliance of Havertz.

We have known all along what the wunderkind is capable of, even at times where he’s struggled. However, the Premier League has now witnessed Chelsea’s attacking ace. Havertz’s Man of the Match worthy performance undoubtedly instilled confidence in himself—something that’s been lacking. He may just be the key to unlocking the offensive potential in Tuchel’s squad; we’ll find out in the coming days.

Who would you give the Man of the Match award to? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!