Before Alvaro Morata scored the winning goal over Vidi in the Europa League on Thursday, he had created room for criticism from the Chelsea fans. Battling with Olivier Giroud for a starting spot in Maurizio Sarri’s first choice team this season, Morata has yet to impress in the opportunities handed to him.
Chelsea struggled to secure their second win in the competition, but in truth, Morata needed the goal even more. The Blues could recover in this group that houses PAOK and BATE Borisov But Morata might not have managed that if he had gone without scoring in this game too. The chances were not difficult to create, especially in the first half and after Emerson Palmieri glanced his shot wide after dancing between four Vidi players, Morata was gifted a glorious opportunity to open the scoring. Instead, to the dismay of the onlooking fans inside the Bridge, Morata hit a tame shot at the side of the net.
He looked frustrated afterwards and although that almost forced him to finish a game to forget, following a yellow card received in the second half due to dissent, he found himself at the right place at the right time to slot the ball past the goalkeeper following Willian’s header to find him in the six-yard area. Relief is the best way to describe his reaction to that goal.
“Alexa, who is the most relieved man in England right now?†pic.twitter.com/88OEoS7njY
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 4, 2018
Morata’s goal was enough to seal the win for Chelsea and that should give him good confidence going forward, but the Spain international must begin to score more goals. At the moment he frustrates more than entertains.
