Tottenham Hotspur FC v Chelsea FC - Premier League - Source: Getty
Tottenham Hotspur FC v Chelsea FC - Premier League - Source: Getty
Fans took to X to heap praise on Moises Caicedo for his performance during Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday (December 15) at Stamford Bridge. The Ecuador international put up another impressive display as the Blues reduced the gap between them (16 games) and league leaders Liverpool (15 games) to two points.
Prior to the game, Chelsea were on a winning streak, having won their last six games across competitions. However, they had lost their last three home games against Brentford in the Premier League. With this in mind, the Blues started strongly but couldn’t break the deadlock early on, as the Bees sat back to soak up the pressure.
The hosts kept mounting the pressure and their efforts finally paid off in the 43rd minute. Marc Cucurella broke the deadlock for Chelsea as he darted into the box to meet Noni Madueke’s whipped delivery and powered a diving header home.
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Enzo Maresca’s men picked up from where they left off after the break and placed Brentford firmly on the back foot. Nicolas Jackson doubled Chelsea's lead in the 80th minute as he took on Ethan Pinnock, capping off a swift breakaway with a tidy near-post finish.
Bryan Mbuemo pulled one back for the visitors in the 90th minute, but it only ended as a consolation as the Blues stood firm in the added time to claim all three points. While almost all Chelsea players had a good game, Moises Caicedo was among the top performers. The Ecuadorian man had 84 touches, made two key passes, made four interceptions, and had a rating of 7.5 as per Sofascore.
After the match, fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to gush over his performance.
An X user wrote:
''Moises Caicedo is a madman, what a baller.''
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Another tweeted:
''Lets be clear, rice is nowhere near caicedo levels.''
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''70% of the Earth is covered by water, and the rest is covered by Caicedo,'' AviPaul07 wrote.
''We need a comp/stat of how many of those slide tackles Caicedo has done in stoppage time lmao. absolute joke of a player,'' @elsdawg added.
''Caicedo has been a rock tonight. Unreal. Same for Enzo. Top performances in our midfield,'' @ytalksfootball chimed in.
''Caicedo na unreal footballer. what a player man,'' @terfaa__ wrote.
Enzo Maresca reiterates that Chelsea are not in the title race
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca once again downplayed his side’s chances of competing for the Premier League title this season. The Italian manager had previously claimed that they are not contenders for the EPL title, saying they are not yet at the level of Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool.
After the 2-1 win over Brentford, Maresca reiterated that the Blues are not ready to compete for the title. He said in the post-match conference (via football.london):
''No matter how many games we win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title. One of the reasons why is because I think the teams know how to compete for titles. They are not going to concede goals like we do. [The one today] it was a throw-in for us. That's why I don't think we are ready for compete for titles. We cannot concede how we did and open the game and give them a chance.’’
Chelsea will next be in action against Irish side Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday (December 19).