Former Chelsea winger Joe Cole says Joao Pedro is different to Erling Haaland but was out there playing with Wrexham last night.
Pedro was needed as Chelsea well and truly struggled to beat Championship side Wrexham, who actually deserved to win the game inside 90 minutes last night. Chelsea were terrible, Wrexham were very good and the better side without a doubt.
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Manager Liam Rosenior had to throw on the big guns later on as the likes of Marc Cucurella and Joao Pedro were introduced to help see Chelsea through to the next round, and it also needed a Wrexham player to get sent off for Chelsea to get any kind of real control over the game.
Pedro came on and scored a very important goal to finish them off in extra time, with Chelsea winning 4-2 on aggregate.
Cole on Pedro
Joao Pedro celebrates scoring against Aston Villa.
Joao Pedro celebrates scoring against Aston Villa. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
‘He’s a monster, he really is,’ Cole said about Pedro onTNT Sports.
‘I think he’s decided what he’s already doing [for his goal vs Wrexham], he’s playing with them, he takes the centre-half over to the left, drags him back, he actually strikes it into the floor, everything he’s hitting at the moment going in.
‘He plays that No.9 role, he plays it not like an Erling Haaland where he’s constantly on the shoulder, he will drop in and drift in because he’s got quality.’
In other news…
Liam Rosenior was reacting after the Wrexham win last night and he spoke about a player who he handed a start to for the first time in a long time, Romeo Lavia, who made a return toplay in midfield in tonight’s game.
You can watch probably the most important game that Chelsea scored to bring them back into the game after Josh Acheampong levelled the scores with asmashed finish from close range.
Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here:
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Joao Pedro in a montage with Liam Rosenior.
Gary Lineker speaking in the Rest is Football.
Cole Palmer celebrates his goal.