Antonio Rudiger singled out Kurt Zouma and Billy Gilmour for special praise after Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday.
Chelsea went behind in the first half through Raheem Sterling’s opener, while City spurned the chance to double their lead before the break as Sergio Aguero’s failed Panenka penalty was saved by Edouard Mendy.
Thomas Tuchel’s side drastically improved in the second half and equalised through Hakim Ziyech before Marcos Alonso netted the winner in injury time.
Gilmour was handed only his second Premier League start of the season at the Etihad Stadium but the 19-year-old delivered an impressive display at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield.
And Rudiger believes Gilmour was a ‘very, very important’ part of Chelsea’s win against Pep Guardiola’s side.
‘For me I have to big up to Kurt and also to, for me, Billy Gilmour,’ Rudiger told Chelsea TV.
‘I think he grew into this game. He was very, very important for us.
‘Also Callum who came in, there was directly fire inside, also Marcos [Alonso].
‘As we said, the group, even the guys who are on the bench and are not playing that often, they showed they are also very important and they showed they can be the difference.
‘I know sometimes it’s frustrated to sit on the bench and everything because I’ve experienced this myself, but you always have to keep going.
‘If you take even the first half, the two actions, the first goal and the penalty, otherwise they [City] didn’t have a big threat.
‘For me, in the second half we came out strong and we grew into the game.
‘This is a big plus for us at the moment – you can see players who don’t play that often, they come and be the difference.
‘This is a great mentality from the players who play and the players who sometimes sit on the bench.’
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