Frank Lampard implored Chelsea fans to take note of Mason Mount’s performance during Saturday’s vital 2-1 win over Tottenham.
The England international has endured the most testing spell of his fledgling Stamford Bridge career, having gone 15 games without a goal.
Lampard restored the 21-year-old to his starting line-up for the visit of Spurs having dropped him to the bench on Monday when Manchester United left Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 win that threatened to blow the race for the top four wide open.
The Chelsea manager’s bold team selection also saw Olivier Giroud, Ross Barkley and Marcos Alonso brought back in from the cold and all three players, along with Mount, were involved in the goal which eventually proved decisive.
‘It was a great goal for different reasons,’ said Lampard afterwards. ‘Mason’s run (was important). Mason’s performance, I hope that gets digested properly afterwards.
Mount’s touch ð
Barkley’s assist ð¤
Alonso’s finish ð
Chelsea double their lead in style ð¥ pic.twitter.com/nPoo6bUWD9
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 22, 2020
‘A lot of people talk about Mason and his goals but his work rate and his sharpness in his game today was unbelievable.
‘Ross, I shouldn’t leave him out because he was similar today. He has the awareness to find Alonso and it’s as clean a strike as you can make.’
Giroud, meanwhile, opened the scoring in the 15th minute having been handed his first start in nearly three months and the experienced France international, who appeared to have been on his way out of the club in January, was delighted to be back and contributing to an important victory.
‘It was a very important game for us today,’ he said. ‘I want to talk about the team spirit. We’ve shown great character today. We knew it was maybe a kind of turning point.
‘We lost a bit of confidence. It was nice to bounce back and get this win, a hard win against a rival, so I feel relieved today.
‘I was lucky the ball came back after hitting the post and I tried to finish. It was a good feeling for me, a good moment and I’m so happy for the team to win today.
‘It’s been three months I didn’t start, it’s been a special day for me and all of us.’
MORE: Ian Wright and Cesc Fabregas slam VAR decision not to send off Giovani Lo Celso in Chelsea vs Spurs
