Christensen hails Ziyech importance after Chelsea grind out win

Andreas Christensen heaped praise on team-mate Hakim Ziyech after the winger delivered the crucial strike as Chelsea battled to victory at Crystal Palace.

Ziyech popped up in the 89th minute at Selhurst Park on Saturday to slide through Vicente Guaita’s legs after seeing an earlier finish ruled out for offside.

That was the Morocco international’s third goal in as many Premier League games as Chelsea continued their winning ways after Club World Cup success, leaving them third in the league with 50 points – seven away from second-placed Liverpool.

And centre-back Christensen believes the former Ajax man deserves his recent run of form in front of goal after the Blues ground out another win.

Christensen said, as quoted by Chelsea’s official website: “He deserves it. He works hard. I felt a little bit for him when the first goal got taken away, and you wonder if it’s going to happen, but he deserves it.

“He’s very important for us especially when he scores our goals.

“At the moment we’re fighting, we’re scraping points, and sometimes you need that.

“We prepare well game to game, it’s a little bit mentally draining, but we recover as quickly as possible. Everyone has their heads on right.

“We are still in every tournament possible so there are a lot of games. I think we’re doing a good job.”

That Sunday morning smile! pic.twitter.com/VLK3QYwAKg

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 20, 2022

Only Mason Mount (2.51) and Ross Barkley (3.57), who has played just 428 minutes across all competitions, have created more chances per 90 minutes than Ziyech (2.41) for Chelsea this season.

Likewise, Ziyech finds the back of the net 0.35 times per 90 minutes, with Romelu Lukaku (0.45) and Timo Werner (0.46) the only Blues team-mates ranking above him in that metric.

The same pair, Werner (194.3) and Lukaku (198.1), sit above Ziyech for minutes per goal across all competitions, with the 28-year-old scoring every 256 minutes.

Thomas Tuchel will be hoping his versatile winger carries his impressive run of form into the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Lille on Tuesday.