Champions League win over AC Milan has Chelsea in confident mood for Aston Villa

BY PAUL LAGAN
paul@slpmedia.co.uk

Chelsea head to the Midlands tomorrow to face Aston Villa in the Premier League, buoyed by one of their finest European away performances after they dispatched AC Milan 2-0 in the San Siro.

Tuesday’s win, coupled with the home victory over the Italian giants last week, puts the Blues top of their Champions League group with two matches to play.

Despite only playing 45 minutes, midfielder Mason Mount was given man of the match.

The 22-year-old was as surprised as most people.

He said: “I thought I played well, to be involved in the penalty and the assist for the other goal. I was surprised at the end when I was given the award, but the most important thing was that we won the game.”

His non-appearance in the second half was purely manager Graham Potter’s decision.

Mount said: “I got a yellow [card] and the manager didn’t want to risk a sending off as the ref was giving out a lot of cards. That was his decision at half-time.”

Mount was involved in the controversial penalty decision by German referee Daniel Siebert after he was adjudged to have been fouled by ex-Blue Fikayo Tomori, who was red carded.

Mount said: “I’ve known Fik for a very long time and I felt for him in that situation, I was gutted for him.

“I don’t think it was a sending off. Was it a penalty? Maybe, yes. I’m an honest player, I want to try to score a goal and he pulled me back a little bit, but I feel for him for that decision. It’s a tough one.

“I felt him trying to pull me back but I was running towards the goal, so I wasn’t going to go down and I felt like I could still have an opportunity to score.

“I carried on going, didn’t score and then obviously the ref blew up and gave a pen straight away.

“I was probably a bit surprised at the time because I’ve still gone through and had a shot.

“It may have ruined the game a bit. We needed a big performance after the last game at home and we managed to pull it off.

“We showed great personality, a great mentality, to go there and perform, go 2-0 up and then control the second half.

“To go there and win takes a lot. It doesn’t just take playing good football, you have to be mentally strong, because the fans obviously play a big part. When we were having good possession and were on top of them the fans helped them a lot. You have to deal with the crowd and we did that from the first minute.”

Chelsea are unbeaten since Potter took over from sacked Thomas Tuchel and Mount is getting advice from the former Brighton boss on how he can improve his game.

Mount said: “The manager has spoken to me about trying to get in the box and also connecting the midfield to the strikers and being able to move and be free – get assists and then get goals.

“It’s been happening for me over the last couple of games and I want more.”

Chelsea Women resume their WSL title defence following the international break with a visit to the North West where they take on Everton at Walton Hall Park on Sunday. The Blues have six points from their opening three fixtures and are fourth in the league.