‘Perfect start’ – Tuchel reacts as Chelsea beat Arsenal
Thomas Tuchel has described Chelsea’s start to the Premier League season as ‘perfect’ following their 2-0 victory over Arsenal.
The Blues beat Crystal Palace 3-0 in their first outing last week. Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and Trevor Chalobah all scored at Stamford Bridge.
Their team was improved further by the return of Belgium international Romelu Lukaku. He made his second debut against Arsenal and proceeded to score just 15 minutes into the clash.
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Lukaku was involved in the build-up as the ball was played out wide to Reece James. The striker shrugged off his marker to tap the cross home from close range.
James made it two before half time. Lukaku was once again part of the play, flicking the ball into Mason Mount.
He found James at the back post and the right-back smashed it into the top corner.
Although Arsenal were better in the second half, they had no answer to Chelsea’s powerful display.
Rob Holding should have scored from a header but he could not keep it on target.
Reacting to the victory, Tuchel said: “A perfect start. We didn’t concede a goal and we have two victories. It is a London derby, it gives us a lot of confidence.
“This is what you need. We are a different group and this is what you need, experiences together like good victories and moments where you suffer. This is how a group is built. That is why we are absolutely happy with the start.”
On goalscorer James, Tuchel added: “No, he was not at all unconscious. He was just worried he broke or lost a tooth so that is why he was a bit shocked but nothing else.”
£97.5million man Lukaku added: “Dominant, I would say (of my performance). I try to improve every time. I have a long way to go.
“But today it was good to win and good to start well. Now we have to keep working, keep building and getting stronger because the Premier League is a very competitive league, but we are ready for the challenge and hopefully we can improve.
“This team is very talented, they are European champions but obviously they want to keep building, I want to keep continuing winning so we have to keep fighting, working hard and keep delivering performances like this.
“I worked hard throughout the week, the team worked hard. We knew it was a big game, everyone was watching us and we did well.
“As an individual, I tried to help the team and said I wanted to add something to the team. Hopefully I did and I want to keep continuing doing that to help the team win because that’s the most important.”
