“We won because…” – Chelsea player explains secret to Blues success after his best game for a year | OneFootball

Malo Gusto has had an odd Chelsea career so far.

When he first arrived he looked amazing, last year he struggled for large parts.

We always backed the idea of selling him were we to get a good offer this summer, yet we were also happy to keep him around and see if we could get more of the old Gusto and less of the new Gusto.

Gusto back to his best to give Chelsea fans hope

On the evidence of Saturday’s game, that may well be possible. He had his best game for a long time – perhaps his best game since Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.

Not to give ourselves too much credit, but we did predict that Chelsea would have success down their right hand side, and so it proved. Calvin Bassey struggled with Estevao Willian’s pace and directness, and that created time and space for Gusto, who happily took advantage.

Derby energy gave Chelsea belief to win says Gusto

Joao Pedro scores with a header. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Speaking to the club’s official website after the game, Gusto gave his thoughts about the game:

“It was a derby – that’s what the game was about. Both teams wanted to win, so it’s normal to have a lot of duels. We were good with this, and that’s why we won today so we’re very happy.”

We actually expected Reece James to start on Saturday, partly because he’s supposedly alternating games with Gusto, but also because of his physical strength. But the Frenchman coped just fine with Fulham’s big bruisers.

“It’s always hard to keep the flow after a long season, but we are prepared for that. We have tried to do our best, and we are ready. It’s not an excuse for us. We just keep fighting. We are trying to rest a little bit more, but against Fulham we won because we were prepared.”

“We are a team now. Last season, we won two titles, and now people respect us, which is good. We just have to stay on this path, keep building and keep fighting.”