Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata is “fragile” and “needs to improve” despite scoring two goals in the win against Crystal Palace, says Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.
The Spanish forward inspired the Blues to a win which took them above Liverpool into second spot in the Premier League table. Morata has netted 14 times in 40 Premier League appearances since joining from Real Madrid for a then club record £60m in July 2017. Asked after the match whether Morata can be the main striker at Chelsea, Sarri said: “I don’t know. I think potentially he can. He has to improve more in personality and in confidence because sometimes he’s a little bit fragile.”
The headlines will be about Morata – the former Real Madrid and Juventus forward has now scored five Premier League goals plus another in the Europa League this season. Yet the return of Eden Hazard added much needed energy and flair to a team that had struggled to open up Palace in the opening hour.
Having missed the previous three league and cup games with a back injury, the Belgian substitute did not take long to make an impact after replacing Willian in the 64th minute with the score locked at 1-1. Ninety-one seconds after his introduction, Chelsea were back in the lead after Palace’s defence failed to deal with Hazard’s free-kick into box which allowed Morata to drill home. Five minutes later it was 3-1, Pedro – who had delivered the pass for Morata to break the deadlock in the first half – with an unstoppable finish after Marcos Alonso’s low cross.
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