Thomas Tuchel gives verdict on Chelsea's 1-0 win at Brentford
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has hailed Petr Cech and named the area of his team he is ‘absolutely happy’ with following his side’s sensational start to the campaign. The Blues moved back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday evening as they defeated Brentford 1-0.
Tuchel was forced to name a makeshift backline for Chelsea’s short trip across west London after Antonio Rudiger was ruled out with a back injury and Thiago Silva wasn’t considered due to his involvement with Brazil in the early hours of Friday morning.
The Blues struggled throughout the match as Brentford caused their defence all sorts of problems.
And Tuchel was indebted to Edouard Mendy for securing the three points after the keeper produced a man-of-the-match performance to keep the hosts at bay.
Mendy denied Ivan Toney, Saman Ghoddos and Pontus Jansson from close range, before instinctively tipping over Christian Norgaard’s thumping acrobatic effort in the dying seconds.
Thomas Tuchel has hailed Petr Cech and named the area of Chelsea team he's 'absolutely happy' with (Image: GETTY)
The Senegal international was brought to Stamford Bridge by Frank Lampard before the former midfielder was sacked as boss in January.
It was former Chelsea keeper Cech, who is now the club’s technical and performance advisor, who originally recommended Mendy to his employers after watching the shot-stopper in action for Rennes.
And that has led Tuchel to pay tribute to Cech as the German manager admitted he was delighted with his goalkeeping department.
“When we arrived here, I found Kepa, Edou and Willy Caballero, and also Petr Cech was training with them,” Tuchel said.
“Together with Hilario, our goalkeeping coach, I found a fantastic group, a competitive group, a strong group of goalkeepers, goalkeeper coaches and Petr Cech, who helped each other through every single training session.
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Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy has been in fine form this season (Image: GETTY)
Mendy has now kept 20 clean sheets in 38 Premier League matches, with five of those coming this term.
And Chelsea’s early-season form has led to suggestions that the Blues may be able to claim their first Premier League title since 2017.
“I think they're in with a great shout of winning the title, I really do,” admitted former Manchester United defender Gary Neville after watching Chelsea’s latest victory.