Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was delighted with the performance of his midfielder Andre Schurrle in the 3-1 win over Fulham. The German international scored the first hat-trick of his Chelsea career to help Chelsea extended the lead at the top of the table. After arriving in the summer for around £ 18 million, Schurrle has found first-team opportunities limited at Stamford Bridge. The last time he found the back of the net was in the 3-2 defeat against Stoke city back in December. He scored both the goals for Chelsea then.
Now, he went one better by getting his first hat-trick in a crucial victory for the club. After the match, Mourinho praised Schurrle by saying that the 23-year-old has a cold-blooded streak about him in front of goal. Schurrle showed remarkable composure front of goal to take all three chances presented to him as a result of poor defending from Fulham. This result coupled with Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Stoke City means that Chelsea open up a four-point advantage, although this lead could only be temporary given that City can go top by winning their two matches in hand.
Still, this was a great result for Chelsea, as they recovered extremely well from a poor first-half showing.
“Schurrle’s in a learning process in the Premier League but he has cold blood, in front of goal he is cool. He’s a good finisher and that’s what I expect from him. This was a real game of two halves, the first half was very poor and the second was brilliant, it was a great three points for us. I decided not to speak at half-time because I would have needed more than 10 minutes, but the players showed they are intelligent,” said Mourinho.
Chelsea’s next two matches are also London derbies – Tottenham and Arsenal.