Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk received a tremendous standing ovation for his performance against Brighton.
On Wednesday evening, Nicolas Jackson scored the only goal of the match, propelling Chelsea past Brighton and into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
This victory alleviated some of the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino following a challenging start to the Premier League campaign. In the next round, Chelsea will face Championship team Blackburn.
One of the standout performers for Chelsea on the night was Mudryk. Although he is yet to score his first goal for the Blues, the 22-year-old was actively involved in both halves of the pitch and consistently enthralled the Stamford Bridge faithful whenever he had possession.
Upon being substituted in the 68th minute for Raheem Sterling, Mudryk was greeted with a massive standing ovation from the home crowd. This gesture is likely to provide a significant confidence boost to a player who has been struggling.
Mudryk made his move to Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in a transfer valued at up to £89 million in January. However, he has yet to find the back of the net in 23 appearances for the club.
The Ukraine international, who was on the verge of joining Arsenal before ultimately signing with Chelsea, has featured in five of the Blues’ six league games this season, with two starts to his name.
He had scored 10 goals in 18 appearances for Shakhtar during the first half of the 2022-23 campaign prior to sealing his Premier League transfer.
Mudryk’s standing ovation tonight. You can tell how much that meant to him pic.twitter.com/5fnbM1BkOM
— Stop That CFC (@StopThatCFC) September 27, 2023
Another young attacker who impressed against Brighton was Cole Palmer, with the former Manchester City star teeing up Jackson for the goal.
After the game, Pochettino toldSky Sports: “I think all of the team was really good. Cole Palmer is a very talented player and was key in this victory. He is still young and still needs to settle in the club – not only the team, the city.
“It was a good response from the team, I am very pleased with the performance. It was important to go through and now I hope we can keep this momentum.”