Nemanja Matic, when looking back on the weekend London derby win over Fulham, highlighted Chelsea finding more space in which to attack as the main reason why the performance improved so much in the second half of the game.
The Serbian international returned to the midfield after his ineligibility for the Champions match midweek, and like his team-mates he came up against a very energetic Fulham display in the early stages of the game, with the home side creating as many opportunities as we did before the interval.
Chelsea moved up a gear or two in the second period with Andre Schurrle making the most of the chances created by scoring all our goals in the 3-1 win.
‘In the second half we played very well, we tried to play good football, our football,’ said Matic, reflecting on the away victory.
‘We used the space that Fulham players gave us and we are happy to win and take these very important three points.
‘We tried to play the same football in the first half also but Fulham didn’t give a lot of space for us to move, to play our football. In the second half we started to play and we scored three goals which is not easy in games like this.
‘Fulham gave us some more space and we used that and Andre Schurrle in the second half was amazing and took his chances, and we have to continue to play like this.’
Chelsea finish the weekend four points clear of second and third-placed Liverpool and Arsenal, and six points above Man City although they have two games in hand. We are 10 points ahead of the team we play next, Tottenham, who are fifth.
‘Like we said before, we will play game by game, to win every game if it is possible and we don’t look too much at other clubs,’ states Matic, ‘but for us it is good if our rivals lose some points and on Saturday Arsenal lost so that is good for us.’