Moises Caicedo solves major Chelsea problem as Mauricio Pochettino call answered vs Aston Villa

«Not only Moi, I thought the whole team was good. The performance was good from the whole team. But Moi was also good.»

Mauricio Pochettino said when asked by football.london about Moises Caicedo's performance against Aston Villa. Pochettino is like that. He does not like picking out and praising one specific player – he instead likes to make it about the team.

And it was indeed a team effort that got Chelsea a much-deserved point at Villa Park. But Caicedo helped no end. There is certainly something to be said that the Ecuadorian's – arguably – two best performances this season have both come when he has Conor Gallagher alongside him rather than Enzo Fernandez.

The performance is encapsulated by some seriously impressive statistics. 102 touches, 91 per cent pass accuracy, 15 passes into the final third (most), 12/14 duels won (most), 11x possession won (most), five tackles made and four fouls won (most). It was the Caicedo that Chelsea supporters had been longing for.

With Fernandez sidelined for the remainder of the season after having surgery on the groin problem that had been causing him issues in recent months, Chelsea certainly saw the best version of Caicedo on Saturday night. The £115million, club-record signing version of Caicedo.

Gallagher, equally, shone alongside his partner. The England international wins the ball back for Noni Madueke to score. If Madueke had not have put the ball in the back of the net then referee Craig Pawson may well have pulled it back for a penalty after Gallagher was tripped to the floor inside the box.

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