Chelsea coach Graham Potter said Aston Villa made his team “suffer,” while both he and goalscorer Mason Mount praised Kepa Arrizabalaga’s magnificent performance in their 2-0 win.
The Blues maintained their unbeaten record under the former Brighton and Hove Albion manager with a Premier League victory at Villa Park, which was achieved by Mount’s brace.
However, the visitors were kept on the ropes for lengthy lengths, particularly in the first half, by a relentless torrent of counter-attacks from Steven Gerrard’s side, with Kepa forced to make a flurry of brilliant saves.
The Spaniard, who came into the starting lineup at the end of Thomas Tuchel’s tenure to replace the injured Edouard Mendy, has held his spot despite being in fantastic form, and Potter was quick to praise him as crucial to their triumph.
“It was a tough game,” Potter said, according to Sky Sports. “Despite taking the lead, Aston Villa made us suffer, especially in the first half.” They put us under pressure, and our goalie came up big.
“It was an outstanding performance, particularly in the first half.” I’m overjoyed for him. He went through a difficult moment for us at times, but he contributed to the game.”
Mount, whose first goal resulted from a defensive error by Tyrone Mings and his second from a magnificent free-kick, agreed with Potter’s assessment.
“Kepa was on fire,” he said, “and his rapid saves kept us in the game.” “He’s been fantastic over the last few weeks.”
“We have to keep pushing and winning games if we want to finish as high as possible.” Today was not our best performance, and we are not pleased with it, but we came away with a 2-0 victory.”
Mount’s double came in front of England boss Gareth Southgate, who was in attendance at Villa Park but missed seeing World Cup injury worry Reece James.
Mount admitted that he had harmed his chances of reaching the starting XI for the finals in Qatar, adding, “I just have to keep focused on playing well for the club.”
“We know there’s a huge World Cup coming up, and you want to perform as well as you can leading up to it and maybe get picked.”
Potter also praised his playmaker, saying, “We have a lot of faith in Mason Mount.” We adore him as a player and as a person. You can see his impact on the team, and he works extremely hard for us.”