Chelsea’s defence had to survive plenty of scares in midweek during their EFL Cup win against Lincoln City. However, Chris Sutton was pretty impressed by the individual display of Wesley Fofana in the backline.
The Blues came from behind on Tuesday night to secure a 2-1 away victory against League One club Lincoln, so they will be in the draw for the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Even though Lincoln took a deserved lead in the first half, the Premier League outfit responded with two quick goals in the second period. Tyrique George, who earned huge praise from Chelsea fans, equalised with a rocket from distance. Afterwards, Facundo Buonanotte netted the winner after weaving his way into the box and finishing.
Chris Sutton impressed by Wesley Fofana performance
Chris Sutton thought Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana, 24, deserved a special mention after his display against Lincoln in the Cup.
During BBC Radio 5 Live‘s coverage of Lincoln City against Chelsea, Sutton said: “Although Lincoln had free-kicks and throw-ins, I thought Fofana, especially, excelled in terms of attacking the ball inside his own box…
“It’s just a pity from Lincoln’s perspective that they couldn’t put [Filip] Jorgensen under a little bit more pressure. That was down to the quality of the Chelsea centre-halves as well. When balls were thrown in, they defended the box really, really well.”
It was a busy evening for Chelsea’s backline against a physical Lincoln team. Despite some issues, they eventually came through it.
Fofana’s inclusion in the starting line-up was a slight surprise because he played in the weekend’s defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League, but it is a positive sign that his fitness is improving.
Troy Deeney’s verdict on Fofana is that he can be one of the world’s best centre-halves if he can sort his frequent injury problems.
While we were not convinced with Chelsea’s defence against Lincoln, Fofana was arguably the one bright performer, particularly with how he defended his box with his super athleticism.
Wesley Fofana statistics vs Lincoln City
In the end, Fofana got a valuable 90 minutes in the tank against Lincoln and came through unscathed.
| Minutes played | Accurate passes | Touches | Tackles | Blocks | Clearances | Interceptions | Match rating |
| 90 | 78/85 (92%) | 108 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 7.1 |
It feels like Fofana is still getting up to full speed, which is understandable given the amount of football he’s missed. However, he’s got all the attributes you could want in a modern centre-back to perform at the highest level.
With Levi Colwill missing through an ACL injury, it has become vital that Fofana regains his form and fitness.
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