Graeme Souness noticed how happy both Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech appeared whilst celebrating Chelsea’s third goal against Leeds United last night.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game yesterday, Souness highlighted the smiles on the faces of the two players who have often looked pretty glum this season.
Lukaku earns the limelight again
Lukaku certainly had every reason to be beaming from ear to ear by the final whistle.
The striker put on a comprehensive display in Chelsea’s 3-0 victory that was topped off with a third goal in two Premier League matches.
He held up the play well, shrugged off Leeds’ defenders, ran the channels, and linked with his teammates.
Everything expected of a £97.5m (Sky) centre-forward.
But the Belgian would’ve left Elland Road frustrated had he not found the back of the net.
Thankfully, his endeavours were eventually rewarded with seven minutes of time remaining.
Chelsea caught Leeds on the break, led by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Loftus-Cheek saw Lukaku running to the left, but fed Ziyech to the right.
This opened the space for a cross from the Moroccan, who found his target running across the box.
The chance seemed to be squandered when Lukaku took a first touch rather than shooting.
However, he held his nerve, biding his time for an opening, before eventually smashing past Illan Meslier.
Celebrating the correct way with Lukaku and Ziyech
The scorer embraced his assister, a moment of joy for the pair that’s not been so prevalent in the past few months.
It certainly depicted a different scene from the one carved out by Lukaku during his darkest period after the Sky Italia interview come to light, where he seemingly criticised his team’s style of play.
“I don’t get it. He came out with something along the lines of they aren’t playing to my strengths and then he went off in a huff,” bemoaned Souness.
“If you’re a striker you just want the same thing, they just want the ball delivered as early as possible and accurately.
“You run around and play with aggression. I don’t get it when someone says they’re not playing to their strengths.”
“Look, he’s really happy there!” continued the former Liverpool manager whilst watching Lukaku and Ziyech celebrating on the Elland Road turf.
“Him and Ziyech. I know both of them have been out of the team but they both appear to be really happy there.”
It just highlights how football can be flipped on its head in an instant.
Just a few weeks ago, Lukaku was being linked with a move away from Chelsea.
Now, it appears Thomas Tuchel has found the right formula for the record signing and there is hope for a prosperous future.
With three fixtures of the campaign remaining, including the FA Cup final, fingers crossed Romelu can end on a high.
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