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Mateo Kovacic was among the best players on the pitch as Chelsea played out a 2-2 draw with the home side in our quest to qualify from our Champions League group.
Kovacic’s form has been great of late, and the Croatian also had another excellent performance against Valencia whom he knows very well from his days at Real Madrid.
Kovacic recorded the best pass completion rate on the pitch (95 per cent), made the most accurate passes of anyone in a Chelsea shirt (55), and was successful with a game-high five dribbles. He added a well-taken goal to his stats on the night, in what was his first ever goal for the club.
Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has revealed he told Kovacic to add goals to his game before the midfielder’s goal against Valencia.
“We’ve had a lot of jokes between me and him and the whole squad and him because he’s a player of such quality that should score more goals,” Lampard said in his post-match press conference.
“It’s a project for me, for him and the whole staff to get him more goals and he could have scored two today.
“I’m delighted for him and I hope that’s the start of something new.”