Ben Chilwell on ‘most enjoyable’ Chelsea goal vs Leicester, squad’s mentality and mindset ahead of big end to season

Ben Chilwell has admitted his goal against Leicester City is one of his most enjoyable of his career so far.

The 26-year-old scored Chelsea‘s opener at the King Power Stadium after 11 minutes, volleying home from close range after Kalidou Koulibaly‘s lofty cross. After receiving some stick from the home supporters having left the Foxes back in 2020, Chilwell headed over to the home fans and cupped his hands around his ears in celebration.

Chelsea went onto score two more through Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic to restore and extend the lead after Patson Daka levelled the Premier League encounter.

Graham Potter’s side held onto the 3-1 win to seal their third victory in a row in all competitions, leaving the squad buoyant at full-time following an excellent week for the club.

“It was a fantastic strike,” said Potter on Chilwell’s goal. “Ben was getting a bit of stick and it’s the best way to answer that. Fantastic goal, it settled us a little bit.”

Here is what the England international told Chelsea TV at full-time at the King Power Stadium.

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Getting all three points vs Leicester City

“There were moments in the game where we could’ve managed it a bit better, if we’re being critical, that’s things we’re going to look to work on going forward, managing games better. But in the end we’ve come here away from home, a difficult place to come, and got the three points. Overall, a very pleasing performance by everyone.”

Scoring against former club

“Yeah, I think it was probably one of the most enjoyable goals for myself of my career.

“It’s no bad blood at all, I really enjoy coming back here and seeing all of the old faces that I used to see all the time day to day. But when it’s that 90 minutes on the pitch, of course I’m going to give everything to win the game for Chelsea, and thankfully today I contributed with a goal.”

Support from the fans

“I love the way the fans got behind us today. They have done all season, it’s been a difficult season but they’ve stuck with us and today to hear them singing that song (Ben Chilwell’s won the European Cup) the whole game was nice for me, gave me a little boost. Then the scenes at the end, seeing all the fans, thankfully we gave them three points. It was just a good moment at the end to celebrate with them, to show that togetherness that we all have.”

Not getting complacent ahead of big end to the season

“It’s easy to get complacent. Three wins, but we know we’ve still got so much work to do this season, a lot to build on. There’s positives but things we can work on from today and that’s what we are going to do. We’ve got a week now until our next game, and we’re going to go into that with the same mindset. It’s a must win match. Every game now between here and the end of the season is going to have to be that same mindset: a must win match. We’ve still got big aspirations for the season.

“Wherever you are in the table, top or fighting where we are now, you have to take it game by game. Train hard in the week and then come Saturday try to get three points.”

Celebrating Leicester win

“Of course we are going to enjoy that win today, a great win, but we’ve got a lot of big games coming up so we need to make sure we are ready.

“Coming off the back of what was a massive win for us on Tuesday, it was equally important in our heads before the game to win today as well. We didn’t want to come here after the Tuesday game and put in a bad performance after that. Thankfully we played well and got three points.”

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