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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Raheem Sterling hails Chelsea team spirit after brace leads Blues to crucial win over Leicester

Raheem Sterling has hailed Chelsea’s team spirit after scoring both goals of a 2-1 win over Leicester.

Conor Gallagher’s early red card left the Blues in the lurch at Stamford Bridge yet new signing Sterling popped up with two crucial goals.

“Even going down to 10 men, the boys showed a lot of passion and commitment to get the job done and it was a good win for us,” he told the club website. “It was a big team performance and everyone played their part.

“It’s always difficult when you go down to 10 men but it just showed how hard the boys worked for victory.

“The defenders were excellent in stopping Leicester and that ran right through the team, everybody worked hard for one another and you could see how much it meant to all the boys.

“It’s teams that win games and everyone pulled their weight today. Edou [Mendy] made some big saves and Kai [Havertz] led from the front, working his socks off to defend high up the pitch.”

It could have been an even better afternoon for Sterling but a fine Danny Ward save denied him a hat-trick in the second half.

“It would have been nice to get a hat-trick but I have to say it was a great save from their goalkeeper,” added the England winger.

“I think he just got his studs on the ball to turn it onto the post. It’s something I just have to take, it’s a game of small margins. It wasn’t to be but the most important thing is we got a good win in a what was a tough game against a tough opponent.”

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