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Football London
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Daniel Childs

Thomas Tuchel finds Diego Costa successor in Norwich performance as Chelsea's Benzema unleashed

"For the Fans" were the three words that accompanied Mason Mount's post-match tweet with pictures of him celebrating at Carrow Road.

A classic knee slide followed Mount's superb finish in front of the buoyant travelling support before the academy graduate kissed the badge on a day that plunged the club's future into doubt.

The midfielder's brilliant display was accompanied by the growing form of Kai Havertz, who ruthlessly finished the contest in the 90th minute, drilling a left-footed shot into the top corner beyond Tim Krul's palms.

It was third time lucky for the German who had been denied twice by Krul in the opening period. This was the exclamation point on another impressive evening for the forward.

Both Mount and Havertz connected superbly in Thomas Tuchel's recharged Chelsea attack.

In recent months an area of the pitch that has looked unconvincing is quickly rediscovering form and output as we reach the business end of the season.

From the opening moments, both Havertz and Mount exemplified why they had been preferred to others, intensely pressing the Canaries' defence moments after Trevoh Chalobah had given Chelsea an early lead from a Mount corner.

Mount and Havertz both press Ozan Kabak moments after Chelsea take the lead. (WyScout)
The press eventually forces Mathias Normann into an error that Havertz capitalises on, firing a shot that Tim Krul stops well (WyScout)

Chelsea's quick passing through midfield continued to be orchestrated by Mount, naturally dropping deeper into pockets of space, receiving the ball on the half-turn and bursting forward.

A lot of the movements on Thursday at Carrow Road could be mirrored with those in last season's Champions League final where the same front three were deployed.

After driving from deep, Mount picks out Havertz with a perfectly weighted pass. Werner making a smart decoy run to stretch the Norwich defence. (WyScout)
Havertz executes a sublime turn with the ball before again having his effort saved by Krul. (WyScout)

The pair's most effective combination on the night was for the second goal, this time Havertz, the provider, weaving through challenges into the box before picking out Mount in the centre.

Havertz evades Norwich's challenges before squaring to Mount in the centre of the box. (WyScout)
Mount's first touch takes him away from Kabak, giving him the space to curl an effort into the top corner to make it 2-0. (WyScout)

That goal was Mount's eighth in the Premier League this season, Chelsea's highest league scorer this term.

The involvement creatively, too, with the assist for Chalobah's header, places Mount in further impressive Chelsea company.

As demonstrated by OptaJoe, Mount's four goals and two assists against the Canaries in 2021/22 make him the third Chelsea player to be involved in six goals against an opponent in a single Premier League season. After Frank Lampard vs Aston Villa in 2009/10 with six and Diego Costa vs Swansea in 2014/15.

Mount has found his best form hard to come by this season, but playing alongside Havertz seems to bring out the best in him as frazzled Norwich minds struggled to cope with such electric movement.

Havertz himself achieved a record with his goal, beating his entire goal total in his first Premier League season after netting three in his last two games, now up to five in total for the season.

The goal adds to a strong run of form, with eight-goal contributions in his last eight starts, justifying Tuchel's decision to favour the 22-year-old over Romelu Lukaku.

An interesting piece by Nizaar Kinsella in Goal before the Norwich game compared Havertz's strengths to two of Europe's most lethal finishers in Karim Benzema and Harry Kane, citing his ability to drop deep, arrive late in the box and contribute creativity. But also offer what would be deemed traditional forward traits.

The Norwich perfectly illustrated this. Adding the level of pressures Tuchel requires, offering varied movement to be found on either side, drop deeper to connect play if needed and provide the end product.

It is a steep comparison given Benzema's extraordinary display to dump PSG out of the Champions League for Real Madrid on Wednesday with a second-half hat-trick.

Such lofty comparisons come with the weight of consistency and longevity, two things Chelsea hope Havertz can bring after the £71m investment in him in 2020 from Bayer Leverkusen.

His recent form, plus the return to influence of Mount, can only be a great thing for Tuchel and Chelsea.

Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.

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