Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ben Chilwell hailed ‘world-class’ Edouard Mendy after he starred in Chelsea’s Premier League 1-0 win over Brentford.
Mendy, who joined Chelsea from Rennes in the summer of 2020, produced a Player of the Match display to help the club beat west London rivals Brentford 1-0 on Saturday evening.
Chilwell’s superb first-half goal separated the teams but Chelsea were on the ropes for much of the second half, with Mendy displaying class and experience to beat Brentford and send the Blues back to the top of the Premier League.
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‘I’m happy to score a goal but I think we have got to thank Edou,’ Chilwell said. ‘I don’t know how many saves he made but there were a lot of very important saves and he does it every week for us.
‘He bails us out, whether it’s once or twice, or in this game on several occasions. He’s a world-class goalkeeper and is the one we’ve got to thank.
‘It just gives you confidence when you know you’ve got someone like that behind you that comes to collect the ball from crosses, is a brilliant shot-stopper and good with his feet.
‘We see it every day in training but now he’s getting the credit he deserves and in these sorts of games where he makes big saves, he gets us the three points in the end.’
Loftus-Cheek added: ‘We had no rest at the end there. It was just wave after wave. Credit to them because it was really tough for us.
‘Fantastic from the boys to hold on. Edou saved us a few times but that’s what top goalkeepers do, the guy is world-class. ‘On another day we might come away with a few more goals but it was an important three points.
‘It gives us a lot of confidence that we were able to withstand that kind of pressure away from home against an in-form team. We controlled the game for the most part so we can take a lot of positives.’
Thomas Tuchel added: ‘Edou was concentrated in the first half. They trouble you with long throws and set pieces. They created big chances and he was the key to the clean sheet.’
On his team’s display, the German coach added: ‘We were very strong for 70 minutes and very lucky for 20 minutes, to sum it up.
‘We escaped with the three points thanks to Edouard. It was like a cup game at the end. They took risks and the atmosphere gave them a lot of courage.
‘Brentford play like this from the start, it was a lot of effort to not allow them to create this energy, and we put lots of effort into collecting second balls in midfield; we put a lot of effort into invisible work.
‘We were strong in the challenges and played with composure. It is important not to lose the ball just as you win it because this is what they like. It was like this in the end.’
