JADON Sancho joked Marc Cucurella’s boots were “going in the bin” but praised his team-mates performance in Chelsea’s 4-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Left-back Cucurella slipped twice to let in Spurs as Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski gave Ange Postecoglou’s side a 2-0 lead within eleven minutes.
Sancho made it 2-1 from Cucurella’s assist six minutes later before Cole Palmer equalised in the 61st minute with a penalty and Enzo Fernandez put the Blues in the 73rd minute.
Palmer scored his second penalty six minutes from time and Chelsea saw out the win after Son Heung-min’s goal six minutes into stoppage-time as Enzo Maresca’s side closed the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points.
Cucurella raced over to the sideline after Kulusevski’s goal to change his boots, and neither he nor his side made any big slip-ups after that.
“They’re going in the bin after this game. After the mistakes, I thought he played fantastic. We believe in Cucu,” Sancho said.
“Going 2-0 down in the first half was not ideal but I knew we’d come back into the game when we got that first goal.
“Going in at half-time, the gaffer was telling us we were in the game. I have so much belief in the players so I knew we’d come out firing.
“They’re very aggressive and we knew we’d catch them if we broke the lines and beat the press. The gaffer told us to stay wide and create the one-on-ones.
“I’ve been working on my shooting a bit more. The staff and the players have been telling me otherwise.”
Chelsea travel to Astana in the Europa Conference League on Thursday before another London derby against Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Sancho said: ”We’ve got back-to-back games every week, we need this rotation in the squad. There’s one team and then another team. It gets rotated and it works. We’ve got so many talented players and we push each other. I’m thankful I’m here.”
Maresca revealed he is surprised by the performances of his side, as he poked fun at Cucurella.
Maresca said: “We are ahead of my expectation.
“In terms of the way we play on the ball, off the ball and in terms of the results.
“Arsenal, [Manchester] City and Liverpool probably don’t slide – like Cucurella did!
“To be serious, we are not ready. We are far from these teams, but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team.
“The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They cannot drop because they know another player is waiting to come in.”
