Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz has dedicated win over Crystal Palace to Gianluca Vialli, who lost his life last week.
The ex Chelsea player and coach died recently, with tributes pouring in for the Italian just before their clash with the Eagles at Stamford Bridge which ended in a 1-0 win for Graham Potter’s side courtesy of a headed goal from Havertz just after the hour mark.
“That was for Luca, 100 per cent,” said Havertz.
“He’s a big legend of this club who did some amazing things here as both a player and as the coach.
“We are all very sad about his passing and it is very tough for his family, but I think it was meant to be that we won the game for him today.
“You could see with all the tributes and how we remembered him before the game that he meant so much to everyone at the club, so this is a really special win for us.”
The three points was Chelsea’s first victory of 2023 and Havertz added: “That’s a huge win for us, definitely.
“The last few weeks have been tough for us. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy today, we knew we’d have to work hard for the three points, but we said before the game that this could be a match that turns things around for us.
“I’m really happy to score and to help the team.
“I have to give credit, it was a fantastic cross from him and even in the first half he put some good balls into me.
“It took a little while but I finally scored in the end and I’m really happy, especially because it helped us to a big three points.
“We’ve got the three points and we can start moving forward now.”
