Advertisement

Chelsea players must ease burden on Eden Hazard, admits Willian

Star man | Eden Hazard: AP Photo/Matt Dunham
Star man | Eden Hazard: AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Willian admits the rest of the Chelsea players need to do more to ease the burden on Eden Hazard.

The Belgium international sustained a back injury during the 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Saturday after being singled out for special treatment by the visitors.

Not only was he marked very closely by Ashley Young, Manchester United players took it in turns to foul the 27-year-old.

Hazard, who is the club's top scorer on eight goals, is now expected to miss the Europa League game against Bate Borisov on Thursday, while he is also a doubt for the League fixture at Burnley on Sunday.

Willian told Standard Sport: "We know how important Hazard is for us, but we have a great team with a lot of quality players.

"Sometimes he can't score or make an assist, that's why we need the whole team. Sometimes he tries and it doesn't work.

"The other players have to work together to try and do something with each other. Against Manchester United was like that. He tried to score, he tried to dribble.

"They put two-three players around him every time he had the ball and maybe that was why it was difficult for him.

"Will teams look to target him? Yes of course - when a game is like that they look at him, but it means others can find more space."

The match was overshadowed by a clash between Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and Chelsea's second assistant coach Marco Ianni after Ross Barkley scored a late equaliser.

The Football Association are looking at the match report of referee Mike Dean and are set to announce whether they are going to take any action against the duo late on Monday afternoon.

Chelsea seemed certain to suffer their first defeat of the season when Anthony Martial scored twice in the second half to put Mourinho's side 2-1 in front.

But Barkley's late equaliser means they have now gone 12 games without defeat this term and Willian says extending this run is vital for their self-belief.

He added: "Is it good to know we can bounce back from adversity? Yes of course. Even when we are losing, we know we can stay in the game.

"We did that against Manchester United, that's why we scored in the last minute. It was important to show the character to come back.

"We know that our second half performance was not the best, we played better in the first.

"It was good to get a point, it was better than nothing. We have to carry on and look to improve."