Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has hailed Chelsea’s win over Crystal Palace which saw him net on his Premier League debut for the Blues.
The 33-year-old was given the nod to start by Graham Potter for the second game in a row and he rewarded the Chelsea head coach with a fine finish in the 38th minute.
After a nod down from Thiago Silva, the Gabon international swivelled and struck his effort past Vicente Guaita to cancel out Odsonne Edouard’s opener to level the game.
Gallagher came off the bench to win the game for Chelsea to seal a vital 2-1 win on the road to move them up to fifth in the Premier League.
Aubameyang is still getting back to full fitness following a broken jaw but was delighted to help the team to back-to-back league wins.
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He told the official Chelsea website: “When you are a striker, you are always looking for your first goal so to score early into my career at Chelsea is a huge relief.
“Thiago told me to go inside (the defender) because he thought Reece was going to play long. So I went inside, I turned my body and I used the defender a little bit to create some space and then I managed to find the corner. It was what I like to call a ‘striker’s finish’!
“It was a really tough game but I think we had control of things and to get the win, I think it’s a great job from all the team.”
Substitute Gallagher won the game for Chelsea in emphatic fashion against his former club, who he spent last season on loan at.
The 22-year-old found the top corner in the 89th minute to hand Potter his first win in charge of the Blues since his head coach appointment last month.
The celebration was muted because of Gallagher’s respect for the Eagles. Gallagher admitted: "The amount of respect I have for Crystal Palace is massive and even the reception they gave me, before and after the game, after I scored was amazing, and I’m very thankful for that. I’ve just got too much respect for them."
Despite Gallagher not celebrating, his teammates on and off the pitch did that for him and Aubameyang was full of praise for the Englishman’s strike to win the game for the visitors.
Aubameyang concluded: “‘Conor’s goal was crazy! All of us on the bench, we were jumping up everywhere because it was an amazing finish, a brilliant goal and we are really happy with the three points.”
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Topics: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Chelsea, Football, Premier League
Matthew Debono