Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has heaped praise on Thiago Silva for his performance against Leicester City.
The Blues came out 2-1 victors against Brendan Rodgers’ side, with a solid defensive display after going down to 10 men.
Conor Gallagher was dismissed in the first half after receiving two yellow cards.
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Despite this making things tough for Chelsea, Raheem Sterling bagged a brace in the second half to see his side take a two goal lead before Harvey Barnes pulled one back for the Foxes.
Silva marshalled the backline as they survived several Leicester attacks to come away with the three points.
Speaking on the match, Tuchel admitted that he was pleased by the performance and highlighted Silva for his quality.
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He said: “The belief. In the end we can do things even better.
"Let's not take it (red card) as an excuse, we have to play the best way possible. We had to change the shape to close distances in the back.
"Thiago in the middle to organise and be more active and the wingbacks to make the difference maybe.
"I'm happy we hang in, showed the mentality. It's never easy. The goals gave us a push. With a bit of luck we made it."
The German continues to discuss how key the Brazilian is to his team, admitting that he changed Chelsea’s system to suit the 37-year-old in the second half.
"He's always key,” Tuchel continued. “Every player is key.
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“It suited him to defend deep and in the box, around the box. This is what he loves and is very best in. That's why we changed to a back three in the second half with a man down."
Chelsea will be without the suspended Gallagher against Southampton on Tuesday, with Silva likely to start once again.
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Silva could line up alongside a new teammate in the future, with Chelsea set to sign Wesley Fofana in the coming days.
The 21-year-old is set for his Chelsea medical on Sunday ahead of becoming a Blue.
It remains to be seen as to whether the Blues will enter the market for further reinforcements before the end of the transfer window.
Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Thiago Silva, Football, Leicester City, Premier League
Nick Emms