It had been a long time since Tammy Abraham’s last goal for Chelsea, with his last strike, before last night, coming against Sean Dyche’s Burnley on January 11th.
The England International has had to be patient for opportunities since the restart as well, with Frank Lampard preferring veteran striker, Olivier Giroud, to lead the line in recent weeks.
Abraham bears no grudges to that fact, stating that Giroud has done superbly in recent matches.
Speaking with Chelsea's media team, he said: “Olivier Giroud has been phenomenal for us since we’ve come back and all credit to him.
“He had to be patient when it was my turn and vice versa.
"So, for me it’s just about helping the team as much as possible when I’m out there and doing my thing.”
'Good to be back'
His goal, a first since the three-nil win against the Clarets in SW6, was extremely well-taken, nestling the post before finding the back of the net.
On the strike, Abraham stated: “It’s been a while. I’ve been out with a few injuries here and there which is annoying for me, but it’s good to be back.
“It’s nice to be scoring again and hopefully from here I can keep getting more and keep getting three points.”
On the match itself, Abraham claimed he was more than aware of the difficult challenge that his Chelsea side would face in their latest visit to South London, and that the three points were never guaranteed.
He continued: “We played them at the start of the season, and it was a tough game at Stamford Bridge, so we knew it was going to be a tough game here as well.
“So, give credit to our boys who dug deep and defended for their lives.
“We knew we had to win. The result against West Ham put us in a downer and the last game we played well.
“This game we knew we needed the whole three points and that’s why you could see bodies flying on the line to stop the goal and to score.”
Hailing Kepa
The young striker, who is usually used to trying to convert past goalkeepers, rather than looking to praise them, reserved some kind words for his side’s 'keeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga.
A header from former Liverpool striker, Christian Benteke, looked to have snatched a point for the home side, only for Kepa to turn it onto the post.
Abraham stated: “From my view it looked like it was in.
“I wasn’t sure if Kepa saved it but all credit to him. Sometimes we need luck, the luck’s been going against us this whole season, so it’s about time we had some.”
“We had to dig deep, the last 10 minutes was probably the most we’ve been attacked, and we had to stay patient, we made some great saves, some great blocks in the last minute and that’s what it’s all about.”