Former Chelsea fullback, Albert Ferrer has hailed the impact Samuel Chukwueze made when he came off the bench for Villarreal in their 1-0 road win against Celta Viga in a Spanish La Liga match on Saturday, June 13.
Chukwueze was involved in the build-up to the game-winning goal in stoppage time when Manu Trigueros forced the ball in after Chukwueze saw his effort blocked.
At halftime, Celta Vigo coach changed his formation by switching to a back three and Villarreal manager for the game, Quique Alvaréz responded by introducing his tricky Nigerian winger 11 minutes into the second half.
Speaking to La Liga TV, Ferrer said : “I think they have been very clever how they planned the game, first half put two extra men in midfield because the wingers came inside so Villarreal controlled the midfield absolutely.
“They were out of number, there were two more players in midfield for Villarreal and they couldn’t do anything.
“So when óscar García changed the system after halftime they improved a little bit but then Villarreal did again a substitution, it was the key one, so when you change the system with a defense of three, play with one player on the wide area which is the wing-backs.
“What they did they just put Samuel Chukwueze there just to kill that player and again they started to be on top. Very clever how they moved the game and how they controlled it.”
Saturday’s game against Celta Vigo was Chukwueze’s 27 appearance of the season in La Liga and he has been involved in six goals (3 goals, 3 assists).