Manchester United legend Roy Keane has heaped praise onto Chelsea midfield duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo for the way they played in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa last night.
The Blues earned a much-needed win in their FA Cup replay, putting that miserable 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves at the weekend behind them with the perfect response at Villa Park.
Chelsea also really needed a big performance from their expensive midfield signings Fernandez and Caicedo, who have mostly been disappointing since moving to Stamford Bridge.
Both arrived with great reputations, but it’s taken some time for them to really get going for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, though Keane was hugely impressed with the way they controlled the game in midfield last night.
Villa have been having a fine season so few would have expected an easy game for Chelsea last night, though in the end the way Fernandez and Caicedo stepped up made it look like a relatively comfortable result in the end.
Keane isn’t exactly known to be someone who gives out compliments lightly, so it’s certainly interesting to see just how much the former Man Utd midfielder was impressed by Fernandez and Caicedo in this game.
“Absolutely outstanding. The two of them dominated that midfield. Villa were very poor but they looked strong, they looked aggressive, their passing was short, their decision-making was excellent,” Keane said whilst on punditry duty, as quoted by the Metro.
“They were strong and physical. The two midfielders for Chelsea – outstanding.”
Keane also praised the quality of the Fernandez goal from a free-kick, with the former Benfica man truly showing his outstanding technique with long-range effort into the top corner.
“What a free-kick. Pace, whip. As soon as it left his foot you thought it had a great chance. Beautiful,” Keane said.