Ian Wright has labeled Chelsea forward Timo Werner “lazy” for not getting back onside in their 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Saturday.
City hosted Thomas Tuchel’s men, whom they will also face in the Champions League final, knowing that a victory would secure a third Premier League title in four years.
Raheem Sterling had broken the deadlock just before half-time when he slotted the ball in after Sergio Aguero’s heavy touch from a cutback by Gabriel Jesus.
MAILBOX: Stick your sheikhs and oligarchs, Ed Sheeran’s money means more…
However, the Argentinian forward saw his attempted Panenka easily saved by Edouard Mendy, who stayed on his feet to make a comfortable stop.
It proved a costly error as Chelsea equalised just after the hour when Rodri was caught in possession on the halfway line.
Cesar Azpilicueta broke down the right before pulling the ball back to Hakim Ziyech, who drilled a low shot into the bottom corner past Ederson.
Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi both had goals ruled out for offside, while City saw a couple of penalty shouts turned down by referee Anthony Taylor.
And Wright was annoyed at Werner’s positioning and running against City, he told Match of the Day: “I think Timo Werner is having a good season. Coming to Chelsea with that pressure of scoring goals and then missing chances…
“You need to look at the runs he makes. Here he needs to get back onside. He doesn’t get on side.
“He’s got so much space. For me that’s just lazy, it’s lazy work. He’s running straight offside. Once he sorts that out, he will get more chances, then he will need to be more clinical.”
Fellow pundit Alan Shearer added: “If someone can work with him on that, there’s not many defenders who will catch him.”
Tuchel’s side have now beaten their Champions League final opponents twice in recent weeks following Saturday’s Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium.
The London outfit were also triumphant when the sides met in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley last month.
And Chelsea manager Tuchel accepts these results may not have a huge bearing on the May 29 showpiece – after all City made multiple changes for both games – but they cannot damage confidence.
The German said: “I said before it would not change too much, no matter what result came out of this game.
“I will stick with that but surely it’s not a disadvantage for us to have this experience, in such a short time, of beating them twice.
“We know very well that if you play a final, it’s very special and you fight for every centimetre and every advantage that you can make to win the game.
“But, yes, it gives us the true belief that we can do it because we’ve already done it. We’ll try to conserve the feeling and this momentum for our arrival in Istanbul, because we’ll arrive with a clear target and a clear objective to win.
“The best way to play a final is to be self-confident and I think we can conserve this feeling from these two matches.”
Click Here: France National Team soccer tracksuit