Kai Havertz’s start to life at Chelsea has not been the best, since he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen he has struggled with consistency. However, his performance against Manchester City showed glimpses of the talent we all know he possesses.
After he replaced Mateo Kovacic in the seventy-seventh minute, the game was practically over. Chelsea’s goal came two minutes after the ninetieth minute, with the goal coming from Callum Hudson-Odoi, while Kai Havertz provided the assist.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the goal was the buildup, particularly from Kai Havertz. Fans on Twitter took note of the German’s football intelligence that lead to the goal, here is what they had to say.
🇩🇪 The movement, the pace, getting his head up, delivering the perfect pass to his teammate.
Kai Havertz is lethal in the final third – we need to let him play there consistently. RCM isn’t getting the best out of him currently. pic.twitter.com/kKKsxoHjeE
— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) January 4, 2021
“ Kai Havertz is too slow.. “
Did you see his movement before that assist today ? 🤔
— DARVINCI 🙋🏽♂️ (@CFCd4rvinci) January 3, 2021
Kai Havertz made an admirable assist today but no one’s going to talk about it because it’s Kai Havertz.
— Dave🚶🏾♂️ (@Dave__xp) January 3, 2021
During the buildup the attacking midfielder comes looking to receive the ball, he’s then ignored but decides to make a third-man run.
This highly intelligible run caught the entire city defence off guard. Using his pace, Havertz breaks free of Rodri, receives the pass from Pulisic, and distributes perfectly across the box to Hudson-Odoi who scores.
One person I’m going to applaud who probably won’t get much credit is Kai Havertz.
This instinctive run he makes for the assist makes all of this possible.
This type of movement is what we are lacking pic.twitter.com/mOJP5Yzcvw
— turk (@xiiirye) January 3, 2021
This passage of play showed just how lethal the German midfielder is in front goal. The run he made was nonexistent amongst any Chelsea midfielder during the entire game, he was the only one willing to make a forward run into space.
A run that may not always result in the player receiving the ball, but the most important thing is that he took a chance.
Nonetheless, Kai Havertz’s cameo is a sign of better things to come from the German.
This type of movement made by Hudson odoi is what chelsea is lacking