Calf injury prevented Timo Werner from taking penalty in shootout against Aston Villa

Timo Werner was back in the starting lineup for the first time since we signed Romelu Lukaku, and last year’s joint-top goalscorer rewarded that decision with a well-taken header to open the scoring last night against Aston Villa.

His goal looked like a winner for a hot second, even, but the visitors replied with an even better strike from young Cameron Archer. Chelsea pressed for a winner, with both Werner and Lukaku on the pitch late on, but it was not to be. Fortunately, the penalty Kepa-gods smiled upon us once again, and we still managed to advance to the fourth round.

Werner himself however was not one of the five takers in the shootout, which was a surprise given that he is one of the primary alternates for Jorginho in that regard. As he explained to Chelsea TV afterwards, that was due to a calf injury he had picked up just before the end of regulation.

“I had some pain in my calf but with only three substitutes, I couldn’t go off. But when you have fit players on the pitch, it’s better they shoot than me today.”

-Timo Werner; source: Chelsea TV via Football.London

That bit of misfortune aside, Werner’s goal, his first of the season, made it a good day at the office for him. His last Chelsea goal had come back in early May. As usual, we can only hope that this is the goal that will help him sort out his finishing woes in front of goal.

“It’s good to be back on the scoresheet. It’s good that we keep on going our wins and that we are in the next round of the Carabao Cup. We are happy because of the game. It was a good game for us.”

-Timo Werner; source: Football.London

If Werner can indeed get back to scoring regularly, we could, in theory, have a ridiculously dangerous dynamic duo up top with him and Lukaku playing off of each other. We could certainly use such things on Saturday, when we take on Manchester City!

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images