Alan Shearer has hailed ‘magnificent’ Reece James and says
Manchester City ‘couldn’t handle’ the Chelsea star during their
defeat at the Etihad.
England international James helped the Blues come from behind to
secure a 2-1 victory over their Champions League final opponents
on Saturday.
Raheem Sterling put the hosts in front but Chelsea took full
advantage of Sergio Aguero’s shocking penalty miss on the stroke
of half-time to mount an impressive second-half comeback.
Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso were on target for the Blues, who
are now third in the Premier League table with three matches
remaining.
Shearer says James and Alonso were instrumental in helping
Chelsea improve in the second half, reserving special praise for
‘magnificent’ James and saying Manchester City ‘couldn’t handle’
the 21-year-old.
‘The reason why Chelsea were better is that they got Alonso and
James higher up the pitch, they were more involved,’ Shearer told
BBC’s Match of the Day.
‘Reece James was magnificent in the second half, he gave
[Benjamin] Mendy a horrid time. His pace and quality got Chelsea
up the pitch.
‘They couldn’t handle him. It was three or four occasions that he
did that in the second half. He pulled everyone else up with him.
‘Chelsea were prepared to gamble and that was the big difference,
it’s a big win for them.’
Blues goalscorer Alonso, meanwhile, was delighted Chelsea were
able to tighten their grip on the top four with a victory over their
Champions League final opponents.
‘We need to secure the top four position,’ he said. ‘Today was a big
step, still three games to go.
‘We need to keep working hard to get results. Everyone wants to
play these next games, I’m trying to do my best every time I’m on
the pitch.
‘With a few weeks to go I’ll try to be there to do my best to help the
team. First half was a bit tough. The last five minutes were very
sloppy from us.
‘But we came out in the second half and played a good half and
deserved to get the three points.’
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