Alvaro Morata’s emotional response to scoring his first Chelsea goal since the middle of August was welcomed by Maurizio Sarri.
Morata missed an early sitter in Thursday’s Europa League tie at home to Vidi, but made amends with the winner in the second half.
It was the first time Morata, whose first season in English football was disrupted by a back injury, has scored since a 3-2 win over Arsenal in the Premier League.
Having been booked for dissent earlier in the game, Morata appeared to be very emotional after scoring, burying his face in the shoulder of teammate Willian, who created the goal with a flicked header.
Olivier Giroud was rested from the squad against Vidi, suggesting he has taken Morata’s mantle as Chelsea’s first-choice striker, but Sarri was delighted for the Spain international.
‘I don’t know,’ Sarri replied when asked if Morata had cried after scoring. ‘But if after a goal he wants to cry, I hope to see him cry very often.
‘Really very happy for him. It’s very important for him to score. I think it’s very important for him to play a very good match. He played a very good match.
‘It’s very important for him to play for the team, like this evening. I think Alvaro can restart from this performance.
‘He played very well, better than in the last period and so we can restart with this performance. Sometimes you can score, sometimes not, but the performance is important.
‘For us he’s a very important player. At the moment we have Alvaro and Giroud, but we have to play every three days for a long time, I think, I hope, and so he’s a very important player for us, for our season. Both, Alvaro and Olivier.’
Ross Barkley almost marked his recall to the England squad with a goal, the second-half substitute hitting the crossbar with a clever header.
‘I’m very happy for him. He had a very serious injury last season,’ Sarri said of the former Everton man.
‘Now he’s recovering very well. He’s improving match by match, week by week. I’m really very happy with him.
‘I think he can have a very important future in this club and in the national team.’
