Saul Niguez hooked off just 45mins into Chelsea debut as stats show Spain international struggled against Aston Villa
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SAUL NIGUEZ suffered a nightmare Chelsea debut as he lasted only until half-time against Aston Villa.
The Spaniard, who joined on loan from Atletico Madrid on deadline day, was hooked off and replaced by Jorginho.
Stats showed he struggled to adapt to the pace of his first Premier League game.
He won only of his EIGHT duels in midfield, managed just one ball recovery, was dispossessed three times and committed more fouls (three) than any other player on the pitch.
The midfielder did show a bit of class when given time in possession, completing 31 of his 37 passes, but he has a way to go to adapt to the English game.
Thankfully for Thomas Tuchel, Saul's midfield partner Mateo Kovacic was in inspired form at Stamford Bridge.
The Croatian, who has taken the No 8 shirt this season, did fantastically well for Chelsea to open the scoring.
He won the ball deep in the his own half and drove forward before playing as pin-point pass for Romelu Lukaku to finish.
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It was the Belgian's first ever Chelsea goal at Stamford Bridge, ten years after he first arrived in SW6.
And shortly after half-time, Kovacic was on the Chelsea scoresheet for the first time since December 2019.
It was also his first goal at Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku later added another as the Blues secured a 3-0 win that put them second in the league, level on points with leaders Manchester United but behind on goals scored.
Tuchel later admitted that the Spaniard struggled.
'BIG MISTAKES'
The German said: "I had the feeling that he struggled. There were some big mistakes, passing mistakes, and he struggled with the intensity. You could see he isn’t fully adapted.
"It's completely my responsibility. I had the feeling he could jump in for us and play at that level.
"I thought it was maybe better to change him, but it doesn’t change anything.
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