Win pleases Kalou

Salomon Kalou marked his return to fitness with a goal in the 6-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday, the first time he has scored for us in consecutive league appearances.

A hamstring injury kept Kalou out of the previous two matches against Middlesbrough and Schalke, but he made a goal scoring return to action on Saturday from a left-wing position in the famous 4-3-3 formation.

He was thrilled to follow up his winner at Bolton with the fifth goal at Stamford Bridge against City.

“I loved it. It was a good game to play, and I hope people enjoyed it,” he smiled, in customary Kalou fashion.

When asked whether Avram Grant had given him specific instructions to help unlock the visitors’ defence, he responded: “Not much, just that I needed to run behind the defence when Didier has the ball and that’s what I tried to do.

“It was very special to win 6-0 against Man City. I think we can say we were very good today. It was nice to play this kind of game because everyone was giving his best for the team and that’s the most important thing.”

He also spoke about Jose Mourinho’s departure and the difficulty of dealing with it at first.  Now, everything seems to be going smoothly with Grant.

“I had it at Feyenoord when Ruud Gullit left. But in that situation Gullit left at the end of the season.

“In this case, it didn’t happen like that, but it’s all experience. It’s all part of football. In this game you meet people, you work with people, but things change.

“Jose Mourinho brought me to Chelsea so in that respect it was difficult to see him go. But for me, it is also important that you keep the great memories of that person and look back on it as a good time.

“I’m a professional footballer and these things happen so we have to move on.

“The most important thing is the team. As professionals, that’s all that matters, so we have to give our best to whoever we are working with.

“Avram likes his players to be focused on their jobs and their goals. He knows what he wants and where he’s going. So we have to make his job as easy as we can by giving him our best.”

Kalou has now scored four goals in all competitions this season, added to the brace he scored at Hull, and could have had more against an under-par Manchester City defence.

“We could have looked to score more than six, but six is not bad,” Kalou reasoned. “City is a good team and play good football but we put them under pressure.

“In the next game we have to do the same, and it’s up to the team to keep working hard and keep the spirit going.”

It is now five straight wins in all competitions, and three in the league, but the Ivorian forward believes it is too soon to think about regaining the Premier League title.

“The Premier League is a difficult competition so it’s too early to say. It’s a good result but most important is to keep winning and get closer to Arsenal and Manchester United,” he said, adding: “Right now we just look at winning game to game, and hope that teams on top drop some points.”