Whether starting or coming on from the bench, Pedro Neto knows he has a key role to play – and the winger made quite the impact in our home win over West Ham on Monday evening.
Entering the action as a second-half substitute, the Portugal international fired home just 12 minutes later to cancel out Jarrod Bowen’s opener for the visitors and turn the volume up inside Stamford Bridge to unrivalled levels.
It proved the catalyst as 10 minutes later, Cole Palmer fired the eventual winner – albeit thanks to a huge deflection off Aaron Wan-Bissaka – to complete the turnaround and see Enzo Maresca’s Blues storm back into the top four with three points safely secured and London bragging rights retained.
For Pedro, having an impact from the bench highlights the need for every member of the Blues squad being ready to help the side and now wants to see Chelsea build on a big victory over our London rivals.
‘I think in the second half we played really well and we deserved the win,’ our No.7 said when reflecting on the victory.
‘We kept to our plan, remained patient and got the goals to win the game. To be honest, in the end I think we could have scored even more goals to make it a bit more comfortable but it was a fair win and we are really happy.
‘Of course, everyone wants to play but it shows just how important having a squad is, everyone is there to help the team whether you start or come on.
