DAILY MIRROR 26.08.2019
(^10) mirror.co.uk/sport/football
DM1ST
CERTAIN ON
THE MOUNT
Lamps: It’s no surprise to me that Mason is a
rising star. I’ve real belief in him and he
can absolutely go all the way to the top
IN ASSOCIATION
WITH
THINGS WE
LEARNED
THIS WEEKEND
SORT OUT TWITS IN
THE OFFICE, UNITED
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER blasted
Twitter trolls after Paul Pogba and
Marcus Rashford (above) were
racially abused after penalty misses.
But Manchester United’s social
media team were left red-faced after
wishing on Saturday lunchtime that
Chelsea were visiting – rather than
Crystal Palace – having beaten the
Blues 4-0 on the opening day.
“Talk to us, Reds: how are you
feeling?,” they asked on Twitter
before adding: “Wish we were
playing Chelsea again, though...”
Frank Lampard’s men won 3-2 at
Norwich and Chelsea’s Twitter
account asked United: “How’d it
go?”. Not too well as it happens.
KEV A FASTER
GOAL WIZARD
THAN OZ
MANCHESTER
CITY star Kevin
De Bruyne has
smashed Mesut Ozil’s record for the
fastest player to set up 50 Premier
League goals.
The Belgium playmaker (above) –
who missed much of last term
through injury – saw a scuffed shot
reach Sergio Aguero for City’s first
goal in yesterday’s 3-1 win at
Bournemouth.
That meant he had required 123
games to reach 50 assists –
18 fewer than Arsenal’s erratic
goal-creator Ozil, who reached the
milestone in his 141st game for
the Gunners.
MO SALAH loves playing
against Arsenal. With their
defence, who wouldn’t?
His two goals on Saturday took
his personal tally against the
Gunners to six – no other top-six
side has been hurt as much by
Salah. For the record, he has also
scored six against both Watford
and Bournemouth, and five
against Southampton.
A FAN caused a social
media meltdown by
wearing an Arsenal shirt
with Tierney and the number
three on the back when Celtic
hosted Hearts yesterday.
Hoops followers were unhappy
left-back Kiernan Tierney quit to
join the Gunners, and there was a
call for the shirt wearer to be
banned for life from Celtic Park.
BY PAUL BROWN
FRANK LAMPARD tells rising
Chelsea star Mason Mount he is
heading for the top every day –
and he has never been more
certain it will happen.
Lampard was quick to
spot the 20-year-old’s
potential and nurtured it
carefully when he had the
midfielder on loan at
Derby last season.
But Mount (circle) is now
the shining light of his young
Blues team and Lampard believes
he is already fulfilling the promise
that could one day see him follow in
his manager’s footsteps.
Tammy Abraham’s double strike
against Norwich may have grabbed
the headlines, but Mount was man
of the match, scoring his second in
as many games and proving a
constant threat. The only downside
came late on, when he went off
injured (below).
Lampard trod the
same path as a player,
becoming an England
regular after impressing
at Stamford Bridge, and
going on to become a
true great for club and
country.
And with Gareth
Southgate naming his
squad on Thursday for
next month’s Euro 2020
and when someone’s humble and
hard-working like him, it doesn’t
matter. You can tell them because it
will never stop his drive or his
hunger. He’s not a boy that wants
the razzmatazz of it all.
“He just wants to be a top
player for Chelsea, then England
- and I believe he can be.”
What most impressed
Lampard was the way Mount
adjusted when asked to play
a different role just before
kick-off, after Pedro was
injured in the warm-up,
prompting a last- minute
tactical reshuffle.
He said: “I said to
him five minutes before
he went out that you’ve got to play on
the left wing today and come inside.
“No bother. He just took it all on
board and made all the right moves.
The confidence and steely nature he
has helps. But he’s driven and
not going to get carried
away with himself. It’s the
way his family have
brought him up.”
Goals from Mount
and Abraham made
strikes by Todd
Cantwell and Teemu
Pukki little consolation
for Norwich and delivered
Lampard his first win as
Chelsea boss.
N’Golo Kante was
missing with an
ankle injury and
Lampard (left)
added: “He’s had four
years of constantly
playing. The international
break will be great for him
to get the injury right.”
qualifiers against Bulgaria and
Kosovo, Lampard admits Mount is
making waves. “I don’t want to say
it’s surprised me because I’ve got real
belief in him, but it has made me sit
up and take more notice of where he
can get to in the game,” he said.
“At Derby, he was great. But that’s
one thing. Coming to Chelsea, with
the competition he’s got in midfield,
and the expectation level that
comes with it, is another thing.
“I keep going on about his
character. For me, it’s such a
big percentage of the
package and he has all of
that and the quality.
Intelligent players, who
have that talent, are really
great to work with.
“He’s impressed me. I’ve said
it a lot last year. Being called up for
his country, that’s hopefully going
to come pretty soon. He can
go absolutely to
the top.
“I don’t want to
heap expectation
on him. But I will
tell him that
every day
because I feel it,
o
ow
I k
cha
b
p
t
I
h
gre
“He
NORWICH 2
Cantwell 6, Pukki 30
CHELSEA 3
Abraham 3, 68, Mount 17
has he
not
awa
w
b
C
P
for
La
Ch
m
an
La
ad
ye
pl
br
to
to
to
n
l