Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata still has the belief of the dressing room, insists Cesc Fabregas

Vaishali Bhardwaj6 October 2018

Cesc Fabregas insists Alvaro Morata retains the backing of the Chelsea players after the striker ended his goal-drought on Thursday night.

Morata netted the only goal as Chelsea narrowly beat MOL Vidi 1-0 in the Europa League at Stamford Bridge, which was the Spaniard's first goal since August.

Morata has struggled for form and confidence in front of goal in 2018 - with the striker scoring just five goals in all competitions this year.

He could have netted in the first half against Vidi, but missed a glorious chance to open the scoring with only the goalkeeper to beat.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Vidi | 04/10/18

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However, Morata made amends with his fine finish from close range in the second half before appearing emotional as he celebrated with teammate Willian.

Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri later said he hoped Morata would be able to "restart" his season after scoring on Thursday, and Fabregas admits he was pleased to see his compatriot back on the score-sheet because of the stress he has put himself under in recent months.

When asked by reporters after the 1-0 win whether it was a game that Morata will remember, Fabregas replied: "Alvaro will I’m sure, it was very important for him.

"You can feel he was trying to be a little bit nervous about the situation. He was stressing out a bit so the goal will do him a lot of good.

"I think this happens to all the strikers, they want to score goals. That’s their nature. I’ve never felt it as it is not my game. But I feel for them when they don’t score goals, especially Alvaro as I have a good relationship with him and I know that he suffers as he cares a lot.

"That’s very important as he cares as he wants to do really well in football. Sometimes it happens and sometimes not, but I’m very happy for him today."

When then asked if the Chelsea players still believe that Morata is the man to fire them forward, Fabregas said: "Yeah definitely.

"We believe in him, we believe in everyone. Definitely it’s up to him to keep trying as he’s doing and behaving in the way he does.

"His attitude is spot on and he always tries his best. We are delighted and hopefully this is the first of many."

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