Alan Shearer has singled out Chelsea star Malo Gusto for praise after his impressive performance in Saturday’s Premier League win over Everton.
Gusto provided an assist for Cole Palmer in the first half and then got on the scoresheet himself after the break as the Blues won the game 2-0.
The 22-year-old France international was deployed as an inverted full-back against the Toffees and shined to help Chelsea move up into the top four.
Premier League legend Shearer, working as a football pundit for the BBC, declared that Gusto was the ‘stand-out Chelsea player’ from the match.
‘A comfortable win for Chelsea,’ Shearer said. ‘Everton had a couple of opportunities but never looked like getting back into the game once it was 2-0.
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‘Malo Gusto was the stand-out Chelsea player for me, not just in terms of the obvious with the goal and assist.
‘Also the questions he posed for Everton… linking up with Palmer and [Pedro] Neto down the right and moving into midfield alongside [Reece] James to create the extra man when needed.’
Enzo Maresca ‘very happy’ for Malo Gusto
Quizzed about using Gusto and James as inverted full-backs against Everton, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca told the BBC: ‘Never with two, huh?
‘They are good players and when they are good players they can play in every position. They can play full-back and midfielder.
‘[Malo Gusto] took the chance and his assist for Cole, so I am very happy for Malo.’
Meanwhile, in his post-match press conference, Maresca hailed Palmer and declared that he was the ‘best player’ in the current Chelsea squad.
‘With Cole, we are a better team,’ Maresca said.
‘I really praise the players and the squad because we’ve played 16 Premier League games, five of them without Moises Caicedo, 11 of them without Palmer, almost all of them without Liam Delap.
‘This squad has been doing fantastic. We have played almost the whole season without our best player.
‘I am so happy for the players. People on the outside can appreciate that.’
Chelsea are back in action on Tuesday against Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals – but Palmer is set for a rest after his recent injury return.
Asked if Palmer was likely to play against the League One leaders, Maresca added: ‘Probably not.’