November 25, 2024

Kalidou Koulibaly lights up Chelsea home debut with stunning volley against Tottenham Hotspur

Koulibaly #Koulibaly

The 31-year-old joined the Stamford Bridge club in the summer from Napoli in a deal worth £33 million. He made his Chelsea debut last week in the 1-0 win at Goodison Park against Everton. 

Koulibaly was impressive during his debut but he has now gone one better this weekend as he lit up his Stamford Bridge debut with a stunning goal to put his side 1-0 up.

Chelsea won a corner after Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris made a great save to deny Kai Havertz. 

Another new signing, Marc Cucurella took the corner and found Koulibaly unmarked in acres of space inside the Spurs penalty area. 

The Senegal defender then showed tremendous technique as he hooked the ball into the back of the net on his right foot, leaving Lloris unmoved as the ball sailed past the Frenchman. That goal was enough to earn Chelsea a well deserved one goal advantage at half time.

Sky Sports commentator Jamie Carragher likened Koulibaly’s goal to Chelsea great Glenn Hoddle. 

Carragher said: “The technique on that, with the ball coming across him, on the right foot, it’s almost Hoddle esque.” 

Koulibaly could have scored another in the 26th minute with an acrobatic effort but this time saw his shot sail high into the Stamford Bridge crowd. 

Thomas Tuchel’s side were the better team throughout the first half, dominating both ball possession and chances created. On the other hand, Spurs struggled to get their heavy hitters into the game, the likes of Harry Kane and Son Hueng Min were well defended by Koulibaly and his teammates.

Koulibaly was signed by Tuchel after the club lost the likes of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on the back of the 21/22 campaign. 

He said: “I’m very happy and excited to be here and to join up with the team in America. I was in London a few days ago to sort everything out and now I’m here, I’m so excited to play for this club. 

“Now I’m a Chelsea player, I just want to thank everyone for making this happen. The staff, the coach for wanting me and all the boys for making me feel so welcome. Already, I feel at home.

“I want to give emotion to the squad and help the team every time I play for this club. I can’t wait to come to Stamford Bridge and to show everybody how much it means for me to be here. I want to help the squad and together, we want to try and win trophies.” 

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