“A player who looked like he was enjoying himself” - Peter Crouch lavishes praise on ‘fantastic’ Chelsea star after win against Gent

Peter Crouch heaped praise on Chelsea defender Renato Veiga after their 4-2 win over KAA Gent. The Blues secured their second win in their second game in the UEFA Europa Conference League at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, October 3.

Veiga opened the scoring in the 12th minute via a good header. Pedro Neto then doubled their lead in the 46th minute before Tsuyoshi Watanabe made it 2-1 four minutes later. Christopher Nkunku (63') and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (70') also got on the scoresheet for the hosts before Omri Gandelman (90') got another goal for Gent.

After the game, Peter Crouch heaped praise on Veiga's performance, saying on TNT Sports (via The Chelsea Chronicle):

“I haven’t seen a great deal of him (Veiga), but Joe Cole was telling me what a good player he was. I saw it tonight.

“I thought he was fantastic, another fantastic player to have in the squad. A player who looked like he was enjoying himself and playing with a smile on his face. He finds himself in a lot of space [for his goal]… It was a fantastic header.”

Veiga played the entire 90 minutes against Gent, scoring a goal and providing one assist. He made two clearances and two interceptions, won 6/6 duels, completed 61/69 passes, including four key passes, and completed 2/2 dribble attempts.

Chelsea signed Veiga from FC Basel in the summer for a reported fee of €14 million. He's made eight appearances across competitions this season so far.

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Enzo Maresca explains reason behind joyous celebration after Chelsea star's goal in Gent win

Enzo Maresca celebrated all of his side's goals against Gent but there was a visible extra joy in his celebration at Kieran Dewsbury-Hall's goal. Chelsea signed the midfielder from Leicester City in the summer for a reported fee of €35.40 million. It was his first goal in seven appearances for the club.

After the game, Maresca, who worked with Dewsbury-Hall at Leicester last season, said about the midfielder (via Chelseafc.com):

"I know Kiernan very well from last year. I completely understand how difficult it is for Kiernan at this moment. I know when you are the main player and then move to a big club it's not easy because you're not the main player, and you’re on the bench or not in the squad.

"Sometimes you struggle a bit at the beginning, but he has to understand the reason he is here is because we want him, so I was very happy for him. The celebration was because I know he needed that."

Chelsea have now won their last five games in a row across competitions. They will next host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday, October 6.