Timo Werner says injury was the reason he didn't take a penalty in Chelsea's third round Carabao Cup shootout victory over Aston Villa this evening.
A much-changed Blues side were held to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Werner was on the scoresheet for the first time this season with a well-timed header shortly into the second period but Villa equalised through youngster Cameron Archer.
The game had to be decided from the spot and Romelu Lukaku, Mason Mount, Ross Barkley and Reece James all converted for Chelsea. Ben Chilwell was the only player to fail from the spot but misses from Villa stars Ashley Young and Marvelous Nakamba meant the Blues progressed to the fourth round where they will face Southampton.
That Werner didn't take a spot-kick in the shootout was curious given he had a good record from 12 yards while at RB Leipzig. However, the 25-year-old said after the game a calf problem was why he didn't step up.
"I had some pain in my calf but with only three substitutes, I couldn't go off," Werner, who was victim of a heavy challenge late in the second half, told Chelsea's post-match broadcast. "But when you have fit players on the pitch, it's better they shoot than me today."
Thomas Tuchel heavily rotated his side for tonight's game. There were ten changes made in total to the Chelsea side, with only Kepa Arrizabalaga keeping his place in the side that started the victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
That led to a somewhat disjointed first-half display but the Chelsea head coach admitted he expected that to be the case, although it didn't stop him from becoming increasingly irritated throughout the contest.
“Two days [is how long we worked with the team]," Tuchel said after tonight's victory. "We knew after the Tottenham game who we wanted to get 90 minutes into the legs of.
"So two days and we worked on the same principles. It was the same structure so we don’t make it too complicated or unfair [on the players]. We trust them anyway. A lot of them can play against City or Juventus and it was necessary they get competitive minutes in their legs.
"What we demanded was intensity, energy, attitude, to try their very best. Maybe we didn’t expect the most fluid and precise attacking game from the start but it got better and better because the guys did well on this and it’s a perfect evening."
