Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia had never completed 90 minutes for the club before this week but has now done so in back-to-back matches.

His first full 90 minutes came in Wednesday’s penalty shootout defeat by Liverpool, before the 22-year-old followed it up in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United.

Lavia made nine defensive actions, won seven ground duels and made five tackles, as well as recording an impressive 14 ball recoveries.

After the match, Xabi Alonso explained that he had only been informed of Lavia’s selection late the previous evening because of Jordan Henderson’s illness. He also praised the midfielder’s “top performance”, saying he “deserves huge recognition”.

Having avoided injury throughout the season so far, Lavia was asked by BBC Sport whether this was the best he had felt since joining Chelsea from Southampton in 2023 for £53m.

Lavia replied: “I think you can say so, yeah. All I can say is that the work that we’re doing with all the people at the club is going well so far. It’s just about keeping it going and hopefully it can continue this way.

“As long as I feel good, I’ll do everything possible to help the team to get this type of result and I’m feeling good, so I’m very happy with my performance.”

Cole Palmer also told BBC Match of the Day that Lavia had produced “one of his best games” and that “people don’t realise how good he is”.

Meanwhile, Eden Hazard, who has been in regular contact with fellow Belgian Lavia throughout his time at Chelsea, was also in attendance.

Speaking about his conversation with Hazard, Lavia said: “Yes, he’s a very important figure for me and we speak quite [a] lot, so it’s good to see him out here and I can see in his eyes that he’s happy for me and proud, so that gives me that extra motivation.”