Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez praised Juan Mata after his winner at Norwich City took the London club to within four points of second-placed Manchester City in the English Premier League.
The Spanish midfielder claimed his 13th goal of the season seven minutes before halftime on Wednesday to decide a contest that lacked many other goal-scoring opportunities.
“Mata is a player who is very dangerous getting into the box and also outside the box, so we are very pleased with him,” said Benitez, who had seen his players humble Aston Villa 8-0 in their previous game.
“He is in form and the team is too, as we have now won three games in a row. He is doing really well. Even without the ball, he is working really hard and, when we are in possession, he is making a difference.
“He is clever and has clever movements. He can play deeper, can go to the right into spaces, and that is hard for the midfielders and the defenders to manage.
“The Premier League has a lot of good players and Mata is one of the best, for sure.”
Benitez was less clear about a pre-match newspaper report that had claimed England international Frank Lampard has been told he can leave the club next month instead of at the end of the season, when his contract expires.
“From my position, it is very easy – it is a private conversation between Frank and the club,” said the Spaniard, an interim replacement for the sacked Roberto Di Matteo.
“That’s it. He is a player who is under contract, he is a good player and I will try to bring the best from him. That is my position.”
Chelsea also possess a game in hand over Manchester City, who are Norwich’s visitors on Saturday, and Benitez was confident the champions could be overhauled, although Manchester United still hold an 11-point cushion at the top.
“We are in a good position,” he said.
“It could be better. I feel we have done well in the last month – we are growing and progressing. We can manage different types of games and still get results, which could be really important.
“We saw the other day (against Villa), we can play football but, in this game, we showed we can defend in difficult conditions.”
Benitez had dropped Lampard to the bench and did not bring him on until the 79th minute.
Despite the defeat, Norwich occupy 11th place on the table and are at least 10 points clear of the bottom three.