Pablo Zabaleta has paid a huge tribute to Chicharito praising his professionalism and focus.
Speaking after the Mexican goal poacher had grabbed a typical goal to ensure we took a pint from Saturday’s game he said: “Chicharito is a true professional.
“Even though he’s not played as much as he would like recently he’s kept training well and he’s remained focused. He’s been a great professional.
“This is what you need from substitutes. He came on and made a big impact in the game and he scored. It was a great finish from Chicharito.”
The defender is hoping the player he replaced – Manuel Lanzini – isn’t too badly injured declaring: “We need to wait for the scan.
Manuel is one of the most important players for our team and he played 120 minutes on Tuesday. Players like him make so many sprints during the game.”
“I thought we were really good for the first half an hour of the game. We were really intense and we created a few chances.
“We couldn’t score and the second half was similar for about 20 minutes, but then the rest we looked a bit tired.”
“I thought we put so much effort in during the game and some of the players played 120 minutes in midweek. Apart from this it was a good game. Both teams had chances. A point is a point and sometimes, when you can’t win, you have to try to get something