Hudson-Odoi’s first-half goal in Rennes was made in the Chelsea Academy, as the winger slotted home after fellow graduate Mason Mount had won the ball in midfield and picked out his run with a brilliant pass in behind. However, according to Hudson-Odoi, he never had any doubt his team-mate would produce that kind of assist.
‘I know Mason, he works really hard, he presses it well in the middle. As soon as he won the ball I thought to myself “take off” because I knew that I was in front of the full-back and I knew that he would find me straight away. His vision is amazing and he saw me straight away, which I was happy about, and I got in there and I scored a goal so I’m really happy.’
We didn’t have things all our own way at Roazhon Park, though, as some late drama saw Rennes equalise before Olivier Giroud’s injury-time header gave us victory. That win also made us the first team to qualify for the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League, quickly followed by Sevilla, Barcelona and Juventus.
‘It’s amazing,’ added Hudson-Odoi. ‘When we went out there, we knew that if we got the win we could be going through so we pushed and pushed and pushed until the end. It was unfortunate to concede a goal but we dug deep, got the extra goal at the end and we’re delighted to go through.’
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