Mykhaylo Mudryk finally found the net for Chelsea as he combined artistically with the new arrival Nicolas Jackson who also scored in a 4-3 friendly win over Brighton in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Brighton took the lead in 13th minute when Danny Welbeck fired home a cross from teammate Kaoru Mitoma. French forward Nkunku, who is also a new recruit from RB Leipzig, and Conor Gallagher rounded off the scoring for Chelsea before Brighton had a late flurry.
Mudryk who witnessed an abysmal start to his Chelsea career with only 17 appearances (11 as a substitute) last season. He moved from Shaktar Donetsk for fixed fee of €70m with a further €30m in add-ons and has found life in English Premier League too big a gulf to traverse.
Apart from a tumultuous time on the football pitch, Mudryk has also been getting unfavorable coverage on social media like being ridiculed by fitness influencer Joey Swoll for sharing a clip of an elderly gym-goer struggling on a rowing machine.
With a mountain of pressure, both from the terraces and twitterverse, it comes as no surprise that his first goal has garnered a lot of eyeballs. However, it was not a stylish finish into th bottom corner that stole the show.
It was his interview in English during post match coverage for that had everyone enraptured.
Speaking to Premier League TV panel that included Manish Bhasin, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Owen and former blue Mario Melchiot, he was expectedly nervous and struggled to string full sentences in a non native language.
There was a mix of relief and excitement. He was quick to attribute time on the training pitch which paid dividends in terms performance.
He also acknowledged a fledgling partnership with new forwards Jackson and Nkunku.
His words seem to indicate that Mudryk is taking this preseason as a reset for his Chelsea career as he confessed that he has only displayed twenty percent of his talents. Only time will tell what he can deliver in the upcoming campaign under the tutelage of Pochettino.
Twitter had a field day with his recent interview and here are some of the more spicier takes on his performance.
There were some who sympathized with the Ukrainian who has found life in England tough both professionally and culturally.