The Swansea ball boy infamously kicked by Chelsea’s Eden Hazard managed to keep possession of the ball longer than Romelu Lukaku did against Brighton last night, Opta have confirmed.
Hazard was shown a straight red card by referee Chris Foy for kicking a ball boy during a League Cup semi-final game in South Wales back in 2013.
The incident occurred when the ball boy prevented a quick restart by lying on top of the ball with Chelsea trailing 2-0 on aggregate.
Now Opta stats have revealed how the boy held onto the ball longer than Chelsea striker Lukaku did at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night.
‘As you can see, the Swansea ball boy had 10 touches of the ball compared to Lukaku’s 8’, a spokesperson on behalf of the sports analytics company told Paddy Power News.
‘Ironically, the ball boy would’ve had considerably more than 10 touches had Romelu played against Swansea because the big man’s first touch is usually a throw-in’.
Opta went on to discuss some of Lukaku’s other statistics from the game.
‘You’ll notice how he covered less kilometres during the game than Kepa Arrizabalaga’.
‘And how his heat map reveals an inferior movement to that of Thomas Tuchel in the technical area’.
Meanwhile, Tuchel has revealed what was said during a heated conversation between Lukaku and teammate Hakim Ziyech as they left the field at halftime.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 20: Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea is tackled by Lasse Nielsen of Malmo FF which leads to a penalty decision for Chelsea during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Chelsea FC and Malmo FF at Stamford Bridge on October 20, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
‘It’s normal they are not happy when Romelu keeps telling everyone how sh*t Chelsea is compared to Inter Milan’, the German told Paddy Power News during his post-match press conference.
‘Inter this, Inter that. Get over it, mate. No one cares how many goals you scored in Serie A. Big Zlatan’s still banging them in and he’s 50’.
In related news, historians agree JFK might still be alive today had Romelu Lukaku acted as the lone shooter.
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