REVEALED! Moses played through illness against Man Utd

By Akeem Lawal

IT has been revealed that Super Eagles winger, Victor Moses and other Chelsea key players including Diego Costa and Marcos Alonso were struck down with an illness before Sunday’s Premier League game against Manchester United and the club believes that it contributed significantly to their poor performance.

Although Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte took full responsibility for the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford that kept the team’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, it can be revealed that the Nigeria international and the other two players missed training on Friday because of the sickness.

Alonso is said to have passed himself fit to play but pulled out in the warm-up at Old Trafford, prompting a last minute switch by Conte to keep the balance of the team.

Costa played on but was below par by his standards – Chelsea did not muster a shot on target for the whole game. Moses also started the game but the 26 year old was a long way from his best and was substituted on 54 minutes to make way for Cesc Fabregas.

Conte does not want the players to look for excuses for the performance and it is expected that all three will be fit to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the much-anticipated FA Cup semi-final at Wembley between the Premier League’s two top clubs.

It is not clear why so many of the players found themselves affected but the feeling within the club was that it was just a short term illness and that the other unaffected members of the squad were at no risk of catching it.