Joe Cole singles out ‘monster’ Chelsea star after FA Cup win vs Wrexham | Football

Joe Cole has described Joao Pedro as a ‘monster’ for Chelsea after their 4-2 win against Wrexham in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Liam Rosenior’s side survived a scare against their Championship opponents as they needed extra time to secure their place in the FA Cup quarter-final draw.

Wrexham took the lead twice in the game before they were reduced to 10 men in the 90th minute. Chelsea capitalised in extra time as Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro both found the net to seal their victory.

Pedro has now scored 11 goals in his last 12 games for Chelsea and is in sublime form ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening.

‘He’s a monster, he really is,’ Cole told TNT Sports.

‘I think he’s decided what he’s already doing [for his goal vs Wrexham], he’s playing with them, he takes the centre-half over to the left, drags him back, he actually strikes it into the floor, everything he’s hitting at the moment going in.

‘He plays that No.9 role, he plays it not like an Erling Haaland where he’s constantly on the shoulder, he will drop in and drift in because he’s got quality.’

Ben Foster, who was a pundit alongside Cole for the FA Cup tie, played with Pedro at Watford and believes the Brazilian’s versatility in attack is what makes him such a threat.

‘I’ve got to say I’m so happy to see Joao doing really well,’ Foster said.

‘I was with Joao at Watford, you could see all the raw elements were there, he had that real bit of Brazilian flair about him and nastiness as well.

‘But to see him now in the Premier League doing it week in, week out. He played on the left for us, on the right, up top, he could do all of those little positions and I think that’s why he’s scoring so any goals and being so effective, he’s taking positions and defenders don’t know where he’s going to be.

‘I was really surprised he didn’t start tonight, to be honest, because when somebody has just scored a hat-trick, confidence, especially strikers, they feed off this ego and when they score a hat-trick they just want to score more and more. To see him come on I thought, ‘oh no, here we go’.’

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