Antonio Conte praises Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi after double in Arsenal win

Antonio Conte praised the performance of Michy Batshuayi after he scored twice in Chelsea’s comfortable pre-season win against Arsenal in China.

Both Arsène Wenger and Conte named strong teams for the match at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, with Alexandre Lacazette again featuring for Arsenal. Wenger also named the youngsters Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Cohen Bramall in his starting lineup. The recent £58m Chelsea signing Álvaro Morata did not feature but arrived in Singapore on Saturday to join his Chelsea team-mates.

Batshuayi excelled in attack, leading the line in front of Pedro and Willian, who opened the scoring five minutes before half-time. Batshuayi, who scored the decisive goal at West Bromwich Albion as Chelsea won the Premier League in May, scored his first goals of the new season in style, curling an opener before striking home from the edge of the box.

“Last season it was a difficult season for Michy but don’t forget he scored a very important goal to give us the title,” Conte said. “I think last season he had a bit of difficulty because it is not easy to play in the Premier League. It is a physical league and a very strong league.

“After one year he is working very well and he is improving. Me and my staff want to improve every player and Batshuayi is a young player with great potential and it is important for him and for us to work in this way, and for him to understand what I want. For me the striker is very important, he is a point of reference. If he stays in the right position, it is easier for us, for the team and to play good football.”

Chelsea did lose the winger Pedro midway through the first half after with suspected concussion following a clash with the Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina. The Spain international, 29, was forced off and taken to a local hospital for some routine checks but Conte is confident the player will join his team-mates in Singapore – where they will play Bayern Munich and Internazionale next week – for the next leg of their pre-season tour of Asia.

“He should be OK but I think he had concussion,” the Italian said. “For this reason, our doctor preferred to take him to the hospital and check him in the right way. It is a pity because in this period it is not good to have this type of injury but he should be OK. For sure he stays here [in Beijing] and then if the situation is OK he will come tomorrow to Singapore.”