Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea's boss, has asked his players to prove a point by solving the club’s striker crisis. This was after Romelu and Timo Werner were both injured in Wednesday's comfortable win over Malmo.
After scoring Andreas Christensen’s first goal and two Jorginho penalties, the win was a routine one. However, Lukaku suffered an ankle injury in the 23rd minute.
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Lukaku was injured in an unfortunate tackle by Lasse Nielson, earning the Blues their first spot kick. Werner then followed his striker-partner with a hamstring injury just a minute before the half-time break.
The club's Cobham training facility will assess both players on Thursday. However, Tuchel said that the pair would be out for "some games", leaving Chelsea without a senior-recognized striker for Saturday’s Premier League match against Norwich.
Tuchel said to reporters, "Maybe I don't know much more than you do," after the game at Stamford Bridge.
"Romelu injured his ankle when he was fouled in the box, and Timo suffered a hamstring injury. Both of them will need to wait. They will both be available for matches, but we need to do more tests.
Germany's midfielder Havertz was a central striker for the second half. He combined well with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Werner's replacement. This was Havertz's second Chelsea goal since last season's Champions League Final. Tuchel stated: "It's always a chance [for other] and always necessary that we prove a point. We will play some games now without Romelu or Timo.
"Everybody is welcome to join the race for a few minutes on the pitch. When they get on the pitch, they must show determination and hunger to win, to be in control, and to be in the box. This is how it works.
"They [Havertz & Hudson-Odoi] did it today, and there's still room for improvement. We all need the same determination and hunger from everyone who starts. We are looking for solutions that don't involve Romelu or Timo.
Tuchel supported his decision to start Lukaku, despite saying Tuesday that the striker's six goal drought in games was partly due to being "mentally tired" after his recent Belgian adventures.
Tuchel said that Lukaku's injury was not possible if he had known it beforehand. "But how could you know it before?" He was required to be on the pitch. He was very strong from the beginning. He was very strong when I first met him.
It is normal, I think. But he is our number nine. He is our reference up-front and the best way to fight mental fatigue. We knew that we could be the dominant team so we built around a fast attack with Mason and Timo as the reference in the middle.
"I believed that he could win a Champions League match by scoring goals and being decisive. He did this because he was very strong at our start. It might not have been 2-0 without him taking the foul.
"I don’t regret it, because it isn’t a muscle injury or physical fatigue. It is more that he is a bit overplayed. That is just my opinion. Perhaps I'm wrong. This was the time to make him feel confident and allow him to play. It is possible for things like this to happen, and it can be bad luck.
