Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has backed Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku after the striker had one of the poorest performances in Premier League history.

The Blues eventually won the game with a 1-0 victory Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park on Saturday with the solitary goal scored by Moroccan Hakim Ziyech with three minutes left on the clock

However, the attention has been solely on the performance of the Belgian, who had just seven touches all game long. Lukaku only touched the ball seven times in the match, which is the lowest by a player in the Premier League in a regular league game since the data were recorded for the first time in 2003.

Meanwhile, Chelsea prepare to face French side Lille in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening. The clash is a round of sixteen encounters between the European champions and the Ligue 1 side. Chelsea’s German manager Thomas Tuchel has made the promise to defend the struggling striker.

“He’s in the spotlight and we’ll protect him. Romelu will always be part of the solution, sometimes it’s like this with strikers if they struggle a little bit with self-confidence and to find the space to get involved with a good defensive side. Of course, it’s not what we want and what Romelu wants but it’s also not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him.” Tuchel said.

While Chelsea finished second in Group H behind Juventus, Lille won Group G ahead of Salzburg, Sevilla, and Wolfsburg.

Chelsea is third on the Premier League table with 50 points from 25 games but 13 points behind table-toppers Manchester City lost their Premier League game to Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 at the weekend too, throwing the League title race open.

Meanwhile, the other UEFA Champions League game on Tuesday will see Italian giants Juventus travel to Spain to face Villarreal.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu