Not a Haaland? Joao Pedro responds in the best way possible in Chelsea win

Robin Bairner

• 1 Nov 2025 15:18 CDT
• 4 min read

Analysis

Joao Pedro was Chelsea’s hero in their 1-0 Premier League victory over Tottenham on Saturday, firing the winning goal but also a message to manager Enzo Maresca.

The decisive moment came around the half-hour mark and owed much to the persistence of Moises Caicedo, whose relentless press won the ball just outside the Spurs penalty box and set up an opportunity for the former Brighton striker to lift the ball into the top of the net.

Current ETV

João Pedro

F, M, AM (C)

Chelsea

João Pedro

F, M, AM (C)

Chelsea

€61.4M

ETV Range

€55.2M - €67.5M

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Had it not been for Guglielmo Vicario, the Brazilian might have had more. The 24-year-old had five shots, all of which hit the target, with only the excellence of the Italian in the Spurs goal denying him a greater haul.

It was a strong response from a player who had failed to score a competitive goal since August, seeing the pressure gradually build on him in the process.

Joao Pedro not a killer like Haaland

Maresca tried to take the pressure off him in a curious manner prior to the Carabao Cup clash against Wolves, arguing that Joao Pedro is not Chelsea’s centre-forward to be a prolific scorer.

“He's going to score goals with us. He's going to give us assists, knowing that Joao Pedro is not a No.9 that is going to score 20 goals each year,” he said.

“It's not Joao, he's a fantastic player, he's going to score goals for us, he's going to give us assists. But it's a different kind of nine, like this kind of nine that they score 20-25 goals each year like Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe or Haaland. This is a different kind of No.9.”

A formidable response

Maresca’s words might have been designed to reassure his striker that he is very much in his plans, yet equally it has drawn suggestions that Chelsea will one day need to sign a world-class striker.

Instead, Joao Pedro showed the type of striking instinct of one of those leading lights that his Italian boss had previously mentioned, taking up good areas and getting away good efforts on goal. While opportunities were passed up, this was largely due to the excellence of the home goalkeeper, who finished as SofaScore’s best-rated player.

As the table above shows, Joao Pedro's finishing was above average from the chances he had. The xG figure represents the quality of opportunities he had, but the xGOT figure represents the quality of shots he got away. As his xGOT was bigger than his xG, he could have expected to score more than once based on his finishing.

Indeed, Joao Pedro even outshone Moises Caicedo, whose performance won widespread acclaim for his relentlessness in midfield.

Now the No.9 needs to kick on and show such hunger in every game. In a week in which fellow forward Liam Delap failed to cover himself in glory, Joao Pedro has responded to Maresca’s criticism with this display, but needs to repeat it on a more regular basis if he is to become Chelsea’s answer to a long-standing centre-forward headache.