Torres relieved after ending drought

April 23, 2011

Fernando Torres claimed the pressure had been lifted from his shoulders after he finally scored his first goal for Chelsea in their 3-0 Premier League win over West Ham.

Torres: It was hard to settle

Torres, who cost the club £50 million in January, had not found the net for 901 minutes for club and country, including 732 for the champions since joining them almost three months ago, but it took him just eight minutes to do so after coming off the bench.
The Spaniard told ESPN: ''It was not the beginning I was expecting when I signed, but it's not easy to go in January or February.
''I kept working and it's thanks to all my team-mates that I scored. There's less pressure for me now, now I can enjoy it. Today the pitch was not the best to score the goal, but football is like this.''
Torres insisted he had never got disheartened by the tough start to his Chelsea career, but admitted he owed the fans that goal.
''The fans have been very patient with me,'' he added on ESPN. ''I had more and more anxiety for them than for me. Hopefully this is the first of many.''
The joy and relief at Torres's goal was shared by his team-mates, who celebrated with him. Didier Drogba, who came off for the Spaniard, added: ''I was in the changing room and I wanted to run and jump on as well. We know we have a great player here, next season is going to go well for him.''
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti claimed Torres' goal will herald a new beginning for the striker.
''It was perfect today. Everyone waited for Fernando to score and he scored,'' said the Italian. ''For him from today it will be a new life. I think from today he will have a fantastic future here in this club
''The big problem was he came in to a new club and it was not easy to find a relationship with the new team-mates and the play but now the bad moments have gone.''