Chelsea ace David Luiz’s amazing gesture to own goal loanee Fikayo Tomori delights fans after win over Derby
Supporters hail the Brazil international after he is seen comforting Derby defender
CHELSEA defender David Luiz may divide opinion but there were few doubting his leadership skills on Wednesday after he comforted Derby County's on-loan defender Fikayo Tomori.
It followed an embarrassing night for the youngster in the Carabao Cup fourth round tie at Stamford Bridge in which he put into his own net.
Playing against his parent club, the 20-year-old missed a right-wing cross from Davide Zappacosta and saw the ball ricochet off his standing leg and beyond goalkeeper Scott Carson.
Though Rams captain Richard Keogh would later put through his own goal, Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn twice drew Frank Lampard's side level.
Cesc Fabregas netted what would prove to be the winner four minutes before half-time to dump the Championship side out, despite David Nugent hitting the post late on.
Luiz was a 66th minute substitute, replacing Andreas Christensen, who had a nightmare evening on his return to the Chelsea first team.
Tomori is on a season-long loan from the West London outfit, along with Mason Mount, and is therefore well-known to a number of the Maurizio Sarri's current squad.
Among them is Luiz, who at full-time took it upon himself to console Tomori and give him some words of encourgment.
Many Chelsea fans reacted positively to the act, with some even suggesting he was displaying the leadership skills the club are crying out for.
Gary Cahill is Chelsea's current club captain but his outing against Derby was just his fifth of the season.
Laurenz Vescoli wrote on Twitter: "No matter what you think of him as a player, things like this are the reason he‘s the closest thing to a proper captain we have at the club!"
Matt B added: "Say what you want about David Luiz but that lad cares about this team and everyone associated with it. Love seeing him giving Tomori a chat at the end."
Finally, Peter stated: "David Luiz consoling Tomori is part of the reason why I want him to be captain [sic]."
Sarri has refrained from naming an alternative Chelsea captain amid Cahill's sustained spell out of the team though Cesar Azpilicueta has worn the armband for every minute of the club's Premier League campaign.
In over 200 appearances for Chelsea across two different spells Luiz has never started a game as skipper though that could change if Sarri caves to recent fan pressure.