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ESPN staff 7y

Chelsea's David Luiz dedicates win vs. Man City to Chapecoense victims

David Luiz has dedicated Chelsea's 3-1 victory over Manchester City to the Chapecoense players who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

Brazilian club Chapecoense lost 19 of their players in the crash and Luiz paid tribute to them after the Blues made it eight consecutive wins in the Premier League as they came from behind against City to go four points clear at the top of the table on Saturday.

"I want to dedicate this win to the people who died in Brazil," he told Sky Sports. "It was difficult to get my head together as I had some friends there. We just need to pray for the victim's families." 

On Chelsea's victory, Luiz added: "It was a great game. That's what you expect in the Premier League. We showed our power, it also shows our character that we didn't lose our heads."

City were reduced to nine men late on against Chelsea, losing Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho to red cards.

Aguero was dismissed due to a wild lunge on Luiz, but the Chelsea defender played down the incident after the game.

"I don't like to speak about these type of things," he said. "Aguero is an amazing player who does a lot for football."

Fellow Chelsea defender Gary Cahill believes the side's comeback victory showed their strength of character.

City dominated the first hour, but had only a Cahill own goal to show for it before quickfire strikes from Diego Costa and substitute Willian transformed the game, with Eden Hazard's late goal sealing the result.

"We were 1-0 down but we had a lot of pressure to soak up in the first half,'' Cahill told Sky Sports. "We knew we were in the game. We got to 1-1 and started building the momentum and showed a lot of character.

"We're not at Christmas yet but it's encouraging to have eight wins [in a row] now and it was a test. We showed another side to our football and we're delighted.''

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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