Chelsea: Jorginho ran the show vs Zagreb
Chelsea's Jorginho celebrates with the player of the match trophy after the match
Chelsea rounded off their Champions League group stage with a 2-1 comeback win against Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues started slowly and found themselves a goal down on seven minutes when Bruno Petkovic pounced to head home in the six-yard box, the hosts quickly turned on the style as Raheem Sterling levelled with his first goal since the start of September.
The West Londoners then got themselves ahead on the half-hour mark when debutant Denis Zakaria marked his debut by netting the winning goal, whilst the match winner received the plaudits on his belated debut, but it was really his midfield partner whose solid performance went under the radar and was the lynchpin for the victory.
Jorginho came back into Graham Potter’s midfield after being an unused sub in the defeat at Brighton on the weekend and showed just what the Blues missed, receiving a 7.3 match rating from Sofascore last night.
With Potter bucking the trend of late and starting a back four, the first time since in six games the back three set-up was ditched, meaning the emphasis was on the Italian to drop between the lines and pick the ball up from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and the Chelsea backline to turn and start the Blues attacks off, which he did with aplomb.
The hosts yet again dominated possession under the English coach, seeing 59% of the ball with Jorginho revelling in the game, amassing 76 accurate passes from just 90 touches throughout – an accuracy of 93%, showing his control on the tempo as he utilised one- and two-touch football to keep Chelsea ticking over.
He had the second-highest amount of touches on the pitch and 41 more than Zakaria, whilst the 30-year-old also completed two key passes as his play became more adventurous further up the pitch.
The £110k-per-week brute bossed his defensive responsibilities from his midfield position, winning five out of six duels (83%) along with one tackle and two interceptions, demonstrating his all-round game as he oozed class throughout the 90 minutes, all of those actions higher than his Swiss partner bar interceptions which were tied.
Chelsea fan and broadcaster Frank Edoho paid homage to a “silent masterclass” from the 2021 UEFA Best Player in Europe with his performance surely sending a strong message to the boss that he needs to be started against Arsenal on the weekend if the Blues are to have any chance of recording a first league win in four games against the early season pace setters.