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Football London
Football London
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Daniel Childs

Jorginho genius five-second Newcastle act revives Chelsea's iconic connection for Thomas Tuchel

One of Chelsea's best goals this season scored in one of the worst games in years.

The five seconds that won the Blues all three points on Sunday afternoon was the only highlight from a Chelsea perspective.

It was a scrappy, scruffy and mostly irritating game that saw Eddie Howe nearly get another one over the London club, given he had already won three times at Stamford Bridge previously with Bournemouth.

The sublime finish from Kai Havertz was worthy of winning a World Cup or Champions League – but Kai has already done the latter. That move also had undeniable similarities to a previous match-winning connection that led Chelsea to two league titles.

Yes, I am invoking the name of the great Diego Costa here (again). But everything about the construction of Sunday's winner had me transported back to the 2014/15 season when Cesc Fabregas would effortlessly ping balls towards the talismanic frontman to finish.

This type of pass from Jorginho is something Chelsea supporters have frustratingly demanded more from the Italian, whose game is more accustomed to playing a safer pass to his side.

Even in the 88th minute when the midfielder picked up the ball, he quickly found Antonio Rudiger for a neat one-two before looking up to scan his options.

Out of frame, Jorginho could play a pass back to Andreas Christensen or Trevoh Chalobah. Also spotting a space to find a retreating N'Golo Kante. (WyScout)

It is interesting to contrast this starting position to Cesc Fabregas, who would operate a lot deeper before playing the ball directly to Costa.

One of the classic Fabregas/Costa combinations against Manchester City. Fabregas is behind the halfway line before finding Costa's run behind Nicolás Otamendi (WyScout)
Costa would usually look to chest the ball down before shrugging off the defender and finishing ruthlessly. (WyScout)

You look back through all the Fabregas/Costa goals of this nature, and they share a similar pattern. It also reflected Chelsea's more direct approach to attack under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

Jorginho's arrival in 2018 under Maurizio Sarri triggered a more methodical and slow approach in possession, to the frustration of supporters craving this type of pass.

Against Everton in 2016, Fabregas drops deep, picks up the ball and instantly aims the ball for Costa. (WyScout)
Again Costa in a physical battle, beating both Phil Jagielka and Timo Howard to the ball for an easy tap-in. (WyScout)

That pair combined for 15 goals across three seasons, nearly all coming in the Premier League and spearheaded an attack that broke down many stubborn defences.

Moving back to Sunday, when Jorginho picks up the ball, he opts for a quick ball over the top, spotting the intelligent positioning of Havertz, who has drifted off the shoulder of Dan Burn.

Havertz quickly ghosts in behind Burn as Jorginho aims the ball to the back post. (WyScout)
Havertz's first touch is sublime, cushioning the ball before his second takes it beyond Martin Dúbravka to win the game. (WyScout)

That goal was Havertz's sixth of the Premier League season and, more importantly, his fourth in the last three games.

Stretch back to include his goal against Lille in the Champions League and Club World Cup-winning penalty, and the German is quickly emerging as Tuchel's most ruthless attacker.

His brilliant runs off the ball are opening up space for teammates, and his influence in the final third is rightly keeping Romelu Lukaku out of the starting lineup.

This was arguably his best goal of the season due to the lack of involvement he had within the game. It was a frustrating day for Havertz and threatened to be defined by his weak header into the palms of Dúbravka minutes before his dramatic winner.

"The Kai Havertz goal was exceptional," Tuchel said after the game.

"We were, of course, a bit lucky today. We maybe had a hard time on the pitch because Newcastle was physical, well deserved, gave us difficulty to create chances and accelerate the game in the last 30 metres.

"It was so important not to concede. To have the quality with one chance, one quality pass, and one quality finish to win it. Thank goodness we did it. We never got frustrated about it.

"We were so good in the last four minutes. It was so easy to find the gaps, the switch of play, everything was so easy and so much more fluid."

Passes of this nature from Jorginho have not been consistent enough, but with Havertz growing broader shoulders with every goal he scores, the team should be aiming to get the ball to his feet as quickly as possible.

Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.

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