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Chelsea took the lead inside of 5 minutes against Brighton in the friendly last month, but this time it took us a bit longer to break the deadlock. The man central to both goals was Timo Werner however, this time winning the penalty, which Jorginho dispatched with customary cool (note to announcers: Jorginho did the hop-skip in the Premier League long before Manchester United’s penalty-merchant Bruno Fernandes).
Outside of the goal however, Chelsea didn’t exactly dominate proceedings, with the home side edging possession and shots in the first half. A couple solid blocks from defenders and one solid save from Kepa kept the scoreline at 1-0.
The second half was a bit more dramatic affair, with a succession of goals and chances in a 12-minute period taking us from 1-0 to 3-1. First, Brighton equalized with a harmless-looking long-shot, then 90 seconds later Reece James gave the lead back to Chelsea with anything but a harmless-looking long-shot. Ten minutes later, it was Kurt Zouma’s harmless-looking poke at a corner that rolled over the line, thanks to a most harmful deflection from a Brighton defender.
Fortunately, the rest of the match played out without too much further incident.
Three goals, three points, three on the shirts.
Carefree.
- Lampard starts ALL the midfielders, with Mount, RLC, and Havertz lined up mostly in the attacking band of three.
- Chelsea more of a 4-3-3 after RLC subbed off, with Barkley dropping more alongside Kante and Jorginho. Hudson-Odoi (for Havertz) and Azpilicueta for Jorginho (who had picked up a knock) completed the three allowed changes (no longer allowed five, which is a shame).
- Reece James at defensive midfield for the last few minutes, in place of Jorginho, with Azpi at right back instead.
- Werner’s speed is killer; we just need to learn to release him (much) sooner
- Tariq Lamptey is a baller, but we knew that already
- Next up: Liverpool at home next Sunday
- KTBFFH