Chelsea got back to winning ways during the weekend after the players put in an absolute shift to come back with three crucial points from Vicarage Road.
While the score suggests they only managed to eke out a narrow 2-1 win, it doesn’t tell the full story.
Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic struck at Vicarage Road
The Blues were in charge for the majority of the game, buoyed by the efforts of their dynamic duo in the middle of the field, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic.
The two players ended up with a combined 265 passes at 95% accuracy, with an accumulated possession of 22.2% between them.
For context, the entire Watford team could only conjure up 33.3% possession throughout the 90 minutes, meaning the pair had as much as two-thirds of the possession as the Hornets managed.
Mateo Kovačić (11.7%) and Jorginho (10.5%) had 22.2% possession between them against Watford.
Kovacic, with 154 touches, the most by player on the field during the game, was seen frequently driving forward with purpose and adding to the attacking impulse of his time.
He managed to complete 11 of his 12 attempted long balls, while also managing to win as many as 7 duels which highlights his contribution both in attack and in defence. As long as he keeps up this rich vein of form, the Stamford Bridge faithful won’t be missing the injured Kante much.
As for Jorginho, the Italian midfield maestro completed 11 hard-fought recoveries and as many as 4 interceptions. The 27-year-old also threaded four neat through balls splitting Watford’s defence, the first of which was delightfully finished by Tammy Abraham to open Chelsea’s account. He also created two chances and apart from the yellow card late in the game had a near-perfect game.
Both Jorginho and Kovacic have flourished under Lampard this season
While Jorginho has already cemented his place as a favourite of both the fans and the manager, Real Madrid-reject Kovacic has also done well so far to win the trust of his manager.
Along with Kante, the three have been the fulcrum of the team’s success in the season uptil now and will be hopeful of kickstarting another winning streak after a 2-1 loss against Manchester United in the cup in their last outing.
