Huddersfield Town vs Chelsea. Premier League.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance24,121.
Highlights and report as Maurizio Sarri begins his Chelsea tenure with a comfortable win over Huddersfield
Sunday 12 August 2018 07:18, UK
Jorginho scored on his Chelsea debut as Maurizio Sarri's tenure began with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium.
Jorginho, a £57m summer signing from Sarri's former club Napoli, netted from the penalty spot (45) after N'Golo Kante had opened the scoring with a first-time finish from Willian's cross (34).
Steve Mounie hit the post for Huddersfield in between those goals, but Chelsea dominated the second half, adding their third goal when Eden Hazard, who started the game on the bench following his World Cup excursions, set up Pedro (80).
It capped a satisfying afternoon for Sarri, who also handed a debut to Kepa Arrizabalaga following his world-record £71.6m transfer from Athletic Bilbao in his first Premier League game in charge.
Huddersfield never looked like getting back into the game after Jorginho's penalty on the stroke of half-time, but it looked like an even contest in the opening exchanges.
Chelsea enjoyed most of the possession in Sarri's favoured 4-3-3 formation, but they struggled to break the hosts down until Kante hit the opener with their first shot on goal.
The World Cup-winner, who was playing in a more advanced role than last season, mis-hit his effort, but it bounced up and over Huddersfield goalkeeper Ben Hamer to give him his first Premier League goal since September 2017.
Mounie was inches away from equalising when he headed against the inside of the post from a Huddersfield corner a few minutes later, but Chelsea soon doubled their advantage.
Marcos Alonso won their penalty, drawing a foul from Christopher Schindler, and Jorginho showed impressive composure to coolly slot his finish past Hamer.
Alonso then struck the crossbar with an acrobatic effort as Chelsea became increasingly dominant in the second half, with the third goal eventually arriving 10 minutes from time.
Hazard was the architect, driving forward and drawing blue and white shirts towards him before releasing the unmarked Pedro, who dinked his finish over Hamer to wrap up the victory.
David Wagner (Huddersfield): "We played well. The players have shown commitment, desire, passion and created chances. We hit the bar twice. Once when we were 1-0 down after conceding a very unlucky goal from a deflection. It was Chelsea's first chance more or less out of nothing and then we conceded the penalty where we clearly made a big mistake. You can't do that against Chelsea because they will hurt you, and that's exactly what they did."
Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea): "I am really very happy because in the first part of the season I think that for us it is not easy to gain points. The first half was hard. If you look at the result, you can think about an easy game, but in the first half we were in trouble for 15 minutes against a very physical team."
As expected, Kante started in a more attacking role than in the last two seasons, lining up on the right-hand side of Sarri's three-man midfield, with Jorginho in the holding role.
He took to the position without any problems, providing his usual defensive tenacity to break up counter-attacks and scoring only his fourth Premier League goal in 107 appearances. With new licence to attack, there might be more to follow.
Could Barkley work his way back into England contention? The 24-year-old endured a torrid time at Chelsea last season but he has come in from the cold under Sarri and showed flashes of his ability at the John Smith's Stadium before making way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Southgate would be wise to keep an eye on him.
Huddersfield's next game is against champions Manchester City live on Sky Sports at the Etihad Stadium on Super Sunday, while Chelsea welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge on the Saturday.
