toptop
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).
Player ratings
Huddersfield: Hamer (5), Hadergjonaj (5), Zanka (6), Schindler
(6), Kongolo (6), Lowe (6), Hogg (6), Mooy (7), Billing (6), Pritchard (6),
Mounie (6)
Subs: Depoitre (6), Diakhaby (6)
Chelsea: Kepa (7), Azpilicueta (7), Rudiger (7), Luiz (7),
Alonso (7), Jorginho (8), Kante (8), Barkley (7), Willian (8), Pedro (7), Morata
(6)
Subs: Loftus-Cheek (6), Hazard (8), Moses (6)
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.
Team news
Maurizio Sarri gave Chelsea debuts to new signings Kepa Arrizabalaga and
Jorginho. Eden Hazard was only on the bench, with Ross Barkley starting in
midfield. For Huddersfield, Ben Hamer was preferred to Jonas Lossl in goal.
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.
Opta stats
Chelsea's 3-0 win was the largest margin of victory in their first Premier
League game under a new manager since 2008, when Luiz Felipe Scolari oversaw a
4-0 win against Portsmouth.
Huddersfield have lost five of their last seven opening games of a league campaign, failing to score in each of the five defeats.
Huddersfield have picked up just nine points from their last possible 36 in
Premier League home games, with the first game in this run being a 1-3 defeat
against Chelsea in this fixture last season.
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has scored 90 per cent of the penalties he has taken
in all competitions, converting 10 of his 11 spot kicks across three different
clubs (Verona, Napoli and Chelsea).
Willian has been directly involved in four of Chelsea's six Premier League goals
at the John Smith's Stadium, scoring one and assisting another three.
Man of the match - N'Golo Kante
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.
Notes for Gareth Southgate
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.
What's next?
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.
Teams
Huddersfield Town Homer,
Zanka, Kongolo, Schindler, Billing, Hodergjonaj, Hogg (c), Mooy, Lowe (Diakhaby
71), Pritchard (Depoitre 45), Mounie
Subs Not Used
Smith, Stankovic, Lossi, van La Parra, Sobhi
Booked Schindler,
Kongolo
Goals
Chelsea Kepa, Azpilicueta
(c), Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Barkley (Loftus-Cheek 68), Pedro
(Moses 81), Willian (Hazard 76), Morata
Subs Not Used
Caballero, Zappacosta, Christensen, Giroud
Booked
Luiz
Goals
Kante 34, Jorginho 45 (pen), Pedro 80
Attendance
24,121
Referee Chris
Kavanagh