Chelsea has had a great start to the Sarri era, clinching all 12 available points after the first 4 fixtures. I will be analysing each of the opening 4 matches.
Huddersfield Town 0-3 Chelsea
The score-line maybe didn’t reflect this match fully. Chelsea did dominate possession-wise but struggled to make many clear-cut chances and Huddersfield did look dangerous at times, but Chelsea showed their quality by being clinical in the final third, with Kante giving Chelsea the lead in the 34th minute with a volley from a Willian cross. Jorginho doubled Chelsea’s lead with a cheeky hop and skip before converting his penalty in the 45th minute. Pedro made it 3-0 with an 80th-minute finish which sealed the win for the Blues. It wasn’t the most magnificent Chelsea performance but that could only be expected with Chelsea at the time settling into Sarri-ball. Up next was Arsenal, Sarri’s first London derby.
Chelsea 3-2 Arsenal
Huge win for Chelsea in Sarri’s first Stamford Bridge match. Chelsea started off the proceedings with a dominant 30 minutes, Pedro scoring in the 9th minute and Morata doubling the lead in the 20th. The blues were showing multiple gaps in Arsenal’s defence and not giving their midfielders time to breathe. However, after the 30th minute, it became more even with Arsenal gaining confidence from missed chances, scoring twice in short succession with Emery’s Arsenal showing slight area’s for concern in Chelsea’s system, which would clearly need to be worked on. Alonso scored a late winner having earlier assisted Pedro’s goal sealing all 3 points for the Blues. This was an improved performance from Chelsea. However next up was Newcastle away who tends to feed of home support for passion and completely shut up shop when they play the Premier League’s best teams.
Newcastle 1-2 Chelsea
To say Chelsea dominated this clash would probably be an understatement. Newcastle put 11 men behind the ball and defended for their lives to try and salvage a draw. The Blues had an unbelievable 81% possession, with Jorginho alone having 15% of that which is close to Newcastle’s total. It took Chelsea 76 minutes to take the lead with a controversial penalty Alonso won, Eden Hazard converted. However, the lead was short lived with Newcastle drawing level after a goal, which clearly should have been disallowed in the 83rd minute from Joselu. Chelsea showed more determination, attacking in numbers and took the lead for a second time with an own goal from Yedlin (87th minute). The match ended with the Blues capturing all 9 points from their opening 3 matches. Up next was Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge; the match was shaping up to be a reasonably easy 3 points for Chelsea, looking at form.
Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth
This was a stressful watch for Chelsea fans, as they watched their team get so close on many occasions before Pedro came on for Willian and gave Chelsea their very deserved goal to put them in the lead. Eden Hazard decided he wanted to be on the score-sheet as well and doubled the Blues lead in the 85th minute. Another possession dominated fixture from the team, recording 73% of the ball. This victory made it 4 straight wins for Sarri in the PL, a tremendous start I think it’s fair to say, especially considering the huge philosophy change. Up next for the Blues is a home clash against Cardiff, can they stop Chelsea’s winning run? Probably not, but it’s the Premier League and as we all know, anything can happen
