Chelsea kick-started their Premier League campaign in the perfect fashion, comprehensively dispatching of a weak Huddersfield team 3-0 at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Chelsea started the first-half with the same languid approach that had optimised their pre-season, lacking any pace and incisiveness on the turn, instead reverting to an impassive and disjointed accumulation of short five-yard balls and careless clearances. Despite their indecision however Chelsea did manage to take a two-goal lead in to the break, as N’Golo Kante popped up with a uncharacteristically miscued shot that somehow bounced out of debutant Ben Hamer’s grasp and into the back of the net, before a reckless tackle on Marcos Alonso was punished from the spot by the ice cool Jorginho – scoring on his competitive debut for the Blues.
It would do a discredit to the style of play to say Chelsea began to fully embrace ‘Sarriball’ in the second half, but there was certainly a more attacking approach adopted as Chelsea looked to put the game out of sight. It is reported that during his time at Empoli and Napoli, Sarri produced a portfolio of over 30 set piece routines, and a couple such routines were utilised after the restart as both Antonio Rüdiger and Alonso came close – the latter hitting the crossbar with a volleyed effort, from contrasting Willian deliveries. The introduction of Eden Hazard with 15 minutes to play allowed Chelsea to regain control of the ball, especially in the final third, and it was his driving run and pass that set up the onrushing Pedro to wrap up the three points with a chipped finish.
