Jorginho has sought to explain why he did not step aside and let Reece James take a penalty at Newcastle that could have allowed the Chelsea wing-back to complete a memorable hat-trick.
The Blues found inspiration from the flanks during a trip to St James’ Park, with their first two goals in a 3-0 victory coming from an unexpected source.
James netted an impressive brace to put Thomas Tuchel’s side in control against the Magpies, but offered no argument when an Italy international midfielder stepped up to convert from the spot nine minutes from the end.
What has been said?
Jorginho, who is Chelsea’s regular penalty taker, told the club’s official website on why he did not offer James the chance to claim a match ball: “He didn’t ask.
“That’s important to be clear that he didn’t ask for anything. He just came over to support me.
“He’s amazing with both feet and he opened the game for us, which was great. It [James’ first] was a beautiful goal.”
Can Chelsea challenge for the title?
James’ deadly double on Tyneside has helped Chelsea to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with rivals Liverpool and Manchester City suffering unexpected stumbles in their latest outings.
Tuchel’s men are now being billed as serious contenders to claim a first top-flight crown in five years, but Jorginho insists nobody at Stamford Bridge is getting carried away 10 games into the 2021-22 campaign.
He added: “It feels good that we won here because we need to look at ourselves and not have a focus on the other teams.
“We have a focus just on us, what we have to do and what we are doing because if we keep working like this, keep pushing and putting the group first then we can have the results we want. Then we will see at the end of the season what can happen.
“We need to try to win every single game and not drop points in these kind of games. Maybe we missed that in the last two or three years.”
Chelsea’s attention will turn back to a Champions League title defence when taking in a trip to Malmo on Tuesday, with their next domestic outing set to see them play host to Burnley.
Further reading
- Chelsea wing-backs the unlikely heroes driving title tilt
- Advantage Chelsea? Liverpool lose ground in title race
- Who has the most Premier League assists in 2021-22?