62 2GM Tuesday September 15 2020 | the times
SportPremier League
Reece James attended the same
London school as Mo Farah so he
knows about kicking from far out. The
Chelsea defender struck an outstand-
ing effort here, letting fly from 30 yards,
for his first Premier League goal,
putting Chelsea in charge and on
course for victory.
The way that James let Jorginho’s
pass across his body before engaging,
guiding it forward to set up the shooting
chance, revealed the quality of his
technique and his understanding of his
craft. James is only 20, a right back by
trade, but this was the mark of an expe-
rienced goalscorer from midfield, his
second touch sending the ball racing
into the Brighton & Hove Albion net.
The area that Gareth Southgate
enjoys most riches in is right back with
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker,
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Kieran Trippier
and the emerging talents of the
England Under-21 pair of James and
Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey excellent
here. Every game, James seems to im-
press more and more with his ability to
cover huge distances, up and back,
attacking and defending.
Throw in one assist, two blocked
shots, three interceptions and four aeri-
al duels won, and this was quite a per-
formance from James. He has been at
Chelsea since he was six, was one of the
reasons that Chelsea reluctantly
allowed Lamptey to leave, and looks set
to be their right back for years to come.
He started ahead of César Azpilicueta
but when the Spaniard came on for
Jorginho, James moved into midfield
and looked at home alongside N’Golo
Kanté, who seems to have his form and
fitness back.
All the talk this summer has been
about Chelsea’s expensive recruits. Kai
Havertz was quiet, easing his way into
the frenetic English game, but the way
he chased Solly March for 60 yards,
Brighton & Hove Albion (3-5-2): M Ryan 6 —
B White 7 (P Gross 79min), L Dunk 6, A Webster 6
— T Lamptey 8, A Lallana 6 (A Connolly 45, 6),
A Bissouma 6, S Alzate 5 (A Jahanbakhsh 79),
S March 6 — N Maupay 6, L Trossard 7. Subs not
used J Steele, D Burn, D Stephens, J Veltman.
Booked T Lamptey.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): K Arrizabalaga 5 — R James 7, A
Christensen 7, K Zouma 6, M Alonso 6 — N Kanté
6, Jorginho 6 (C Azpilicueta 85) — K Havertz 6
(C Hudson-Odoi 80), R Loftus-Cheek 5 (R Barkley
61, 6), M Mount 6 — T Werner 8. Subs not used
W Caballero, A Rüdiger, T Abraham, O Giroud.
Referee C Pawson.Arrizabalaga was beaten by Trossard
Brighton
Trossard 54Chelsea
Jorginho (pen) 23, James 56, Zouma 661
3
James lets fly as
Chelsea post early
notice of intent
regaining possession, demonstrated
the type of attitude that Frank Lampard
wants. His touch was good, apart from
one wayward pass, and his goal threat
will doubtless manifest itself as he
becomes attuned to Chelsea’s way.
Timo Werner worked so hard in
attack, always showing for the ball. His
pace will catch out plenty of defences,
and it won the penalty from which
Jorginho opened the scoring. Werner’s
anticipation and astonishing accelera-
tion were seen after 22 minutes. This
was the sort of moment that Lampard
bought him for, investing £45 million.
Chelsea were gifted the ball when
Steven Alzate’s loose pass in midfield
was picked off by Jorginho. Chelsea’s
captain for the night immediately saw
how open Brighton were. Werner had,
similarly, swiftly spotted the gap and
sprinted into it. Jorginho delivered,
releasing the 24-year-old Germany
international through the middle, and
he hared after the ball, taking it wide of
the onrushing Mat Ryan and accepting
the inevitable contact and penalty.
Ryan caught Werner with his thigh
and the Chelsea centre forward hit the
deck, immediately turning around and
appealing. Craig Pawson pointed to the
spot, and Jorginho took the ball and
walked forward with an air of inevita-
bility and invincibility. He placed the
ball down, stepped back as Ryan
bounced on his line. The Italy
international advanced towards the
ball, putting in that trademark hop to
commit Ryan, who dived left, and
Jorginho calmly stroked the ball into
the untended half of the goal. His pen-
alty record now stands at 21 conver-
sions, one miss.
Werner’s work-rate was consistently
on show, tracking back, blocking an
effort from Yves Bissouma and almost
catching Ryan out with a shot to the
near-post. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, easing
his way back after injury, was slightly
unconvincing in the central position
behind Werner and was replaced by
Ross Barkley on the hour. Mason
Mount was on the left, looking to link
with Werner and also contributing
defensively, racing back and clearing.
Mount had plenty of work to do help-
ing out Marcos Alonso in keeping
Lamptey at bay. The former Chelsea
player nutmegged Alonso, then spedpast him. The 19-year-old’s acceleration
was a constant problem for Chelsea.
Despite falling behind, Brighton
were the better side in the first half,
passing and moving. Adam Lallana
looked good manoeuvring the ball
through the final third until frustrat-
ingly succumbing to injury and being
replaced by Aaron Connolly.
So it was no complete surprise when
Graham Potter’s side equalised eight
minutes after the restart. The build-up
was good, the finish exceptional. March
and Neal Maupay combined on the left,
March then worked it inside to Alzate,
on to Bissouma, across the edge of
Chelsea’s area and out right to Lamptey,
who ran at Alonso and Mount before
cutting the ball back to Leandro Tross-
ard. The Belgian took a touch, creating
the opening, and then his left foot sent
the ball flying past Kepa Arrizabalaga,
who responded too late. With Chelsea
being linked with Rennes’ Édouard
Mendy, it was poorly timed by Kepa in
every sense.
Perhaps Brighton were still basking
in the beauty of the move when, within
a minute, Chelsea restored their lead.
The move began along the back, from
James to Andreas Christensen to Kurt
Zouma to Alonso, before Zouma and
then Kanté became involved. Alonso
and Mount joined in before Jorginho
placed the ball into the path of James
for that spectacular response.
Lewis Dunk should have levelled but
headed wide and Chelsea promptly
added a third. James’s outswinging
corner was met by Zouma, slightly
stretching back but his shot had enough
power to send it flying goalwards.
Adam Webster tried to intercept, but
the ball deflected in past the
wrong-footed Ryan.Henry Winter
Chief Football
Writer
First look at German
Havertz touches
Direction of playKai Havertz, 21, £72m
(from Bayer Leverkusen)
We had heard of Kai Havertz’s pace, his
composure on the ball and clinical
ability in front of goal. But, for Frank
Lampard, the standout feature of the
£72 million man’s 80-minute debut at
the Amex Stadium would have been
his discipline in attack.
Havertz was not brought in to be
chasing the likes of Solly March late on
in a game to suffocate an attack, but
the 21-year-old did just that. The
midfielder was signed for his attacking
prowess. Playing wide on the right, he
was a little lost at times, but there were
flashes of brilliance. Had Mason
Mount’s clipped pass over the Brighton
defence been a yard shorter, Havertz
would have been through on goal.8
Jorginho has scored all
eight of the penalties he
has taken for Chelsea in all
competitions since
joining the club in 2018said. “With the shot [from Trossard],
I’m not sure whether he could have
done better but I saw a lot more
confidence in him today.
“Kepa is here, he is our keeper, and I
am happy with him. If we are bringing
in competition, it will be competition
because that’s the nature of Chelsea.”
Young German duo Timo Werner
and Kai Havertz debuted in the 3-1 win,
having arrived in a summer in which
Lampard spend about £230 million. But
the Chelsea head coach said his
decision to start academy products
James — who has been with the club
since he was six — Mason Mount,
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas
Christensen showed the club’s
youngsters wouldn’t be swept aside for
the new signings.
“I did say that in the build up,”
Lampard said. “I got asked that
question a lot and this shows the
younger players [they can get in the‘Kepa is our keeper, I’m happy with him’
team]. Reece is one of them, Mason
starts today and Ruben came through
the system, so did Andreas. So the
opportunity if the lads perform and
train well is there.”
Werner, who joined from RB Leipzig,
won the first-half penalty for Chelsea
and was a threat to Brighton
throughout, while Lampard said he saw
flashes of quality from the £72 million
signing Havertz, 21.
Werner, 24, said: “The game is totally
different [from playing in Germany].
“I played against three massive
defenders, you don’t have that in
Germany. I am happy to be here and I
think it was a good first game for me
and the team.”continued from back