After the thrills and spills of his start to life as Chelsea head coach a long-awaited, straight-forward success was a more than welcome one for Frank Lampard.
The first couple of months of this season have been full of ups, downs for Lampard and his side. What had been missing is a clean sheet and a Premier League home win.
He can tick those two milestones off now after Chelsea ground their way to a routine victory against Brighton thanks to second-half goals from Jorginho, from the spot, and Willian.
Willian capped off a victorious afternoon for Chelsea after cutting inside and smashing home the second goal of the game
Stamford Bridges masses were given something to smile about again following the recent home loss to rivals Liverpool
Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan was left in a heap on the turf as Willian’s effort crashed past him and into the back of the net
The Brazilian scored his first goal since March to help Frank Lampard’s side get back to winning ways on Saturday
‘We’ve been waiting for it,’ Lampard said. ‘The reason we haven’t won at home is because we have not put together a 90 minutes at home to win. We have put together parts of games.
‘Today we put in a good performance. It was solid, comfortable, professional, it lacked more goals because we created enough chances to score three, four, five goals but we got our clean sheet which is something we’ve been striving for so it was a good day all round and good for confidence in the dressing room.’
This was a day when a couple of Chelsea’s seasoned campaigners took centre stage, wrestling the spotlight back from the academy kids whose emergence has been one of the stories of the season.
Lampard said: ‘Everyone is drawn to that conversation about the young players but they will always need that experienced player around them.
‘Jorginho with the coolness of head to score that penalty, Willian who not only created chances for himself and got his goal but his work ethic was fantastic.
‘Those are the standards and some of those experienced players can set that standard and the youngsters must follow.’
Italian midfielder Jorginho pulled off his trademark stuttered run-up before putting Chelsea ahead from the penalty spot
The playmaker was joined by team-mate Mason Mount in celebration, after the youngster had won the penalty kick
Mount was felled in the area by Adam Webster following a threatening run at the Seagulls’ back line
Referee Chris Kavanagh brandished the yellow card after a VAR review confirmed the foul was worthy of a penalty
In the circumstances Brighton were ideal opponents for Chelsea, toothless, low on confidence and seemingly intent on encouraging their opponents by taking unnecessary risks in defence.
That continued at Stamford Bridge.
They gifted Chelsea their first goal and offered so little in attack their fans sarcastically sung ‘we’ve had a shot’ after a late effort dribbled into Kepa Arrizabalaga’s arms.
It was not hard to see why they have not won a league game since the opening day of the season.
How they weren’t behind at half-time was a mystery.
Jorginho and Tammy Abraham both volleyed wide early one before the latter hit the post with a header.
Then a combination of excellent defending from Adam Webster, who for a spell during the first half did a pretty good impression of a one-man wall as he repelled a succession of shots and crosses, and goalkeeper Mat Ryan kept Chelsea at bay until the break.
Five minutes into the second half Brighton’s insistence on playing out from the back and taking risks costs them. What was unfortunate, was that Webster put a foot wrong for the only time in the game and paid the ultimate price.
Frank Lampard rushed over to his players following the full-time whistle with three points safely in the bag
The club legend acknowledged the home supporters and remained on the pitch well after the fixture had finished
He seemed to be caught in two minds when Dale Stephens played the ball back to him, between whether to pass or control the ball.
His touch was too heavy, Mason Mount pounced and Webster’s tackle, as his attempted tackle to recover the situation was a split second too late and he fouled the alert Chelsea midfielder.
After a quick VAR check, referee Christopher Kavanagh’s decision to point to the spot was backed up and Jorginho did the honours from 12 yards.
Chelsea are a club united again under club legend Lampard after Maurizio Sarri’s turbulent one-year reign.
And how he has navigated his way through the debate about Chelsea’s penalty takers and turned Jorginho into a crowd favourite is further evidence of his Midas touch.
Lampard defended Ross Barkley in the immediate aftermath of his spot-kick miss against Valencia, despite rival interest in the penalty from his teammates, playing down all the fuss by insisting that he was Chelsea’s designated taker.
But the next two penalties, when Barkley has been on the pitch, have been taken and scored by Pedro and Jorginho
Lampard said: ‘Jorginho is the penalty taker now. I’m surprised about the obsession with penalty takers. Jorginho took it and he scored. He’s a penalty taker.’ Discussion done.
Meanwhile Jorginho has turned the jeers of last year – amid accusations of favouritism after he was brought to Stamford Bridge by his former Napoli manager, the unpopular Sarri – into cheers and a terrace chant under Lampard.
Lampard said: ‘All I can judge is what I see in front of me and from pre-season he has been one of the leaders. I’m pleased with Jorginho.’
He also was with Willian when he made the points secure with a drive that deflected off Dan Burn and past a helpless Mat Ryan in Brighton’s goal.
Reflecting on the mistake and style of play that helped set Chelsea on their way, Brighton boss Graham Potter said: ‘It’s not the players’ responsibility, it’s mine.
‘We ask them to play that way. Adam Webster is fantastic with the ball at his feet, he’s got tremendous quality. ‘But we didn’t lose the game because of that single mistake, we lost because Chelsea were better than us.’
