Former Blue Glen Johnson claims Jorginho’s questionable back pass that led to West Ham’s penalty in Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat was the defining moment of the game.
Thiago Silva opened the scoring and gave Chelsea the lead with a superb header just before the half-hour mark.
It looked like it was going to be another comfortable win for the visitors considering how dominant they were at that point.
But five minutes before the break, Chelsea conceded a penalty as a result of a series of poor decisions by Jorginho and Edouard Mendy.
Lanzini grabbed the equaliser from the penalty spot, but Chelsea managed to retake the lead just four minutes later thanks to a moment of brilliance from Mason Mount.
While Chelsea still had a one-goal lead at half-time, Johnson still believes the error eventually cost Chelsea the game.
“Today, to be honest, I think it boils down to that mistake that led to the penalty,” the former Blues defender told The Premier League Productions (via Optus Sport).
“Before that, they [Chelsea] probably would’ve cruised the game, being 2-0 up. It would’ve been a different result.”
Rather than highlighting Mendy’s hesitance to clear the ball, Johnson highlighted Jorginho’s risky back-pass.
Error-prone Chelsea dropping points
“Every player makes mistakes,” he explained.
“There are certain areas of the pitch where you can take risks, make mistakes, and get away with it.
“But for a 10-yard pass to a [opposition] striker, a through on goal kind of mistake, is unacceptable at any level.”
Johnson might have been right that if it was not for the penalty, Chelsea would have cruised to win and West Ham would not have had the boost of confidence they needed to push for a result.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel himself admitted that he is worried about the number of individual mistakes his team have made recently.
The injury problems clearly have not helped since certain key players like Jorginho often have to keep his focus throughout the matches while playing three times a week.
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