It may have taken two months, but Stamford Bridge has finally seen Denis Zakaria play in Chelsea colours. It was a moment that was beginning to feel like it may never come, but Graham Potter handed the Swiss international his opportunity against Dinamo Zagreb.
The Blues may have had nothing to play for in the outing, but Potter surrounded Zakaria with a near-full strength team, simultaneously increasing the pressure on the midfielder to thrive while ensuring the loan signing would not be fighting an up-hill battle. The Chelsea head coach had hopes that Zakaria could prove himself worth of entering the club's midfield rotation.
Potter said ahead of the game: "He's a big powerful boy who can break up attacks and also join the attack himself. He's been working hard behind the scenes supporting the team so it's nice to see him play tonight. Hopefully he'll do well and give us competition there."
READ MORE: Three things learned from Chelsea's win over Dinamo Zagreb as Denis Zakaria makes debut mark
football.london takes a look how the midfielder got on during his debut, but Potter won't have been disappointed.
0-15 minutes
It only took the Swiss international a minute to show his strength when holding off Luka Ivanusec and won a free kick in the immediate aftermath. There was a hint of willing to impress however which overextended quickly into a foul in the sixth minute as he stretched to dispossess Bruno Petkovic.
There was little he could do to stop the play but the midfielder's attempt to claim the ball back in the build up to Dinamo's opening goal appeared a little laboured as he attempted not to overcommit initially. However, it wasn't long before Zakaria showed his strength and speed to track back extremely well to prevent the visitors launching another attack.
15-30
Zakaria then had some time in possession of the ball and showed some composure on it to both deliver it to Jorginho and receive it back from his midfield teammate, while in contrast, the Juventus loanee produced an emphatic clearance in the 21st minute.
Ivanusec was quickly left in a position where he would be cursing Zakaria as the Chelsea star snuffed out another of his attempts, on this occasion pressing quickly into the Dinamo half to slide in ahead of him to collect the ball and start another Blues attack.
Zakaria also showed his ability to control the ball well when he collected a difficult ball from Kalidou Koulibaly with his chest and ensured he found some space with a shimmy to continue the Blues' possession. Things would only get better as he looked to contribute to Chelsea attacks however and come the half hour mark Zakaria was waiting on the edge of the box.
Free, and moving a few steps in he was able to ghost onto the ball and sidefoot goalwards to put the ball in the net on his debut, albeit benefitting from a combination of some poor defending/goalkeeping.
30-45
Soon after his goal, Zakaria was once again showing his strength and drew a foul on the right side of the pitch. As the half drew to a close it was clear that the 25-year-old's goal had imbued even more confidence and Zakaria looked to make himself available more frequently for his teammates. The loanee played his first longer ball of the evening out to Kai Havertz on the right side of the pitch from the centre and controlled it well.
45-60
Zakaria wasted little time making his presence felt in the second half and opened it much like he did the first. He showed an impressive turn of pace to chase down an opposition break and the strength and control to quickly snuff out the danger when sprinting back from the halfway line.
60-75
The midfielder's ability to recover perhaps slowed in moments during this period but he showed plenty of enthusiasm to continue to put pressure on the opposition when he could. Soon felt the impact of cramp and required a substitution but took in plenty of adulation on his slow walk around the stands having left the pitch almost opposite the dugout.
Initially headed straight down the tunnel for treatment but fortunately his condition was not serious.
Conclusions
Zakaria produced a performance that will leave onlookers wondering why it took so long for the midfielder to earn his first minutes as a Chelsea player. The former Borussia Monchengladbach star displayed a skillset that few of the club's other midfielders offer, with the ability to track back aggressively to regain position while bringing an obvious physical presence on the pitch.
The deadline day signing regained possession seven times during his 71 minutes on the pitch and showed an ability to draw free kicks as the opposition looked to overcome his size and strength on the ball.
Clearly he appears to need more playing time in order to build the fitness to complete 90 minutes, and he may not immediately continue in the starting XI to face Arsenal but Zakaria showed enough to prove he can at least offer something from the bench that others cannot. The midfielder never really felt like an option on the bench that would be utilised previously, but Potter will see something now when he looks at his options from the dugout.
He may face sterner opposition, but a more consistent battle could even help him thrive, such did Chelsea dominate possession in moments against Zagreb. If nothing else, he impressed his boss. Potter said: "He showed his quality, won the ball back, helped with our attacking play, and obviously to score is fantastic. You can see the quality he has and we’ve seen it in training as well. He can strike a good ball so I think it was a nice goal for him and the team. It was an important goal for us so I’m happy he contributed to the team performance and for him to score was nice.”
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