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Football London
Football London
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Scott Trotter

Why Graham Potter couldn't stop shouting at Jorginho and Denis Zakaria as Chelsea hit by injury

Chelsea finished their Champions League group stage campaign with a solid win over Dinamo Zagreb thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Denis Zakaria. However, the night did threaten to go in another direction.

The Blues did not take control of the game immediately as Bruno Petkovic took advantage of some slack defending to put the Croatian side ahead after seven minutes. The Blues worked their way back into the game and 10 minutes later, Sterling's composure put them back on level terms and the tide of control firmly switched.

It will be no less than Graham Potter expected having put out what many would consider a full-strength team, though Ben Chilwell's injury at the end of the game will have placed a negative tinge on the result ahead of facing Arsenal at the weekend.

READ MORE: What Chelsea's first Stamford Bridge revamp will include following Todd Boehly planning grant

football.london takes a look at the moments you may have missed from the victory.

Jorginho's socks

Chelsea donned their home kit at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, of course with the central badge identifying the Blues as Club World Cup champions. It's not a bad title to hold after all.

However, one Chelsea player did not appear to quite match the rest of his teammates. While the squad had on their white socks, with a blue band just below where they fold their socks over, Jorginho did not. The Italian international appeared to instead wear plain white socks. Who knows what happened to the originals.

Why Potter screamed at Jorginho and Denis Zakaria

Graham Potter looked to have his work cut out in the opening half to help his team function how he intended from the sideline. In the early stages of the game, the former Brighton boss could be seen in his technical area hollering towards the centre of the pitch but his message was being lost among the wind and the noise of the fans.

It took multiple attempts for Potter to get the attention of Jorginho, and there was a degree of exasperation as he failed. Eventually, with the help of his coaching staff, Potter found some success and appeared to what both Jorginho and Zakaria to be pushed higher up the pitch, particularly from the opposition's goal kicks. Potter looked to suggest placing Zakaria in a more advanced role, while Jorginho picked up the player his teammate had been sitting on.

The former Napoli midfielder understood and sent a thumbs up back in Potter's direction. Sterling's goal afforded the next significant break in play and Jorginho pulled in Zakaria as the teams set up and passed on the message in depth.

Half-time error

As ground staff looked after the pitch that had been hit by a great deal of rain, supporters headed into the concourse to gain some sustenance and the teams headed to the changing rooms to be briefed upon what they need to produce in the second half, the sound system got to work. Towards the end of the break and with Make Luv by Junior Jack playing out to Stamford Bridge, all of a sudden the sound of a mobile ringtone could be heard. The music stopped as the ringtone rang as those outside waited for an advert to kick in. However, it appears it may have been an actual call as the tone stopped and the music return, leading to a few chuckles around the ground.

Post-match insights

Following the match, Hakim Ziyech, one of only two outfield players in the squad not to feature, took to the pitch to undergo a cool down with a member of Chelsea coaching staff. There were many short bursts of dribbling and movement, before going into longer sprints across the pitch as the rain crashed down. An unenviable position.

As the stadium emptied and players eventually started to leave in the Autumn rain, a couple of things were reveal. Ben Chilwell could be seen leaving on crutches and grimacing in pain as he headed to the exit, in some actions which appeared to back up Potter's concern for the injury his defender suffered.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, absent from the squad with a plantar fascia issue, was also at Stamford Bridge and made his departure via the same route as the rest of the squad. He appeared to be walking without assistance and acknowledged he was good but stopped short of saying he would be fit enough for Arsenal.

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