Explanations for the respective absences of Jorginho and Kepa Arrizabalaga for Chelsea’s assembly with Middlesbrough have been supplied on Saturday night.
For these not conscious, each midfielder Jorginho and shot-stopper Kepa had been shock last-minute scratches from Thomas Tuchel’s newest matchday squad on the Riverside Stadium.
The latter specifically had been seen as a close to certainty to begin, having lengthy been usurped as Chelsea’s first-choice choice between the posts by Edouard Mendy.
In flip, chatting with the media on the again of the full-time whistle this night, Thomas Tuchel was inevitably drawn on Kepa’s state of affairs.
And the German went on to disclose that his no.2’s omission got here owing to a bout of sickness:
Kepa missed the match by means of sickness. #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) March 19, 2022
Turning attentions in the direction of Jorginho, the midfield metronome was not risked versus ‘Boro as a direct favour to Italy, forward of the Azzurri’s crunch World Cup playoff showdown with conferences with North Macedonia and, probably, Portugal:
I requested Tuchel about Jorginho and he mentioned he was rested, including: “They [Italy] owe me a giant one,” forward of their World Cup qualifying playoff matches. #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) March 19, 2022
Lukaku amongst the objectives
Regardless of the absences of a pair of vital members of their squad, European champions Chelsea, after all, in the end booked their spot within the FA Cup’s ultimate 4 on Saturday night in dominant trend.
First, with 1 / 4 of an hour on the clock, Romelu Lukaku opened the night’s scoring from shut vary, after getting on the tip of a pinpoint supply from Mason Mount:
Right here’s the Chelsea aim – simply reward for a quick begin!
📺💻📱 Watch Middlesbrough v Chelsea on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayerhttps://t.co/dTsRBfx84t#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/xqtPcQv3gA
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 19, 2022
And this was adopted by the sport’s killer aim fifteen minutes later, as Hakim Ziyech minimize inside from his berth on the fitting flank, earlier than choosing out the far backside nook of the hosts’ internet in type:
Ought to which have been saved? 🤔
📺💻📱 Watch Middlesbrough v Chelsea on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayerhttps://t.co/dTsRBfx84t#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/Wr08Wz4JJp
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 19, 2022
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