Jorginho Is Responsible For The Premier League's Greatest One-Touch Pass, It Still Needs Explaining
Jorginho produced one of the Premier League's greatest one-touch passes in Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Watford back in 2019.
The midfielder moved to Stamford Bridge in 2018 to link-up with former manager Maurizio Sarri, who he had impressed under at Napoli.
An underwhelming season would see Sarri leave for Juventus in 2019 and many wondered if Jorginho would stick it out in English football.
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To this day he's a regular starter for the Blues, and his fortunes fully turned around on a cold November evening at Vicarage Road.
This pass from Jorginho still needs an explanation 🤯 pic.twitter.com/HiXHXr1fj8
— TLV (@TheLampardView) July 19, 2022
Five minutes in, Chelsea were controlling possession and Mason Mount played the ball to an unmarked Jorginho.
What followed was a moment of sheer brilliance. Jorginho split the Hornets defence open and Tammy Abraham latched on to the ball.
Abraham coolly dinked over goalkeeper Ben Foster to give Chelsea the lead. The England international wheeled away in celebration, but Mount and Willian made sure Jorginho got his flowers.
Commentary lost their minds and could not put into words what they had just seen. The Italy international had completed his transformation from scapegoat to influential player and vice-captain at the time.
Chelsea went on to win the game 2-1 and they finished in the top four while reaching the FA Cup final.
Interestingly, Jorginho and Abraham had practiced the routine in training.
Abraham, who now plays for Roma in Serie A, explained: "We have been working on that in training.
"[Jorginho] told me he was going to try it today so I just had to time my run, try to stay onside and get a good finish and that is what I did.
"We have been doing it a lot in training and we have tried it a few times this season.
Jorginho vs Watford
— The Blues (@TheBlues___) November 2, 2019
👟 125 Passes
🎯 94% Pass Accuracy
🔘 2 Tackles
🔘 4 Interceptions
🔘 11 Ball Recoveries
👟 4 Through Balls
🔑 2 Chances Created
🅰️ 1 Assist
💙🔥 pic.twitter.com/xKfIo1dn6d
"It has come off a few times and sometimes it hasn’t but I was ready today."
Since then, Jorginho has gone on to win the Champions League as well as Euro 2020 with his country.
He also came third in the 2021 Ballon d'Or rankings, behind Robert Lewandowski and winner Lionel Messi.
Topics: Premier League, Jorginho, Chelsea, Watford
Daniel Marland