Chelsea's class ultimately made the difference. An example would be Jorginho, who spent much of the half looking slightly aghast at the pace of Premier League life – Wagner is one of the few coaches whose players could out-press and out-run Sarri's – and a little lost.
But he would find his feet. Firstly on 34 minutes, there was a little touch in the centre circle which would release Pedro. His run stretched Huddersfield and freed up Willian. The Brazilian toyed with Hadergjonaj, dashing past him to the by-line and pulled the ball back. There was N'Golo Kante, as befits his new role further forward in midfield. He shot the ball into the ground and the bounce deceived debutant keeper Ben Hamer, looping into the net.Huddersfield's pain was extenuated by their nearest miss on 38 minutes, when Aaron Mooy's corner was flicked on by Mathias Zanka and Steve Mounie demonstrated excellent movement to drift away from his marker and connect with the header, only to see his chance rebound of the inside of the post.
Yet even as Huddersfield remained the more coherent team, comfortable in their system, they faltered. Just before half time, came a moment which hinted at how Chelsea might player. Kepa touched the ball to Jorginho on the edge of the Chelsea box on 43 minutes. Jorginho and his team-mates worked the ball up the pitch incisively, with speed and precision, until the new signing was now poised just outside the opposition box. The Italian coach suggested his players were not ready for the 3-5-1-1 system Huddersfield played, or, rather, that they lack sufficient grounding in what became known as Sarri-ball, to adapt.
'Maybe for Napoli in the last year it wouldn't have been a problem but for Chelsea, with some of the players only having had three days of training, it was a problem,' he lamented. That they found themselves 2-0 up at half time despite having been out-thought and out-fought for much of the half was not a exactly a travesty. They have excellent player who invariably can dig the team out of such holes. But it was in no way a reflection of the balance of play.
'The players left everything on the grass,' said David Wagner, speaking principally of his team in the first half. 'I have seen passion, desire, the spirit we usually have in our game. I felt the energy in the stadium. We played tactical well and pressed them in the right area and then dropped it into the deep block and limited their chances. Everybody has known how difficult this can be. I have seen enough to take a lot of positives. We were shocked I think to be 2-0 down [at half time].' Pedro put the game out of sight and sealed the three points after combining with Eden Hazard to score a third.
