HIG, HIG, HOORAY!
Higuain double puts a smile back on Sarri’s face... but the month ahead is his real test
JOSE MOURINHO once lost Gonzalo Higuain to injury at Real Madrid and surveyed the alternatives. It would be, he said, like ‘hunting without a dog’. Higuain had a ruthlessness and aggression in attack that Mourinho knew they would miss with lesser players.
That was eight years ago when Higuain was in his prime. At Stamford Bridge against limited opposition yesterday, the Argentinian opened his scoring account in English football.
At times in the match, the 31-yearold had looked a little laboured. His touch seemed rusty and his conditioning is not perhaps what is required for a centre-forward in the modern game.
But although the ‘dog’ may have lost a little zest and is carrying a few war wounds, he has not lost his scent for wounded prey.
No one should doubt Higuain’s class. His consistent goalscoring at the best clubs in the world — 122 in 264 games for Real Madrid — is evidence of his credentials.
The question is whether the man with one goal in 12 games at AC Milan this season is the player to save Sarri-ball, Maurizio Sarri’s unique brand of football at Chelsea.
He did it for him at Napoli but not since 1996 had the club suffered a defeat as bad as the one they did at Bournemouth last week, where Higuain had played his first Premier League game.
So it had been an inauspicious start. But Huddersfield, under new management but now with one point in 12 league games, were the perfect guests for a reboot of the system. As such, it will take some time before it can be said for sure Higuain is Sarri’s saviour.
But here, he was decisive. The memory of a world-class striker does not fade so quickly. That much was evident in 16 minutes when N’Golo Kante played a super slide pass into the box and into his path.
Higuain timed his run off Terence Kongolo perfectly and finished clinically from close range.
By the time he struck his second, in the 69th minute, the contest was over but there was still plenty to admire. Eden Hazard wriggled his way past players, touched the ball to Kante, who played it on to the Argentine. Twenty-five yards out from goal, there was no hesitation. Higuain struck with power and lifted the ball over Jonas Lossl and under the crossbar.
‘When Gonzalo arrived, he wasn’t at the top of his physical condition,’ said Sarri. ‘Now he is improving. I’m really very happy because, apart from the goals, he’s really suitable to play very close to Eden.
‘This is very useful for Higuain because he will be able to score a lot of goals, as will Eden.’
Quite so. But then it was Sarri who was insistent that Hazard could thrive as a false nine when plenty believed that he might be better coming in from the left.
As much as you could draw conclusions, this game showed that the Italian’s team have not thrown in the towel on Sarri-ball just yet.
Yet a domestic run of leagues and cup fixtures that sees them play Manchester City twice, Manchester United and Spurs will tell us more.
‘It will be very difficult but also for our opponents,’ said Sarri. ‘We know we have to fight if we want to stay in the top four in the table and then we have to try to win something, but it will be very difficult.’
Sarri felt that his team had implemented his philosophy for the first 25 minutes yesterday, but insisted they needed to apply it for at least 75 minutes.
It was not the early goal that killed Huddersfield. It was the dubious 45th-minute penalty that finished
them off. They had started well. Manager Jan Siewart does appear to have given them a fresh lease of life, albeit too little, too late.
Then, as half-time approached, Cesar Azpilicueta broke into the box. Elias Kachunga foolishly stuck out a leg, over which Azpilicueta gratefully tumbled.
The foul was committed outside the box and should have been a free-kick. Hazard stepped up to convert the penalty.
Ross Barkley then threaded through a lovely ball for Hazard in the 66th minute and the Belgian scored from close range.
After Higuain scored the fourth, David Luiz headed Willian’s corner past keeper Jonas Lossl.