Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech announces himself on the Premier League stage with the dazzling demolition of Sheffield United

OMG, Judge Ziyech is good at soccer.

We all knew it, and it doesn’t surprise absolutely anyone. But it has finally been confirmed: the Moroccan winger has Premier League quality. And you won’t have a problem showing your chilling talents on the biggest stages of all.

However, how good is it? For starters, he is left-handed. That’s nothing special, but everyone knows that there is something different about the way a southpaw kicks a bag of wind. And as much as my heart sinks when using this painful cliche, my fingers can’t help but write the word ‘Magic wand’.

He has a wand on his left foot. He displayed his magic wand during the eventual 4-1 destruction by Sheffield United’s Chelsea, which ultimately failed to stop the procession of wicked and cursed crosses that crossed the face of his goal’s mouth or curved dangerously past his post. far.

The inevitable was coming, because that’s exactly what Ziyech is: inevitable. There is something very “Arjen Robben” in the end. No matter how obvious his intentions are, or how much you yell at the defender to show him wide open, he will not bow to your will. You get what you want.

But it wasn’t all blood and relentless thunder. There is a delicacy and invention to his game that only lends itself to his sorcery. Raised balls caressed the path of the hungry forwards, who gleefully devour their chances, now knowing the pressure is off. After all, even if one is missed, there is another opportunity on the horizon with Ziyech on the team.

And that was the story of the day at Stamford Bridge.

The entire game flowed through the magical fingers of his new winger, whose arrival felt much more anticlimactic than his fellow summer signings, given his purchase was announced in February.

With all the buzz surrounding players like Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, combined with a minor injury setback for Ziyech, the Moroccan international was the forgotten man of this bonanza in the transfer window. But not forgotten anymore.

The 27-year-old grabbed the match by the neck and kicked his left foot throughout the process. He made a couple of warning shots early on, cutting off that left peg and throwing dangerous balls into the Sheffield United area, but to no avail.

However, he added some hard quantitative data to the mix in the 23rd minute, making a vicious cross into the six-yard box and on the thigh of Ben Chilwell, who really couldn’t do anything but score with such a luxurious delivery.

Aaron Ramsdale will probably feel like he should have come and intercepted the ball on its way to the far post, but to be fair, it was fascinating in its curve and trajectory. A masterful dance.

However, the second half was the real obstacle.

With Chelsea pushing to kill the game, Ziyech took that initiative personally and went all-in to the Blunt Blades. His outrageous delivery gave Thiago Silva a chance to finish the game in the 77th minute and, as with Chilwell, it was harder to miss such a brilliant gift than to score.

Now in party mode, the winger was having fun. Drifting inside the frame, Ziyech led the game from the center pockets of space, floating wonderful passes around the field, playing intricate little one-two with his teammates and bonding like an experienced Blue.

He should have had another assist to his name after throwing Werner behind defense, but the German unusually wasted his big moment. In the end, it didn’t matter. Ziyech’s job was done, and having created more chances in a match than any other Premier League player this season, Sheffield United was left wondering what exactly had hit them.

It was a joyous expression of the game we love and a demonstration of why we tune in to watch it, even with all life absorbed in our new covid environment. Ziyech is the reason. It’s the sound of stadium seats hitting the board as thousands of fans rise to their feet in anticipation. It is the fraction of a second of silence that causes the ball to crash into the net. He is everything we miss and everything we crave from our game.

As for Chelsea and Frank Lampard, this was possibly their most promising lineup to date. They have a man who could Replacing Eden Hazard’s role as a regular match winner, and along with Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic, the Blues have three deadly front-ends at their disposal.

And that’s without considering Havertz.

Everything is coming together for Chelsea and Lampard, and at the center of it all, is that man Ziyech.