Chelsea gained an advantage last night after beating Tottenham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final to stake a claim for a place in the showdown encounter at Wembley.
Tottenham were routed 2-0 by the Blues despite Thomas Tuchel fielding a relatively changed squad. A notable beneficiary of this reshuffle was midfielder Hakim Ziyech, who last made a start for Chelsea back in December against Wolves.
The Moroccan international proved to be a decisive addition as the game went on, and was one of Chelsea’s best players on the night despite being substituted with ten minutes to go.
A brilliant moment in the 65th-minute perfectly exemplified Ziyech’s brilliance as he executed a stunning long-range pass over Tottenham’s defence to find Timo Werner with only the goalkeeper to beat.
And though Werner failed to capitalize on the opportunity, fans were won over with the 28-year-old’s prodigious display.
Obvious references were made in praise to Ziyech’s excellent creativity for producing what could’ve been an assist of the season.
Ziyech magical ping to Werner pic.twitter.com/FEv5lRw29F
— shek oleksandr. (@petrshek) January 6, 2022
Ziyech’s vision is insane. Just wow.
— Conn (@ConnCFC) January 5, 2022
Some fans were left in awe so much so that they went on to make startling claims, suggesting no one in Tuchel’s squad was capable enough of producing such passes or delivering moments of such individual heroics.
There is absolutely no one in the current Chelsea squad that has the passing ability as good as Ziyech. This is not an opinion, its a damn fact!
— The Other Side Of The Coin ⭐️⭐️ (@TOSOTC_CFC) January 6, 2022
You’re lying to yourself if you think otherwise!!pic.twitter.com/u1v0O1Qvmp
More Moroccan Magic from Hakim Ziyech. No one in our team is capable of this, he needs more respect🇲🇦🤝
— Vᴅʏᴋ (@VdykCFC) January 6, 2022
pic.twitter.com/kb9gJvaPoJ
It also drew a comparison with one of Ziyech’s own passes he had delivered as an Ajax player against Bayern Munich, a short clip of which had been shared aplenty and had gone viral since.
Has anyone found this angle for *that* Ziyech stunned pass to Werner? pic.twitter.com/Mm8AYilFK9
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) January 5, 2022
The link-up play between Ziyech and Werner was also reminiscent of the formidable partnership between Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. The duo had likewise combined together to produce some brilliant goals for the Blues during their time.
This ziyech pass to Werner yesterday remind me of cesc fabregas and Diego Costa pic.twitter.com/jMUePb6I1v
— Tjnofear🌟🌟 (@tjnofear26) January 6, 2022
Understandably, the exquisite pass was so good it even drew out some very genuine expressions from the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Ziyech with a pass to make Stamford Bridge go ‘oooooh’ in unison. Werner fails to lob Lloris after it though. Good save. #CFC #CHETOT
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) January 5, 2022
And considering it to be artistic, one fan didn’t shy away from comparing Ziyech’s exploits with the genius of Pablo Picasso, suggesting it was deserving of an appropriate finish.
How many of these Ziyech has given!!
— 🤐 (@Silenceiskey__) January 5, 2022
Everyone of these is like a Picasso,
Respect Picasso and put the damn ball in the net pic.twitter.com/oJ2ibjQlNw
