There have been times over the last week when Maurizio Sarri’s decision to pin his hopes on Gonzalo Higuaín had felt risky. Witness that display in midweek when the Argentinian had barely mustered a touch as Chelsea, collectively and ignominiously, subsided at Bournemouth. Or indeed the head coach’s post-match observations on the south coast that the striker was “not in good shape”. This team needed the loanee from Juventus, hardly an ideal buy at 31, to hit the ground running, adapting instantly in alien surroundings. He had to be the answer.
In that context, this was an afternoon of promise. It is dangerous to draw too many conclusions from a straightforward dismissal of Huddersfield Town, the division’s whipping boys and a side who already seem resigned to a return to the Championship, but Sarri and Chelsea, so shocked by that humiliation at the Vitality Stadium, had needed some hope on which to cling. Higuaín, as much with his movement and linkup play with Eden Hazard as the sumptuous finish he summoned midway through the second half, duly provided plenty.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WCJF6T
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