A goal and an assist at Burnley to add to his strike in another comfortable win in Russia three days earlier - this is the way Hakim Ziyech must have hoped his delayed start to his Chelsea career would go when he had to watch the opening games of the 2020/21 season from the sidelines.
A knee injury in the only pre-season match that was possible, at Brighton, meant it was only on Wednesday in the Champions League that he was able to start a match for the first time, having come off the bench in the three previous ones. Given the way that game against Krasnodar then went for Ziyech, it was no surprise to see him in the line-up again in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon and to see him doing well.‘It has been a really good week for me and hopefully we can continue,’ the Moroccan confirmed, speaking after scoring the opening goal in the 3-0 win and playing the ball through for Timo Werner to net the third.
‘Especially after the European game, coming here [to Burnley], I think we did a really good game. We started well and gave Burnley problems. They had one big chance at the beginning but after that we controlled the game.’Ziyech emphasised the team is still in the process of building with the new players coming in but on a personal note, he thinks he is now totally up to speed.‘Life at Chelsea is good, I am where I am supposed to be. I feel good and feel at home and everything is fine.’
In the build-up to the Burnley game Frank Lampard spoke about being impressed by the confidence and personality Ziyech has been showing him, and that was again on display on Saturday in the way the winger made sure he was involved in plenty of Chelsea’s best play.
‘It is one of the most important things, that you play with confidence and don’t be scared of making mistakes,’ is how Ziyech reacted to his manager comments.