On a night where Chelsea were pushed all the way and needed extra-time against Championship play-off chasers Wrexham, Garnacho stood out for the visitors.

The winger has had to be patient in recent weeks, with our FA Cup fourth round tie against Hull City his only start in February.

But Rosenior has spoken of how impressed he has been with Garnacho's professionalism and work rate in training and over the last week, the 21-year-old has reaped his rewards.

An excellent showing at Aston Villa, where he selflessly set up Joao Pedro and could have scored himself, was followed up by an equally - if not better - showing at the Racecourse Ground.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Rosenior said: ‘Ale is in a great place. His goal was top and his energy levels for 120 minutes were magnificent considering he played a full 90 on Wednesday.

‘He’s in a really good place and it’s really good to see him getting his form at a really important part of the season.’

So it came as no surprise that users of the Chelsea Official App voted him our Player of the Match with a resounding 82 per cent of the vote. Here we explain why.

Goal threat

Under both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, there has been a real emphasis on Chelsea's wingers offering a goal threat and Garnacho certainly did that in North Wales.

As shown by the below graphic, Garnacho was often our most advanced attacking player. But he also managed to do so while still being the one to offer us width on the left, as wing-back Jorrel Hato was often inverting into midfield alongside Andrey Santos in an almost 3-1-4-1-1 formation, with Josh Acheampong wide right and Pedro Neto often playing centrally behind Delap.

The Argentina international had eight shots during the 120 minutes, almost three times more than the second highest Marc Guiu (3), and he had four efforts on target, with the other Blues players only managing one.

His xG of 0.72 was also significantly higher than any of his team-mates, with Marc Guiu again second with 0.3.

The history books may show that Chelsea's first goal at Wrexham was an own-goal but it came off the back of some great hold-up play by Delap and then Garnacho's neat control and low finish which was blocked on the line, only to rebound off the goalkeeper and into his own net.

Garnacho's last goal in the FA Cup had come in the 2024 final when he helped Manchester United defeat rivals City to claim the trophy, but it always felt like only a matter of time that the winger would score at Wrexham as he continued to offer Chelsea's biggest threat.

A wayward volley midway through the first half was followed by a shot dragged wide ten minutes into the second period and he also forced a save as we entered the final 20 minutes of normal time.

His deserved goal finally arrived early into the additional half an hour as he put us in front for the first time. There was a lot of patient build-up leading up to the finish and Dario Essugo's first-time cross was perfection but it still took good movement from Garnacho to beat the offside trap and then a well-timed volley to find the back of the net, even if it was from only six yards out.

More than goals

Sometimes with our Player of the Match votes, just being the goalscorer can be enough to win it, but Garnacho offered much more than just his goal - and forced own-goal - on the night.

He ranked highly in a host of attacking stats. His five successful dribbles was the joint highest (alongside Pedro Neto) and his five attempted crosses and 23 completed passes in the final third was only bettered by his Portuguese team-mate.

Rosenior also made a point of highlighting Garnacho's work rate in Wrexham, something he was particularly impressed with after playing a full match at Aston Villa.

Garnacho was constantly looking to get forward and be part of our attacks from the left, and it is worth noting it was also his quick feet which resulted in George Dobson's red card, which helped swing the contest in our favour.

But it wasn't just on the ball that Garnacho was contributed. He was also working hard out of possession as well, looking to press high up the pitch when required and there were also several examples of him tracking back to help our defenders.

Ultimately, it was his attacking play which grabbed the headlines, though, and for good reason.

Garnacho now has five goals in seven domestic cup matches during the 2025/26 campaign and is on seven in all competitions. Based on Saturday night's showing, they won't be his last this season.