Why Timo Werner deserved to take Chelsea’s second penalty against Crystal Palace

Chelsea enjoyed a successful day at the office on Saturday when they thrashed Crystal Palace 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were ruthless in the second half after starting the game on a rather slow note.

Debutant Ben Chilwell opened the scoring, before setting up Kurt Zouma for Chelsea’s second goal. Jorginho then completed the rout with two penalties after Tammy Abraham and Kai Havertz were brought down in the Eagles’ box.

The victory had many positives, one of them being the Blues’ free-flowing attacking play and sharpness in front of goal. Edouard Mendy, also making his debut, had very little to do for the entire game.

However, there was a moment of controversy when Chelsea won their second penalty. Abraham walked towards Jorginho to persuade him to allow him to take the penalty.

Jorginho and Tammy Abraham had a brief argument on who should take Chelsea's second penalty.

The Italian midfielder had earlier scored from the spot from a penalty won by Abraham, and the England striker wanted to take the second one.

However, Jorginho declined and it took the intervention of skipper Cesar Azpilicueta to restore order. Abraham walked away looking very angry, while Jorginho proceeded to score, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Werner needs goals at Chelsea to build his confidence

That second penalty shouldn’t have even been the bone of contention between the two players in the first place. It should have been willingly handed to Timo Werner.

The German forward has struggled for form since joining Chelsea from RB Leipzig this summer. His only goal so far came in the Carabao Cup midweek loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

Timo Werner has scored just a single goal since arriving at Chelsea.

Having also been shifted from his preferred center-forward role to the left-wing, it is clear that the 24-year-old is currently lacking confidence. Fellow German Havertz was in a similar situation after his debut game but his form improved after scoring a sensational hat-trick against Barnsley in the League Cup.

Against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Havertz was in top form, linking play between the midfield and attack with some deft passing, driving the whole team on. Werner needs goals to build his confidence as well. Every striker does and Jorginho should have known better when the opportunity came to help Werner.