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| Timo Werner and Mason Mount Celebrate Chelsea's opening goal against Sheffield United |
For the second time in the space of four days a penalty from Jorginho proved to be the difference as Chelsea moved up to fifth in the table with a win over Sheffield United at Brammal Lane.
Just like the game on Thursday against Tottenham again it was Timo Werner who was fouled, but this time Jorginho opted to go for hid more traditional penalty technique to send goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way. Jorginho is now Chelsea's second top goalscorer in the league with five goals to his name.
The winger which came in the 58th minute after Antonio Rudiger had put through his own net awkwardly for what was an unfortunate first goal conceded under Thomas Tuchel. Rudiger more than made up for his mistake with a series of vital blocks and clearances as Chelsea doggedly defended their narrow lead later on in the game.
Chelsea enjoyed a couple of early let offs in the game, not least when Sheffield United were awarded a penalty was overturned as a result of a tight offside in the build-up. Chelsea then started to grow into the contest, though, and with half time approaching and went ahead with a good finish from Mason Mount after brilliant work from Timo Werner.
As expected against a team fighting to survive in the premier league who are always in games, it was a battle throughout for Chelsea as they were never comfortable throughout the game, this vindicated with a 96th minute save from Edouard Mendy to deny Billy Sharp from scoring an overhead kick.
With this victory Chelsea move to only a point behind fourth placed Liverpool on the back of a third consecutive victory.
Team selection
Thomas Tuchel made three changes to the team which won on Thursday at Tottenham, bringing in the likes of Andreas Christensen, Ben Chilwell, and Olivier Giroud. Christensen replaced the injured Thiago Silva, Chilwell replaced Marcos Alonso and Giroud let the line up front with Callum Hudson-Odoi dropping to the bench. Both Werner and Mount played of him.
Christian Pulisic was also missing from the matchday squad due to personal reasons, however, there was a return to the bench for Kurt Zouma after injury, Billy Gilmour featured in the matchday squad for the first time under Tuchel.
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| Chelsea team to face Sheffield United |
Early escapes for Chelsea
Chelsea's run of three consecutive clean sheets almost came to an end within the first 30 seconds of the game. Oliver Burke was slipped clean through by his strike partner Oliver McBurnie after Chelsea lost possession in the midfield, but thankfully for Chelsea his shot flew into the side-netting of Edouard Mendy's net as supposed to the goal.
Chelsea responded to this by winning a couple of corner which resulted in nothing, but did create their own clear openings. An inviting pass from Matteo Kovacic over the top was reached by Timo Werner before Aaron Ramsdale, the German attempted to loft the ball past the goalkeeper however, it had neither the pace nor any oncoming Chelsea player to put the ball in the net with Chris Basham in the right place to clear.
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| Aaron Ramsdale avoids making contact on this occasion with Timo Werner |
The next involvement for Sheffield United came in the 12th minute as result of a foul committed in the penalty area by Ben Chilwell. Immediately the referee pointed to the spot, which after a further check by VAR found Basham to be marginally offside in the build up.
Basham was then booked for a foul on Timo Werner as the game ended at a scrappy stage on a cold evening in South Yorkshire. Chelsea struggled to control possession and tempo in the manner in which they had done on Thursday, with Sheffield United pressing us back and forcing errors.
Chelsea take the lead
However, Chelsea managed to ride out the tricky spell and, with half time approaching , clinically converted a well rounded move.
A pass was slipped into the inside-left channel from Ben Chilwell to Timo Werner the ever willing runner, and his pass centrally was placed Sheffield United's retreating backline to Mason Mount. Arriving at speed it was not an easy first time finish but certainly Mount made it look like that, planting his left foot shot into the corner.
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| Mason mount slots his shot into the far corner for his fourth goal of the season |
It was the perfect way for Mount to answer his new managers request to be more efficient in front of goal.
The last three minutes of the game passed without any incidents, as did the opening stages of the second half. Then the game burst into life with two goals in four minutes.
Action at both ends of the pitch
From a Chelsea goal perspective the first goal was horrible to concede. McBurnie attempted to slip Oliver Burke through but Rudiger managed to get across to cover. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy then came out of his goal and at the exact moment Rudiger passed it to him. Rudiger's pass wrongfooted the goalkeeper and rolled into the back of the unguarded net.
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| Miscommunication between Edouard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger led to Sheffield United's equaliser |
Chelsea didn't dwell in this error under Tuchel for much long. In fact, only 70 seconds had elapsed when Timo Werner intercepted a short back-pass from Jayden Bogle and knocked it passed goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who could only bring the German down.
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| Aaron Ramsdale slides into Timo Werner to concede a penalty with the ball long gone |
It looked a clear penalty but was overturned by the on field refereeing team. After a long wait with the ball still in play , referee Kevin Friend was then advised to check the pitch side monitor by his assistants at Stockley Park. From this he changed his decision.
The seventh penalty which was won by Werner was converted by Jorginho , who went back to his old penalty technique to send Ramsdale the wrong way.
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| Jorginho coolly slots the penalty kick away to give Chelsea the lead |
Shortly after the hour mark, Tuchel shuffled his team, bringing on Hudson-Odoi and Alonso for Giroud and Chilwell. The final sub was N'Golo Kante for Werner as Chelsea shifted to a 3-5-2 formation for the games last 15 minutes, with both Mount and Hudson-Odoi operating in false nine roles.
Before this Rudiger made up for his earlier error with a brilliant covering header to clear a threatening free kick, and then made a crucial block to stop John Fleck's shot from troubling Edouard Mendy after he danced through Chelsea's defence.
Chelsea dig in
With the clock running down, Rudiger again blocked expertly in the last five minutes of injury time, and it was in the last of these, Mendy got down low in order to parry a overhead kick from Billy Sharp which seemed destined for the corner.
This proved to be the last action in a tight and tense encounter in South Yorkshire in which Tuchel's team showcased their ability to grind out a win once more.
What's next for Chelsea
Chelsea are back in South Yorkshire as they face Barnsley in the fifth round of the Fa Cup on Thursday. Chelsea's next game in the premier league is at home to Newcastle a week on Monday.
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