Enzo Fernandez was playing only his second game for Chelsea this afternoon, but he looked like an old hand and he bossed the midfield in a London derby like he was a grizzled Premier League veteran.
The stats backed up what we saw with our eyes – a midfielder doing everything. He played the brilliant pass for our goal in the game – but was equally happy to get stuck in and compete against a tough West Ham side.
1 – Along with assisting his team's only goal, no Chelsea player completed more passes (84), recovered possession more often (7) or made more tackles (3) than Enzo Fernández against West Ham. General. pic.twitter.com/b7wizghrEJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 11, 2023
Opta noted he had the most passes of any player in the game, and also made more tackles and ball recoveries than any other Chelsea player.
We feared for this team with an Enzo – RLC midfield, but both did their bit defensively to keep things stable.
If anything, despite some brilliant attacking play early on, it was a lack of cutting edge (and one bad moment at the back) that cost us in a game where we could have had 3 or 4 goals.
