Jorginho scored the Blues’ first Premier League goal for the second time in as many seasons, joining a select group of players.
Since joining us from Napoli in 2018, our No. 5 has been a consistent scorer for the squad, despite not being the first name you may expect to see on the Scoresheet. This is because of his precision from the penalty spot.
That has been the case ever since N’GOLO Kante gave us the lead for the year on his first day with the Blues, when he scored on his Premier League debut against Huddersfield Town.
Jorgi, though, is steadfast in his resolve. Two years later, in the first matchweek of a season that would be played almost completely in empty stadiums, we journeyed to the south to play Brighton & Hove Albion, and he scored again. It was the 2020–21 season.
Reece James’ incredible goal in the second half, which handed us the victory, is perhaps what people will remember most about the contest. However, Jorginho became Chelsea’s second-ever game-opener with that strike and his first at Goodison Park on Sunday, joining a limited group of Nineties legends and a champion of the Premier League.
The first to end our goal drought in a season was a player who only scored six goals for the Blues in 157 Premier League outings. True, his primary duty was to stop the adversary from entering the field from the other end.
When we played Norwich City on the opening day of the 1994–1995 campaign, Paul Furlong, a club record signing, was the center of attention. However, thanks to a beautiful opening goal from Frank Sinclair, we had already clinched the victory by the time the large center-forward made his debut with a goal.
The local defender, who had cried at the end of the previous campaign after conceding a penalty in our blowout defeat to Manchester United in our first participation in an FA Cup final in 24 years, turned a new leaf with a thundering finish from the edge of the box.
Even though we unexpectedly lost to the Sky Blues three years later when we played Coventry City, he was up to his old antics. There may not have been many people who remember Frank’s goal, but the celebration was one of the strangest in our history, and it would be hard to find someone who can recollect it.
According to Sinclair, he wanted to be in the papers the day his daughter was born because his girlfriend was due to give birth. So what did he do? When he dropped his shorts in celebration, there was a lot of back-page press and an FA fine.
The next year, we fell to Coventry once more despite having two world cup-winning center backs competing against Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin. Gus Poyet’s header right before halftime gave us some hope after we fell behind 2-0 early on, but it wasn’t enough. But in our first continuous attempt to win the Premier League championship, Poyet was a key player.
Many saw us as title favorites at the start of the following season, and our thrashing of Sunderland on opening day did little to change those opinions. You should all remember Poyet’s fantastic karate-style volley, which clinched a 4-0 victory and ranks among our best in the Premier League history, after he had scored our first goal with a header.
Once Sinclair and Poyet have finished the 1990s, there is only one player left in this elite club of two-time Premier League opening scorers for the Blues. There are a lot of people who immediately come to mind who we believe may have achieved this, including Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Eden Harzad, and Diego Costa.
Over the years, all four of them players distinguished themselves in victory on the first day, although none of them scored two goals on the first play. The prize is instead handed to a Brazilian midfielder who, during his nearly five-year stay at Stamford Bridge, had a contagious propensity for scoring goals, many of them spectacular.
On the first day of the 2013–14 season, Jose Mourinho made an emotional trip back to Stamford Bridge to start his second stint as Blues manager. It was all about the special one. The celebration included a 2-0 victory over Hull City.
Despite Lampard missed an early penalty, we didn’t have to wait long for our goal as debutant Kevin De Bruyne slipped an appealing pass through for Oscar to finish past Allan McGregor with ease.
Two years later, the Brazilian opened the scoring for us with a goal that had a good deal of luck involved. His whipped free-kick from wide on the left escaped everyone, including the goalie, to land in the far corner of the net. He was sporting a Premier League championship medal around his neck at the time.
The Swansea game and the rest of the campaign were less enjoyable what came after.
