For the first two months of the season, Frank Lampard was experimenting with the many offensive weapons he had been handed. Yet it took Ziyech emerging for all his other problems to seemingly evaporate.
The winger missed the first six weeks of the season after picking up an injury on his friendly debut at Brighton, and his first full start didn’t arrive until 28 October . That match is a clear line in the sand in Chelsea’s season.
Prior to that trip to Russia, they had drawn five of their last six matches in all competitions. A home capitulation versus Southampton was followed by tentative, nervous 0-0 draws at home to Sevilla and away to Manchester United, the latter a miserable attacking display where barely a shot on goal was mustered.
This is only a month ago, where we were questioning what exactly Lampard was trying to do. Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz floated around behind Timo Werner in a 3-4-2-1 formation but nothing clicked. And it took circumstance, plus Ziyech, to create their change in fortune.
Havertz, Werner and Ziyech all started against Krasnodar, with Pulisic injured off the bench. Since then Lampard has reverted to a very conventional 4-3-3 formation, shifting Werner out wide on the left with Ziyech slotting in on the right. Tammy Abraham has started through the centre as the focal point, and it is working.
Ziyech has also freed up Werner. The German has five goals and two assists since Ziyech joined the starting XI and it’s this balance with him roving in from the left, and Ziyech creating from the right, plus Abraham’s presence centrally that has created an interesting balance.