Caballero helped Jorginho prepare for Chelsea penalty

Willy Caballero played a key role in Chelsea’s 1-0 London derby win over a Tottenham on Thursday, according to head coach Thomas Tuchel.

Jorginho scored the winner from the penalty spot at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having resumed spot-kick duties.


The Italy international had relinquished the role after missing two penalties this season, but Timo Werner was also guilty of failing to score in the FA Cup win over Luton Town last month.

Tuchel said Chelsea’s third-choice keeper Caballero’s penalty-saving expertise helped decide who should be the man to accept responsibility.

Tuchel explained: “The guys took some penalties in the last nine days after training and we have Willy Caballero pushing our penalty takers to be absolutely serious.

“If you are not serious you don’t score against him, so you get a pretty good picture of who is capable and who is not.

“Jorginho and Mason Mount were the names we put down and I went to Jorginho just before the match and asked him if he feels confident if we get a penalty and he said clearly ‘yes’.”

Jorginho opted for a more conventional approach to his spot-kick, firing the ball into the corner from a normal run up that did not feature his trademark skip and jump.

Tuchel said the had not demanded that the midfielder changed his method.

“I did not talk to him about how to take them,” Tuchel said.

“The players have to do it how they feel confident, and we are very happy he could score it.”