The flow of Chelsea vs Manchester United on Monday night was Exhibit A as to why the five-time Premier League champions prioritised signing a creator like Hakim Ziyech: while the West London club dominated the first half-hour or thereabouts, they never truly opened up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at Stamford Bridge in the eventual 2-0 defeat.
Statistics showed that Frank Lampard’s troops registered 17 shots to United’s nine, but only one of those attempts was on target, the away side had three.
Furthermore, and perhaps disappointingly, the Blues created only one clear-cut opportunity, emphasising how many of their attempts were low-percentage efforts.