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Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has apologised for his penalty miss during his team's Premier League win against West Ham United.
The Blues hosted the Hammers on Sunday (April 24) in a high-voltage fixture. Neither team created enough chances, and the game was goalless going into the final ten minutes.
However, with five minutes to go, West Ham's Craig Dawson was adjudged to have fouled Romelu Lukaku in the penalty area. Dawson was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and the hosts were awarded a spot-kick after a brief VAR check.
Jorginho stepped up to take the kick with his signature pause. However, he struck a weak effort straight down the middle, which was comfortably saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
Speaking after the match, the Italian said that he overthought the shot and apologised for missing a massive chance. He said (as quoted by Chelsea's official website):
‘‘When you have that little moment of doubt, that’s usually when you make the mistake. Maybe I had too much time to think about it, I don’t know. It went like that this time and I’m sorry. I feel bad because it’s not a nice feeling.’’
The 30-year-old went on to add that the pressure of the situation inevitably impacted his focus, adding:
‘‘It’s a lot of pressure, especially in games like that when you need to win and it’s the last minutes. You try to isolate your mind from all that pressure, even though it’s hard, and then you have the VAR so it takes longer. It’s harder to keep focused but unfortunately this time it didn’t work.’’
Chelsea bounce back from Jorginho miss to beat West Ham
The penalty miss was only the fifth of Jorginho's Chelsea career out of the 35 he has taken for the club, including shootouts. With West Ham reverting to a solid defensive shape, the match looked set to end goalless as the Hammers looked good to take a point back home.
However, that wasn't to be the case. Substitute Christian Pulisic put a dagger in West Ham hearts in the final minute of regulation time, sweeping the ball home from Marcos Alonso's cross. The goal was enough for Thomas Tuchel's team to seal a 1-0 win.
The loss put a massive dent in the Hammers' top-four hopes, as they now sit eight points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have played two games in hand. Chelsea, meanwhile, will head into their next match against Manchester United with some much-needed impetus.
