Arsenal contract decision leads to Chelsea defeat | OneFootball

Former Arsenal midfielder Jorginho helped to inflict defeat on Chelsea on Friday, thanks to the Gunners letting him go early.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

After two-and-a-half seasons and 79 appearances for Arsenal, Jorginho left north London to join Brazilian side Flamengo earlier this month.

The 33-year-old technically had a contract with Arsenal until July, but he reached an agreement with the Gunners to terminate it early, allowing him to link up with Flamengo ahead of the Club World Cup.

As a result, the Italy international has been available for the group stage of the competition, and he’s made a positive impact so far.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Jorginho provided an assist against Esperance Tunis on his debut in the competition, helping his new team to a 2-0 win. They followed that up on Friday night with a game against another of Jorginho’s former club’s – Chelsea.

Chelsea took an early lead through Pedro Neto, but Jorginho played the full 90 minutes as his team ultimately turned things around to win 3-1.

Though they were aided by a Nicolas Jackson red card, Flamengo had already taken the lead by that stage, and they earned their win.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Speaking afterwards, Jorginho insisted his new side felt confident they knew how they could beat his old one.

“We put [Chelsea] in trouble, we worked a lot on how we could hurt them,” Jorginho told DAZN. “We knew we could hurt them in some areas, but they are secrets.

“We were really confident and we know in these big games, details make the difference. Overall, we were really good in the first half so we were really confident.

“We felt confident because we were playing good football and we needed to keep going the way we were.”

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Chelsea are still in a good position to make the knockout stages, as a draw in their final game against Esperance Tunis would be enough. But a shock defeat would guarantee elimination.

As for Jorginho and Flamengo, they’re already through to the next round, and it’s now just about winning the group.

Jorginho remains undefeated against Chelsea since leaving, featuring in three wins and one draw with Arsenal and Flamengo. He was also named on the bench in one more win and one more draw this season with the Gunners.