Denis Zakaria made a memorable Chelsea debut on Wednesday night (Picture: Getty Images)
Graham Potter was impressed with Denis Zakaria as the midfielder finally made his Chelsea debut, and did so in style as he scored in the 2-1 win over Dynamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The 25-year-old signed on loan from Juventus on 1 September and had been waiting patiently for his debut, sitting on the bench in the Premier League and Champions League.
With top spot in the group secured, Potter handed the Swiss star his chance and he did not let the boss down, scoring what proved to be the winning goal on 30 minutes after Raheem Sterling had equalised.
Potter admits that Zakaria had been far from happy sitting out, but worked hard and proved to be ready when he got his chance.
‘He’s been, as you can imagine, frustrated and disappointed when he doesn’t play,’ said Potter. ‘That’s the life of a player but he’s handled himself really well.
‘He’s kept himself fit, he’s trained really hard, supported the team and his teammates in a really good way. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to perform when your opportunity comes. So credit to him. Everyone was so happy for him and it was a great story for the whole group I think.’
On his performance at Stamford Bridge, Potter said: ‘I thought he did that well. He showed his quality, won the ball back, helped with our attacking play, and obviously to score is fantastic.
‘You can see the quality he has and we’ve seen it in training as well. He can strike a good ball so I think it was a nice goal for him and the team. It was an important goal for us so I’m happy he contributed to the team performance and for him to score was nice.’
Zakaria was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek on 71 minutes with a knock, but Potter confirmed it will not keep him out of action.
‘He just got a kick. Just the contact. He was fine. No problems with him,’ said the manager.
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The Swiss made an impact at Stamford Bridge.
