It may have taken him more chances than ideal — … a lot more chances than ideal … — but Nicolas Jackson not only got out of his scoring funk, he got out of it in a spectacular way, notching the first Chelsea hat-trick against Tottenham since the one and only Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink did it in 2002 (and the third ever, joining Tore Andre Flo’s effort in 1997). And Jackson, like Flo, did the business right in front of the Spurs faithful’s noses.
And speaking of fans, Jackson dedicated his accomplishment to the Chelsea masses, acknowledging that he’s had a few shockers along the way. Still, he now has six goals on the season to lead the team (13 appearances), absolutely destroying his previous 1 goal-per-month pace, thanks in large part to Spurs’ tactical bravery silliness of keeping a ridiculous high line even with two-men down.
“It was a big game, a London derby, my first derby against Tottenham, so I’m very happy that we won and I scored a hat-trick […though] I should’ve scored four!
“[It was] high intensity for everybody; tackles here, tackles there: it was a crazy game. But this what the fans want to see every weekend. We provided that, so everybody’s happy. [We] work every day for this, to win these kind of games.
“[And] personally thanks to the fans, because they have been patient with me, and have helped me a lot. Of course I’ve been missing a lot of chances, but everybody goes through difficulties like this. I’m very happy that today I showed what I can do [to] make them happy.”
-Nicolas Jackson; source: Chelsea TV
I’m not sure we as fans have been as patient with Jackson as he claims here, but it certainly was delightful to see him repay the faith of head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Many of us expected Chelsea to line up without a recognized striker (just as we had against Arsenal), but Jackson’s inclusion from the start proved to be the correct decision in the end.
Hopefully this win not only boosts the confidence of the team as a whole, but gets Jackson firing more consistently and with more self-belief, which has been sorely lacking at times in his decision-making and execution.
“It is about building his confidence […] I hope this hat-trick can allow him to play more relaxed and find the confidence he needs.
“I am happy for him because we know that when strikers don’t score, they suffer. So that is for people to think. He is really young, arrived to the club this summer, and it’s not easy to play for Chelsea. It’s the history, about winning, lifting trophies.
“That’s why as a coaching staff we need to provide the tools and be calm with the way we assess things. The confidence is there and I am so happy for him because he deserves the boost.”
-Mauricio Pochettion; source: Metro
Jackson’s hat-trick is the first Chelsea hat-trick in over two years, which is a pretty big gap, and indicative yet again of our finishing woes in general. Here are the last thirteen Chelsea hat-tricks, since 2016, which is when I started keeping this list. It’s the 155th hat-trick in club history, with Jackson the 76th different player to get one for us. (The indispensable Chelsea: The Complete Record has the list of the first 142, from 1905 to 2014.)
Jan 2016 — Oscar: 3 vs. MK Dons (a) 5-1 — FA Cup
Sep 2017 — Batshuayi: 3 vs. Nottingham Forest (h) 5-1 — League Cup
Sep 2017 — Morata: 3 vs. Stoke City (a) 4-0 — Premier League
Sep 2018 — Hazard: 3 vs. Cardiff City (h) 4-1 — Premier League
Oct 2018 — Loftus-Cheek: 3 vs. BATE (h) 3-1 — Europa League
Mar 2019 — Giroud: 3 vs. Dynamo Kiev (a) 5-0 — Europa League
Sep 2019 — Abraham: 3 vs. Wolves (a) 5-2 — Premier League
Oct 2019 — Pulisic: 3 vs. Burnley (a) 4-2 — Premier League
Sep 2020 — Havertz: 3 vs. Barnsley (h) 6-0 — League Cup
Dec 2020 — Giroud: 4 vs. Sevilla (a) 4-0 — Champions League
Jan 2021 — Abraham: 3 vs. Luton Town (h) 3-1 — FA Cup
Oct 2021 — Mount: 3 vs. Norwich City (h) 7-0 — Premier League
Nov 2023 — Jackson: 3 vs. Tottenham (a) 4-1 — Premier League
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