Nicolas Jackson once again impressed for Chelsea as the Blues narrowly beat Brighton 4-3 in their second pre-season match as they continue to tour the United States
Chelsea's two senior signings this summer – Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson – have both started their respective pre-season campaigns superbly for the Blues.
Jackson netted for the first time for Chelsea on Sunday morning, scoring the Blues' fourth and final goal in the 4-3 win over Brighton in Philadelphia. Nkunku scored Chelsea's first goal for the Blues to level the game against Brighton, just days after he struck for the first time in the 5-0 victory against Wrexham.
However, the new signings are yet to play a single minute together on the pitch thus far with Mauricio Pochettino replacing Jackson with Nkunku against Wrexham and then vice-versa in the win versus Brighton. Nkunku is a very versatile forward, who can play anywhere across the front-line and did so when he was playing for RB Leipzig, but so far he has been used predominantly as a No.9.
Jackson, meanwhile, is more of a natural centre-forward. There is a chance, though, that both of them could be used on the pitch together in the future as Pochettino touched on his post-match press conference following the win against Brighton.
The link-up is an exciting prospect between two. Particularly when you think of how well Jackson has combined with his other teammates despite having very little time to work with them so far.
What Jackson did particularly well on Sunday was the one-touch lay-offs to his fellow attackers – see Mykhailo Mudryk's goal, for example. The duo played two lots of one-twos before Mudryk struck the ball beautifully into the bottom corner.
It was very Olivier Giroud-esque from Jackson, who continues to impress. Many thought Jackson was a rather one-dimensional striker when he was brought in, but what he has shown since is that there are many elements to his game, including his hold-up play.
His technical ability seems to be very good, too, like Giroud, who is one of the best around at bringing his teammates into play. Jackson's finish on 76 minutes was absolutely devastating, too. It was a trademark run, playing off the shoulder of the last defender, and then he utilised his speed to get to the ball, set himself, and smash it past the goalkeeper into the top corner.