Ghana midfielder Michael Essien watched Chelsea’s highly-entertaining 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspurs from the substitute bench in the English Premier League on Saturday.
The 30-year-old was unused by manager Jose Mourinho despite impressing as captain in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Swindon Town in the Capital One Cup in mid-week.
With Dutch youngster van Ginkel out for the rest of the season, the experienced midfield workhorse was expected to earn the nod in midfield but the Portuguese gaffer settled on Nigerian midfielder Mikel Obi for the role.
With Obi struggling to impose himself in the game, it was expected that the Ghanaian international would have been brought on but Juan Mata was brought in as a replacement.
Essien has not played a single EPL game this season for Chelsea but rather made an appearance in the Capital One Cup and was also left out of the Chelsea Champions League squad for the group stage.
