Chelsea came out victorious after an impressive display against Lille in the first leg of their Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge.
Kai Havertz, who was the preferred option up front with Romelu Lukaku dropped, opened the scoring early on after netting a header from a corner.
The French side came back with some real gusto but never truly tested Edouard Mendy while Christian Pulisic scored after around an hour to put the Blues in cruise control.
With all eyes on Thomas Tuchel following his decision to leave Lukaku out, his selection was justified with a more fluid attack but two injuries to Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech will worry the German coach just days before the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool this weekend.
So, what did we learn tonight at Stamford Bridge?
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Big-game Havertz
It was a blistering start to the match for Havertz, who would have known that all eyes were on him after Lukaku was dropped for him.
In truth, he could have had three goals after eight minutes - missing a sitter and forcing Lille keeper Leonardo Jardim into a fine save.
The Germany international would score from the resulting corner, though, but his overall play was sublime compared to Lukaku’s seven-touch performance against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Havertz is quickly turning into the kind of player who relishes the big stage - something that Chelsea have long needed.
High-octane Kante
This game was thrashed out in the midfield where Renato Sanches had a fantastic match, constantly harrying Chelsea throughout the contest.
It was match that the Blues needed N’Golo Kante at his very best while the midfielder has been struggling with fitness and form lately, this looked a man desperate to make an impression with an incredible assist for Pulisic.
This has been a stop-start campaign for the World Cup winner, who was instrumental to Chelsea’s surprise Champions League win last season.
But if the west London club can keep Kante wrapped up for these kind of games, then it will be worth it as he is a game-changer who can lead the Blues back to glory.
The Alonso enigma
It was a bit of a rollercoaster evening for Alonso, as it often if when the Spaniard is deployed on the left-hand side.
For what its worth, the 30-year-old looked dangerous on the flank when pushing Lille up as far as possible - his best asset.
But when it came to defending, Tuchel was literally spitting venom on the sidelines where Jonathan Bamba got in behind the wing-back on multiple occasions.
On another night, Alonso could have ended up with a goal or an assist but could have easily been at fault for one conceded at the other end.
Silva’s clinic
Some things just get better with age and you can count Thiago Silva among them - in put in a faultless display yet again.
Despite the Brazilian being 37 years-old, he appears to be in his best condition who could go on for a good few years yet.
His positioning is excellent and he is always in the right place at the right time, only a world-class player could do what he does and make it look so simple.
In terms of free transfers, this might be one of the best of the lot at Stamford Bridge, who is adored by the fans.
James needed
For all of Cesar Azpilicueta’s fault as a leader and a defender, going forward the Spaniard might just have lost that crucial yard of pace.
This was a match which was crying out for Reece James, who has been out injured for over a month but has returned to training.
Tuchel will be desperate to see the 22-year-old return simply because of the physicality he can bring to the side going forward while his delivery is usually on point.
With Liverpool coming up in the Carabao Cup final, the aim will be to see the defender have some minutes under his belt before being chucked straight back in at the deep end.
Return of Ruben?
It was quite the call from Tuchel to put Ruben Loftus-Cheek on over Jorginho when Mateo Kovacic came off in the second half through injury.
The Italian is often seen as the man to control the tempo - something that looked like it needed being done with the wild tempo Lille like to play at.
But Loftus-Cheek entered the fray instead in a huge show of faith from Tuchel in the 26-year-old, who has had another season where injuries have been cruel.
Chelsea will be praying that Kovacic’s problem was just a precaution with the Carabao Cup final up this weekend but Tuchel will need all of his squad ready and primed to face Liverpool.
