If there was ever a moment to sum up Chelsea's problems - an embarrassment of riches but no results - this was it.
Chelsea arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with an ominously good record against Spurs at this stadium. It was a record that Graham Potter insisted would give his side a minor boost, but which in reality was just crying out to be broken.
The Blues had a perfect record at Tottenham's new stadium. They were unbeaten in their last eight Premier League meetings with Spurs, who had only won seven of their previous 61 meetings with them in the league.
But historic statistics are inevitably trumped by contemporary ones; Chelsea's run of two wins - and just six goals - in their previous 15 matches across all competitions was a much stronger omen of what might transpire in north London on Sunday.
And after a dour first half which contained little besides Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hitting the post and Hakim Ziyech receiving a red card reprieve, the moment arrived in which it all fell apart from Chelsea. The match was just a minute into the second half when a moment of brilliance from Tottenham - or a moment of calamity for Chelsea, depending on your view - struck.
Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to hold onto a straightforward effort from Emerson Royal on the overlap, prompting Enzo Fernandez to spring into action. The Premier League's most expensive player of all time collected the ball out of his goalkeeper's hands before slicing a clearance away on his left foot.
The ball came back with interest. Skipp picked it up and drove forward before unleashing a powerful effort that Kepa was not ready for. The Spanish goalkeeper could only palm the ball into his own net, via the underside of the crossbar. Skipp had his first ever goal for Tottenham in his 66th appearance - and Chelsea had yet another deficit to try and overturn.
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For Spurs this was a moment of sheer enjoyment, their academy graduate coming good in a London derby. For Chelsea, however, this was a goal that was emblematic of their current plight.
Kepa is the world's most expensive goalkeeper, a player who cost the club £72million way back in the summer of 2018. Fernandez is the latest addition to an expensively-assembled but still ramshackle collection of players. The Argentina World Cup winner set Chelsea back a Premier League record fee of £105m in January.
And yet together the two players contributed to Tottenham's opener. The incident struck, not of a lack of class, but simply of a lack of understanding. Solid defences are built on relationships and time on the training pitch - two things that Kepa and Fernandez have not had.
This is the project that Todd Boehly - who was there to see it all unfold in north London - committed himself to at Chelsea. When he sacked Thomas Tuchel back in September he knew what he was getting into, with plans already afoot for another splurge in the January transfer window.
Potter is trying his best to get a tune out of Chelsea's eye-wateringly expensive squad, but he is doing so in real time, without the benefit of a pre-season - and without the benefit of a say in the transfer policy which has shaped the side.
Harry Kane's simple tap-in at the back post following a flicked on corner sealed the deal for Spurs and left Boehly and co with a serious decision to make regarding Potter's future.
