It took 13 minutes and one second for Kai Havertz to produce the eighth action of a sterling performance that had already provided the game’s opening goal. And on an evening where the result was mildly overshadowed by injuries to Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech, the headline takeaway was that head coach Thomas Tuchel saw his decision to shuffle the attack rewarded handsomely as a player who has a penchant for rising to the occasion offered clarity around the issue that has threatened to derail Chelsea’s campaign.
A penny for the thoughts of Romelu Lukaku as he departs Stamford Bridge this evening. Dropped to the substitutes’ bench following a performance that brought the unwanted record of the lowest involvements of any player in 90 minutes of Premier League football against Crystal Palace on Saturday, here he witnessed Havertz not only score a fine header but offer far more verve and industry.
The collective performance was imperfect but on the evidence of this outing against a game but limited Lille there can be little disputing that in the short-term Chelsea's second-most expensive signing should be favoured over the most expensive.
