There was a collective cry of anguish from the Chelsea bench in the 12th minute of the west London derby as Liam Delap pulled up, clutching the back of his right thigh before gingerly pigeon-stepping down the tunnel, writes Tim Harrison.
Yes, Joao Pedro – easily man of the match in the weekend’s 2-0 victory over Fulham – can play up front, backed by others in the Blues’ formidable forward line.
But Enzo Maresca’s attack team was being built round a strong target man, and losing Delap with hamstring trouble for, potentially, weeks on end is a blow.
It capped a largely forgettable first half at the Bridge.
The only moment of drama in normal time came when Josh King broke free, ran to the Matthew Harding end and netted, before VAR cancelled the goal out for a foul in the build-up.
But deep, deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time that ref Robert Jones added, Pedro rose and headed home an Enzo Fernandez corner, leaving Blues fans buoyant as they headed off for their half-time lagers.
Shortly before the hour mark, Enzo was on target himself from the spot after (to Marcus Silva’s predictable fury) Chelsea were awarded a penalty for a Ryan Sessegnon handball.
"Three games, seven points; I’m very happy," said the Chelsea manager afterwards as – briefly – the Blues topped the Premier League table.
"We deserved to win.
"Second half, we were completely brilliant!"
The arrival of Alejandro Garnacho from Man Utd has added to an already busy transfer summer, with the 21-year-old watching his new teammates from the stand on Saturday lunchtime.
It seems a good fit; Garnacho, 21, was a Chelsea fan as a kid, and brings yet more youthful energy to this young and oh-so-watchable side who could yet develop into a serious threat to Liverpool, Arsenal and City.
The Blues next travel to Brentford for a Saturday evening game on 13 September.
But now the spotlight turns to Chelsea Women, with Aggie Beever-Jones the hat-trick star on Saturday as the team ran out 4-1
