N’Golo Kante’s first start back after more than seven months out was a ray of light in what has been a dark and dreary season in west London.
The elegant midfielder was back in the starting lineup for Chelsea as they faced Liverpool, and lasted for a creditable 69 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
His first involvement was to dribble 20 yards after a lay-off from wing-back Reece James, before he was fouled by a scrambling Konstantinos Tsimikas in a good area.
The 32-year-old showed his usual running ability but his technical qualities, which are often underrated, were also on show.
He created three chances, including the biggest of the match as he won the ball high up the pitch against Joel Matip and played Mateo Kovacic clean through, but the finish that followed was wild.
In typical fashion, the France international also won five of his seven duels and regained possession eight times. Graham Potter will have been watching on wishing he got the chance to use the world class star before he was sacked.
Bruno Saltor will now profit from Kante’s return, and he came off for Conor Gallagher to a standing ovation after a display that was worth the admission fee alone.
Chelsea are confident they are close to persuading the box-to-box midfielder to sign a new contract, and they also believe he has overcome the niggling injury problems that have plagued him in recent years.
There is a broader concern though about the team’s poor finishing in front of goal. The match ended 0-0 but Chelsea should have collected all three points.
Kai Havertz, Joao Felix and Kovacic were wasteful once again. Remarkably, the home faithful at Stamford Bridge have witnessed just one goal from open play in 2023.
With Chelsea still 11th in the table, it is too much to ask to make anything of the league season with just nine games left.
Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti will, however, have watched Kante’s return with concern, with the midfielder expected to start at the Santiago Bernabeu next week in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie.
Real will remember the Frenchman picking up the man-of-the-match award in both legs of the 2021 semi-final when Chelsea shocked Europe to win the competition and save a bad season.
Kante gives a glimmer of hope that this campaign isn't yet over, despite the league table continuing to look bleak.
