The chips were down for Chelsea. After only 11 minutes of Sunday's London derby away to Tottenham, they trailed 2-0 and could have few complaints over that scoreline. Spurs had come racing out of the blocks and the Blues looked set to be the latest victim of Ange Postecoglou's Robin Hood routine - stealing points off the rich and handing them over to the poor.
That unpredictability worked against Tottenham this time. Where they trounced Manchester United and Manchester City, Chelsea had their heads screwed on. Enzo Maresca made the requisite tactical changes to overwhelm the hosts and his side eventually ran out 4-3 winners.
Kicking off that comeback was Jadon Sancho. Receiving the ball wide left, he marauded his way infield beyond right-back Pedro Porro and centre-back Radu Dragusin before lashing a piercing strike in off the inside of the post. It was the spark the visitors needed, and Sancho himself could have done with it too.
From there on in, he was never shy to take on his man, to take up the invitation to break into the space vacated by Spurs' uneven structure. Cole Palmer's double from the penalty spot grabbed the headlines, but Sancho was the catalyst behind a momentous day in their season. It might just have been a momentous day in his career too.
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |