N’Golo Kante’s name was illuminated by Chelsea supporters after his typical all-action display against Liverpool last night.
Mason Mount rightly grabbed the headlines for his winner in the Blues 1-0 over Jurgen Klopp’s unravelling Reds.
But it was the selfless work of Kante that had sections of Chelsea fans clapping in celebration.
It was an exhibition straight out of the Kante text book.
According to WhoScored.com, the Frenchman made four tackles, two interceptions and a pair of clearances.
He even went one further by providing the decisive pass for Mount’s goal, delightfully lofting the ball over Liverpool’s defence.
This was only Kante’s 10th assist in 202 appearances for Chelsea, who was recently criticised by Paul Merson for not contributing enough going forward (Sky Sports).
The Blues probably didn’t sign Kante for £30m (BBC Sport) from Leicester City in 2016 under the remit he would be scoring or assisting frequently.
Quite the opposite in fact. The 29-year-old created a legacy of doing the dirty work in front of his defence, rather than the flashy stuff further afield.
There had been a slight drop-off to this side of Kante’s game over the past few seasons, but Thomas Tuchel seems to have rediscovered the formula to get him whirring again.