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There were statements all over the pitch as Chelsea kicked off their Premier League title challenge with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace.
Thomas Tuchel insisted the exertions of the Super Cup win in midweek could not be used as an excuse for anything other than a flying start to the campaign; his players responded with an utterly dominant performance against and insipid and ultimately shell-shocked Palace.
The danger of being caught cold – as Arsenal were against Brentford on Friday night – was very real for the European champions.
Tuchel named an under-strength team without the injured N’Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech; Kai Havertz and Thiago Silva were on the bench and £97.5million club-record signing Romelu Lukaku was unavailable as he observes quarantine.
So the chance was there for Palace to perhaps cause an early upset – or at least make life difficult for their opponents.
Instead Tuchel’s team issued a statement of intent in their bid to dethrone Manchester City as Champions.
Three points never looked in doubt from the moment Marcos Alonso swept a 27th-minute free kick into the top corner to give Chelsea a lead their early superiority deserved.
Christian Pulisic doubled their advantage five minutes before half-time after Mason Mount’s cross.
For both Alonso and Pulisic this was an opportunity to make a point to Tuchel.
In the case of Alonso, his energy and creativity is confirmation of what he can offer as an option on the left, despite being offered as a makeweight in the deal to sign Lukaku from Inter Milan.
But perhaps it was Pulisic’s performance that was of greater significance, with the winger arguably forcing himself ahead of Timo Werner in the battle for a place on the left of Tuch…
