On All Hallows’ Eve all eyes before kick-off at Stamford Bridge were on two youngsters dressed in black and white.
Not the children ducking and weaving between doorways down the Fulham Road in search of Halloween candy, but Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, Chelsea’s two loanees featuring in something of an audition against their parent club.
For the 20-year-old Tomori, it was nightmarish start. With barely five minutes on the clock, as if spooked by a scary outfit, he took his eye off a cross, scooping the ball from his left toe onto his right shin and back into his own net.
The look on his manager Frank Lampard’s face said it all. The 40-year-old said before the game he would not celebrate if his current charges scored against his former club. He was as good as his word in that sense but he certainly lived every moment; a nervous ball of energy on the sideline, wincing at Tomori’s own goal, suppressing a fist pump as Marriott saved his blushes shortly after and wincing once again as captain Richard Keogh shunted a replica of Tomori’s error past Scott Carson.
He must at least have had a smile on his face as Derby’s fans subsequently launched into an ironic cheer of “Shall we score a goal for you?”
Another soon went in at either end in what was a manic opening 45. Not many tricks, but certainly a treat for the thousands packed in on this chilly October evening.
There were more errors and a few signs of promise from Tomori who was good on the ball and strong in the tackle but perhaps a little too eager to impress after that early blunder, often rushing into areas that left his more experienced – and slow – centre-back partner Keogh exposed.
Of the two, Mount can certainly be more pleased with his performance, leaving Stamford Bridge with an assist – a wonderfully weighted cross for Martyn Waghorn to score Derby’s second – and several knowing nods of approval from the home faithful as he twisted and turned away from pressure and fizzed the ball left and right from his advanced spot in midfield. It is those sort of flashes that earned him a spot in Gareth Southgate’s most recent squad and, we should expect, many more in future.
Not only does he wear the same No 8 shirt as Lampard did in his storied career here, but Mount embodies the two qualities his manager has spoken of demanding from his players: being “brave” on the ball and displaying great “desire”.
Always positive, always looking forward and showing impressive energy, and – unlike Lampard did in his playing days – often leadnig the line, suffocating Chelsea with a high press and forcing mistakes.
The only thing missing from Mount’s performance was a goal – seeing a Lampard-esque effort from 25 yards deflect narrowly wide and another saved low down by Willy Caballero.
Maurizio Sarri tweaked his defence after several frights, bringing on David Luiz and dropping deeper and the home side eventually saw out the win.
In his programme notes before the game, the Italian noted that he had so many players performing well that it was becoming difficult to narrow them down to a starting XI.
That could well be the biggest hurdle facing Mount in his hopes of building a career at Chelsea. But he certainly started going about it in the right way.
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