There were plenty of positives for Chelsea to take away from Wednesday night’s Super Cup clash with Liverpool despite penalty shootout defeat.
Olivier Giroud gave the Blues the lead after 36 minutes before Liverpool levelled things up through Sadio Mane just after halftime.
There was no separating the teams over 90 minutes so the game went to extra-time where Mane picked up his second of the night but Jorginho brought Chelsea back level with a penalty after Adrian fouled Tammy Abraham in the box.
It was decided by a penalty shootout in the end, with Adrian saving Abraham’s penalty to claim the trophy for Liverpool.
But in the second competitive game of Frank Lampard’s reign, the influence of the new boss was apparent. And moody stood out quite like N’Golo Kante, who dominated proceedings in midfield.
Maurizio Sarri’s attempts to convert Kante into a more attacking role seemed misguided last season but perhaps all of that hard work is now starting to pay off.
The Frenchman has always been admired for his defensive work but on Wednesday night it was his flair on the ball which had Chelsea fans singing his praises - especially for a cheeky nutmeg of James Milner.
Take a look at the responses on Twitter...
