Reece James will have been dreaming of this moment since he joined Chelsea as a six-year-old.
A first-team debut at a sold out Stamford Bridge, an assist in either half, a sweetly-struck late goal and a quite straightforward victory. It could not have gone much better.
The 19-year-old, such a success on loan at Wigan Athletic last season, has had to bide his time while recovering from an ankle ligament injury sustained at the Toulon Tournament in June.
He had made two appearances for the club’s Under-23 team in recent weeks but this had long been earmarked by Frank Lampard as his opportunity for a first-string bow.
Before he had even kicked a ball for Lampard’s side, the hype around James had been growing and with Cesar Azpilicueta struggling for form in the opening weeks of the campaign some supporters had even been calling for him to be the first-choice right back.
That is not going to happen overnight, especially with Azpilicueta finding some improved form since the international break, but this was still a statement performance against a game but limited Grimsby Town.
First half
Inside the opening two minutes, with Chelsea playing the ball across the back line, Frank Lampard stepped into his technical area and urged James to advance further forward.
He took it on board and the first assist, albeit with the aid of a deflection, was a reward for his willingness to push on against an opposition that understandably sought to sit back and keep things tight to begin with.
His one-two with Christian Pulisic in the build up was perfectly-timed, taking the return in stride. And he did well to drive a low cross towards Michy Batshuayi, who turned and finished.
Defensively James will have far busier days to come but he never seemed ruffled on the rare occasions that he was called into action and constantly offered an option going forward by pushing up to support Pulisic.
There was one moment when he had to be alert to stop a burst forward from Matt Green and he also had to clear a ball for a throw while under pressure from the imposing Elliott Whitehouse.
That aside it was all about what he was capable of going forward.
Second half
The assist for Kurt Zouma’s goal was a beauty. First James turned Liam Gibson inside out on the right flank before producing an outswinging cross with the inside of his right boot that dipped between the Grimsby centre halves and allowed the centre back to finish smoothly.
That moment killed the game as a contest but James continued to push forward and he fully deserved his own goal to make it -51. The ball broke kindly to him just outside the ‘D’, he took a touch, steadied himself and dispatched a well-positioned right-footed effort into the bottom right corner of James McKeown’s net.
Verdict
A hugely promising debut for the teenager. The usual caveats apply regarding the quality of opposition but he did nothing wrong defensively and offered a threat in more ways than one going forward.
Lampard has spoken of James’s versatility on a couple of occasions already. He played as a holding midfielder for a significant proportion of last season at Wigan and could also be an option at centre back in the future.
Right back offers the clearest pathway to regular first-team minutes, though, and it will not surprise anybody to see him pushing Azpilicueta hard as the season progresses.
