There were not many positives to take from Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend as the pressure ramped up on Frank Lampard another notch.
But if there was something vaguely good to take from the loss then it would have been the late consolation the home side netted through Callum Hudson-Odoi.
He had the relatively easier job of getting on the end of a cross to slide past Zack Steffen in goal to ruin a Premier League debut clean sheet for the City backup stopper.
Hudson-Odoi has been in good form in recent weeks and it was a surprise he was axed from the starting lineup at Stamford Bridge to make way for Hakim Ziyech but he more than made up for it with a good 25-minute cameo after coming on.
What might be of more importance to Lamaprd and the Blues as a whole was that the assist came from Kai Havertz, who hasn’t quite lived up to billing since signing on a mega-money deal from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.
There are mitigating factors to that. A young player, moving to a new country for the first time as well as playing in the Premier League for the first time are all factors, but also Havertz contracted Covid-19 in November which has impacted him “severely”, according to Lampard.
So the manager will have been as pleased as anyone that the German international showed a glimpse of just what he is capable of, despite it being in defeat at the weekend.
Havertz had been brought on for the ineffective Mateo Kovacic on Sunday as Lampard chased the game. After a spell on the right hand side he drifted across to the left and that was where he had his greatest impact.
Mason Mount received the ball in midfield and Havertz was already off to races before Mount had even played his pass to Christian Pulisic, a good four seconds ahead of the game was the German.
With Joao Cancelo pushed up too high and John Stones out of position, it allowed Havertz to run into the space that had been vacated without any trouble at all.
Havertz was also helped by Ruben Dias trying to step up and playing offside, which didn’t work, then the 21-year-old was in the clear.
Havertz then had to compose himself and pick the right pass with Timo Werner and Hudson-Odoi both busting a gut in the middle to get on the end of his cross.
Oleksandr Zinchenko in the middle was outnumbered as he was tracking Werner but had Hudson-Odoi behind him, Dias was trying to track back and Cancelo was beaten by the fresher Havertz.
The German midfielder laid the ball on a plate for either Werner or Hudson-Odoi to get on to but it was the latter, having come on as a sub and with more energy in the tank, that got on the end of it to slide past Steffen in goal.
It was only Havertz’s second assist of the season as Lampard has struggled to find a true role for the summer recruit in his side.
A slow start and then the Covid diagnosis has seen Havertz’s signing scrutinised in some quarters but after his showing against City, he can take confidence going forward.
A start against Morecambe in the FA Cup this weekend wouldn’t be out of the question as well to get more minutes under the belt.
