Saul Niguez hasn't found things easy since moving to Chelsea, but the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg saw the Spaniard begin to show the Blues what he can offer.
The on-loan Atletico Madrid man arrived with high expectations, but was taken off at half-time in each of his two Premier League starts and has been subject to some tough love from manager Thomas Tuchel.
"I don’t know where he goes from this performance," the boss said after Saul lasted just 45 minutes in the nervy win at Watford at the start of December.
Tuchel was far more complimentary this week, though, as the 27-year-old started and impressed in a win which gives Chelsea a huge upper hand in their efforts to reach the Carabao Cup final.
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"I’m very happy he had a performance like that, which was a huge step forward,” Tuchel said after Saul played 73 minutes of the victory.
“He’s more happy, more free in training; I see it every day. He played better when he came on against Wolverhampton.
"He has digested his experiences here in the beginning, when he maybe did not expect it to be like this," Tuchel explained, while recognising the Spain international is by no means the first player to struggle after moving to England from another European league.
Saul joined Chelsea on loan at the end of August, having played more than 30 games last season as Atletico Madrid won La Liga, but a difficult debut against Aston Villa showed the size of the task facing the midfielder.
“We could see Saul struggle to adapt a bit to the intensity, instructions, style of play and intensity of the Premier League,” Tuchel said at the time.
The player himself admitted things hadn't gone to plan, saying it "wasn't the expected debut," and was made to wait more than six weeks for his next involvement in the league.
The second league start was equally tough, with Tuchel reflecting on a "very sloppy" performance from his team as a whole, but things have started to improve.
Saul has now started back-to-back cup games, after completing the full 90 minutes in the quarter-final victory over Brentford, and further improvement could yet convince Chelsea to take up the option to make his loan move permanent.
The midfielder was part of a solid Blues display as an early Kai Havertz opener and a Ben Davies own goal gave Tuchel's side a two-goal lead at the break which remained intact at full-time.
Chelsea are back in action on Saturday with a home FA Cup game against Chesterfield, before playing the second leg of their semi-final against Spurs on Wednesday night.
