If Tammy Abraham is the man to fill the Harry-Kane-shaped hole at the heart of England’s frontline, one thing is certain: he won’t be given many examinations like this.
In this, his breakthrough season, the forward has already proven he can step up to lead the line in Chelsea blue. Few centre-back partnerships across the continent will test his grit like Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.
But here, on a day of rare home-comforts for Chelsea, Abraham showed those spindly legs can stand tall in the heat of physical battle, too. Many thought Abraham had set up Callum Hudson-Odoi for his first Premier League goal and Chelsea’s third of the afternoon. For once, though, the striker was desperate to forgo the assist that would have seen the goal ruled out.
He got his wish and from there Chelsea could enjoy themselves, having already killed the contest through a Jorginho penalty after Willian was brought down, and through Abraham’s first-half header. They did so with the injured N’Golo Kante and rested Mateo Kovacic. Instead it was their core of young English talent – Hudson-Odoi, Abraham and the interminable Reece James – who did the damage.