Chelsea were both lucky to hold Roma to a draw last night, and a shade unlucky.
After all, it took arguably the goal of the season and a deceptively vicious deflection to give Roma two of their three goals.
D?eko`s incredible volley for the second was one of those that hits the back of net one time out of 10 – the other nine times those efforts end up in row Z or peppering the corner flag.
(Harsh? Frank Lampard afterwards declared that D?eko skies it 49 times out of 50!)
But for all that, the away side had by far the lion`s share of possession and some missed chances that could have put the game beyond an alarmingly fragile-looking Chelsea.
While I`m loathe to reverse over it, the continued absence of Kante leaves a massive hole in the centre of the park.
Most critically, the little French dynamo`s absence exposes Chelsea`s back line – particularly Gary Cahill.
N`Golo`s arrival has given the fading Chelsea captain a new lease of life; but, without that rock-hard shield, Cahill`s stiffness, lack of side-to-side quickness and, above all, anticipation, makes him little more than a liability.
The fast, athletic and efficient Rudiger must be wondering what on earth is going on – that`s certainly the view of the Chelsea faithful if tweets greeting Cahill`s selection last night are anything to go by.
(My personal favourite was the one suggesting the Chelsea skipper must have nude photos of The Don as potential blackmail.)
Perhaps the unseen influence of the owner is to blame? After all, Mr Abramovich`s desire to have English players in the side is no secret.
Any team is an interlinked mesh only as strong as its weakest link.
Right now that`s Cahill.
Despite the highly promising Christensen alongside him, things at the back don`t inspire confidence. Even the stout Azpilicueta, who had easily his worst game in recent times for Chelsea yesterday, is beginning to become discombobulated.
With Kante`s absence wounding us, the addition of Matic`s absence, so to speak, threatens to finish us off.
This morning`s Daily Telegraph puts the whole clownshow into numbers: while Bakayoko is, like Christensen, a very promising young player, he is not the finished article; and opposing teams know this and are pushing up quickly to take advantage. The young Frenchman doesn’t form anywhere near as quick, decisive or effective a link between defence and attack as did his predecessor; he`s averaging 62.98 touches and 43.81 passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season – Matic’s figures in 2016-17 were a far superior 75.05 and 62.24 as he brilliantly provided that link.
Add the bizarrely ever-present Fabregas and even the Palaces of this world are finding our midfield a soft touch.
Meanwhile, the CFC board spinning-wheel remains on overdrive, feeding the media an endless diet of rumour about Don Antonio`s job being “under threat” and making sure that their invitation to former Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti was roundly advertised.
The latter move is like the managerial practice of keeping players on their toes by getting their potential replacements warming up along the sideline.
A reminder, not that one needs it, that, tragically, ours is a club managed at board level, not pitch level.