Spotted: Enzo Maresca denied Wesley Fofana’s unusual request against Ajax

However one of the most unusual things of all came in the second half. With Chelsea 5-1 up and cruising against ten men, Wesley Fofana asked his bench to be taken off, as he was hurt.

But after Reggie Walsh had become the 5th player to be brought on in the 66th minute, Chelsea had no more changes to make.

That meant they would have been playing with ten against ten had Fofana gone off. According to the commentators on TNT Sport, the defender asked and saw his request denied by the gaffer.

We’re pretty sure the problem was just cramp – if it had been anything more serious, there’s no way Maresca would have forced him to carry on. After long periods out, Fofana is just short of match fitness.

At the next break in play the two of them were in close discussion on the sidelines, while Fofana gulped down several packets of energy gel to try and help mitigate the pain. He’ll be hurting tonight, but it will help him in the long run.

The good news was that he didn’t have much running to do from that point – the ball was just being passed around the edge of the Ajax box for the final 20 minutes.

In other news…

Jamie Gittens got a start tonight and impressed in flashes. He could hardly fail, in the circumstances.

Meanwhile Enzo Fernandez kept up his sensational Stamford Bridge record with another goal. He could have had two, had he not handed the second penalty to Estevao to break a record of his own.