Forget the Lord Mayor’s Show. This was all a little after the Club World Cup for Chelsea on their first return to competitive football since that FIFA carnival in the United States.
There was no Robbie Williams singing in a white tracksuit this time. No brass band fighting to be heard over the fireworks. No Donald Trump sticking around to celebrate.
There was only Chelsea and their gratitude for the existence of Law 13. Were it not for that singular line in the game’s laws – the one which says Marc Guehi had moved to within a metre of the Chelsea wall when Eberechi Eze blasted his free-kick beyond Robert Sanchez – Enzo Maresca’s side might have lost their Premier League opener here at Stamford Bridge.