Thomas Tuchel's decision to bring on Ross Barkley against Southampton was confusing at the time but the correct one in hindsight.
Pat Nevin spoke about it to chelseafc.com, saying: "Southampton were still capable of defending in numbers, but the important thing was to bring on some creativity and some vision.
"Hakim Ziyech was the obvious choice. After all creativity is his stock in trade, but he was overlooked. Kai Havertz might have been the next most obvious. Remember his contribution from the bench versus Zenit.
"But no, the manager thought Ross Barkley was exactly the man to seize the moment when it came.
"Ross didn’t score the goal and will not even get an assist next to his name, but his brilliantly pinged ball from the left-hand side to Cesar Azpilicueta’s toe inside the box was one of the best passes of the season from a Chelsea player so far.
"The trajectory and the pace were both exceptional. I still think Kovacic’s stunner of a through-ball to play in Lukaku versus Villa takes some beating, but it was a world-class pass."
Ross Barkley seemed like would never play for the Blues again but his cameo may have earned him the chance to contend for a spot this season.
