Mykhailo Mudryk celebrated his first Chelsea goal wildly against Leicester, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
The Ukraine international was starting just his third Premier League match after a tough beginning to life at Chelsea following his mega-money move from Shakhtar in January.
AFP4Mudryk scored what he thought was his first Chelsea goal
But he made a statement with his well-taken goal against Leicester, and then celebrated with gusto in front of the away fans at the King Power Stadium – or at least he thought he did.
Fellow January arrival Enzo Fernandez played a beautiful pass to put the winger through one-on-one with Foxes goalkeeper Danny Ward and he made no mistake by tucking the ball past the Welshman.
Well, just one minor mistake – he made his run just a half-second too early – but that did not stop him racing towards the corner flag, pulling off a knee slide and pumping his arms out in the style of ex-Chelsea No. 15 Didier Drogba.
He was then left red-faced and shaking his head in disbelief when he turned around to see the linesman’s flag lifted in the air, leading to jeers from the home supporters – although he had the last laugh.
Moments later, a long ball into the box was headed down by the 22-year-old and Mateo Kovacic was on hand to lash a volley into the Leicester net to make it 3-1 with 12 minutes left of normal time.
That all but ended the match as a contest, while Mudryk escaped jibes of ‘007’ on social media, where a baying mob were awaiting him to draw another blank.
GETTY4Mudryk scored from an offside position
4And celebrated wildly in front of the Chelsea fans
The Blues had gone a goal ahead in the first-half through Ben Chilwell, who celebrated against his old club by cupping his ears to the home fans.
Patson Daka finished a rocket after Joao Felix was guilty of over-playing before Kai Havertz struck just before half-time with a cool dink of a volley from a fabulous Fernandez pass.
Wout Faes was sent off for a high challenge on Carney Chukwuemeka to truly extinguish any chance of a Leicester comeback minutes after Kovacic scored the third for the visitors.
As for Mudryk, this was his seventh appearance for Chelsea but he had not made a goal or assist before his performance against Lthe Foxes, which has come at a crucial time for Graham Potter.
The Blues have now won three games in a row, including overturning a goal deficit to Borussia Dortmund to progress in the Champions League.
AFP4Chilwell certainly enjoyed his goal
While a spot in the Premier League top four might be too much to ask at this stage of the season, it was important for the beleaguered Potter to start picking up wins to get the supporters back on side.
Chelsea spent over £300million in January on the likes of Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile and Mudryk, who was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal for weeks prior to joining their London rivals.
And this was a much-needed confidence boost for the Ukrainian while the Blues now face Everton next in the Premier League on Saturday.
