Mykhailo Mudryk was under immense pressure. He had already played 23 games for Chelsea and not scored once. For a 22-year-old to take time to settle would have been understandable, but the footballing world is not an empathetic one: especially not when it comes to 22-year-olds who have been signed for upwards of €100 million, and that after a long, sordid bidding war between two of the biggest clubs in England. 23 games, 0 goals. That ratio just kept getting worse, as the criticism and the trolling grew harsher, more vitriolic.
Which is why when he made a clever run in between Fulham centre-backs Issa Diop and Tim Ream, you could sense the conundrum within the Chelsea fanbase: great run, but now what? He'd been making good runs, moving into decent areas ever since he arrived at Stamford Bridge. His flatline speed was, without a doubt, sensational. His decision making, his first touch... not so much. And so, they held their breath. He had already created a half-chance at the edge of the box seven minutes earlier, only to send it into row Z and be serenaded by loud cheers from the Craven Cottage faithful.
A few seconds before Mudryk had started the run, the ball had been at the edge of the Chelsea box, where Enzo Fernandez was juggling the ball away from a half-hearted Fulham press. Enzo, the player with arguably the highest grade of technical skill on the pitch, turned away from the crowd with ease before pushing it out wide to left-footed right back Marc Cucurella. A quick exchange of passes with Connor Gallagher, and the ball was moved on to Moises Caicedo. He then swept a delightful ball out to Levi Colwill. The young centre-back, playing left back on the night, killed it dead with a sure touch. Caicedo, having played with Colwill at Brighton not so long ago, was of course sure he would.
The makeshift left back then pushed forward, racing into the Fulham half before chipping a carefully calibrated ball into that channel Mudryk was making the run along. It had too much on it for Diop to control, but just enough for Mudryk to collect it in his stride.
It would have, perhaps, been understandable if he'd crumbled here. The pressure, the awkward height the ball came at. But he didn't.
Mauricio Pochettino had said patience was key with talents like Mudryk, and that patience was about to pay off. The touch was superb, pushing the ball forward far enough to take the centre-backs out of the equation but not so far that Leno could smother it. The finish was even better, calmly smacking it between Leno's legs (that most awkward angle for big goalkeepers to attempt a save) and into the net.
The celebrations afterwards spoke volumes. Mudryk's knee slide and look of pure relief. Colwill hugging him tight and yelling "you deserve it". Everyone else in blue sprinting forward to smother the Ukrainian: this wasn't just because they'd taken a 1-0 lead in a very tricky fixture, not because they hadn't scored a league goal all of last month... this was more than all that. This was joy for a teammate who'd been suffering ever since he got there.
"We need to understand that young people need time and need to settle," Pochettino would say after the match. "It's about adaptation. It's a big change when Mudryk arrived here and when you arrive at a team, it's not easy to settle in a team that isn't solid. He wasn't the cherry on the cake, they needed to add something to the team."
"It's about time, having patience, trusting these young talented players, building confidence. It's a big job, step by step."
Mudryk, though, was withdrawn at half-time after he felt something in his quads, but Pochettino didn't seem to worried post-match, saying, "we hope it's not a big issue, we hope it's nothing big and he can be available for Saturday.'
As he well must hope.
Until now Mudryk had shown only rare glimpses of the talent that Arsenal and Chelsea had fought over so badly to make their own; if the Fulham goal proves the turning point, Chelsea fans may be in for a whole lot of fun.
For that, this is ESPN India's moment of the week.